The Guardian leads with
Recession fear forces hand of US central bank
The Federal Reserve, America's central bank, made a dramatic intervention to support share prices yesterday as it took fright that this week's meltdown in global financial markets could tip the United States into recession.
In a move that surprised the markets, the Fed responded to the week-long battering of stocks by cutting one of its key interest rates to help banks. It hinted that it might cut its main base rate to help homeowners and businesses next month.
Stock markets bounce back says the Times
Britain’s battered stock market investors won a respite yesterday from the past month’s brutal slump in shares after a surprise move by America’s powerful central bank to calm markets sent the value of the country’s leading bluechip companies soaring upwards.
In a dramatic revival from Thursday’s painful losses, which were larger in points terms even than those suffered on Black Monday in 1987, the FTSE 100 index yesterday rebounded by 205 points, registering its biggest percentage gain in 4½
The paper leads though with
Charity audit threat to private school fees
Private schools will be judged annually on whether they are doing enough for the poor in order to qualify for tax breaks worth £100 million a year, the charities regulator has told The Times.
Dame Suzi Leather, the chairwoman of the Charity Commission, suggested that the threshold to qualify schools for charitable status would be raised every year to ensure that they provide the maximum possible public benefit.
She indicated that independent schools could provide more subsidised places for poor children than they do at present. Larger schools would be encouraged to move towards “needs-blind” admissions systems, offering places purely on merit and regardless of parents’ ability to pay.
The front page of the Telegraph carries a large photograph of Bill Deedes who
regarded by many as a national institution and the longest serving Daily Telegraph journalist, died tonight aged 94.The man who was a witness to many of the 20th century’s most important events, who served as a Cabinet minister in the 1960s and edited The Daily Telegraph for 12 years, died at his home in Kent after a short illness.
The paper leads with
Families face £100 green tax on holiday flights
New proposals are being drawn up to raise the tax on plane tickets by more than £13.50 a trip for every passenger, or £27 for a return journey. In the case of a family of four the bill would reach £108.
It follows Gordon Brown's doubling of Air Passenger Duty in his final Budget as Chancellor.
The Department for Transport (DfT) proposals emerged at the height of the holiday season, when more than five million people a month fly from British airports.
The Mail reports on the
Mother forced to give birth alone in toilet of 'flagship' NHS hospital
Surveyor Catherine Brown had made the agonising decision to undergo a chemically-induced abortion after being told her 18-week pregnancy was risking her life.
But when the time came to give birth she was on an ear, nose and throat ward and had only her mother to help her through the ordeal. Her premature son Edward died in her arms minutes later.
The traumatised mother-of-one said: "I just howled and howled. I remember sitting there looking at him and thinking, 'What do I do next?'. I just sat there on the toilet looking at my dead baby.
"It was dreadful - a terrible nightmare. Then I started crying my eyes out and repeating, 'I'm sorry baby, I'm so sorry'. I still can't believe the hospital had no trained staff who could help me."
The Mirror and the Express continue to lead with Maddy stories
MADDY: DNA SHOCK says the latter
SENSATIONAL new evidence has been unearthed in the hunt for missing Madeleine McCann, it was revealed last night.
Forensic experts are examining at least six vital fresh clues which police believe will provide a significant breakthrough in the investigation.
The fresh evidence, which is being examined for DNA, has been gathered from vehicles seized by the police and a beach.
The Mirror announcing that
'We've told the twins Madeleine is missing'
Taking little Sean and Amelie aside, Kate gently broke the news: "Madeleine has gone missing. Mummy and daddy are looking for her."
The children, who for weeks have been fed the story that Madeleine is away on a "trip", now understand she is lost and that mum and dad are desperately worried.
But in their innocence they still play happily as their parents try to make home life as normal as possible.
Tory's tax plans disappear in black hole says the same paper
They call him the Vulcan because he looks like Star Trek's Mr Spock.
And yesterday John Redwood's proposals for the economy seemed to have come from another planet.
In a massive lurch to the right Mr Redwood backed tax cuts for the rich, and bizarrely suggested that taxing the wealthy LESS would result in them paying MORE.
His strange reasoning was branded illogical by critics who last night warned that it could open up a huge black hole in public finances.
Osborne rebuffs Redwood's plans for tax cuts says the Independent
George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, yesterday dampened down the prospects of a Tory tax give-away at the next general election and reopened Tory divisions on green taxes.
Mr Osborne was speaking at the economic competitiveness review headed by John Redwood, which called for tax reductions, including abolishing inheritance tax and stamp duty on share deals, reducing corporation and capital gains taxes, and raising the income-tax threshold.
