No doubting the news story of this morning wuth most of the papers leading with the Archbishop of Canterbury's comments about sharia law

Uproar as Archbishop says Sharia law inevitable in Britain says the Guardian


The Archbishop of Canterbury drew criticism from across the political spectrum last night after he backed the introduction of sharia law in Britain and argued that adopting some aspects of it seemed "unavoidable".
Rowan Williams, the most senior figure in the Church of England, said that giving Islamic law official status in the UK would help to achieve social cohesion because some Muslims did not relate to the British legal system.

Archbishop argues for Islamic law in Britain says the Times

Leaders of all the main political parties made clear that they did not accept Dr Rowan Williams’s assertion that the incorporation of some aspects of Sharia was “unavoidable”.
Trevor Phillips, chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, condemned his comments as “muddled and unhelpful” and one senior bishop said that he was “surprised and concerned” by Dr Williams’s remarks.

Adopt Sharia law in Britain says the Telegraph

Dr Williams said the UK had to "face up to the fact" that some citizens do not relate to the British legal system, and argued that officially sanctioning Sharia law would improve community relations.
"Nobody in their right mind would want to see in this country the kind of inhumanity that has sometimes been associated with the practice of the law in some Islamic states," he told the BBC's World at One programme.

The Express headlines

Muslim laws must come to Britain whilst the Sun's front page says simply

What a burka

THE Archbishop of Canterbury handed al-Qaeda a victory last night by saying the introduction of Sharia law in Britain is inevitable.
In an explosive outburst Dr Rowan Williams, the country’s top Anglican, said there should be one set of rules for Muslims — and another for everyone else.

ARCHBISH IS BASHED says the Mirror

Suprisingly the Mail doesnt lead with the story instead prefering the news that

At last Hamza is kicked out of Britain

Hate cleric Abu Hamza faces spending the rest of his life in a U.S. jail. The Home Office approved his extradition yesterday and the hook-handed preacher could be handed over within months.
Government sources say they never expect to see him back in the UK. "This is very good news," said one.
The charges against Hamza, 50, include organising terror training camps and assisting an armed gang who abducted a party of Western tourists in Yemen in 1998.

Its columnist Steven Glover though writes

Dr Rowan Williams likes to give the impression that he is a liberal-minded Archbishop of Canterbury.
Who would have guessed that there lurks beneath that genial, bearded exterior a dyed-in-the-wool reactionary who wants to take Britain back to medieval times?
His amazing suggestion in a BBC interview yesterday that sharia law should be adopted in Britain marks a gigantic step backwards

The Mirror prefers to run with the news that

Our national game is for sale

Greedy Premiership bosses were last night accused of a £100million sell-out over plans to play 10 extra games abroad.
All 20 clubs backed the move after being promised £5million each to hold fixtures in Asia, Africa, Australia or America.
But fans were furious. Manchester United Supporters' Association said: "It's an outrageous idea. Total madness."

Premier League prepares to go global says the Guardian

English football is facing its most significant transformation in more than a decade after the Premier League revealed it plans to stage competitive matches abroad.
Under a proposal unanimously approved by the 20 member clubs yesterday, the Premier League will invite cities to bid for the right to host matches in an "international round" of games to be played in January, starting in the 2010-2011 season

The Independent runs with

Our children tested to destruction

Primary school pupils have to deal with unprecedented levels of pressure as they face tests more frequently, at a younger age, and in more subjects than children from any other country, according to one of the biggest international education inquiries in decades.
The damning indictment of England's primary education system revealed that the country's children are now the most tested in the world.
From their very earliest days at school they must navigate a set-up whose trademark is "high stakes" testing, says the report which is published today.

Starting school at 4 is no help says the Telegraph

In countries such as Sweden and Finland, where children do not start school until seven, pupils often outperform English children by the age of 11.
English primaries are also bigger than in most other countries - with an average of 224 pupils against 128 in Scotland - and make pupils sit exams more often, at a younger age and in more subjects.

According to the same paper

Nation hit with £100bn Northern Rock debts

Gordon Brown's reputation for economic competence has been dealt a severe blow as £100 billion of taxpayers' money used to shore up Northern Rock was added to the national debt.The Treasury has broken one of its jealously guarded borrowing rules after the National Statistician ordered Alistair Darling, the Chancellor, to put the stricken bank's liabilities on the Government's books.adding

The total amount of public money involved in rescuing Northern Rock is the equivalent of saddling every family in Britain with £3,000 of debt.

Bank of England cuts interest rates to 5.25% reports the Times

The widely expected quarter point cut by the Central Bank was modest compared to the recent cuts made by the Federal Reserve in the US and came amid calls for a half point cut. But the signs are that they Bank was curbed from making a more drastic cut by inflationary pressures.The Bank's move will also be welcomed by many mortgage borrowers, but homeowners who do not have a mortgage deal directly linked to the base rate may be disappointed as some lenders have been increasing their own rates in anticipation of a cut.

strong>Livingstone rejects allegations of wrongdoing at City Hall says the Guardian

Ken Livingstone faced down his critics last night during a heated debate over allegations of corruption and cronyism within London's City Hall. The mayor was grilled for almost three hours by members of the London assembly over allegations that his senior race adviser, Lee Jasper, used his position to fund projects in London with which he had a personal connection.
Livingstone was accused of having a "total disregard" for hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers' money which opposition assembly members claimed had been squandered on projects without proper scrutiny or accountability. However, the mayor repeated his claim that there was no evidence of wrong-doing and said the attacks were part of a politically motivated and racist smear campaign designed to remove him from office before May's mayoral election.


