Newspaper review

24 April 2011 Last updated at 06:25 GMT The royal wedding is a focal point for many of the newspapers.

The Sunday Telegraph is reporting that two billion people are expected to watch the royal wedding.

The paper says "ceremonies of this magnitude are positively drenched in politics" and "drop a dauntingly heavy payload of political symbols, messages about the social fabric, hierarchy, class, manners and our collective optimism".

The Sunday Mirror says "no royal wedding can be ordinary", but it prefers to focus on the relationship at its heart; "a perfectly decent, thoughtful young couple who think about others".

The Observer says the wedding is "the most important royal ceremonial occasion until the Queen's reign ends". The paper then goes on to call for reform, saying state the monarchy should be abolished and that the British people should elect their head of state.

Meanwhile, the People is showing a rather different picture of Prince William - he's clad in just his boxer-shorts and feather boas, and cavorting on stage at a friend's birthday party.

Social mobility

The Independent on Sunday is debating the chances people have of "escaping the poverty in which they are born". "Social mobility has stalled," it declares, and it says that is "unforgivable".

And again, sticking to the royal wedding theme, the Mail on Sunday says Kate Middleton is on her way to becoming "our first indisputably middle-class Queen" - a true example of social mobility.

It thinks that her "success shows that families who possess sufficient guile, talent, charm and determination can migrate from penniless obscurity to the heart of the world's most famous royal family in the space of a few generations".

Private lives

Another subject dominating the Sunday papers in the row surrounding celebrities who seek legal orders to block coverage of their private lives.

The News of the World stands up for what it calls "a proud tradition of fighting to expose hypocrites". The paper argues that the developing use of "super-injunctions" means that it may not, in future, be able to reveal "lies, cheating and double standards among the rich and powerful".

But the Sunday Telegraph wonders whether legal attempts to keep things private has backfired, reviving a public appetite for scandal and, with the internet often helping to provide missing scraps of information, convincing the rest of the world "that we're nuts".

Easter eggs

Easter means - among other things - eggs, and the cartoonists do not let the opportunity pass.

The Telegraph and Observer both see the three main party leaders as chocolate ones, and both show Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg as melting.

Gerald Scarfe in the Sunday Times sees the three men as chickens, trying to hatch the eggs they sit on. It is the referendum on the alternative vote that he is thinking of, and Labour leader Ed Miliband, looking suitably pained, is saying: "I think mine may be scrambled."

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Newspaper review

10 April 2011 Last updated at 06:45 GMT The fallout from News International's admission that some public figures were hacked into shows no signs of receding.

The News of the World, the paper at the centre of the phone row, has printed a full apology but pledged to contest cases it believes are "without merit".

The Sunday Telegraph reports that there could be as many as 100 victims.

And the Independent on Sunday claims Princess Eugenie may have had her phone hacked after details emerged of an attempted mugging in Cambodia in 2009.

Human cost

The Royal Navy's recruitment policy is scrutinised in the Mail on Sunday.

It follows further details about the sailor being questioned by police over the fatal shooting of a serviceman on the nuclear submarine HMS Astute.

The human cost of the conflict in Libya features prominently in the Sunday Times after its correspondent reached the rebel held city of Misrata.

The Observer says anger among Lib Dem activists may have serious implications for the coalition's NHS reforms.

'Barbaric'

The death of two mounts in Saturday's Grand National at Aintree prompts the People to ask "Is it time to stop killing horses in the name of sport?".

It hears from the charity Animal Aid, which calls the race "barbaric".

The Sunday Express focuses on the 14-1 winner Ballabriggs trained by Donald McCain, whose father - Ginger - led Red Rum to three wins in the big race.

Through tears of joy, Ginger jokes that the victory proves a good trainer can come from anywhere "despite the breeding".

'Barbecue Britain'

A number of editions focus on a new book by Kate McCann - whose daughter Madeleine disappeared four years ago.

The Sunday Express says Mrs McCann has decided against a publicity tour as she is concerned about her safety.

After temperatures nudged past 21C (70F), the Mail on Sunday says "Barbecue Britain" has been sizzling in the sun.

The Sunday Mirror, meanwhile, says the UK was hotter than Los Angeles, and predicts the mini-heatwave will continue until the middle of the week.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Newspaper review

11 February 2011 Last updated at 05:27 GMT There is much fear in the papers about what will happen next in Egypt.

The Guardian believes President Mubarak has "laid a powder trail that could explode today" if the truce between the people and the military breaks down.

"This is a deeply dangerous moment for Egypt," agrees the Times, branding the president "a calculating despot".

But the Financial Times is more upbeat, calling this "a moment bursting with possibilities that could change the face of the Arab world".

'Human rights madness'

The decision by MPs not to give voting rights to prisoners is welcomed by the more Euro-sceptic papers.

The Daily Mail calls it the "historic defence of Britain's sovereign right to make its own decisions".

The Sun is also happy with MPs for rejecting "human rights madness".

The Daily Express, for its part, demands that David Cameron continues to "defy" Europe, comparing the issue to the test Margaret Thatcher faced when the Falklands were invaded.

'Thinking cap'

But not every paper agrees that giving prisoners the vote would be wrong.

The Independent fully supports the idea, arguing that anything which further isolates people already on the margins of society "is a bad thing".

The Daily Mirror, meanwhile, warns David Cameron to "put his thinking cap on or he'll be breaking the law himself" by defying the European Court.

It demands that he publish all of his legal advice "because he may need help to reach a sensible decision".

'Comprehensivisation'

The Daily Telegraph is furious at the idea of forcing universities to admit quotas of students from poor families.

"The result would be tantamount to the comprehensivisation of our elite universities," it argues.

The Times is worried about the huge fines that universities could face if they fail to meet these quotas.

"It is absolutely essential that the government respects the autonomy of the institutions" and lets them admit who they want - on merit alone, it adds.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.