Friday, December 27, 2013

Sales 'frenzy' and footballing Prince - the papers

Boxing Day sales, footballing Prince Harry, Doctor Who and Mrs Brown

Daily Mirror front page, 27/12/13 Excitement over the Boxing Day sales makes many front pages, with the Daily Mirror describing a "frenzy" in which Britons spent £60,000 a second. It says some shoppers camped out overnight to secure the best bargains.
Daily Telegraph front page, 27/12/13 The total spent amounted to £2.7bn, according to the Daily Telegraph. The paper says it's confounded fears of a festive slump and quotes a retail analyst as saying there's been a "rebound" in consumer confidence.
Financial Times front page, 27/12/13 The Financial Times features a photograph of shoppers jostling for goods at Selfridge's Oxford Street store in London. Its lead story focuses on a probe into alleged corruption involving Turkish government ministers.
Daily Star front page, 27/12/13 The Daily Star uses the same image, describing "punch-ups" at the sales. And there's more violence in its lead story which suggests that Brazilian crime gangs have threatened to target England fans at next year's World Cup finals.
Daily Mail front page, 27/12/13 The UN High Commissioner for Refugees is accused of "meddling" in UK affairs, according to the Daily Mail. It reports Antonio Gutteres saying Britain's stance on immigration could make asylum seekers feel stigmatised.
Daily Express front page, 27/12/13 The Daily Express quotes a council leader saying schools and hospitals will be at "crisis point" if a potential influx of migrants materialises when work restrictions are relaxed for Romanians and Bulgarians next week.
The Times front page, 27/12/13 Some 100 private sector experts will help "rescue" troubled Whitehall projects, like Universal Credit and high speed rail, says the Times. Like many papers, its image shows Prince Harry playing football with Prince William at Sandringham.
Sun front page, 27/12/13 Meanwhile, the Sun claims Prince Harry is organising a festive party at the royal retreat in Norfolk. It says his girlfriend Cressida Bonas and cousins, Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie - who introduced the couple to each other - will attend.
Independent front page, 27/12/13 The Independent claims that the NHS suppressed a report criticising a London centre for rape victims for failing to deal properly with medical samples and for deficiencies in dealing with vulnerable children and adults.
Guardian front page, 27/12/13 The Guardian publishes the results of a poll focusing on political engagement. Results suggest nearly 47% of Britons are angry with politicians, almost twice the number who are merely "bored" of politics, the paper says.
The i front page, 27/12/13 Meanwhile, as parts of the UK recover from the storms that marred Christmas, the i warns that more bad weather is on the way. It says further severe flooding is expected, with 50 warnings in place.

Ahead of another day of frantic shopping in the post-Christmas sales, the papers reflect on a bumper Boxing Day for retailers.

The Daily Mirror leads on the story, saying that £60,000 a second was spent on average. Inside, under the headline "shop and awe", it visits a variety of regional shopping centres to hear from those splashing the cash and pictures queues outside many malls.

Chinese tourists, along with visitors from Qatar and Russia, were among those bagging bargains, according to the Daily Telegraph. It says shoppers from around the world spent four times as much at UK stores than Britons.

And the Sun uses the angle as an excuse to roll out some puns. "Great Haul of China" and "Shop Suey" both make it into print. Consumer editor Dan Jones explains that Chinese shoppers love the UK because high-end goods are up to 30% cheaper, thanks to 20% refunds on VAT under British tax-free shopping rules.

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Frenzy or failure?
Shoppers pass in front of a large "sale" sign

It's not just clothes or electrical goods flying off the shelves, according to the Daily Express. It says millions of families are hoping to beat the January blues with a bargain holiday.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail says the "real savings" are still online, printing comparisons between the prices charged by High Street retailers and web vendors.

Reviewing the papers for the BBC News Channel, the Daily Telegraph's Neil Midgley said: "I'm amazed people have found the time to be online."

Fellow panellist, solicitor Michael Caplan, warned the £2.7m figure for Boxing Day trade might not materialise, saying: "It doesn't mean there won't be things which are refunded later on."

