The Independent leads with the headline

Prison Zimbabwe: Opposition leaders held as they try to leave the country

Robert Mugabe's regime has launched a desperate attempt to shut off the country from the outside world, arresting and assaulting key opposition leaders as they attempted to leave Zimbabwe and stealing the body of a murdered activist to prevent his funeral from taking place.
Nelson Chamisa, the national spokesman for the main opposition party Movement for Democratic Change, was fighting for his life last night in a Harare hospital after being ambushed in an airport departure lounge by plain-clothes agents wielding iron bars.
The assault and arrests, following on from threats to expel foreign envoys, marked a new clampdown from a government determined to strangle domestic dissent and prevent international support from reaching opposition groups.

Mugabe critic is beaten up at airport to silence plea for world help says the Times

Mr Chamisa was in a “critical condition” at Harare’s private Avenues Clinic. His MDC colleague, Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, said that Mr Chamisa was seized by state agents while he waited in an airport departure lounge for a flight to Brussels. Mr Chamisa, who had been scheduled to meet European officials this week, was attacked in front of other waiting passengers. The former student activist suffered eye injuries and a suspected fractured skull.
“We are calling on the EU to take this seriously,” said a spokesman for the MDC. “A government that perpetrates crimes on that level should not be allowed to mix with other countries that observe the rule of law.”

The Guardian leads on the 4th anniversary of the Iraqi invasion with a picture of the toppling of the statue of Saddam on its front page.But the under the headline

The regrets of the man who brought down Saddam the paper reports that

His hands were bleeding and his eyes filled with tears as, four years ago, he slammed a sledgehammer into the tiled plinth that held a 20ft bronze statue of Saddam Hussein. Then Kadhim al-Jubouri spoke of his joy at being the leader of the crowd that toppled the statue in Baghdad's Firdous Square. Now, he is filled with nothing but regret.

Yet he now says he would prefer to be living under Saddam than under US occupation. He said: "The devil you know [is] better than the devil you don't. We no longer know friend from foe. The situation is becoming more dangerous. It's not getting better at all. People are poor and the prices are going higher and higher."

The Independent meanwhile reports that

Thousands join march on Pentagon in Iraq protest

At its height, and in spite of freezing weather conditions, as many as 10,000 people joined Saturday's protest. There were smaller demonstrations in other US cities, including Los Angeles, New York and San Diego. The conflict, which has killed more than 3,200 American soldiers, will enter its fifth year tomorrow.
In Washington, the marchers, bearing banners with messages such as "Illegal Combat" and "Peace through Strength", were confronted at several points by smaller groups of counter-demonstrators. A contingent of military veterans congregated close to the Vietnam Memorial on the Washington Mall after hearing rumours that protesters had plans to deface it.

This week's budget though occupies the lead in both the Guardian,the Telegraph and the Times

Budget to give tax breaks for green homes says the Guardian

Gordon Brown will unveil tax breaks for households generating their own green energy as he uses his eleventh budget to challenge the environmental credentials of David Cameron's Conservatives by proposing incentives to tackle climate change.
Whitehall sources said last night that Mr Brown is likely to encourage people to install solar panels, wind turbines and other carbon-free sources of energy in their homes by exempting from income tax any money made by selling excess power back to the national grid.

Road tax doubles to curb ‘gas guzzlers’ reports the Times

Gordon Brown is planning to double road tax for the country’s most polluting gas-guzzling cars in Wednesday’s Budget, The Times understands.
As the Chancellor tries to enhance his green credentials before he takes over as Prime Minister, he is expected to say that the current tax of £210 for the 225,000 least fuel efficient cars purchased brand new since last April — including most 4x4s and sports cars — will rise steadily.
Over the next two years it will increase to at least £400, it is understood. Owners of many other cars are expected to face an inflation or modest above-inflation rise but owners of the least polluting cars will enjoy tax reductions, it is believed by insiders.

Whilst the Telegraph leads with

Brown heads for his 100th tax rise

Figures released by the Conservatives will be deeply embarrassing for Mr Brown, who hopes to use his final Budget as the springboard for a campaign to succeed Tony Blair as Prime Minister.
The list of increases, ranging from higher national insurance and stamp duty to the abolition of the married couple's tax allowance, follows evidence that the tax burden is reaching critical levels.

The continuing violence in our cities over the weekend is the subject of much newspaper coverage.The Mail leads with the headline

Stabbed just like Damilola - latest victim of growing knife culture

Olympic sprinter John Regis spoke of his grief and anger last night after his nephew became the latest victim of the burgeoning knife culture.
Adam Regis, 15, was murdered in the street as he returned home from a cinema.
He was stabbed in the leg, suffering similar injuries to those of ten-year-old Damilola Taylor who was killed a few miles away in South London six years ago.

Knife Death No 5 is the front page of the Sun

Adam Regis was to have spent a happy Mother’s Day with his mum Kristia Smith yesterday — but instead she called a friend to say: “My beautiful son is dead.”
He was the fifth teenager murdered in London in six weeks and the seventh in Britain as a whole.
Schoolboy Adam was chased off a bus by a pair of thugs and knifed to death.
He was found slumped in a pool of blood yards from Premiership football club West Ham’s stadium in Plaistow, East London.

