A variety of headlines in the papers this Saturday morning.

The Guardian leads with Zimbabwe ,Mugabe turns the screw on opposition

The Zimbabwean government yesterday banned the opposition presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai, from holding political rallies three weeks ahead of his run-off election against Robert Mugabe.
The police told Tsvangirai of the ban, ostensibly over concerns for his safety, when he was arrested for a second time this week while trying to campaign. But the move appears to reflect a growing concern in Mugabe's camp that its strategy of violence, intimidation and nationalist appeals will not be sufficient to ensure victory in the June 27 vote after Tsvangirai won the first round in March but fell just short of an outright majority

Vote Mugabe or starve says the Independent

The US ambassador in Harare accused government officials yesterday of blackmailing opposition supporters, by denying them food unless they surrendered their national identity card and thus gave up their right to vote

.adding

Mugabe is no stranger to using food as a political weapon in a country where many people are locked into a desperate struggle to put the next meal on the table. By suspending all aid groups operating in the country on Thursday he has once again concentrated crucial supplies into the hands of his cronies.

It leads with For sale: the story of my wife's murder

A British computer worker who concealed massive debts and a fascination with casual sex behind a facade of domestic harmony murdered his American wife and their baby daughter before fleeing to the UK with the apparent intent of selling his story "to the highest bidder", a US court heard yesterday.

The “loving, nourishing and stable” façade of Neil Entwistle’s family life concealed a dark side to the clean-cut Englishman which drove him to murder his American wife and baby daughter, a court has heard.

says the Telegraph

It leads with an exclusive

Gordon Brown is embroiled in a major diplomatic row with the United States over controversial plans for new airline taxes which could see British families paying £400 extra for transatlantic flights

and continues

An official letter sent by the US Embassy to the British Government - which has been leaked to The Daily Telegraph - reveals the Americans have "deep concerns with the proposal". They threaten the Treasury with legal action over the planned tax increase.

Church attacks Labour for betraying Britons says the Times

The policies of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have helped to generate a spiritual, civic and economic crisis in Britain, according to an important Church of England report.
Labour is failing society and lacks the vision to restore a sense of British identity, the report says in the Church’s strongest attack on the Government for decades. It accuses the Government of “deep religious illiteracy” and of having “no convincing moral direction

The major political spotlight is on the Tories though,the same paper reports that

A City enforcer will be sent to rake through Conservative MEP accounts next week after the party’s chief whip in Brussels lost his job in the fallout from an expenses scandal that claimed the scalp of the party leader there.
David Cameron will send Hugh Thomas, the Tory head of compliance, to improve the handling of expenses after Giles Chichester was forced to quit as Conservative group leader for channelling £445,000 through a company of which he was a paid director. Yesterday Mr Chichester was followed through the exit door by Den Dover, the Chief Whip in the European Parliament, who had come under scrutiny for paying £758,146 in allowances over seven years to a “service company” run by his wife and daughter.

The Independent meanwhile reports

David Cameron's problems over "Tory sleaze" deepened last night amid allegations that the Conservative Party chairman Caroline Spelman paid her nanny out of her parliamentary allowances.
Ms Spelman faced a possible investigation by Commons anti-sleaze watchdogs into whether she should have paid Tina Haynes from public money while she was working for her family. Although the arrangement took place 11 years ago, it is potentially embarrassing for Mr Cameron.

Plan to halve child poverty still off course says the Guardian

Ministers are bracing themselves for new figures on Tuesday showing they are still nowhere near meeting their target of halving child poverty by 2010.
The figures are expected to show a small rise in the numbers in child poverty, leaving ministers with only the 2009 budget to inject up to £3bn to meet the target.
The Department for Work and Pensions has already admitted in internal documents that it is unlikely to meet the government's chief measure of halving the number of children in households with an income of 60% or less of average (median) earnings.

The Express claims that Gordon Browm has blocked their fuel petition

THE Daily Express has been gagged by Downing Street in a cowardly attempt to silence our readers over fuel tax.
Gordon Brown yesterday banned our petition – demanding an immediate cut in fuel duty – from the No10 website.
The action by his lackeys was a snub to the thousands of Daily Express readers who have already backed our crusade for justice for motorists.

The Mirror says

Hard-pressed families face huge new energy price rises after British Gas increased bills by five times the rate of inflation.
The grim warning came as charities were given the go-ahead to take the Government to court over fuel poverty blighting the the poor and elderly.

Two fingers to common sense says the Mail

Binmen have put two fingers up to common sense by issuing an astonishing warning to council-tax payers.
'If we can't pull your wheelie bin using just two fingers it is too heavy - and won't be emptied.'
Bins that need three or more fingers, they claim, constitute a health and safety risk as they could fall from the lorry while being emptied.
The edict from binmen is the latest salvo in a continuing battle between householders and bureaucracy.

The Telegraph reports that

Sir Ian Blair calls for tough action against drug-taking celebrities

The Metropolitan Police commissioner said stars should face a jury if they are caught on camera apparently snorting cocaine or smoking crack.
But his comments, which came as as a new report disclosed that Amy Winehouse and Kate Moss are seen as leading role models by many teenage girls, have been criticised by the country's top prosecutor, Sir Ken Macdonald.