The Times is similarly downbeat, saying: "Beneath the fairy lights and tinsel the malaise goes on." It says the underlying figures "make for unseasonably grim reading".

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One-two princes
Princes Harry and William

It's not often Princes Harry and William are pictured playing a proper game of football, so the papers make the most of the opportunity.

The annual Sandringham football match finished all-square but there's no doubt who won the day, if the headlines are anything to go by.

"Harry 1, Wills 0," is the Express's verdict, as it notes he scored in the 25th minute from just outside the penalty area.

"Harry scores," screams the Sun, although its mostly referring to a "dinner date with Cressida" Bonas he's reportedly planning. The paper enjoys a joke at William's expense saying: "His thinning hair led spectators to tease him for looking like 1966 World Cup hero Sir Bobby Charlton."

It also compares his red-and-white hooped top to cartoon character Where's Wally and hides the tiny figure in each of the photos of the royal heir.

The Daily Mirror's not much kinder. Under the headline "Heir we go," it shows William shielding his face from the ball with the caption: "It's wince William."

Meanwhile, the Mail focuses on "Dirty Harry's horror tackle," picturing the younger prince going into a challenge with his studs up.

The paper enlists former World Cup referee Graham Poll to say he would have shown a yellow card, at least, and sent him off if the tackle had landed.

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Trouble brewing?

There's disquiet in some of Friday's leader columns about relations between China and Japan.

The Financial Times says the dispute over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea is dangerous.

"The possibility of an accident or a deliberate provocation on the ground (or in the air, or at sea) is real.

"Nor, if that happened, can escalation be ruled out given that both countries have hawkish leaders and populations in no mood to make concessions," it says.

In the Independent's view, Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's visit to the Yasukuni shrine honouring the country's war dead - including those convicted of war crimes in China and Korea - has increased the chance of a "calamitous conflict".

"To most outsiders, it seems inconceivable that two such powerful and sophisticated countries... could come to blows over a few uninhabited islands," it says.

However, it adds: "Stranger things have happened," citing the origins of World War I.

To the Daily Telegraph, such comparisons are "mercifully exaggerated" but it adds: "Unless all parties remember that they have more to gain from co-operations than competition, the region could be set for a very unhappy new year".

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Telly wars

It wasn't daleks causing the Doctor the most trouble on Christmas Day but a man in drag. And it's not clear exactly who won the battle for TV ratings.

"Whowunnit," according to the Sun, which says new Time Lord Peter Capaldi made Doctor Who the TV hit of Christmas Day - with a peak audience of 10.2m viewers - and helped the BBC "zap ITV".

The Daily Telegraph agrees that the commercial rival lost out, describing Downton Abbey as a "sideshow", but puts comedy Mrs Brown's Boys at the top of the tree, based on average viewers overall.

In its commentary, Veronica Lee calls the Irish sitcom "good old-fashioned fun" and suggests the key to its attraction is that "the British do love a chap in a frock".

And the Daily Express is in no doubt about the winner of the festive fight, saying: "Doctor Who is exterminated by Mrs Brown."

The Independent's Will Dean, meanwhile, describes Boxing Day's Still Open All Hours as "TV as Garfunkel without Simon, Wise without Morecambe", given the absence of Ronnie Barker as stuttering shopkeeper Arkwright.

But he says it was a "w-w-worthy effort", concluding: "Even if it wasn't quite what you'd hoped, there's consolation in the idea of an all-in-one local store going strong in the age of the Big Supermarket."

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Making people click

Daily Telegraph: 'Reverse shopping' lays bare the ongoing struggle in the US

Guardian: Comment: The people who challenged my atheism most weren't priests, but homeless addicts and prostitutes

Financial Times: Rolls-Royce looks to plot a course to the future with drone ships

Daily Mirror: Former Spurs and AC Milan star Kevin Prince-Boateng in hospital after suffering assault in Germany

Daily Mail: Starved, isolated, duped... how I'm A Celeb tried to break me: Westlife's Kian Egan exposes how the stars are cynically manipulated behind the scenes

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