It's that time of the year again and the Sunday Times produces it's annual rich list
Super-rich treble wealth in last 10 years says the paper
THE WEALTH of the richest 1,000 people in Britain has more than trebled in the decade since Tony Blair came to power promising greater fairness, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, published today.
The 260% rise in the wealth of Britain’s richest contrasts with a 120% average wealth increase for the population as a whole. Britons have benefited from the booming housing market but, unlike the super-rich, have done less well with their financial investments.
As the prime minister prepares to leave Downing Street, one legacy is a nation that has become a haven for the international super-rich. The number of billionaires living in Britain has surged to 68, up from 54 last year. About a third are from
overseas and only three of the wealthiest 10 billionaires were born here.
With the local elections and change in premiership fast approaching the papers are full of political comment and speculation
Blair finally backs Brown as next leader is the main lead in the ST.
TONY BLAIR is to endorse Gordon Brown as his successor as prime minister after he officially announces next week his intention to resign.
The prime minister, who will fire the starting gun on the leadership race on May 9 or 10, made his decision in the past few days after David Miliband made clear he would not be challenging Brown for the premiership.
Blair will support Brown, his long-time friend and foe, even if Charles Clarke or John Reid decides to embark on a “kamikaze” mission to prevent the chancellor having a smooth coronation. Brown will face a challenge anyway from a left-wing MP, either Michael Meacher or John McDonnell.
Labour woes not over with Brown, says Cameron reports the Telegraph
David Cameron will today urge voters to seize their final chance to reject Tony Blair. In his most aggressive attack to date on the Prime Minister and his legacy, the Conservative leader will claim that Mr Blair has presided over "NHS cuts, dodgy dossiers, stealth taxes and spin".
He will also accuse him of trying to "bury bad news" by planning to resign within days of the local elections on Thursday. Mr Cameron will also step up his attack on Gordon Brown, widely expected to succeed Mr Blair as Prime Minister, by branding him "new leader, same old Labour".
The Mirror claims
LABOUR is heading for a polling day disaster, losing up to 600 seats in Thursday's local elections.
The grim prediction of a political meltdown from party strategists would send Labour spiralling to one of its worst ever defeats.
According to its own internal polling, the party is set to lose between 500 and 600 council seats. It would take its tally to just 5,500 seats and mean the loss of Labour-run councils in the South-East and the West Country.
Downing Street fears Scottish Nationalists will become the biggest party north of the border in elections for the Scottish Parliament, which also take place on Thursday.
The Independent goes north of the border where it says that
The signs on Glasgow's Churchill Drive are ominous for Gordon Brown
It's time." The SNP's slogan is as final as it is simple. After 300 years of disputatious union, the nationalists' shout of last orders suggests England and Scotland are draining their glasses before going their separate ways.
And this time, for the first time, they might be right. The SNP - for decades hobbled by an image as single-issue extremists - is on the brink of a stunning victory that would install it as a party of government in Holyrood. The polls may narrow over the next few days (the latest gives the SNP seven more seats than Labour) and there is a still a sizeable minority who are undecided, but most analysts now believe that Alex Salmond will win the greatest number of seats in the new Scottish Parliament when that body is elected on Thursday.
According to the front page of the Express
BROWN TO TAX OUR GARDENS
GORDON Brown’s army of tax snoopers is plotting to slap a cash levy on every garden in England, the Sunday Express can reveal.
Homeowners already facing higher council tax bills for carrying out house improvements or living in a desirable neighbourhood will now also be stung because of the size of their garden.Ministers have confirmed that the Valuation Office Agency has signed a legal agreement with the Land Registry, which will give it access to Britain’s biggest land database.
Super-rich treble wealth in last 10 years says the paper
THE WEALTH of the richest 1,000 people in Britain has more than trebled in the decade since Tony Blair came to power promising greater fairness, according to The Sunday Times Rich List, published today.
