Scramble to curb suicide websites reports the Times

The dangers of internet sites that encourage suicide and discussion about taking your own life are to be part of an official review of child safety on the web.
The Ministry of Justice is also examining new curbs in the law to stop internet sites giving out information about different ways of committing suicide.
It has been working with internet service providers (ISPs) for more than a year to discourage them from hosting sites that may encourage suicide.

Meanwhile the Guardian reports

Police re-examine files on 13 tragedies

Detectives investigating the latest in a series of young suicides in the Bridgend area of south Wales are to re-examine 13 deaths - including four cases officially closed.
Police will look for similarities amid concern that some or all of the unexplained deaths could be connected, sources close to the investigation told the Guardian.
In a statement, South Wales police said they would be "reviewing a number of cases of sudden deaths ... We are not reinvestigating the deaths but we are looking at any possible links between them."

The papers though are full of speculation about the man who lost £3.7b

Solitary 'Mr Average' perpetrated biggest trading fraud ever says the same paper

Jérôme Kerviel, a shy and introverted young city trader, lived on a tree-lined street in Neuilly-sur-Seine, the wealthy Paris suburb dubbed Sarkozyland in honour of its famous political son.
Its yuppies live by Nicolas Sarkozy's mantra "work more to earn more". So when a handsome, well-dressed but solitary young banker rose at dawn for work and returned late at night to his one-bedroom flat, neighbours thought his dedication was to be encouraged. He was never seen with a partner or friends, never spotted at the market or bringing food home, didn't chat to neighbours, and didn't take holidays. The only person who went into the flat was a cleaner once a week.

Double blow 'made rogue trader reckless' says the Telegraph

The rogue trader accused of the biggest banking fraud in history might have embarked on the alleged £3.7 billion deception after a succession of personal setbacks, friends claimed yesterday.Jérôme Kerviel's father Charles, a teacher, died last year and his wife walked out on him at almost the same time. Those close to him fear the double blow may have driven him to carry out the alleged swindle for which he now faces up to 15 years in jail

'He's done nothing wrong': mother springs to the defence of rogue trader says the Independent

M. Kerviel's mother travelled to Paris to be with him on Thursday "because he wasn't handling things well", according to his aunt Sylviane Kerviel.
"Jérôme has done nothing wrong," she said. "He was a reserved, serious child. He didn't pocket a centime, I'm sure of it."

The Telegraph leads with the revelation that

Online tax system 'too risky' for the famous

The security of the online computer system used by more than three million people to file tax returns is in doubt after HM Revenue and Customs admitted it was not secure enough to be used by MPs, celebrities and the Royal Family. adding that

Thousands of "high profile" people have been secretly barred from using the online tax return system amid concerns that their confidential details would be put at risk.
This provoked anger from consumer groups and accountants who said the same levels of security should be offered to all taxpayers regardless of their perceived fame.

The Mail leads with the McCann's

The parents of Madeleine McCann are in talks to strike a £1million deal with two of America's biggest chat show stars.
Kate and Gerry McCann are at the centre of a bidding war between Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters.
Both celebrities are desperate to land an exclusive deal for the couple to talk about their missing daughter. If it goes ahead, it will be the largest publicly-known amount ever paid for a broadcast interview.

On the same subject the Mirror reports

Madeleine McCann suspect spotted 'spying on little boys'

A creepy stranger suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann was spotted speaking to two small boys on a beach days after stalking two women.
Five women holidaymakers - three British and two German - have seen the "strange and disturbed" man in Altura, close to the Portuguese-Spanish border, in the past two weeks.

Police numbers down as funding runs out reports the Telegraph

Home Office figures due out next Thursday will lay bare how ministers are relying increasingly on community support officers with fewer powers to carry out day-to-day policing tasks.
The news comes after crime figures this week showed that 28 gun crimes are committed in England and Wales every day and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, said that terrorists were intent on causing "mass casualties" in Britain.

The Sun meanwhile reports

A TEACHER who highlighted Britain’s soaring youth violence in The Sun told Gordon Brown yesterday that MPs and soccer stars are partly to blame.

We took Dr Stuart Newton to 10 Downing Street to confront the Prime Minister after his hard-hitting letter published on Monday set the whole nation talking.
During an intense hour-long meeting, Dr Newton, 64, warned the PM and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that TEACHERS have lost the power to control unruly youngsters in their classrooms.

In a week which has seen numerous attacks on London's major,the Guardian leads with a change of attack

Boris Johnson faces conflict of interest charge over office

Boris Johnson's London mayoral campaign is receiving financial support from a controversial Japanese company that has clashed with the current mayor Ken Livingstone's office over multimillion-pound plans for development in the capital.
The Guardian has learned that the Shirayama Shokusan Corporation has given the Conservative candidate free use of premises within County Hall, which now forms the headquarters for his campaign. Before the launch, Johnson was renting the space, but for the next four months he will pay nothing for accommodation in the prestigious building, which overlooks the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament

Boris is a 'buffoon' but he should be Mayor, say business leaders reports the Independent

Business leaders think Boris Johnson is a "buffoon", but they still overwhelmingly want him to be Mayor of London, according to a new poll. The vast majority still expect Ken Livingstone to win the race for County Hall in May.
Some 57 per cent think the Tory mayoral candidate doesn't come across as serious enough, while more than two in five think he does not have a clearly defined set of policies, according to the survey by polling firm ComRes. Fifty-three per cent think he is "too much of a buffoon". But Mr Johnson has the backing of nearly 60 per cent of the business community, compared with only 30 per cent who support the incumbent Mr Livingstone.

