According to the Times
Brown gets a bigger bounce in America
President Bush yesterday reached out to embrace Gordon Brown as a new ally in the fight against terrorism and the war in Iraq, saying the Prime Minister “understands the call”.
Mr Brown talked solemnly about “duties to discharge and responsibilities to keep” in Iraq, but also hinted that Britain could hand over military control of Basra in the autumn when Parliament returns.
The two leaders were speaking at a press conference in Camp David, during Mr Brown’s first visit to America as Prime Minister.
Meanwhile says the paper
A new Populus poll for The Times today shows that he has further strengthened his political position at home over an embattled David Cameron. Labour support has risen two points to 39 per cent — its highest level for 18 months — while the Conservatives fell to 33 per cent, their lowest since Mr Cameron became leader.
Brown and Bush: Freedom fighters says the Mirror
Gordon Brown yesterday reinforced Britain's special relationship with America by highlighting the joint crusade for world freedom and justice.
The Prime Minister put paid to rumours he and President George Bush would not get along in their first face-to-face talks and stressed the two countries had a shared vision.
In a dramatic Camp David summit, he also gave Mr Bush two months' notice that he would pull British troops off the streets of Iraq.
Bush & Brown's beef summit is how the Sun describes it
GEORGE Bush gave Gordon Brown a British welcome at their first formal talks — by hosting a roast beef summit.
The US President showed how he valued the Special Relationship with the UK by laying on a traditional dinner for the PM.
He followed it up with a full English breakfast yesterday morning.
But last night Mr Bush got down to business, praising Mr Brown’s handling of the terror crisis last month by saying he had already proved his “worth” as Britain’s leader.
Gordon Brown prepared the ground yesterday for the withdrawal of British troops from the frontline in Iraq.says the Telegraph continuing
The Prime Minister tried to redefine the relationship between Number 10 and the White House when he made clear that he would retain control of the timetable for British withdrawal regardless of America's involvement.
Mr Brown said he would make a Commons statement on the situation in October after the summer break.
It leads though with the news that
2bn mortgage exit fees may be refunded
Banks are already starting to pay back the money ahead of a report by the City watchdog into the charges. It is expected to be highly critical of their practices.
They are entitled to levy the charge, but some banks have been increasing the fees after mortgage contracts have been signed, which the watchdog says is unfair.
Some customers have been hit by fees of up to £300 for switching or paying off their home loans.
The Guardian makes
Partners to get marriage-style financial rights,its lead story
Unmarried couples who split up will be given the right to make divorce-style claims for financial support from their partners, under final recommendations unveiled today.
The Law Commission has concluded that couples with children, or those who have been living together for a minimum period - they suggest between two and five years - should be able to seek most of the same financial remedies as people going through a divorce.
Partners would be able to claim lump sums, the right to live in the family home and possibly a share of their partner's pension, under the new rights recommended by the independent body which advises the government on law reform.
Whilst also looking at Iraq
Children hardest hit by humanitarian crisis in Iraq
The number of Iraqi children who are born underweight or suffer from malnutrition has increased sharply since the US-led invasion, according to a report by Oxfam and a network of about 80 aid agencies.
The report describes a nationwide catastrophe, with around 8 million Iraqis - almost a third of the population - in need of emergency aid. Many families have dropped out of the food rationing system because they have been displaced by fighting and sectarian conflict. Others suffer from the collapse in basic services caused by the exodus of doctors and hospital staff.
Fear of hospital chaos as 30,000 doctors start new jobs...on the same day is the Mail's lead story
Hospital services face chaos tomorrow as an unprecedented 30,000 junior doctors change jobs at once.
Operations will be cancelled or delayed, while casualty and intensive-care departments could be severely undermanned.
Many patients who have been waiting months for routine surgery - such as a hip replacement or hernia repairs - will face the misery of having to rejoin waiting lists all over again.
The paper also concentrates on the family home,today says the paper
Property market in peril with houses 'overvalued by 20 per cent'
House prices are 20 per cent overvalued and the economy and property market are among the most vulnerable in the Western world to interest rate rises, it was claimed.
The warning came from experts in debt and risk at the respected Fitch credit rating company who have placed an alert against the British economy.
They believe a combination of unsustainable house prices, record personal debt and rising interest rates has created a potentially explosive cocktail.
The Independent dedicates its front page to
The master: Ingmar Bergman 1918 - 2007
Film Director Paul Schroeder writes
I would not have made any of my films or written scripts such as Taxi Driver had it not been for Ingmar Bergman.
His death, at the age of 89, may not have been a surprise. He was an old man. But what he has left is a legacy greater than any other director. He made film-making a serious and introspective enterprise. No one had been able to pull that off until he showed up. I really wasn't that interested in being a film-maker, except in the way that Bergman redefined what you could be as a film-maker.
The Guardian says that
Such was Bergman's stark, uncompromising vision that he found himself a byword for existential gloom, a creator of films that offered a pitiless vision of a Godless universe. Yet while there is no disputing the serious nature of Bergman's concerns, the doom-monger stereotype conveniently ignores the lush romance of films such as Summer With Monika, or the joyous comedy that runs through his classic Smiles of a Summer Night. It is perhaps more accurate to say that his films ran the gamut of the Swedish experience, from the harsh, dark nights of the soul through to the gentle warmth of a midsummer day.
The Express' lead story is
MADELEINE: SPECIALLY TRAINED POLICE FLY IN
A team of British experts in crimes against children have flown to Portugal to help in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann.
The Cracker-style psychologists have been drafted in by senior Portuguese detectives as the inquiry into the four-year-old’s abduction yesterday reached a “critical” stage.
The team includes senior police officers and criminologists specially trained in tackling child sex abuse and abduction cases.
Guantanamo cell is better than freedom, says inmate fighting against release reports the Times
An inmate of Guantanamo Bay who spends 22 hours each day in an isolation cell is fighting for the right to stay in the notorious internment camp.
Ahmed Belbacha fears that he will be tortured or killed if the United States goes ahead with plans to return him to his native Algeria.
The Times has learnt that Mr Belbacha, who lived in Britain for three years, has filed an emergency motion at the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC asking for his transfer out of Guantanamo to be halted. He was cleared for release from Camp Delta in February and his lawyers believe that his return to Algerian custody is imminent.
Imram Khan: President Musharraf must resign reports the Telegraph
It is all over for him. He is sunk," Mr Khan told The Daily Telegraph. "He has lost touch with Pakistan. It is a crisis of his own making and the accumulative effect of his miscalculations."
Years of internal discord over the country's support for the US-led war on terror came to a head earlier this month with a commando assault on Islamabad's radical Red Mosque. Since then a series of suicide bombs by Muslim extremists has claimed the lives of more than 200 people.
Mr Khan said: "The longer Musharraf stays after this, the longer the backlash of extremism will last. The majority of Pakistanis, secular minded or not, view Musharraf as an American puppet."
Pete: Come back to me Kate is the exclusive on the front of the Mirror
Kate Moss's ex-lover Pete Doherty today uses the Daily Mirror to send her an extraordinary message of love and begs: "Take me back."
The junkie rocker - dumped by Kate, 33, earlier this month - believes this is the only way he can get through to the supermodel who is an avid Mirror reader.
In an explosive interview, Doherty, 28, said: "I can't get hold of her any other way. I need Kate to know that I still love her. She has broken my heart."
The Sun meanwhile continues its obsession with Great White Sharks
IT'S GOT A MATE screams the headline
THE shark filmed by tourists off Britain’s coastline is a female Great White — with a BOYFRIEND lurking nearby, a top expert said last night.
Leading Aussie shark watcher Dave “Sharkman” Baxter confirmed footage shot off St Ives, Cornwall, DOES show the razor-toothed predator featured in screen blockbuster Jaws.
He said after viewing video featured in yesterday’s Sun: “That’s definitely a Great White — probably an adult female about 12ft long. Her mate will be close by.”
The Guardian though isnt convinced
Expert ridicules shark scare
Swimmers, surfers and fishermen can rest easy in the knowledge that the Jaws of the Cornish coast, captured on video and posted on the Sun's website, is a harmless basking shark and not the great white the paper claimed, according to a marine biologist.
David Sims, who leads the only scientific study of large sharks in the UK, at the Marine Biological Association in Plymouth, said: "The Sun seems to run this story every summer. Just because parliament has gone into recess does not make this a great white shark."
Food manufacturers target children on internet after regulator's TV advertising clampdown reports the Guardian
Some of the world's leading food manufacturers have begun marketing to children on social networking websites and internet chat programs.
Brands such as McDonald's, Starburst, Haribo and Skittles are using the internet to target children now that new rules from the media regulator Ofcom have made it difficult to advertise during children's television.
At the beginning of July, the sweet brand Skittles paid a six-figure sum to set up a profile on the social networking site Bebo which has already been viewed more than 50,000 times and attracted more than 3,500 "friends". In an interview with the Guardian, a Bebo spokesman described these "friends" as "brand ambassadors". Bebo users have to declare they are at least 13, but it is known that much younger children do use the site.
And staying with food but on a lighter note,the Telegraph reveals
Jelly beans sour England Test against India
An already sour contest between two giants of the Test arena at Trent Bridge in Nottingham was ignited after the tiny nugget of confectionery appeared at the short leg fielding position - infuriating India's tail-end batsman Zaheer Khan and sparking an extraordinary bat-waving bust-up.
Just why the bean was deployed, and who was responsible, were still the subject of claim and counter-claim last night. But it seems the riddle of the jelly bean is set to dominate the final day's play today.
Finally the Sun reports on the
Headmistress is a Harry Rotter
A PRIMARY school head ruined the new Harry Potter book for pupils — by reading out the final page on the last day of term.
Youngsters looking forward to reading the best-seller over the summer holidays were left reeling as Carolyn Banfield gave the game away.
Nine-year-old pupil Louie Swift said: “I don’t know why she read it.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Monday, July 30, 2007
The papers cannot agree on the main story today but Gordon Brown's first visit as Pm to America gets a great deal of coverage
Brown tries to shift Bush talks to trade and Darfur says the paper
Gordon Brown arrived in Washington last night for his first meeting as prime minister with George Bush, determined to shift the focus from Iraq towards less divisive issues such as trade and Darfur.
Mr Brown, who is scheduled to hold formal talks today with Mr Bush and his team at Camp David, the presidential weekend retreat, praised Mr Bush and commended his leadership in the fight against international terrorism - but failed to mention the war in Iraq.
Let's launch a 'cultural offensive' against militant Islam, Brown tells Bush says the Mail
Gordon Brown will use his first formal talks with George Bush to urge a massive cultural offensive against Islamic extremism.
He is set to urge America to learn from the Cold War and mount a battle of ideas rather than rely on military might alone.
As he began his first formal talks with President Bush, he declared: "It is our shared task to expose terrorism for what it is - not a cause but a crime. A crime against humanity."
His words contrasted strongly with the Bush rhetoric of a "war against terror".
The Telegraph reports that
As he left Britain, the Prime Minister spoke of strengthening the "special relationship" but, crucially, was silent on Iraq.
There is growing concern in Washington following a visit by Simon McDonald, Mr Brown's chief foreign policy adviser, in which he reportedly asked what the implications would be if Britain pulled its troops out of southern Iraq.
Mr Brown's first prime ministerial visit to the US will last less than 24 hours. His spokesman insisted that there was no significance in his failure to mention Iraq in his pre-Camp David statement.
'Yo, Brown!': PM arrives for first talks with Bush says the Independent
Speaking to journalists during his flight to Washington, Mr Brown remarkably made no mention of Iraq in what was seen as an attempt to distance himself from what has become known in Britain as "Blair's war".
Plans to pull out the 5,500 British troops in southern Iraq were discussed by the two leaders over dinner at the President's Camp David retreat last night. Mr Brown was expected to reassure Mr Bush that he does not want to speed up plans to hand over the Basra area to Iraqi security forces.
Brown to lead Darfur fight says the Mirror
He hopes his initiative, to be set out at a White House meeting, will help stop the slaughter which has left up to 250,000 dead, two million homeless and four million on food aid.
Mr Brown also hopes that in the wake of the Iraq fiasco it will show how the US-UK relationship can be a force for international good.
Under the UN plan a 19,000-strong force of African and troops from other UN countries will try to stop Arab Janjaweed militia launching brutal raids on the people of Darfur.
A separate EU force will go to neighbouring Chad to stop the conflict spilling over.
The Indy though leads with Iraq
THE HUMAN TIDE says the headline
Two thousand Iraqis are fleeing their homes every day. It is the greatest mass exodus of people ever in the Middle East and dwarfs anything seen in Europe since the Second World War. Four million people, one in seven Iraqis, have run away, because if they do not they will be killed. Two million have left Iraq, mainly for Syria and Jordan, and the same number have fled within the country.
Yet, while the US and Britain express sympathy for the plight of refugees in Africa, they are ignoring - or playing down- a far greater tragedy which is largely of their own making.
But good news from the same country appears on a number of the front pages
One goal unites thousands of Iraqis in footballing triumph says the Times
Victory bullets rained on Iraq yesterday as millions of people united as one to celebrate an historic football triumph against Saudi Arabia in the final of the Asian Cup.
Casting aside fears of car bombs, Shia, Sunni and Kurds joined together to savour the 1-0 win in a rare moment of happiness for a country usually divided by sectarian strife.
Soldiers, policemen and civilians defied a strict government order to leave their guns at home and surged into the streets, firing celebratory shots into the air from pistols and automatic machineguns.
The paper leads with
Criminal trial chaos over lack of judges
An acute shortage of judges is causing long delays in bringing criminal trials to court, putting more pressure on overcrowded prisons and delaying justice for victims of crime.
The Times has learnt that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, received a list of approved candidates to fill the growing number of vacancies for Crown Court judges some weeks ago But Mr Straw has not indicated how many appointments he will make nor when he will announce them.
Retired judges are being pressed into service, and part-time recorders are being repeatedly asked to serve for longer periods. Such ad hoc measures save money because the Government does not have to pay holiday allowance or pension contributions for retired or part-time judges.
The Telegraph returns to the subject of the floods
Former flood chief: I would give up bonus is its lead story
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Professor Ed Gallagher said his requests for more funds for flood defences were repeatedly turned down.
He also increased the pressure on the agency's management to repay the five-figure bonuses they were awarded days before the recent floods, saying that he would have expected his bonus to be "reduced" in the same situation.
"We first issued warnings and asked for more money in the 1990s, unfortunately at that time we were in the middle of a drought and rivers and reservoirs were drying up so that one fell on deaf ears," he said.
Weather gives flood-ravaged area a break as engineers work to restore water supply says the Guardian
Devastated areas of the Severn valley had their first reprieve for over a week as heavy rainfall tracked away from the area and water engineers made unexpected progress in restoring domestic supplies.
Overnight showers in battered Tewkesbury raised fears of further misery but clearer weather pushed them east before dawn and the town basked in warm sunshine most of yesterday, along with much of the rest of the country.
But the political fallout from the floods continued as Lady Young, head of the Environment Agency, was forced to defend bonuses paid to her and other senior executives at the quango.
It leads though with the story that
NHS doctors challenge high drugs prices
British doctors are to rebel against high prices set by pharmaceutical companies for their products by giving patients a cheap but unlicensed drug that prevents blindness, the Guardian has learned.
Unable to afford to treat all those losing their sight with a licensed and extremely expensive drug, Lucentis, some primary care trusts are giving NHS doctors the green light to use tiny shots of a similar drug, Avastin, which is marketed for bowel cancer, but costs a fraction of the price. Avastin is widely used for eye complaints in the United States.
Both the Mail and Express return to the house theme
HIPs 'could be used to raise council tax' claims the Mail
The new Home Information Pack scheme will be used to raise council tax through a "stealth" revaluation, it has been claimed.
The Tories accused ministers of preparing to use data gathered by assessors compiling the new reports to revalue homes and increase bills.
The charge came as experts warned that the HIPs – to be introduced on Wednesday for homes with four bedrooms or more – will lead to chaos, confusion and chicanery for the entire property industry.
HOUSE PRICE CHAOS says the Express
THE housing market will be plunged into chaos this week when the controversial home information packs are introduced.
