Sunday 30 August 2009

Sunday papers


The Sunday Times has got hold of letters sent two years ago by Jack Straw in which

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal.
adding that

Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.


The Mail claims that an MI6 agent flew to Libya with former BP boss Lord Browne for two cloak-and-dagger meetings with Colonel Gaddafi.

The Observer leads with Gordon Brown's visit to Afghnaistan where heannounced new strategy and promised more local troops to speed the Nato withdrawal.

According to the paper

A source close to Brown suggested negotiations with insurgents sympathetic to the Taliban, persuading them to switch sides, now formed a key component of Britain's war effort. He added: "The more reconciliation, the better."



Meanwhile as Gordon Brown returns from Afghanistan the Times reveals that British soldiers are being forced to train with blanks rather than live rounds to save money although,

Soldiers bound for Afghanistan will be spared the restrictions, but even they will start training with live rounds only in the last three months before departure. Those learning to shoot as part of basic training will also be allowed to use real bullets.


MPs whose controversial claims for accommodation costs, food and furniture were exposed during the expenses scandal are claiming the status of victims instead of offenders. according to the Telegraph as the paper which reports how

Members of Parliament whose controversial claims for accommodation costs, food and furniture were exposed during the expenses scandal are using an official inquiry to claim they were victims rather than offenders.


According to the Mail on Sunday,

More than a third of the Halifax branch network faces closure by its owner Lloyds in one of the biggest bank culls in history
.adding

The move, which immediately sparked bitter criticism, would wipe out 550 small branches and 'agency counters' inside the offices of estate agents, solicitors and financial consultants.


The Independent leads with Ethiopia where it says

The spectre of famine has returned to the Horn of Africa nearly a quarter of a century after the world's pop stars gathered to banish it at Live Aid, raising £150m for relief efforts in 1985. Millions of impoverished Ethiopians face the threat of malnutrition and possibly starvation this winter in what is shaping up to be the country's worst food crisis for decades.


The papers report on the funeral yesterday of Senator Edward Kennedy,the Observer says that President Obama described him as

a man who made it his life's work to "give a voice to those who could not be heard", and to "add a rung to the ladder of opportunity".


The two-hour mass was the high mark of a three-day celebration of the senator's life. Later, his body was being flown to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, which 46 years ago received the casket of John F Kennedy from Dallas. Thereafter, it was to be conveyed, first, for a brief and final service on Capitol Hill reports the Independent

There is much coverage of the case of Jaycee Lee Dugard.The Telegraph has pictures of the backgarden hide out which

reveals both the mess and the mundanity inside the huts and tents that, along with a makeshift shower and outhouse, were hidden from neighbours by thick trees, high fences and tarpaulin covers.


The News of the World reveals that Phillip Garrido

took the illicit daughters he'd brainwashed to be little "robots" outside their prison to attend a birthday party and abducted Jaycee to use as a baby machine because wife Nancy, 54, was infertile..



THE shocking consequences of Britain's obesity time bomb are revealed today, with record numbers of overweight children being treated in hospital
.says the Express

Alarming research reveals the number of patients under 18 being treated for obesity has increased by more than 30 per cent in the past five years. the sharpest increase is among boys, where hospital stays almost doubled to nearly 400 in 2007-8.

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