To celebratory now and the Mirror leads with the news that Sharon Ozbourne has quit X factor

X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne has sensationally quit the ITV show on the eve of the London auditions, it was announced today.
The fiery 55-year-old was due to begin auditioning new contestants in London on June 12, alongside fellow judges Simon Cowell, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue.
However today ITV announced she had decided to quit.

and the reason why

The 55-year-old star wanted a whopping £1million rise to appear in the fifth series alongside Dannii Minogue, taking her pay to £2.5million.
She also asked for an increase when ITV suggested the series might include an extra Sunday night live show.

Geoff Heerst says the front page of the Sun

ENGLAND World Cup legend Sir Geoff Hurst is sensationally backing GERMANY in the European Championships.
The hero striker, whose hat-trick famously sank the Germans in the 1966 World Cup final, will be cheering them on in the glittering soccer festival which kicks off tonight – without England.
Here he tells MARTIN PHILLIPS why he thinks Ballack, Schweinsteiger, Lehmann and the rest will take the tournament in Austria and Switzerland by storm.

The Mail reports that Spy satellite used in fresh bid to reveal Moors Murderers final secret

A U.S. spy satellite has been used as part of a top secret police operation to find the last missing victim of the Moors Murderers, the Daily Mail can reveal.
And a specialist Army team - normally involved in finding the graves of terror victims in Northern Ireland - has scoured an area of Saddleworth Moor for the remains of Keith Bennett.
Keith vanished off the streets of Manchester in 1964 - one of five youngsters tortured and killed by Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

Network Rail chief receives £500,000 bonus says the Times

only weeks after the company was fined £14 million for causing chaos on the railways at Christmas with overrunning engineering works.
The news will anger passenger groups and trade unions, which questioned why a company with no competitors or shareholders should pay such large bonuses.

News from abroad and the Independent reports that

Israel cuts off Palestinian tax funds as relations hit new low

Israel has withheld part of its $75m (£38m) monthly tax revenue payment to the Palestinian Authority after a diplomatic offensive by the Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, designed to stop the continued expansion of Jewish settlements.
The move appeared to mark a new low in relations between Israel and a moderate Palestinian leadership increasingly disillusioned by the lack of progress in talks with Ehud Olmert's government.

Clinton and Obama 'laughing' after secret late-night meeting says the Guardian

Hillary Clinton will lavish praise on Barack Obama today when she formally concedes the race for the Democratic nomination at a rally for her supporters after the two held a secret meeting in Washington.
Her campaign has chosen a grand venue in Washington for today's event, allowing her to make a farewell to supporters as well as a formal endorsement of Obama.
The endorsement follows the first direct meeting between Obama and Clinton for months after an often acrimonious campaign, at the home of a Democratic senator, Dianne Feinstein. The candidates arrived alone for their late-night meeting - without spouses or staff - and met for about an hour

Refugee children 'sold to Darfur rebels to fight' reports the Telegraph

Hundreds of children who sought the safety of refugee camps in Chad are now being trafficked back to their homeland to fight, according to a report from Waging Peace.
The London-based organisation said the boys' own community leaders were responsible for selling them and claimed that the Chadian government stood by while the deals were transacted.

The Times reports that a Boy, 8, hanged himself over cancer deaths

after his mother and his grandfather both died within the past 12 months.
Joshua Aldred was found unconscious by his grandmother in his bedroom at home in Lytham St Annes yesterday. He was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital but attempts to resuscitate him failed.

The Sun has tracked down the lottery winner who was

skulking in a cheapo seaside hotel.
Pervert Plant, 49 – who won £2.6million last Saturday – is staying in a £49.50-a-night room.
Red-faced Plant was shocked when confronted yesterday.

adding

Asked if he intended to give any of his money to the 21-year-old woman he forced to have sex when she was just 15, he said: “I am not talking to anybody.”
Plant – who was on the Sex Offenders’ Register for five years – added: “This is all lies. I’m taking legal advice. I’m not talking to anyone.”

Its Derby day and the Telegraph reports that

A 1,000-1 rank outsider, Maidstone Mixture, could claim an unwelcome record as the worst horse in the history of the Derby.The no-hoper, which lines up alongside 16 other contenders, is so unfancied that even Jude, the patron saint of lost causes, might think twice about backing him

Finally it must be summer as according to the Sun sharks have returned to the British coast

THERE’S some-FIN sinister off the coast of St Ives...
Sharks were attracted by warmer seas last summer, and it seems they’re on the way back.
But don’t worry, this one’s no man-eating Great White . . . well, probably not.
Experts reckon the 17ft beast, snapped off the Cornish coast by Lizzie Hall, is a basking shark, which only munches plankton.
Londoner Lizzie, 26, who spotted the circling fin while out boating with pals on Tuesday, said: “We thought it was a dolphin until we got closer and saw it was 5ft longer than our boat. We were terrified when we realised it was a shark.”