Both home buyers and sellers face confusion amid warnings that the packs will push up the cost of moving and hit property prices.
With interest rates rising and house price increases already slowing, estate agents fear that the new packs – which come into force on Wednesday – will inflict serious damage on the property market.
JAWS 2 Is the Sun's lead story this morning
HORRIFIED mum Catherine Price videoed a “harmless” shark off Cornwall — then discovered it was Britain’s JAWS.
Holidaymaker Catherine was on a boat trip with son Callum, seven, when they spotted the 12ft monster’s fin.
As it circled in the water, fellow tourists dismissed the creature as a docile basking shark.
But Catherine got the shock of her life yesterday — as experts confirmed it could well be the second sighting of a deadly GREAT WHITE prowling off St Ives.
The papers report the death of Comedian Mike Reid,the Mirror leads with it
Eastenders star Mike Reid died suddenly last night following a massive heart attack.
Reid, 67 - car dealer Frank Butcher in the BBC soap - collapsed at his luxury villa in Spain and was dead by the time he reached hospital.
Stunned co-star Barbara Windsor, who played his third wife Peggy Mitchell, said: "It's absolutely terrible news.
"He was a lovely man, a good performer, an actor and a friend." Reid's agent David Hahn said his widow Shirley was too shocked to speak.
He added: "She's distraught. Mike was her life."
BARBARA Windsor last night led tributes to East-Enders pal Mike Reid after he died of a heart attack, saying: “He was the best.” reports the Sun
Richard Branson admits: 'I smoked drugs with my son'reports the Mail
The extrovert billionaire says he smoked cannabis with model son Sam, now 21, during a surfing holiday in Australia.
Sir Richard, 57, "I went with my son on his gap year. We had some nights where we laughed our heads off for eight hours." I don't think smoking the occasional spliff is all that wrong. I'd rather my son did it in front of me than behind closed doors."
In the interview with Piers Morgan for GQ magazine, the entrepreneur also admitted trying cocaine and ecstasy
The Times reports that
After 38 years, the Army’s longest campaign draws to a quiet close
The Army’s longest continuous military campaign in its history will come to an end at midnight tomorrow, but there will be no fanfare for the passing of Operation Banner: soldiers are too busy for that.
For decades the Northern Ireland Troubles came to define what the Army was about. Now, after 38 years of constant service, with more than 300,000 military personnel serving there and 763 killed as a direct result of terrorism, it is over.
The 5,000 soldiers stationed in Northern Ireland will remain, but no longer as part of the security forces.
Abe to stay despite drubbing in election says the Independent
Japan's voters delivered a devastating verdict yesterday on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 10 scandal-tainted months in office.
Mr Abe's grip on power has been badly weakened by the results of the upper house election, which saw a historic swing away from the conservative ruling coalition he heads toward the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
The Liberal Democrat (LDP)/New Komeito government needed 64 of the 121 seats being contested to keep control of the house. Early results predicted that it would lose more than 20 seats, with some polls suggesting that the LDP could match its worst upper house performance in 1989, when it won just 36.
"If projections are correct, we are looking at utter defeat," said the LDP secretary general, Hidenao Nakagawa.
Inside Iran's nuclear nerve centre: halfway house to an atomic bomb reports the Guardian
With global tensions rising over Iran's nuclear intentions, the doors of the Isfahan plant were opened last week to a small group of journalists from Europe and America in a rare bid for transparency by the embattled but determined government in Tehran.
Ten miles south-east of the tiled mosques of Isfahan, Persia's old capital, the conversion plant is a cluster of squat yellow-brick buildings at the foot of some weathered sandstone crags, and ringed by anti-aircraft batteries dug into the surrounding semi-desert.
RAF typist who hurt thumb is awarded eight times more than soldier who lost leg reports the Mail
An RAF typist who injured her thumb at work is to be paid almost half a million pounds by the Ministry of Defence.
The civilian's award is almost 30 times the amount a serviceman would receive for the same injury.
It is eight times more than a soldier would receive for losing a leg and almost double the amount he could expect if he lost both legs.
The £484,000 payout was condemned by former soldiers, politicians and servicemen's charities who fear it will severely damage morale.
The Mirror claims an exclusive
Jail's where Allah wants me
The Mirror has exclusively seen prison letters from the 33-year-old Briton who is serving 110 years in a US jail for trying to bomb nearly 200 air passengers out of the sky.
He never once expresses remorse or regret for his vile crime. Instead, he rambles that "everything which occurs in this life contains some good for us".
But though the simple-minded street mugger turned zealous Muslim convert believes he will be rewarded in heaven he fantasises of freedom on earth.
Declaring his belief that God will make his delusional hopes come true, he writes: "I had a couple of good dreams about my situation changing for the better in the not so distant future, so this is a blessing from Allah.
Finally the Telegraph reports
Hillary Clinton student letters reveal high mind
A box of yellowed letters written in the 1960s by a self-absorbed, angst-ridden university student with a penchant for long words and philosophising has given intriguing insights into the author - the future Senator Hillary Clinton.
They were written by Mrs Clinton, the favourite to win the Democratic presidential nomination, between 1965 and 1969 when she was a student at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and was keeping in touch with an old school friend called John Peavoy. The assured, fiercely disciplined politician had then "not yet reconciled myself to the fate of not being the star" at university and was unimpressed by the "boys" she had met "who know a lot about 'self' and nothing about 'man'".
Brown tries to shift Bush talks to trade and Darfur says the paper
Gordon Brown arrived in Washington last night for his first meeting as prime minister with George Bush, determined to shift the focus from Iraq towards less divisive issues such as trade and Darfur.
Mr Brown, who is scheduled to hold formal talks today with Mr Bush and his team at Camp David, the presidential weekend retreat, praised Mr Bush and commended his leadership in the fight against international terrorism - but failed to mention the war in Iraq.
Let's launch a 'cultural offensive' against militant Islam, Brown tells Bush says the Mail
Gordon Brown will use his first formal talks with George Bush to urge a massive cultural offensive against Islamic extremism.
He is set to urge America to learn from the Cold War and mount a battle of ideas rather than rely on military might alone.
As he began his first formal talks with President Bush, he declared: "It is our shared task to expose terrorism for what it is - not a cause but a crime. A crime against humanity."
His words contrasted strongly with the Bush rhetoric of a "war against terror".
The Telegraph reports that
As he left Britain, the Prime Minister spoke of strengthening the "special relationship" but, crucially, was silent on Iraq.
There is growing concern in Washington following a visit by Simon McDonald, Mr Brown's chief foreign policy adviser, in which he reportedly asked what the implications would be if Britain pulled its troops out of southern Iraq.
Mr Brown's first prime ministerial visit to the US will last less than 24 hours. His spokesman insisted that there was no significance in his failure to mention Iraq in his pre-Camp David statement.
'Yo, Brown!': PM arrives for first talks with Bush says the Independent
Speaking to journalists during his flight to Washington, Mr Brown remarkably made no mention of Iraq in what was seen as an attempt to distance himself from what has become known in Britain as "Blair's war".
Plans to pull out the 5,500 British troops in southern Iraq were discussed by the two leaders over dinner at the President's Camp David retreat last night. Mr Brown was expected to reassure Mr Bush that he does not want to speed up plans to hand over the Basra area to Iraqi security forces.
Brown to lead Darfur fight says the Mirror
He hopes his initiative, to be set out at a White House meeting, will help stop the slaughter which has left up to 250,000 dead, two million homeless and four million on food aid.
Mr Brown also hopes that in the wake of the Iraq fiasco it will show how the US-UK relationship can be a force for international good.
Under the UN plan a 19,000-strong force of African and troops from other UN countries will try to stop Arab Janjaweed militia launching brutal raids on the people of Darfur.
A separate EU force will go to neighbouring Chad to stop the conflict spilling over.
The Indy though leads with Iraq
THE HUMAN TIDE says the headline
Two thousand Iraqis are fleeing their homes every day. It is the greatest mass exodus of people ever in the Middle East and dwarfs anything seen in Europe since the Second World War. Four million people, one in seven Iraqis, have run away, because if they do not they will be killed. Two million have left Iraq, mainly for Syria and Jordan, and the same number have fled within the country.
Yet, while the US and Britain express sympathy for the plight of refugees in Africa, they are ignoring - or playing down- a far greater tragedy which is largely of their own making.
But good news from the same country appears on a number of the front pages
One goal unites thousands of Iraqis in footballing triumph says the Times
Victory bullets rained on Iraq yesterday as millions of people united as one to celebrate an historic football triumph against Saudi Arabia in the final of the Asian Cup.
Casting aside fears of car bombs, Shia, Sunni and Kurds joined together to savour the 1-0 win in a rare moment of happiness for a country usually divided by sectarian strife.
Soldiers, policemen and civilians defied a strict government order to leave their guns at home and surged into the streets, firing celebratory shots into the air from pistols and automatic machineguns.
The paper leads with
Criminal trial chaos over lack of judges
An acute shortage of judges is causing long delays in bringing criminal trials to court, putting more pressure on overcrowded prisons and delaying justice for victims of crime.
The Times has learnt that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, received a list of approved candidates to fill the growing number of vacancies for Crown Court judges some weeks ago But Mr Straw has not indicated how many appointments he will make nor when he will announce them.
Retired judges are being pressed into service, and part-time recorders are being repeatedly asked to serve for longer periods. Such ad hoc measures save money because the Government does not have to pay holiday allowance or pension contributions for retired or part-time judges.
The Telegraph returns to the subject of the floods
Former flood chief: I would give up bonus is its lead story
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme this morning, Professor Ed Gallagher said his requests for more funds for flood defences were repeatedly turned down.
He also increased the pressure on the agency's management to repay the five-figure bonuses they were awarded days before the recent floods, saying that he would have expected his bonus to be "reduced" in the same situation.
"We first issued warnings and asked for more money in the 1990s, unfortunately at that time we were in the middle of a drought and rivers and reservoirs were drying up so that one fell on deaf ears," he said.
Weather gives flood-ravaged area a break as engineers work to restore water supply says the Guardian
Devastated areas of the Severn valley had their first reprieve for over a week as heavy rainfall tracked away from the area and water engineers made unexpected progress in restoring domestic supplies.
Overnight showers in battered Tewkesbury raised fears of further misery but clearer weather pushed them east before dawn and the town basked in warm sunshine most of yesterday, along with much of the rest of the country.
But the political fallout from the floods continued as Lady Young, head of the Environment Agency, was forced to defend bonuses paid to her and other senior executives at the quango.
It leads though with the story that
NHS doctors challenge high drugs prices
British doctors are to rebel against high prices set by pharmaceutical companies for their products by giving patients a cheap but unlicensed drug that prevents blindness, the Guardian has learned.
Unable to afford to treat all those losing their sight with a licensed and extremely expensive drug, Lucentis, some primary care trusts are giving NHS doctors the green light to use tiny shots of a similar drug, Avastin, which is marketed for bowel cancer, but costs a fraction of the price. Avastin is widely used for eye complaints in the United States.
Both the Mail and Express return to the house theme
HIPs 'could be used to raise council tax' claims the Mail
The new Home Information Pack scheme will be used to raise council tax through a "stealth" revaluation, it has been claimed.
The Tories accused ministers of preparing to use data gathered by assessors compiling the new reports to revalue homes and increase bills.
The charge came as experts warned that the HIPs – to be introduced on Wednesday for homes with four bedrooms or more – will lead to chaos, confusion and chicanery for the entire property industry.
HOUSE PRICE CHAOS says the Express
THE housing market will be plunged into chaos this week when the controversial home information packs are introduced.
Both home buyers and sellers face confusion amid warnings that the packs will push up the cost of moving and hit property prices.
With interest rates rising and house price increases already slowing, estate agents fear that the new packs – which come into force on Wednesday – will inflict serious damage on the property market.
JAWS 2 Is the Sun's lead story this morning
HORRIFIED mum Catherine Price videoed a “harmless” shark off Cornwall — then discovered it was Britain’s JAWS.
Holidaymaker Catherine was on a boat trip with son Callum, seven, when they spotted the 12ft monster’s fin.
As it circled in the water, fellow tourists dismissed the creature as a docile basking shark.
But Catherine got the shock of her life yesterday — as experts confirmed it could well be the second sighting of a deadly GREAT WHITE prowling off St Ives.
The papers report the death of Comedian Mike Reid,the Mirror leads with it
Eastenders star Mike Reid died suddenly last night following a massive heart attack.
Reid, 67 - car dealer Frank Butcher in the BBC soap - collapsed at his luxury villa in Spain and was dead by the time he reached hospital.
Stunned co-star Barbara Windsor, who played his third wife Peggy Mitchell, said: "It's absolutely terrible news.
"He was a lovely man, a good performer, an actor and a friend." Reid's agent David Hahn said his widow Shirley was too shocked to speak.
He added: "She's distraught. Mike was her life."
BARBARA Windsor last night led tributes to East-Enders pal Mike Reid after he died of a heart attack, saying: “He was the best.” reports the Sun
Richard Branson admits: 'I smoked drugs with my son'reports the Mail
The extrovert billionaire says he smoked cannabis with model son Sam, now 21, during a surfing holiday in Australia.
Sir Richard, 57, "I went with my son on his gap year. We had some nights where we laughed our heads off for eight hours." I don't think smoking the occasional spliff is all that wrong. I'd rather my son did it in front of me than behind closed doors."
In the interview with Piers Morgan for GQ magazine, the entrepreneur also admitted trying cocaine and ecstasy
The Times reports that
After 38 years, the Army’s longest campaign draws to a quiet close
The Army’s longest continuous military campaign in its history will come to an end at midnight tomorrow, but there will be no fanfare for the passing of Operation Banner: soldiers are too busy for that.
For decades the Northern Ireland Troubles came to define what the Army was about. Now, after 38 years of constant service, with more than 300,000 military personnel serving there and 763 killed as a direct result of terrorism, it is over.
The 5,000 soldiers stationed in Northern Ireland will remain, but no longer as part of the security forces.
Abe to stay despite drubbing in election says the Independent
Japan's voters delivered a devastating verdict yesterday on Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's 10 scandal-tainted months in office.
Mr Abe's grip on power has been badly weakened by the results of the upper house election, which saw a historic swing away from the conservative ruling coalition he heads toward the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
The Liberal Democrat (LDP)/New Komeito government needed 64 of the 121 seats being contested to keep control of the house. Early results predicted that it would lose more than 20 seats, with some polls suggesting that the LDP could match its worst upper house performance in 1989, when it won just 36.
"If projections are correct, we are looking at utter defeat," said the LDP secretary general, Hidenao Nakagawa.
Inside Iran's nuclear nerve centre: halfway house to an atomic bomb reports the Guardian
With global tensions rising over Iran's nuclear intentions, the doors of the Isfahan plant were opened last week to a small group of journalists from Europe and America in a rare bid for transparency by the embattled but determined government in Tehran.
Ten miles south-east of the tiled mosques of Isfahan, Persia's old capital, the conversion plant is a cluster of squat yellow-brick buildings at the foot of some weathered sandstone crags, and ringed by anti-aircraft batteries dug into the surrounding semi-desert.
RAF typist who hurt thumb is awarded eight times more than soldier who lost leg reports the Mail
An RAF typist who injured her thumb at work is to be paid almost half a million pounds by the Ministry of Defence.
The civilian's award is almost 30 times the amount a serviceman would receive for the same injury.
It is eight times more than a soldier would receive for losing a leg and almost double the amount he could expect if he lost both legs.
The £484,000 payout was condemned by former soldiers, politicians and servicemen's charities who fear it will severely damage morale.
The Mirror claims an exclusive
Jail's where Allah wants me
The Mirror has exclusively seen prison letters from the 33-year-old Briton who is serving 110 years in a US jail for trying to bomb nearly 200 air passengers out of the sky.
He never once expresses remorse or regret for his vile crime. Instead, he rambles that "everything which occurs in this life contains some good for us".
But though the simple-minded street mugger turned zealous Muslim convert believes he will be rewarded in heaven he fantasises of freedom on earth.
