As the crisis with Iran grows,the Telegraph leads with

Blair: Iran must free naval prisoners in days

Tony Blair warned Iran last night that it has only a few days to find a diplomatic solution to the escalating crisis over the 15 missing British sailors and Marines.
The moves came as the Foreign Office admitted it had no idea what has happened to the 15 Navy personnel seized by the Iranian military on Friday. The Prime Minister, in his first public comments since the incident, appeared to signal a hardening of attitudes after more than 48 hours of low-level diplomacy. Speaking in Berlin, Mr Blair said he still hoped that there could be a diplomatic solution.
"I hope that this is resolved in the next few days," he said. "The quicker it is resolved, the easier it will be for all of us.

The story also makes the front page of the Mirror

BLAIR: LET OUR PEOPLE GO

The PM broke his silence over the 15-strong unit held on Friday to warn: "This is very serious."
Yesterday there was no news of the whereabouts of the sailors and marines seized at gunpoint on the waterway between Iran and Iraq.
Mr Blair insisted they were in Iraqi waters. But Iran called it "blatant aggression" and said it might put the group - which includes a young mum - on trial.

The Independent though reports that

US troops 'would have fought Iranian captors'

A senior American commander in the Gulf has said his men would have fired on the Iranian Republican Guard rather than let themselves be taken hostage.
In a dramatic illustration of the different postures adopted by British and US forces working together in Iraq, Lt-Cdr Erik Horner - who has been working alongside the task force to which the 15 captured Britons belonged - said he was "surprised" the British marines and sailors had not been more aggressive.

As the clock ticks on the Northern Ireland assembly,the Guardian reports that

Paisley and Adams to meet for first time to break deadlock

Ian Paisley, the Democratic Unionist party leader, and Gerry Adams, the leader of Sinn Féin, are expected to break one of the final taboos of Northern Ireland politics today by sitting down together to try to agree terms on the final establishment of a power-sharing executive for the province.
The unprecedented meeting is of such symbolic and practical importance that the government will back down over its repeated threat to dissolve the Northern Ireland Assembly irrevocably today.

Paisley agrees to face his foe in last-minute Stormont deal says the Times

Ian Paisley will today end a lifetime’s hostility to Sinn Fein when he is expected to hold his first face-to-face meeting with Gerry Adams in return for an agreement to a final delay in restoring a power-sharing devolved government for Northern Ireland.
The Government will rush through emergency legislation to facilitate the plan, which was partly brokered through the intervention of John Reid, a former Northern Ireland Secretary and Tony Blair’s chief political fixer. The deal came after Mr Paisley’s Democratic Unionists gave a firm commitment to sharing power with Sinn Fein by the end of May. In return they will be able to argue to their grassroots that they rejected the Government’s deadline of today to “devolve or dissolve” the Stormont Assembly.

It takes a different lead this morning with the story that

US-style bus plan to end school run

Secondary students will be offered cheap school transport under plans to open up popular schools in wealthy areas to pupils from poorer neighbourhoods, as well as to promote eco-friendly travel.
Pupils will be charged a maximum of 50p a journey for travelling on school buses or chartered coaches, or for passes for public buses or trains, the Department for Education will announce today. The subsidised travel will be available from September 2008 to all secondary school pupils in 20 pilot local authorities, regardless of ability to pay. Poor children will not have to pay at all.
The plan is part of a move to end the middle-class stranglehold on popular schools in expensive areas and to encourage sustainable travel for pupils by reducing the number of cars on the school run.

The Independent once more leads on the situation in Darfur

Darfur: Europe's leaders respond to demands for action to stop the genocide

Europe's leaders toughened their stand against mass murder in Darfur yesterday, issuing new threats against the Sudanese government, as their own 50th birthday celebration summit was thrown off balance by the unprecedented appeal from Europe's leading writers for action. Darfur forced its way on to the meeting's agenda after a coalition of European writers and intellectuals spoilt the self-congratulatory party with a devastating critique of the bloc's failure to act to end the violence in the Sudanese province. Today, about 2.5 million people are displaced and more than 200,000 civilians are dead as a result of government-sponsored violence.

The same paper reports from the Eu summit that

Merkel seeks treaty giving EU more powers by 2009

Germany's Chancellor, Angela Merkel, has seized the initiative over the European constitution by outlining ambitious plans to clinch an end-of-year deal on a fresh treaty that would include new powers for the EU.
Ms Merkel used celebrations for the 50th birthday of the EU yesterday to speed up the timetable for salvaging parts of a constitution that has been in limbo since French and Dutch voters rejected it in a referendum in 2005.

The Guardian though reports

As the EU turns 50, Pope says it's on path to oblivion

European leaders yesterday celebrated the EU's 50th birthday, with Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, telling the prime ministers or presidents of 27 countries that modern Europe was a dream come true.
But the birthday party summit for the EU - staged with rock concerts, Beethoven, beer and cake in brilliant sunshine in Berlin - was soured by the German Pope, Benedict XVI, who delivered a profoundly pessimistic verdict on Europe at 50, declaring that the continent could be heading for extinction.

