The first signs of peace in the Caucasus are reported in the papers but humilitation for Georgia

Russia agrees ceasefire – but the war of words still rages says the Independent

There were fragile hopes last night that the shooting phase of the war between Russia and Georgia had come to an end as Moscow endorsed a peace plan to be brokered by the European Union.
After six days of intensive fighting, Russia's President, Dmitry Medvedev, declared that its mission had been accomplished and agreed to a ceasefire proposal tabled in Moscow by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy.

The Times says that

After five days of fighting, President Medvedev of Russia ordered his troops in South Ossetia to hold their fire and fixed a six-point peace plan with President Sarkozy of France.
The deal, confirmed by Georgia’s President Saakashvili last night, did not address the future of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the two breakway provinces that want closer links with Russia

Surrender or else, says the Guardian

Early this morning in Tbilisi, Georgia's president, Mikheil Saakashvili, signaled his partial assent to the terms, announcing with Sarkozy that he accepted the ceasefire. But Saakashvili raised questions about a continuing Russian military presence in Georgia and the prospects for any durable settlement looked uncertain

The Telegraph describes how

Russia altered the balance of power in Europe when the Kremlin halted its attack on Georgia after its forces had effectively annexed 18 per cent of the country.Russia closed its Five Day War in full control of Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which total more than 4,800 square miles of the neighbouring state.
While Russian troops have been deployed in these enclaves since 1992, they have never previously controlled their entire territory

The Sun meanwhile reporting that

BEDLAM reigned in Georgia yesterday as gunmen targeted children just hours after a ceasefire was declared.
Renegades were reported to be roaming the roads and countryside taking potshots at anything that moved.

The papers also report from Zimbabwe where according to the Telegraph

Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party claims to have signed a power-sharing deal with a dissident faction of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change [MDC] to create a new government in Zimbabwe. The agreement with Arthur Mutambara would sideline Morgan Tsvangirai, the leader of the main MDC bloc, who beat Mr Mugabe in the first round of the presidential election in March, taking just short of 50 per cent of the vote.

Mugabe hopes to cling to power says the Guardian

An agreement between Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara, leader of a breakaway group from Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change, to form a national unity administration could give the president control of the new parliament. But it would not open the door to the foreign aid Zimbabwe needs to stabilise its wrecked economy, which is collapsing under inflation estimated at above 10m per cent.

At home yesterday's inflation news is the top story

Food prices now rising at fastest rate for 28 years says the Independent

The Bank of England will today dramatically downgrade its forecast for growth in the British economy and warn that inflation is set to continue to rise.
The Bank will forecast a collapse in economic growth to about 1 per cent next year, heightening fears that the British economy may soon slide into recession. It will also signal still higher inflation over the next few months, probably peaking at more than 5 per cent by September.

The Guardian reporting that

The ONS said food and fuel prices were rising at their fastest pace since the early 1980s. A 20% increase in the price of milk, a 40% increase in the cost of eggs and a 41% increase in the price of a sliced white loaf contributed to the rising cost of the weekly shop, up by almost 14% over the past year. Food accounted for half the July jump in inflation, with dearer meat the most important factor.

Staying with the economy the Times reports that

Measures to revive the dormant housing market by increasing the supply of mortgage lending are being planned by ministers, The Times has learnt.
Alistair Darling is poised to intervene to help banks and building societies to secure more finance to grant new mortgages. The likely move comes after the virtual drying-up last year of the mortgage-backed securities market, which had become a crucial source of mortgage lending.

Cities in North doomed, says favourite Tory think-tank reports the Independent

Residents of cities such as Liverpool, Bradford and Sunderland should be encouraged to move to the more prosperous South-east, it says. A future government should build three million homes in and around London, Cambridge and Oxford to prompt Britain's biggest mass internal migration since the 19th century.
The call from Policy Exchange will be a huge embarrassment to the Tory leader as he heads to north-west England today to campaign in marginal seats. Policy Exchange was founded by Michael Gove, the Tory education spokesman. Its policy director is Anthony Browne who is about to begin working for Boris Johnson and is tipped for a role at No 10 if the Tories win the next election.

