23RD November

The Guardian leads with the announcement yesterday by the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett that British troops could leave Southern Iraq by the spring.

“The clearest government timetable yet for Britain's withdrawal from Iraq was set out yesterday when the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said she was confident Britain could hand control of the south of the country to Iraqi forces in spring.
It is the first time a British minister has given such an optimistic analysis and was cleared with No 10 before being laid out in the Commons. She denied that her forecast amounted to the government cutting and running, or to a prediction of a total withdrawal. But her remarks are a benchmark against which progress can now be tested.”

The Times tells us that

“The prospect of Tony Blair leaving power at about the time that Britain’s traumatic engagement in Iraq is beginning to come to an end surfaced after Margaret Beckett surprised MPs by suggesting that she was confident that the Basra transition could happen next spring.”

It though leads with

Millions at risk from flu vaccine shortages
The Government stood accused last night of startling complacency in its preparations for seasonal flu, which contributes to thousands of deaths annually.

The continuing mystery of Alexander Litvinenko deepens as it turns out as reported in the Telegraph that

“the former Russian intelligence agent lying desperately ill in intensive care, was not poisoned by thallium and probably isn't suffering from a radiation overdose, the London hospital responsible for his treatment said, deepening the mystery surrounding his case.”

The Independent takes a differing lead with the headine

The Book of life is rewritten

“Scientists have discovered a dramatic variation in the genetic make-up of humans that could lead to a fundamental reappraisal of what causes incurable diseases and could provide a greater understanding of mankind.

The discovery has astonished scientists studying the human genome - the genetic recipe of man. Until now it was believed the variation between people was due largely to differences in the sequences of the individual " letters" of the genome. “

The ramifications from the assassination of Pierre Gemayal continue and in the same paper

Robert Fisk writes

“Down in Beirut, I had been watching the Lebanese detectives - they who had never solved a single one of Lebanon's multitude of political murders - photographing the bullet holes in the pale blue Kia car which Gemayel had been driving, 13 rounds through the driver's window, six of which had broken out through the passenger door after tearing through the Lebanese Minister of Industry's head and that of his bodyguard. But in the family home town of Bikfaya, mountain cold with fir trees and off-season roses and new Phalangist banners of triangular cedars, the black huddle of mourners spoke of legal punishment rather than revenge for Gemayel's murder. “
Adding that

“The Lebanese have been responding to the international outcry over Gemayel's murder with somewhat less rhetoric than President George Bush, whose promise "to support the Siniora government and its democracy" was greeted with the scorn it deserved.”
While the Guardian reports that
2The UN security council responded rapidly last night to Lebanon's call for help in investigating the assassination of the anti-Syrian cabinet minister, Pierre Gemayel, promising to dispatch investigators while the crime scene was still fresh.”

The Telegraph’s headline is

Cheap bullets put lives of paratroopers at risk

Telling us that

“The situation became so serious that a platoon from the 3Bn The Parachute Regiment refused to go out on patrol until the problem was resolved. The troops had to borrow ammunition off Canadian and American special forces as they battled to fight off Taliban attacks.”

Many papers report on the first stages of the Vatican’s climbdown on condoms,according to the Guardian

“The Roman Catholic church has taken the first step towards what could be a historic shift away from its total ban on the use of condoms.
Pope Benedict XVI's "health minister" is understood to be urging him to accept that in restricted circumstances - specifically the prevention of Aids - barrier contraception is the lesser of two evils.”


The Independent tells us that

“The report's completion coincides with the news that 2.9 million people died of Aids-related illnesses this year and 4.3 million more became infected. By next February, when it is predicted that Pope Benedict XVI will pronounce on the question, another 806,000 people will have become infected.”

The Sun leads with the headline

Charles to let home for hols

“PRINCE Charles and Camilla are going into the B&B business — by renting out their new farmhouse home to holidaymakers.
The Fawlty Towers breaks mean ordinary folk can use their BED, sit on their LOO and soak in their BATH when the royal couple are away from the three-bedroom retreat in West Wales.”

The Mirror leads with the story of the

“KNIFE maniac jailed for a minimum 30 years yesterday was on an Asbo when he butchered a mum of two.”

The contenders of the Labour deputy leadership will not be too pleased with another Mirror story

“LABOUR'S deputy leadership contest should be called off because it is a waste of time and money, one of the party's most senior MPs said last night.
Ex-minister John Spellar described the deputy position, held by John Prescott for more than a decade, as a "non job".

He added: "Why do we want to spend the best part of £2million on a non job which has no real role.

Meanwhile the Sun reports that

“HALF of all secondary schools fail to give kids a decent education, a shock report reveals.
Over 1.6million pupils get a raw deal despite Tony Blair’s £1billion-a- week classroom revolution.
A study by watchdogs revealed that 13 per cent of comprehensives are so poor they are “inadequate”.
And a further 38 per cent fell short of Labour’s benchmark by being labelled barely satisfactory.
The damning verdict comes in the first annual report of new chief schools inspector Christine Gilbert. She demanded urgent action to raise “unacceptable” standards that are letting down far too many children.”




Finally the Independent reports on some more problems for the Bush presidency,whose
“foreign policy is in tatters. He has just suffered a sweeping electoral defeat. And now - from Buenos Aires to Hawaii and Vietnam - even the clockwork-like operation to protect and ferry around George Bush and the rest of America's first family seems to be coming apart at the seams.
In the first of four incidents in the space of 48 hours this week, the President's 24-year-old daughter Barbara had her handbag stolen while out in the Argentine capital on Sunday, despite the round-the-clock protection she and her twin sister Jenna are provided by the US Secret Service.
Greg Pitts, the acting White House travel director, was beaten and robbed by unknown assailants outside a nightclub in Waikiki at 2am on Tuesday during a stopover by the presidential party in Hawaii.”
three local motorcycle officers in the motorcade taking Mr Bush to a military air base for his return to Washington were involved in a crash which left two of them seriously injured, after their bikes skidded on a rain-drenched road as they were about to enter the base area.
unspecified mechanical difficulties encountered by his Air Force One Boeing 747 during the summit trip, as it was scheduled to leave Vietnam to ferry Mr Bush to Indonesia