Gordon Brown' s comments on the execution of Saddam are the dominating feature of this mornings papers with opinion that he is puttin down a marker for his Prime Ministership

The Telegraph leads with

Brown to end Blair's terror strategy

Gordon Brown vowed yesterday to take on President George W Bush and the Americans over foreign policy as he spelt out plans to break from Tony Blair's approach to the "war on terror".
The Chancellor, who is on course to succeed Mr Blair as Prime Minister this summer, made clear he wanted to place Britain's national interest above the special relationship with Washington.


The Indy has a similar theme

Brown plans 'independent' foreign policy

Gordon Brown signalled yesterday that as Prime Minister he would forge a foreign policy independent of the US and initiate "frank" relations with President George Bush.
Mr Brown also acknowledged that mistakes had been made in the aftermath of the invasion of Iraq, and he hinted at the need for "reviews into what happened". He added that the West needed a "hearts and minds" campaign like the cultural campaign against communism to win the war on terror.

Pointing out that

Mr Brown's interview took the New Year slot previously reserved for party leaders.

The Mail reports that

Blair left isolated over Saddam

The Prime Minister's steadfast refusal to comment on the way in which the Iraqi dictator met his end was looking increasingly untenable after the Chancellor described the hanging as 'deplorable'.

The Guardian headlines that

Brown bounces No 10 into Saddam comment

Tony Blair's silence over the manner of Saddam Hussein's execution until he faces questions in parliament on Wednesday was developing into a test of his personal authority last night.
Downing Street was bounced into issuing a statement criticising the execution as "wrong and unacceptable" yesterday to defend the prime minister's decision not to comment. The trigger came when the chancellor, Gordon Brown, used an interview on the BBC's Sunday AM programme to join a chorus of ministers in describing the events surrounding the execution as "deplorable".

Whilst looking towards this weeks pronouncements from the Bush camp.


President George Bush will this week announce a renewed reconstruction package for Iraq costing up to $1bn (£500m) and a fresh push by a reinforced Iraqi army to quell the insurgency in Baghdad to sweeten the pill of his decision to dispatch up to 20,000 more US soldiers to the fray.
Mr Bush's determination to reject the advice of the Baker-Hamilton review, which recommended a gradual withdrawal, continues to cause deep unease both in military and Congressional circles.

The Times leads on

Top judges revolt over reform of sentencing

In a sweeping rejection of 14 of the 16 proposals made by John Reid and the Lord Chancellor last year, they say that no thought is being given to the longer-term consequences of the planned changes, and criticise the Government’s “change for the sake of change” approach to criminal justice.
The judges say that plans to limit the use of community punishments in favour of fines appear to be a kneejerk reaction, with no thought to longer-term consequences.

The Guardian meanwhile returns to the Nhs

Secret report prompts call for more open NHS

A Guardian investigation has led to calls for greater transparency in the NHS after it emerged that heart surgery patients at an elite teaching hospital were exposed to "serious clinical risk", according to a report that was not made public.
The hitherto confidential report by Sir Bruce Keogh, one of the most eminent cardiothoracic surgeons in Britain, said facilities for heart patients at St Mary's hospital trust in Paddington in west London, were "almost certainly the worst in the country".

The opening of the inquest into the death of Diana not suprisingly features on the front of the Express

Diana: Time to end the cover-up

LAWYERS will today argue that police interviews with Prince Charles over Princess Diana’s death must be made public.They will say that the move to reveal details of the secret interviews by the detectives probing the car crash which killed her is vital to quash allegations of a cover-up.The demand will be made at a preliminary hearing of the inquest into the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed.

Most of the papers cover the story of the resignation of the Archbishop of Warsaw

The Indy reports

Archbishop of Warsaw resigns over secret police spy scandal

The Archbishop of Warsaw resigned less than an hour before a mass marking his installation, after revelations that he co-operated with Communist-era secret police plunged Poland's Roman Catholic Church into crisis.
Stanislaw Wielgus appeared to fight back the tears as he made his announcement in St John's Cathedral in Warsaw. It ended a scandal that has divided the country, embarrassed the Vatican and dealt a blow to Poland's highly influential church.
Earlier he had denied he was a spy but admitted he had agreed to communicate with the secret police because he feared refusal to do so would have threatened his studies. The actions had, he conceded, failed to show "decent prudence, courage and determination".

Its front page though is dedicated to the latest breakthrough in Science

The universe gives up its deepest secret

Astronomers announced yesterday that they have achieved the apparently impossible task of creating a picture of something that has defied every attempt to detect it since its existence was first postulated in 1933.
Scientists have known for many years that there is more to the universe than can be seen or detected through their telescopes but it is only now that they have been able to capture the first significant 3D-image of this otherwise invisible material.