Mr Osborne made it clear there would be no overall reduction in taxation under a Tory government and warned that a forthcoming Tory "Quality of Life" report on the environment, led by Zac Goldsmith, will propose a range of compensatory green taxes.
The paper's front page though reports from
Inside Heathrow's protest camp: A battle to save the world
If you happen to be passing through Hatton Cross this weekend, you will see a swollen army of police officers equipped with weapons and video cameras and peeved expressions. They will greet you at the entrance to the Tube stations, to the airport, and on every corner, and they will probably film your face as you walk by. They are ready and raring to use the new anti-terror laws. So you might wonder - has Osama bin Laden been spotted in the vicinity?
No. A legion of environmentalists, committed to non-violent direct action, have erected an array of marquees and wind turbines and compost toilets in an empty field. As I spent this week with them, I discovered they have one purpose: to urge us to listen to the world's scientists and cut back on our greenhouse gas emissions - before we descend into climate chaos we cannot reverse and may not survive.
The Guardian features the first reports from the areas devestating by the week's attacks in Northern Iraq
'They won't stop until we are all wiped out.' Among the Yezidi, a people in mourning
Behind a curtain in a corner of the intensive care unit in Dohuk's emergency hospital, six-year-old Ferhad lay motionless on a bed yesterday, his head shrouded in bandages. He did not stir as his older brother, Amin, leant across and wiped his body with a flannel.
"I am afraid he is a hopeless case," said Abdullah Ibrahim, the chief trauma surgeon, holding up an x-ray. "A large piece of shrapnel has destroyed his brain. All we can do now is provide a quiet place for him to die."
The Independent reports from the week's other overseas disaster
Harsh winter will add to the death toll as Peruvians shelter from aftershocks
Aid agencies that are trying to reach survivors of the powerful earthquake that shook southern Peru warned yesterday that the death toll, already at more than 500, could rise sharply because of severe winter temperatures as well as a lack of food, clean water or medical supplies.
The rescue effort has been severely hampered by a breakdown in communications, including damage to bridges and major roads, as well as the loss of electricity, phone lines and other vital services. Great, jolting aftershocks, including one measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale that hit the area yesterday, have also delayed the arrival of rescue crews.
The Times reports that
Home pack extension sparks fears of slump
Property experts gave warning yesterday that the Government’s “hasty” decision to extend home information packs (Hips) to three-bedroom properties next month may lead to a slump in the market.
Ministers announced that Hips and energy performance certificates (EPCs) would be mandatory for all houses put up for sale with three bedrooms or more – covering half the market – from September 10. No decision has been made about when they will be phased in for smaller homes.
Labour 'blunders on' with HIPs by extending scheme to three-bed homes says the Mail
Opponents said it was incredible the Government was extending the scheme from September 10 in the face of warnings it would lead to a slump in sales.
They said there was no evidence the "flawed" packs, introduced for those selling homes with four or more bedrooms on August 1, actually worked.
The Telegraph reports from Warrington where there is
Death, drink and menace among the 4x4s
The Outsider, that great novel by Albert Camus, describes a man so untouched by emotion or morality that even when he kills a stranger in a motiveless attack he feels nothing. No tragedy can move Meursault. "Mother died today," he remarks coldly. "Or maybe yesterday, I don't know."
Over the past week you could be forgiven for believing Meursault stalks the streets of Britain. In Warrington, Cheshire, a devoted father, Garry Newlove, 47, was allegedly kicked to death for confronting young vandals.adding that
Yet among the BMWs and privet hedges, residents complain crime is sapping the community's soul. They report a long campaign of vandalism with fences being kicked in and abuse. Howard Malone, a retired civil servant who lives in the same road, grew so alarmed that he fitted CCTV cameras, whose footage has been examined by police. "One night I was on the phone to police about another incident when a brick came flying through my window."
Cop: Put boozer yobs into care says the Sun
PARENTS who refuse to tackle their children’s underage boozing should face having them put into care, a top cop said last night.
Police chief Peter Fahy hit out a week after dad-of-three Garry Newlove was killed after confronting a gang of teenage yobs outside his home in Cheshire.
Mr Fahy said parents should pay the penalty if they spurn police and social services’ help to sort out their boozy kids. He said one option would be to launch care proceedings in cases where parents refused help or did not co-operate.
The paper leads with a royal story
LOVE ISLAND
William, 24, and sweetheart Kate, 25, have romantic exclusive Desroches Island in the stunning Seychelles all to themselves for a week.Desroches is described as the most romantic island in the world. And insiders reckon the palm-fringed sandy beaches on the Indian Ocean will provide an irresistible setting for the Prince to propose.
