Tuesday, July 29, 2008


Nearly all the papers have a picture of the couple on their wedding day who were shot on honeymoon in Antigua.

Bride shot dead on honeymoon says the Sun,

The Wedding picture she'll never see says the Mirror

Murdered on honeymoon says the Express

BRIDE Catherine Mullany sent a text to a friend hours before she was murdered, calling Antigua “beautiful and lush like the Garden of Eden”.
Her island paradise turned to hell as she was gunned down by cold-blooded robbers at the honeymoon cottage she shared with new husband Ben.
reports the Sun

The Express says that

A NEWLYWED British doctor was shot dead as she lay asleep with her husband on the last day of their Caribbean honeymoon.
Catherine Mullany, 31, and her husband, Benjamin, were gunned down in an apparent robbery at their luxury cottage on Antigua.
Last night Mr Mullany, also 31, was fighting for his life after being shot in the neck during Sunday’s dawn raid.



Murder is a subject for many of the other papers,the Guardian leads with a New defence in domestic abuse cases
People who kill their partners after years of abuse would be able to use a new defence that they had acted in response to extreme "words and conduct", under government plans to change the law on murder.
The proposals from the Ministry of Justice, to be unveiled today, would also provide a defence for women in domestic violence cases who kill their partners in premeditated attacks. They would be able to rely on a defence of "fear of serious violence" but would not have to show they acted spontaneously.


The Mail takes a different view

Women who kill abusive partners in cold blood could escape murder charge

Under a major government review, they will be punished for the lesser offence of manslaughter, sparing them a mandatory life sentence.
They must establish only that they were responding to a 'slow burn' of abuse.
The change sweeps aside the existing requirement in any defence of provocation that they killed on the spur of the moment after a 'sudden' loss of control
.

The Times says

The changes come after years of consultation on the laws on homicide and amount to the first overhaul since the Homicide Act of 1957. They have the backing of both the Attorney-General, Baroness Scotland of Asthal, QC, and the Solicitor-General, Vera Baird, QC, and will be contained in a law reform (victims and witnesses) Bill in the next parliamentary session.


Crime is the main news in the Telegraph which reports that

Crime maps to show offences for every street in Britain

Residents are to be given access to Google-style internet maps of actual streets identifying assaults, muggings and burglaries in towns and villages across England and Wales, under Home Office plans.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, unveiled the scheme to give householders details of every crime that has taken place in every neighbourhood.
They will show how close the offences carried out were to schools, pubs and cash points.


The pressure continues on Gordon Brown,

'Lancashire plot' sparks open warfare says the Independent

A "Lancashire plot" against the Prime Minister appeared to be gathering pace as two backbenchers from the North-west of England urged him to step down and a third questioned his survival chances.
Some MPs are also arguing that he should be replaced in spring if Labour's poll ratings have not recovered by the new year. The onslaught sparked fears among Brown allies that the trickle of demands could become a flood before September's Labour conference.


According to the Mail

David Miliband and Alan Johnson are being urged by senior colleagues to forge a 'dream ticket' in a Labour leadership contest.
The move comes as Gordon Brown faces open calls to step down in the interests of the party.
Ministers and MPs who want the beleaguered Prime Minister to quit appear to be coalescing around the idea of Foreign Secretary Mr Miliband as Prime Minister with Health Secretary Mr Johnson as his deputy.


The Times says,Labour doomed with or without Gordon Brown

Voters are increasingly writing off Labour as fewer people believe that a change of leader or policy would help the party to win the next general election.
A Populus poll for The Times, undertaken over the weekend after Labour’s defeat in Glasgow East, suggests that its dramatic slide in popularity is being driven by a collapse in economic confidence.
Labour is on 27 per cent, down one point on the last Populus poll three weeks ago, and about the level it has been for the past three months. This is the lowest since the early 1980s.


The latest atrocity in Iraq is reported,Suicide bomb attacks kill 52 in Iraq says the Telegraph

Three female suicide bombers killed 25 Shia pilgrims in Baghdad while another 27 were killed in an attack in the northern city of Kirkuk, marking one of Iraq's bloodiest days this year.


The Guardian reporting that

US military and Iraqi officials blamed al-Qaida for the Baghdad attacks, with Iraqi police stating that the bombers were women and thus not subject to the same rigorous body searches as men. Even so, heavy security measures were in place, with pilgrims banned from carrying weapons, bags, mobile phones, radios or any communication devices.