Peter Mandelson's intervention in the Labour leadership contest is widely reported

Mandelson accused of 'botched coup' reports the Indy

Mr Mandelson, a former cabinet monister and now a European commissioner, suggested that, without a contest, Mr Brown's position would be like that of Michael Howard, who became Tory leader in 2003 without a challenge, and went on to lose the election. Mr Mandelson also suggested that the choice of leader should be made by a younger generation of MPs, and not by old hands such as the Leader of the Commons, Jack Straw, who will run Mr Brown's campaign.

Blair camp urges Miliband to challenge Brown says the Telegraph

By last night, Mr Brown's team was claiming a number of senior Labour MPs had pledged their support including former Cabinet minister Geoff Hoon and junior minister Andy Burnham and Liam Byrne. The Blairite charge was led by Peter Mandelson, the European Commissioner and former Cabinet minister, who said it was "obvious" that the party needed a competition for the leadership.

The latest developments in the Bob Woolmer investigation are reported

Could CCTV footage lead police to Woolmer's killer? reports the Mail

Experts are enhancing vital CCTV footage from the hotel floor where Bob Woolmer was murdered, Jamaican police have revealed.
It is being converted from anaolgue to digital, giving police the ability to zoom in on anything suspicious.
Former Scotland Yard detective Mark Shields, the man leading the inquiry, described the discovery of the footage as "critically important".

I had to let the Pakistan team go home – there would have been an uproar says the Times

The detective in charge of investigating Bob Woolmer’s murder said yesterday that he was “powerless” to stop the Pakistan cricket team leaving the island but was working with diplomats to secure their return if needed.
Mark Shields, the Deputy Commissioner of the Jamaican police, told The Times that the investigation was now spreading to the West Indies and Ireland teams, which also stayed at the hotel where Woolmer was strangled last weekend.

The Front page of the Mail tells us that

Convicts handed keys to the cell

Thousands of prisoners are being given keys to their cells in the latest farce to hit the criminal justice system.
They can roam in and out virtually at will under a scheme designed to give them more "respect and decency".
The astonishing measure prompted a furious response from MPs last night, who warned that the human-rights culture was out of control.

The Express continues with its usual themes

HOUSE PRICES HIT NEW HIGH

Annual price increase for the past year is an average 6.7 per cent and there was more good news for the UK’s 11.6m homeowners after property experts and economists predicted that the country’s soaring housing market is set to continue.The cost of a typical home has jumped by 0.8 per cent this month up from a 0.7 per cent rise in February and the average three bedroom semi-detached in England and Wales is now £173,400, says property website Hometrack.

The Sun continues with the story that its sister paper broke yesterday

I am not trying to steal Harry is its front page

THE sexy brunette rumoured to be Prince Harry’s “other woman” insisted last night that he only had eyes for girlfriend Chelsy Davy.
TV presenter Natalie Pinkham spoke to The Sun about their eight-year friendship after Harry, 22, was seen with her at London’s trendy Boujis nightclub.
Natalie, 28, said: “There is only one girl in Harry’s life and that is Chelsy.”

The England football team continues to make headlines,the same paper revealing

Fans' goal is to sack McDonut

FED up football fans rounded on half-baked England boss Steve McClaren last night — and branded him Steve McDONUT.
Legions of disillusioned supporters voiced their fury after our highly-paid stars failed to beat Israel in Saturday’s dismal Euro 2008 qualifier.
And last night — as his red-faced players maintained a low profile — it emerged that McClaren can be sacked for a cut-price £2.5million.

Whilst the Indy reports

Don't blame me, furious Rooney tells McClaren

It was another dark night for English football here on Saturday and life did not get any easier for Steve McClaren after the game when it emerged that the England manager had a dressing room row with Wayne Rooney. The Manchester United striker is understood to have taken exception to being singled out by McClaren for England's woeful record in front of goal.
Rooney responded angrily when McClaren said that he had to shoulder the responsibility for an England goalscoring record that has seen them score just once in the last five games - none of which have been victories - culminating in the 0-0 draw with Israel. Rooney, 21, is understood to have come back at his manager with the response that he is not the only one in the team capable of scoring goals.

The Guardian reports

Teens to get free mobile calls - with a catch

This summer, Britain's teenagers will be able to stop badgering their parents to pay off their mobile phone bills, with the launch of a new service that offers free calls and texts provided users are willing to receive adverts on their phones.
Blyk, a start-up run by the former president of the Finnish mobile firm Nokia, will today announce it has signed deals with advertisers including Coca-Cola, L'Oréal and Buena Vista, part of the Disney media empire, as it works up to a summer launch in the UK.

Finally the Times reports that

Dung-eating mites throw light on Inca civilisation

Mites that eat llama dung are providing scientists with critical new clues to the rise and fall of the Inca empire and the civilisations that preceded it.
The soil invertebrates are allowing researchers to trace the growth and decline of the peoples of the Andes several centuries before the Spanish conquest in 1532 brought written records to the region for the first time.
The evidence gleaned from fossilised mites, preserved in sediments at a lake about 50km (30 miles) from the Inca capital of Cuzco, has shown how the great empire increased in size and complexity in the early 15th century.
The abundance of the fossil mites is directly linked to the amount of llama dung that was deposited on the pastures around Lake Maracocha at particular times, and can thus be used as a proxy for estimating the size of the herds and pack trains that grazed there.