The 260% rise in the wealth of Britain’s richest contrasts with a 120% average wealth increase for the population as a whole. Britons have benefited from the booming housing market but, unlike the super-rich, have done less well with their financial investments.
As the prime minister prepares to leave Downing Street, one legacy is a nation that has become a haven for the international super-rich. The number of billionaires living in Britain has surged to 68, up from 54 last year. About a third are from
overseas and only three of the wealthiest 10 billionaires were born here.
With the local elections and change in premiership fast approaching the papers are full of political comment and speculation
Blair finally backs Brown as next leader is the main lead in the ST.
TONY BLAIR is to endorse Gordon Brown as his successor as prime minister after he officially announces next week his intention to resign.
The prime minister, who will fire the starting gun on the leadership race on May 9 or 10, made his decision in the past few days after David Miliband made clear he would not be challenging Brown for the premiership.
Blair will support Brown, his long-time friend and foe, even if Charles Clarke or John Reid decides to embark on a “kamikaze” mission to prevent the chancellor having a smooth coronation. Brown will face a challenge anyway from a left-wing MP, either Michael Meacher or John McDonnell.
Labour woes not over with Brown, says Cameron reports the Telegraph
David Cameron will today urge voters to seize their final chance to reject Tony Blair. In his most aggressive attack to date on the Prime Minister and his legacy, the Conservative leader will claim that Mr Blair has presided over "NHS cuts, dodgy dossiers, stealth taxes and spin".
He will also accuse him of trying to "bury bad news" by planning to resign within days of the local elections on Thursday. Mr Cameron will also step up his attack on Gordon Brown, widely expected to succeed Mr Blair as Prime Minister, by branding him "new leader, same old Labour".
The Mirror claims
LABOUR is heading for a polling day disaster, losing up to 600 seats in Thursday's local elections.
The grim prediction of a political meltdown from party strategists would send Labour spiralling to one of its worst ever defeats.
According to its own internal polling, the party is set to lose between 500 and 600 council seats. It would take its tally to just 5,500 seats and mean the loss of Labour-run councils in the South-East and the West Country.
Downing Street fears Scottish Nationalists will become the biggest party north of the border in elections for the Scottish Parliament, which also take place on Thursday.
The Independent goes north of the border where it says that
The signs on Glasgow's Churchill Drive are ominous for Gordon Brown
It's time." The SNP's slogan is as final as it is simple. After 300 years of disputatious union, the nationalists' shout of last orders suggests England and Scotland are draining their glasses before going their separate ways.
And this time, for the first time, they might be right. The SNP - for decades hobbled by an image as single-issue extremists - is on the brink of a stunning victory that would install it as a party of government in Holyrood. The polls may narrow over the next few days (the latest gives the SNP seven more seats than Labour) and there is a still a sizeable minority who are undecided, but most analysts now believe that Alex Salmond will win the greatest number of seats in the new Scottish Parliament when that body is elected on Thursday.
According to the front page of the Express
BROWN TO TAX OUR GARDENS
GORDON Brown’s army of tax snoopers is plotting to slap a cash levy on every garden in England, the Sunday Express can reveal.
Homeowners already facing higher council tax bills for carrying out house improvements or living in a desirable neighbourhood will now also be stung because of the size of their garden.Ministers have confirmed that the Valuation Office Agency has signed a legal agreement with the Land Registry, which will give it access to Britain’s biggest land database.
Dame Cherie? Nonsense, says Downing Street according to the Mail,
Downing Street has vehemently denied reports that Cherie Blair could become Dame Cherie in a resignation honours list after her husband quits in the next few weeks.
The Mail on Sunday was informed by a well-placed source that confidential talks on whether Mrs Blair should receive a damehood had taken place in the highly secretive "honours secretariat" inside the Cabinet Office.
Elsewhere yesterday's earthquake in the South East gets a lot of coverage
A very British response as earthquake strikes Kent says the Independent
As chimneys fell from roofs, windows rattled and buildings shook, the confused residents of Kent stumbled out of bed early yesterday morning to learn that an earthquake had struck.
