Mortgage rates going up,house prices still going up,more chaos at Terminal 5 and Macca in love.

The Telegraph reports that

The cost of an average mortgage has risen so fast in recent days that borrowers are paying an extra £150 a year on their home loans compared with the start of last week, it has been disclosed.
The turmoil in the financial markets has caused banks and building societies to raise their rates on a daily basis, even though the Bank of England has cut interest rates on two occasions since December.

but according to the Express

House Prices are still on the rise

HOUSE prices have risen by more than £30 every day over the past five years, it was revealed yesterday.
The latest figures from Britain’s largest building society show that they have soared by 47 per cent since 2003.
The average value of a home has increased by 1.1 per cent in the year to the end of March, with the price of a typical house now £179,110 – which is £2,027 more than the same time last year.

The Mail reports of

The reality crunch

Families are cutting spending and dipping into savings because money is so tight, according to reports released yesterday.
Nearly 60 per cent of adults said they will have to make sweeping economies over the next 12 months.
And it is not just life's luxuries, such as foreign holidays and socialising, that face the chop. One in four said they were going to try to cut their weekly food shopping bill.
The report, from the financial comparison website MoneyExpert, shows how the credit crunch is biting.

The Times leads with the continuing problems at T5

BA faces huge fine for misleading travellers says the paper

British Airways is facing fines of up to £5,000 per passenger for breaking European rules by misleading the hundreds of travellers stranded at Heathrow about their compensation rights. Chaos at Terminal 5, which forced the cancellation of 72 flights yesterday, will cause further disruption for thousands more passengers throughout the weekend.
Last night BA confirmed that a further 54 incoming and outgoing flights will be cancelled today, blighting the holidays of thousands of families. The Times has learnt that managers at the airline were warned by unions a fortnight ago that baggage staff had not been properly trained to handle its new system

.

The Sun reports

DOZENS of workers at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 started to BRAWL just hours after it opened, it emerged last night.
More than 30 baggage-handlers at the £4.3billion hub had to be pulled apart by security guards on Thursday.
And the farce at the “world class” terminal continued yesterday as 72 more flights were scrapped, the ROOF started to LEAK and passengers JEERED staff.

Not our finest hour says the Guardian reporting

The airline drafted in hundreds of extra staff and an emergency MOT of the luggage system yesterday, but it was unable to prevent one in five T5 flights from being scrapped, forcing Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, to accept full responsibility for the debacle.
In a personal apology to customers Walsh described the £4.3bn building's botched debut as "definitely not our finest hour

".

The paper leads with the news that

Britain seeks loophole in EU green energy targets

Britain is seeking to change the rules governing renewable energy targets to make it easier for the UK to fulfil its commitment to promote clean energy, the Guardian has learned.
At present, only 3% of the UK's power comes from renewable energy, but ministers have agreed to increase this fivefold within 12 years. To help reach this goal, the government has started lobbying the EU over the way the target is calculated.

The Telegraph reveals that

Michael Martin's home gets £1.7m makeover

The bill includes more than £700,000 on furnishing and improving his official residence, figures released to The Daily Telegraph reveal today.
The disclosure that more than £100,000 a year has been spent on furniture, art and refurbishments will add to intense pressure on Michael Martin, who is leading controversial attempts to block the disclosure of MPs' expenses.

Terrorists released early under scheme to ease prison overcrowding reports the Times

Urgent changes were made to the Government’s early-release scheme for prisoners last night after the disclosure that two terrorists had been freed before the end of their sentences.
The two releases are embarrassing for ministers. Next week Parliament is to debate giving police powers to detain terrorist suspects for up to 42 days.
Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, banned future terrorist releases under the end-of-custody licence (ECL) scheme — aimed at easing prison overcrowding — after Times Online revealed that Yassin Nassari, 29, a Category A inmate described by counter-terrorist sources as a “committed extremist”, was freed from Wakefield jail last month. He was convicted of smuggling missile blueprints into Britain.

The last stand says the front page of the Independent

Zimbabweans go to the polls today in the most important elections since the country won independence from Britain 28 years ago, amid increasing signs that Robert Mugabe's historic hold on the southern African country could be slipping.
Fears remain that a ground-swell of anger at the 84- year-old President and the perilous state of the once-prosperous nation, could be thwarted by a systematic campaign of election rigging and voter intimidation. Independent observers have already dismissed government insistence that the poll will be free and fair.

could this really be the end for Robert Mugabe? asks the Times

This time, however, for the first time since independence, his victory is no longer a given. In today’s election, Comrade Mugabe, Uncle Bob, or simply the “old man”, faces the toughest battle of his political life. “He was the hero of the liberation struggle, just as he says,” Philip Chiro, a bricklayer and former Mugabe supporter, said. “But now our struggle is simply to survive and if he does not go, I believe Zimbabwe will die.”

