The day Burma was silenced is the headline in the Times

Burma’s generals silenced the Buddhist monks yesterday morning.
For a week and a half, the monks had been on the streets of Rangoon in their tens of thousands, and their angry calm gave courage to the people around them.
But overnight, they were beaten, shot and arrested, and locked in their monasteries. Handfuls of them emerged yesterday – two or three brave individuals, a dozen at most – but nothing to approach the mass marches of the previous nine days. Everyone felt their absence.

The Independent focuses on the death of the Japanese photographer in the country

Shot dead trying to show the real picture of Burma

Dodging the bloodstained sandals and the panic-stricken masses who fled troops near Sule Pagoda in the centre of the Burmese capital Rangoon yesterday, Kenji Nagai kept his camera rolling, recording vital footage of Burma's closed society and providing a lifeline to the outside world for the protesting monks and civilians who were risking their lives for much-needed change.
Then, in one dreadful moment, the Japanese video journalist took a bullet in the chest – almost certainly from the gun of a Burmese soldier.

'The regime won't go easily ... but it's a full moon here, a sign of change'reports the Guardian using an eyewitness in Rangoon

"I knew the mood had seriously changed as the troops came toward us rhythmically beating their shields. The batons struck in time with each step of their march, drumming like tribal warriors as they confronted the crowd.
"The people had changed too. They were angry yesterday. The peaceful chants led by the monks gave way to verbal assaults on the soldiers after hundreds of monks were arrested the night before or penned in to prevent them from leading more of the protests that seemed unthinkable a few weeks ago.

CHINA RULES ROOST says the Mirror

For many Far East experts, China is the real pariah pulling the strings of Burma's puppet government.
The Chinese exercise huge influence because of trade between the two countries.
Most of Burma's imported goods come from China and it is one of the few nations to officially supply the military junta with arms. Likewise, the Chinese want to stay friendly because of Burma's oil and gas fields.

True Burma death toll may never be known says the Telegraph

The Burmese Government said nine people were killed, which is almost certainly a gross understatement.
Automatic gunfire rang out across the city all afternoon. In many cases it appears to have been directed at groups of unarmed protesters.
According to one version the army often moves in three trucks because there is one platoon to shoot, one to pick up the bodies and one to clear up afterwards.
One witness said that the government has dug a pit in the centre of a football field near the Shwedagon Pagoda and surrounded it with a bamboo fence. Its purpose, up to this point, is unknown.

The paper leads though with

David Cameron returns to core Tory values

In a shift that will see him distance himself from green tax proposals, the Tory leader will use next week's crucial conference to try to reinvigorate his leadership before a possible snap election.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph today, George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, discloses that proposals that proved unpopular with ordinary Tory voters will be scrapped. They include taxing people for parking at supermarkets and for taking more than one short flight a year.

The Guardian leads with the news that

Brown to decide this weekend on snap election

Gordon Brown is to hold a council of war with his closest allies this weekend at which he is expected to make a final examination of the polling data before deciding whether to call an autumn general election.
The prime minister's election aides were last night gearing up for him to give the go-ahead for a snap poll after a successful week in Bournemouth that saw a definite shift in mood at the top of the party.

Adding

By Sunday, Mr Brown is expected to have received all the polling he needs, including from a string of marginal seats, as well as focus group work. He will also be able to look at a number of council byelection results. A presentation will be given that will outline the pros and cons of going to the polls so soon into his premiership.

Brown prepares Labour troops for snap election says the Indy

There is growing evidence that Labour is gearing up for an autumn election. Insiders say the party has already committed £3m of election spending. It is advertising for 25 new officials, some of whom might be able to join immediately as they could be recruited from trades unions, charities and pressure groups. Significantly, only five of the posts are permanent and 20 are for a "fixed term"– a device used to take on staff for the election period.

Meanwhile the paper reports

Johnson is Tory choice to take on Livingstone

The language of class division returned to the main political stage as Boris Johnson was selected to be the Conservatives' candidate to run against Ken Livingstone in the Mayor of London elections next May.
Mr Johnson faced a barrage of insults from Labour MPs and trade union leaders who are determined to stop the Tory from ending Livingstone's period in charge of the capital.
Attacking Conservatives' public school backgrounds might have been difficult when Tony Blair – educated at Fettes in Edinburgh – was Labour's leader. But under Gordon Brown (Kirkcaldy High School) it seems to be open house

Home Secretary launches battle of the binge, condemning TV shows 'which glorify drunken behaviour'says the Mail

TV shows which glorify binge drinking were condemned by the Home Secretary yesterday.
Two years after Labour introduced 24-hour licensing laws, Jacqui Smith pledged "zero tolerance" on alcohol-fuelled antisocial behaviour and shamed programmes which "celebrate" drunkenness, particularly among the young.
Promoting heavy drinking was irresponsible and had a direct link with the "real damage" alcohol caused to society, the minister said.


