Georgia cuts and runs from Russian advance says the Times as another day of
escalating fighting in the conflict is rounded up by the papers

The Georgian Army was in complete disarray last night after troops and tanks fled the town of Gori in panic and abandoned it to the Russians without firing a shot.
As Russian armoured columns rolled deep into central and western Georgia, seizing several towns and a military base, President Saakashvili said that his country had been cut in half.

Similar headlines in the other quality papers,the Independent says

Russian troops invaded Georgia proper yesterday after building up their military presence in two breakaway regions of the pro-Western state, prompting the Georgian President to accuse Russia of attempting the "cold-blooded, pre-meditated murder" of his country.
Russian military columns were said to have gone forward from Abkhazia, where they have intervened in favour of separatist forces, to capture the towns of Zugdidi and Senaki, which are inside Georgia itself. The developments contradicted statements by the Russian President, and military leadership, that Russian forces would confine their war aims to South Ossetia.

The Telegraph says

Georgian forces are already in a full scale disorganised and panicked retreat from Gori and the country's officials yesterday confirmed they were transferring "all troops" from South Ossetia towards Tbilisi.
Seen by The Telegraph, they were crammed into vehicles heading down road towards the capital. They say 6,000-7,000 Russian troops are heading their way and the Georgians are abandoning their positions.
Kakha Lomaia, a senior Georgian security official, said: "We received very reliable information that the Russians decided to move towards Gori. That's why we decided to pull out all our troops and to relocate them - to defend Tbilisi."

Russians march into Georgia as full-scale war looms says the Guardian

Washington accused the Kremlin of long preparing an invasion of Georgia in "aggression that must not go unanswered".
"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," President George Bush said. "The Russian government must reverse the course that it appears to be on." He urged Russia to agree to a ceasefire offer by Georgia.

Elsehwere the Telegraph reports that

Murdered Chinese graduates may have known their killers

Two Chinese graduates who were brutally murdered in their home may have known their killers and let them in, according to police. Two Chinese graduates who were brutally murdered in their home may have known their killers and let them in, according to police

.

The Mail leads with Shame of binge drink Britons abroad

Drunken and loutish holidaymakers have sent Britain's reputation abroad plunging to new depths.
A shocking Foreign Office report reveals a huge rise in the number of arrests of Britons overseas.
Figures covering 15 holiday destinations show there were 4,603 arrests last year, up 15.6 per cent.

The Times adds that

Figures being released by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office today list the countries where Britons are most likely to seek embassies' help.They show that 2,032 British nationals were arrested in Spain in the year ending March 2007, a 33 per cent increase on the previous 12 months and more than in any other foreign country. The rise is partly attributable to the increase in British visitors to the country. Embassy officials in Madrid also cited the rising number of football matches involving British teams, a growing British resident population and a police crackdown on drivers who do not carry their licenses - now a detainable offence - as other reasons for the increase. The number of arrests in France, where there has been recent police action on drink-driving, rose 42 per cent to 153.

The Gurdian reports that Rape victims told alcohol consumption may cost them compensation

Campaigners called on the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) to end the application to rape victims of a clause that says awards in all types of cases can be cut if consumption of alcohol "contributed to the circumstances that gave rise to the injury".
In the past year 14 rape victims - 1% of rape-related applications - were told they would get less money because of alcohol consumption, the CICA confirmed.

The Times reports on Uproar at plan to hold inquests in secret

Inquests that are deemed a risk to national security by the Government would be held in secret in future under proposed powers to come before the House of Lords this autumn.
The provisions, under a clause in the Counter-Terrorism Bill, allow the Home Secretary to stop a jury being summoned, replace the coroner with a government appointee and bar the public from inquests if it is deemed to be in the public interest.

