The papers have differing headlines this morning.

The Guardian leads with the story that

Barack Obama will move swiftly to unpick many of what he sees as the most egregious acts of the Bush administration when he enters the White House in January, including restrictions on stem cell research and moves to allow oil drilling in wilderness areas, a leading member of his transition team said yesterday

The Independent adds that

The President-elect and Mr Bush will begin substantive discussions on the handover today when the Obamas visit the White House. While Laura Bush takes Michelle Obama on a tour of the first floor residential areas of her new home, Mr Bush will host his successor for talks in the Oval office

The Telegraph adds that

Tony Blair lead public pleas for Barack Obama, the incoming US president, to take strong role in the Middle East peace process as soon as he enters office in January

. adding that

Mr Blair and other mediators between Israel and the Palestinians marked the 19th and probably final visit to the region by Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, at a summit at Sharm al-Sheikh.

It leads with

Families and small businesses to receive billions in tax cuts in Pre-Budget Report

Alistair Darling will announce measures worth several hundred pounds to every family struggling to cope in the downturn. The measures will include an increase in tax credits and more help with fuel bills for the elderly.
Downing Street sources said that Gordon Brown had been convinced of the case for substantial borrowing to fund a programme of tax cuts and to maintain high public spending to revive Britain’s ailing economy.

Brown's 5-point plan reports the Guardian

The international financial system is in a "night of uncertainty" Gordon Brown will say today when he uses his annual foreign policy speech to set out the five-point economic recovery plan he will put to other world leaders in Washington this weekend.
Brown's speech will be delivered amid speculation that the government is considering announcing tax cuts in the forthcoming pre-budget report (PBR). Experts at the Institute for Fiscal Studies have said that any effective fiscal stimulus package has to be in the order of 1% of national income - or £15 billion - to have any effect.

The Times though says that

The Government moved to dampen expectations over the scale of forthcoming tax cuts yesterday, as the Bank of England prepared to ditch its forecasts and confirm that Britain is entering a recession.
The Treasury and No 10 played down suggestions that the value of tax cuts could reach £15 billion - the level some economists say is needed to kickstart the economy - and called weekend briefings unhelpful.

It leads with

Council homes for life ‘to be scrapped’

People living in council houses will no longer be entitled to a subsidised tenancy for life under Whitehall proposals to address waiting lists.
New tenants would have fixed-term contracts under the plans, with regular reviews every few years, The Times has learnt. If a tenant’s financial position improved he or she would be encouraged to take an equity share or to move to the private sector. If they refused they could face higher rents. The right to a council home is also likely to be tied to a requirement to have or be actively looking for a job.

Both the Mail and the Express have the same lead

The new statin drug that cuts the risk of heart attacks and strokes for EVERYONE says the Mail

A new statin drug dramatically cuts the number of heart attacks and strokes, even for people without high cholesterol.
In a major trial, daily treatment with Crestor slashed the rate of heart problems and deaths by 44 per cent.
Crucially, the U.S. study involved those who would not normally be considered at risk of heart problems.

A new cholesterol-lowering drug has proved so successful in trials that doctors want to speed it on to the market.
The statin was found to dramatically cut illness and death rates in one of the largest studies ever conducted

says the Express

The Independent reports that

Russian navy investigates worst tragedy since 'Kursk'

Investigators are trying to discover why 20 people died of suffocation on a Russian nuclear submarine after a fire extinguishing system released a poisonous gas into part of the vessel.
Three submariners and 17 civilian workers suffocated and 21 others were injured in the Akula II attack class submarine, which was on trials in the Japanese Sea on Saturday evening.

Warning to British travellers as Bali bombers are buried reports the Guardian

Al-Qaida supporters in Indonesia may launch attacks against foreigners in retaliation for the firing-squad execution of three of the Bali bombers, the Foreign Office warned travellers yesterday.
The department's travel advice website was updated after protests spread when the prisoners were taken from their death-row cells on the prison island of Nusakambagan shortly before midnight on Saturday

The Times reports that

Pentagon 'used secret authority for al-Qaeda attacks'

The Pentagon was given secret authority by President Bush to carry out about 12 controversial attacks against al-Qaeda and other militants in Syria, Pakistan and elsewhere since 2004, it has been reported.
Quoting what it said were more than six unnamed military and intelligence officials and senior Bush administration policy makers, the newspaper said the military operations were authorised by a classified order signed by Donald Rumsfeld, former Defence Secretary, with the approval of the President.

Ofsted highlights nurseries divide reports the Guardian

The number of failing nurseries in the poorest areas of England has nearly doubled in the past year, while there has been a marked improvement in the wealthiest districts, figures show.
The likelihood of a child in the most deprived postcodes attending a nursery judged inadequate by inspectors is more than twice that of children in the most privileged neighbourhoods, according to figures obtained by the Conservatives.

The Sun reports that

A FURIOUS Deputy Head last night blasted exam chiefs who recommended a Gary Glitter song to kids – calling it “completely inappropriate”.
The Assessment and Qualification Alliance, Britain’s biggest exam board, listed the paedophile’s 1970s smash I’m The Leader Of The Gang as “related listening” for GCSE music coursework.
But parents and child abuse campaigners insisted vulnerable students should not have been directed towards the pop pervert’s songs.

The Independent leads with an exclusive

Britain's security agencies and police would be given unprecedented and legally binding powers to ban the media from reporting matters of national security, under proposals being discussed in Whitehall.
The Intelligence and Security Committee, the parliamentary watchdog of the intelligence and security agencies which has a cross-party membership from both Houses, wants to press ministers to introduce legislation that would prevent news outlets from reporting stories deemed by the Government to be against the interests of national security.

The Mail reports that

RBS throws SECRET £300,000 champagne party... weeks after £20bn taxpayer bail-out

The Royal Bank of Scotland has blown £300,000 on a secret champagne junket for executives - less than a month after being given a £20billion handout by the taxpayer.
Bankers and their partners enjoyed the lavish party to mark their 'success' after a year in which the collapse of the banking industry led to global financial meltdown.
The supposedly stricken bank laid on the celebration amid extraordinary secrecy to try to prevent details reaching the public, even cancelling the original venue, a top hotel in Hampshire, and transferring the party 350 miles north to Edinburgh.

The Express reports that

Fresh doubt was last night cast over the legality of Charles’s marriage to Camilla after Whitehall papers revealed that royals are banned from register office weddings.
Constitutional experts have argued that the Government was wrong to allow the couple their civil wedding in Windsor three and a half years ago.

Finally many of the papers report that

Maldives seek to buy a new homeland

The Maldives will begin to divert a portion of the country's billion-dollar annual tourist revenue into buying a new homeland - as an insurance policy against climate change that threatens to turn the 300,000 islanders into environmental refugees, the country's first democratically elected president has told the Guardian.