The face of Jeremy Baegle stares out from the front of many of the papers

King of Pranks says the Mirror

TV star Jeremy Beadle died yesterday aged 59 after losing his battle with pneumonia.
The You've Been Framed presenter slipped away in a London hospital with his wife Sue and four children by his side. He had fought leukaemia since 2005.
In his 80s and 90s heyday, 15 million people tuned in to hit shows Beadle's About and Game For A Laugh.
Showbiz colleagues last night paid tribute to the nation's favourite prankster. Noel Edmonds said: "I am shocked. We have lost a real British character."

Beadles not about says the Sun

JEREMY Beadle was the man behind a million pranks.
And last night he was hailed as telly’s “ultimate joker”.

The Times leads with

Half-trained troops to fight the Taleban

Nearly 1,000 new army recruits face having their combat training cut by half so that they can be rushed to the battlefields of Afghanistan.
The “exceptional” measure is being proposed by senior officers to meet a serious shortage in manpower, The Times has learnt. It would affect those infantry battalions being earmarked to fight in the country next year. One senior defence source admitted that the new recruits would not be properly qualified to fight since they would receive only 50 per cent of the basic training usually given to qualified combat infantrymen.

The Guardian leads with the news that

New plans put 1:10 secondary schools at risk

Plans to close a significant number of secondary schools in urban and rural areas are being drawn up because of a sharp fall in pupil numbers, the Guardian has learned. Almost one in 10 secondary schools has more than 25% surplus places, according to official figures.
Ministers have ordered a review of what to do about the increasing number of empty classroom seats in England, as the latest figures suggest there are 792,000 surplus places in schools. Local authorities are devising detailed plans to overhaul their school estates to fit the shifting school-age population

Whilst the Telegraph reports problems with the bins

Weekly bin round axed by half of councils

The Daily Telegraph has established that at least 155 councils - almost half of all English authorities - have abandoned weekly collections despite public opposition.
Households in areas losing the weekly service - including cities as well as rural areas - complain of increased risk to health caused by rotting food waste. This is also associated with noxious smells, disease and an increased rodent and insect problem

More revelations in the Mail

Disgraced MP Conway, his gay son and the friend who is ALSO on the payroll

A close friend of Derek Conway's son Henry is also on the payroll of the MP, it can be revealed today.
Michel Pratte, 23, is being paid £11,500 of taxpayers' money as a research assistant in the disgraced Tory MP's office - even though he is studying for a postgraduate degree.

Disgraced Tory paid a salary of £11,500 to his son’s friend says the Times adding

Yesterday, the Old Bexley & Sidcup MP salvaged a measure of gratitude from his party after accepting that his misuse of parliamentary allowances had ended his career. However, a police statement confirming that a complaint had been received over his payments to his sons dampened Tory hopes that his decision would draw a line under the affair.

The Independent adds

MPs are under pressure to accept a ban on employing their wives and children because of the scandal that has ended the political career of the senior Tory Derek Conway.
As Mr Conway announced yesterday that he would step down as an MP at the next general election, there was growing support for Parliament to adopt the approach taken in the US, where members of Congress are not allowed to employ relatives. In Britain, more than 40 MPs list relatives among their Commons staff, although not all are paid and some merely have security passes.

Meanwhile the Mirror reports that

David Cameron left reeling over Boris Johnson's £250k donation

Tory leader David Cameron was reeling last night as it was revealed his London mayor wannabe Boris Johnson has failed to tell parliament about donations of almost £250,000.
City tycoons are bankrolling MP Johnson's campaign to oust Ken Livingstone from the capital's hot seat.
But the controversial politician, famous for his public gaffes and highprofile appearances on TV's Have I Got News For You, has not declared the cash in the Register Of MPs' Interests.


The Mail leads with the headline

The Body snatchers

A newborn baby was illegally snatched from its mother by social workers in the early hours of yesterday morning.
Officials claimed the 18-year-old mother was unfit to care for the child because of mental health problems.
But hours later a High Court judge ordered the infant to be returned immediately, saying the social workers had acted beyond their powers.
Mr Justice Munby told the officials that they "should have known better".

The Telegraph reports

Local social services had shown hospital staff a “birth plan” detailing how the mother, who suffers from mental health problems, was not to be allowed contact with the child without supervision.
However Mr Justice Mumby said that no baby can be removed “as the result of a decision taken by officials in some room”.


