The Sunday Times sets the news agenda this morning with its front page story that

Royal targeted in sex and drugs blackmail plot

A MEMBER of the royal family has been targeted in an alleged “sex and drugs” blackmail plot being investigated by Scotland Yard.
The royal - who cannot be named for legal reasons - called in the police after being approached by two alleged blackmailers in August.
The men demanded £50,000 not to publicise a video, which they suggested showed the royal engaged in a sex act. The case is understood to be the first time in more than 100 years that a member of the royal family has been the victim of blackmail.
During telephone calls to the royal’s office, the suspected blackmailers also claimed to have evidence suggesting that the royal had supplied an aide with an envelope containing cocaine. They claimed that they had a video tape showing the aide snorting the drug.

The story shares the front page with

Official: organic really is better

THE biggest study into organic food has found that it is more nutritious than ordinary produce and may help to lengthen people's lives.
The evidence from the £12m four-year project will end years of debate and is likely to overturn government advice that eating organic food is no more than a lifestyle choice.

The Independent stays with food for its front page

GM: The Secret Files

Ministers are secretly easing the way for GM crops in Britain, while professing to be impartial on the technology, startling internal documents reveal.
The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, show that the Government colluded with a biotech company in setting conditions for testing GM potatoes, and gives tens of millions of pounds a year to boost research into modified crops and foods.
The information on funding proved extraordinarily difficult to get, requiring three months of investigation by an environmental pressure group, a series of parliamentary questions, and three applications for the information.

Its leader saying

Time for a fresh start on GM

And still on the food topic,

Call to use leftovers and cut food waste reports the Observer

Bubble and squeak and homemade chutney are back on the menu as part of a campaign launched this week to urge people to return to the values of wartime food rationing and cut the mountain of food waste emerging from the nation's kitchens.
Research by the government's waste reduction agency, Wrap, found that one third of all food bought in Britain is thrown away - of which half is edible. Wrap will claim that this discarded food is a bigger problem than packaging, as the food supply chain accounts for a fifth of UK carbon emissions and decomposing food releases methane, the most potent of the greenhouse gases. Wasted food is estimated to cost each British household from £250 to £400 a year.

Record numbers go abroad for health reports the Telegraph

Thousands of "health tourists" are going as far as India, Malaysia and South Africa for major operations – such is their despair over the quality of health services.
The first survey of Britons opting for treatment overseas shows that fears of hospital infections and frustration with NHS waiting lists are fuelling the increasing trend.

More reasons to go abroad on the front of the Mail on Sunday

A knife crime every 24 minutes

The terrifying scale of knife crime in Britain is laid bare today in unpublished figures obtained by The Mail on Sunday.
An exclusive study of statistics from 37 police forces reveals that, in just three months of this year, almost 5,500 serious crimes involving knives were committed - or one every 24 minutes, around the clock.
The figure includes 55 knife-related murders, more than 2,000 stabbings and almost 2,500 muggings at knifepoint.

MCCANNS ‘ARE HIDING A BIG SECRET’ says the front page of the Sunday Express.John Stalker writes that

I HAVE watched the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case drag out for six months.
One thing above all worries me: Why have the McCanns and the seven other members of their group – the Tapas Nine – remained so silent? My gut instinct is that some big secret is probably being covered up.
Unlike other high-profile cases I have worked on, not one of them has been prepared to break ranks or really come out and support each other. After all this time and pressure, I cannot believe that nobody wants to speak.

The Sunday Mirror claims an exclusive

I SAW HIM TAKE HER


A friend of Kate and Gerry McCann has described for the first time the moment she believes she saw Madeleine being snatched.
Jane Tanner is haunted by the image of a man "striding urgently" away from the McCanns' apartment with a barefooted child slumped in his arms.
She admits thinking he "looked a bit odd" but says she never imagined the youngster he was carrying could be four-year-old Madeleine...until the alarm was raised 45 minutes later that she was missing. And by then it was too late.

SNACHED TO ORDER says the News of the World

A CRACK new team of private eyes are now hunting missing Maddie McCann—and they are convinced she was snatched TO ORDER by a paedophile gang then SMUGGLED out to Morocco.
Today we sensationally reveal the renowned Spanish Metodo 3 detective agency—hired by parents Kate and Gerry—believe the four-year-old was targeted after a tip-off from INSIDE their Portuguese holiday complex. An insider said: "It's distressing but gives us all hope Maddie's still alive."

According to the Independent,

18 British soldiers a week test positive for drug use

The use of cocaine has trebled since the start of the Iraq war in 2003, and the drug is now found in the majority of those soldiers who fail drugs tests.
More than 1,500 forces personnel (almost 1 per cent of soldiers in the Army) have tested positive for drugs since the beginning of 2006 – 80 per cent of whom were using class A drugs – according to statistics from the MoD's random drug testing programme.
The number of British Army personnel testing positive for drugs rose from 518 in 2003 to 769 in 2006 – a 48 per cent increase. Cocaine accounted for 423 failed tests, far ahead of cannabis (221) and Ecstasy (95).