Offender scheme axed early as Justice Ministry tries to save reputation reveals the Times

A multi-billion pound government organisation to prevent criminals re-offending and to protect the public is to be scrapped three years after it started. It is part of a shake-up at the Ministry of Justice aimed at preventing the new department gaining a reputation as a failure. The proposals are in a “classified” document seen by The Times containing recommendations from an organisational review.

The Mail's front page announces that

Two million more migrants expected in UK in just a decade

Immigrants will swell the British population by almost two million in the next decade, according to official predictions.
Whitehall now believes the record immigration levels of the past few years are likely to continue.
The projection drew an immediate admission from the Government that it has "worries" over migration.

Immigration estimates out by 45,000 a year says the Telegraph

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revised its long-term assumptions upwards by a third.
For the past few years, it assumed that the net migration figure - the difference between those leaving and arriving - would be 145,000 a year over the next two decades.
But the assumption now is for an annual addition to the population of 190,000 through direct immigration every year until 2031.

An investigation by the Times has found that

Crime gangs 'expand sex slavery into shires'

Immigration from Eastern Europe has brought a supply of women deceived into thinking good jobs await them. Instead they are sold to vice gangs for £500 and forced into prostitution. An investigation by The Times has found that one rural force has identified 80 brothels this year.

The Express reports on the

CRACKDOWN ON STOWAWAYS NETS 150 MIGRANTS A NIGHT

RIOT police launched a crackdown last night on migrants in Cherbourg – which has become the front line in Britain’s war on illegal immigration.
Stowaways were pulled from under a lorry in the Normandy port as part of the operation to cut off this new route to the UK.
The men, who claimed to be from Iraq, were perched over a rear axle of the 36-ton truck. They had been hoping to get on to a ferry bound for Poole,

The red tops continue to concentrate on Maddy

KATE IS SO FRAGILE says the Mirror

The anguish is plain to see as Kate McCann struggles to deal with the latest crushing blow in the search for Madeleine.
Friends fear for the mum's health after her hopes were raised then dashed when a photo of a girl in Morocco turned out not to be Madeleine. One said last night: "Kate is so fragile. She's suffered a devastating disappointment.

Meanwhile the others look to more evidence

DUMPED IN SPAIN says the Sun

PORTUGUESE police are reportedly investigating a trip Kate and Gerry McCann made to Spain in August.
Detectives still believe the McCanns covered up Maddie's death by hiding her body then moving it to a new location some weeks later.
The couple travelled to the Spanish city of Huelva, just across the border with Portugal, on August 3 as part of their campaign to keep their missing daughter in the news.

The Mail runs the same story

Portuguese police study CCTV of 'suspicious' car journey made by McCanns

They are trying to plot a map of the car's movements on August 3 in the hope the trail will lead to her body.
Detectives are convinced Madeleine died the night she vanished and that her corpse was later transported in the boot of the car.
According to the newspaper Correio de Manha, Spanish police have given their Portuguese counterparts CCTV footage showing the Renault Scenic in places in Spain where there was "no reason" for the couple to be.

SPY IN SKY PLAN TO FIND KIDNAPPER headlines the Express

BRITAIN’S network of spies could hold the key to finding Madeleine McCann, intelligence experts said last night.
Satellite and aerial footage as well as internet traffic should be used to help the hunt, which has so far drawn a blank, they added.
Sources said a secretive branch of the security services might be able to find her as they were among the best
in the world at using state-of-the-art technology to track people.


The Guardian reports on the

Warning for UK stem cell research if US relaxes rules

The UK is in danger of losing its leading position in stem cell research if the next US president relaxes restrictions imposed by George Bush, according to the new head of the Medical Research Council.
Leszek Borysiewicz, who will be formally announced today as the head of the UK's largest public science funding agency, said tight restrictions on federal funding of stem cell research in the US had helped Britain because top researchers had been attracted here to carry out research.

The Independent reports that

Judge throws out 202 potential jurors from inquest into the death of Diana

The mammoth task of selecting a jury of 11 men and women capable of returning a fair and impartial verdict into the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, began yesterday with a series of testing questions designed to tease out any prejudices.
Anyone who had worked for the Royal Family or Mohamed Al Fayed found themselves eliminated from the pool of 227 potential jurors randomly summoned from the electoral roll of west London in the past few days. Others who had connections with writers or researchers of books exploring the events that led to the deaths of Diana and Dodi Fayed in a Paris road tunnel 10 years ago were also judged to be too close to the case.

