Both the Independent and the Observer lead this Sunday morning focus on the scandal of what happens to our troops when they come home wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Scandal of treatment for wounded Iraq veterans headlines the former

A shocking picture of neglect and the appalling treatment of wounded British troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan emerged last night in a remarkable series of letters from soldiers' families obtained by The Observer.
The sheaf of complaints, passed on by deeply alarmed senior military sources, claims that soldiers have been deprived of adequate pain relief and emotional support, and in some cases are unable to sleep because of night time noise in the NHS facilities caring for them.

Under the headline ABANDONED the Independent claims

British soldiers returning from war are suffering unprecedented levels of mental health problems amid claims that the long-standing "military covenant" guaranteeing them proper care is in tatters.
More than 21,000 full-time servicemen and women who have served in Iraq, as well as army reservists, have developed anxiety and depression, an Independent on Sunday investigation can reveal today.
Official figures suggest two dozen military personnel have killed themselves since the invasion of Iraq in March 2003 ­ a figure which includes 17 confirmed suicides and six where inquests are pending. Combat Stress, the charity for war veterans suffering from mental problems, has warned that it is seeing an annual rise of 26 per cent in its caseload; more than 1,000 former soldiers are homeless.

British troops wait 18 months for mental health care says the Mail on Sunday

British troops who suffered mental illness after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are having to wait up to 18 months for treatment, it was claimed today.
New Ministry of Defence (MoD) figures reveal 2,123 servicemen and women have been treated for mental health conditions after returning from Iraq since 2003.
Veterans are entitled to priority NHS treatment for "disabling conditions" that result from their service - but many are being put on lengthy waiting lists.
More than 320 troops who served in Iraq have been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while others have suffered from anxiety or depression.

The Telegraph looks at the Tories new proposals on taxing air travel

Cameron considers tax hikes on air travel

Harsh new taxes on air travel, including a strict personal flight "allowance", will be unveiled by the Conservatives tomorrow as part of a plan that would penalise business travellers, holidaymakers and the tourist industry.
The proposals, to be disclosed by George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, include levying VAT or fuel duty on domestic flights for the first time as part of a radical plan to tackle global warming.
The Conservatives will also suggest - most controversially of all - rationing individuals to as little as a single short-haul flight each year; any further journeys would attract progressively higher taxes, a leaked document entitled Greener Skies suggests.

Tories reveal plans for green tax hike on air travel reports the Observer

Millions of people who fly abroad every year are to be taxed on the number of miles they travel, under audacious Conservative plans to seize the initiative over climate change.
Passengers would be issued with a 'green miles' allowance and forced to pay more if they took extra flights, under the proposals from shadow Chancellor George Osborne. In an interview with The Observer he said that other options included putting VAT or fuel duty on flights within the UK, or a per-flight tax on airlines.

The Sunday Times reveals that

The flight now leaving Heathrow is...empty

AN airline is flying an empty passenger jet between Heathrow and Cardiff on a daily basis — just so that it can hold on to its lucrative slots at the London airport.
The flights, which have pumped hundreds of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in the past five months, threaten to undermine the aviation industry’s public stance of trying to reduce emissions.

Its lead though is Lord Levy

Blair aides ‘plotted’ to foil police

THE Sunday Times can reveal details of the alleged plot that Tony Blair’s inner circle hatched to subvert the police inquiry into the cash for honours scandal.
Sources have revealed that Lord Levy, Tony Blair’s chief fundraiser, allegedly asked the prime minister’s most senior advisers to lie to police by telling detectives he had no involvement in the honours system.
A written record of the discussion reveals his suggestion was overruled by Ruth Turner, a senior No 10 aide, who drew up what she believed was a more “credible” strategy.
She allegedly said they should claim Levy was asked for “advice” and “character references” about potential peers. Police believe this might also be misleading because his input was far more significant.

Levy 'feels let down and is about to turn on the Labour Party' says the Independent

Lord Levy has fuelled fears he is about to turn on the Labour Party after telling friends he is furious at the lack of public support from senior ministers.
The cash-for-honours investigation increasingly threatens to split Tony Blair's inner circle asunder in a welter of recrimination.
Friends and family of the two key suspects, Lord Levy and Ruth Turner, fought a battle for public sympathy last week as the show of unity began to unravel.
Now a cabinet minister close to Tony Blair's chief fundraiser has raised the stakes, telling The Independent on Sunday that Lord Levy "feels badly let down".

The Sunday Express leads with the story

CHARLES: HOW I'LL RULE

PRINCE Charles has vowed to stop “meddling” when he becomes king.In a first revealing insight into how he will reign as monarch, the heir to the throne promises to change his ways once he becomes head of state.In a lengthy document drafted by his right-hand-man Sir Michael Peat, he hits back at accusations in a TV documentary that he is “too political”.The dossier, compiled in defence of the way the Prince lives and runs his affairs, reads: “It hardly needs saying that the Prince of Wales, of all people, knows that the role and duties of the Heir to the Throne are different to those of the Sovereign and that his role and the way he contributes to national life will change when he becomes King.