Another poll in the Telegraph shows

Gordon Brown's handling of economy 'dismal'

Gordon Brown is facing a crisis of competence as most voters think his handling of the coming economic slowdown and the near-collapse of Northern Rock has been dismal.The Conservatives are leading by 41 per cent to 33 per cent, according to the YouGov survey.
The Tories' eight-point lead is down from the 12-point advantage they held last month.
But any comfort Mr Brown takes from that modest improvement will be swept away by the damning verdict voters have passed on his ability to deal with important issues.

Meanwhile the Guardian reports that

MPs blame watchdog for Northern Rock

The Bank of England needs to beef up its role in supervising banks in trouble to prevent another Northern Rock-style crisis, a powerful committee of MPs recommended yesterday. A report from the Commons treasury select committee suggested a new crack team of supervisors should be based at the BoE to take charge when any bank or building society is found to be in financial difficulty.

The Times reports that

Blaming carbon on planes ‘is flight of fancy’

Which is worse for the environment – cars or aircraft? If your answer was aircraft, then you are among a growing crowd of aerophobes egged on by anti-aviation campaigners.
But in terms of CO2 emissions you would be wrong. Official figures show an increase in the number of people duped into believing that flights are more damaging than car journeys.
The number of people who think that flying contributes more to climate change than car journeys has risen rapidly in the past 18 months, coinciding with a rise in activity by groups opposing any increase in air travel.

Green issues on the front of the Independent this morning which reports on

The battle for Lewis

A huge row over the biggest land-based wind farm ever proposed in Britain is coming to a climax this weekend.
A decision on whether to proceed with the 181-windmill development on the Hebridean island of Lewis is imminent – with some reports claiming that Scottish ministers had already turned down the project on environmental grounds.

Both the Mirror and the Sun lead on the problems of a football player

Raging Cheryl Cole sends cheating husband Ashley packing says the former

Cheryl Cole yesterday kicked cheating husband Ashley out of their home.
The devastated Girls Aloud singer is said to be "seriously considering" ending their 18-month marriage over his boozy fling with a hairdresser.
Tearful Ashley, 27, begged to stay but she sent the Chelsea star packing telling him she needs "time to think". A friend said: "She is angry."

I'll never forgive you says the Sun

Pop star Cheryl, 24, vowed never to forgive the England footballer after hearing about his seedy sex session.
A source said the furious Girls Aloud singer yelled at her husband: “How could you humiliate me like this in front of everyone?”

The Independent reports from Gaza where

Egyptian riot police try to stem tide of Palestinians

Egyptian security forces tried yesterday to begin the difficult process of closing the Sinai border with Gaza after a two-day breach which allowed tens of thousands of Palestinians to pour through and beat a blockade imposed by Israel.
Steel-helmeted riot police with batons and perspex shields began replacing barbed wire coils along the crossing's perimeter and closing several gates and gaps on the Egyptian side of the 100-metre wide strip of no man's land that separates the country from Gaza.


President Hamid Karzai moves to block Lord Paddy Ashdown as UN super-envoy in Afghanistan reports the Times

Lord Ashdown’s appointment as the UN special envoy in Afghanistan has been blocked by President Karzai after he met a series of Western leaders in Davos, diplomats said last night.
President Karzai objected to the former Liberal Democrat leader after Lord Ashdown, a former Marine who headed international efforts in Bosnia, insisted on far-reaching powers.
The Afghan leader made clear his intention to block Lord Ashdown at meetings with Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, and David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, during the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort, one source said.

More primaries today and the Guardian reports

Obama '08? It's Clinton '92 all over again. With one small difference ...

In 2008, as it was in 1992, the race for the Democratic nomination has been electrified by a newcomer to national politics. This time it is Barack Obama, 46, also fending off accusations of inexperience, who has thrilled a new generation, his rallies staffed and fired up by teenagers and students, just as Clinton's were 16 years ago. Now it is Obama who has made hope - once the watchword of the self-styled "Man from Hope" - his own. It is Obama who, in a state where African-Americans make up half the Democratic electorate voting in today's pivotal primary, has black audiences on their feet. and the difference is

the double-headed presidential candidate. All week in South Carolina he has done battle with not just his main opponent, but that opponent's spouse, the pair commanding as much media attention as if both their names were on the ballot. What's more one of those two adversaries is the most effective campaigner in modern political history: one William Jefferson Clinton.

The Telegraph asks

Is it time for Rudy Giuliani to leave the stage?

