By JAMES PALMER
Foot-and-mouth furore
Country folk stay in the country and city dwellers stay in the city, is the message plastered across the British front pages, as the nation attempts to stop the spread of foot-and-mouth disease which is set to cripple British farming.
Farmland was put out of bounds to walkers and fox-hunting yesterday, The Independent reports, in the fear of a national epidemic. Even postmen are banned from delivering mail to infected farms, the paper says.
The Guardian carries a colourful front-page computerised image of the foot-and-mouth virus under the headline: "This is the virus that closed the countryside".
The Telegraph says the third case of the disease has been confirmed in a herd of cattle in Essex.
The Times says the industry fears $750 million a week could be affected by food destined for export flooding the domestic market. Compensation estimated at $180 million a week for farmers and the food industry has been mooted by ministers.
Keeping it in the family
The cash-for-pardons scandal dogging former US president Bill Clinton is engulfing his wife, The Independent reports. The former First Lady and now senator of New York said yesterday she was "heartbroken and shocked" when she learned, by mobile phone at the cinema, that her brother had accepted money for soliciting White House pardons.
The Guardian says Hillary's attempts to distance herself from the scandal were undermined further by the revelation that William Cunningham, her campaign treasurer, had also taken money to lobby for pardons.
Hillary was on the defensive, saying her brother exercised "terrible misjudgement", The Washington Post says, adding that the ex-president's office admitted Bill Clinton's brother Roger also lobbied, unsuccessfully, for pardons.
The New York Times splashes on Roger Clinton's attempt to obtain pardons for "friends and associates". The paper comments that even the most vociferous backers of the Clintons are beginning to criticise them over their messy exit from the corridors of power. Describing how the Rodham brothers have often appeared in an unfavourable light during the Clinton administration, the paper quotes one ex-official as saying "You never wanted to hear their names come in any other context other than playing golf."
Canadian PM casts doubt over NMD
Jean Chretien, the Canadian Prime Minister, yesterday threw George Bush's plans for a nuclear missile defence system into confusion after saying the US could drop the plan in the face of foreign opposition, The Independent reports. The PM told MPs in Ottawa that no decision would be taken without his approval. The claim came as a surprise to Tony Blair who flies to Washington for talks with Bush today, the paper says.
Eminem steals the show
The top grammy for best album may have gone to Steely Dan, who have not produced a record for 20 years, but Eminem stole the show at the Grammy awards, The Independent reports, in a duet of his hit song "Stan" with Elton John.
Elton and Eminem defied protests against the rapper's violent, often homophobic lyrics, and embraced after the performance, The Guardian and Independent report.
The Times says Eminem "politely" accepted his three rap awards, adding that the duet with Sir Elton was "compelling".
US warplanes strike again
American warplanes attacked Iraqi artillery posts which fired on them yesterday, in what defence authorities described as "routine" strikes, The Independent reports. The paper adds that the Pentagon has admitted that fewer than half of last Saturday's strikes hit their targets, saying faulty computer software may be to blame.
The Guardian quotes George Bush as saying the raid on Saddam's radars was a success: "We got his attention," Mr Bush said.
The Washington Post says President Bush has sent a stern warning to China over helping Iraq rebuild its air defence system. In his first news conference since moving into the White House, Bush said he would send a message to China.
The paper adds the conference held traces of Bush's discomfort with language and policy detail. He relied heavily on notes, struggled with a question about European military capability and at one point elicited shrugs from aides when he referred to the eradication of "cocoa leaves" in Colombia.
The LA Times, however, says he breezed through a barrage of questions on an enormous variety of issues.
Rape was weapon of terror
Three Bosnian Serbs have been convicted of using mass rape as a weapon of terror, as they were found guilty of torturing girls as young as 12. The ruling in The Hague is the first in which sexual abuse was prosecuted as a crime against humanity, The Independent says. The guilty men "thrived in the dark atmosphere of dehumanisation of those believed to be enemies," the paper quotes Judge Florence Mumba as saying.
CIA suspect may be cleared
Until investigators searching for a high ranking mole in the US intelligence service targeted FBI agent Robert Hanssen as a possible Russian spy, they focused on a covert CIA officer who now may be cleared as a result of Hanssen's arrest, the Washington Post says.
The New York Times says the FBI knew for some years there was a pipeline of information which surfaced in Russia, but failed to conduct an internal review of its staff.
- INDEPENDENT
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