The Times reports that

EU threatens to ban patio heaters

Britain’s growing café culture and taste for alfresco drinking and dining may be under threat from MEPs who want to ban the patio heater.
A vote in Brussels today is expected to call on the European Commission to abolish the heaters to help to tackle climate change. Such a move could cost the pub and catering trade dear.
Pubs spent about £85 million on patio heaters after the smoking ban was introduced last year. Besides forcing smokers into the cold there is concern that a ban on patio heaters could bring a significant cash loss to pubs, cafés and restaurants.

The Indpendent leads with the headline

Sentenced to death: Afghan who dared to read about women's rights

A young man, a student of journalism, is sentenced to death by an Islamic court for downloading a report from the internet. The sentence is then upheld by the country's rulers. This is Afghanistan – not in Taliban times but six years after "liberation" and under the democratic rule of the West's ally Hamid Karzai.
The fate of Sayed Pervez Kambaksh has led to domestic and international protests, and deepening concern about erosion of civil liberties in Afghanistan. He was accused of blasphemy after he downloaded a report from a Farsi website which stated that Muslim fundamentalists who claimed the Koran justified the oppression of women had misrepresented the views of the prophet Mohamed.

Plenty to report on the American primaries

Giuliani endorses 'friend and fellow Republican' John McCain says the Guardian

Two hours before the final Republican debate ahead of Super Tuesday, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani yesterday announced he was dropping his presidential bid and endorsing fellow candidate John McCain.
The move, which came as no surprise, had been signalled by the Giuliani camp in the wake of its candidate's spectacular defeat in the Florida primary.
Speaking to the press before the debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, Giuliani praised his former adversary and old friend.

Arnie to pledge support for John McCain says the Times

John McCain will today receive the backing of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, cementing his position as frontrunner for the Republican nomination before next week's wave of elections in delegate-rich states.
The former action hero film star will appear at a press conference with Mr McCain in Los Angeles and deliver another body blow to the hopes of Mitt Romney, who was reported last night to have balked at spending millions of dollars on TV advertising in the 21 states - including California - which vote on Tuesday.

The Indy reports from the Democrat side

Edwards quits race but refuses to reveal preferred candidate

John Edwards pulled out of the race for the White House yesterday, saying that it was time to step aside "so that history can blaze its path" and elect a Democrat.
The field has now dramatically narrowed to Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama just ahead of next week's crucial Super Tuesday contests in 22 states.
Mr Edwards' departure puts pressure on both candidates to perform well in tonight's presidential debate after the acrimony of the last debate.

The Telegraph reports

Kenya violence prompts US to review its aid

Kenya's tribal bloodshed amounts to "ethnic cleansing" and America is reviewing the £135 million aid it gives to the country, a senior US official has said.Speaking in neighbouring Ethiopia, Jendayi Frazer, the assistant secretary of state for Africa, said that members of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were being forced from their homes


Crime and politicians: a day of ratcheting up the rhetoric reports the Guardian

The Conservative party leader must have been thrilled on Tuesday night when he heard that the Sun's splash headline for yesterday on his "exclusive" plans to relax the rules on stop and search read: "Police, Cameron, Action."
Downing Street was less than thrilled. That morning the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, had outlined to the Cabinet her plans for neighbourhood policing teams, including new rules on stop and search when the Flanagan report on cutting police red tape is published next Monday

Red tape on stop and search to be cut says the Times

Form-filling by police officers who stop and search people on the streets is to be drastically reduced under plans to be announced next week to reduce the red tape in policing.
The proposals will include reducing the “foot-long” form that officers must fill in when they stop and search an individual on suspicion of possessing stolen goods, drugs or weapons. Another form that officers must spend seven minutes completing when asking someone to account for their behaviour or presence in an area may by scrapped altogether.

Changing the subject somewhat the Mirror reports

Britney Spears taken from home in ambulance to "get help

An officer, who requested anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the pop star was being taken to "get help" but did not say where the ambulance was taking her.

Finally most of the papers report on the story

This is your pilot speaking... and crying and swearing. And demanding to talk to God the Mail reports that

The co-pilot of a packed Heathrow-bound plane had to be dragged screaming from his cockpit after apparently suffering a mental breakdown in mid-air.
Horrified passengers on the flight from Canada saw the man being pinned down by fellow crew members as he yelled loudly and demanded to "speak to God".
The co-pilot was shackled by his ankles and handcuffed to a seat as the jet was forced to make an emergency landing at the Republic of Ireland's Shannon Airport.