Today's front pages

In Austria as in Germany, the European fiscal pact could be examined by the Constitutional Court. While the government wants it to be ratified by a simple majority, the opposition believes that it is a constitutional law whose adoption requires an absolute (i.e. two thirds) majority.

Legal uncertainty over fiscal pact – Der Standard

A controversy has erupted in Germany after a court in Cologne ruled that the circumcision of a Muslim child constituted "bodily harm" and was therefore a criminal offense. Muslim, Jewish and Christian organisations denounce the ruling as religious discrimination.

Culture war over foreskin – Die Tageszeitung

The home and office of the former French president Nicolas Sarkozy were raided as part of an investigation into the allegedly illegal financing of his 2007 presidential campaign.

What the judge was looking for at Sarkozy’s – Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien

Belgian secretary of state for energy, Melchior Wathelet, is to announce a plan to extend the life of Belgium's oldest nuclear reactors. The 2015 closure of reactors Doel 1 and 2 has been put back to 2016 and that of Thiange to 2025. The Flemish Socialists (Sp.), a member of the ruling coalition, are opposed to the postponement of a nuclear phase-out.

Sp. shoots down Wathelet’s nuclear project – De Morgen

An email between the now former chief executive of Barclays, Bob Diamond, and the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England (BoE), Paul Tucker was released, suggesting BoE may have encouraged banks to doctor their borrowing costs (the Libor rate) during the financial crisis. The email appears to show Barclays was under the impression that manipulating rates was being sanctioned at the highest level.

The Libor Conspiracy: Were the Bank of England and Whitehall in on it? – The Independent

Spain has registered a drop in unemployment of 98,853 as the tourist season starts and as domestic services are regularised. Nearly 4.6 million people are jobless however, an increase of 11.97% compared to June 2011.

Unemployment rate falls in June thanks to tourism – La Vanguardia

The physicists at the European Centre for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva are to announce today that they have detected the Higgs boson, an elementary particle whose existence has been only theoretical until now. "They have moved closer to the answer to the question of the formation of the universe. A discovery worthy of a Nobel Prize," writes the Swedish daily.

A discovery that gives new answers to our existence – Svenska Dagbladet