Iraq and Afghanistan return to the top of the agenda this Sunday morning

The Independent leads with

GET US OUT OF IRAQ NOW

Two generals told The Independent on Sunday last week that the military advice given to the Prime Minister was, "We've done what we can in the south [of Iraq]". Commanders want to hand over Basra Palace – where 500 British troops are subjected to up to 60 rocket and mortar strikes a day, and resupply convoys have been described as "nightly suicide missions" – by the end of August. The withdrawal of 500 soldiers has already been announced by the Government. The Army is drawing up plans to "reposture" the 5,000 that will be left at Basra airport, and aims to bring the bulk of them home in the next few months. reports the paper

The Observer concentrates on Afghanistan

Shock toll of British injured in Afghan warThe human cost of the war in Afghanistan to British soldiers can be revealed today as figures show that almost half of frontline troops have required significant medical treatment during this summer's fighting.
In a graphic illustration of the intensity of the conflict in Helmand province, more than 700 battlefield soldiers have needed treatment since April - nearly half of the 1,500 on the front line. The figures, obtained from senior military sources, have never been released by the government, which has faced criticism that it has covered up the true extent of injuries sustained during the conflict.

Meanwhile the Times is reporting that

Britain faces Iraq rout says US

A MILITARY adviser to President George W Bush has warned that British forces will have to fight their way out of Iraq in an “ugly and embarrassing” retreat.
Stephen Biddle, who also advises the US commander in Iraq, said Iranian-backed Shi’ite militias in the south would try to create the impression they were forcing a retreat. “They want to make it clear they have forced the British out. That means they’ll use car bombs, ambushes, RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades] . . . and there will be a number of British casualties.”


The tragic hotel fire in Newquay dominates a lot of the coverage.

Five feared dead in Cornwall after fire razes seaside hotel reports the Independent

Fears were growing last night that the death toll following a devastating "inferno" that tore through a hotel in Newquay could rise after four people remained unaccounted for a day after the blaze.
One man died and five others were taken to hospital after the huge fire in the early hours of yesterday morning left the four-storey Penhallow Hotel in the packed Cornish seaside resort a gutted shell in danger of collapse. Two were in a critical condition. It is thought the dead man was killed by falling or jumping from a second-floor window.

The Mail meanwhile leads with

Hotel blaze: Vital aerial ladder took 90 minutes to arrive

A vital fire appliance had to be driven more than 50 miles to a hotel inferno in which one man died and up to four more guests are feared to have lost their lives.
As the blaze took hold at the Penhallow Hotel at Newquay, Cornwall, early yesterday, fire chiefs were forced to call out an aerial hydraulic platform from Plymouth in Devon - 90 minutes away.
Two locally based platforms were out of commission and undergoing repair when tragedy struck. By the time the back-up machine arrived, a man in his 40s from the Midlands, believed to have been on holiday with his elderly mother, had jumped 50ft to his death from a second-floor window, hitting his head on railings below as he tried to escape. The man's mother is thought to be among the missing.

The Telegraph leads with

Farmers complain of 'ruthless buyers'

Threatening and abusive emails from Britain's biggest supermarkets, bullying farmers and food suppliers into cutting prices, have been uncovered by investigators.The messages were allegedly sent by Tesco and Asda, warning suppliers to reduce the price at which they sell their food to the retailers - or face being axed.
The emails, understood to contain threatening and aggressive language, have been unearthed by the Government's monopolies watchdog, the Competition Commission. They emerged as the watchdog investigated the practices of the "Big Four" chains - Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons - as part of a two-year inquiry into their national dominance.

City calls for calm as FTSE threatens to fall further reports the Indy

Some of the most senior figures in the City of London called for calm yesterday, amid signs that the current share price slump could worsen.
Anthony Bolton, the outgoing head of Fidelity's Special Situations fund, and one of the most respected fund managers in the City, said investors "should not panic" despite steep falls in the FTSE index of blue-chip shares.
The three-week drop in the FTSE 100 was offset only on Friday after the US Federal Reserve cut the rate at which it lends to banks by 0.5 per cent – a move that led to shares in London rising over 200 points in afternoon trading.
Mr Bolton said: "My advice is not to panic. But it is going to be a difficult few weeks for the market."

Business fears over 'Big Chill' says the Telegraph

Business leaders are bracing themselves for a "big chill" to spread throughout the British economy as a result of recent turmoil in financial markets. Despite Friday's stock market rally, fear was growing last night that the effects will spread beyond the City, hitting growth, jobs and property.Richard Lambert, director-general of the CBI, warned the chances of contagion had risen as banks are now much less willing to lend to companies.


Knife crime doubles in 2 years reports the Times

THE full extent of Britain’s violent crime epidemic, which yesterday claimed the life of another teenager, is revealed in shocking new figures that show the number of street robberies involving knives has more than doubled in two years.
Attacks in which a knife was used in a successful mugging have soared, from 25,500 in 2005 to 64,000 in the year to April 2007. The figures mean that each day last year saw, on average, 175 robberies at knife-point in England and Wales – up from 110 the year before and from 69 in 2004-5.
The study, by the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies (CCJS) at King’s College London, is based on the government’s own statistics. It shows that knives are used in one in five muggings, twice the frequency reported two years ago. The new figures will renew pressure on ministers to address the rising tide of violence and antisocial behaviour on Britain’s streets.

