The general election campaign activities dominate the front pages of the seven local papers.

The Sunday Times quotes two EU Commissioners saying it was impossible for the Commission to consider Labour's plans to re-open negotiations "on new conditions for the dockyards and agriculture to uphold Malta's national interest". The paper has also learnt that efforts are being made to bring over 3,000 Maltese living abroad to vote on March 8

The Malta Independent on Sunday also focuses on the election saying both parties "go head to head on overtime". It also reports that a refugee, injured on a construction site, was ‘dumped' by his employer at the place where he resides instead of either calling an ambulance or taking him to hospital.

Maltatoday claims the decision by Go to stop di-ve.com reporting the general elections was taken after some senior government officials expressed serious concern that the portal was "leaning too far towards Labour". It also reports that the PN had edged closer to Labour and an opinion poll shows that the difference is now of only to two per cent.

il-mument quotes Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi at a party activity in Gozo saying that the government had reduced taxes and people were left with more money in their pockets.

Illum claims that one of Dr Gonzi's canvassers from Senglea acted as an adviser in the allocation process of 22 Social Housing units.

it-torca‘s publishes the result of a survey which shows that where governance is concerned, more respondents trust Labour than the Nationalists.

KullHadd claims that another sum of €20,000 from the Good Causes Fund was handed by Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech to a PN stalwart to advertise a commercial activity and promote another one organized by a football club hailing from Mr Fenech's electoral district.

The Press in Britain...

The Mail on Sunday leads with the news that British Olympic chiefs are to force athletes to sign a contract promising not to speak out about China's 'appalling' human rights record ahead of the Beijing Games.

The Sunday Express reports on 'fury' that has erupted after it emerged an Afghan boy who trained to be a suicide bomber is to enrol in a British school.

The Sunday Times says a government minister has warned that inbreeding among immigrants is causing a 'surge' in birth defects. He blamed a "medieval culture" of keeping wealth in the family among the Asian community.

Daily Star on Sunday heralds the end of the road for one of the nation's most cherished comedy characters, Only Fools and Horses' Derek 'Del Boy' Trotter.

The Observer says doctors issuing 'dangerously high doses of medicines' are 'unwittingly fuelling' the growing number of Britons addicted to prescription drugs. It also reports senior judges are to rule on the legality of an arranged marriage conducted in the UK under sharia law.

The Sunday Telegraph reports senior religious leaders have attacked sharia law and multiculturalism, saying they are "disastrous" and socially divisive. Meanwhile, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, has accused Dr Williams of overstating the case for accommodating Islamic legal codes, but said he should not be forced to quit over the row.

The Independent on Sunday quotes police chiefs saying that up to 17,000 women in Britain are being subjected to honour-related violence every year.

The Sunday Mirror says every home in England and Wales will be sent a phone number for their local beat bobby.

The News of the World claims Amy Winehouse's jailed husband has disowned his family.

The Sunday People reports that former teacher aged 49 and his 16-year-old schoolgirl lover insisted: "We've done nothing wrong."

The Sunday Mail claims Prime Minister Gordon Brown has delivered a snub to three of the heroes who foiled the Glasgow airport terror plot.

The Sunday Herald says human rights lawyers have claimed phone tapping of solicitors' legally-protected conversations with clients in jail is commonplace.

And elsewhere...

Asahi Shimbun reports that finance ministers and central bank governors from the world's richest nations, meeting in Tokyo, have vowed to take "appropriate actions" to minimise global financial turbulence. However, they admitted that things would get worse, growth was expected to slow somewhat in the short term".

Sueddeutsche Zeitung quotes German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier calling on the international community to make nuclear disarmament one of its top priorities, alongside climate change and energy security. Speaking at the 44th Munich Conference on Security Policy, Steinmeier also emphasised Germany's continuing commitment to Afghanistan.

Prague Post says Czech lawmakers from both houses of parliament will reconvene on Friday in a third attempt to elect the next president as incumbent Vaclav Klaus failed to win a second term by one vote. Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek, who nominated Klaus, has confirmed that his party will continue to support his bid for the presidency.

Chumhuriyet leads with the rally by tens of thousands of secular Turks in the capital Ankara against a government reform that would allow women to wear Islamic headscarves at universities. Opponents to the decision fear it would undermine Turkey's secular state, while the moderate Islamist party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hails the ruling as a triumph for democracy and justice. Lawmakers backed the reform by 411 to 103. To become law, it must still be approved by President Abdullah Gul.

Pakistan Times says a suicide bomber struck an election rally in north-western Pakistan, killing 25 people and wounding 45. Interior minister Hamid Nawaz said Islamic militants were threatening all political parties in the area ahead of parliamentary elections on February 18.

Myanmar Times quotes Burma's military government saying it will hold a constitutional referendum in May, followed by multi-party elections in 2010. The announcement heralds the first democratic election since 1990, when Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party (NLD) won a landslide victory that the junta refused to recognise

Kansas City Star reports Mike Huckabee has easily won the Republican caucuses in Kansas and declared he will not quit the presidential race. With nearly 80 per cent of the vote counted, the former Arkansas governor had 60 per cent of the vote, compared with 24 per cent for leading candidate John McCain.

The Yorkshire Post says that a five-year-old boy saved the day for HSBC when he discovered that a their branch in Easingwood had been left unlocked. Oliver Pettigrew rushed in to play with the collection of toys at the branch, not knowing it should have been closed on a Saturday. His father Daniel called police. HSBC blamed the lapse on a fault in the electronic door mechanism, and rewarded Oliver with £10 in a new bank account.