WD Note: Readers following the ongoing ‘Baby P’ situation can find extensive coverage, including a link to an article naming Baby P’s killers, at WhitDawg.com
Top Stories:
BBC – The Iraqi cabinet has approved a security pact with the US governing the future presence of 150,000 US troops in the country, officials have said. Under the deal, US troops will withdraw from the streets of Iraqi towns next year, leaving Iraq by the end of 2011.
Sky – Hundreds of homes have been destroyed and thousands of residents forced to flee as a series of wildfires continues to rage across Southern California. More than 500 mobile homes were gutted and 10,000 people were evacuated because of a blaze that ripped through a Los Angeles suburb in what officials said was one of the worst fires in the city in nearly half a century.
Times – Gordon Brown is planning to give away billions of pounds to low-paid families in the run-up to Christmas in an attempt to lift Britain’s recession-hit economy. A YouGov poll shows that the Conservative lead over Labour has slumped to just five points, its lowest in a comparable poll this year, mainly as a result of Brown’s handling of the financial crisis. The Conservatives are down two on 41%, while Labour is up three on 36%. The Conservative lead has halved from 10 points in the space of a month. In September, when the financial panic erupted, the Tories were 19 points ahead. Brown’s personal rating has soared, climbing by 41 points in the space of two months. He will be hoping to build on that when Alistair Darling, the chancellor, presents the pre-budget report.
Observer – It was a fireside chat for a wi-fi world. Barack Obama yesterday launched his first regular weekly update to the American voters by YouTube. It was an ultra-modern echo of how Franklin D. Roosevelt’s regular folksy radio broadcasts, complete with the sound of a fire crackling in the background, helped guide America through the Great Depression. Now Obama is also facing a massive economic crisis and he is reaching out to the American public with a YouTube video. The move is part of a hi-tech revolution in politics that Obama has promised to bring to Washington when he takes office. Technology and the internet are set to be a core part of the new administration, bolstered by Obama’s massive online army of supporters.
Business:
Telegraph – JP Morgan, the US investment bank, is drawing up plans to axe thousands of jobs across its worldwide operations. The move is likely to mean redundancy for hundreds of City workers, compounding the growing sense of crisis in London’s financial services industry and the broader British economy.
Independent – Northern Rock has undergone a Damascene conversion over its treatment of mortgage customers in arrears, a debt charity has said. The lender, which has been roundly criticised for keeping its mortgage rates punishingly high and repossessing a disproportionately large number of homes, is overhauling the way it approaches bad debts. “We are seeing big changes at the Rock,” said Malcolm Hurlston, chairman of the Consumer Credit Counselling Service. “Before, they took a tough approach with borrowers in arrears but now there is a road to Damascus scenario – they are being more sympathetic.”
Also In The News:
Express – Prince Charles will become King at 65 in five years’ time, according to senior Palace sources. The Queen, now 82, has apparently said she is willing to stand aside when she reaches 87 and allow Charles to take over. Senior courtiers were openly discussing the arrangement at a private function to toast Charles’s 60th birthday last week.
Observer – For Beatles fans across the world it has gained near mythical status. The 14-minute improvised track called ‘Carnival of Light’ was recorded in 1967 and played just once in public. It was never released because three of the Fab Four thought it too adventurous. The track, a jumble of shrieks and psychedelic effects, is said to be as far from the melodic ballads that made Sir Paul McCartney famous as it is possible to imagine. But now McCartney has said that the public will have the chance to judge for themselves.
London Paper – Pictured: Cathy Jung, 71, uses specialist women’s underwear to achieve a 15″ waist with 36C bust and 36″ hips
Wales On Sunday – Joe Calzaghe earned $10m from his showdown with Roy Jones Jnr.. Despite the fight attracting only half of the anticipated TV audience and failing to sell out the famous Madison Square Garden, it was still the biggest purse collected by the Welsh boxing superstar. But the Welshman’s camp said they were left “disappointed” at the lower than expected pay-per-view audience for the clash.
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