According to the Mail

Diana inquest jurors to get armed guards... and Harrods workers are banned

Jurors at the inquest into the death of Princess Diana are to be given unprecedented police protection.
As the opening stages of the hearing - expected to last up to six months - finally began at the High Court yesterday, prospective jurors were told the measure was to prevent them being "hassled or harassed".

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SON reports the Mirror

Rhys Jones's parents paid tribute at their murdered son's graveside on what would have been his 12th birthday yesterday.
As they did so it emerged that one youth has been named by 12 people as a prime suspect in his shooting.
Dad Stephen, 44, mum Melanie, 41, and brother Owen, 17, left a blue-and-white football bouquet and said a prayer to Everton fan Rhys.
A poignant message on their flowers said: "To Rhys, 12 today. Never out of our thoughts. Love mum, Dad, Owen. XXX."


Many of the papers report on the

9/11 survivor no one can remember

According to the Guardian

Tania Head's story, as shared over the years with reporters, students, friends and hundreds of visitors to ground zero, was a remarkable account of both life and death.
She had, she said, survived the terror attack on the World Trade Centre despite having been badly burned when the plane crashed into the upper floors of the south tower.
Crawling through the chaos and carnage on the 78th floor that morning, she said, she encountered a dying man who handed her his inscribed wedding ring, which she later returned to his widow.

The Times reports that

Al-Qaeda suicide bomb fears spark pleas for a British return to Basra

British troops in Basra are being urged to return to the front line and help their Iraqi counterparts in the battle against insurgents after two bombs in as many days left eight people dead and many more wounded.
Britain’s forces, however, insisted that the explosions were isolated incidents and the overall situation in Basra had become much calmer since they withdrew from their last stronghold inside the oil-rich city at the start of the month.

Miliband backtracks after UN security council gaffe reports the Independent

The Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, has been forced to backtrack after dropping a diplomatic clanger, notably upsetting Egypt, Nigeria and Germany, by endorsing four other countries as future permanent members of the UN Security Council.
The Foreign Office was inundated with calls demanding clarification, according to diplomats, after Mr Miliband identified South Africa, Japan, Brazil and India as the four states with a "very clear" claim to permanent membership.


CFLs to replace traditional lightbulb by 2009 reports the Telegraph

The traditional lightbulb will disappear from shops under a two year timetable announced by Hilary Benn, the Environment Secretary.In a drive toward more energy efficient lighting, Mr Benn said 150 watt bulbs would not be replaced by retailers from January next year.Then from January 2009, 100 watts bulbs would be unavailable – followed by the disappearance of 40 watt bulbs in 2010.

The Guardian reports that

Clinton's rich friends queue to give at biggest show in town

President George Bush has spent several hours this week courting world leaders in his hotel suite in the Waldorf-Astoria in midtown Manhattan. Many people will have been unaware of the fact, however, because media attention has been focused on the Sheraton hotel, seven blocks away in 52nd Street, where another US president has been holding court to world leaders amid notably more razzmatazz.
The Clinton Global Initiative is the biggest show in town - which is saying something in a week when the United Nations holds its general assembly. Bill Clinton has lured a thousand of the world's richest, most famous and powerful men and women to attend his three-day lovefest, each paying $15,000 (£7,400) for the privilege.

Soweto gets a taste of the good life with opening of giant mall says the Independent

It is better known for its shacks and its role in the struggle against apartheid, but yesterday Soweto joined the material world when a giant, 200-store shopping arcade was opened by former South African president Nelson Mandela. The Maponya Mall, covering nearly 700,000 sq ft and costing 650m rand (£47m), has been billed as the largest in the southern hemisphere.

The Sun keeps us up to date on the news of David Beckham's Dad

DISTRAUGHT David Beckham was last night praying for his dad’s recovery from a massive heart attack.
And David, 32, vowed to stay at Ted Beckham’s bedside for “as long as it takes”.
The England soccer star made a 6,000-mile dash from Los Angeles yesterday and went straight to the London hospital where Ted, 59, is being treated.

The Mail asks

Will Ted Beckham's heart attack end his bitter rift with Becks?

there was a time, four years ago, when they were scarcely on speaking terms, and David communicated with him through lawyers. says the paper but

Since then, things have improved - in recent months there have been a series of transatlantic phone calls - but Ted, a phlegmatic kitchen-fitter and gas expert, has not even seen David and his family since they moved to LA in early July.


Finally it was only a matter of time for the Express

BRITONS FACING COLDER WINTER

There will be a return to colder weather this winter, forecasters have predicted.
An official forecast from the Met Office suggests that although this winter will be slightly warmer and drier than average, it will be noticeably colder than last year.
Britain enjoyed one of the warmest winters on record last year, but this winter is likely to be less mild in most regions.
On the bright side, we should expect far less rain than last year, the report indicates.