NHS should not save patients' lives if it costs too much, says watchdog reports the Independent

Patients cannot rely on the NHS to save their lives if the cost of doing so is too great, the Government's medicines watchdog has ruled for the first time.
The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) has said the natural impulse to go to the aid of individuals in trouble – as when vast resources are used to save a sailor lost at sea – should not apply to the NHS.
The disclosure follows last week's controversial decision by Nice to reject four new drugs for kidney cancer even though they have been shown to extend life by five to six months

More Maddy exclusives in the Sun with the paper reporting

A STREET vendor told last night how he sold an ice cream to a girl he believes was Madeleine McCann eight days ago.
The sad English child was spotted with a woman in Brussels, Belgium, by Antonio MigliardiShe asked for a chocolate flavour ice — Maddie’s favourite.And she had a distinctive eye mark like Maddie

More evidence of the slump,the Telegraph reports

Estate agents are selling just one property a week, as figures show the worse drop in sales for 30 years.The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said the number of properties sold had dropped to its lowest level since records began in 1978
It blamed the lack of affordable mortgages available to home owners for the collapse in transactions.
While mortgage rates on some lenders' most popular deals have been cut in recent days, lending criteria remains tight with the best rates only available to those with a significant deposit.

The Times previews today's inflation figures as it reports

The Bank of England’s headache over severe price pressures worsened yesterday as a record surge in the cost of goods leaving factories reinforced expectations that headline inflation would hit 5 per cent over the summer.
Official figures confirmed that prices for UK-manufactured products last month rose by 10.2 per cent from a year earlier, marking their fastest annual pace of increase since 1986.

The Express leads with the story that

THE cost of mortgages is finally falling as the housing crisis shows the first signs of recovery.
Latest figures from the Bank of England reveal that the interest on fixed-rate two-year deals – the most popular form of home loan – has fallen for the first time since February.

Most of the papers report on the footballer awarded £4.3m damages for career-ending tackle

A young footballer, touted as one of the brightest prospects in the English game, was awarded a record £4.3m compensation package yesterday after an "over the top" tackle left his career in ruins.
Ben Collett, now 23, joined Manchester United at the age of nine and was described by the club's manager Sir Alex Ferguson as an outstanding prospect.
But during his first game for the reserves Collett, a left-footed player who had been compared to Ryan Giggs, had his leg broken in two places when he was tackled by Middlesbrough's Gary Smith. He was awarded £4.3m in damages at the high court in London yesterday - a record according to his lawyers - including £3,854,328 for predicted loss of earnings

The main Olympic story is Out of sync and out of sorts: Daley fails to perform on Olympic stage

As syncronised divers, they were only as good as each other. But in several respects Tom Daley, the Plymouth schoolboy who has captivated the world's attention, and Blake Aldridge, the former B&Q shelf-stacker almost double his age, were anything but equal partners.Whereas Daley has been fêted and adored by all who hear about his precocious talents, Aldridge has been ignored by the world's media. Yesterday, it all became too much. Shattering the pretence of cordiality that has existed between the pair for the past six months, Aldridge claimed the 14-year-old not only fluffed his Olympic debut yesterday but cost his team-mate the only chance he will ever have of winning an Olympic medal.

says the Independent

The Mirror leads with the story under the headline Belly Strop

The Telegraph reports that

Sergeant Lee Clegg, the British soldier convicted and then cleared of the murder of two joyriders at a checkpoint in Belfast in 1990, has returned to frontline action, it has emerged.

the paper adds

The 39-year-old, originally jailed for life in 1993 for using unlawful force but then cleared five years later, has been secretly deployed to Afghanistan as a fighting medic, according to reports.
The former corporal is said to have repeatedly braved Taliban fire to rescue wounded comrades and bring back the dead.

Welcome to Boomtown Britain's new capital of bling reports the Independent

Oil prices are soaring ever higher and the prospect of a $200 barrel looms large. But not everyone is feeling the pinch. The residents of Aberdeen – a city fortuitously located near the North Sea reserves – are enjoying a prosperity not seen since the 1970s.

The British weather is examined in the Mail

Thunder, near gale-force winds, heavy rain and plummeting temperatures. It sounds like a long-range forecast for winter.But this, sadly, is the weather we can expect across Britain tomorrow.As the chances of a sunny summer grow slimmer, heavy rain will lash the country, with as much as 50mm falling in some places.

Finally back to the Georgian crisis and the Sun reports

A BRITISH family on a horse trekking holiday told yesterday of their terror as they fled war-torn Georgia.
Chris Wills, wife Melissa and their two teenage girls tried to catch a flight out but found the airport shut by a bombing raid. Instead they headed to neighbouring Armenia in a taxi.
Speaking before climbing into the cab in capital Tbilisi’s Freedom Square — named after Georgia’s breakaway from Soviet masters in 1991 — Melissa said: “It’s a huge relief to get away from this.”