Many of the papers carry front page pictures of the girls orphaned by the tragedy and both the Mirror and the Sun carry the story as the lead

Orphaned after parents swept away says the Mirror

Stunned relatives of whirlpool victims Robert and Debbie Fry yesterday described them as devoted parents who would have willingly given their lives for their children.
Debbie's brother Tim said the couple, who drowned with friend Jean Dinsmore after saving their two sons and two daughters, would have plunged into the swirling sea without hesitation.

Orphaned by the ocean says the Sun

SHATTERED pals of the British couple killed saving their children from an ocean whirlpool described them last night as the “best parents in the world”.
Frantic Bob and Debbie Fry, of Wootton Bassett, Wilts, perished yards from a Portuguese beach after daughter Rosie, 11, and son George, nine, were sucked under.

Parents gave lives to save children in Algarve says the Telegraph

A surfer has described how two British children orphaned in the Algarve drowning tragedy saw their father die minutes after he had helped save their lives.
Rosie and George Fry — aged 11 and nine — ran up and down the beach screaming as a group of surfers tried in vain to save their parents. Robert and Debbie Fry and their friend, Jean Dinsmore, were swept to their deaths after helping seven children who had been caught by powerful currents.

The Mail asks

Are winter flu jabs for pensioners a waste of time? on its front page

Vaccinating millions of pensioners against flu each winter does nothing to cut hospital admissions, a report says today. There is no evidence that the annual campaign, which costs the NHS £115million, saves people from developing more serious illnesses.
The study, following others which have cast doubt on the campaign's effectiveness, led to calls for it to be scrapped.

The Guardian leads with

Too many abortions: Lord Steel

Lord Steel, architect of the 1967 Abortion Act, says today that abortion is being used as a form of contraception in Britain and admits he never anticipated "anything like" the current number of terminations when leading the campaign for reform.
The Liberal Democrat peer, whose bill legalising abortion in certain circumstances marks its 40th anniversary on Saturday, says an "irresponsible" mood has emerged in which women feel they can turn to abortion "if things go wrong".
"Everybody can agree that there are too many abortions," he says in an interview in today's Guardian, calling for better sex education and access to contraceptive advice and a debate over sexual morality to help bring the numbers down

Medical matters in the Times

Health scare as tainted lamb is found being sold in supermarkets

Batches of lamb containing illegal veterinary drug residues that can make consumers ill are on sale in supermarkets.
There is a particular danger to any pregnant woman who has been exposed to regular doses of the drug, as high residue levels can affect foetal development. The Food Standards Agency has ordered a search and confiscation of this meat to protect consumer health.
The agency has begun an investigation to find out how this meat was able to enter the food chain and was supplied to leading supermarkets and other retailers. This could result in a criminal prosecution.

The paper though leads with education

A levels face axe in favour of diplomas

A levels could be scrapped within six years and replaced by work-based diplomas, under the biggest exams shake-up in 20 years, the Government announced yesterday.
Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, refused to guarantee the future of the exam in a reversal of the position taken by the Blair Government. He said that the diplomas could become the “jewel in the crown” of the education system

The Independent carries a picture of California ablaze on its front page

California burning: National Guard mobilised as state goes up in flames

The wildfires laying waste to southern California raged unabated yesterday as a third day of high winds and scorching temperatures pushed flames further into suburban communities and mountain towns, forcing the evacuation of 350,000 homes and destroying more than 1,000 buildings.
The US military joined the fire-fighting effort, sending in helicopters loaded with fire retardant after President George Bush declared a national state of emergency. California has already mobilised its state National Guard and said seven counties between the Mexican border and Santa Barbara were disaster zones

Arnie prays as fire ravishes on says the Sun

GOVERNOR Arnold Schwarzenegger visited a burnt-out church yesterday – as the wildfires which have raged since Sunday in California edged closer to houses.Nearly half a million people, including many celebs, have been evacuated and 1,000 homes destroyed – but just two people have died.