Declaring his belief that God will make his delusional hopes come true, he writes: "I had a couple of good dreams about my situation changing for the better in the not so distant future, so this is a blessing from Allah.
Finally the Telegraph reports
Hillary Clinton student letters reveal high mind
A box of yellowed letters written in the 1960s by a self-absorbed, angst-ridden university student with a penchant for long words and philosophising has given intriguing insights into the author - the future Senator Hillary Clinton.
They were written by Mrs Clinton, the favourite to win the Democratic presidential nomination, between 1965 and 1969 when she was a student at Wellesley College, Massachusetts, and was keeping in touch with an old school friend called John Peavoy. The assured, fiercely disciplined politician had then "not yet reconciled myself to the fate of not being the star" at university and was unimpressed by the "boys" she had met "who know a lot about 'self' and nothing about 'man'".
Friday, July 27, 2007
HEATHROW SECURITY ALERT headlines the Indpendent,the paper reporting
Five million people in peaceful environmental organisations such as the National Trust and the RSPB have become the subject of an extraordinary legal attempt to limit their right to protest.
In legal documents seen by The Independent, the British Airports Authority has begun moves that would allow police to arrest members of 15 environmental groups to prevent them taking part in demonstrations against airport expansion.
While the threat of terrorism and consequent security checks have been dominating the headlines during the start of the summer holidays, BAA has been planning a pre-emptive strike against environmentalists
The papers generally cant agree on the main news this morning,the Telegraph leads with
BROWN POLL BOOST COULD PROMPT SNAP ELECTION
Gordon Brown's dilemma over calling a snap "honeymoon" election this autumn is increased today by a YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph showing that he has established a poll lead capable of doubling Labour's Commons majority
Labour's nine-point lead, comparable to its performance in the 2001 general election, would give Mr Brown a Commons majority of 134 over all other parties, double his present 67 working majority.
He will have to decide within weeks whether to capitalise on his advantage and call an October election before a demoralised Conservative Party can regroup - or wait until spring or later before seeking his own mandate.
According to the Times
Hundreds of doctors work with no checks
Hundreds of junior doctors, including overseas staff, will be employed by hospitals from next week without undergoing proper security checks, The Times has learnt.
Hospital trusts have been unable to investigate the criminal records of trainees because they have received their names over the past two weeks – and checks take at least 28 days.
The delay has been blamed on the junior doctors training fiasco. Hospitals will take on a new rotation of trainees on August 1.
The disclosure will embarrass Gordon Brown, who pledged to tighten checks on medical staff after foreign junior doctors were arrested in connection with the failed attacks in Glasgow and London.
The Guardian meanwhile leads with
Scientists link diabetes drugs to heart failure
Two of the most commonly used drugs for diabetes, which were taken by hundreds of thousands of mostly overweight people in the UK last year, are causing widespread heart failure, scientists warn today.
Use of the drugs, prescribed by doctors for type II diabetes, has doubled in the past three years as a consequence of a growing obesity problem. Last year 1.8m prescriptions were written across the UK, which scientists say equates to several hundred thousand patients taking the drugs which are recommended for use across the NHS by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
Medical matters for the front of the Mail which reports that
Smoking just one cannabis joint raises danger of mental illness by 40%
A single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent, a disturbing study warns.
The Government-commissioned report has also found that taking the drug regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.
Overall, cannabis could be to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering mental illness, the Lancet reports.
The Times carries news of the first interview of the widow of a 7/7 bomber
I pray for 7/7 bomber, my husband says the paper
The widow of the ringleader of the July 7 suicide bombings still prays for her husband who, she believes, was a good man until he was brainwashed.
In her first interview since the attacks, Hasina Patel, who was married to Mohammad Sidique Khan for eight years, said that she had “full sympathy” with the bomb victims.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Patel said she could not believe that the man she married could have been so “cold and calculated” to have carried out the attacks that killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
She also disclosed that police had told her recently that Khan, 32, had left her £400 to buy toys for their children, not knowing that she had miscarried on the morning of the bombings.
Back to the floods and the Sun headlines
POND LIFE
FURIOUS flood victims last night slammed yobs who ruined their emergency water supply.
Gangs of youngsters urinated in a desperately-needed water bowser and tipped bleach into another.
They also emptied one of the mobile tankers of its precious water within 15 minutes of its arrival in Cheltenham, Gloucs — then stood by laughing.
Furious locals, among the hundreds of thousands of people left without mains water, called in police community support officers to guard other bowsers on the town’s tough Hester’s Way estate.
One told The Sun: “It’s unbelievable that they think it’s funny to put people’s lives in danger.
Britain's worst floods claim father and son reports the Telegraph
A father and son died as they attempted to pump water out of the cellar of their waterlogged rugby club in Gloucestershire.
The bodies of Bramwell Lane, 64, and Christopher Lane, 27, were found in Tewkesbury RFC's clubhouse when a fellow member went to open up yesterday morning.
The club treasurer and his son are thought to have been electrocuted or overcome by fumes after taking a petrol generator to power the pump in an attempt to clear water from the club's flooded cellar
Rainfall the worst for 200 years ... in case you hadn't guessed reports the Guardian
Torrential downpours which hit last week and left swathes of England and Wales under water were officially the worst in more than 200 years of record keeping, according to figures released by the Met Office yesterday.
Rainfall was more than double the seasonal average, with the early summer months of May to July witnessing 382.4mm (15.06 inches) of rainwater, topping the previous record of 349.1mm in 1789, officials said.
Deluges in 32 counties, covering the thousands of square miles stretching from Devon to Yorkshire, broke records dating back to 1914 by more than 25mm, the meteorologists added.
Forecasters predict the weather to remain unsettled until early August, with satellite images for the weekend suggesting a further 20mm of rain are possible across parts of the south-west.
The front page of the Mirror carries the story
Executed at just 16
Boy,16, hunted by hoodie gang
TEENAGE gang victim Abukar Mahamed was blasted in the face by "ninja" hoodies as he cowered in terror behind a tree yesterday.
Somalian Abukar, 16, was cruelly hunted down on bikes by up to seven youths with their faces hidden by bandanas.
The lad, who had spent the day playing PlayStation with a cousin, died instantly.
A neighbour who was first on the scene on a lawless estate in South London said: "I saw a gang of lads on BMX bikes riding after a young lad running away.
"There wasn't any shouting. The boy was darting around looking for where to escape.
"He was running really fast and hid behind a tree. He was cornered.
"The gang surrounded him and shot him in the face. I didn't even hear him scream.
Boy shot dead after bike chase is 10th young London victim in six months says the Guardian
The murder of Abukah Mahamood, who had just finished his GCSE exams, is the 10th high profile killing of a teenage boy in gang violence in London in less than six months.
Abukah, whose family are originally from Somalia, died in the early hours of yesterday morning after residents on the Stockwell Gardens estate, south London, heard several shots ring out. Police sources confirmed his name and said his family had been informed.
The final day of Shambo the bull is covered by all the papers
Shambo goes to his death: Police finally take sacred bullock away for slaughter after day of chaos says the Mail
There is no doubt they are experts in the power of prayer. But the Hindu monks of Skanda Vale were no match for the might of the law.
Thirty police officers were sent to their retreat in West Wales to enforce the removal of Shambo, the bull under a death sentence after being diagnosed with TB.
Tears as Shambo is led to slaughter says the Telegraph
More than 20 officers arrived at the temple in the rolling Welsh hills where the Friesian, which tested positive to bovine TB, has been under the protection of Hindu monks.
The officers moved a "human shield" of more than 100 people protesting against the ruling by Welsh Assembly Government officials and the Court of Appeal that Shambo must be destroyed because of his exposure to the disease.
Police, who arrived in four riot vans, used bolt cutters to enter the Skanda Vale temple in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, shortly after 4pm yesterday.
VETS TAKE SHAMBO AFTER 10HR STAND-OFF says the Mirror
'I'm no paedophile': tearful Langham breaks down in the witness stand reports the Indpendent
It was the moment that Chris Langham must have looked forward to and dreaded. Yesterday, he took the witness stand on the 10th day of his trial at Maidstone Crown Court. It was his opportunity to refute the charges against him - but also an occasion when he had to relive his ordeal since being arrested for accessing child pornography.
"I had a terrifying six months. I just wanted to die and I tried to kill myself. I hated it, I just hated it," the actor said.
Mr Langham had come close to breaking down earlier in the day, when he denied he was a paedophile - and again as he described being sexually abused by a man when he was eight years old.
Weeping Langham: 'I was sexually abused as a child' says the Mail
Chris Lagham sobbed in the witness box as he claimed that he was abused as a boy and that looking at child pornography triggered memories of it. "I'm one of the children in the photograph. This is the problem I have with it
The bit of me that reacts is a bit of me I dont have any more.
Langham, a father of five, claims to have looked at the child pornography because he was carrying out research for the BBC2 comedy series Help.
The Guardian reports that
Congress delivers blow to Bush's European missile project by slashing funding
George Bush's plans to establish a European missile defence system suffered a big setback yesterday when a Congressional committee slashed the funding.
The House appropriations committee cut $139m (£69.5m) from the $310m the Bush administration wants for preparatory work on the missile project in Europe. It approved funds for a radar system in the Czech Republic but cut the $139m Mr Bush requested to establish a missile interception system in Poland, the most controversial part of the defence system.
David Miliband in Taliban policy split with US reports the Telegraph
Differences between British and American strategy in dealing with Taliban militants emerged yesterday during the Foreign Secretary’s first visit to Pakistan. David Miliband, the newly-appointed Foreign Secretary, emphasised that a purely military solution to violence in Pakistan’s tribal areas would not alone quash the insurgency.
“Britain has a strong interest in the stability of Pakistan, in defeating extremism and in the development of tribal areas,” said Mr Miliband after talks with President Pervez Musharraf.
“Counter-terrorism is about military force but we also need economic and social development,” he added.
Pakistani officials underscored the difference in approach between the two allies by stating that Britain understood that political agreements were also needed to bring peace.
World markets plunge as fears rise headlines the same paper
Global stock markets were plunged into fresh turmoil yesterday as a cocktail of fears over higher interest rates, debt defaults and lower earnings sent shares tumbling.In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 440 points in late trading - on course for its biggest fall since 9/11. The FTSE 100 suffered its worst day for five years while the FTSE 250 posted its biggest points fall in history.
Investors fear that the ample liquidity that has driven so much of the merger and acquisition boom in recent years has abruptly dried up.
The Times reporting that
Shares plunged worldwide yesterday as panicked investors fled stock markets amid anxieties that the flood of cheap credit that has fuelled a global boom in corporate deals is drying up.
Mounting fears that a credit crunch will end the easy lending that has fuelled a wave of takeovers, and pushed shares to record highs, sent shockwaves through markets on both sides of the Atlantic.
Meanwhile the Guardian reports
High court to hear test case on 'illegal' banking charges
Britain's high street banks and the main consumer watchdog will today go to court to seek a test-case ruling aimed at resolving the uncertainty over "illegal" bank penalty charges.
A consumer revolt over allegedly unfair bank charges has gathered pace rapidly in recent months, with millions of people downloading complaint letters to send to their banks, local courts packed with customers demanding refunds, and some institutions warning that their profits may be hit as a result.
The Indy reports on
A good day to bury the news that ministerial car use has soared
The use of cars by ministers has risen by nearly 8 per cent in the past year, according to government figures, at a cost to the taxpayer of £6m.
MPs have also seen their allowances and expenses rise by an inflation-busting 5.5 per cent to a total £95m bill for the taxpayer. And as MPs packed their bags for the 10-week summer recess of Parliament, they heard that the Prime Minister had received a report recommending further increases in their salaries of £60,000, and their allowances.
The disclosures were part of an avalanche of announcements made in the last 48 hours before Parliament closed for the summer. Tory leaders accused Gordon Brown of dumping 76 announcements on the Commons to "bury bad news". The announcements ranged from the disclosure that Tony Blair had hosted dinners for celebrities at Chequers, including Charlotte Church, to the confirmation that Menwith Hill, the US listening base in Yorkshire, was to be used for the US missile defence programme.
According to the Telegraph
US candidates seek Thatcher's blessing
Republican presidential candidates are flocking to see Britain's icon of conservatism, Margaret Thatcher, in the hope that her blessing could help to secure them the presidency.
Rudy Giuliani, the Republican front runner, will become the latest 2008 candidate to kiss the former prime minister's hand when he travels to London in September to deliver the inaugural Margaret Thatcher memorial lecture to the Atlantic Bridge think tank.
He follows in the footsteps of Fred Thompson, poised to announce his presidential run and already running second in the polls, and Mitt Romney, ahead in the crucial early states of Iowa and New Hampshire
'Asbos are a failure'
EXCLUSIVE Kids Secretary Balls: Asbos are failure. I want a society that puts Asbos behind us says the Mirror
THE Asbo era must be "put behind us" insists Children's Secretary Ed Balls as he sets out plans to stop youngsters going off the rails.
In his first major interview since taking charge of all government policy affecting the young, Mr Balls said: "It's a failure every time a young person gets an Asbo.
"It's necessary - but it's not right.
"I want to live in the kind of society that puts Asbos behind us."
The Mail reports that
Teen violence is rocketing - yet only one in 50 is jailed
Only one in 50 teenagers convicted of a violent attack is locked up, despite soaring crime rates.
Official figures reveal the number of under-18s punished for a violent offence increased by 19 per cent - from 9,516 to 11,285 - in 12 months.
The average age of each thug was 15.
Despite the surge in violence, only 2 per cent of those dealt with by the justice system were sent to custody to teach them a harsh lesson.
Whilst in the Mirror
OUR PARENTS WOULDN'T LET US OUT IF THEY KNEW WHAT WE GET UP TO
EXCLUSIVE 10 TOWNS..10 TEENS..10PM.. SHOCKING MIRROR SURVEY
The paper visited
10 towns across Britain at 10pm on Wednesday night and in each quizzed 10 teens on the questions their parents - and society - need answered.
Which included
Do you take drugs or alcohol? If so, what, how often and how old were you the first time?
Among the 42 per cent who admit drug-taking, they have tried cannabis, skunk, cocaine, crack, crystal meth, ecstasy and heroin.
Charlene, 17, from Newport, admits: "I smoked my first spliff at 14, just before my first kiss."
In the same town we found David Weaver, 16, - one of the hug-a-hoodies once visited by Tory leader David Cameron.
He says: "I have been in care since I was 10. It was at that point I started smoking, drinking, doing weed. I still do the odd spliff, too."
The Express reports
VATICAN WARNS OF 'ISLAMISATION' OF EUROPE
POPE Benedict XVI’s private secretary has warned of the 'Islamisation' of Europe and demanded that the Continent’s Christian roots not to be ignored.
"Attempts to Islamise the west cannot be denied," Monsignor Georg Gaenswein was quoted as saying in a copy of the weekly Sueddeutsche Magazine published today.
"The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness," the magazine quoted him as saying.
Feeling blue: Italy's lakes have 'sick water' says the Independent
There is nothing wrong with the appearance of Italy's magnificent lakes. The water of Como, surrounded by high peaks, is deep blue and as clear as if it has just come tumbling out of the Alps. The village of Laglio, on the west shore of the lake's south-westerly fork, has been enjoying a boom since the actor George Clooney bought two villas there. Visitors crowd the little beach, too, families squashed on to towels enjoying the heatwave, children gambolling in and out of the water. There is a sign that says "No Bathing", but no one pays any attention. What possible harm could lurk in this sparkling water? BUT
Plenty, according to Legambiente, Italy's most prominent environmental organisation. The "no bathing" sign is there for an excellent reason. Clooney has found a great house with a marvellous view, but the water is sick. And not just slightly under the weather. The latest snapshot of pollution in Italy's lakes indicates Laglio is one of the worst-polluted lake beaches in the country. Bacteria is measured in terms of "colony-forming units"(cfu), a measure of viable bacterial numbers per 100 millilitres of water. The upper permitted limit of cfu for lake water that is safe to bathe in is 100. But at Laglio the figure is 6,800 - 68 times too high
Hard day at the office, dear? Says the Sun
A SCORNED woman who found a sex video of her partner with a girl colleague took revenge by emailing its filthy images to his boss.