In scenes more reminiscent of Los Angeles than the Garden of England, locals listened anxiously to news bulletins and warnings of a possibility of a further aftershock.
Emergency crews raced to calls from Folkestone and other towns near the epicentre of the Kent quake, identified as 7.5 miles off the Dover coast.
Seismologists at the British Geological Survey said it registered 4.3 on the Richter scale, making it the fourth-largest in the history of UK tremors. The last big rumble was in Dudley in the West Midlands in 2002 and that scored 4.8.
But adding that
Many of those temporarily evacuated found their way to the Black Bull pub in Canterbury Road.
One of them was Ray Lees. "I went in the garden and there were some bricks, I'm not sure where from, he said.
"It's something different for a Saturday," he said before turning back to watch the Everton and Manchester United match on the big TV screen.
QUAKEY WAKEY says the Mirror
IT was 8.18am and many families were enjoying a Saturday morning lie-in when the quake struck... in Kent.
It lasted just 10 terrifying seconds, shaking buildings and throwing people out of bed. Walls cracked and chimney stacks came crashing down. Emergency services took hundreds of calls as power supplies were cut.
A woman in her 30s was taken to hospital after being hit on the head by falling debris, yet amazingly no-one was seriously hurt.
The earthquake's epicentre was eight miles off the Kent coast. Folkestone was worst hit, yet the effects were felt across much of the South Coast. Almost 200 miles away in Barton-on-Sea, Hants, a 1,000-metre crack appeared in cliffs, prompting fears of a landslide
HARRY I'M SH****ING MYSELF is the headline on the front of the News of the World,the paper reporting
ACTION man Prince Harry has spoken for the first time about going to war and frankly confessed: "I'm s****ing myself!"
As controversy raged over sending the young royal to Iraq, he threw a farewell party for pals and in a moving, down-to-earth speech declared: "I'm a nervous wreck. I've waited a long time and just want to get out there and serve my country."
In his startling barrack-room style, the 22-year-old royal courageously vowed: "I'm prepared to do anything they throw at me."
Valiant Harry was making it clear he is ready to risk his life, if necessary, fighting insurgents. But he went on realistically: "Whether I serve on the front line or carry out a desk job in Basra I just want to get out to Iraq and serve my country.
I'LL DRINK TO WAR, SAYS HARRY says the Sunday Express
PRINCE Harry put aside the controversy over his role in the Iraq war with a boozy send-off from his pals.
Joined by his girlfriend Chelsy Davy, 21, and his 24-year-old brother William – without former flame Kate Middleton – Harry bade a fond farewell at an invitation-only bash in London’s Mayfair.The Ministry of Defence’s official line is that Harry, 22, will carry out a troop commander’s role, involving leading 12 men in four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles.
According to the Sunday Times
General tells No 10 to decide if Harry fights
ONE of Britain’s top military leaders has said Tony Blair should decide whether Prince Harry is sent to Iraq because the argument has become a political issue.
General Sir Peter de la Billiere, commander of British land forces in the first Gulf war, said: “It should be, as it was for Prince Andrew, who fought in the Falklands, up to the prime minister really to decide whether, from a national point of view and a political of view, he should go or not.”
He said the prince would feel a need to go because he had “a lot of guts” and a sense of pride and duty towards his men. “So from his own point of view he should go, [but] from the political point of view it is up to the prime minister to decide and nobody less.
Special forces sent to Iraq amid fears for Harry's safety reports the Observer
Army special forces have been sent to Iraq to provide increased protection for Prince Harry ahead of his tour of duty in the country.
An extra detachment of special forces has arrived in southern Iraq to monitor militia groups and reinforce the prince's protection as fears grow that insurgents will target the third in line to the throne.
The Army is aware that militia groups are claiming to know when his regiment, the Blues and Royals, will arrive in the country. Last week The Observer revealed plans by insurgent groups to kidnap and kill Harry. The insurgents now claim to have informers inside the British base in Basra who will track the Prince's movements.
