Middle classes face job disaster is the lead in the Telegraph,the paper reports that

The middle classes are facing a "white collar recession" of falling living standards and unemployment as the economy suffers its worst year since 1980, the Bank of England has warned.Mervyn King, the Bank's governor, said the economy would shrink by 2 per cent next year, with the downturn hitting those working in the managerial, services and financial sectors.
He said "the world had changed" in the wake of the global financial crisis and that "people should be concerned" about the difficult times ahead

The papers are full of gloomy economic news this morning,Shape of Things to come says the Guardian

The City was bracing itself last night for interest rates to be cut to a record low of 1% next year, as the Bank of England seeks to prevent a deepening recession from pushing the UK economy into deflation.
Sterling fell sharply yesterday after Mervyn King, the Bank's governor, said that in "exceptional and difficult times" the nine members of the monetary policy committee would do "what was needed" to prevent a period of falling prices.
Financial markets believe the prospect of sharply lower growth and weakening inflation may prompt the MPC to follow last week's 1.5 percentage point cut with a further 1 point reduction in December, and that the bank rate may drop to 1% early in the new year.

The Independent has an interview with the Chancellor

Alistair Darling will forecast a short, sharp recession in his crucial pre-Budget report in 11 days' time, with the economy contracting by more than 1 per cent next year but bouncing back strongly in 2010.
In an exclusive interview, the Chancellor told The Independent yesterday: "We are going into recession. I remain confident that we will get through it." It was his clearest admission yet that a recession is inevitable.

Economy faces sharpest downturn for 30 years says the Times reporting that

Unemployment rose by 140,000 to 1.82 million in the three months to September and is predicted to exceed two million early next year. The Bank raised the spectre of deflation, reviving fears of a downturn on the scale of the Great Depression of the Thirties

The economy shares top billing with the opening of the trial of those accused of Kidnapping Shannon Matthews

Shannon Matthews was drugged and tethered by a noose for 24 days in a plot devised by her mother to claim a £50,000 reward, a court heard yesterday.
The nine-year-old was the innocent pawn in a 'dishonest and wicked'
scheme carried out by mother-of-seven Karen Matthews and her partner's uncle Michael Donovan, it was alleged.
While a £3.2million police hunt was under way, Matthews played the part of the grief-stricken mother, 'conjuring up tears' in televised appeals for the girl's return.

report the Mail

The Express reporting that

THE full ordeal of vanished schoolgirl Shannon Matthews was revealed to a court yesterday.
She was allegedly fed a cocktail of drugs and bound with an elastic noose for 24 days as her mother, Karen, faked her kidnap

Meanwhile the Sun continues to focus on the death of Baby P

Have you no shame? asks the paper

THE Sun today demands justice for Baby P — and vows not to rest until those disgracefully ducking blame for failing the tot are SACKED.
Four social workers and the doctor who could not spot the 17-month-old had a broken back are named and shamed on the right.
As ALL defiantly carry on working today — and with still NO apology over the horror that shocked the nation — we call on our army of outraged readers to join our crusade.

Politicians call for action over Baby P case says the Independent

Amid a growing political storm over the abuse and killing of a 17-month-old baby boy on an "at-risk" register, Haringey Council's director of children's services, Sharon Shoesmith, appeared determined to remain in her job last night, as yet another inquiry into the authority's apparent failings was ordered – this time by the Secretary of State for Children, Ed Balls.

The Mail reports the comments

'I'll be out of jail by Christmas': Baby P mother's shock claim

a police source was quoted as saying: 'None of them appear to be worried or sorry about what happened to the baby. They all feel very sorry for themselves but have not shown any remorse at all. The mother thinks she will be home in time for Christmas.'

Many of the papers report that

Baby and toddler stabbed to death

The children were found with fatal stab wounds to the chest shortly after 5.45pm on Wednesday afternoon.
A 21-year-old woman was arrested at the scene on Kilmington Drive, Cheetham Hill, and was being questioned by detectives on suspicion of murder.
Forensic experts were carrying out a detailed examination of the property.
A spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: "Police were called to Kilmington Drive, in Cheetham Hill, Greater Manchester, shortly before 5.45pm on Wednesday 12 November following reports of concern for welfare

reports the Telegraph

Police rule out any murder at care home says the Guardian

Jersey's most senior police officer was suspended yesterday as detectives concluded that no children had been murdered in the former care home at the centre of a £4.5m investigation into child abuse.
Graham Power, Jersey's chief of police, oversaw the historic abuse inquiry into the Haut de la Garenne children's home. In February police announced that they had found the "potential remains of a child" buried under the Victorian building and about £1.5m was spent on excavations

The Independent reports that

Karzai to brief PM on secret Taliban talks

The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, will today brief Gordon Brown on talks being held with the Taliban with the aim of ending the conflict in his country, The Independent has learnt.
Mr Karzai is due to meet the Prime Minister after flying in from New York, where he discussed the matter with King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and the Pakistani President, Asif Ali Zardari

The Times reports on a Power supergrid plan to protect Europe from Russian threat to choke off energy

The building blocks of the proposed supergrid would be new cables linking North Sea wind farms, and a network patching together the disparate electricity grids of the Baltic region and the countries bordering the Mediterranean, according to a blueprint drawn up by the European Commission and seen by The Times.
EU states will also be asked to pay for at least two ambitious gas pipelines to bring in supplies from Central Asia and Africa. The plans also call for a Community Gas Ring, or a network allowing EU countries to share supplies if Russia turns off the taps

British commandos kill two pirates in stand-off says the Guardian

British commandos killed two suspected pirates who tried to seize a Danish ship in the Gulf of Aden during an unprecedented operation involving a Royal Navy and a Russian warship, it was revealed yesterday.
The suspected pirates were shot after the Royal Marine commandos, in rigid inflatable boats launched from the frigate HMS Cumberland, were fired at from a Yemeni flagged dhow, the Ministry of Defence said.

The Telegraph reports that

Criminals ordered to work for their community should be forced to wear uniforms, Sir Ian Blair has said.The Metropolitan Police Commissioner insisted that visible punishment is the only way to convince the public the criminal justice system works.
He said offenders wearing high visibility vests is "unpalatable" but could help restore confidence in the courts.

End of the first-class degree in student reforms says the Times

Universities face the prospect of being overhauled with changes to the traditional academic year and the scrapping of the current degree grading system after a radical review ordered by the Government.
Year-round enrolment at universities, instead of recruiting students only in October, was another of the more radical suggestions contained in one of the nine papers written by vice-chancellors and leading academics which were published yesterday.

The Guardian reports on the £1bn contract will save 3,000 post offices from closure

Ministers are expected to give a reprieve today to 3,000 post offices threatened by closure when the government announces that the Post Office can retain its £1bn five- year contract to distribute benefits to 4.3 million claimants.
The announcement, a fortnight earlier than expected, will delight Labour backbenchers who had thought the government was gearing up to hand the contract to the private company PayPoint.

FinallyThe Express is happy

CURVY cucumbers and wonky carrots will return to shop shelves after Eurocrats scrapped the ban on odd-shaped fruit and veg.
The EU “came to its senses” yesterday by ending controversial marketing standards for popular fresh produce.
Europe’s agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel hailed the decision as a “new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the nobbly carrot”.