According to the Telegraph

Games cost: Brown to reveal £9bn bill

The Government was warned about the soaring costs of the London Olympics 18 months ago, confidential documents reveal.
Gordon Brown and Tessa Jowell were told in October 2005 - just three months after London's successful bid - that VAT would hugely increase the cost of staging the Games in the capital in 2012. The Chancellor and the Culture Secretary were also warned that security costs and contingency funds would make the bill spiral further.
The Government originally said that the Games would cost just £2.4 billion. But it was not until November 2006 that Mr Brown publicly admitted that a VAT bill of £1 billion had not been taken into account and it emerged that contingency funds could take the total bill to over £5 billion.

The Mail's lead story also concerns the Chancellor

Exclusive: Chancellor at £100-an-hour private clinic

Gordon Brown's fierce opposition to private medicine was called into question last night after it was revealed that he pays £100 an hour to be treated by one of Britain's top private dentists.
The Chancellor had routine treatment last week at the London Centre for Cosmetic Dentistry, which is run by a wealthy dentist who boasts of celebrity patients.

The News of the World returns to the McCartney divorce for its lead.

HEATHER Mills has sensationally backed down in her bitter divorce battle with Paul McCartney — and is set to accept a £29 million cash and property settlement.

Sources close to Macca's camp told the News of the World: "It's amazing how quickly things have turned around. Heather has caved in on lots of things — including the money demands and sole custody of daughter Beatrice — and we now expect her to settle."
News of the planned settlement — which works out at £696 an hour for their 1,735 days of marriage so far — comes after a fortnight of blazing rows between the couple.

Whilst according to the Express

Sir Paul pleads: Get me back to where I once belonged

PAUL McCartney is planning to release an album as soon as his bitter divorce from Heather Mills is over. Friends say the former Beatle is desperate to be known for his music again, not his stormy private life, and has been writing songs since the couple’s acrimonious split“The album is scheduled for seven or eight weeks’ time, it’s imminent,” said a source close to McCartney’s company MPL. “It’s a rock album. But he knows that just because he might win a court case, it doesn’t necessarily mean fans will buy his album.

The Sunday Mirror leads with

EXCLUSIVE: TERRY'S GRANDAD DEAD IN FLAT FOR 10 DAYS the paper reports that

THE grandfather of England football captain John Terry has died a lonely pauper - his body lying undiscovered in a rundown flat for 10 DAYS.
Daniel Church's corpse was only found after neighbours complained about the smell coming from inside his council home.
Today the Sunday Mirror can reveal the brutal life story of Church - abandoned by his family because of his drinking, gambling and violence - and shed new light on Terry's tragic family background.

The Observer's focus this week tells us of

Al-Qaeda: the second coming Jason Burke reporting

For his 40th birthday, Osama bin Laden's followers gave their leader a white stallion. Bin Laden, a keen horseman despite back problems, rode for hours through the dusty farmland and hills around his base north of Jalalabad, the eastern Afghan city.
Yesterday the leader of al-Qaeda turned 50. It is unlikely that the gesture was repeated. Almost all the men who gave their chief the stallion are now dead, the base has been dismantled and a similar ride would be to risk detection, identification and a pinpoint missile strike. Yet, though he may lack horses and veteran associates, bin Laden is far from finished. Indeed, nine years after his declaration of war on the West and five and a half years after the attacks of 11 September, 2001, their leader is as present as ever on the world stage, linked, rightly or wrongly, to violence across half the globe.

The Indpendent reports on

The 20 journalists who have lost their lives in Putin's Russia

Ivan Safronov did not die immediately, despite falling four floors from a window in his Moscow apartment block. Witnesses say he tried to get to his feet after hitting the ground, but then collapsed for the final time.

Far from being an individual tragedy, the death of Ivan Safronov will be seen by many as part of a grim trend. The Kommersant reporter is at least the 20th Russian journalist to die in suspicious circumstances since 2000, when Vladimir Putin assumed the Russian presidency. Shot, stabbed or poisoned, the journalists have two things in common: no one has been convicted, or in most cases even arrested, after their deaths. And all of them had angered powerful vested interests which appear to suffer little restraint in dealing with their enemies.

Finally the Telegraph reveals

Weekends really are wetter than Mondays

Analysing 14 years of weather data from 12 sites, researchers found that the weather is colder, wetter and less sunny at the weekend on average.
Monday and Tuesday are the sunniest days, statistically, while Saturday is the most humid and least sunny. Scientists found this to be the case in industrially developed regions, and have blamed it on "aerosols" - tiny particles from traffic and industry suspended in the air.
The particles, which reflect sunlight back into space and increase cloud production, build up during the main working days and affect the weekend weather.