The Guardian reports that

American warplanes join Iraqi troops in taking the fight to Shia militia

US aircraft attacked Shia militia in Basra for the first time in the current round of fighting as intense battles continued between supporters of Moqtada al-Sadr and tens of thousands of Iraqi forces in a crackdown personally supervised by Iraq's prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki.

The Telegraph reports on a

Rift between UK diplomats and Army in Basra

British forces are facing increasing pressure to intervene in fighting in southern Iraq after government efforts to defeat Shi'ite militias in Basra ground to a halt.
Signs of a rift were growing among British officials as diplomats said that UK forces "stand ready to support" Iraqi soldiers as and when requested, contradicting military statements that UK forces would be confined to "niche" roles

The same paper meanwhile reports that

Britain must be willing to talk to the Taliban and other extremist groups in order to try to stabilise the world, the Defence Secretary says today.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Des Browne says that Britain and other democratic states should negotiate with organisations linked to violence - including elements of the Taliban and Hizbollah - in an attempt to prevent the long-term spread of terrorism.

The Independent reports meanwhile that

Former defence chiefs reject claim soldiers do not want Iraq inquiry

Gordon Brown's claim that an inquiry into the war in Iraq would be a "distraction" for Britain's troops on the ground has been repudiated by some of the country's former defence chiefs.
But a number of Britain's former leading defence figures have rejected the Prime Minister's warnings that to hold an investigation now would undermine the troops, and supported the demands for an urgent inquiry into the war. Among them is Field Marshal Lord Bramall, who commanded British forces during the Falklands War.

The front page of the Mail claims

Just one small glass of wine or a single pint of beer could soon put motorists in the dock for drink-driving.
The crackdown, which has won support from ministers, could see up to 200,000 drivers a year losing their licences - double the present number.
Road safety experts say slashing the drink-drive limit will save up to 65 lives a year.

The front page of the Sun says the paper could save your life.It kicks off a new campaign

launches a vital life-saving service — by giving away an Organ Donor Card with every copy.
With a crucial nationwide shortage of donors, this initiative could help save lives — maybe even your OWN.
All you need to do is fill out the back of the blue and red card contained inside the TV magazine in Saturday's Sun newspaper and carry it with you at all times.

Knife attacks claim three teenage lives in one day reports the Guardian

Detectives were yesterday investigating the deaths of three teenagers killed in separate knife attacks in a single day. Two died in London, one in a fight with a friend, and another after an attack in the street on Thursday. In Birmingham a 16-year-old was killed in what locals said was a row over a £10 note.
Eleven teenagers have been killed in knife violence this year, after 27 died last year

The Independent tells us that

Teenagers are drinking 44 bottles of wine or 177 pints of beer a year each, a new study into under-age alcohol intake and violence shows.
The figures relate to 15- to 16-year-olds in the North West of England and stem from a study of 9,833 such youngsters.
The report, produced by the Centre for Public Health at Liverpool John Moores University, Trading Standards North West and the Home Office, also states: of 190,000 15s-to-16s 57,000 binge-drink by taking five or more drinks in one session

The Telegraph reports

Woman dies after getting stuck on train tracks

Two men, including her boyfriend, made a desperate attempt to pull her free as the train approached but had to jump clear before they got her to safety.
The 29-year-old woman, whose first name was Kelly, was trying to get over a crossing to a Tesco superstore when her foot became stuck between wooden slats.

The papers are reporing a new love in Macca's life,under the headline Macca on holiday with a smacker cracker,the Sun reports

SIR Paul McCartney is enjoying a romantic Caribbean holiday with a beautiful millionairess.
She is Nancy Shevell, 47 — the American he was spotted kissing last November. Just two weeks after his bitter divorce battle with ex-porn star Heather Mills, 40, Macca and Nancy are at the exclusive resort of Jumby Bay, Antigua.

The Mail explains Why Bucks fizzes

Buckinghamshire is the best county to live, say researchers.
It comes top in nearly everything from health to house prices, GCSE results to life expectancy.
The country won the quality of life award in the exhaustive study published today by the Halifax bank.
The 500,000 residents of Buckinghamshire have the highest life expectancy - someone born now will typically live for 80 years, nearly four years longer than those born elsewhere.

Finally the Guardian reports

Wanted: inspiring speechwriter. Excellent knowledge of Kirkcaldy history essential

As a measure of the challenge ahead for his speechwriters, Gordon Brown's address to the Scottish Labour party yesterday was a pretty good indicator.
Speaking to delegates in Aviemore, the prime minister described how Nelson Mandela had been released from prison in "our lunchtime". As party members giggled, he paused before correcting himself to say that, of course, he had been freed during our "lifetime".
Brown is not renown for making mistakes in speeches. But then this one was delivered, unusually, without notes - an effort perhaps to emulate David Cameron's much-lauded conference performance - and while wearing a maroon tie, rather than his favoured red.
Though it came with a gaffe, the speech reflected Downing Street's latest attempt to spruce up Brown's image, and help him to seem more human when he is giving big speeches.