As the Iranian hostages arrive back in the Uk,the Guardian reminds us of the

The bloody reality of war

Four soldiers on patrol in a Warrior armoured vehicle in Basra were killed, and another seriously injured, by a powerful roadside bomb in one of the worst attacks on British forces since the invasion of Iraq four years ago.
Last night the Ministry of Defence confirmed that two men and two women had died in the attack, along with a Kuwaiti civilian interpreter. "The soldiers were from the Intelligence Corps, the 2nd Battalion The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment, and two from the Royal Army Medical Corps. Next of kin have been informed and have requested a 24-hour period before further details are released," an MoD statement said. The two female soldiers are understood to be from the Intelligence Corps and the Medical Corps.
They were killed after coming under fire from what army spokesmen called Shia "rogue militia" suspected of having links with Iran.

OUR BLOOD ON HIS HANDS headlines the Sun

IRAN’S sickening hypocrisy was exposed yesterday as they sent home 15 British hostages — and connived in the slaughter of four of our soldiers.
The Brits, including a female Army nurse and a woman from the Intelligence Corps, died in a roadside bomb blast in Basra, southern Iraq.
Their Kuwaiti translator was also killed and a fifth soldier was critically injured in the attack.
Iraqi insurgents who set off the bomb had almost certainly been helped by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s fanatical Revolutionary Guards.

Deaths fuel Iran row says the Times

The return of the 15 British captives was soured yesterday when four troops — two of them women — were killed in Iraq by a massive roadside bomb.
Tony Blair said that elements in Iran were masterminding the terrorism in Iraq, and avoided thanking President Ahmadinejad for the “gift” of sending them home.
Last night the Bush Administration accused Iran of using hostage diplomacy to boost its status.

THE FREE AND THE FALLEN headlines the Independent

Senior UK military officers and diplomats have for months accused Iran of supplying Shia insurgents in Iraq with sophisticated explosive devices which have been used to kill and maim British and American soldiers. The Iranians have denied the claims and, in turn, accused "British agents" of carrying out bombings on its territory.
The co-ordinated attack in Basra came at just after 11 pm - around the same time the 15 marines and sailors were preparing to board their British Airways flight in Tehran, clutching presents given to them by the Iranian government.

Iran's REAL Easter gift - one woman comes home, two more die says the Mail

The blast exposed Ahmadinejad's conciliatory words as callous hypocrisy.

The papers though continue to report on the homecoming

The ordeal ends amid a joyful welcome of hugs, kisses and tears reports the Telegraph

It was just after 2.30pm when the two Sea King helicopters appeared in the cloudless skies above the Royal Marines barracks in Chivenor, Devon, and landed on the tarmac.
The doors opened and the 15 British sailors and Marines held captive in Iran for 13 days filed out on to the grass in front of the officers' mess to be greeted by naval officers.

BACK IN OUR LOVING ARMS says the Mirror

IT was the moment they had all been praying for - falling into the arms of their delighted and relieved families.
The 15 freed hostages hugged and kissed relatives and friends in an emotional reunion yesterday after their 13-day ordeal at the hands of their cynical Iranian captors.
And it was a feeling they had wondered if they would ever experience as they languished in their makeshift Tehran prison while officials tried desperately to justify their kidnap by parading them on TV.

Whilst reporting that

CAPTAIN: WE WERE GATHERING IRAN INFO

ONE of the 15 freed hostages admitted Britain WAS gathering intelligence on Iran, a previously unbroadcast interview revealed last night.
Royal Marine Captain Chris Air told how one purpose of patrols in the Persian Gulf was to gather "int" - intelligence -- on "any sort of Iranian activity".
The joint Five News and Sky News interview was recorded on March 13 on HMS Cornwall.
But TV bosses pulled it until after the 15 sailors and Marines had been released because of the sensitive nature of the contents.

The Telegraph reports on the other top story of the day

'Terror plot to blow up tourist attractions'

The July 7 bombers planned to attack Big Ben, the London Eye and other tourist attractions, it emerged yesterday, as three men were charged with helping the terrorists plan their attacks

They are accused of conspiring with the four suicide bombers to cause explosions on London transport and major tourist attractions.
On the day they were charged, the country's most senior anti-terrorist detective launched an extraordinary attack on elements within the West Yorkshire Muslim community whom he accused of shielding July 7 conspirators and intimidating potential witnesses.
The intervention by Peter Clarke, the head of the Metropolitan Police Counter-Terrorism Command, is public confirmation that the police believe that there are extremists at large plotting terrorist attacks in Britain

July 7 bombs: three in court as hunt goes on says the Guardian

Waheed Ali, 23, Sadeer Saleem, 26, and Mohammed Shakil, 30, all originally from Beeston, near Leeds, are charged with conspiring with the four Islamist terrorists to cause explosions likely to endanger life or cause serious injury. They are alleged to have been involved in a reconnaissance mission carried out by the four bombers in London 10 days before they blew themselves up on the transport system. They are also alleged to have conspired with the suicide bombers to plan the July 7 attacks and target London's tourist attractions.
The alleged reconnaissance mission or dummy run on June 28 was caught on CCTV cameras.