Calls for tougher knife laws after boy, 15, killed reports the Independent

Sir Menzies Campbell, leader of the Liberal Democrats, called for a five-year mandatory sentence for carrying a knife - the same as with a gun. He said: "The Labour Government refuses to accept that carrying a knife can be as dangerous as a gun. The sentence for carrying a knife in a public place should be made the same as that for carrying a gun. We also urgently need to challenge the culture that makes it acceptable to carry knives."

The Telegraph reports from the Tory spring conference

Labour 'has ripped the heart out of the NHS'

The Conservative leader sought to capitalise on the discontent of junior doctors and other health service staff with a promise to put professionals back in charge.
Before he addressed the Conservative Party's spring conference Nottingham delegates were shown a film of him receiving a rousing reception from a rally of junior doctors in London on Saturday protesting over a new online recruitment system which has left thousands without the prospect of a job.

Sick family of Europe says the Mail

Social breakdown has turned Britain into the 'sick family of Europe' and promises to be the major battleground for the next election, David Cameron warned yesterday.
Creaking public services, irresponsible parents and rampant crime have stretched society to breaking point, the Tory leader said.

Cameron promises year of grit and sets sights on NHS says the Guardian

David Cameron promised a year of "grit" yesterday to build on the changes he has made to the Conservatives and cast his party as a government in waiting prepared to take tough choices.
In his keynote speech to the Tories' spring forum in Nottingham, Mr Cameron tried to answer the fears of some party members and focus groups of swing voters that he is short on substance. "It's only when you do the tough things that people know you're serious," he said.

The back pages move to the front of the papers this morning,the tragic death of the Pakistan and former England player Bob Woolmer vies with the antics of the England team

Cricket coach Woolmer dies at World Cup headlines the Telegraph

Bob Woolmer, the English Test batsman who became one of the world's leading cricket coaches, died in hospital yesterday at the age of 58 after being found unconscious in his hotel room.

Woolmer had been under considerable strain because of the under-performance of Pakistan, the team he has coached since 2004. Pakistan's embarrassing defeat against Ireland on Saturday meant the team became the first to be eliminated from the 2007 World Cup.
On Saturday evening, Woolmer told reporters that he was considering giving up the job because of the many stresses it entailed.
"I would like to sleep on my future as a coach," he said. "Coaching is what I do best, therefore I'm not going to throw it away just like that. However, I will give it some thought. Travelling and being involved non-stop in hotels and so on takes its toll."

The Mirror reports that

BOB 'DIES OF DRUGS & BOOZE OVERDOSE'

CRICKET legend Bob Woolmer died last night of a suspected overdose of prescription drugs and alcohol.
The former England Test batsman was coach to the Pakistan cricket team, which crashed out of the World Cup the day before.
Woolmer, 58, was found unconscious in his hotel room in Jamaica and died less than an hour later. Police are investigating whether he died of an accidental overdose.
Pakistan team officials revealed he was diabetic and had breathing problems in his sleep.

Its front page though reports

BOOZE SHAME OF WORLD CUP STARS

ENGLAND's boozed-up cricket stars shamed themselves during an eight-hour bender just 24 hours before their World Cup match against Canada.
Fans watched appalled as Jimmy Anderson, Jon Lewis, Liam Plunkett and Ian Bell downed endless spirits and bottles of Piton beer, shouted and screamed, serenaded tourists and drunkenly kissed each other.
The disgraceful antics led to the four players being fined and Freddie Flintoff - who had to be rescued at sea after capsizing a pedalo - being stripped of the vice-captaincy.

Whilst the Times reveals that

Senior England coaches were present during Flintoff binge

Two members of the England cricket team’s management were seen drinking in the early hours with the players disciplined for breaching team rules, The Times can reveal.
However, Kevin Shine, the bowling coach, and Jeremy Snape, who is on a short-term appointment to help the players with the mental side of the game, will not be punished by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB).
The fallout from Friday night continued to settle yesterday as Andrew Flintoff was replaced by Ravi Bopara for the World Cup group match against Canada — in which England laboured to victory — and dismissed as the unofficial vice-captain to Michael Vaughan. Five players were fined along with Flintoff: James Anderson, Liam Plunkett, Ian Bell, Jon Lewis and Paul Nixon.

The Express leads with

£6bn: The real cost of Roman's divorce

RUSSIAN tycoon Roman Abramovich had to hand over a £6billion slice of his fortune to win a divorce from his wife, the Daily Express can reveal.Former air hostess Irina landed the astonishing windfall as the condition for ending her 16-year marriage to the owner of Chelsea Football Club.The settlement, which represents more than half of Abram­ovich’s estimated £11billion fortune and is the highest ever paid anywhere in the world, was the price he was forced to pay for his friendship with heiress Daria Zhukova.

Finally according to the Guardian and maybe of interest to the England management

Relax ... head massage and reiki help boys stay out of trouble

They may not be the most traditional of crime prevention techniques, but Indian head massage, golf and cookery lessons are being used to help teenage boys in poor areas "de-stress" and stay away from the temptations of drink, drugs and offending. A national programme of activities for youngsters in the most deprived parts of England has seen boys queueing to try natural relaxation techniques, and reporting feeling calmer, more focused and less angry as a result. The aim is to offer youngsters alternative healthy activities besides traditional options such as football.