It leads with an exclusive that
Palace told Blair aide: beware of honours probe chief
Buckingham Palace is today thrust into the centre of the 'cash for peerages' affair as The Observer discloses that the most senior courtier in Buckingham Palace expressed deep unease to Downing Street about the Metropolitan Police officer leading the investigation.
In a move that highlights the royal household's discomfort with Assistant Commissioner John Yates, the courtier described him to Number 10 as a relentless investigator who turned the royal household 'inside out'. The Observer understands that the warning was passed to Jonathan Powell, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, by Sir Robin Janvrin, the Queen's private secretary. Yates was appointed last year to investigate allegations that Downing Street offered peerages in exchange for loans to the Labour party.
The Telegraph leads with
'Cover-up' of £1bn hole in Britain's Olympic bid
The Government has been accused of covering up a £1 billion "black hole" in the finances for the London Olympic Games when Britain submitted its bid.Ministerial aides were told by accountants - two months before the bid's submission and 10 months before the capital knew it had been chosen to host the Games - that the estimated bill for the Olympics of £3.4 billion was significantly short of the mark.The consultants warned aides in September 2004 that the bill was going to be £1 billion more then expected, taking it to at least £4.4 billion. In the event, even that figure proved hopelessly overoptimistic, with the revised bill mushrooming by March this year to £9.35 billion - nearly four times the original £2.4 billion estimate.
The Independent leads on its front page with
Respect! Good manners to be taught in schools
Children in secondary schools are to be taught "emotional intelligence" as part of the national curriculum in an attempt to combat a growing tide of rudeness, violence and lack of respect.
With the debate about the lack of civility among young people reaching a new pitch, ministers are planning to roll out "social and emotional" intelligence classes to help children to cope with anger and frustration without resorting to violence or swearing.
The programme will be integrated into the curriculum, and will teach pupils about fair play and dealing with adversity.
The new moves to instil good manners in young people is the latest attempt to deal with what many politicians and commentators bemoan as a blight on British society, making streets, schools and communities unsafe and unpleasant. The worry is that children no longer have the authority figures to look up to and that the state has to an extent take on the responsibilities that belong to parents.
The strangest headline goes to the Mail on Sunday
Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat
Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game.
The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company’s PlayStation 2 console
Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat’s still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach.
Sickening images of the party have appeared in the company’s official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Sony issued an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run.
Family shocked as MoD admits body parts error says the Observer
Body parts of British soldiers who died on operations in Afghanistan have been mixed up and placed in the wrong coffins.
The government has admitted that the remains of at least one serviceman, who died in Britain's worst military disaster in the war, ended up inside another victim's coffin.
The issue came to light only when the personal belongings from one of the dead were given by RAF officials to a family who said they were not his.
The Telegraph reports from Afghanistan where
US aircrews show Taliban no mercy
Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life.
Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed on the two helicopter gunships that had appeared above them as their leader, the tallest man in the group, struggled to pull what appeared to be a burqa over his head.
As the boat reached the shore, Captain Larry Staley tilted the nose of the lead Apache gunship downwards into a dive. One of the men turned to face the helicopter and sank to his knees. Capt Staley's gunner pressed the trigger and the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke and dust.
By the time the gunships had finished, 21 minutes later, military officials say 14 Taliban were confirmed dead, including one of their key commanders in Helmand.
The papers look forward to next week's showdown in France
Ségo tries to woo Bayrou in bid to beat Sarko says the Times
Her political family thinks that he is beneath her, but Ségolène Royal, the Socialist presidential candidate, tried yesterday to talk the centrist François Bayrou into political marriage in a risky gamble to increase her chances of becoming France’s first female leader.
Her televised “debate-dialogue” with Bayrou, who was eliminated in third place in last weekend’s first-round vote, outraged some in her left-wing base but was crucial for her prospects of beating the conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in the runoff next Sunday. By most calculations, Royal needed to seduce at least half of Bayrou’s 7m voters to emerge as Madame la Présidente.
