Maddy against Petraeus is the way the newspapers divide this morning.The Sun,Mail,Mirror,Express and the Telegraph leading with Maddy whilst the Guardian,Independent and the Times looking to Iraq.

Petraeus upbeat over reducing US troop levels says the Guardian

America's top officials in Iraq yesterday claimed the surge strategy had produced real gains, and that 30,000 troops could be withdrawn by the summer of 2008, beginning with a modest redeployment this year.
In a day of often contentious debate about the state of the war, General David Petraeus, the commander of American forces in Iraq, and Ryan Crocker, the US ambassador to Baghdad, tried to persuade sceptical Democrats in Congress that President George Bush's surge was working, especially in Anbar province.

The Independent offers two headlines

The view from Washington: Petraeus offers hope of success to a war-weary America

The military objectives of the surge are in large measure being met," General David Petraeus said, flatly contradicting recent US reports describing setbacks and failure and increased sectarian violence. The most important development of the past eight months, the general said, was the rejection of al-Qa'ida by Sunni tribes in Anbar province, and the effect spreading elsewhere

And alternatively

The view from Baghdad: Mounting death toll which makes a mockery of US optimism

In Baghdad, on the surface the overt violence appears to have diminished. There are fewer loud explosions. But, the city is now being partitioned by sectarian hatred and fear; by concrete walls and barbed wire. Claims that the US military strategy is paving the way for a stable society bear little resemblance to the reality on the ground.

US is winning the war in Iraq, General tells Congress says the Times adding that

Gen Petraeus also warned that the precipitous pull-out favoured by many Democrats would allow al-Qaeda to regain ground, lead to the disintegration of Iraqi forces and a security crisis. “A premature drawdown of our forces would likely have devastating consequences, he said.
The US ambassador to Baghdad, Ryan Crocker, provided a progress report which he acknowledged was a “sober assessment not a disheartening one”.

The Tabloids are convinced of the forensic evidence from Portugal

CAR DNA is 100% MADDIE'S says the Sun

BLOOD found in the car hired by Gerry and Kate McCann is a perfect DNA match to Madeleine, it was revealed last night.
The Forensic Science Service in Birmingham matched 20 out of 20 genetic markers to a sample from the boot.

The paper also reporting that

The news came as it emerged Portuguese cops bugged the couple’s phones and intercepted their emails in the probe over Maddie, below, who went missing on May 3. Blood found on the windowsill of the McCanns’ Ocean Club apartment in Praia da Luz is also a 20/20 match.

The Mail carries the same story on its front page as does the Express whilst the Mirror reports that

Police want Kate charged with accidental homicide

A dossier of evidence calling for Kate McCann to be charged with the accidental homicide of Madeleine will be handed to prosecutors today.
Portuguese police believe GP Kate, 39, mistakenly killed her daughter the night the four-year-old vanished from their holiday flat 131 days ago. They also suspect husband Gerry, 39, helped cover up the death by disposing of the body.

The Telegraph also saying that

Police in the Algarve apparently now believe they have enough evidence to charge her parents, Kate and Gerry, with "accidentally" killing the four-year-old and hiding her body. A file on the case will today be sent to a prosecutor who could order the couple to return to Portugal to face charges this week.

The Mail reports that

Now British police ask if twins are 'at risk'

The McCanns are under investigation from British police and social services to assess whether their twin son and daughter are at risk.
Given the gravity of the allegations facing the McCanns, social services have no choice but to examine any possible risk to young children who have endured four months in the glare of the media spotlight.
The couple awoke yesterday after their first night back in the village of Rothley since they flew home on Sunday without Madeleine.

Nawaz Sharif's four hours in Pakistan reports the Telegraph

Nawaz Sharif's "noble mission" to restore democracy in Pakistan came to a chaotic end at Islamabad airport yesterday when the former prime minister was summarily deported only four hours after returning from exile.

