The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press today:

The Sunday Times reports that Marisa Micallef, former chairman of the Housing Authority, has joined the PL and will form part of a think tank. It also carries an interview with the Chief Justice, who says that the judges pensions system is hindering recruitment.

The Malta Independent on Sunday says centralisation has cuts down hospital waiting lists. The newspaper takes a look back at the PN mass meeting and says absent MPs exposed a party in difficulty. It also asks how the climate change strategy will be financed sustainably.

MaltaToday also leads with Marisa Micallef's switch to Labour.

Il-Mument reports that the Maltese regulatory regime is attractive to foreign investment, according to the World Economic Forum. In other stories, it quotes the PN saying Labour and the GWU should apologise for interference which cost millions of euro at the dockyard. It also recalls the attack on the Curia, 25 years ago.

It-Torca poses questions about contracts in the health sector awarded to a person having been convicted of a crime. The newspaper reports a PL conference which asked minister Austin Gatt to explain or resign over the Fairmount contract losses.

Illum follows up the story about possible radioactive contamination in the Mediterranean caused by ships sunk by the mafia. It also asks if Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi will replace Jason Micallef at PL general secretary.

KullHadd asks if Malta has lost EU funds and raises questions over a tourism contract to Media Consulta. It also asks if the EIE building in Ta'Xbiex has a permit to serve as a school.

The Press in Britain...

Gordon Brown tells The Sunday Telegraph he will launch a legally-binding move to reduce Britain's debt mountain as he battles to win back support from middle-class voters who have deserted Labour under his premiership.

On the eve of the Labour Party conference, The Observer says Chancellor Alistair Darling reveals his frustration at the collapse in Labour morale under Gordon Brown, accusing his party of handing power to the Tories without a fight. Scotland on Sunday says Gordon Brown will warn his party this week that it faces "the fight of its life".

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson tells The Sunday Times that if Labour lost power he would readily accept a job under a future Conservative government.

In an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Baroness Scotland's illegal immigrant housekeeper claims she did not show the Attorney General her passport during her interview and was never asked to produce it either.

According to the Sunday Express, Strictly Come Dancing was plunged into an ageism row over accusations the BBC "bumped" two "older contestants" from the final cast list.

Jade Goody's widower Jack Tweed, behind bars on a rape charge, is threatening to end his life, his mother tells the News of the World.

The Sunday People says Kerry Katona is trying for another baby because she is convinced it would save her life.

Katie Price, aka Jordan, tells the Daily Star Sunday why she is a super mum.

The Independent on Sunday says detectives are investigating raids on the homes of Premiership football stars in London and Essex.

And elsewhere...

German President Horst Koehler has appealed to the electorate not to be apathetic and go out and vote in today's national election. In a letter in the mass circulation Bild am Sonntag, he reminded voters that people died in the name of free, secret and equal voting rights.

Meanwhile, Munich's Abendzeitung says flights over the annual Oktoberfest beer festival have been banned following a series of terror threats in the past two weeks.

Portugal's Expresso predicts the ruling Socialists are expected to win despite today's general election despite the electorate's discontent with the economy.

A Sunday Business Post poll shows 55 per cent of Irish voters would backed the Lisbon Treaty in the October 2nd referendum - a fall of seven points from the last poll two weeks ago but some distance ahead of the 'No' side, which increased by four points to 27 per cent. The proportion of undecided voters rose by three points to 18 per cent.

In a television interview with Al Jazeera, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said no deal was done to secure the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. He said Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was freed from prison in Scotland because of his illness. Both the Scottish and UK governments denied suggestions that his release may have been linked to a trade deal. The International Herald Tribune says the US and its five partners - Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia - plan to tell Tehran in a key meeting on Thursday that it must provide "unfettered access" to its previously secret Qom enrichment facility within weeks. Meanwhile, Iran's nuclear chief Ali Akbar Salehi told Iran's state TV that his country would allow the UN nuclear agency to inspect the newly revealed and still unfinished uranium enrichment facility.

The New York Times quotes US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton giving a cautious welcome to Iran's announcement that it would open a newly-revealed nuclear plant to inspection. Speaking in New York, Mrs Clinton said it was always welcome when Iran decided to comply with international rules.

Manila Times reports that at least 50 people were killed and thousands are stranded on rooftops in the worst flooding in more than 42 years.

The Washington Times says three detainees held at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay have been sent to Ireland and the Yemen

Dawn reports 16 people were killed and more than 150 wounded in two suicide attacks in northwest Pakistan. The Talibans claimed responsibility, claiming they had been holding back but the "pause" was now over.

Lidove Noviny says Pope Benedict sought to reach out to the heavily secular people of the Czech Republic, decrying the "wounds" left by atheistic communism and urging them to rediscover their Christian roots as Christianity had an "irreplaceable role" to play in their lives.

Gazeta Polska says Poland has approved a law making chemical castration mandatory for paedophiles convicted of raping children under the age of 15 years, or a close relative. The government said such action reduced the risk of another crime being committed by the same person. The bill also increases prison sentences for rape and incest.