The Independent features

Mean streets: Friday night, Saturday morning: a portrait of anti-social Britain

Once again the spotlight has fallen on Britain's so-called "feral youth". Nestling amid the big houses of Gipsy Hill sits the Central Hill estate. The concrete sprawl is built on the side of the hill and commands stunning views of the metropolis.It was into this rabbit warren of alleys and staircases that two young men fled after the attack on Mr Anil. adding

You wouldn't know there was a problem in the heart of upmarket Upper Norwood. The restaurant-lined streets of Gipsy Hill and the large English Heritage-protected Victorian and Georgian mansions – some of the former still with their original Arts and Crafts detailing – seem an unlikely place for murder, stabbings, shootings and robberies.
Yet last week 23-year-old Evren Anil was in the passenger seat of his sister's car as she pulled up at traffic lights at the junction with Gipsy Road. Two black teenagers walked past and threw a Lion bar into the car. Anil got out to confront them, the boys produced a knife and hit him. He fell to the floor and smashed his head on the pavement, dying of his injuries a few days later.

Broke and coming home
EXCLUSIVE HARD-UP McCANNS PLAN SAD RETURN TO UK.. BUT SEARCH FOR MADDY GOES ON is the lead in the Mirror

Madeleine McCann's parents are preparing to make the heart-wrenching move back to Britain next month.
Kate and Gerry, who are on unpaid leave from their NHS jobs, are finding the financial burden of staying on in Portugal too much to bear. And they desperately want their two-year-old twins to regain some form of stability and routine in England.
A close family friend told the Sunday Mirror: "The lease on their villa runs out in mid- September and they're coming close to setting a date to return home."

The Express also leads with the McCann's

Coming home to face the heartbreak says the paper

The Telegraph reports that

Prince Charles's aides plotted against Diana

Royal staff were determined to establish - even after the princess's death - that she, rather than Prince Charles, had been the first to embark on an extra-marital affair.
Members of the prince's team were prepared to tarnish Diana's name because of their eagerness to "justify" his public admission that he had committed adultery with amilla Parker Bowles, now the Duchess of Cornwall.
Some close to Charles briefed two respected authors about the princess's adulterous relationship with Barry Mannakee, her personal protection officer.

Meanwhile the Indy reports that Germaine Greer

launched an astonishing attack on the late Princess of Wales at the Edinburgh International Book Festival yesterday, labelling her a "devious moron".
Greer was supposed to be speaking about her contentious new history book about Anne Hathaway, Shakespeare's Wife, due to be published at the beginning of September.
But while she described Hathaway as Shakespeare's "angel", she used the occasion to express her view that Diana was no angel at all.



The Times reports that

Deadly poison found in children’s jewellery

HAMLEYS, Britain’s biggest toy store, and the high-street fashion chain Monsoon have been selling children’s jewellery imported from China containing levels of lead that can potentially cause brain damage and even kill.
Of 24 items of children’s jewellery bought in London and Birmingham, eight tested positive for high levels of lead. Six items had one or more components with more than 80% lead, compared with a recommended international safety limit of 0.06%. Among the items that had high levels of the metal were two from Hamleys in Regent Street, central London, including a £4.99 bracelet with heart shapes containing more than 93% lead, and two from Monsoon Accessorize, including a £4 pink skull and crossbones that contained more than 58% lead.

Scrap these '19th-century' GCSEs, says expert reports the Observer

A leading expert on exams and testing has claimed that GCSEs are stuck in the '19th century', forcing pupils to memorise facts that will be little use to them later in life.
Just days before more than half a million teenagers across England and Wales pick up their results, Professor Dylan Wiliam, deputy director of the Institute of Education, who has researched testing regimes across the world, argued that the examination system should be completely reformed.

The news of the World lead with

BRITNEY'S LESBIAN BATTLE

BRITNEY SPEARS is in danger of losing her two young boys to ex Kevin Federline after he compiled a damning dossier of her depraved behaviour.
The shocking catalogue of evidence, revealed for the first time by the News of the World, includes key testimony from a stunning dancer who shared a lesbian romp with the singer.

Whilst the same paper also reports on a

PLOT TO MURDER BECKS AND ROO

FOOTBALL stars David Beckham and Wayne Rooney are the targets of a chilling al-Qaeda murder plot.
A terrifying internet video call to action for supporters of Osama bin Laden also fingers ex-Arsenal striker Thierry Henry for assassination.
It was launched this week on a Glasgow-based website named after al-Qaeda that regularly supports attacks on Westerners.
It has also been uploaded to the massively popular YouTube video-share site, visited by millions of youngsters.