The Guardian says

Mr Sharif was arrested, charged with corruption and put on a flight to Jeddah just four hours after landing in Islamabad on a scheduled flight from London.
The runway drama was a blow to Mr Sharif, who has been in exile since 2000. But it also damaged the credibility of his nemesis, Gen Musharraf, who is battling to stay in power beyond November 15, the date when his term of office ends.
Mr Sharif's supporters said they would immediately appeal against the deportation to Pakistan's supreme court, which ruled on August 23 that the exiled politician had an "inalienable" right of return. The case may be heard today.

The death of Body Shop founder Anita Rodick is widely reported

capitalist with a conscience, dies at 64 says the Independent

Two years after Anita Roddick found out from routine tests that for several decades she'd been carrying a painful and depressive disease, she finally broke the devastating news on her internet blog. "I have Hepatitis C," she wrote on 14 February this year. "It's a bit of a bummer but you groan and move on."

Green queen who inspired millions says the Times

One of the most successful female entrepreneurs in history, Dame Anita died at 6.30pm at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester, according to a statement from her family. She was 64 years old.
She had been admitted to the hospital’s intensive care unit on Sunday evening following her collapse after complaining of a sudden headache. Her husband, Gordon, and daughters Sam and Justine were all with her when she died.

The Telegraph reports that

MPs accuse MoD of £2.6bn overspend

The Ministry of Defence's 20 biggest weapons projects are £2.6 billion over budget and a total of 36 years behind schedule - six times longer than the Second World War - a damning report by MPs reveals today.
The report voices concern about the massive scale of the cost over-runs and delays, and the MoD's failure to hold staff to account when things go wrong.
Ministers are also accused of "massaging" the figures after claiming they had cut the costs of the 20 projects by £781 million following a review of the department's spending plans.

More government spending is critized in the Guardian

£43bn has failed to make NHS first class, says Brown adviser

The architect of Gordon Brown's strategy for increasing the NHS's annual budget by £43bn over the past five years will today deliver a stinging criticism of the inadequate return the investment has yielded, the Guardian can reveal.
Sir Derek Wanless, hand picked by Mr Brown to review the NHS in 2002, will say it is not yet on course to deliver the first-class healthcare system that was promised because the benefits of extra spending were eroded by poor productivity, IT delays and a worsening in the British lifestyle that is fuelling an obesity crisis.

The Times reports

Gordon Brown rejects union demands for public sector pay increases

Gordon Brown attempted to stamp his authority on the Labour movement yesterday as he told trade union leaders that he would not give in to their demands for higher public sector pay or an end to staged pay settlements.
He used his first speech to the Trades Union Congress as Prime Minister to deliver an uncompromising message on public sector pay, saying that his 2 per cent pay ceiling was central to the Government’s economic policy.
Mr Brown, who was heard for the most part in polite silence, rejected claims by left-wing union leaders that public sector workers are the victims, not the cause, of inflation, saying that the alternative was unemployment, higher mortgage costs and spending cuts. Stability, his codeword for an unrelenting focus on battling inflation, would come first “yesterday, today and tomorrow”, he told them, and was the path to more jobs and greater prosperity.

Meanwhile the Indy reports that




The Mirror takes a stand for Europe as David Miliband writes that

Last week, I was in Spain - not on vacation in my swimming trunks but meeting their Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
But in the course of the year, around 17 million Brits will make the journey as tourists.
That journey is not only more common than it was 20 or 30 years ago. It is also cheaper, safer and more convenient. If any of us gets ill while away, we enjoy first-hand one of the benefits of the European Union.
Thanks to our membership, the European Health Insurance Card - the old E111 form - gives you the right to the same health care enjoyed by the citizens of the country you are visiting. No one should travel to Europe without one.
It's just one of the practical ways that being a member of the EU helps us all.

Meanwhile the Mail reports on a

Victory for Britain's metric martyrs as Eurocrats give up the fight

Brussels will today give up the fight to make Britain drop pints, pounds and miles.
The right of Britons to use imperial weights and measures will be enshrined in EU law under plans being announced by the European Commission.
Traditional measures will remain legal "until Kingdom come", the Commissioner responsible for the move told the Daily Mail last night.

