These are the main headlines of the local and international newspapers.

The Sunday Times refers to the case of four Gozitan men charged in court in connection with the rape of a 15-year-old girl and claims a lawyer and a close relative of the accused persuaded the alleged victim’s family to sign a contract stating they would not testify in court in return for €7,000 in “psychological support”.

Malta Today claims that as Brussels says no to surcharge capping, the government “conveniently” blames GRTU’s Director General Vince Farrugia.

Illum also refers to the new energy tariffs and says that Minister Gatt has refused to comment on the harsh reaction by the social partners.

it-torċa says that the GWU has asked the government to abandon its new energy tariffs and appealed to the social partners to stand united against the proposals.

Il-Mument accused Labour leader Joseph Muscat of telling half truths when he said that former British Prime Minister Tony Blair wanted to get the UK out of the EU, when in 2005, Blair had told the EU parliament that he was always for membership and had voted ‘yes” in the 1975 referendum.

KullĦadd claims a case of child abuse at the National Pool by an employee of the National Sports Council who allegedly entered the boys’ and girls’ dressing rooms and showers when the children finished their training.

The Press in Britain…

The Sunday Times claims Peter Mandelson "dripped pure poison" about Gordon Brown into the ear of a senior Conservative just weeks before his extraordinary cabinet comeback.

On the other hand, The Observer believes Peter Mandelson has buried the threat of a Blairite coup against Gordon Brown, declaring he was 'joined at the hip' to the Prime Minister, who would lead Labour into the next election.

The Mail on Sunday says Gordon Brown plans to bring former Home Secretary David Blunkett back into the Cabinet in another dramatic bid to revive Labour's political fortunes.

The Independent on Sunday claims more than half of Britain's nuclear power stations have been shut down, or are running at reduced power, for safety reasons – threatening the country with power shortages in just a few weeks' time.

According to the Sunday Express, former EastEnders star Wendy Richard is dying of cancer and will marry her long-term partner before she dies. The 65-year-old actress, who played Pauline Fowler in the BBC1 soap opera, has twice been diagnosed with breast cancer but the disease has now spread to her bones.

The Sunday Mirror leads with the news that the police are investigating Barry George, cleared of murdering Jill Dando, over allegation he stalked young nurse

And elsewhere…

Le Journal du Dimanche reports that Europe's four biggest economies have agreed to work together to address the current global financial turmoil but said they would not form a joint bail-out fund. The leaders of Germany, Britain, Italy and France, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, made the announcement at the end of an emergency mini-summit in Paris ahead of the Group of Eight meeting of finance ministers in Washington later this week.

Meanwhile Welt am Sonntag announces that a €35 billion package to rescue the German mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate has collapsed after a a consortium of German banks pulled out. The newspaper says Deutsche Bank has warned Hypo Real Estate faces a shortfall of between €70 and €100 billion by the end of next year.

According to Al Ahram, Egypt has backed a US proposal to host key international players to follow up on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice asked Egypt to invite Israeli and Palestinian leaders to meet before George Bush's term ends in January. President Bush has expressed hope for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before the end of the year, but Egypt is sceptical at the possibility.

The Washington Times quotes US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice saying she has been unable to sign a landmark nuclear trade deal with India due to bureaucratic delays back in the US. Once signed, the deal overturns a 30-year ban on nuclear trade between the US and India. The ban was imposed after India first tested nuclear weapons in 1974.

The New York Times says US military forces in Iraq have killed one of Al-Qaeda's most important leaders who masterminded numerous bombings, kidnappings and executions in Baghdad. US officals say Mahir Ahmad Mahmud al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Rami, was shot dead along with an unidentified woman in a Sunni district of Baghdad on Friday.

EU Observer reports the European Union has condemned Friday's attack by Kurdish separatists on a military post in south eastern Turkey, that left 15 Turkish soldiers and 20 rebels dead. Rebels of the Kurdistan Workers' Party or PKK, rebels based in Turkey and northern Iraq have been fighting for autonomy since 1984.

North Korean state media is reporting that the country's leader Kim Jong Il has appeared in public for the first time in over a month. Choson Sinbo quotes officials saying the 66-year old attended a student football match in Pyongyang held to mark the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the university named after his late father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung. US and South Korean officials had claimed Kim had suffered a stroke but North Korea has denied Kim was ill.

German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for the mandate of the elite KSK special forces in Afghanistan not to be renewed. In an interview with the Spiegel news magazine, Steinmeier said the special forces haven't been deployed even once in the past three years.

USA Today reports O.J. Simpson faces the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison after he and a co-defendant were found guilty on 12 charges, including armed robbery and kidnapping. The case involved a Las Vegas, Nevada, hotel room confrontation over sports memorabilia. Simpson said the items had been stolen from him. Sentencing has been fixed for December 5.

Montgomery County News says a landlord appeared in a Texas county court, facing more than 2,000 charges after he secretly videoed 34 women tenants for nearly 20 years by hiding cameras in their flats. Thomas Daley, aged 45, installed the cameras – typically one in the bedroom and one in the bathroom – in at least seven flats he rented to women in Norristown, a suburb of Philadelphia.

Asia Observer reports he world’s tallest man, China’s Bao Xishun, has become the world’s tallest father with the birth of his first child, a boy. The son of Bao, a 7ft 9in herdsman from Inner Mongolia, is of normal size at 29½ inches.