Many of the papers reflect on the appearnce of John Yates in front of the Commons committee

Cash-for-honours investigator complains of political interference reports the Independent

The senior Metropolitan Police officer at the centre of the aborted £1m inquiry into "cash-for-honours" allegations inside Downing Street was put under intense pressure by high-level political figures before the case was dropped, he said yesterday.
Assistant Commissioner John Yates told the Commons public administration select committee that his 16-month investigation was obstructed by a lack of co-operation. But he insisted that the pressure exerted on him during the course of the inquiry did not influence his decisions.
He said the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, co-operated "in full" but added: "Others did not. It would be quite obvious to everybody who that was."

No 10 hindered honours enquiry says the Guardian

Assistant Commissioner John Yates told MPs it took him nine months, and some difficulty, to discover how Tony Blair came to draw up the list of his proposed nominees for peerages in 2005.Mr Yates claimed at one point that the lack of cooperation may have not been deliberate, but stemmed from a belief in parts of No 10 that his inquiry was a political rather than criminal problem.

Record immigration sees UK population soar is the lead story in the Telegraph

Ten years from now, there will be 65 million people in the UK - an increase of five million - and by 2031, the population will be over 70 million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. Within a generation, immigration will add the equivalent of a city the size of London to the population.
This is the fastest growth rate since the post-war baby boom - and is far more rapid than the Government forecast just three years ago.

5 Million more here in 9 years says the Sun

FIVE million more people will be crammed into Britain in less than TEN years, official figures showed last night.
The UK’s population will hit a staggering 65million by 2016. And the explosion will be driven by immigrants.
The growth will be the equivalent of half the population of Greater London.
The Government’s own prediction shows our overcrowded island swelling by at least 2.1million immigrants.

The Telegraph reports the comments of Dorothy Lessing

9/11 not as bad as IRA,

She told the Spanish newspaper El Pais: "September 11 was terrible, but if one goes back over the history of the IRA, what happened to the Americans wasn't that terrible.
"Some Americans will think I'm crazy. Many people died, two prominent buildings fell, but it was neither as terrible nor as extraordinary as they think. They're a very naive people, or they pretend to be.
"Do you know what people forget? That the IRA attacked with bombs against our Government.

The Guardian reports that

Police shut down website after two-year music piracy inquiry

British police have closed down what they claim is one of the world's largest music piracy websites after a two-year pan-European operation. A series of raids in Middlesbrough and Amsterdam resulted in the arrest of a 24-year-old man and the closure of Oink, a private website that allowed users to locate and download music, movies and other files.
The closure has been welcomed by the music industry, which said that leaked copies of pre-release records meant that Oink users were able to access hundreds of albums before they reached the shops.

Many of the papers report on the

One-in-a-billion DNA match links suspect to girl’s murder, 32 years on

A part-time taxi driver stabbed an 11-year-old girl to death in a frenzied sex attack 32 years ago and allowed an innocent man to go to jail for the murder, Bradford Crown Court was told yesterday.
Ronald Castree, now 54 and a comic-book dealer, is accused of abducting Lesley Molseed as she was on her way to the shops in Rochdale in October, 1975, and driving her to a “lonely spot” on the moors. Her body was discovered there three days later.
says the Times

Trapped by DNA after 30 years says the Mirror

Nine months after the killing, the part-time cabbie abducted and assaulted a girl of nine. He then kept quiet while innocent Stefan Kiszko was wrongly convicted of Lesley's murder, serving 16 years, a court heard.But Castree had allegedly left traces of his semen on Lesley's knickers. It was recovered on adhesive tape and stored as potential evidence.

The Express continues to lead with Maddy

FATHER PLAYED TENNIS AFTER SHE VANISHED

THE father of Madeleine McCann stunned hotel staff by organising a game of tennis while the massive hunt for his daughter was under way, it was revealed yesterday.
Waiter Jose Baptista, 45, told how the staff were amazed by the calm demeanour of Gerry McCann and his wife Kate in the agonising days after Madeleine disappeared.


