20th November

A mixed bag of headlines this Monday morning with non of the newspapers setting an agenda
The Times leads with the story that broke yesterday

Case of the poisoned spy puts Kremlin in the dock

“Britain will be plunged into its worst crisis with Russia since President Putin came to power if a Scotland Yard investigation into the poisoning of a former Russian security agent leads back to the Kremlin, diplomats said last night. “

The Mail which broke the story yesterday reveals that
“A former Russian security agent who is fighting for his life after he was apparently given the deadly poison thallium has been moved into intensive care. “

The Guardian tells us that

“A former Russian spy who is fighting for his life in a London hospital after being poisoned with the toxic metal thallium was targeted because he was an "enemy of Vladimir Putin", friends said yesterday.

Doctors treating Alexander Litvinenko, who defected to Britain six years ago, believe he has a 50/50 chance of survival and faces a critical three weeks, according to the exiled Russian tycoon Boris Berezovsky, who visited Mr Litvinenko in hospital at the weekend.”

It however leads with an as yet unpublished ruling in the family courts which

“A woman in a vegetative state is to be given a "miracle" sleeping pill said to have caused others in her condition to "wake up" after England's senior family court judge overruled the objections of her family in the first case of its kind.

The family of the 53-year-old woman, who has been diagnosed as in a persistent vegetative state (PVS) after a massive brain haemorrhage suffered on holiday in August 2003, want her to be allowed to die with dignity. They say she would not want to live with severe disabilities while being aware of her condition, a likely outcome if the drug, zolpidem, works.”

Also on its front page is the story that the serious fraud squad are investigating the Saudi Royal Family who it alleged are implicated in

“secret arms-deal commissions of more than £100m, sources close to the attorney general's office confirmed yesterday.
The SFO has been inquiring for three years, in some secrecy, into allegations of systematic corruption in international deals arranged by Britain's biggest arms company, BAE Systems.”

The Telegraph focuses on the story that

“A Chief Constable responsible for giving the views of senior officers on child protection has provoked anger after suggesting that people who have sex with children aged from 13 to 15 should not be classed as paedophiles.

Terry Grange, the chief of the Dyfed-Powys force and spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) on child protection and managing sex offenders, said paedophiles should be defined as those who had sex with pre-pubescents under the age of 13.

Mr Grange's comments were criticised as "misguided". He was accused of creating a "grey area".

Meanwhile the Independent reports on the start of the fox hunting season claiming

Tally-ho! Hunt followers ride roughshod over failing law

“The fox barely stood a chance. First, he was chased to ground by a pack of hounds; then a terrier was sent to flush him into the open. Finally, men with guns and shovels arrived, to administer the coup de grâce with a pump-action 12-bore.

This is rural Britain, 18 months after the Government passed legislation which was supposed to ban hunting with dogs. Like the fox's bloodied carcass, torn to pieces by waiting hounds, that law is a sorry mess.”

Most of the papers report on the lastest in forensic science that has been used to profile Jack the Ripper

The Independent reports that

“Modern technology has provided the first image of the face of Britain's most elusive killer. An e-fit of Jack the Ripper has been compiled as part of an investigation, by one of Scotland Yard's most respected former detectives, into the serial killer who terrorised London in the autumn of 1888.

In a further development a geographical profiler has also pinpointed the street in which the killer is most likely to have lived.”

The purchase by BskyB of shares in ITV is reflected on.

The Guardian claims that Richard Branson ,the leading shareholder in NTL which was in the process of bidding for the ailing company has

“lashed out at Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB yesterday, accusing the satellite TV group of a cynical attempt to control the British media by buying nearly a fifth of ITV.

The Virgin tycoon's attack sets the stage for a bitter struggle between the two businessmen over the fate of ITV, Britain's leading commercial broadcaster, which has been hit by dwindling advertising revenues and declining audiences.”

The Independent claims that he will

“this week appeal directly to competition regulators to block the 18 per cent stake that Rupert Murdoch's BSkyB took in ITV.”


As with the broadsheets the tabloid agenda is also varied

The Mirror in an exclusive claims that

EXCLUSIVE: HUNTLEY: I WILL KILL AGAIN

“IAN Huntley is living a childlike existence behind bars as he tries to block out his hopeless future of fear and despair.

The double Soham child killer, who has allegedly admitted he would murder again if freed, spends hours pathetically colouring in "Doodle Art" picture books.

He has children's posters on his walls, a Teletubbies duvet and chintzy blue curtains, cushions and pillows, his closest jail friend claims. Unnervingly, his cell is also apparently decorated with pictures of youngsters cut from Argos catalogues.”

The Sun also leads with an exclusive

Prisoners' benefits con trick

KILLERS and armed robbers are exploiting a benefits loophole to rake in thousands — behind bars.
Lags allowed out of a jail each day to do jobs are topping up their wages by claiming Working Tax Credit.
The bonanza was blasted as a “farce” yesterday — as it emerged taxpayers are footing a bill of more than £50,000 a year. Working Tax Credit is meant to help hard-up families.

The nuptials of Tom Cruise are followed in both papers,

The Mirror claiming

“TOM Cruise yesterday took his best man on honeymoon with him and new wife Katie Holmes after their lavish but bizarre wedding in Italy.

The 44-year-old star was allegedly spotted hopping on a private jet to the Maldives with senior Scientologist David Miscavige, 46, as other boozed-up guests headed for the US.”

The Sun meanwhile claims that

“TOM Cruise and Katie Holmes were ALREADY wed before Saturday’s star-studded ceremony, they admitted last night.

The multi-million pound Italian castle bash is now being seen as merely a publicity stunt for oddball religion Scientology. “

The Express gives us some festive cheer with the news that

“SHOPPERS can look forward to a bargain Christmas as a record number of stores slash their prices by up to 60 per cent.Some of the best deals are on gifts.There are currently special offers on everything, from books and CDs to perfume and electricals. Even wrapping paper and cards are down in price.Supermarkets have joined in with a wealth of discounts on Christmas food and drink. More than £11billion worth of presents will be bought this year – a jump of 10 per cent on last year, according to the British Retail Consortium.”