And her man’s humiliation was complete when her message spread like wildfire round their office.
Sarah Rees, 38, was devastated to find images of 37-year-old Martin Hardy with different naked women in hotel rooms and their own HOME.
She recognised one girl as a worker at TUI UK — owner of Thomson Holidays — where self-employed Hardy had a lucrative consultancy contract.
Finally the Guardian reports that
Drunk astronauts go from Right Stuff to the hard stuff
America's space programme suffered unexpected turbulence yesterday when a revelation that astronauts were allowed to fly on the shuttle while drunk was followed by news of sabotage to the cargo of a forthcoming mission.
Nasa officials are expected to confirm today that there have been at least two occasions when crew members were so intoxicated before their launch that they were deemed a flight safety risk.
Five million people in peaceful environmental organisations such as the National Trust and the RSPB have become the subject of an extraordinary legal attempt to limit their right to protest.
In legal documents seen by The Independent, the British Airports Authority has begun moves that would allow police to arrest members of 15 environmental groups to prevent them taking part in demonstrations against airport expansion.
While the threat of terrorism and consequent security checks have been dominating the headlines during the start of the summer holidays, BAA has been planning a pre-emptive strike against environmentalists
The papers generally cant agree on the main news this morning,the Telegraph leads with
BROWN POLL BOOST COULD PROMPT SNAP ELECTION
Gordon Brown's dilemma over calling a snap "honeymoon" election this autumn is increased today by a YouGov survey for The Daily Telegraph showing that he has established a poll lead capable of doubling Labour's Commons majority
Labour's nine-point lead, comparable to its performance in the 2001 general election, would give Mr Brown a Commons majority of 134 over all other parties, double his present 67 working majority.
He will have to decide within weeks whether to capitalise on his advantage and call an October election before a demoralised Conservative Party can regroup - or wait until spring or later before seeking his own mandate.
According to the Times
Hundreds of doctors work with no checks
Hundreds of junior doctors, including overseas staff, will be employed by hospitals from next week without undergoing proper security checks, The Times has learnt.
Hospital trusts have been unable to investigate the criminal records of trainees because they have received their names over the past two weeks – and checks take at least 28 days.
The delay has been blamed on the junior doctors training fiasco. Hospitals will take on a new rotation of trainees on August 1.
The disclosure will embarrass Gordon Brown, who pledged to tighten checks on medical staff after foreign junior doctors were arrested in connection with the failed attacks in Glasgow and London.
The Guardian meanwhile leads with
Scientists link diabetes drugs to heart failure
Two of the most commonly used drugs for diabetes, which were taken by hundreds of thousands of mostly overweight people in the UK last year, are causing widespread heart failure, scientists warn today.
Use of the drugs, prescribed by doctors for type II diabetes, has doubled in the past three years as a consequence of a growing obesity problem. Last year 1.8m prescriptions were written across the UK, which scientists say equates to several hundred thousand patients taking the drugs which are recommended for use across the NHS by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).
Medical matters for the front of the Mail which reports that
Smoking just one cannabis joint raises danger of mental illness by 40%
A single joint of cannabis raises the risk of schizophrenia by more than 40 per cent, a disturbing study warns.
The Government-commissioned report has also found that taking the drug regularly more than doubles the risk of serious mental illness.
Overall, cannabis could be to blame for one in seven cases of schizophrenia and other life-shattering mental illness, the Lancet reports.
The Times carries news of the first interview of the widow of a 7/7 bomber
I pray for 7/7 bomber, my husband says the paper
The widow of the ringleader of the July 7 suicide bombings still prays for her husband who, she believes, was a good man until he was brainwashed.
In her first interview since the attacks, Hasina Patel, who was married to Mohammad Sidique Khan for eight years, said that she had “full sympathy” with the bomb victims.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Patel said she could not believe that the man she married could have been so “cold and calculated” to have carried out the attacks that killed 52 people and injured more than 700.
She also disclosed that police had told her recently that Khan, 32, had left her £400 to buy toys for their children, not knowing that she had miscarried on the morning of the bombings.
Back to the floods and the Sun headlines
POND LIFE
FURIOUS flood victims last night slammed yobs who ruined their emergency water supply.
Gangs of youngsters urinated in a desperately-needed water bowser and tipped bleach into another.
They also emptied one of the mobile tankers of its precious water within 15 minutes of its arrival in Cheltenham, Gloucs — then stood by laughing.
Furious locals, among the hundreds of thousands of people left without mains water, called in police community support officers to guard other bowsers on the town’s tough Hester’s Way estate.
One told The Sun: “It’s unbelievable that they think it’s funny to put people’s lives in danger.
Britain's worst floods claim father and son reports the Telegraph
A father and son died as they attempted to pump water out of the cellar of their waterlogged rugby club in Gloucestershire.
The bodies of Bramwell Lane, 64, and Christopher Lane, 27, were found in Tewkesbury RFC's clubhouse when a fellow member went to open up yesterday morning.
The club treasurer and his son are thought to have been electrocuted or overcome by fumes after taking a petrol generator to power the pump in an attempt to clear water from the club's flooded cellar
Rainfall the worst for 200 years ... in case you hadn't guessed reports the Guardian
Torrential downpours which hit last week and left swathes of England and Wales under water were officially the worst in more than 200 years of record keeping, according to figures released by the Met Office yesterday.
Rainfall was more than double the seasonal average, with the early summer months of May to July witnessing 382.4mm (15.06 inches) of rainwater, topping the previous record of 349.1mm in 1789, officials said.
Deluges in 32 counties, covering the thousands of square miles stretching from Devon to Yorkshire, broke records dating back to 1914 by more than 25mm, the meteorologists added.
Forecasters predict the weather to remain unsettled until early August, with satellite images for the weekend suggesting a further 20mm of rain are possible across parts of the south-west.
The front page of the Mirror carries the story
Executed at just 16
Boy,16, hunted by hoodie gang
TEENAGE gang victim Abukar Mahamed was blasted in the face by "ninja" hoodies as he cowered in terror behind a tree yesterday.
Somalian Abukar, 16, was cruelly hunted down on bikes by up to seven youths with their faces hidden by bandanas.
The lad, who had spent the day playing PlayStation with a cousin, died instantly.
A neighbour who was first on the scene on a lawless estate in South London said: "I saw a gang of lads on BMX bikes riding after a young lad running away.
"There wasn't any shouting. The boy was darting around looking for where to escape.
"He was running really fast and hid behind a tree. He was cornered.
"The gang surrounded him and shot him in the face. I didn't even hear him scream.
Boy shot dead after bike chase is 10th young London victim in six months says the Guardian
The murder of Abukah Mahamood, who had just finished his GCSE exams, is the 10th high profile killing of a teenage boy in gang violence in London in less than six months.
Abukah, whose family are originally from Somalia, died in the early hours of yesterday morning after residents on the Stockwell Gardens estate, south London, heard several shots ring out. Police sources confirmed his name and said his family had been informed.
The final day of Shambo the bull is covered by all the papers
Shambo goes to his death: Police finally take sacred bullock away for slaughter after day of chaos says the Mail
There is no doubt they are experts in the power of prayer. But the Hindu monks of Skanda Vale were no match for the might of the law.
Thirty police officers were sent to their retreat in West Wales to enforce the removal of Shambo, the bull under a death sentence after being diagnosed with TB.
Tears as Shambo is led to slaughter says the Telegraph
More than 20 officers arrived at the temple in the rolling Welsh hills where the Friesian, which tested positive to bovine TB, has been under the protection of Hindu monks.
The officers moved a "human shield" of more than 100 people protesting against the ruling by Welsh Assembly Government officials and the Court of Appeal that Shambo must be destroyed because of his exposure to the disease.
Police, who arrived in four riot vans, used bolt cutters to enter the Skanda Vale temple in Carmarthenshire, West Wales, shortly after 4pm yesterday.
VETS TAKE SHAMBO AFTER 10HR STAND-OFF says the Mirror
'I'm no paedophile': tearful Langham breaks down in the witness stand reports the Indpendent
It was the moment that Chris Langham must have looked forward to and dreaded. Yesterday, he took the witness stand on the 10th day of his trial at Maidstone Crown Court. It was his opportunity to refute the charges against him - but also an occasion when he had to relive his ordeal since being arrested for accessing child pornography.
"I had a terrifying six months. I just wanted to die and I tried to kill myself. I hated it, I just hated it," the actor said.
Mr Langham had come close to breaking down earlier in the day, when he denied he was a paedophile - and again as he described being sexually abused by a man when he was eight years old.
Weeping Langham: 'I was sexually abused as a child' says the Mail
Chris Lagham sobbed in the witness box as he claimed that he was abused as a boy and that looking at child pornography triggered memories of it. "I'm one of the children in the photograph. This is the problem I have with it
The bit of me that reacts is a bit of me I dont have any more.
Langham, a father of five, claims to have looked at the child pornography because he was carrying out research for the BBC2 comedy series Help.
The Guardian reports that
Congress delivers blow to Bush's European missile project by slashing funding
George Bush's plans to establish a European missile defence system suffered a big setback yesterday when a Congressional committee slashed the funding.
The House appropriations committee cut $139m (£69.5m) from the $310m the Bush administration wants for preparatory work on the missile project in Europe. It approved funds for a radar system in the Czech Republic but cut the $139m Mr Bush requested to establish a missile interception system in Poland, the most controversial part of the defence system.
David Miliband in Taliban policy split with US reports the Telegraph
Differences between British and American strategy in dealing with Taliban militants emerged yesterday during the Foreign Secretary’s first visit to Pakistan. David Miliband, the newly-appointed Foreign Secretary, emphasised that a purely military solution to violence in Pakistan’s tribal areas would not alone quash the insurgency.
“Britain has a strong interest in the stability of Pakistan, in defeating extremism and in the development of tribal areas,” said Mr Miliband after talks with President Pervez Musharraf.
“Counter-terrorism is about military force but we also need economic and social development,” he added.
Pakistani officials underscored the difference in approach between the two allies by stating that Britain understood that political agreements were also needed to bring peace.
World markets plunge as fears rise headlines the same paper
Global stock markets were plunged into fresh turmoil yesterday as a cocktail of fears over higher interest rates, debt defaults and lower earnings sent shares tumbling.In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged more than 440 points in late trading - on course for its biggest fall since 9/11. The FTSE 100 suffered its worst day for five years while the FTSE 250 posted its biggest points fall in history.
Investors fear that the ample liquidity that has driven so much of the merger and acquisition boom in recent years has abruptly dried up.
The Times reporting that
Shares plunged worldwide yesterday as panicked investors fled stock markets amid anxieties that the flood of cheap credit that has fuelled a global boom in corporate deals is drying up.
Mounting fears that a credit crunch will end the easy lending that has fuelled a wave of takeovers, and pushed shares to record highs, sent shockwaves through markets on both sides of the Atlantic.
Meanwhile the Guardian reports
High court to hear test case on 'illegal' banking charges
Britain's high street banks and the main consumer watchdog will today go to court to seek a test-case ruling aimed at resolving the uncertainty over "illegal" bank penalty charges.
A consumer revolt over allegedly unfair bank charges has gathered pace rapidly in recent months, with millions of people downloading complaint letters to send to their banks, local courts packed with customers demanding refunds, and some institutions warning that their profits may be hit as a result.
The Indy reports on
A good day to bury the news that ministerial car use has soared
The use of cars by ministers has risen by nearly 8 per cent in the past year, according to government figures, at a cost to the taxpayer of £6m.
MPs have also seen their allowances and expenses rise by an inflation-busting 5.5 per cent to a total £95m bill for the taxpayer. And as MPs packed their bags for the 10-week summer recess of Parliament, they heard that the Prime Minister had received a report recommending further increases in their salaries of £60,000, and their allowances.
The disclosures were part of an avalanche of announcements made in the last 48 hours before Parliament closed for the summer. Tory leaders accused Gordon Brown of dumping 76 announcements on the Commons to "bury bad news". The announcements ranged from the disclosure that Tony Blair had hosted dinners for celebrities at Chequers, including Charlotte Church, to the confirmation that Menwith Hill, the US listening base in Yorkshire, was to be used for the US missile defence programme.
According to the Telegraph
US candidates seek Thatcher's blessing
Republican presidential candidates are flocking to see Britain's icon of conservatism, Margaret Thatcher, in the hope that her blessing could help to secure them the presidency.
Rudy Giuliani, the Republican front runner, will become the latest 2008 candidate to kiss the former prime minister's hand when he travels to London in September to deliver the inaugural Margaret Thatcher memorial lecture to the Atlantic Bridge think tank.
He follows in the footsteps of Fred Thompson, poised to announce his presidential run and already running second in the polls, and Mitt Romney, ahead in the crucial early states of Iowa and New Hampshire
'Asbos are a failure'
EXCLUSIVE Kids Secretary Balls: Asbos are failure. I want a society that puts Asbos behind us says the Mirror
THE Asbo era must be "put behind us" insists Children's Secretary Ed Balls as he sets out plans to stop youngsters going off the rails.
In his first major interview since taking charge of all government policy affecting the young, Mr Balls said: "It's a failure every time a young person gets an Asbo.
"It's necessary - but it's not right.
"I want to live in the kind of society that puts Asbos behind us."
The Mail reports that
Teen violence is rocketing - yet only one in 50 is jailed
Only one in 50 teenagers convicted of a violent attack is locked up, despite soaring crime rates.
Official figures reveal the number of under-18s punished for a violent offence increased by 19 per cent - from 9,516 to 11,285 - in 12 months.
The average age of each thug was 15.
Despite the surge in violence, only 2 per cent of those dealt with by the justice system were sent to custody to teach them a harsh lesson.
Whilst in the Mirror
OUR PARENTS WOULDN'T LET US OUT IF THEY KNEW WHAT WE GET UP TO
EXCLUSIVE 10 TOWNS..10 TEENS..10PM.. SHOCKING MIRROR SURVEY
The paper visited
10 towns across Britain at 10pm on Wednesday night and in each quizzed 10 teens on the questions their parents - and society - need answered.
Which included
Do you take drugs or alcohol? If so, what, how often and how old were you the first time?
Among the 42 per cent who admit drug-taking, they have tried cannabis, skunk, cocaine, crack, crystal meth, ecstasy and heroin.
Charlene, 17, from Newport, admits: "I smoked my first spliff at 14, just before my first kiss."
In the same town we found David Weaver, 16, - one of the hug-a-hoodies once visited by Tory leader David Cameron.
He says: "I have been in care since I was 10. It was at that point I started smoking, drinking, doing weed. I still do the odd spliff, too."
The Express reports
VATICAN WARNS OF 'ISLAMISATION' OF EUROPE
POPE Benedict XVI’s private secretary has warned of the 'Islamisation' of Europe and demanded that the Continent’s Christian roots not to be ignored.
"Attempts to Islamise the west cannot be denied," Monsignor Georg Gaenswein was quoted as saying in a copy of the weekly Sueddeutsche Magazine published today.
"The danger for the identity of Europe that is connected with it should not be ignored out of a wrongly understood respectfulness," the magazine quoted him as saying.
Feeling blue: Italy's lakes have 'sick water' says the Independent
There is nothing wrong with the appearance of Italy's magnificent lakes. The water of Como, surrounded by high peaks, is deep blue and as clear as if it has just come tumbling out of the Alps. The village of Laglio, on the west shore of the lake's south-westerly fork, has been enjoying a boom since the actor George Clooney bought two villas there. Visitors crowd the little beach, too, families squashed on to towels enjoying the heatwave, children gambolling in and out of the water. There is a sign that says "No Bathing", but no one pays any attention. What possible harm could lurk in this sparkling water? BUT
Plenty, according to Legambiente, Italy's most prominent environmental organisation. The "no bathing" sign is there for an excellent reason. Clooney has found a great house with a marvellous view, but the water is sick. And not just slightly under the weather. The latest snapshot of pollution in Italy's lakes indicates Laglio is one of the worst-polluted lake beaches in the country. Bacteria is measured in terms of "colony-forming units"(cfu), a measure of viable bacterial numbers per 100 millilitres of water. The upper permitted limit of cfu for lake water that is safe to bathe in is 100. But at Laglio the figure is 6,800 - 68 times too high
Hard day at the office, dear? Says the Sun
A SCORNED woman who found a sex video of her partner with a girl colleague took revenge by emailing its filthy images to his boss.