Royal falters on last stretch says the Observer
And, finally, she was there. To thumping techno, walking through a passage lined by crush barriers that kept the crowds metres either side of her, white skirt and jacket reflecting the beaming lights of the exhibition hall, and flanked by security guards, Segolene Royal made her way to the stage.
'Together we will rebuild our country,' she told 15,000 supporters waving flags - of the Socialist Party, of the European Union, of France, or bearing her portrait. 'What brings us together is stronger than what divides us.'
To the redtops and the Mirror leads with
EXCLUSIVE: MACCA: THE BODYGUARD'S STORY
THE former bodyguard of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills has come forward to give his first-hand account of Britain's most bitter showbiz marriage breakdown.
Defending his decision to go public, Sean Ghent said he feels stunned by the public vilification of Heather. He tells how he sadly witnessed the couple's amicable separation disintegrate into all-out war... and hatred.
Sean, who has been pictured regularly with the couple, said he would never forget being at Heather's side, the moment she realised that Macca had pulled the plug on her finances.
She was buying a rail ticket at Hove Station in Brighton when her bank card was declined. Sean said Sir Paul, 64, had axed all financial support, leaving Heather stranded and humiliated.
Sean, 44, dipped into his own pocket to bale out Heather, 39, with £110.
The News of the World finds another of Chris Tarrent's lovers
THE latest lover dumped by serial cheat Chris Tarrant branded him an arrogant, sexist rat and stormed: "He treated me like dirt."
Former model Carole Hesford was six months into a secret affair with the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter when we revealed he was also bedding ex-EastEnder Debbie Arnold.
And after tearful Carole, 45, confronted Tarrant over our story she saw his heartless side.
"He said he was not a monk and it was what men do.
"Then he expected me to go back to him because he only slept with her once! I couldn't believe it," said the mum-of-two.
Whilst also asking
IS BRITAIN GOING BARMY
BONKERS Britain just got more barmy... when two schoolgirls were fined for drawing CHALK love hearts on a pavement.
Pals Hazel Mercer and Charli Lyth, both 16, sketched the pictures of stars, hearts and flowers using white chalk.
The Mail on Sunday was informed by a well-placed source that confidential talks on whether Mrs Blair should receive a damehood had taken place in the highly secretive "honours secretariat" inside the Cabinet Office.
Elsewhere yesterday's earthquake in the South East gets a lot of coverage
A very British response as earthquake strikes Kent says the Independent
As chimneys fell from roofs, windows rattled and buildings shook, the confused residents of Kent stumbled out of bed early yesterday morning to learn that an earthquake had struck.
In scenes more reminiscent of Los Angeles than the Garden of England, locals listened anxiously to news bulletins and warnings of a possibility of a further aftershock.
Emergency crews raced to calls from Folkestone and other towns near the epicentre of the Kent quake, identified as 7.5 miles off the Dover coast.
Seismologists at the British Geological Survey said it registered 4.3 on the Richter scale, making it the fourth-largest in the history of UK tremors. The last big rumble was in Dudley in the West Midlands in 2002 and that scored 4.8.
But adding that
Many of those temporarily evacuated found their way to the Black Bull pub in Canterbury Road.
One of them was Ray Lees. "I went in the garden and there were some bricks, I'm not sure where from, he said.
"It's something different for a Saturday," he said before turning back to watch the Everton and Manchester United match on the big TV screen.
QUAKEY WAKEY says the Mirror
IT was 8.18am and many families were enjoying a Saturday morning lie-in when the quake struck... in Kent.
It lasted just 10 terrifying seconds, shaking buildings and throwing people out of bed. Walls cracked and chimney stacks came crashing down. Emergency services took hundreds of calls as power supplies were cut.
A woman in her 30s was taken to hospital after being hit on the head by falling debris, yet amazingly no-one was seriously hurt.
