22nd November

The assassination of the Lebanese cabinet minister is the lead in a number of the papers today,Pierre Gemayel ,a member of the Gemayel dynasty that founded the powerful Falange Christian party was according to the Times

" was shot dead by at least three assassins yesterday afternoon when his car was rammed at a crossroads in the eastern Beirut suburb of Jdeidet.
The gunmen stood alongside his car and fired more than dozen shots through the window with silenced automatic weapons. The mortally wounded minister was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead soon afterwards. "
The Front Page of the Independent greets the news with the headline

Civil war in Lebanon

Robert Fisk writes that

“For days, we had been debating whether it was time for another political murder to ratchet up the sectarian tensions now that the democratically elected government of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was about to fall. For days now, the political language of Lebanon had been incendiary, the threats and bullying of the political leaders ever more fearsome. Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, the Shia Hizbollah leader, had been calling Siniora's cabinet illegitimate. "The government of Feltman," he was calling it - Jeffrey Feltman is the US ambassador to Lebanon - while the Druze leader Walid Jumblatt was claiming Iran was trying to take over.”

The Telegraph headlines that

"World leaders last night condemned the murder of a Lebanese Christian minister in Beirut that threatened to bring down the divided government and raised fears of a new civil war.
Including George Bush who flying back to America from his far eastern diplomatic tour
“called for an investigation into the killing, and blamed Iran and Syria for promoting "instability" in Lebanon, but the American leader fell short of directly accusing Damascus of being behind the assassination.”

The Guardian leads with a plug for one of its own columnists declaring that

Cameron told: it's time to ditch Churchill


“One of David Cameron's key policy advisers will urge the party today to abandon its Churchillian and "out of date" ideas about the welfare state, the Guardian has learned. Greg Clark, who is overhauling the party's approach to poverty at the Tory leader's request, will urge Conservatives to look to the Guardian commentator Polly Toynbee rather than the wartime leader.”

It also has the latest opinion polls which place the Tories 5% in front of Labour and also that

“Gordon Brown has yet to persuade voters that he is the man to lead Labour into the next general election,”

The poll shows that the Conservative lead would still widen if Mr Brown took over as Labour leader.

The Tory leader has been visiting Darfur where the Telegraph have been reporting his visit

“David Cameron met victims of the conflict in Darfur yesterday at refugee camps and described the series of moving tales of suffering he had heard as "horrific".
He admitted nothing had prepared him for the stories or scenes he witnessed at the camps.

Up to 300,000 people have died as a result of the three-year conflict, which has been described as the world's worst humanitarian disaster. Two million people have been displaced from their homes in the rebellious western region of Sudan.”


Richard Branson’s attack on Rupert Murdock over the laters purchase of shares in ITV is reported in many of the papers.The Times reports that

“Sir Richard — a 10.5 per cent shareholder in NTL, whose bid for ITV was rejected yesterday — was in Manchester to open a Virgin Megastore when he launched into a tirade against Rupert Murdoch, News Corp’s and Sky’s chairman. “The Government’s job is to stop too much dominance in the media ending up in one person’s hands,” Sir Richard said. “All of us in this room know that governments are scared stiff of (Rupert) Murdoch.”
Sir Richard said that if all News Corp’s newspapers “come out in favour of a particular political party, the election is likely to be won by that particular party”.
He added: “If you then tag on ITV to that as well, basically we have got rid of democracy in this country.”

The Mail’s front page exclaims

Speeding: Now you will be fingerprinted

“Motorists pulled over by police face the threat of being fingerprinted from today - further inflaming fears over the growth of the Big Brother culture.
They will be asked to use a hand-held fingerprint reader which will check their identity against the 6.5million recorded prints of crime suspects. “

The Express meanwhile focuses on the mid tabloid agenda

“AROUND 55,000 East Europeans who have flooded into Britain to work are getting millions of pounds a year in benefits.”

On its Front page and with a picture showing people getting off a coach in Victoria station

“These range from child benefit, jobseeker’s allowance and pension credits to even getting a roof over their heads. And with more and more pouring in, the strain on the welfare state is set to soar every month.”