The Times reports that

General rules out any more Iraq troop withdrawals before 2009

Further substantial British troop reductions in Iraq by the end of next year were ruled out yesterday, despite predictions by senior Whitehall officials earlier this month that a total British withdrawal was likely in 2008.
The Prime Minister had told the Commons on October 8 that the 5,000 troops now in southern Iraq would be cut to 2,500 from next spring, with an additional 500 logistics personnel to be based in Kuwait. Defence officials said that later there could be further cuts, leading swiftly to an all-out withdrawal.

Meanwhile the Independent reports

Trillion-dollar war: Afghanistan and Iraq set to cost more than Vietnam and Korea

President George Bush will have spent more than $1 trillion on military adventures by the time he leaves office at the end of next year, more than the entire amount spent on the Korean and Vietnam wars combined.
There are also disturbing signs that Mr Bush is preparing an attack on Iran during his remaining months in office. He has demanded $46bn (£22.5bn) emergency funds from Congress by Christmas and included with it a single sentence requesting money to upgrade the B-2 "stealth" bomber.

US tries to placate Moscow with offer of missile delay reports the Guardian

Washington has offered to delay the "activation" of its proposed missile defence sites in eastern Europe which have caused a serious rift with Moscow, the US defence secretary said yesterday.
Russian officials said the proposal fell short of Moscow's demands but described it as a "positive signal" which could be the starting point for further negotiations.


Nicolas Sarkozy sets out his plans for a green future Target says the Times

President Sarkozy will attempt to claim leadership of the environmental movement tomorrow, but his promises of a radical, green France risk falling victim to a reluctance to raise taxes, drop speed limits or touch the country’s reliance on nuclear power.
“Carbon labels” for supermarket products and anti-pollution incentives for new cars are among ideas that are likely to be endorsed by Mr Sarkozy when he presides over the conclusion of a two-day summit of French and global experts, campaigners, business groups and other lobbies.

The Mail carries a couple of quirky stories

Double glazing salesman 'punched customer for getting quote from a rival firm'

A double glazing salesman launched a violent assault on a customer moments after discovering they had spoken to a rival company, a court was told yesterday.
Carl Birkenshaw, 42, allegedly threw a series of punches at George Dixon after accusing him and his wife of wasting his time during a meeting at the couple's home.

AND the story of the

Petrol station cashier tells armed robber she's TOO BUSY to deal with him

Yesterday David Collinson, 42, was beginning a seven-year jail sentence after he was convicted of robbery at Gloucester Crown Court.
Judge Martin Picton paid tribute to Miss Faulkner with a £200 court award and told her she had shown ' remarkable courage' in standing up to the armed raider.

According to the Mirror

Storytime 'is a must'

Reading bedtime stories to your children should be as much part of their routine as brushing their teeth, parents will be told today.
Ten minutes' bedtime reading a night for every child is as vital as good health and food, Schools Secretary Ed Balls will say.
The move - at the launch of the National Year of Reading - comes amid concerns that efforts to improve literacy have stalled, especially among boys.

The WAG role models: Expert tells children to look up to footballers' wives reports the Mail

They are the fake-tan blondes whose specialist subjects on Mastermind would be Shopping and Looking Vacuous.
Or so you might think, given the popular perception of the football WAGs.
But in fact players' wives and girlfriends are good role models for young women, who should look up to them if they want to get on in life.

According to the Telegraph

Italy's Padre Pio 'faked his stigmata with acid'

The Other Christ: Padre Pio and 19th Century Italy, by the historian Sergio Luzzatto, draws on a document found in the Vatican's archive.The document reveals the testimony of a pharmacist who said that the young Padre Pio bought four grams of carbolic acid in 1919.




Finally the Sun tells us

It's not just us...pets are obese

NINE out of ten dog owners are killing their pets with kindness – by feeding them cakes, biscuits and yoghurts.
And 60 per cent of cat lovers are doing the same, a study claimed yesterday.