The earthquake's epicentre was eight miles off the Kent coast. Folkestone was worst hit, yet the effects were felt across much of the South Coast. Almost 200 miles away in Barton-on-Sea, Hants, a 1,000-metre crack appeared in cliffs, prompting fears of a landslide
HARRY I'M SH****ING MYSELF is the headline on the front of the News of the World,the paper reporting
ACTION man Prince Harry has spoken for the first time about going to war and frankly confessed: "I'm s****ing myself!"
As controversy raged over sending the young royal to Iraq, he threw a farewell party for pals and in a moving, down-to-earth speech declared: "I'm a nervous wreck. I've waited a long time and just want to get out there and serve my country."
In his startling barrack-room style, the 22-year-old royal courageously vowed: "I'm prepared to do anything they throw at me."
Valiant Harry was making it clear he is ready to risk his life, if necessary, fighting insurgents. But he went on realistically: "Whether I serve on the front line or carry out a desk job in Basra I just want to get out to Iraq and serve my country.
I'LL DRINK TO WAR, SAYS HARRY says the Sunday Express
PRINCE Harry put aside the controversy over his role in the Iraq war with a boozy send-off from his pals.
Joined by his girlfriend Chelsy Davy, 21, and his 24-year-old brother William – without former flame Kate Middleton – Harry bade a fond farewell at an invitation-only bash in London’s Mayfair.The Ministry of Defence’s official line is that Harry, 22, will carry out a troop commander’s role, involving leading 12 men in four Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles.
According to the Sunday Times
General tells No 10 to decide if Harry fights
ONE of Britain’s top military leaders has said Tony Blair should decide whether Prince Harry is sent to Iraq because the argument has become a political issue.
General Sir Peter de la Billiere, commander of British land forces in the first Gulf war, said: “It should be, as it was for Prince Andrew, who fought in the Falklands, up to the prime minister really to decide whether, from a national point of view and a political of view, he should go or not.”
He said the prince would feel a need to go because he had “a lot of guts” and a sense of pride and duty towards his men. “So from his own point of view he should go, [but] from the political point of view it is up to the prime minister to decide and nobody less.
Special forces sent to Iraq amid fears for Harry's safety reports the Observer
Army special forces have been sent to Iraq to provide increased protection for Prince Harry ahead of his tour of duty in the country.
An extra detachment of special forces has arrived in southern Iraq to monitor militia groups and reinforce the prince's protection as fears grow that insurgents will target the third in line to the throne.
The Army is aware that militia groups are claiming to know when his regiment, the Blues and Royals, will arrive in the country. Last week The Observer revealed plans by insurgent groups to kidnap and kill Harry. The insurgents now claim to have informers inside the British base in Basra who will track the Prince's movements.
It leads with an exclusive that
Palace told Blair aide: beware of honours probe chief
Buckingham Palace is today thrust into the centre of the 'cash for peerages' affair as The Observer discloses that the most senior courtier in Buckingham Palace expressed deep unease to Downing Street about the Metropolitan Police officer leading the investigation.
In a move that highlights the royal household's discomfort with Assistant Commissioner John Yates, the courtier described him to Number 10 as a relentless investigator who turned the royal household 'inside out'. The Observer understands that the warning was passed to Jonathan Powell, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, by Sir Robin Janvrin, the Queen's private secretary. Yates was appointed last year to investigate allegations that Downing Street offered peerages in exchange for loans to the Labour party.
The Telegraph leads with
'Cover-up' of £1bn hole in Britain's Olympic bid
The Government has been accused of covering up a £1 billion "black hole" in the finances for the London Olympic Games when Britain submitted its bid.Ministerial aides were told by accountants - two months before the bid's submission and 10 months before the capital knew it had been chosen to host the Games - that the estimated bill for the Olympics of £3.4 billion was significantly short of the mark.The consultants warned aides in September 2004 that the bill was going to be £1 billion more then expected, taking it to at least £4.4 billion. In the event, even that figure proved hopelessly overoptimistic, with the revised bill mushrooming by March this year to £9.35 billion - nearly four times the original £2.4 billion estimate.