A source told The Sun: “William was desperate to spend some quality time alone with Kate. The island is perfect as it is so private.
Other Islands feature in the Indy which reports that
Hurricane Dean, first of the season, batters Caribbean and heads for US
Hurricane Dean roared through many small Caribbean islands yesterday, tearing away roofs, flooding streets and killing at least three people as it muscled its way across the eastern Caribbean on a collision course with Jamaica and Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.
The first hurricane of the season grew into a Category 3 storm yesterday afternoon after crossing into the warm waters of the Caribbean and is forecast to develop into a monster with 150mph winds before hitting the Yucatan and passing into the Gulf of Mexico, where 4,000 oil and gas platforms are located.
and more Royal stories in the Mail which tells that
Beatrice's 'favourite teacher' faces jail for grooming 'girl' for sex in chatroom
One of Princess Beatrice's favourite teachers is facing jail after pleading guilty to grooming a girl of 12 in an internet chatroom.
Richard Findley, head of history at St George's School in Ascot, Berkshire, pretended he was a teenager called Suzie to lure the girl into talking to him. Beatrice, who achieved Bs in history and film studies as well as an A in drama in her A-level results on Thursday, was told of the arrest by Royalty Protection Squad officers as she prepared to return to school after Christmas.
The Mirror reports that
Langham to face a 'soft' jail
Shamed actor Chris Langham is to be moved to a "soft" open prison, it was revealed yesterday.Langham, 58, has been held at Elmley prison on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. He has been held in a vulnerable prisoners unit, reserved for sex offenders, crooked cops and police informers.
But the married father-of-three is expected to be moved soon to Ford open prison in Sussex.
'We know who did it': Hells Angels from across the world gather to remember biker
says the Guardian
Friends of the Hells Angel who was shot dead on the M40 motorway last Sunday believe they know who was responsible for his murder. Police fear that the shooting will lead to revenge attacks by fellow-bikers angered by what the London president of the club described yesterday as a "callous and cowardly" killing.
No one has been arrested for the killing of Gerry Tobin, who was shot in the back of the head while travelling at 70 , but a close friend said yesterday: "We know who did it but we're not telling them [the police]." Bikers' feuds are common in North America and parts of Europe, but rare in the UK, at least in terms of fatalities.
Many of the papers report on the
Russian ban on BBC the Telegraph reporting
The BBC World Service has been banned from broadcasting on Russian FM radio in what is seen as the latest diplomatic swipe at the UK.
The state licensing authorities ordered Bolshoye radio in Moscow to remove all BBC programming by 5pm tonight or face being taken off air.
They claimed the station’s licence only allowed programmes to be produced by the radio station itself.
The Guardian reports from China where
All news must be good news
China has ordered its media to report only positive news and has imprisoned a pro-democracy dissident amid a clampdown on dissent ahead of the most important meeting of the communist party in five years.
Media controls have been tightened, Aids activists detained and NGOs shut down as president Hu Jintao prepares for the 17th party congress, when the next generation of national leaders will be unveiled in a politburo reshuffle.
What's Viv Nicholson's advice for £35m lotto winner? reports the Mirror
She was the pools winner who famously declared she was going to "spend, spend, spend". And Viv Nicholson was as good as her word, blowing her massive jackpot - £5million in today's money - in less than five years.
So you may think the now-penniless gran - a Jehovah's Witness who spends her days preaching to the unconverted - would have some cautionary advice for this week's £35million Euromillions winner, Angela Kelly.
Not a bit of it. Instead, defiant Viv has one message for the postal worker single mum - spend, spend, spend like me.
Exercise won't shift the fat for one in six reports the Telegraph
Exercise may be a waste of time for one person in six wanting to tone up their body, researchers have discovered.
They found genes could have a far stronger impact on how receptive we are to exercise.
While some people tone up quickly, for others slaving away in the gym can have little effect.
The implication from the Louisiana State University study is that those who exercise hard but cannot shift problem weight might be able to blame their parents.
Finally the Times reports
BT leaves customer hanging on its helpline for 20 hours
Hannah King, 51, rang an 0800 number after a telephone line she had paid for was not installed at her new home. From 1pm until 9pm she listened to piped music and a recorded message every few minutes. She gave up until the next morning, when she dialled the same number and waited another eight hours without a reply.
The next day Mrs King tried between 8am and noon – but again no one from BT picked up. “I was so frustrated and angry I broke down in tears,” she said. “It is a helpline for goodness’ sake, surely a company as big as BT can answer their phones.”
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