The following are the main items on the Maltese and overseas press:
The Sunday Times says the reform of Mepa, due to be announced on Thursday, includes a 12-week time limit for decisions on standard development permit applications. It also reports that the number of A H1Ni cases has risen to 18 and the Church has ordered Holy Communion to be given only by hand.
The Malta Independent on Sunday says Malta secured major UNHCR assistance in talks in Geneva headed by Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici. The newspaper also asks if the Prime Minister will reshuffle the Cabinet.
MaltaToday says the Italian ambassador personally went on board an Italian fishing boat to prevent the police from seizing it after it was found fishing in the Maltese fishing zone. It also says Italy has retaliated by stopping the departure from Pozallo of a Gozitan boat after claims of illegal fishing. In another story, the newspaper quotes Infrastructure Minister Austin Gatt saying the Enemalta chairman's potential conflict of interest on the power station extension had been declared and did not breach ethics.
It-Torca says social cases have been ignored in Piano's Valletta. It also says that architects estimate Piano will be paid €4 million for his work.
Il-Mument says PL leader Joseph Muscat is refusing to act over chaos at Mosta local council. It also carries comments by Prof Serracino Inglott who praises Piano's plans for the Parliament building.
KullHadd compares fuel prices in Malta and abroad and says the Maltese are getting a raw deal.
Illum asks if SmartCity will disappear after a change of the shareholders of the holding company. It says activity on the Ricasoli site has slowed down considerably.
The Press in Britain
The Sunday Express says the case of a girl found alive after being kidnapped six years ago has given hope to Gerry and Kate McCann they may yet be reunited with their missing daughter Madeleine.
A call for a pay freeze on Britain's six million public sector workers, to cover health and education, is the top story in The Observer.
The Sunday Times says two BBC bosses have racked up pensions worth more than £14m - the biggest in the public sector.
The Sunday Telegraph leads with a call by a senior Church of England bishop for gays to 'change and repent'.
The Mail on Sunday claims the new head of MI6 has been left exposed after his wife put details of family holidays and friends on the social networking website Facebook.
The Independent on Sunday has an interview with an Indian doctor who describes her horrific ordeal when she was forced into getting married against her will.
The Sunday Mirror claims Michael Jackson will be buried without his brain and that he had a secret girlfriend named Grace.
The News of the World has pictures of the pop superstar with his ex' Debbie Rowe and their two children, saying it could 'destroy' claims she is a 'heartless surrogate'.
Metro says Metropolitan police have launched an investigation into a fire that ripped through a housing block in London, killing six people.
And elsewhere...
L'Osservatore Romano has published a letter by Pope Benedict urging G8 leaders meeting for three days starting Wednesday in L'Aquila, to rewrite global financial rules and defend the world's poor from the effects of the economic downturn. In a letter to Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, who will chair the summit, Benedict appealed to leaders to "listen to the voice of Africa" and other developing areas.
The Jerusalem Post quotes representatives of Hamas and Fatah, in for another weekend round of "reconciliation" talks aimed at ending the differences, saying the Egyptian authorities were exerting immense pressure, and even issued them with an ultimatum, to end their power struggle and sign a unity government accord by July 7. However, both sides expressed pessimism.
Seoul's JoongAng Ilbo says North Korea has fired seven missiles on the eve of US Independence Day celebrations, increasing tensions. Seoul's foreign ministry said the first four weapons launched into the Sea of Japan (East Sea) were ballistic missiles, which the North is banned from firing under various Security Council resolutions.
Xinhua news agency reports more than 300,000 people have been evacuated from their homes in southern China after heavy rain destroyed houses, flooded roads and damaged a dam. Three people have died in the three days of rain, and four are missing.
Afghan News reports a roadside bomb has ripped through a police vehicle in an insurgent attack in a southern Afghanistan flashpoint, killing seven officers. Meanwhile, two American soldiers were killed in an explosion in eastern Afghanistan as Taliban militants have claimed responsibility for a military helicopter crash that killed 32 people in the country's north.
Etemad said Iran hanged 20 drug traffickers, days after putting to death 12 other convicted criminals. A total of 700kg of heroin, cocaine and opium had been seized from the convicted traffickers, who were between 35 and 48 years old.
USA Today says Newsweek journalist Maziar Bahari and a number of reformist leaders in Iran are to face trial accused of "acting against national security". On Wednesday, the US weekly repeated a call on Iran to release its correspondent immediately and rejected charges made against him.
Al Thawra reports that Yemenia is suspending all flights to the Comoros in the aftermath of Tuesday's crash of an Airbus A310 near the islands' capital Moroni in which 153 died. The airline said the action was taken in light of what it called "serious incidents and major risks that some passengers posed to airport staff, the company and its passengers".
Amina says nine Chechen police were killed when militants fired on their car from a forest in the neighbouring Russian region of Ingushetia. The attack is the deadliest single militant strike in the Caucasus since April
The New Straits Times quotes a Malaysian government official saying he had been shocked during a recent visit to the Cameron Highlands to find girl as young as 11 and 12 years old among Malaysia's Orang Asli or "original people", in the maternity ward of a local hospital. The Orang Asli make up less than one percent of Malaysia's population and are disadvantaged in terms of income, health, education and living standards.