Bush approves execution of American soldier reports the Times

George W Bush has approved the death sentence of an army soldier convicted of murder and rape, becoming the first US president to approve a military execution in 51 years.
Ronald A. Gray, 42, a former army cook, has been on death row since he was convicted by a court martial panel in 1988. In the US, a military court requires the President's signature of approval in order to approve a death sentence


The Independent reports on a Day of decision for Turkey

Turkey's highest court is to make the toughest decision in its 46-year history this week: 11 judges must decide whether to outlaw the ruling party and ban the President, the Prime Minister and 69 other elected officials, on the grounds that they pose a threat to the secular state.


The Guardian ahead of the Olympics tells us that Beijing shuts all building sites and more factories to clear the smog

Air quality has failed to reach national standards for four of the seven days since the city took more than 1m cars off the roads and shut hundreds of factories.
With less than two weeks until the opening ceremony, organisers are planning more drastic steps to ensure that the "Greyjing" tag does not undermine the promise of a green Olympics and force endurance events such as the marathon, triathlon and 10km open-water swim to be postponed.


The Telegraph reports that

Nine of 10 of us say Royal Mail's service is not getting better

A survey of more than 2,000 adults by postal watchdog Postwatch showed that 43 per cent described Royal Mail services as worse than two years ago, while 42 per cent thought they were the same.
The survey comes months after figures showed that one in six first-class letters was not delivered on time last year - the worst annual record by Royal Mail for nearly two decades - in part because of strike action


The Independent leads with Statins 'halve' the risk of dementia

The so-called "wonder drugs", taken by more than four million people in Britain to lower cholesterol, are estimated to prevent about 10,000 deaths a year. Now a study has shown they halve the rate of dementia in people at high risk.The findings are based on a study of 1,674 elderly Mexican-Americans in California who had conditions that typically lead to dementia, including diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Mary Haan, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, who led the study, said: "The bottom line is that if a person takes statins over a course of about five to seven years, it reduces the risk of dementia by half."


Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare 'will be rebuilt'says the Times

The owners of one of Britain’s longest piers vowed last night to rebuild it after a devastating fire destroyed the structure, at Weston-super-Mare, in Somerset, in only 90 minutes.
By mid-morning yesterday all that remained of the town’s 104-year-old Grand Pier, refurbished recently at a cost of more than £1 million, was a tangle of twisted steel girders.
With it disappeared the holiday dreams of thousands of visitors who were expected to descend on the town over the coming weeks. To add insult to injury, hail and torrential rain later sent sunbathers scurrying for shelter


End of the pier show says the Independent

The Somerset town's 104-year-old Grand Pier, only recently reopened after a £1m refurbishment, was engulfed by a blaze that gutted the structure within 90 minutes.
More than 85 firefighters from across the South-west were brought in to tackle the fire, which began around 6.45am yesterday at the foot of the pier's West Tower. At the height of the blaze the smoke could be seen 60 miles away over the Britsol Channel in Cardiff.


Storms and flash floods wash away the heatwave says the Mail

The Met Office issued a severe weather warning last night, forecasting heavy showers across Wales and southern England.
The arrival of the rain brings an end to days of glorious sunshine, crowded beaches and temperatures approaching 30c (86f).
The baking heat and sunshine of the last few days has brought joy to many holidaying families - but tragedy for others.
A family from Gloucestershire were in mourning last night after a ten-year-old boy was swept to his death while playing on mud flats on the River Severn


The Sun reports on the story of

A BOOZED-UP driver wrecked a £250,000 Lamborghini after a group of friends hired a fleet of supercars for a wedding.
The pals, in their late 20s, necked strong cider in a pub before racing off along a country lane in three 210mph Lambo Murcielagos and a £137,000 Bentley Continental.
But one lost control 600 yards from the boozer and smashed into a tree.


Finally many of the papers report that

Singer Amy Winehouse is in a stable condition after being taken to a hospital accident and emergency department, her spokesman confirmed.
An ambulance was called to the 24-year-old's house in Camden, north London, on Monday evening and she was taken to University College Hospital.
Her spokesman Chris Goodman said the pop star had suffered a reaction to medication at home and would remain in hospital overnight.
reports the Express

No comments: