PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 10

June 10 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Thursday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* The Obama Administration ratcheted up its demands on Wednesday that BP Plc (BP.L) cover all costs stemming from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including millions of dollars in salaries of oil-industry workers laid off because of the federal moratorium on deepwater drilling.

* In their latest effort to bridge a growing divergence over the management of the European sovereign debt crisis, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel called on the European Commission Wednesday to speed up and intensify its efforts on regulating credit default swaps and short-selling.

* Steve Rodosky, Pimco's head of Treasury and derivatives trading, has shifted his stance on Treasurys to neutral in the short term from underweight and sees a slowdown for the U.S. economy.

* Sen. Blanche Lincoln's surprising victory in Tuesday's Democratic primary in Arkansas appears to have hardened an anti-Wall Street bent in Congress's financial-overhaul bill.

* Germany said it wouldn't provide General Motors Co [GM.UL] loan guarantees of more than 1 billion, or $1.19 billion, to help restructure its troubled Adam Opel GmbH unit, but Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to leave the door open for some form of aid, saying "the last word has not been spoken."

* The Bank of England's relaxed response to Britain's surging inflation rate is raising eyebrows among some economists who worry that rapidly rising prices could spark broader concern among the public at a time when the U.K. is already struggling with a fragile economic recovery.

* In the industrialized Eastern Sicilian town of Priolo Gargallo, Italian energy company Enel SpA (ENEI.MI) is about to begin testing a new form of solar power that, it says, has the potential to displace older technology.

* Airbus and its parent company, European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co (EAD.PA), are finally tackling key problems that have dogged them for five rocky years. But they must now do a better job of putting a price tag on the risks inherent in their airplane programs, said EADS Chief Financial Officer Hans Peter Ring.

* Global economic growth could stall sharply if the sovereign debt crisis in Europe produces a debt default - or spurs a loss in market confidence, the World Bank said in its latest forecast.

* Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) sold its 25 percent stake in the Mexican subsidiary of Banco Santander SA (SAN.MC) back to the Madrid bank for $2.5 billion.

* Genzyme Corp GENZ.O said it settled a proxy fight with Carl Icahn, averting a showdown at the biotechnology company's annual shareholders meeting set for next Wednesday.

* The U.K. global goods deficit was steady at 7.3 billion pounds ($10.5 billion) in April, the Office for National Statistics said Wednesday, with the value of goods exports falling for the first time since January.