The papers are worried about the survey on the state of British children that comes out today

The primary cause for concern says the Independent

Primary schools have been engulfed by a wave of "anti-social behaviour, materialism and the cult of celebrity", according to the most in-depth study for 40 years.
The study, the first major investigation into primary schooling since the Plowden report in 1967, paints a grim dystopian picture of a "loss of childhood" among the 3.5 million children in state primary schools.
It also reveals a decline in mutual respect for fellow pupils and teachers and warns of a growing lack of cohesion and family life.
"Today's children, it was generally felt, are being forced to grow up too soon and the prospects for society and the world they will inhabit look increasingly perilous," it states.

Study reveals stressed out 7-11 year-olds says the Guardian

Primary-aged children worry daily about global warming and terrorism as well as their friendships and passing the next exam, according to a report based on 700 in-depth interviews with children, their teachers and parents, which will feed into the biggest independent review of primary education in 40 years.
The findings echo a report from Unicef which this year placed Britain at the bottom of a league table charting the well-being of children across the developed world. This week a survey by the Howard League for Penal Reform revealed that 95% of 10 to 15-year-olds in the country have experienced crime at least once.

Children who can’t write their own name

Forty per cent of children struggle to write their own name or to sound out letters to form simple words such as “dog” or “red” by the age of 5, government figures show.
The annual assessments of children’s progress during their first year in school also show that more than a fifth of youngsters have problems stringing a coherent sentence together by the time that they enter their reception year.

Both the Telegraph and the Mail lead with the fallout from the Maidstone health trust.

Pay-off to superbug hospital chief is blocked reports the Telegraph

Alan Johnson, the Health Secretary, has stepped in to block a £250,000 pay-off to the hospital boss at the centre of Britain's worst superbug outbreak.Rose Gibb left her job as chief executive of the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, in Kent, days before a damning report revealed at least 90 patients in its care had been directly killed by clostridium difficile. The report also heaped criticism on her management style.

The Mail reports that

As police began an unprecedented investigation into possible manslaughter charges, campaigners demanded to know exactly how much money Miss Gibb will receive after leaving her post last Friday.
Last night Mr Johnson stepped into the row, saying: "I have instructed the trust to withhold any severance payment to the former chief executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, pending legal advice."

Conflict between religions threatens future of the world, Muslim leaders tell Pope reports the Guardian

In a letter addressed to Pope Benedict XVI and other Christian leaders, 138 prominent Muslim scholars from every sect of Islam urged Christian leaders "to come together with us on the common essentials of our two religions", spelling out the similarities between passages of the Bible and the Qur'an.

The Telegraph reports on the

Fury at new troop injury compensation deal

The family of a British soldier left crippled by fighting in Afghanistan has attacked a new Government compensation deal for injured troops and may continue legal action to secure a higher payout. Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, today announced changes to ensure that the most seriously injured soldiers are eligible for more money.
But the Ministry of Defence stopped short of offering soldiers the same compensation payouts as those on offer to civilians, who are eligible for payments of up to £500,000. Payouts to troops remain capped at £285,000.

The Guardian reports

15 Iraqi civilians killed as US aircraft target al-Qaida leaders

At least 15 Iraqi civilians, including nine children, were killed last night in American air strikes against suspected al-Qaida militants north of Baghdad, the US military said yesterday.
The operations, which inflicted one of the heaviest tolls on Iraqi civilians for months, comes only days after the Iraqi authorities accused private security firms of firing indiscriminately on civilians.
The US military said last night it regretted the deaths of the civilians - six women and nine children - in the strikes near lake Tharthar, 75 miles north of the capital.

Heather haggles over the price of her silence reports the Times

A financial divorce settlement between Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills was in the balance last night after the couple emerged from eight hours of negotiations at a private High Court hearing.
It is believed that the pair have agreed a package worth in the region of £50 million — but that the negotiations have stalled over the scope of the confidentiality clause to be included.
Ms Mills, 39, is thought to want to be free to discuss the terms of any deal, as well as their marriage, while Sir Paul requires complete confidentiality as the price for his offer.

McCartneys - We can't work it out is the front page of the Mirror

Sources said Sir Paul, 65, and Heather, 39, may have clashed on such issues as who might administer a trust for daughter Beatrice, a confidentiality clause and whether Heather will get a one-off or a structured payment.
An insider said: "They are still miles and miles apart."

Maddy speculation in many of the papers this morning

I'M 100% MADDIE'S FATHER says the Sun

THE parents of Maddie McCann reacted with fury yesterday after reports in Portugal claimed Gerry was not the tot’s natural father.
Police sources say IVF baby Maddie, four, has a different biological dad.
They claim it means that if DNA evidence said to have been found in the couple’s hire car is proved to be Maddie’s, it cannot be explained away as being the twins’.


McCanns 'still chief suspects' says the Mirror

Portugal's top cop has said Kate and Gerry McCann remain the main suspects in Madeleine's five-month disappearance.
National police director Alipio Ribeiro said the theory the couple killed their daughter was still the main line of inquiry.
But he added: "All lines of investigation are open and will continue to be open until we have more clarity on this case.

The Express leads with the same story

Portugal’s most senior police officer made this clear yesterday as he introduced the new detective brought in to head the hunt.
Police chief Alipio Ribeiro said all lines of inquiry remained open, but he emphasised: “The investigation will continue to proceed along the lines it has proceeded until now.”