To politics and the Observer is reporting that

Brown: plans ready for snap election

Gordon Brown has placed the Labour party on general election alert, instructing his campaign high command to draw up detailed plans for a possible snap poll in October, The Observer has learnt.
Buoyed by Labour's 10-point lead in the polls, the Prime Minister has ordered a detailed blueprint with 'all options' to give him the opportunity of calling an election within weeks.
One source close to the election group told The Observer: 'The brief is to be able to tell Gordon that if you want to call an election in a few weeks' time, this is what we're going to do and this is exactly how we're going to get it sorted.'

Cameron orders emergency election manifesto says the Telegraph

A leaked memo from the Tory chairman, Caroline Spelman, reveals the extent of the urgency now gripping Conservative headquarters with fears that Mr Brown is planning to capitalise on his lead in the opinion polls and call an election next month.
Miss Spelman has written to all MPs and candidates ordering them to be ready for an autumn battle. The letter, headed "general election preparations" and dated August 17, reveals Tory chiefs are already plotting the first days of an election campaign.

Meanwhile the same paper reports on


Quangos: the runaway gravy train

the cost of executive agencies, advisory bodies, independent monitoring boards and other quangos has mushroomed under New Labour. Spending on such agencies soared to £167.5billion in 2006, up from £24.1bn in 1998.
Research revealed for the first time this weekend shows that over the past two years ministers have created 200 quangos. The new study, which will become available online to the public this week, has been put together by the Economic Research Council, Britain's oldest think-tank. By trawling through a forest of government accounts, the ERC has created a database that allows users for the first time to see how the quango state has grown since 1998 and how its payroll - and its pay - has grown exponentially.

The Times reports that

Most Scots believe that independence is ahead

MORE than half of Scottish voters now regard the break-up of Britain as inevitable, according to a YouGov poll for The Sunday Times.
The survey found that 60% believe Scotland will become independent from England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Support for independence remains low at present, with only 23% in favour. However, a majority, 61%, said they would consider voting for separatism in the future.

The Observer reports

Iran hangs 30 over 'US plots'

Iran has hanged up to 30 people in the past month amid a clampdown prompted by alleged US-backed plots to topple the regime, The Observer can reveal.
Many executions have been carried out in public in an apparent bid to create a climate of intimidation while sending out uncompromising signals to the West. Opposition sources say at least three of the dead were political activists, contradicting government insistence that it is targeting 'thugs' and dangerous criminals. The executions have coincided with a crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a 'soft revolution' with US support

Hijack bungle as pilots and passengers escape reports the Telegraph


An attempt to hijack a passenger plane and fly it to Iran ended in shambles when the hijackers inadvertently allowed the pilots to get off after it landed to refuel.

Most of the remaining hostages then escaped through the rear exit while their captors were supervising a release of women and children at the front. The Turkish Atlas-Jet airliner was hijacked shortly after take-off at 7.15am yesterday by two men claiming to have a bomb. It had just left Ercan airport in northern Cyprus, en route for Istanbul.

Meanwhile the Times reports that

Jamaica braced as 150mph Hurricane Dean storms through

ABOUT 4,000 British tourists in Jamaica were bracing themselves for 150mph winds as Hurricane Dean threatened to crash into the Caribbean island today.
The holidaymakers and hundreds of other Britons visiting family in Jamaica were being urged to seek cover in emergency shelters and to stock up on supplies. Flights into Kingston and Montego Bay were being cancelled.
Dean has already claimed at least six victims in the Caribbean.

The Telegraph says

Zimbabwe: anarchy in four, says the West

Western officials fear the business, farming and financial sectors may be crippled by Christmas, triggering a collapse of government control that could leave the country prey to warlords and ignite long-suppressed tribal tensions.The stark warning of the scale of the crisis comes despite the welcome given to Mr Mugabe by fellow African leaders at a summit in neighbouring Zambia last week, where critics had hoped he might be pressurised into changing his policies



He'll destroy her
EXCLUSIVE GANGSTER LIFTS THE LID ON AMY HUSBAND'S SICK LIFE OF CRIME & DRUGS

The Mirror reporting

Amy Winehouse's husband Blake Fielder-Civil was a junkie drug dealer who lured the star into a depraved world of heroin addiction and self-harm.
A drugs boss who employed the 24-year-old to sell cocaine has come forward to tell the truth about Blake's hold on the star.
He believes Blake only got together with Amy - one of Britain's most talented singers - to fund his own Class-A drugs habit, then sucked the sultry singer into his world.




Finally the Mail reveals

Earl Spencer, a £500,000 painting dug up on his estate. . .and questions the taxman might ask

How did an unknown art treasure by Britain's most illustrious painter of society miniatures come to be buried - and then miraculously discovered - in the grounds of Earl Spencer's family estate?
The painting is a depiction of a Civil War Parliamentarian by the 17th Century artist Samuel Cooper.
And, judging by recent auction results, it could well be worth around £500,000.
Earlier this month, two gamekeepers at the Earl's magnificent Althorp estate in Northamptonshire surprised both their employer and the art world when they chanced upon the work during a metal-detecting expedition.