Giuliani's campaign is in danger of ending in a whimper. He has been a footnote in the first month of the 2008 election, losing the first six contests without really competing.
Tuesday's Florida primary is his first - and possibly only - stand. Concerned that his social liberalism would condemn him in states where conservative Republicans held sway, he decided not to campaign in the early races but bet everything on the Sunshine State, where polls now show him languishing in third place. In an attempt at gallows humour during Thursday night's debate among the candidates, he quipped: "We have them all lulled into a very false sense of security now."

The Mail goes to Kenya where

Rift Valley explodes in 'Stone Age' violence as gangs kill with bows and arrows

With rival tribes wielding wooden staves and the bow and arrow, this was the Stone Age face of 21st century violence.
Countless deaths were reported in Kenya's Rift Valley during ethnic clashes which have been raging since the country's disputed elections last month.
While guns have been used in the capital Nairobi, firearms are less readily available in rural areas.


Most of the papers report that

UK soldiers escape prosecution over deaths of Iraqis


Colonel Jorge Mendonca: He was cleared of failing to prevent the death of Baha Musa
British soldiers will not be prosecuted for the deaths of Iraqi civilians during the war, Ministers said yesterday.
The incidents include that of hotel receptionist Baha Musa, which cost Colonel Jorge Mendonca his job.
He was beaten and asphyxiated after being arrested by UK troops in Basra in 2003.

UK troops are 'poorly trained for insurgency' says the Times

British soldiers serving in Iraq who mistreated civilian prisoners — using restraining techniques banned for more than 30 years — were ill prepared and poorly trained for the violent insurgency that erupted in the early summer of 2003, a long-awaited report by a senior army officer has concluded.
Brigadier Robert Aitken, director of Army Personnel Strategy, said that a number of soldiers had behaved disgracefully and treated Iraqi detainees “in a deliberate and callous manner

Botox poison killed 4 kids says the Sun

FOUR children are among 16 people whose deaths have been linked to Botox-type jabs, it emerged last night.
The muscle-relaxing poison, used to fight wrinkles, apparently spread through the under18s’ bodies.
Another 87 people have needed hospital care.
A consumer group is now calling for the cosmetic drug, and a similar medicinal version Myobloc, to carry warnings that they can kill.

Meanwhile the Mirror reports that

Prince Edward's baby son was rushed to hospital because he suffered an allergic reaction, Buckingham Palace said last night.
Five-week-old James had tests at Great Ormond Street in London after being taken there by worried mum Sophie Wessex, 42, when he suddenly fell ill.
The pair spent the night at the children's hospital.
A palace spokeswoman said: "James suffered a minor allergic reaction. It's not lifethreatening and not serious."

The Mail carries an exclusive interview

The truth about my husband and my internet affair, by the wife of the man who threw their son off a holiday balcony

Natasha Hogan doesn't need words to summon up what she feels about her former husband John. It is written all over her face.

Her lips tighten into a miserable, thin line and her tired eyes fill with tears before her features crumple.
"I hate him," she weeps. "I will never, ever forgive him for what he did. At first I felt pity for him, I really wanted to believe that what he'd done was a moment of madness.
"It was the only way I could make sense of it all, but now I feel nothing but anger. No mother should have to go through what I did, no one should ever have to watch their little boy die.

The Express reports on political correctness gone wrong

WHITE MEN ARE BANNED says the paper

FIRE chiefs were accused last night of discrimination by trying to ban white men from joining up.
They were condemned after barring white males from recruitment sessions in an attempt to boost ethnic minority and women applicants.
The bosses held five open days to attract new recruits – with four strictly limited to either women, ethnic minorities or both. They insisted they had acted lawfully. But the move sparked outrage among MPs, serving firefighters and racial equality groups.

Your new timetable, kids: double maths, English and a spot of shooting reports the Guardian

The number of schools introducing rifle ranges for pupils has surged since ministers backed shooting sports last year, say gun groups.
One local authority is reportedly seeking to introduce shooting at 16 of its schools, and an academy due to open in September in a deprived area of south Bristol is believed to be the first of the government's flagship schools to have an on-site shooting range.
The National Small-bore Rifle Association (NSRA) told the Guardian there had been a 6% rise in membership from schools since Richard Caborn, then sports minister, backed the sport last May.


Martin Amis is earning £3,000 an hour as a university lecturer says the Times

Just like Wayne Rooney, he earned global fame as an outrageously gifted young tearaway, became a magnet for controversy as he matured, and secured a transfer to a leading Manchester institution. But until yesterday no one suspected that Martin Amis earned more per hour lecturing at the University of Manchester than England’s finest footballer does playing up front for United.


And finally there is more in the Sun which reports that

A HUGELY popular Thomas the Tank Engine event has been axed because the Fat Controller isn’t “qualified”.

Grandad Derek Robinson, 56, has played the role on a steam railway for more than 20 years.
But now the firm that licenses Thomas events says he must go on a course to “achieve a high level of performance”.
Hit Entertainment also imposed a string of other conditions on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, including a demand that all 200 temporary staff undergo Criminal Records Bureau checks.