Foot and mouth and Madeleine McCann dominate the Sunday's

Science lab suspected in foot and mouth outbreak headlines the Observer

An accidental leak of an experimental vaccine from a private research site was being investigated urgently last night as the likely source of Britain's new foot and mouth disease outbreak. The news came as the government attempted to avert a full-scale crisis in farming and the tourism industry.
Movement of all livestock has been banned, exports to Europe stopped and country fairs cancelled to minimise the risk of the country suffering a disastrous rerun of the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic which cost the nation £8.5bn.

As does the Telegraph

Outbreak linked to foot and mouth lab
Farming at a standstill as threat of catastrophe returns reports the Times

At 5.30am yesterday, a grim-faced auctioneer stood at the entrance of one of the country’s biggest livestock market in Taunton, Somerset, to turn away the early arrivals.

Farmers and hauliers who had not heard the news realised the worst when, instead of the usual bustling preparations, they saw the empty pens, padlocked gates and silent auction rings. Foot and mouth, the scourge of British farming, was back.

“It’s our worst nightmare,” said Charles Clarke, an auctioneer. “We feel the livestock markets had just about got back to where they were before the last outbreak and now this blow.”

The other papers concentrate on the latest developments in Portugal

MADELEINE: POLICE DIG FOR BODY says the Express

DIG UP MURAT GARDEN says the Mirror

British and Portuguese police were last night digging up the garden of Madeleine suspect Robert Murat following a dramatic dawn raid.
A team of officers divided the plot into segments and began hacking back hedges, clearing undergrowth and digging after storming the property at 7am.
Murat, 33, wasn't warned about the search, and was told to immediately leave the villa he shares with his mother Jennifer.

Police start digging at chief suspect's home says the Mail

"Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate knew the raid was going to take place, but it was important Robert Murat wasn't warned."
At Mr Murat's property in Praia da Luz, police cleared undergrowth, cut down trees and began digging, just yards from where the little girl was snatched from her family's holiday apartment more than three months ago.

Meanwhile the Independent carries a front page interview with Kate McCann

She was so excited about coming to Portugal. She was holding on to another girl's hand walking up the stairs to the plane. She was no trouble on the flight, always chatting, and colouring in or reading......On the evening she went missing, before she went to bed, she said, 'Mummy I've had the best day ever. I'm having lots and lots of fun.'

Elsewhere the Mirror claims that there will be a

BOOZE BAN ON NEW DRIVERS

Gordon Brown is to introduce a zero alcohol limit for newly-qualified drivers.
If they are found with any alcohol in their system within a year of passing their test they will face an automatic ban and a hefty fine.
And they will also be forced to retake the test before being allowed back behind the wheel.
The aim is to reduce the death toll on roads caused by teenage motorists

The Times reports that

Drivers to face £25 a day tax

Britain is to be hit by its first “pollution charge” with owners of large cars taxed £25 a day to drive into city centres.
Up to a fifth of vehicles, including people carriers, 4x4s and luxury saloons, will be targeted by an emissions-based charge designed to penalise the highest-polluting vehicles.
Smaller cars, such as diesel hatchbacks and hybrid vehicles that emit 120 grams or less of carbon dioxide per kilometre, will be exempt. Those emitting up to 225g/km would be charged £8.
Details of the new charge will be outlined this week by Ken Livingstone, the London mayor. It is set to be introduced in February.

Beach pollution rise due to floods reports the Telegraph

About 463 of the UK's 1,100 beaches have sewage overflow pipes sited on or near them. And with record levels of rain falling in many areas, these overflow pipes have sent millions of gallons of sewage-laden water into the sea, while litter swept away by the floods is also blighting many shorelines.

The Observer claims that

Jail drug dealing 'will rise' under leaked plans to end cell checks

Daily cell checks are to be scrapped under confidential plans being drawn up by the Prison Service to save money, The Observer has learnt.
Prison officers warn the move would turn some jail wings into 'no-go' areas because the amount of drugs and weapons in circulation inside would soar.
In an attempt to balance its budget at a time when the prison population is rising, the service is also considering cutting back on the use of voluntary and mandatory drug-testing while locking prisoners up for greater lengths of time during the day.