And her man’s humiliation was complete when her message spread like wildfire round their office.
Sarah Rees, 38, was devastated to find images of 37-year-old Martin Hardy with different naked women in hotel rooms and their own HOME.
She recognised one girl as a worker at TUI UK — owner of Thomson Holidays — where self-employed Hardy had a lucrative consultancy contract.
Finally the Guardian reports that
Drunk astronauts go from Right Stuff to the hard stuff
America's space programme suffered unexpected turbulence yesterday when a revelation that astronauts were allowed to fly on the shuttle while drunk was followed by news of sabotage to the cargo of a forthcoming mission.
Nasa officials are expected to confirm today that there have been at least two occasions when crew members were so intoxicated before their launch that they were deemed a flight safety risk.
Thursday, July 26, 2007
The floods have mostly gone from the front pages this morning replaced by yesterday's statement on terrorism from the Prime Minister
Brown sets out sweeping but risky terror and security reforms is the lead in the Guardian
Gordon Brown moved yesterday to dominate the terror and security agenda, grabbing a Tory proposal for an integrated single border force and then challenging David Cameron to accept that the scale of the terrorist threat requires an extension of detention without charge to up to 56 days.
The move, announced in a ground-breaking Commons statement, follows months of discussions with police and security services on a range of measures, including post-charge questioning of suspects, the use of intercept evidence in court and a proposal that convicted terrorists be treated in the same way as sex offenders.
New border police force will check all travellers says the Times
Every person who leaves or enters Britain will be electronically screened under new measures designed to expose terrorists hiding among the travelling public, Gordon Brown announced yesterday.
Profiles detailing passengers’ criminal records, employment histories and even spending patterns – derived from credit cards used to buy airline tickets – will be available to security agencies.
The enhanced entry and exit checks will apply equally to British citizens and foreign travellers.
Physical embarkation checks, abolished in the mid1990s, will be reintroduced on some priority routes and could exacerbate the security delays at airports.
According to the Independent
Terror suspects will be held for up to 56 days without charge and the country's first single border force created, under moves by Gordon Brown to counter the rapidly growing security threat to Britain.
He was accused of pushing for a return to internment with the " draconian " proposal for a sharp increase in the maximum 28-day detention period. To the anger of civil liberties groups and opposition parties, the Prime Minister suggested it could even be doubled.
He told the House of Commons there was a "growing weight of opinion" suspects might have to be held beyond 28 days when police intervened early to thwart a terrorist attack, particularly where there were huge amounts of evidence to examine and where investigations were international.
The Telegraph meanwhile reports that
Terrorist threat to airport passengers
Lengthy queues at check-in desks and in departure halls are vulnerable to a bomb attack - presenting a "significant security threat".
The warning comes in a withering report by the all-party transport committee on the many problems endured by passengers, as the summer season enters its height.
Off the front pages in most instances except for the Mirror and the Sun
KILLER BUGS IN THE FLOOD reports the former
HUNDREDS of flood victims could be killed by a brew of terrifying bugs lurking in the murky water.
Virus expert Dr Ken Flint said potentially lethal bacteria like e.coli and salmonella would be left behind in the sludge in houses and streets for weeks or even months after the floods recede.
And he claimed the elderly, the very young and the infirm were at serious risk from gastroenteritis. Microbiologist Dr Flint added: "I expect to see three to four times the normal rate for these diseases in coming weeks. That would mean the potential for low hundreds of people dying."
Whilst the Sun claims an exclusive under the headline
TOXIC TIDES
A CHILLING warning to keep youngsters away from floodwater was issued yesterday — as tests by The Sun revealed that it contained human and animal waste.
Scientist Prof Ian Cluckie said: “For God’s sake don’t let children walk around in it.
“In urban areas there is a chance of untreated human sewage being mixed in with the water, which could also contain E.coli.
“It can cause dysenteries and even cholera. People need to realise this is raw sewage they are walking in.”
Oxford floods deepen as more rain is forecast reports the Telegraph
Oxford became the latest area hit yesterday and parts of the city will be left under water for two days.
There are further fears with forecasters predicting up to half an inch of rain today in some areas already suffering.
The worst floods in modern history have now stretched more than 150 miles along the Severn and Thames from western England towards London.
Farmers in the worst-hit areas of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire said it could take three years to recover from the disaster and said the impact could be worse than that of foot and mouth outbreak of 2001.
Insurance threat to flood victims warning reports the Mail
Flood-hit homeowners could find it impossible to arrange insurance unless the Government pumps more cash into water defences, it was warned yesterday.
"The insurance market cannot be realistically expected to continue to bear the burden of years' failure to invest adequately," said Bill Gloyn, chairman of real estate at the leading insurance broker Aon.
He said climate change and lax planning had increased the danger of floods.
It leads though with the news that
'Out-of-control' teens the worst behaved in Europe
British teenagers are the worst behaved in Europe, a report has revealed.
They are more likely to binge-drink, take drugs, have sex at a young age and start fights.
The report, from a think-tank closely linked to Labour, says the collapse of family life is at least partly to blame.
It means youngsters follow the example set by their friends rather than guidance from their parents.
The damning verdict from the Institute for Public Policy Research was revealed as ministers prepared to publish a blueprint aimed at keeping teenagers out of trouble. It is expected to include more cash for youth groups and other activities.
David Cameron hits back at party rebels reports the Telegraph
David Cameron faced down the most serious challenge to his leadership last night with a warning to Tory MPs that further disunity would cost the party the next election.He rejected calls to shift to traditional Conservative issues such as tax and immigration, saying that the party's mission was to fix Britain's "broken society" as Margaret Thatcher had fixed the country's broken economy.
Donations to Cameron's Tories run at four times rate to Labour according to the Guardian
The huge disparity in finances between the Conservatives and Labour is laid bare with the publication of their accounts for 2006 yesterday by the Electoral Commission.
The Conservatives disclose donations running at four times the rate to Labour since David Cameron became leader, their first surplus since 2001, and a big increase in staffing at Tory headquarters.
Labour cut its deficit to less than £1m, financed by a rescheduling of loans from its biggest donors and a halving of headquarters staff, and despite its lowest ever number of party members.
Meanwhile the Mail reports on
Blair's celebrity spree at Chequers (oh, and you paid)
Tony Blair used his last 18 months in power to entertain a bewildering array of minor celebrities at his official country retreat, it has emerged.
Chequers, historically used to receive foreign dignitaries, diplomats and ministers, played host to the likes of Charlotte Church and her rugby player partner Gavin Henson, husband-and-wife TV hosts Vernon Kay and Tess Daly, and GMTV presenters Fiona Phillips and Lorraine Kelly.
At taxpayer's expense, Mr Blair and wife Cherie also wined and dined Richard Madeley - though his wife Judy Finnegan was apparently unable to attend and he was accompanied instead by his daughter, Chloe.
More problems for broadcasters
Q: How many phone-in callers were cheated by GMTV? A: 25 million headlines the Times
GMTV, ITV’s breakfast broadcaster, admitted last night that viewers who spent £35 million over four years had no chance of winning one of its phone-in competitions.
The figure, larger than previously expected, opens up a massive liability for the commercial broadcaster, which has promised to refund everybody affected – although ITV hopes that not everybody will claim.
GMTV released the £35 million figure last night after its managing director, Paul Corley, had resigned. He is the first television chief to quit after the string of phone-in scandals that have hit every main broadcaster.
It reflects that GMTV took 25 million premium-rate phone calls from viewers after shortlists of potential winners had already been selected by the phone provider Opera Telecom. Those calls, costing between 25p and £1.80 a time, and made between January 2003 and March this year, had no chance of winning.
The Independent's front page changes tact following the return of a cross party group of MP's
Burma: A plight we can ignore no longer
Burma suffers a political, human rights and humanitarian situation as grim as any in the world today. The country is run by an utterly illegitimate government that spends 50 per cent of its budget on the military and less than a $1 (50p) per head on the health and education of its own citizens.
The thugs and impostors who rule the roost practise some of the most egregious human rights abuses known to mankind. Rape as a weapon of war, extra-judicial killings, water torture, mass displacement, compulsory relocation, forced labour, incarceration of political prisoners, religious and ethnic persecution, and the daily destruction of rural villages are all part of the story of savagery that has disfigured Burma.
According to the Guardian
Hamas leader claims UK has widened links
The British government has expanded its links with Hamas in recent weeks, according to the militant organisation's leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
Mr Haniyeh, who was the Palestinian prime minister until last month, claims that contacts between Hamas and Britain have increased since they worked together to free Alan Johnston, the BBC Gaza correspondent, who was held captive in Gaza for almost four months.
"I cannot deny that there are now other contacts, other channels of communication with the UK and these involve people of high rank, although I am not personally involved," he claimed in an interview with the Guardian.
"The main aim of the contacts is to improve our democracy and governance. This is just part of the many contacts that are going on with other governments around the world."
He added that Britain wanted to keep the contacts secret.
The latest scandal from the Tour de France features in the Times
Rasmussen thrown out of Tour
Michael Rasmussen, the leader of the Tour de France, was withdrawn from the race and dismissed by his sponsor, Rabobank, late last night after the doubts over his ethical credibility reached a head with accusations of lying to his team.
The latest events, only 24 hours after Alexandre Vinokourov, the pre-Tour favourite, withdrew from the race after testing positive for a blood transfusion, confirmed the darkest period in the event’s 104-year history.
“Rasmussen has violated the rules of the team,” a Rabobank team spokesman said. “It is not sure if the team will continue in the race.”
Beat van Scheijndel, director of sponsoring at Rabobank, said: “We are in shock at the behaviour of Michael Rasmussen and we will now make a serious assessment of the continued sponsorship of the team.”
The Sun reports
Boxer loses fight for life
SHOT boxing champion James Oyebola — blasted in the face for asking thugs to put out a cigarette — lost his fight for life last night.
The former British heavyweight title-holder had earlier stunned doctors by responding to tests against all the odds.
But the 47-year-old, who had been shot three times, died last night. James — blasted twice in the head and once in the leg — had been on a life-support machine.
Consultants had revealed that just one side of the dad of two’s brain had been affected, raising hopes of survival without brain damage.
MOUNTAIN DEATH BRIT IS BLASTED reports the Mirror
A BRITISH student and three friends who died trying to climb Mont Blanc despite an atrocious weather forecast were yesterday branded "stubborn and stupid" by police.
Mark Emerson, 30, his New Zealand girlfriend Jane Jerram, 26, and two friends from France and Chile died of cold and exhaustion in a -15C blizzard.
Stephane Bozon, of the High Mountain Police in Chamonix, France, said: "They decided on this mythical climb without taking into account the forecasts. This is stubbornness and stupidity."
BACK OF THE CELL! reports the same paper
EX-ENGLAND footballers Robert Lee and Warren Barton were arrested early yesterday after allegedly grabbing a Mercedes taxi and crashing into a van during a boozy night out.
Lee, 41, and Barton, 38, were picked up by police at their homes just a few hours after the smash and taken to a police station for questioning.
It is claimed the former Newcastle United stars and two other friends were picked up by the private Mercedes cab after a drinking session.
Research fails to detect short-term harm from mobile phone masts says the Guardian
Mobile phone masts do not cause harmful short-term health effects, according to a study of people who say they experience symptoms when they are close to them. The study deals another blow to the notion that low-level electromagnetic fields from cellphones or base stations are dangerous.
The researchers looked at 2G and 3G phone masts in a lab setting where both the participants and researchers did not know whether the equipment was turned on. The set-up was designed to mimic the output from a phone mast at 20-30 metres from the subject. "It looks like there was pretty good evidence that people couldn't detect the signals," said Elaine Fox at Essex University, who led the study, published yesterday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Career crisis for Lohan and Spears after new disgraces reports the Independent on the latest celeb LA gossip
Two of Hollywood's notoriously hard-living bad girls have crashed and burned once again, this time raising questions whether their careers will ever recover.
Lindsay Lohan, the 21-year-old star of Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and other teenage comedies, faced her second drink-driving conviction in three months yesterday after she was arrested behind the wheel with a suspended licence, too much booze in her system and an undisclosed quantity of cocaine in her car.
Britney Spears, the one-time heartthrob singer turned mess of a single mother at the ripe age of 25, was meanwhile reported to have fled a photo shoot for OK! Magazine - still wearing almost $15,000 (£7,500) in borrowed clothing - after several minutes of embarrassingly weird behaviour in front of the camera.
It was Lohan who grabbed most of the headlines yesterday after she was pulled over in a car park in the beach town of Santa Monica in the early hours of Tuesday morning. She was eventually released on bail but can expect rough treatment from the judge when she returns to court on 24 August.
Nice boat race, Kate Middleton says the Sun
STUNNING Kate Middleton looked just oarsome yesterday as she trained to row across the Channel.
Prince William’s 25-year-old love joined the all-girl Scion Sisters team for a vital workout on the Thames.
Kate and her 14 posh pals will make the attempt in a dragon boat during the Bank Holiday weekend next month.
The group hope to raise money for the Babes In Arms Appeal and Chase Ben Hollioake Fund.
Finally the Telegraph reports that
Restaurants 'buying black market caviar'
The sturgeon eggs, which cost about £800 per lb from reputable fishmongers, are being smuggled in from the Caspian Sea, with much of it ending up on the plates of unsuspecting London diners.
Julia Roberson, from Caviar Emptor, which fights to protect the highly endangered sturgeon, yesterday estimated that the illegal caviar market was worth up to five times the official market size of £50 million.
Miss Roberson said: "You can easily smuggle it in suitcases and make a fast buck out of it.
"The situation in the Caspian Sea continues to deteriorate. Poaching is not being cracked down upon and it wouldn't surprise me that much of this was ending up in London restaurants."
Brown sets out sweeping but risky terror and security reforms is the lead in the Guardian
Gordon Brown moved yesterday to dominate the terror and security agenda, grabbing a Tory proposal for an integrated single border force and then challenging David Cameron to accept that the scale of the terrorist threat requires an extension of detention without charge to up to 56 days.
The move, announced in a ground-breaking Commons statement, follows months of discussions with police and security services on a range of measures, including post-charge questioning of suspects, the use of intercept evidence in court and a proposal that convicted terrorists be treated in the same way as sex offenders.
New border police force will check all travellers says the Times
Every person who leaves or enters Britain will be electronically screened under new measures designed to expose terrorists hiding among the travelling public, Gordon Brown announced yesterday.
Profiles detailing passengers’ criminal records, employment histories and even spending patterns – derived from credit cards used to buy airline tickets – will be available to security agencies.
The enhanced entry and exit checks will apply equally to British citizens and foreign travellers.
Physical embarkation checks, abolished in the mid1990s, will be reintroduced on some priority routes and could exacerbate the security delays at airports.
According to the Independent
Terror suspects will be held for up to 56 days without charge and the country's first single border force created, under moves by Gordon Brown to counter the rapidly growing security threat to Britain.
He was accused of pushing for a return to internment with the " draconian " proposal for a sharp increase in the maximum 28-day detention period. To the anger of civil liberties groups and opposition parties, the Prime Minister suggested it could even be doubled.
He told the House of Commons there was a "growing weight of opinion" suspects might have to be held beyond 28 days when police intervened early to thwart a terrorist attack, particularly where there were huge amounts of evidence to examine and where investigations were international.
The Telegraph meanwhile reports that
Terrorist threat to airport passengers
Lengthy queues at check-in desks and in departure halls are vulnerable to a bomb attack - presenting a "significant security threat".
The warning comes in a withering report by the all-party transport committee on the many problems endured by passengers, as the summer season enters its height.
Off the front pages in most instances except for the Mirror and the Sun
KILLER BUGS IN THE FLOOD reports the former
HUNDREDS of flood victims could be killed by a brew of terrifying bugs lurking in the murky water.