The Independent reports on problems for one European country

Pressure grows on Belgium's fragile state

Concern is growing over the survival of Belgium as a federal state after three months without an agreed government.
The Belgian French-language newspaper, Le Soir, asked "Shall we divide?" in a headline yesterday. The French centre-left newspaper, Libération, asked "What if Belgium breaks up?"
Most senior politicians on both sides of Belgium's Dutch-French language divide say speculation about the 177-year-old country's demise is premature. Although three months of fruitless negotiations on a new government is exceptional, a deal is likely in the end, they say. Herman van Rompuy, a veteran Christian Democrat appointed to mediate, spoke to King Albert yesterday but refused to comment on the progress of his work.

On the sixth anniversary of the Terror attachs in America,the Telegraph reports that

New York remembers 9/11 with restraint

Church bells will toll at 8.46am in New York - exactly six years to the moment when the first hijacked plane hit the World Trade Centre - as politicians including Rudolph Giuliani and Hillary Clinton join rescuers and victims' relatives near Ground Zero.The ceremony, at which the names of more than 2,700 people who died will be read, will be more restrained than last year's fifth anniversary. adding

But even those who claim to be suffering from a new phenomenon, so-called "9/11 fatigue", and resent the level of continued public mourning will probably be asking themselves why it hasn't happened again.

The Sun reports that

A NEW video claiming to feature Osama bin Laden praising a 9/11 attacker has been posted on the internet.
The sick film was released to mark the sixth anniversary of the terrorist outrage on the United States.
The video shows a still image of Bin Laden, with a voice said to be his, praising September 11 hijacker Walid al-Shehri, who was on American Airlines Flight 11 which crashed into the World Trade Center.

Come home Rose.. our hearts are breaking reports the Mirror

The devastated father of missing schoolgir l Rosemary Edwards wept yesterday as he begged her to return to her family.
David Edwards said: "Rosemary, please come home.
You haven't done anything wrong. We all love and miss you terribly.
Rosemary, 15, has not been seen since she went to her bedroom after a family row a week ago.
The teenager, also known as Rose, had argued with her parents over her part-time job and they banned her from horse riding.

The same paper reports on

Mum's vow for heroin girl truth

The mother of heroin victim Rachel Whitear yesterday vowed to find out why her daughter's boyfriend changed his story about the last time he saw her.
Care worker Pauline Holcroft, 57, told an inquest of her concerns about drug addict Luke Fitzgerald's account. She said: "We have identified a number of areas we would like to look into. Like why did Luke change his mind about when he last saw Rachel?

Adding that

The inquest also heard a pathologist's report which suggested Rachel's body may have been posed after her death with a fresh syringe and needle placed in her hands.
Pauline, who allowed graphic pictures of Rachel, 21, to be used in an antidrugs campaign, hopes the first full investigation into her death will uncover what happened in her final hours seven years ago.

Most of the papers report

Barrymore escapes charges over Stuart Lubbock pool death

A cloud remained over Michael Barrymore last night even after he was told he will not be prosecuted over the death of a party guest at his home.
As Barrymore walked free, detectives revealed that they are convinced that Stuart Lubbock was attacked before he drowned in the entertainer's swimming pool in March 2001.
The extraordinary public statement by Essex Police came as officers admitted there was insufficient evidence to bring any charges against Barrymore or two other men arrested on suspicion of murder and sexual assault. says the Mail

Finally the Independent reports on a

Happy new year: Ethiopia celebrates the Millennium, seven years late

In the Millennium Bazaar, a series of market stalls just behind Meskel Square in the centre of Addis Ababa, everything is stamped "2000". From plastic bowls and key rings to packets of crisps and vases of plastic flowers, all are marketed as millennium specials.
Elsewhere in the world today it is 11 September 2007. But in Ethiopia, which runs on a unique Coptic calendar more than seven years behind the Gregorian calendar, it is a far more auspicious day: New Year's Eve, 1999.