The Mirror 's front page reveals

RUTH KELLY'S CHILD SENT TO PRIVATE SCHOOL

The Cabinet Minister has taken the child out of state education and opted for a home counties boarding school that helps pupils pass entrance exams to Eton and Harrow.
It is understood the child has learning difficulties - and Ms Kelly decided there was inadequate help in the East London schools near the home she shares with her husband and three other children.
Her decision has been slammed as "wrong" by angry Labour backbenchers. As a row erupted over the move, Ms Kelly tried to keep her identity secret.

According to the Telegraph

One police station in eight is open all hours

Last month The Daily Telegraph reported that allmost 900 stations had closed in the past 14 years.
Police chiefs claim that the public does not suffer because there is still an all-hours response by officers in stations that may not be open to the public all the time.
But the consequences of the service's retreat from open-door access was disturbingly illustrated when a businessman, Stephen Langford, 43, was beaten to death yards from a station in Henley, Oxon, last month. The station was closed to the public, staff inside did not hear the attack and Mr Langford was found dying by officers in a patrol car.

The Sun leads with an exclusive on the sale of body parts

DESPERATE Umer Maqbool calmly laid out his demands — as he sold parts of his OWN body.
The waiter revealed: “I’m ready to sell my kidney, a section of liver and maybe after three months do the cornea in my eye.
“I’m ready to do it today. I want £100,000 for all three.”
Umer, 24, spelled out the conditions at an East London hotel after advertising his organs illegally on the internet.
He is part of a growing macabre trade around the world where often debt-ridden people risk their own lives for a small fortune.

The Independent reports on the case of a British man found hanged in India

The parents of a British tourist found hanged in India have played a recording of a desperate message he left on their answering machine days before he was killed. The death of Stephen Bennett, a father of two girls, remains shrouded in mystery.
The 40-year-old from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, was found hanging from a mango tree by a piece of sari cloth. Indian police say he was lynched by a group of villagers after they mistakenly thought he had tried to rape a local woman. They have arrested four men for murder.

The death last night of Tv host Magnus Magnuson is widely reported

Warmth and humanity behind stern face of TV's most feared inquisitor

reports the Times

Magnus Magnusson, one of the country’s most cherished quizmasters, died last night at the age of 77. Pancreatic cancer had been diagnosed last year.

Mark Thompson, Director General of the BBC, led the tributes to the former Mastermind presenter last night, describing him as “one of the defining faces and voices of the BBC”.

The Telegraph is amongst a number of papers who report on the fact that

More marriages will disintegrate this week than at any other time of the year, says a study that shows today as the busiest day of the year for divorce lawyers.
Up to one in five couples will inquire about divorce after the pressure of Christmas pushes unsteady marriages beyond breaking point, researchers found.
Millions more will contemplate separation but decide to continue for the sake of children or for financial reasons.

Big Brother fever is well and truly underway,The Guardian being caught up in the news as Ken Russell wals out

'Fuddy duddy' Russell quits Big Brother

For a director who demonstrated a rare talent for controlling actors as difficult as Oliver Reed, a short sojourn in the Big Brother house should not have presented Ken Russell with too big a problem. But yesterday the 79-year-old cinema veteran's patience was finally snapped by the Goody clan. After deciding enough was enough he slipped into the private Diary Room for a cup of tea - and walked out.
The most distinguished of the long-running goldfish bowl's bizarre cast of guests told the organisers that he didn't want to take any more of the Goodys - professional celebrity Jade and her mother Jackiey who have made the latest series one of the bumpiest yet.

According to the Sun

GRUMPY film director Ken Russell yesterday became the second contestant to walk out of Celebrity Big Brother — after rowing with Jade Goody over CHEESE.
The bust-up was sparked when Ken, 79, helped himself to biscuits and cheese — even though BB had stated only ‘servant’ housemates can prepare food as part of their task.
Pointing at Ken, gobby Jade, 25, screamed, “He’s ruined the task” — before bursting into tears.

The Mirror follows a differing story

BIG Brother rocker Donny Tourette has confessed he had sex with Leo Sayer's wife behind his back.
In his first interview since he fled the Big Brother house on Friday, the Towers of London singer, 25, admitted that he "did the business" with fellow housemate Leo's partner of 22 years.

Back to reality of a sort and the Times reveals

World's tiniest country seeks new owners to fly the flag

After 40 years, the owners of the Principality of Sealand have put it on the market. They hope that investors will be lured by the island’s setting and its status as a tax haven.
But it is not exactly a dream hideaway. Sealand, which was built as a wartime fort called Roughs Tower in 1941, is a 550 sq m (5,920 sq ft) steel platform perched on two concrete towers. Accessible only by helicopter and boat, it sits seven miles (11km) off the coast of Harwich in Essex.