The same paper carries an interview with Brigadier John Lorimerwho says

Afghan victory 'could take 38 years'
British troops could remain in Afghanistan for more than the 38 years it took them to pull out of Northern Ireland. That is the bleak assessment by Army commanders on the ground in Helmand province.
In an interview with The Observer at HQ in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, Brigadier John Lorimer, commander of UK forces in Helmand, said: 'If you look at the insurgency then it could take maybe 10 years. Counter-narcotics, it's 30 years. If you're looking at governance and so on, it looks a little longer. If you look at other counter-insurgency operations over the last 100 years then it has taken time.'

Meanwhile the Indy reports

US strike on Taliban heightens tension as Afghan leader heads for Camp David

The US military said it had carried out a "precision air strike" on Thursday "against two notorious Taliban commanders conducting a leadership meeting in a remote area of the Baghran district ... after ensuring there were no innocent Afghans in the surrounding area". The Afghan Defence Ministry said intelligence reports indicated that three militant leaders, including Mullah Rahim, the Taliban commander for Helmand province, were among those killed. An even higher-ranked leader, Dadullah Mansour, commander of the Taliban for the whole of southern Afghanistan, was at the meeting, but his fate was unknown, said the ministry.


The Transformer: New era for the special relationship reports the same paper

It was Gordon Brown's Love Actually moment. No, he didn't do a Hugh Grant by launching a public tirade against the United States President as he stood next to him. But he showed it was possible to love America without loving George Bush.
In front of a sweltering, sun-drenched band of 20 US and 20 British journalists at Camp David, President Bush tried to recreate the magic of his special relationship with Tony Blair. At their joint press conferences, the President often looked admiringly into Mr Blair's eyes, as if marvelling at the then Prime Minister's ability to articulate the Bush world-view better than he could himself.

The Times claims that

Kidnapped’ Filipinos build US embassy

An American civilian contractor has described scenes of panic and hysteria last year as Filipino construction workers were told that they were on a plane bound for Baghdad rather than Dubai.
Passengers jumped out of their seats screaming in protest until a gun-toting air steward ordered them to sit down, claimed Rory Mayberry, an emergency medical technician travelling on the same flight.
Mayberry said the men were “kidnapped” to build America’s luxurious new embassy in Baghdad’s green zone. He gave his account to a congressional committee investigating allegations of fraud at what will be America’s largest diplomatic mission.

NASA mission to Mars blasts off says the Telegraph

Phoenix, the latest Nasa mission to Mars, was launched today and will culminate next spring in the first landing on the icy surface of the planet's north pole.
Scientists believe conditions in this region are most likely to yield evidence of past or present life.
The Phoenix Mars Lander blasted off before dawn, aboard an unmanned Delta rocket, which onlookers could see for five minutes.
There was high tension in launch control while engineers awaited contact with the craft.

A little closer to earth for the Mirror

THE REAL X FILES

The truth is out there, so they say. But now it could be a lot closer to hand since Britain's real-life X-Files have been opened for the first time - spookily revealing details of HUNDREDS of UFO sightings.
Last year alone the Ministry of Defence logged nearly 100 eyewitness reports of strange unidentified flying objects whizzing through our skies - and they're all listed.
The secret log - made public under the Freedom of Information Act - details UFO sightings that range from the laughable to the seriously baffling... flying saucers, orange fireballs streakin across the atmosphere, a spinning silver pyramid and even an alien.

The News of the World leads with

TV JEN MY LOVER ABUSED AN BEAT ME

The ex-Brookside star sobbed through an emotion-charged interview as she detailed how he SMASHED her over the head with a bottle and HURLED her to the ground, shattering her collarbone.
Jennifer, 24, told how she COVERED UP her injuries as accidents because of her devotion to Richardson.

HUGE HUNT FOR 16 ESCAPED ASYLUM SEEKERS reports the Express

POLICE are searching for 16 failed asylum seekers who are on the run after escaping from a detention centre.
A total of 26 people broke out of Campsfield House immigration removal centre in Oxfordshire. Just 10 have so far been caught.
The centre called Thames Valley Police after detainees lit a fire in the building.