The Independent leads on its front page with
Respect! Good manners to be taught in schools
Children in secondary schools are to be taught "emotional intelligence" as part of the national curriculum in an attempt to combat a growing tide of rudeness, violence and lack of respect.
With the debate about the lack of civility among young people reaching a new pitch, ministers are planning to roll out "social and emotional" intelligence classes to help children to cope with anger and frustration without resorting to violence or swearing.
The programme will be integrated into the curriculum, and will teach pupils about fair play and dealing with adversity.
The new moves to instil good manners in young people is the latest attempt to deal with what many politicians and commentators bemoan as a blight on British society, making streets, schools and communities unsafe and unpleasant. The worry is that children no longer have the authority figures to look up to and that the state has to an extent take on the responsibilities that belong to parents.
The strangest headline goes to the Mail on Sunday
Slaughter: Horror at Sony's depraved promotion stunt with decapitated goat
Electronics giant Sony has sparked a major row over animal cruelty and the ethics of the computer industry by using a freshly slaughtered goat to promote a violent video game.
The corpse of the decapitated animal was the centrepiece of a party to celebrate the launch of the God Of War II game for the company’s PlayStation 2 console
Guests at the event were even invited to reach inside the goat’s still-warm carcass to eat offal from its stomach.
Sickening images of the party have appeared in the company’s official PlayStation magazine – but after being contacted by The Mail on Sunday, Sony issued an apology for the gruesome stunt and promised to recall the entire print run.
Family shocked as MoD admits body parts error says the Observer
Body parts of British soldiers who died on operations in Afghanistan have been mixed up and placed in the wrong coffins.
The government has admitted that the remains of at least one serviceman, who died in Britain's worst military disaster in the war, ended up inside another victim's coffin.
The issue came to light only when the personal belongings from one of the dead were given by RAF officials to a family who said they were not his.
The Telegraph reports from Afghanistan where
US aircrews show Taliban no mercy
Caught in the middle of the Helmand river, the fleeing Taliban were paddling their boat back to shore for dear life.
Smoke from the ambush they had just sprung on American special forces still hung in the air, but their attention was fixed on the two helicopter gunships that had appeared above them as their leader, the tallest man in the group, struggled to pull what appeared to be a burqa over his head.
As the boat reached the shore, Captain Larry Staley tilted the nose of the lead Apache gunship downwards into a dive. One of the men turned to face the helicopter and sank to his knees. Capt Staley's gunner pressed the trigger and the man disappeared in a cloud of smoke and dust.
By the time the gunships had finished, 21 minutes later, military officials say 14 Taliban were confirmed dead, including one of their key commanders in Helmand.
The papers look forward to next week's showdown in France
Ségo tries to woo Bayrou in bid to beat Sarko says the Times
Her political family thinks that he is beneath her, but Ségolène Royal, the Socialist presidential candidate, tried yesterday to talk the centrist François Bayrou into political marriage in a risky gamble to increase her chances of becoming France’s first female leader.
Her televised “debate-dialogue” with Bayrou, who was eliminated in third place in last weekend’s first-round vote, outraged some in her left-wing base but was crucial for her prospects of beating the conservative Nicolas Sarkozy in the runoff next Sunday. By most calculations, Royal needed to seduce at least half of Bayrou’s 7m voters to emerge as Madame la Présidente.
Royal falters on last stretch says the Observer
And, finally, she was there. To thumping techno, walking through a passage lined by crush barriers that kept the crowds metres either side of her, white skirt and jacket reflecting the beaming lights of the exhibition hall, and flanked by security guards, Segolene Royal made her way to the stage.
'Together we will rebuild our country,' she told 15,000 supporters waving flags - of the Socialist Party, of the European Union, of France, or bearing her portrait. 'What brings us together is stronger than what divides us.'
To the redtops and the Mirror leads with
EXCLUSIVE: MACCA: THE BODYGUARD'S STORY
THE former bodyguard of Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills has come forward to give his first-hand account of Britain's most bitter showbiz marriage breakdown.