Virus expert Dr Ken Flint said potentially lethal bacteria like e.coli and salmonella would be left behind in the sludge in houses and streets for weeks or even months after the floods recede.
And he claimed the elderly, the very young and the infirm were at serious risk from gastroenteritis. Microbiologist Dr Flint added: "I expect to see three to four times the normal rate for these diseases in coming weeks. That would mean the potential for low hundreds of people dying."
Whilst the Sun claims an exclusive under the headline
TOXIC TIDES
A CHILLING warning to keep youngsters away from floodwater was issued yesterday — as tests by The Sun revealed that it contained human and animal waste.
Scientist Prof Ian Cluckie said: “For God’s sake don’t let children walk around in it.
“In urban areas there is a chance of untreated human sewage being mixed in with the water, which could also contain E.coli.
“It can cause dysenteries and even cholera. People need to realise this is raw sewage they are walking in.”
Oxford floods deepen as more rain is forecast reports the Telegraph
Oxford became the latest area hit yesterday and parts of the city will be left under water for two days.
There are further fears with forecasters predicting up to half an inch of rain today in some areas already suffering.
The worst floods in modern history have now stretched more than 150 miles along the Severn and Thames from western England towards London.
Farmers in the worst-hit areas of Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire said it could take three years to recover from the disaster and said the impact could be worse than that of foot and mouth outbreak of 2001.
Insurance threat to flood victims warning reports the Mail
Flood-hit homeowners could find it impossible to arrange insurance unless the Government pumps more cash into water defences, it was warned yesterday.
"The insurance market cannot be realistically expected to continue to bear the burden of years' failure to invest adequately," said Bill Gloyn, chairman of real estate at the leading insurance broker Aon.
He said climate change and lax planning had increased the danger of floods.
It leads though with the news that
'Out-of-control' teens the worst behaved in Europe
British teenagers are the worst behaved in Europe, a report has revealed.
They are more likely to binge-drink, take drugs, have sex at a young age and start fights.
The report, from a think-tank closely linked to Labour, says the collapse of family life is at least partly to blame.
It means youngsters follow the example set by their friends rather than guidance from their parents.
The damning verdict from the Institute for Public Policy Research was revealed as ministers prepared to publish a blueprint aimed at keeping teenagers out of trouble. It is expected to include more cash for youth groups and other activities.
David Cameron hits back at party rebels reports the Telegraph
David Cameron faced down the most serious challenge to his leadership last night with a warning to Tory MPs that further disunity would cost the party the next election.He rejected calls to shift to traditional Conservative issues such as tax and immigration, saying that the party's mission was to fix Britain's "broken society" as Margaret Thatcher had fixed the country's broken economy.
Donations to Cameron's Tories run at four times rate to Labour according to the Guardian
The huge disparity in finances between the Conservatives and Labour is laid bare with the publication of their accounts for 2006 yesterday by the Electoral Commission.
The Conservatives disclose donations running at four times the rate to Labour since David Cameron became leader, their first surplus since 2001, and a big increase in staffing at Tory headquarters.
Labour cut its deficit to less than £1m, financed by a rescheduling of loans from its biggest donors and a halving of headquarters staff, and despite its lowest ever number of party members.
Meanwhile the Mail reports on
Blair's celebrity spree at Chequers (oh, and you paid)
Tony Blair used his last 18 months in power to entertain a bewildering array of minor celebrities at his official country retreat, it has emerged.
Chequers, historically used to receive foreign dignitaries, diplomats and ministers, played host to the likes of Charlotte Church and her rugby player partner Gavin Henson, husband-and-wife TV hosts Vernon Kay and Tess Daly, and GMTV presenters Fiona Phillips and Lorraine Kelly.
At taxpayer's expense, Mr Blair and wife Cherie also wined and dined Richard Madeley - though his wife Judy Finnegan was apparently unable to attend and he was accompanied instead by his daughter, Chloe.
More problems for broadcasters
Q: How many phone-in callers were cheated by GMTV? A: 25 million headlines the Times
GMTV, ITV’s breakfast broadcaster, admitted last night that viewers who spent £35 million over four years had no chance of winning one of its phone-in competitions.
The figure, larger than previously expected, opens up a massive liability for the commercial broadcaster, which has promised to refund everybody affected – although ITV hopes that not everybody will claim.
GMTV released the £35 million figure last night after its managing director, Paul Corley, had resigned. He is the first television chief to quit after the string of phone-in scandals that have hit every main broadcaster.
It reflects that GMTV took 25 million premium-rate phone calls from viewers after shortlists of potential winners had already been selected by the phone provider Opera Telecom. Those calls, costing between 25p and £1.80 a time, and made between January 2003 and March this year, had no chance of winning.
The Independent's front page changes tact following the return of a cross party group of MP's
Burma: A plight we can ignore no longer
Burma suffers a political, human rights and humanitarian situation as grim as any in the world today. The country is run by an utterly illegitimate government that spends 50 per cent of its budget on the military and less than a $1 (50p) per head on the health and education of its own citizens.
The thugs and impostors who rule the roost practise some of the most egregious human rights abuses known to mankind. Rape as a weapon of war, extra-judicial killings, water torture, mass displacement, compulsory relocation, forced labour, incarceration of political prisoners, religious and ethnic persecution, and the daily destruction of rural villages are all part of the story of savagery that has disfigured Burma.
According to the Guardian
Hamas leader claims UK has widened links
The British government has expanded its links with Hamas in recent weeks, according to the militant organisation's leader, Ismail Haniyeh.
Mr Haniyeh, who was the Palestinian prime minister until last month, claims that contacts between Hamas and Britain have increased since they worked together to free Alan Johnston, the BBC Gaza correspondent, who was held captive in Gaza for almost four months.
"I cannot deny that there are now other contacts, other channels of communication with the UK and these involve people of high rank, although I am not personally involved," he claimed in an interview with the Guardian.
"The main aim of the contacts is to improve our democracy and governance. This is just part of the many contacts that are going on with other governments around the world."
He added that Britain wanted to keep the contacts secret.
The latest scandal from the Tour de France features in the Times
Rasmussen thrown out of Tour
Michael Rasmussen, the leader of the Tour de France, was withdrawn from the race and dismissed by his sponsor, Rabobank, late last night after the doubts over his ethical credibility reached a head with accusations of lying to his team.
The latest events, only 24 hours after Alexandre Vinokourov, the pre-Tour favourite, withdrew from the race after testing positive for a blood transfusion, confirmed the darkest period in the event’s 104-year history.
“Rasmussen has violated the rules of the team,” a Rabobank team spokesman said. “It is not sure if the team will continue in the race.”
Beat van Scheijndel, director of sponsoring at Rabobank, said: “We are in shock at the behaviour of Michael Rasmussen and we will now make a serious assessment of the continued sponsorship of the team.”
The Sun reports
Boxer loses fight for life
SHOT boxing champion James Oyebola — blasted in the face for asking thugs to put out a cigarette — lost his fight for life last night.
The former British heavyweight title-holder had earlier stunned doctors by responding to tests against all the odds.
But the 47-year-old, who had been shot three times, died last night. James — blasted twice in the head and once in the leg — had been on a life-support machine.
Consultants had revealed that just one side of the dad of two’s brain had been affected, raising hopes of survival without brain damage.
MOUNTAIN DEATH BRIT IS BLASTED reports the Mirror
A BRITISH student and three friends who died trying to climb Mont Blanc despite an atrocious weather forecast were yesterday branded "stubborn and stupid" by police.
Mark Emerson, 30, his New Zealand girlfriend Jane Jerram, 26, and two friends from France and Chile died of cold and exhaustion in a -15C blizzard.
Stephane Bozon, of the High Mountain Police in Chamonix, France, said: "They decided on this mythical climb without taking into account the forecasts. This is stubbornness and stupidity."
BACK OF THE CELL! reports the same paper
EX-ENGLAND footballers Robert Lee and Warren Barton were arrested early yesterday after allegedly grabbing a Mercedes taxi and crashing into a van during a boozy night out.
Lee, 41, and Barton, 38, were picked up by police at their homes just a few hours after the smash and taken to a police station for questioning.
It is claimed the former Newcastle United stars and two other friends were picked up by the private Mercedes cab after a drinking session.
Research fails to detect short-term harm from mobile phone masts says the Guardian
Mobile phone masts do not cause harmful short-term health effects, according to a study of people who say they experience symptoms when they are close to them. The study deals another blow to the notion that low-level electromagnetic fields from cellphones or base stations are dangerous.
The researchers looked at 2G and 3G phone masts in a lab setting where both the participants and researchers did not know whether the equipment was turned on. The set-up was designed to mimic the output from a phone mast at 20-30 metres from the subject. "It looks like there was pretty good evidence that people couldn't detect the signals," said Elaine Fox at Essex University, who led the study, published yesterday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
Career crisis for Lohan and Spears after new disgraces reports the Independent on the latest celeb LA gossip
Two of Hollywood's notoriously hard-living bad girls have crashed and burned once again, this time raising questions whether their careers will ever recover.
Lindsay Lohan, the 21-year-old star of Freaky Friday, Mean Girls and other teenage comedies, faced her second drink-driving conviction in three months yesterday after she was arrested behind the wheel with a suspended licence, too much booze in her system and an undisclosed quantity of cocaine in her car.
Britney Spears, the one-time heartthrob singer turned mess of a single mother at the ripe age of 25, was meanwhile reported to have fled a photo shoot for OK! Magazine - still wearing almost $15,000 (£7,500) in borrowed clothing - after several minutes of embarrassingly weird behaviour in front of the camera.
It was Lohan who grabbed most of the headlines yesterday after she was pulled over in a car park in the beach town of Santa Monica in the early hours of Tuesday morning. She was eventually released on bail but can expect rough treatment from the judge when she returns to court on 24 August.
Nice boat race, Kate Middleton says the Sun
STUNNING Kate Middleton looked just oarsome yesterday as she trained to row across the Channel.
Prince William’s 25-year-old love joined the all-girl Scion Sisters team for a vital workout on the Thames.
Kate and her 14 posh pals will make the attempt in a dragon boat during the Bank Holiday weekend next month.
The group hope to raise money for the Babes In Arms Appeal and Chase Ben Hollioake Fund.
Finally the Telegraph reports that
Restaurants 'buying black market caviar'
The sturgeon eggs, which cost about £800 per lb from reputable fishmongers, are being smuggled in from the Caspian Sea, with much of it ending up on the plates of unsuspecting London diners.
Julia Roberson, from Caviar Emptor, which fights to protect the highly endangered sturgeon, yesterday estimated that the illegal caviar market was worth up to five times the official market size of £50 million.
Miss Roberson said: "You can easily smuggle it in suitcases and make a fast buck out of it.
"The situation in the Caspian Sea continues to deteriorate. Poaching is not being cracked down upon and it wouldn't surprise me that much of this was ending up in London restaurants."
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
BABIES DIE IN FLOOD headlines the Express this morning as the floods continue to dominate
THE floods claimed the lives of newborn twins after a dramatic effort to airlift them and their mother to safety.
Two RAF helicopters were scrambled to reach the woman after she gave birth prematurely as floodwater engulfed her town.All three were hoisted into the air moments after the birth, but tragically the babies died soon after arriving at hospital. News of the deaths in Tewkesbury, Gloucs, came amid growing panic over fresh water supplies as the Army was ordered in to ward off looters after bottled water was handed out at supermarkets.
Flood victims warned of more rain on the way says the Telegraph
Britain's flood victims are facing further misery with Government officials warning water levels are still to peak in many areas, while forecasters predict another deluge of heavy rain.Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, warned last night that the crisis along parts of the river Thames was still expected to worsen.
Flooding “could be unavoidable” in Reading, Henley and Marlow, he said.
“This emergency is still not over,” Mr Benn warned.
More rain will stretch the emergency operation even further. The Met Office has predicted rain today, heavier downpours on Thursday and then the threat of persistent heavy rain stretching through the weekend.
THIRST AID says the Mirror
A HUGE mercy mission was launched yesterday to get clean water to more than 350,000 flood victims.
The Army was drafted in to distribute three million litres to 140,000 homes which have been without water since supplies were contaminated on Friday.
But water bosses admitted it may take two weeks to get the taps running again in Gloucestershire - and begged frantic families to remain calm.
Meanwhile, profiteers were charging up to £15 for bottles of water as looters ransacked cars abandoned in the floods.
Whilst the Independent warns of
What lies beneath
There were warnings of a mounting health risk from thousands of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals that have spilled into homes, gardens and streets in recent days. The Health Protection Agency urged people to keep out of the water to avoid contact with potentially fatal microbes such as E.coli. The agency also warned of a sharp rise in stress-related illnesses as a result of the flooding.
WATER RATS says the Mirror
CALLOUS conmen, thieves and racketeers are cashing in on the misery of flood victims by fleecing the elderly, looting submerged cars and flogging bottled water for exorbitant prices.
While most people are going out of their way to help those worst affected by the deluge engulfing the Midlands and southern England, vile gangs and unscrupulous individuals are targeting the vulnerable. Astonishingly, some crooks even tried to pinch vital steel flood barriers.
Different weather matters in the Guardian which reports
Death toll rises in southern Europe's heatwave
Southern Europe sizzled in record-breaking temperatures yesterday with the heatwave being blamed for deaths in Hungary and Romania, power cuts in Macedonia and forest fires from Serbia to Greece.
Up to 500 people have died in Hungary because of the heatwave with deaths attributed to heatstroke, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses aggravated by high temperatures which reached a record high of 41.9C (107F) in the southern city of Kiskunhalas.
Countries across the Balkan peninsula also laboured under temperatures that hit a historic 43C in Belgrade and 44C in Bulgaria. In an urgent announcement, Greece's weather service predicted temperatures of 45C (113F) and the government urged people to restrict their movements and stay indoors.
And on a lighter note the Mirror reports that
LINEKER AD ON HOLD
THE floods claimed the lives of newborn twins after a dramatic effort to airlift them and their mother to safety.
Two RAF helicopters were scrambled to reach the woman after she gave birth prematurely as floodwater engulfed her town.All three were hoisted into the air moments after the birth, but tragically the babies died soon after arriving at hospital. News of the deaths in Tewkesbury, Gloucs, came amid growing panic over fresh water supplies as the Army was ordered in to ward off looters after bottled water was handed out at supermarkets.
Flood victims warned of more rain on the way says the Telegraph
Britain's flood victims are facing further misery with Government officials warning water levels are still to peak in many areas, while forecasters predict another deluge of heavy rain.Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary, warned last night that the crisis along parts of the river Thames was still expected to worsen.
Flooding “could be unavoidable” in Reading, Henley and Marlow, he said.
“This emergency is still not over,” Mr Benn warned.
More rain will stretch the emergency operation even further. The Met Office has predicted rain today, heavier downpours on Thursday and then the threat of persistent heavy rain stretching through the weekend.
THIRST AID says the Mirror
A HUGE mercy mission was launched yesterday to get clean water to more than 350,000 flood victims.
The Army was drafted in to distribute three million litres to 140,000 homes which have been without water since supplies were contaminated on Friday.
But water bosses admitted it may take two weeks to get the taps running again in Gloucestershire - and begged frantic families to remain calm.
Meanwhile, profiteers were charging up to £15 for bottles of water as looters ransacked cars abandoned in the floods.
Whilst the Independent warns of
What lies beneath
There were warnings of a mounting health risk from thousands of gallons of sewage and toxic chemicals that have spilled into homes, gardens and streets in recent days. The Health Protection Agency urged people to keep out of the water to avoid contact with potentially fatal microbes such as E.coli. The agency also warned of a sharp rise in stress-related illnesses as a result of the flooding.
WATER RATS says the Mirror
CALLOUS conmen, thieves and racketeers are cashing in on the misery of flood victims by fleecing the elderly, looting submerged cars and flogging bottled water for exorbitant prices.
While most people are going out of their way to help those worst affected by the deluge engulfing the Midlands and southern England, vile gangs and unscrupulous individuals are targeting the vulnerable. Astonishingly, some crooks even tried to pinch vital steel flood barriers.