The News of the World is reporting on a

TEEN ABORTION EPIDEMIC

Despite a government scheme to cut pregnancies by dishing out morning-after pills to youngsters, a record 18,619 girls under 18 had terminations last year. That means the hidden toll of misery has SOARED by more than 2,500 in ten years.
Our figures obtained from the Department of Health show the number of under-18s given a SECOND abortion rose to 1,341. Shamefully, one 18-year-old even underwent her SIXTH. says the paper's special investigation


The Mail meanwhile reports on the

English girl barred from Government job...because she is wrong kind of white

A teenage science student has been banned from applying for a training programme with the Environment Agency because she is white and English.
The recruitment agency handling the scheme told Abigail Howarth, 18, that there was no point in her submitting an application because of her ethnic background.
But bizarrely she could have applied if she had been white and Welsh, Scottish or Irish.
Abigail, who wanted to join the Agency's flood management programme, saw an advert in a local newspaper offering positions in the Anglia region where she lives, complete with a £13,000-a-year tax-free grant.

LAMPS & ELEN ON THE BRINK reports the Mirror

Footballer Frank Lampard and fiancee Elen Rives are on the verge of splitting up after he was accused of cheating on her.
The couple have been rowing heavily after model Elen - who gave birth to their second child just three months ago - refused to forgive the England midfielder for locking himself in a Las Vegas hotel room with an East European woman.
Last night a family friend said: "Frank and Elen are thinking about going their separate ways. It looks very much like the relationship may not survive this."

KERRY'S HUBBY CHEATS ON HER TWICE is the lead in the People

Kerry Katona's husband cheated on her just days after proposing - then told his ex-girlfriend: "I'm only with Kerry for the money and lifestyle - I love you way more."
Ex-cab driver Mark Croft, 36, had a secret romp with old flame Clare Bonello at her mum's house.
And a few weeks after he married telly celebrity Kerry, he made his astonishing confession to Clare about why he was with the star.
Barmaid Clare, 22, told The People: "It was clear he was only with her for the money. He'd always wanted a Porsche and now he'd got one."

Confused by health advice? Then read on says the Observer

Office printers are as likely to give you cancer as smoking. Men who eat cauliflower or broccoli once a week have less chance of prostate problems. The biggest female binge drinkers are women in their forties, not teenagers and twentysomethings - at least in Cardiff.
And it was reported that sunshine is actually good for preventing breast cancer, when the common perception was that too much sun gave you skin cancer.

These were among many media reports last week detailing new medical or scientific research on key health issues. Some involve real breakthroughs, others are more questionable.

Another news feature of the week gives the Independent some thoughts

Shark! - Is Jaws lurking off our shores?

It was great, it was white, and it loomed out of the water with a big maw of a mouth that could slice a surfer like a salami. And it was here. Here in Britain! Confirmed. Pictured. Proved. And only last week! Everybody panic!

The South-west had not one, not two, but three Great White Sharks! There were sightings, and fins, and videos, and – Oh-My-God! – photographs, too! It was incredible! It was amazing! It was ...
August. The grey togs of work abandoned for silly shorts and days on the beach. The sands of Cornwall suddenly filled with whey-faced city dwellers. The pitiless, shimmering heat. Internet connections and BlackBerries turned off. Regular habits broken. The intoxicating effect of sudden fresh air. And townies spending too much time in the sun.
Or, in the case of the Cornish Great White Shark Scare, too much time in The Sun. Dangerous cove, The Sun, you know. Can turn even the most sensible heads. I'v known chaps who were right as nine- pence one moment, then got a touch too much Sun, and the next thing you knew they were gibbering. And seeing things.

Finally the Times reports on the strange story of

Make mine a pint of Chanel, landlord

Pubs are planning to pump in artificial scents to mask the smell of stale beer, sweat and drains that used to be disguised by cigarettes before the smoking ban.
The aromas of ocean breezes and freshly cut grass are being tested by Mitchells & Butlers (M&B), which manages 2,000 pubs in Britain. The group is even considering a perfume that smells of tobacco smoke.
Supporters of the smoking ban insisted that pubs and bars would become sweeter smelling without cigarettes. But the smoke had masked the locker room aroma in some crowded venues on warm Friday and Saturday nights.