Defending his decision to go public, Sean Ghent said he feels stunned by the public vilification of Heather. He tells how he sadly witnessed the couple's amicable separation disintegrate into all-out war... and hatred.
Sean, who has been pictured regularly with the couple, said he would never forget being at Heather's side, the moment she realised that Macca had pulled the plug on her finances.
She was buying a rail ticket at Hove Station in Brighton when her bank card was declined. Sean said Sir Paul, 64, had axed all financial support, leaving Heather stranded and humiliated.
Sean, 44, dipped into his own pocket to bale out Heather, 39, with £110.
The News of the World finds another of Chris Tarrent's lovers
THE latest lover dumped by serial cheat Chris Tarrant branded him an arrogant, sexist rat and stormed: "He treated me like dirt."
Former model Carole Hesford was six months into a secret affair with the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter when we revealed he was also bedding ex-EastEnder Debbie Arnold.
And after tearful Carole, 45, confronted Tarrant over our story she saw his heartless side.
"He said he was not a monk and it was what men do.
"Then he expected me to go back to him because he only slept with her once! I couldn't believe it," said the mum-of-two.
Whilst also asking
IS BRITAIN GOING BARMY
BONKERS Britain just got more barmy... when two schoolgirls were fined for drawing CHALK love hearts on a pavement.
Pals Hazel Mercer and Charli Lyth, both 16, sketched the pictures of stars, hearts and flowers using white chalk.
But as they admired their handiwork a policeman strode up and slapped instant £80 penalties on Hazel and Charli for "criminal damage".
The pair were also threatened with an Asbo — and told they would end up in COURT if the money wasn't paid within 28 days.
Yet within a few hours it rained, washing away the drawings from the pavement outside Hazel's home in Bangor, North Wales.
The pair were also threatened with an Asbo — and told they would end up in COURT if the money wasn't paid within 28 days.
Yet within a few hours it rained, washing away the drawings from the pavement outside Hazel's home in Bangor, North Wales.
POOR KERRY IS SO ASHAMED reports the People
KERRY Katona was filled with shame at her greedy mum last night after discovering she is a BENEFITS cheat.
Susan Katona, 47, has been claiming long-term income support of £59.15 a week despite receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash and gifts from her famous daughter.
Grandmother Susan also failed to declare her earnings of around £100,000 from newspaper and magazine interviews in which she branded generous Kerry a drug addict and unfit mum.
Under strict benefit rules anyone with savings of over £16,000 is ineligible for income support.
Susan Katona, 47, has been claiming long-term income support of £59.15 a week despite receiving hundreds of thousands of pounds in cash and gifts from her famous daughter.
Grandmother Susan also failed to declare her earnings of around £100,000 from newspaper and magazine interviews in which she branded generous Kerry a drug addict and unfit mum.
Under strict benefit rules anyone with savings of over £16,000 is ineligible for income support.
Finally the Sunday Times predicts
Online sales ‘will hit £78bn’
SHOPPERS will spend £78 billion a year online by 2010 – doubling the web’s share of retail sales to 20%.
This year internet shopping is expected to reach £42 billion – equivalent to the turnover of supermarket giant Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer.
Internet sales have exploded over the past six years, growing by 3,553% between April 2000 and December 2006. During that period the monthly value of UK e-retail sales rose from £87m to £3.6 billion. Internet sales were only £800m in 2000, the year of the dotcom boom. The first-ever online transaction was a CD sale in America in August 1994.
This year internet shopping is expected to reach £42 billion – equivalent to the turnover of supermarket giant Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer.
Internet sales have exploded over the past six years, growing by 3,553% between April 2000 and December 2006. During that period the monthly value of UK e-retail sales rose from £87m to £3.6 billion. Internet sales were only £800m in 2000, the year of the dotcom boom. The first-ever online transaction was a CD sale in America in August 1994.
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