The Times reports on the story that

HIV chef who recklessly infected his lover is jailed for nine years

An Italian chef who handed his lover a “death sentence” when he recklessly infected her with HIV and hepatitis C was jailed for nine years yesterday.
The sentence was criticised by the National Aids Trust, which said that the case could undermine efforts to stop the spread of HIV.
Giovanni Mola, 38, who claimed to have had 200 lovers, refused to wear condoms after starting a relationship with the woman in Edinburgh in 2003. He had been found to have the viruses three years earlier but did not tell his new partner, who said she was a virgin.

All the papers report on another battle this time on the High Street

Battle of Primark: rumours of sale cause store chaos reports the Indy

Public order broke down on London's main shopping street yesterday as hundreds of bargain hunters scrambled into a new Primark store mistakenly thinking there was a half-price sale.
Managers were forced to bring forward the official opening of the 70,000 sq ft shop on Oxford Street by 15 minutes because of the crush developing on the pavement outside.
Many shoppers appeared to believe false rumours on the internet that the budget clothes chain had slashed its already low prices for the official opening of the flagship store.
As its doors opened at 9.45am, shoppers tumbled over each other onto the carpet, risking a dangerous situation. Security guards appealed for the remaining crowd to stay back as people tried to get into the store.

Primark's £8 jeans and £2 bikinis cause stampede says the Guardian

By 10am, the doors had been knocked off their hinges by the eager shoppers, desperate to get hold of a pair of £8 jeans. By 11am, a floor manager had been knocked to the ground by the hordes, trampling all that was in their path in search of a £2 bikini. And by noon the queue to get in snaked all the way down Oxford Street to Marble Arch with a waiting time estimated at a couple of hours.

And the Telegraph reports on more shopping wars

Shops cut cost of Easter eggs to lure shoppers

The cost of buying Easter eggs has been dramatically cut this year as supermarkets and other retailers turn to chocolate to lure more shoppers across their thresholds.

As many as 80 million festive eggs will be bought over the coming days, bringing in about £220 millionWhile there has been an explosion in sales of more expensive eggs, such as the Green and Blacks organic range, a price war is being fought by the mass-market confectionery brands.At one stage, Tesco was running a buy-one-get-one-free promotion at £1.49, or just 74p, an egg.Sainsbury's, which expects to sell more than 25 million chocolate eggs this Easter, is selling medium-sized eggs at £1.99 each or get three for £3.

How Easter treats can be more plastic than egg says the Mail

Some 80million Easter eggs will be eaten this weekend, for which we have paid around £336million.
But as you tear open the cardboard box, peel back the plastic shell and rip through the brightly coloured tin foil, you may feel you've bought more packaging than egg.
Reports suggest that, by volume, packaging can make up to 90 per cent of your Easter egg purchase, leaving behind a mountain of foil, cardboard and plastic.
This will generate around 160 tons of foil waste and 4,370 tons of cardboard. And it's not only packaging that you could be wasting.

More trouble with English football fans abroad as the Sun reports

Trouble at Spurs game

SEVEN Spurs fans were injured in Spain last night as violence hit English football for the second night running.They accused cops of attacking them 24 hours after Man Utd supporters were bloodied by Italian cops. Fans even accused police of attacking a defenceless Spurs supporter in a WHEELCHAIR at the Uefa cup quarter-final in Seville.Seven fans and one cop were treated in hospital amid claims drunken Brits sparked the violence.Spurs followers were seen ripping out seats and throwing them at police — but many supporters blamed cops for the trouble.

United press for Home Office action over Italian police reports the Indy

Manchester United yesterday issued an unprecedented condemnation of the Italian police's handling of the crowd trouble at the Champions League match with Roma in the Stadio Olympico on Wednesday and asked the British government to help investigate. But as Uefa opened an investigation into the violence, United are also bracing for disciplinary action. Both United and Roma can expect to be charged by Uefa.

David Beckham's stolen car comes to the attention of many of the papers,the Star on its front page reports that it has found the stolen car whilst the Sun claims

Becks' stolen car is govt limo

A LUXURY car stolen from David Beckham in Spain is now an official government vehicle in Macedonia, it was claimed last night.
Becks’ £70,000 armour-plated BMW X5 vanished a year ago from near his home in Madrid.
The former England football captain, 31, was lunching when it was pinched from an underground car park.
But newspapers in Macedonia yesterday published photos of the Interior Minister Gordana Jankulovska in the capital Skopje getting into a car believed to be the stolen 4x4.

Finally for the Bank holiday to the Express

TRAFFIC JAMS AND RAIL CHAOS BUT AT LEAST IT WILL BE SUNNY

TRAVEL chaos hit the roads and railways yesterday as millions of Easter holidaymakers tried to get away from it all.
Predictably, jams built up on major routes and with accidents reported on almost every motorway, there were tailbacks of up to 10 miles on some roads, leaving drivers stranded for up to two hours.To add to the holiday nightmare, engineering works on the railways will continue until Monday with many routes into London severely affected.But there is some good news – much of the country will bask in sunshine with temperatures hitting the 21C mark.