Meanwhile the Teleraph reports that

Basra fight pointless, says British commander

One of the most senior British commanders in Iraq has claimed that there is no point in fighting on in Basra, likening British troops in the city to "Robocop" and admitting that innocent people were hurt as a result of their actions.The officer, who spoke to The Sunday Telegraph on condition of anonymity, said commanders had concluded that a military solution was no longer viable.
"We are tired of firing at people," he said. "We would prefer to find a political accommodation."

Meanwhile according to the Mirror

We tried to rebuild Iraq based on info in the 1994 Lonely Planet guide book

The plan to rebuild Iraq was so vague that those given the job of reconstruction turned to an out-of-date Lonely Planet guide book for help and inspiration.
Former American ambassador Barbara Bodine, who was given the job of helping to reconstruct Iraq, said: "It is a great guide book, but it should not be the basis of an occupation."
Ms Bodine was one of 170 officials sent to rebuild Iraq after the UK and US invasion toppled Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
But in a BBC investigation shown tonight, Ms Bodine reveals how the team of diplomats was given no information about how they should go about it.


Last veteran salutes the dead of both sides reports the Observer

The last surviving veteran to fight in the trenches during the First World War paid tribute to his colleagues as he launched his local poppy appeal. Harry Patch, 109, from Wells, was guest of honour at Weston-super-Mare where the signal of a cannon launched the start of commemorations in Somerset.
Speaking at the county's Legion House, a convalescence home for ex-service personnel, below, he said: 'Today is not for me, it is for the countless millions who did not come home with their lives intact. They are the heroes. It is also important we remember those who lost their lives on both sides.'

The Observer leads with

Tories will hand crucial powers to English MPs

David Cameron is to throw his weight behind the most radical shake-up of Parliament in more than a century by endorsing a plan to strip Scottish MPs of the right to vote on English matters at Westminster.
In a dramatic response to the growing English backlash against what the Tories perceive as unbalanced funding for Scotland, the Conservative leader will endorse a new report that would lead to Gordon Brown being banned from voting on legislation relating to English schools and hospitals. Labour last night condemned the plan. David Cairns, the Scotland Office minister, told The Observer: 'Once you breach the principle that all MPs should vote on matters before them in Westminster you get constitutional anarchy.'

On the same topic,the Independent reports

SNP lays out plans to leave the UK

The Scottish First Minister, Alex Salmond, will today lay out a plan to establish his party in power and take Scotland out of the UK within three years.
The Scottish National Party leader will tell delegates at their conference in Aviemore that the leaders have adopted a "three-stage approach to government", which they hope will culminate in a referendum on independence in 2010.

Civil servants to bail out Gordon Brown at PM's questions reports the Times

DOWNING STREET has ordered a shake-up of preparations for prime minister’s questions (PMQs) in the wake of dismal performances by Gordon Brown, a leaked document reveals.
A memo circulated across Whitehall says that Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary, has ordered the review and says that “the PM has to be able to have confidence” in the information provided to him by officials when he stands up on the floor of the house.

The Observer meanwhile tells us

Brown is back - and this time it's personal

Rallying after the non-election debacle, the Prime Minister is plotting a campaign to return Labour to power in 2009 - and see off David Cameron, for whom he feels little but loathing.

Conservatives plan police 'reserve force' says the Telegraph

The Conservatives have drawn up radical plans to replace Labour's controversial "Blunkett's bobbies" with a police reserve force similar to the Territorial Army.
The new force would comprise tens of thousands of paid special constables, all highly-trained with full powers of arrest.
Its creation would lead eventually to the scrapping of police community support officers, or PCSOs, who have attracted widespread criticism for being toothless.

Less welcome news for the Tories in the Mail

Cameron accused of 'crass insensitivity' after one-legged Lithuanians remark

David Cameron was accused of a politically incorrect gaffe last night over a lighthearted remark he made about one-legged Lithuanians at a meeting with leading figures in the arts world.
Labour said the Tory leader was guilty of "crass insensitivity" after the comment, made at an Arts Council lunch on Tuesday, was leaked to The Mail on Sunday.
According to Arts Council sources, Mr Cameron told his hosts: "I hope you won't be giving grants to too many one-legged Lithuanian lesbians," prompting embarrassed looks all round.

The Telegraph claims

Children 'becoming fat, fearful and afraid'

A major report, to be published this week, will warn that this "cotton wool" culture is breeding a generation of cossetted youngsters who are fearful of challenges, suspicious of adults and lacking in confidence.
"Risk and Childhood", published by the Royal Society for the Arts, will highlight the escalation in regulation from a Government that is attempting to micro-manage every aspect of daily life. About 33 Acts of Parliament and more than 1,000 new regulations to reduce risk were passed in 2006 alone.

