The following are the top stories in the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times and most of the other newspapers lead with the explosion at a Bidnija fireworks factory which left a man fighting for his life. The newspaper also reports that a UN official said Malta should interrogate the Maltese witness in the Lockerbie bombing case.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says food producers want George Pullicino nominated as EU agriculture commissioner. It also says moderates in the PL are skeptical of today's PL demonstration.
Malta Today reports that diabetes patients are to get insulin pens. It also says that gaming operators have hit out at the government for having first encouraged them to set up the industry, and now it wants to close them down.
Il-Mument says 36 teachers are to follow courses at the nuclear physics centre at CERN. It also says Joseph Muscat has been avoiding questioning by an Icelandic journalist.
It-Torca highlights today's PL demo in Zabbar and says PL leader Joseph Muscat will make positive suggestions on the Budget.
Illum says Social Policy Minister John Dalli has commented on Finance Minister Tonio Fenech's travel controversy. The newspaper reports that Mr Dalli has told the Prime Minister that rules which had been applied to him have not been applied to Mr Fenech.
KullHadd says the deputy chairman of the ETC is running a company which is not paying salaries. It also reports that medicine prices have continued to go up. In a third story it says today's Labour demo will be a strong signal by the people to the government.
The Press in Britain...
The Sunday Times predicts Gordon Brown faces a number of damaging industrial disputes following last week's gloomy news on the economy.
Metro says fresh talks aimed at resolving the bitter postal workers' dispute are to be held on Monday following an intervention by the TUC.
The Observer reports Work and Pensions Secretary Yvette Cooper wants firms that advertise in jobcentres to consider part-timers under a major shift in government thinking on family life.
According to The Independent on Sunday, as bailed-out institutions plan to share billions among staff, top figures in the City - including bank directors - call on the Government to take decisive action.
The Sunday Express says fans were stunned as comic Jimmy Carr made a joke about soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Sunday People says glamour girl Katie Price will be flown out to Afghanistan to boost British troops on the frontline.
The Mail on Sunday reports the little-known Court of Protection, set up to act in the interests of people suffering from Alzheimer's or other mental incapacity, has seized £3.3 billion from the elderly.
The News of the World says the Queen was furious over the BNP leader Nick Griffin's attempt to portray himself as the new Churchill during the controversial BBC programme.
The Sunday Mail exposes a plot to take fascist violence to Scotland.
Scotland on Sunday says the swine flu jab programme has been condemned as "descending into chaos".
Daily Star Sunday quotes X-Factor guru Simon Cowell saying he plans to make a Michael Jackson song the biggest-selling single in pop history.
And elsewhere...
The Washington Times reports President Barack Obama has declared swine flu a "national emergency", as the United States reels from millions of cases of infection and over 1000 deaths. The emergency declaration enhances the ability of medical treatment facilities to handle a spike in influenza A(H1N1) patients by allowing them to implement emergency plans thanks to federal requirement waivers.
Berliner Zeitung leads with the coalition deal, finalised yesterday, between Chancellor Merkel's conservatives and the business-friendly FDP based on major tax cut plans paving the way for a new center-right government. The centerpiece of the agreement is a plan to slash income taxes by €24 billion, in particular reducing the tax burden on families with children and reforms to corporate and inheritance tax.
Az-Zaman reports Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has called full elections in the West Bank and Gaza on January 24. The move follows Egypt's failure to broker a unity deal between Mr Abbas' faction Fatah and Islamist rivals Hamas, who took over Gaza in a bloody coup in June 2007.
The Afghan Times reports that the Talibans have called for a boycott of the upcoming November 7 re-run of Afghanistan's presidential election. A Taliban statement emailed to the media said the mujahideen were fully prepared to defeat "this American process", threatening would-be voters. Afghanistan's fraud-tainted first-round presidential election on August 20 was hit by a vicious Taliban campaign that has been blamed for keeping turnout below 40 per cent.
Dawn says government troops have captured Kotkai, home to Pakistan's Taliban chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, killing 13 militants in the final assault. An army officer said the military has begun to clear the town of landmines and roadside bombs planted by the insurgents.
Al Ahram says 25 commuters died and some other 25 were injured in an Egyptian passenger train crash. The police expect that the death toll to rise. The trains collided in Giza, when one train stopped unexpectedly, apparently after hitting a cow, and another, also heading south from the capital, ploughed into it from behind.
Bangladesh Times reports at least 14 people have been killed and another person is missing after a boat carrying labourers sank in the Padma river. The tragedy occurred after the boat was hit by a cargo-laden ferry in thick fog.
Saudi Gazette say a female journalist has been sentenced to 60 lashes for her involvement in a TV show in which a Saudi man publicly talked about sex. Rozanna al-Yami is believed to be the first Saudi woman journalist to be given such a punishment.
The Courrier-Mail reports Australia's biggest love cheats work in real estate, sales and marketing, construction and call centres. The Great Australian Sex Census revealed that the people least likely to have a bit on the side work in IT or are studying. Retirees are most likely to forgive infidelity. Women are less understanding than men.