Different weather matters in the Guardian which reports
Death toll rises in southern Europe's heatwave
Southern Europe sizzled in record-breaking temperatures yesterday with the heatwave being blamed for deaths in Hungary and Romania, power cuts in Macedonia and forest fires from Serbia to Greece.
Up to 500 people have died in Hungary because of the heatwave with deaths attributed to heatstroke, cardiovascular problems and other illnesses aggravated by high temperatures which reached a record high of 41.9C (107F) in the southern city of Kiskunhalas.
Countries across the Balkan peninsula also laboured under temperatures that hit a historic 43C in Belgrade and 44C in Bulgaria. In an urgent announcement, Greece's weather service predicted temperatures of 45C (113F) and the government urged people to restrict their movements and stay indoors.
And on a lighter note the Mirror reports that
LINEKER AD ON HOLD
WALKERS have postponed plans to screen a new Gary Lineker crisps advert until the flood crisis ends.
The new campaign shows the BBC sports presenter singing and dancing in the rain with potato farmers - getting his suit splattered with mud from the tractors.
The ads - to mark Walkers' use of British spuds - were due to be shown next week but bosses felt it could be seen as insensitive. A spokeswoman said: "We didn't think it would be appropriate during the current crisis."
The advert will now be screened at a later date.
The Mail meanwhile leads with
Hospital superbug soars by 22 per cent in just three months
Cases of a deadly hospital superbug which thrives in filthy conditions have soared to record levels.
In the past year, almost 56,000 vulnerable and elderly patients have caught Clostridium difficile - a stomach bug that can be halted with simple soap and water.
Between January and March alone, 15,592 people were infected with the bug - a staggering 22 per cent rise on the previous three months.
The true toll is likely to be even higher, as the figures cover only the over-65s who account for 80 per cent of infections.
The Telegraph says that
The new figures from the Health Protection Agency show rates of the other major health care associated infection, MRSA, are dropping.The biggest falls have been in large acute teaching hospitals and in London.
Georgia Duckworth, of the HPA, said: "Certain hospitals have made great strides in bringing down their levels of MRSA, for example, by targeting interventions at risk areas and procedures
The Times concentrates on the governments rail strategy announced yesterday
Rail fares to soar as government slashes funding says the paper
Rail passengers face above-inflation fare increases every year for the next decade after the Government announced yesterday that it was cutting public funding for the railways by 50 per cent, or £1.5 billion a year.
Passengers will be forced to pay a much higher proportion of the cost of running the network and in return will receive only a modest increase in capacity. The Government published a 30-year rail strategy yesterday that ruled out a new high-speed line and double-deck trains and made few specific commitments for relieving overcrowding, among them that the number of carriages will grow by 1,300, or about 13 per cent, by 2014.
A similar headline in the Independent which says
Plans in the White Paper include putting 1,300 new carriages on the railways to cut overcrowding while increasing passenger numbers. Officials said they aimed to improve the number of trains running on time from 88 per cent to 92 per cent and cut services running more than half an hour late by a quarter. The £5.5bn upgrade of the London Thameslink line was approved to increase capacity in time for the 2012 Olympics, and major redevelopment of Birmingham New Street and Reading stations will go ahead.
The Guardian leads with
Tory voters turn against Cameron
David Cameron is losing his appeal to voters, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today which suggests that many Conservative voters are losing their enthusiasm for the Tory leader. It also shows that he is no longer attracting new support to the party.
The poll, giving Labour a six-point lead, has the Conservative party on its lowest share in any ICM poll since the last days of Michael Howard's leadership in 2005. adding that
It suggests that the Brown bounce is gaining momentum: 21% of voters say their opinion of Gordon Brown has improved in the last month, against only 8% who say it has fallen. By contrast, Mr Cameron is in growing trouble: 21% of voters say their opinion of him has dropped since Mr Brown took over.
TORY DONOR BLASTS FAILINGS OF CAMERON reports the Express
DAVID Cameron has come under fire from a major Tory donor for his “daily actions” and a range of policies which made him “extremely uncomfortable”.
The attack was levelled by former Tory treasurer and multi-millionaire Lord Kalms who has warned of a “summer of discontent” within the party.The criticism follows the third-place flops in two by-elections last week, while some Tory MPs are dismayed that their leader has chosen to tour Rwanda while much of Britain — including his own Oxfordshire constituency of Witney — is struggling with the flood crisis.
I'LL KICK OUT 4000 says the front page of the Sun
GORDON Brown last night vowed to deport 4,000 foreign convicts by the end of the year.
He ordered the expulsions to free up places in Britain’s choked prisons.
Two thousand criminals from abroad were due to be booted out by immigration authorities by Christmas.
But the PM told them to double the number. He told The Sun: “We are going to take a far tougher line. I want a message to go out — if you come here you work and learn our language.
“If you commit a crime you will be deported. You play by the rules or you face the consequences.” Mr Brown added: “I’m not prepared to tolerate a situation where we have people breaking the rules in our country when we cannot act.”
Meanwhile according to the Telegraph
Gordon Brown 'broke promise' over EU treaty
Gordon Brown is guilty of a "flagrant breach" of Labour's 2005 election manifesto for failing to grant a referendum on the new European Union treaty, William Hague has insisted.Setting the stage for months of bruising argument over Europe, the shadow foreign secretary accused the Prime Minister of "extraordinary cynicism" for claiming the replacement to the defunct constitutional treaty was less far reaching than its predecessor - and therefore did not merit a national vote
Gadafy frees Bulgarian health workers in HIV case as EU promises help for Libya reports the Guardian
Libya took a giant step back to international respectability yesterday after finally freeing six Bulgarian medical workers accused of infecting hundreds of children with the HIV virus and using their high-profile release to improve its relationship with the European Union.
Colonel Muammar Gadafy ordered the six freed after talks involving the European commission and Cécilia Sarkozy, the wife of the French president, who flew to Tripoli to try to bring the eight-year crisis to a successful conclusion. Mr Sarkozy is due to visit the Libyan capital today.
Home at last, after eight years of hell in a foreign prison says the Times
It was only the photograph of her granddaughter that kept Snezhana Dimitrova going.
The picture of the little girl were her comfort through eight terrifying years in a Libyan jail, three of them under sentence of death by firing squad.
The 54-year-old nurse had gone to the North African country to pursue her vocation as a childcare specialist.
But after forced confessions arising from alleged torture, including beatings and electric shocks, she was convicted, along with five colleagues, of deliberately infecting 438 Libyan children with the Aids virus. Yesterday morning on the tarmac at Sofia airport, Mrs Dimitrova tearfully hugged her two children and the seven-year-old granddaughter she thought she would never live to see
The Independent reports
Iran's message is softly spoken, yet clear: It will enrich uranium
Iran has issued its strongest signal to date that it will defy UN demands for a suspension of uranium enrichment - a possible route towards a nuclear bomb - threatening to respond to any further sanctions and accusing the Americans of "running away" from negotiations to end the crisis over the Iranian nuclear programme.
Iran's chief nuclear negotiator told The Independent yesterday that uranium enrichment was "like breathing" for his country, and that Iran would not halt the spinning centrifuges at its main enrichment plant in Natanz, even if the Bush administration offered security guarantees.
Clinton and Obama clash after YouTube debate reports the Guardian
Bickering broke out yesterday between the camps of the two main contestants for the 2008 Democratic nomination with Hillary Clinton's team seeking to portray Barack Obama as naive in his approach to foreign policy in the wake of an experimental debate organised by CNN and YouTube.
Mr Obama, responding to a question from a YouTube user in Monday night's debate, said he would meet without preconditions the leaders of countries with which the US has strained relations - Iran, Syria, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.Mrs Clinton, asked the same question, said she would not as she did not want to be used "for propaganda purposes".
Yesterday she said she thought Mr Obama's response was "irresponsible and frankly naive". Mr Obama's camp highlighted a quote from Mrs Clinton in April in which she said: "I think it's a terrible mistake for our president to say he won't talk to bad people
Schoolboy guilty of terrorism offences reports the Telegraph
Raja, from Ilford, who was then 17, caught a bus to West Yorkshire as part of a plan to travel to Pakistan for terrorist training. He left his parents a note which said: "If not in this (world) we will meet in the Garden of Paradise, Inshallah [God willing]. "The situation is such that you will live another 30 years, maybe 40 years. When death will befall you, maybe then you will appreciate what I have done now." A "PS" added that he was going abroad.
Raja's distraught parents called the police in February last year.
SORTED says the Mirror
EXCLUSIVE Royal Mail climbdown as bosses scrap pensions-axe document
bosses did a U-turn after a hostile reaction from union leaders and negative publicity.
Last night management admitted they had abandoned plans to send out the documents and said they would be shredded. but strangely says the paper
they had failed to communicate this to anyone, including the union, until Monday.They insisted the backtrack had nothing to do with the Mirror's story and claimed the decision was taken earlier this month.
MR WHITEHOUSE, DID MR LANGHAM EVER DISCUSS UNDERTAKING RESEARCH FOR YOUR TV SHOW? NO says the Mirror
COMEDIAN Paul Whitehouse told a court yesterday he had no knowledge of his co-star Chris Langham using child pornography as research for a TV show they were writing.
The Fast Show star, who co-wrote and starred with Langham in the BBC series Help, was quizzed by prosecutor Richard Barraclough QC.
QC: Did Mr Langham ever discuss with you that he was undertaking any research for the shows?
Whitehouse: Not to my knowledge, no.
QC:: Did you ever do any research? Whitehouse: None whatsoever. I don't think we felt we needed to. Or I didn't anyway.
The prosecutor asked if there had been discussion in the series of explicit sex with little girls.
Whitehouse: Absolutely not.
QC: Did Mr Langham tell you that he had been researching things like that?
Whitehouse: No.
I didn't know of Langham porn says the Sun
When Paul entered Maidstone Crown Court — where he has been called as a prosecution witness — Langham smiled from the dock.
But Fast Show star Paul, 49, ignored him and seemed nervous as he gave evidence.
The court heard that Help was the first time the pair had worked together.
According to the Mail
BBC staff are sent on courses to learn they shouldn't lie
BBC bosses have been accused of wasting licence-fee money on teaching their staff not to lie.
The decision to send 16,500 employees on an "integrity" course in the wake of the fake TV shows scandal was condemned by MPs.
Two of the corporation's top executives appeared before a Commons committee investigating the affair.
Director general Mark Thompson is on a family holiday, so his deputy Mark Byford and chief operating officer Caroline Thomson were asked to explain how viewers were deceived by a string of shows including Children In Need and Comic Relief, as well as the doctored footage of the Queen
And whilst on the subject of the Queen the Telegraph amongst others reports that
Queen plans 60th anniversary return to Malta
The Queen and Prince Philip plan to celebrate their diamond wedding on a private holiday in Malta, the Mediterranean island where they enjoyed some of their happiest days as a young couple.
The royal couple will stop off at the island, for what has been described as a second honeymoon, on their way to Uganda for an official Commonwealth trip. Officials at Buckingham Palace would say only that it was a "private stay" at the invitation of the Maltese government.
Finally the Mail reports that
UFO sightings bring town to a standstill
A crowd of 100 stunned stargazers brought a town centre to a standstill when five mysterious UFOs were spotted hovering in the sky.
Drinkers spilled out of pubs, motorists stopped to gawp and camera phones were aimed upwards as the five orbs, in a seeming formation, hovered above Stratford-Upon-Avon for half an hour.
The unidentified flying objects lit up the otherwise clear night sky above Shakespeare's birthplace in Warwickshire on Saturday.
Although Air Traffic Control reported no unusual activity, some witnesses were convinced they were witnessing an extra-terrestrial spectacle.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
The floods continue to dominate the headlines,the papers practically all lead on the story
10,000 homes flooded, 50,000 without power and 150,000 have no water says the Times
Servicemen and firefighters were battling to protect the electricity supplies of half a million people last night as the highest flood waters in memory continued to rise.
The Government announced an independent inquiry as water levels in the Thames and the Severn exceeded those of the devastating floods of 1947 and were forecast to rise to 20ft (6m) higher than normal.
More than 10,000 families have been left homeless in the West Country and Thames Valley over the past four days and thousands of others have been told to leave their homes as a mass of water surges down river. Electricity supplies to 50,000 homes have been cut and 150,000 homes have been left without water.
Similar headlines in the Telegraph
Floods crisis hits one million Britons which describes it as
A humanitarian crisis in central and western England was deepening last night with up to one million people affected by the worst floods in modern history.Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire could be without running water for up to two weeks, authorities said yesterday as they warned that it could be a year before some evacuated families are able to move back to their devastated homes.
The heart of England has been paralysed, with scores of towns and villages submerged or cut off. Up to 10,000 homes are either flooded or at risk of flooding in seven counties - Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Countless more are without running water, electricity or phone lines.
One million victims of the deluge but 'the worst is yet to come' says the Mail
In Oxford, there are fears that historic riverside colleges such as Christ Church and Magdalen could be swamped. Refugee families were bedding down at the city's football stadium last night.
According to the Guardian
Ministers warned three years ago over flood defence failings
The government was last night accused of failing to act on its own advice to overhaul UK flood defences and drainage systems which first highlighted deep-seated problems three years ago.
As large tracts of central and southern England remained under water, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power or drinking water, the environment minister, Hilary Benn, announced an independent review into what is being billed as the worst episode of flooding in modern British history.
The Independent calls it a
A 21st century catastrophe
Nothing in the past hundred years, in terms of flooding caused by rainfall, has been as bad. According to the Environment Agency, even the previous worst case, the extensive floods of spring 1947, which were aggravated by the vast snow melt that followed an exceptionally hard winter, has been surpassed.
"We have not seen flooding of this magnitude before," said the agency yesterday. "The benchmark was 1947, and this has already exceeded it." And the 1947 floods were said to have been the worst for 200 years.
FLODDY HELL says the Sun reporting that
THE Prime Minister today saw at first hand the devastation caused to large swathes of western England which have been deluged by flooding.
Gordon Brown flew by helicopter over the stricken county of Gloucestershire where thousands of people have been left without clean water.
He then arrived at Gloucestershire police headquarters to see how the emergency response is being co-ordinated.
FLOOD PANIC says the Express
Away from the floods and the Mirror reports on
Cameron rejects criticism of aid trip to Africa reports the Telegraph
David Cameron yesterday dismissed critics who said he should have called off a trip to Africa and stayed home during the flooding crisis.
With much of his Witney, Oxon, constituency under water after torrential rain, the Conservative leader arrived in Rwanda facing fresh criticism over his leadership.
Mr Cameron brushed aside as a "non-story" reports that a handful of Conservative backbenchers had called for his resignation.
Dismissing the "tiny number" of anonymous critics, the Tory leader insisted that a Conservative aid project in the east African country reflected the party's values.
What about your constituents? asks the Mail
The Independent meanwhile reports that
Galloway expelled from Commons after clash with Speaker
George Galloway, the firebrand left-wing MP, was suspended from the Commons for 18 days last night after a stormy debate that saw him thrown out of the House amid angry clashes with the Speaker, Michael Martin.
Mr Martin took the highly unusual step of "naming" Mr Galloway and ordering him to leave the Commons chamber amid stormy scenes during a debate on the Respect MP's conduct.
Mr Galloway spoke for more than an hour as he tried defend himself against a move to suspend him for failing to disclose his links to Saddam Hussein's regime. But MPs agreed to suspend him for 18 sitting days without a vote. The suspension will start on 8 October.
In a fiery speech to MPs Mr Galloway was warned repeatedly by Mr Martin before the Speaker's patience snapped. Mr Galloway left the chamber vowing to give the speech outside for anyone who wanted to hear it.
Taking statins may increase cancer risk reports the Times
Lowering cholesterol with statins may slightly increase the risk of cancer, a study suggests.
It is not clear whether the cancer cases are caused by the drugs, or are a consequence of the low levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol produced by taking them.
The result, which amounts to one extra case of cancer for every 1,000 patients treated, surprised the researchers who discovered it. They were looking for new evidence on the known side-effects of statins on the liver and muscle wasting.
