Thursday's papers

The economic outlook will just get worse and worse says the Indy as the papers cover yesterday's IMF report.

The world faces its worst recession since the Second World War, with the UK on course to be bottom of the international growth league among the major advanced economies, according to the latest forecasts from the International Monetary Fund. says the paper.

The Telegraph adds that

its forecast was almost double its previous prediction for the severity of the UK recession and prompted leading experts to warn British families were facing an "extremely painful" period, with people getting poorer in the next 12 months.

The Guardian leads with the letter that Barack Obama sent to Tehran

Diplomats said Obama's letter would be a symbolic gesture to mark a change in tone from the hostile one adopted by the Bush administration, which portrayed Iran as part of an "axis of evil".

It would be intended to allay the ­suspicions of Iran's leaders and pave the way for Obama to engage them directly, a break with past policy.

The Times reports that Barack Obama’s new US peace envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell flew to Israel yesterday as militants launched the first missile strike on Israel since a ceasefire paused hostilities.

The Independent reports that Russia added to the aura of goodwill surrounding Barack Obama's presidency yesterday by declaring that it had abandoned plans to point cruise missiles at Europe from its enclave of Kaliningrad.

The ermingate controversy continues to rumble on,the Telegraph says that members of the House of Lords have set up companies which enable them to carry out consultancy work without declaring the identities of their client.

The Express reports on the fury surounding the proposals in Northern Ireland to pay compensation to all victims of the troubles

There were angry protests in Belfast yesterday after a £300million plan was unveiled to hand taxpayers’ money to the families of those 

bereaved in Northern Ireland’s Troubles, even 

if they are related to terrorists.

The Mail continues with its lead from yesterday as it reports that as the storm rages over siblings' forced adoption by gay men, the children pleads that they want to stay with grandparents.

Finally the Indy reports that,many of the country's finest draught breeds of horse could be extinct within a generation following a dramatic drop in the number of people willing to breed them,