The Sun leads on an exclusive

Monster West's jail beano

“EVIL Rose West has caused fresh outrage from behind bars — by living it up on gourmet food and entertainment.

Sickened insiders told yesterday how the mass murderer’s most recent banquet was of fine Italian cuisine.

The House of Horrors monster could choose from a menu including chicken supreme in tomato and garlic with olives and parmesan, or baked fish with asparagus, fennel and mushrooms.

The slap-up meal was rounded off with portions of tiramisu coffee pudding and cups of coffee.”

The Mirror meanwhile reports on last nights interview with Heather Mills with the headline on its front page

EXCLUSIVE: MARRIAGE? I'D RATHER SOMEONE CHOPPED OFF ALL OF MY LIMBS

“HEATHER Mills has insisted she would rather chop off her limbs than go through the break-up of her marriage to Macca again.

She told an American TV interviewer: "It's been devastating. I'd rather have all of my limbs cut off - and that's the God's honest truth."

The Star reports that

“CORRIE fan George Michael cruised into the Rovers yesterday . . . and was immediately asked to return.Bosses told the superstar they would like him to appear on screen. Producer Steve Frost told George he would be featured in a special storyline.An insider said afterwards: “George is welcome to be on Coronation Street any time.“It would be a pleasure to have him drop in at the Rovers.”

The reporting of the projected overspends in London’s Olympic bid is widely reported

The Times reports

“The cost of the 2012 Olympic Games rose again as Tessa Jowell admitted yesterday that the budget for the Olympic Park had jumped by 40 per cent.


The Culture Secretary also disclosed that the Government was paying £400 million to a consortium to manage the project and ensure that the Games came in on budget and on time. The new core budget for the construction of the Olympic Park in East London had risen £900 million from £2.375 billion to £3.3 billion, Ms Jowell told MPs.

With regeneration costs of at least £1 billion and a 60 per cent contingency reserve proposed by the Treasury, the total bill to the public is already more than £7 billion. But this still excludes security costs, VAT, and decontamination costs, which could add at least a further £1 billion The running costs of the Olympics, expected to be raised entirely from private finance and sponsorship, are set at a further £2 billion, but these may also rise. “

Alice Mills in the same paper writes

“It is now clear that London 2012 is going to be a monstrously expensive enterprise of limited benefit to most of the nation. When Jack Lemley, the American construction entrepreneur and Olympic Delivery Authority chairman, resigned last month not wanting to be associated with such a tainted venture, he cautioned that costs would rise exponentially, big projects would be late, and no one could even agree on what the £280 million new stadium should be used for after 2012.

It is criminal to spend so much public money on such idiocy. I asked the International Olympic Committee yesterday what the penalty would be for walking away now. Would Britain be sent to the international version of Coventry, perhaps? The contract signed with the IOC stipulates that we would have to “indemnify” the IOC if we pulled out. Indemnify it for what? It hasn’t cost them anything. “

The Independent quotes Tory MP Hugh Robertson, shadow Olympics minister

"The hidden story of today is why the Chancellor seems to have reneged on commitments of VAT and contingency he should have signed up to at the time of the bid. He should stop posturing about [hosting] the 2018 World Cup and concentrate on setting a transparent and accountable budget for the Olympics.”



The Ashes begin in earnest tonight in Brisbane,The Mirror reports

“Andrew Flintoff walked out into the bowl of the Gabba for the first time yesterday and let his imagination run riot.

Instead of 42,000 empty red and yellow seats, he saw a stadium packed to the rafters with cheering Aussies and the Barmy Army.

Instead of a field peopled only by ground staff working diligently on one of the liveliest wickets in cricket, he saw batsmen walking to the crease and a fielding team all in white.”

The Express proclaims

It's judgement day...let battle begin

Writing in the Telegraph,Geoff Boycott says

“I hope England and Australia will give us another cracking series when play starts in the early hours of tomorrow morning. Most of all, I hope it is another triumph for Andrew Flintoff, and that when he leaves Australia next year, he takes the Ashes with him. But I have to say, I fear the worst for our boys.”