Fertility doctor not fit to run clinic, regulator says reports the Guardian
Mohamed Taranissi, the controversial fertility doctor who has the highest success rate in the UK, has been told by the regulator that he is not a fit person to have legal responsibility for his clinic.
His London clinic, the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre, will have to close if Mr Taranissi cannot find somebody else who is acceptable to the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to become the "person responsible" in the eyes of the law within 21 days.
The HFEA move follows years of disputes between the regulator and the fertility doctor, culminating in a Panorama programme in January which accused Mr Taranissi of treating patients at an unlicensed second clinic, the Reproductive Genetics Institute (RGC).
DRINK RETHINK says the Mirror
GORDON Brown promised a shake-up of drinking laws yesterday amid fears that 24 hour opening has brought a rise in booze fuelled crime and disorder.
The Prime Minister told his first No10 press conference: "We have got a review which is looking at the effects because clearly there are strong feelings about what has happened.
"I have looked at the evidence and there is an increase in arrests between 3am and 6am and there are complaints about the social effects of the 24 hour drinking laws."
Tony Blair's new career is widely reported
Tony Blair urged to open channels to Hamas says the Telegraph
Tony Blair is facing pressure to consider talking to Hamas during his first visit to the Holy Land as international envoy to the Palestinians.While America, Israel and Europe all boycott the Islamist movement, Mr Blair will know that, unless he does something imaginative to deal with the Hamas issue, his mission can never amount to a great deal.
Hamas enjoys the most popular support among Palestinian voters and while their hardline stance towards Israel makes the group an anathema to the international community, to ignore Hamas means ignoring the will of millions of Palestinians.
Meanwhile the Independent reports
Baghdad brings US and Iran together in bid to end violence
Iranian and American officials meet in Baghdad today to discuss Iraqi security but wide differences are expected to prevent the real dialogue which may be essential to end the war in Iraq.
The Iraqi government has been trying to get the US and Iran to talk, pointing out that both support the Shia-Kurdish government in Baghdad. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states largely oppose it.
The talks will be led by the US and Iranian ambassadors but relations between the two countries have cooled since President George Bush identified Iran and Syria as America's main foreign opponents in Iraq in an address to the nation on 10 January.
Criticise me and you're out, Chávez warns foreigners says the Guardian
President Hugo Chávez has announced that foreigners who visit Venezuela and criticise his government will be escorted to the airport and expelled.
In a televised address the Venezuelan leader ordered cabinet ministers to monitor statements by visitors and deport them if they "denigrated" his leadership.
"How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?" he said. "No foreigner, whoever he may be, can come here and attack us. Whoever comes, we must remove him from the country. Here is your bag, sir, go."
Shambo the bull must die, says judge reports the Telegraph
The court ruled that the decision to kill the animal was justified after it tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (BTB).
The six-year-old bull is revered by Hindu monks at the Skanda Vale Community in Llanpumsaint, west Wales.
Following last week's High Court decision to spare the animal, the Welsh Assembly, which served the slaughter order in May, decided to appeal.
This latest ruling could be the final death sentence for Shambo.
The Mail gets its teeth into its usual agenda
Jobless couple with 12 children are given a £500,000 home
It's the type of highly-desirable family home that is well beyond the reach of many middle-class professionals.
A detached period house, with eight bedrooms, a garden, its own driveway and all set in a leafy residential area of well-to-do Newbury, Berkshire.
But Carl and Samantha Gillespie - together with their 12 children - have been able to move in without paying the slightest heed to Britain's sky-rocketing house prices.
In fact the couple have been given the keys without lifting a finger in work. and reports that
Drunken yobs making town centres into no-go areas
Drunken thugs are turning town centres into no-go areas after dark, MPs warn.
They act like "an occupying army loose in the streets" and the mayhem they cause costs the country £3.4billion every year.
Now the Public Accounts Committee is demanding drastic action against the yobs who regard Asbos as "part and parcel of everyday life".
One offender breached the terms of his order 25 times while committing 271 criminal offences, according to a committee report.
Bedtime stories a problem for many parents reports the Guardian
One in 10 parents struggle to understand the bedtime stories they read to their children, a survey by adult learning organisation Learndirect has found. Almost a quarter (23%) skip passages they cannot read or invent words to get to the end of a sentence, the poll found. A third of parents also admit to difficulties in helping their children with their maths homework.
Despite the difficulties, the poll found that reading stories is enjoying a renaissance, with 73% of families preferring it to playing in the park or watching TV.
According to the Sun
Hotel chain in porn ban
A LEADING hotel chain is to scrap porn on its in-room televisions.
Travelodge said it was getting rid of pay-per-view adult channels to "appeal to the ever-growing number of families" staying in its budget hotels.
The pay-per-view content and conventional televisions will be replaced by a £10 million roll-out of new flat screen, digital TVs with 18 free, family-friendly channels.
Travelodge's chief operating officer Guy Parsons said: "We have an ever-increasing number of families staying with us and it's appropriate that we remove adult TV.
Finally the Independent reports that
World's heaviest flying bird lays its first egg on British soil for 175 years
Conservationists hailed the success of an ambitious scheme to reintroduce the world's heaviest flying bird to the UK yesterday after the announcement that a female had laid its first egg on British soil for more than 175 years. The great bustard, which weighs up to 40lbs with a wingspan of up to 8ft, disappeared from the UK in the early 19th century. A scheme to reintroduce chicks from Russia began nine years ago.
The eggs were infertile and will not hatch but conservationists said successful nesting on a remote spot of Salisbury Plain was a major achievement.
10,000 homes flooded, 50,000 without power and 150,000 have no water says the Times
Servicemen and firefighters were battling to protect the electricity supplies of half a million people last night as the highest flood waters in memory continued to rise.
The Government announced an independent inquiry as water levels in the Thames and the Severn exceeded those of the devastating floods of 1947 and were forecast to rise to 20ft (6m) higher than normal.
More than 10,000 families have been left homeless in the West Country and Thames Valley over the past four days and thousands of others have been told to leave their homes as a mass of water surges down river. Electricity supplies to 50,000 homes have been cut and 150,000 homes have been left without water.
Similar headlines in the Telegraph
Floods crisis hits one million Britons which describes it as
A humanitarian crisis in central and western England was deepening last night with up to one million people affected by the worst floods in modern history.Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire could be without running water for up to two weeks, authorities said yesterday as they warned that it could be a year before some evacuated families are able to move back to their devastated homes.
The heart of England has been paralysed, with scores of towns and villages submerged or cut off. Up to 10,000 homes are either flooded or at risk of flooding in seven counties - Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Countless more are without running water, electricity or phone lines.
One million victims of the deluge but 'the worst is yet to come' says the Mail
In Oxford, there are fears that historic riverside colleges such as Christ Church and Magdalen could be swamped. Refugee families were bedding down at the city's football stadium last night.
According to the Guardian
Ministers warned three years ago over flood defence failings
The government was last night accused of failing to act on its own advice to overhaul UK flood defences and drainage systems which first highlighted deep-seated problems three years ago.
As large tracts of central and southern England remained under water, leaving tens of thousands of homes without power or drinking water, the environment minister, Hilary Benn, announced an independent review into what is being billed as the worst episode of flooding in modern British history.
The Independent calls it a
A 21st century catastrophe
Nothing in the past hundred years, in terms of flooding caused by rainfall, has been as bad. According to the Environment Agency, even the previous worst case, the extensive floods of spring 1947, which were aggravated by the vast snow melt that followed an exceptionally hard winter, has been surpassed.
"We have not seen flooding of this magnitude before," said the agency yesterday. "The benchmark was 1947, and this has already exceeded it." And the 1947 floods were said to have been the worst for 200 years.
FLODDY HELL says the Sun reporting that
THE Prime Minister today saw at first hand the devastation caused to large swathes of western England which have been deluged by flooding.
Gordon Brown flew by helicopter over the stricken county of Gloucestershire where thousands of people have been left without clean water.
He then arrived at Gloucestershire police headquarters to see how the emergency response is being co-ordinated.
FLOOD PANIC says the Express
Even as river levels across the Midlands and the South continued to rise, forcing mass evacuations, supermarkets were running out of staple foods. Emergency supplies were shipped into the worst-affected areas and people were being put up for the night in makeshift shelters. Food parcels, water, toiletries and bedding were being delivered to the sites.
Away from the floods and the Mirror reports on
THE MAIL PENSION ROBBERS
ROYAL Mail workers will have their pensions slashed unless they work five years longer under secret plans revealed by the Mirror today.
The move would cost staff members thousands of pounds a year. Some could see their retirement pay halved.
In addition the posties' final salary scheme would be closed to new members from next year.
Last night, on the eve of two weeks of pay strikes, union leaders vowed to fight the "hammer blow" proposals.
Cameron rejects criticism of aid trip to Africa reports the Telegraph
David Cameron yesterday dismissed critics who said he should have called off a trip to Africa and stayed home during the flooding crisis.
With much of his Witney, Oxon, constituency under water after torrential rain, the Conservative leader arrived in Rwanda facing fresh criticism over his leadership.
Mr Cameron brushed aside as a "non-story" reports that a handful of Conservative backbenchers had called for his resignation.
Dismissing the "tiny number" of anonymous critics, the Tory leader insisted that a Conservative aid project in the east African country reflected the party's values.
What about your constituents? asks the Mail
The Independent meanwhile reports that
Galloway expelled from Commons after clash with Speaker
George Galloway, the firebrand left-wing MP, was suspended from the Commons for 18 days last night after a stormy debate that saw him thrown out of the House amid angry clashes with the Speaker, Michael Martin.
Mr Martin took the highly unusual step of "naming" Mr Galloway and ordering him to leave the Commons chamber amid stormy scenes during a debate on the Respect MP's conduct.
Mr Galloway spoke for more than an hour as he tried defend himself against a move to suspend him for failing to disclose his links to Saddam Hussein's regime. But MPs agreed to suspend him for 18 sitting days without a vote. The suspension will start on 8 October.
In a fiery speech to MPs Mr Galloway was warned repeatedly by Mr Martin before the Speaker's patience snapped. Mr Galloway left the chamber vowing to give the speech outside for anyone who wanted to hear it.
Taking statins may increase cancer risk reports the Times
Lowering cholesterol with statins may slightly increase the risk of cancer, a study suggests.
It is not clear whether the cancer cases are caused by the drugs, or are a consequence of the low levels of “bad” LDL cholesterol produced by taking them.
The result, which amounts to one extra case of cancer for every 1,000 patients treated, surprised the researchers who discovered it. They were looking for new evidence on the known side-effects of statins on the liver and muscle wasting.
Fertility doctor not fit to run clinic, regulator says reports the Guardian
Mohamed Taranissi, the controversial fertility doctor who has the highest success rate in the UK, has been told by the regulator that he is not a fit person to have legal responsibility for his clinic.
His London clinic, the Assisted Reproduction and Gynaecology Centre, will have to close if Mr Taranissi cannot find somebody else who is acceptable to the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) to become the "person responsible" in the eyes of the law within 21 days.
The HFEA move follows years of disputes between the regulator and the fertility doctor, culminating in a Panorama programme in January which accused Mr Taranissi of treating patients at an unlicensed second clinic, the Reproductive Genetics Institute (RGC).
DRINK RETHINK says the Mirror
GORDON Brown promised a shake-up of drinking laws yesterday amid fears that 24 hour opening has brought a rise in booze fuelled crime and disorder.
The Prime Minister told his first No10 press conference: "We have got a review which is looking at the effects because clearly there are strong feelings about what has happened.
"I have looked at the evidence and there is an increase in arrests between 3am and 6am and there are complaints about the social effects of the 24 hour drinking laws."
Tony Blair's new career is widely reported
Tony Blair urged to open channels to Hamas says the Telegraph
Tony Blair is facing pressure to consider talking to Hamas during his first visit to the Holy Land as international envoy to the Palestinians.While America, Israel and Europe all boycott the Islamist movement, Mr Blair will know that, unless he does something imaginative to deal with the Hamas issue, his mission can never amount to a great deal.
Hamas enjoys the most popular support among Palestinian voters and while their hardline stance towards Israel makes the group an anathema to the international community, to ignore Hamas means ignoring the will of millions of Palestinians.
Meanwhile the Independent reports
Baghdad brings US and Iran together in bid to end violence
Iranian and American officials meet in Baghdad today to discuss Iraqi security but wide differences are expected to prevent the real dialogue which may be essential to end the war in Iraq.
The Iraqi government has been trying to get the US and Iran to talk, pointing out that both support the Shia-Kurdish government in Baghdad. Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states largely oppose it.
The talks will be led by the US and Iranian ambassadors but relations between the two countries have cooled since President George Bush identified Iran and Syria as America's main foreign opponents in Iraq in an address to the nation on 10 January.
Criticise me and you're out, Chávez warns foreigners says the Guardian
President Hugo Chávez has announced that foreigners who visit Venezuela and criticise his government will be escorted to the airport and expelled.
In a televised address the Venezuelan leader ordered cabinet ministers to monitor statements by visitors and deport them if they "denigrated" his leadership.
"How long are we going to allow a person - from any country in the world - to come to our own house to say there's a dictatorship here, that the president is a tyrant, and nobody does anything about it?" he said. "No foreigner, whoever he may be, can come here and attack us. Whoever comes, we must remove him from the country. Here is your bag, sir, go."
Shambo the bull must die, says judge reports the Telegraph
The court ruled that the decision to kill the animal was justified after it tested positive for bovine tuberculosis (BTB).
The six-year-old bull is revered by Hindu monks at the Skanda Vale Community in Llanpumsaint, west Wales.
Following last week's High Court decision to spare the animal, the Welsh Assembly, which served the slaughter order in May, decided to appeal.
This latest ruling could be the final death sentence for Shambo.
The Mail gets its teeth into its usual agenda
Jobless couple with 12 children are given a £500,000 home
It's the type of highly-desirable family home that is well beyond the reach of many middle-class professionals.
A detached period house, with eight bedrooms, a garden, its own driveway and all set in a leafy residential area of well-to-do Newbury, Berkshire.
But Carl and Samantha Gillespie - together with their 12 children - have been able to move in without paying the slightest heed to Britain's sky-rocketing house prices.
In fact the couple have been given the keys without lifting a finger in work. and reports that
Drunken yobs making town centres into no-go areas
Drunken thugs are turning town centres into no-go areas after dark, MPs warn.
They act like "an occupying army loose in the streets" and the mayhem they cause costs the country £3.4billion every year.
Now the Public Accounts Committee is demanding drastic action against the yobs who regard Asbos as "part and parcel of everyday life".
One offender breached the terms of his order 25 times while committing 271 criminal offences, according to a committee report.
Bedtime stories a problem for many parents reports the Guardian
One in 10 parents struggle to understand the bedtime stories they read to their children, a survey by adult learning organisation Learndirect has found. Almost a quarter (23%) skip passages they cannot read or invent words to get to the end of a sentence, the poll found. A third of parents also admit to difficulties in helping their children with their maths homework.
Despite the difficulties, the poll found that reading stories is enjoying a renaissance, with 73% of families preferring it to playing in the park or watching TV.
According to the Sun
Hotel chain in porn ban
A LEADING hotel chain is to scrap porn on its in-room televisions.
Travelodge said it was getting rid of pay-per-view adult channels to "appeal to the ever-growing number of families" staying in its budget hotels.
The pay-per-view content and conventional televisions will be replaced by a £10 million roll-out of new flat screen, digital TVs with 18 free, family-friendly channels.
Travelodge's chief operating officer Guy Parsons said: "We have an ever-increasing number of families staying with us and it's appropriate that we remove adult TV.
Finally the Independent reports that
World's heaviest flying bird lays its first egg on British soil for 175 years
Conservationists hailed the success of an ambitious scheme to reintroduce the world's heaviest flying bird to the UK yesterday after the announcement that a female had laid its first egg on British soil for more than 175 years. The great bustard, which weighs up to 40lbs with a wingspan of up to 8ft, disappeared from the UK in the early 19th century. A scheme to reintroduce chicks from Russia began nine years ago.
The eggs were infertile and will not hatch but conservationists said successful nesting on a remote spot of Salisbury Plain was a major achievement.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)