The Sun reports on its latest opinion poll

CAM GIVES GORD A BATTERING

THE Tories have swept to a three-point lead in the wake of Gordon Brown’s disastrous week, an exclusive poll for The Sun reveals today.
David Cameron has steered his party to 41 per cent support – with Labour trailing on just 38 per cent.

Tories turn to French agency for campaign reports the Indy

The French-owned advertising agency which turned Citroë* cars into giant robots has been hired to transform the electoral fortunes of the Conservatives. Euro RSCG, which had a hand in the Tories' "Brown Bottler" stunt, lampooning Gordon Brown outside Downing Street on Sunday, is to devise a series of poster and television campaigns for the party in the approach to the next general election.

Meanwhile the Telegraph reports

Sir Ming warned as Lib Dems hunt poll boost

Senior Liberal Democrat MPs have privately warned that Sir Menzies Campbell, their beleaguered party leader, should stand down or face a leadership contest, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.The unease has spread to the party's grassroots who have swamped Liberal Voice, the most popular supporters' website, with messages demanding the resignation of Sir Menzies.
With the general election being delayed by up to two years, Sir Menzies's position has been placed in serious jeopardy. Some MPs now feel he can be replaced without any sustained backlash from the public.

The Guardian report on the

Turks threaten to 'play hardball' with US after genocide vote

Turkey yesterday recalled its ambassador in Washington and warned that it would "play hardball" to persuade the US Congress to abandon a bill recognising the historic persecution of Armenians. The diplomatic rebuke to Washington came amid furious lobbying by Bush administration officials to try to roll back the bill.
The measure, which was endorsed by the House of Representatives' foreign affairs committee on Wednesday, in defiance of warnings from administration and Turkish officials, would recognise the 1915 massacres and forced deportations of Armenians as genocide.

Islamist leader hints at Hamas pull-out from Gaza reports the Times

Hamas, the Islamist movement that rules the Gaza Strip, took a significant step towards reconciliation with the Palestinian President yesterday, saying that its rule of the tiny coastal territory was only “temporary”.

Many of the papers report from the Diana enquiry

Diana lay dying ..but paparazzi took graphic shots says the Mirror

Paparazzi snappers took pictures of Princess Diana's dying moments rather than go to her aid as she lay crumpled in the back of her smashed up Mercedes, the inquest into her death heard yesterday.
Stunned jurors were handed the graphic images which show photographers grabbing shots seconds after the crash while the doors of the wrecked car were still closed and the princess was clinging to life.

Diana witness had to swerve to avoid slow moving 'light-coloured' car seconds before the crash reports the Mail

A driver has told how he was forced to avoid a 'light-coloured' car driving 'extremely slowly' into the Alma tunnel just seconds before the crash which claimed Princess Diana's life.
David Laurent claimed the car, possibly a Fiat Uno, was travelling at little more than 18mph, forcing him to pull at speed into another lane.The limit in the underpass is 31mph.

Fresh talks to break post strike deadlock says the Guardian

Fresh efforts to solve the dispute between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union were under way yesterday evening after a day in which postal services were again disrupted by unofficial industrial action.
Royal Mail said workers at some 30 depots out of a total of more than 1,400 were affected by wildcat action in London and Liverpool.

21/7 leaders sick kids song reports the Sun on the second day of the terrorism trial

MUSLIM terror plot mastermind Atilla Ahmet entertained children at a party by singing: “Hey Mr Taliban come and bomb England,” a court heard yesterday.
Ahmet chanted the words to the calypso tune The Banana Boat Song.
The next line – recorded on tape – added: “Before daylight come you wanna see 10 Downing Street gone.”
The kids sang along during the gathering at the Jameah Islamic school near Crowborough, East Sussex, the jury heard.

The Mail is also appalled

'Hey Mr Taliban, come bomb England' adding

The Muslim fanatic shouted "here is your terrorist, I'm here, come and get me" as he drove past a police station on his way back from a terror training camp, the court was told yesterday.
He is said to have shouted the taunts outside the high-security Paddington Green police station in West London, where terror suspects are routinely held for questioning

According to the Express

LABOUR WASTES £248M ON ARMY OF PENPUSHERS

Labour boasts that it has tamed Whitehall waste were exposed as a sham last night.
Figures show the number of very senior civil servants in central Government departments has soared by 40 per cent.
The cost to taxpayers of Whitehall mandarins has risen from £144million to almost £248million in seven years – a 72 per cent increase.

The Sun repoprts on the latest tribulations of Britney Spears

BRITNEY SPEARS certainly isn't doing herself any favours at the moment.

The fallen pop princess continued to dig herself deeper into trouble yesterday as she was pictured knickerless again, and arrived to court FIVE HOURS late.
Yesterday we brought you pictures of Britney's boob slipping out in a red dress - well, she was also going commando.
The shameless star has now been pictured without her underwear a staggering THREE times.

Finally most of the papers repoprt that

Doris Lessing wins Nobel prize for literature

The Telegraph reporting

Lessing, who published her first novel in 1950 and has written around 80 books, becomes the oldest winner of the world's most prestigious literary award, which is worth £765,000. The American writer Philip Roth had been strongly tipped to win this year.
The author, who lives in London, is only the 11th woman in 106 years to be awarded the prize by the Swedish Academy.