Both the Mail and the Express report on a new cancer treatment

A cheap drug used to treat brittle bones helps halt breast cancer in its tracks, scientists report today.
When used with a common chemotherapy drug, the tumours all but stopped growing - and the cancer remained at bay even after treatment had finished.
The results were so dramatic that researchers believe the combination could be better at fighting the disease than any drug cocktail already in use.

says the former

The Express adds

The British researchers say that patients could soon benefit from a unique combination of drug treatments which has proved highly successful in fighting cancer in trials on mice.
If follow-up tests on humans are successful, it will be a ground-breaking way to stop the growth of breast cancers and prevent them from spreading around the body.

Charles warns GM crops risk causing the biggest-ever environmental disaster says the Telegraph

In his most outspoken intervention on the issue of GM food, the Prince said that multi-national companies were conducting an experiment with nature which had gone "seriously wrong".The Prince, in an exclusive interview with the Daily Telegraph, also expressed the fear that food would run out because of the damage being wreaked on the earth's soil by scientists' research.
He accused firms of conducting a "gigantic experiment I think with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong".

Ex-drugs policy director calls for legalisation says the Guardian

A former senior civil servant who was responsible for coordinating the government's anti-drugs policy now believes that legalisation would be less harmful than the current strategy. Julian Critchley, the former director of the Cabinet Office's anti-drugs unit, also said that his views were shared by the "overwhelming majority" of professionals in the field, including police officers, health workers and members of the government

Council snoopers to get new powers reports the Mail

to pry into our phone, email and internet records - landing the taxpayer with a bill of almost £50million.
Town halls, along with the police, security services, health authorities and other public bodies, will have access to ' communication' records of anyone suspected of involvement in even the most minor crime.
The powers, which stem from an EU directive supposedly designed to catch terrorists, will even allow police to track down those who have told friends they are planning to harm themselves

The Times reports that

Fashion capitals end London’s plan to ban size zero

An initiative to banish “size zero” models from Britain’s catwalks has been abandoned after other fashion capitals refused to follow London’s lead.
The planned requirement for models to obtain a doctor’s certificate proving that they were in good health had stong government support. But it was feared that models would boycott London Fashion Week, and New York, Paris and Milan said that the measure was unworkable.

According to the Telegraph

Students starting university next month face record average debts of more than £20,000, according to a report published today

adding that

Researchers said students were being badly hit by the worsening economy, with rising food costs and rent accounting for much of their outgoings. Students are also saddled with tuition fees of £3,000 following the imposition of teaching costs for the first time in 2006.

The Independent tells the story of the

The daughter of a Taiwanese industrialist who has revealed she was so traumatised when thieves raided her exclusive apartment that she was forced to move out and live in a £863-a-night room at one of London's most luxurious hotels.
Rebecca Wang, a regular on the capital's party circuit, has notched up a bill of £200,000 since moving to The Dorchester hotel, which overlooks Hyde Park.

Many of the papers report on

Office workers sent home in disgrace after having sex in window

They may have thought their liaison was a secret. But when two workers became amorous at the office, they got a little more attention than they might have bargained for.
Passers-by outside the Unity Partnership centre in Oldham noticed the couple stripping naked against a first-floor window sill.
By the time police arrived, there was a crowd of 20 watching - although the couple inside were apparently oblivious to their audience

.

Staying on the subject the Times reveals that

The Pill may put you off smell of your man and ruin your relationship
A study by British scientists suggests that taking the Pill can change a woman’s taste in men — to those who are genetically less compatible.
The research found that the Pill can alter the type of male scent that women find most attractive, which may in turn affect the kind of men they choose as partners. It suggests that the popular form of contraception — used by a quarter of British women aged between 16 and 50 — could have implications for fertility and relationship breakdowns.

The Sun reveals that

PEACHES GELDOF last night announced she had wed her boyfriend of just four weeks in a quickie Las Vegas ceremony — declaring it a “very happy marriage”. The wildchild, 19, told of her “delight” after tying the knot with US rocker MAX DRUMMEY, 23, who never took his sunglasses off.

Finally after one report of fakery at the opening ceremony the Independent reveals that

Little Lin Miaoke won the hearts and minds of the Chinese people for her stirring rendition of "Ode to the Motherland" at the Olympic opening ceremony. But there was anger in Beijing yesterday at the revelation that she mimed the rousing patriotic anthem, while the real singer was a little girl whose looks just didn't make the grade.