Top Stories:
Independent – Gordon Brown demanded “responsible” behaviour from the Tories today after George Osborne warned that he was pushing sterling towards “collapse”. The shadow chancellor was accused of breaking convention and putting extra strain on the crucial G20 financial talks by “talking down” the pound.
London Paper – MORE than 60 Haringey headteachers have joined forces to write a letter in support of Sharon Shoesmith, director of Haringey’s Children and Young People’s Service. Ms Shoesmith has come under increasing pressure to resign this week from her position after the tragic death of Baby P.
Sky – Leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies have been thrashing out steps to reverse a looming global recession and prevent future upheaval. Unconfirmed reports said they were setting an end of March deadline for concrete proposals on global regulation, oversight and market transparency. They also called for a list of financial institutions that pose a risk to the world economy, a source close to the emergency summit said.
Times – Barack Obama is being given ominous advice from leaders on both sides of the Atlantic to brace himself for an early assault from terrorists. General Michael Hayden, director of the CIA, this week acknowledged that there were dangers during a presidential transition when new officials were coming in and getting accustomed to the challenges. But he added that no “real or artificial spike” in intercepted transmissions from terror suspects had been detected. President Bush has repeatedly described the acute vulnerability of the US during a transition. The Bush Administration has been defined largely by the 9/11 attacks, which came within a year of his taking office. His aides have pointed to al-Qaeda’s first assault on the World Trade Centre, which occurred little more than a month after Bill Clinton became President in 1993. There was an alleged attempt to bomb Glasgow airport in Gordon Brown’s first days in Downing Street and a London nightclub attack was narrowly thwarted.
BBC – An American woman has been promoted to four-star general – the first female to reach the US army’s highest rank. In her acceptance speech, Ann E Dunwoody said she had never expected to rise so high in the ranks in her 33-year career. She said no one was more surprised than she and her husband. “Behind every successful woman there’s an astonished man,” she added.
Business:
Scotsman – THE chairman of HBOS has sent a circular to shareholders claiming that if the proposed takeover bid by Lloyds TSB is rejected, then the troubled bank might have to be nationalised. Lord Stevenson said HBOS could need to raise at least £12 billion in capital if investors threw out the deal and a potential £11.5 billion injection of taxpayers’ cash. If HBOS decided to go it alone, there was “no certainty” over sources of funding, he added.
Guardian – Administrators grappling with the European arm of the failed investment bank Lehman Brothers have told creditors their task is “10 times as big and as complicated” as the unwinding of Enron. Speaking after the first creditors’ meeting, a team from PricewaterhouseCoopers said they had identified more than $1tn (£670bn) in assets and liabilities that need to be accounted for.
Also In The News:
Sun – Sailing superkid Michael Perham has set off on his solo voyage around the world. The 16-year-old lad is attempting to become the youngest person ever to achieve the feat. Brave Michael, from Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, was set to leave Portsmouth harbour at 11am for his World Challenge trip on board a 50ft yacht. He already has one record up his sleeve, having become the youngest person to cross the Atlantic when he was just 14.
BBC – A manhunt is under way in western Germany for a convicted drug dealer who escaped by mailing himself out of jail. The 42-year-old Turkish citizen – who was serving a seven-year sentence – had been making stationery with other prisoners destined for the shops. At the end of his shift, the inmate climbed into a cardboard box and was taken out of prison by express courier. His whereabouts are still unknown.
Independent – Space shuttle Endeavour and a crew of seven blasted into the night sky yesterday, bound for the international space station and the most extreme home makeover project ever attempted by astronauts. The shuttle rose off its launch pad at 7:55 p.m. EST, right on time, in a brilliant flash of light visible for miles around. “It’s our turn to take home improvement to a new level after 10 years of international space station construction,” commander Christopher Ferguson radioed before liftoff. Ferguson and his crew will double as kitchen and bathroom installers once they arrive at the space station Sunday, hooking up extra cooking and sleeping equipment so the station’s crew can expand next year. They will deliver a new refrigerator as well, giving residents much-desired cold drinks for a change.
Metro – Hollywood actor Rob Lowe has told how he fled with his family as a wildfire he said was “like Armageddon” destroyed more than 100 homes in a wealthy, celebrity-studded California enclave. Firefighters were holding their own on Friday, but authorities warned that evening wind gusts could send the blaze on another destructive sprint.
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