The Times reports that

Lawyers forced to repay millions taken from sick miners’ compensation

Law firms that grew rich by exploiting sick miners are to be forced to repay tens of millions of pounds that they wrongly sliced from their clients’ compensation.
The multimillion-pound payback follows an investigation by The Times into a series of abuses linked to the Department of Trade and Industry’s £7.5 billion coal health compensation scheme.
An estimated 75,000 former pit workers are likely to receive payments under a nationwide scheme that has been agreed in principle by the Government.

Mitt Romney quits after pouring $35m of his own money into failed campaign says the same paper

Mitt Romney dropped out of the Republican presidential race yesterday, effectively ceding the nomination to John McCain after a campaign in which he spent more than $35 million (£17.5 million) of his personal fortune.
Mr Romney announced his decision to the biggest annual gathering of conservatives in America, a conference where Mr McCain also appeared to try to quell a fierce revolt by the Republican Right against what now appears to be his inevitable nomination.

Meanwhile

Obama hits $7.2m jackpot after Super Tuesday says the Indy

A juggernaut of support for Barack Obama since Super Tuesday has raised an astonishing $7.2m (£3.7m) for his presidential campaign – at a time when his rival Hillary Clinton's campaign is, in essence, broke.
Mrs Clinton had to quietly lend her campaign $5m from her private funds just to keep it afloat before the 24-state contest on Tuesday. She successfully appealed to backers for more money to pay for the expensive battles ahead, but she lacks the broad base of enthusiastic supporters and volunteers that Mr Obama enjoys.

Police arrest 80 Mafia suspects in raids reports the Telegraph

More than 80 alleged Mafia gangsters were rounded up by police in New York and Sicily yesterday in the biggest crackdown on organised crime in decades.
The FBI and police in New York and nearby New Jersey arrested 57 of the 62 people charged by a federal grand jury. All of them have been linked to the Gambino crime family and face charges including murder, drug-trafficking, robbery and extortion that date back to the 1970s.

According to the Times

Nato leaders launch rearguard over Afghanistan

The Nato mission in Afghanistan will not succeed unless more troops are sent to the south, where the Taleban is concentrated, defence ministers were told yesterday. The claim was made by Søren Gade, the Danish Defence Minister, at the start of a two-day meeting in Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital

Chad imposes curfew reports the Telegraph

Chad's regime imposed a curfew yesterday, as rebel forces who stormed the capital last week warned they were regrouping in the east.
The curfew was needed to "uncover" any "enemies who are still hidden," said President Idriss Deby's government, which claims to be back in full control. It will apply to the capital, N'Djamena, and six other areas of the vast desert country.
Days after government tanks and helicopter gunships fought thousands of rebels in the streets of N'Djamena, the city is still strewn with burnt out vehicles and smashed buildings and its hospitals are still attending the injured

The Guardian reports on

Sun, sea and miles of empty beach: the paradise that faces disaster

The white sands were deserted. Palm trees swayed in the evening breeze, as a dhow and several pleasure boats bobbed on the warm Indian Ocean waters.
It was a snapshot of paradise, but to the hundreds of thousands of Kenyans involved in tourism - and to their millions of dependants - the empty beaches brought to mind another word: disaster.
The unrest that followed the disputed election of President Mwai Kibaki on December 27 has decimated Kenya's tourist industry, which is the mainstay of the economy and normally accounts for 15% of GDP. More than 100,000 holidaymakers, a fifth of them British, were expected to visit the coastal resorts and safari lodges this month. But following travel warnings and graphic scenes of violence on television, just 9,000 tourists are now expected.

The Independent tells that

World's largest river island washing away under flood waters

It may be the largest river island in the world but it is steadily shrinking – eroded by the Brahmaputra river in which it is situated. Efforts to preserve the island and halt the erosion, caused by the glacial flood waters of the Himalayas, have been unco-ordinated and – say critics – ineffective.
Now the authorities are staking their hopes that having the island of Majuli listed as a World Heritage Site can bring about the focus and the funds needed to help save the culturally rich island.


Yard knew of bugging claims two months ago says the Guardain

Scotland Yard's deputy commissioner was told two months ago of allegations that his officers had bugged an MP while he talked to a constituent who was held in prison, the Guardian has learned.
Paul Stephenson was passed details of the allegations concerning the Labour MP Sadiq Khan and Babar Ahmad, who is in jail awaiting extradition to the United States for alleged terrorism offences.

THOUSANDS OF POLICE OFFICERS TO BE AXED reports the Express

Thousands of police officers are to be lost while civilians take on more and more duties, it was revealed yesterday.
Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was accused of attempting “policing on the cheap” after her top adviser on the issue said current levels are “not sustainable”.
Rural, predominantly Conservative-voting communities are likely to bear the brunt of cuts under proposals to rip up the way forces are funded.

ASSAULT & PEPPER reports the Mirror

Twenty-two pupils were treated in hospital yesterday after a boy of 12 let off a pepper spray at his school.
They had stinging eyes, burning throats, vomiting and breathing difficulties after the canister was discharged between lessons.


Free directory enquiries returns... as long as you can stomach a 20-second ad reports the Mail

Directory enquiries becomes free again today, as long as you are prepared to listen to a 20-second advertising pitch before getting your number.
The launch of 0800 100 100 signals the end of what many have called the rip-off of the 118 system which replaced the old BT 192 service.


Finally the Telegraph reports on

Prince William's £8 curry

A curry house owner is thanking the day when Prince William and some pals dropped in for a meal - because they ran up a £1,300 bill.Mohammed Nisar, the owner of the Saffron Desi in York, had been expecting a group booking but staff were dumbstruck when the Prince and 47 friends and colleagues turned up at about 7.30pm on Wednesday














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