Bullying is exaggerated, says childhood expert reports the Observer

In a book to be published tomorrow, Tim Gill, a former government adviser who led a major review into children's play, argues that mollycoddling children by labelling 'unpleasant behaviour' as bullying is stopping them from building the skills they need to protect themselves. 'I have spoken to teachers and educational psychologists who say that parents and children are labelling as bullying what are actually minor fallings-out,' said Gill, the former director of the then Children's Play Council, who is currently advising the Conservative Party's childhood review.


The Express claims that

EIGHT DEATHS LINKED TO LABOUR’S NEW SEX JAB FOR SCHOOLGIRLS

Doctors suspect the jab, which protects against a sexually transmitted human papilloma virus that causes the cancer, may be implicated in 3,461 adverse reactions, including paralysis and seizures.
Last week Health Secretary Alan Johnson revealed plans to vaccinate all girls aged between 12 and 13 to cut Britain’s death rate from the disease. He said: “Prevention is better than cure and this vaccine will prevent many women from catching the virus in the first place.”


Will Bush really bomb Iran? asks the Times

In the white desert sands of New Mexico, close to where the first atom bomb was detonated, America’s biggest conventional weapon was tested last spring. A 30,000lb massive ordnance penetrator, known as the Big Blu or the Mother of All Bombs, was placed inside a tunnel to test its explosive power against hard, deeply buried bunkers and tunnels designed to conceal weapons of mass destruction.
The monster bunker-buster was so heavy, it could not fly. But the blast was a huge success, rippling through the tunnels and destroying everything in its wake.
Today the Big Blu might as well have “Tehran” written on its side in the same way that the Iranians love to parade missiles marked “Tel Aviv”. Tucked away in an emergency defence spending request, the US air force has just asked Congress for $88m to equip B2 stealth bombers, the black warriors of the skies, with racks strong enough carry the huge bomb.


The Observer meanwhile has an exclusive

Indian 'slave' children found making low-cost clothes destined for Gap

Child workers, some as young as 10, have been found working in a textile factory in conditions close to slavery to produce clothes that appear destined for Gap Kids, one of the most successful arms of the high street giant.
Speaking to The Observer, the children described long hours of unwaged work, as well as threats and beatings.
Gap said it was unaware that clothing intended for the Christmas market had been improperly subcontracted to a sweatshop using child labour. It announced it had withdrawn the garments involved while it investigated breaches of the ethical code imposed by it three years ago.


Following the news that Prince Philip has a heart condition,the Mail reports

Philip shoots down those heart rumours (...not to mention a few pheasants)

Prince Philip showed he felt fighting fit yesterday by enjoying his favourite winter hobby - shooting game birds.
The 86-year-old Duke of Edinburgh was spotted driving around in his Land Rover, walking unaided and taking pot shots at birds flying overhead on the 20,000-acre Royal estate at Sandringham, Norfolk.
The Prince was reported last week to have been suffering from a heart condition for the past 15 years and the Queen was said to have become increasingly concerned about his ill health in recent weeks.

HEART-SCARE PHILIP BACK..KILLING BIRDS says the Mirror and more royal revealtions in the News of the World,

Harry's £1,567 bar bill
..and club boss only made him pay half of it

BOOZY Prince Harry ran up a sky high £1,567 bar bill on a wild night out with girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
The staggering tally came after he smooched the blonde stunner—then lost that loving feeling when he threatened to KILL a reveller.
Harry had splashed out on ultra-expensive Grey Goose vodka and Krug champagne at trendy Amika nightclub in Kensington, West London.
But when it came to settling up the management gave him a king-size discount — and charged him only HALF the massive bill. A minder paid by credit card.

More scandal in the same paper

Vile Jeremy Kyle preyed on me when I was just 16

TV'S holier-than-thou talk show king Jeremy Kyle has a dirty secret to rival any of the lowlife guests he pillories on screen.
The slick-talking star lured a 16-year-old schoolgirl into a lust-fuelled fling by promising to get her into showbiz.
Kyle became infatuated with pretty Becky Hayes when she did work experience at the radio station where he was a DJ. Now she has revealed to a close friend how the schemer:

And more problems for the culture secretary in the Telegraph

A member of the Cabinet was under renewed pressure last night over the true extent of his involvement in a faked photo row.
James Purnell has always denied any knowledge of a decision to doctor a photograph that appeared to show him in a group shot with fellow MPs at an official function.

Finally the Times reports that

Ming the mollusc holds secret to long life

A CLAM dredged alive from the bottom of the north Atlantic has been identified by scientists as the longest-lived animal ever known. When the mollusc was growing from a larva 405 years ago, Queen Elizabeth I was on the throne and William Shake-speare was writing The Merry Wives of Windsor.
Unfortunately, by the time its true age had been established the 3.4in clam was already dead, but the British scientists who discovered it believe it could yield valuable information to help research into ageing.