Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Ukraine 'war footing' and Jagger 'devotion' - papers

Putin's speech, Jagger's reaction to L'Wren Scott death and a Trotter millionaire

Times front page, 19/3/14 Events in Crimea are back on front pages, with the Times reporting the shooting of a Ukrainian soldier. It suggests the situation is "in danger of spiralling out of control" and says Ukraine is on a war footing.
Metro front page, 19/3/14 The Metro describes tensions in the territory, where people voted on Sunday to leave Ukraine, as having "boiled over into bloody violence". It quotes Ukraine's interim prime minister calling the soldier's shooting a "war crime".
Guardian front page, 19/3/14 The Guardian focuses on the words of Russian President Vladimir Putin who, it says, delivered a "searing speech" in which he denounced "Western hypocrisy". He'd earlier signed a bill to absorb Crimea into Russia, it says.
The i front page, 19/3/14 The i says Mr Putin has pledged retaliation after the US and EU froze assets and imposed travel bans on several Russian and Ukrainian individuals. It quotes Mr Putin saying he will "bring glory back to Russia".
Independent front page, 19/3/14 The Independent uses an image of an elderly Crimean woman watching Mr Putin on TV. Its lead story says Dungeness nuclear power station, in Kent, was shut for five months last year amid fears of a "Fukushima-style disaster".
Daily Mirror front page, 19/3/14 Mick Jagger's reaction to the death of his partner, the fashion designer L'Wren Scott, leads the Daily Mirror. The paper quotes him as saying he is "struggling to understand" how she could end her life.
The Sun front page, 19/3/14 The Sun has spoken to "pals" of Jagger, who say he was "totally devoted" to the 6ft 4in model and designer, whom he'd been with for 13 years. The paper publishes what it calls the "last picture" of the pair, taken in London last month.
Daily Mail front page, 19/3/14 The Daily Mail also quotes the Rolling Stones frontman on its front page. The paper's lead story says the £1 coin is to be scrapped in favour of a new design "shaped like an old threepenny bit".
Daily Star front page, 19/3/14 The Daily Star has the news of a man named Trotter who won £108m on the lottery. Twisting the catchphrase of his Only Fools and Horses namesake, Del Boy, Neil Trotter had told friends: "This time tomorrow, I'll be a millionaire."
Daily Telegraph front page, 19/3/14 The Daily Telegraph follows up its claims about payments made to a Fifa official ahead of the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar by saying MPs are demanding a re-run of the bidding process. Qatar insists it followed all rules.
Daily Express front page, 19/3/14 The Daily Express quotes researchers as saying that a very low calorie diet could be the key to a long and healthy life. It protects the body's cells from harmful deterioration and the risk of cancer, the paper reports.
Financial Times front page, 19/3/14 Bank of England Governor Mark Carney's "shake-up" of management and operations leads the Financial Times. It comes after the Bank was criticised for its response to foreign exchange rate manipulation claims, the paper notes.

Several front pages feature the latest events in Crimea, where a Ukrainian soldier was shot dead on the day Moscow signed a treaty to absorb the region.

Vladimir Putin, centre, joins hands with three Crimean leaders

The Times says Ukraine is on a war footing, a situation the Sun describes as "Dad's Army v Vlad's Army" - a reference to Kiev's relatively weak military in comparison with that of its neighbour, led by Vladimir Putin.

Roland Oliphant, in the Daily Telegraph, describes how "the tiniest flash of a smirk slipped through the passive visage" of the Russian president as he joined hands with the three Crimean leaders who had "formalised the annexation". Mr Putin referred to the process as a "reunification", notes Mary Dejevsky in the Independent. She describes Mr Putin's "sense of vindication for Crimea's Russians, who had, as he said referring to 1991, gone to bed one night in one country and awoke, as a minority, in another".

Alec Luhn, in the Guardian, samples the "Cold War" atmosphere among the reported 120,000 Russians celebrating the "return" of Crimea in Moscow's Red Square, where people interrupted their president by chanting his name.

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'Pooh' and Putin
William Hague with Vladimir Putin

Giles Whittell, in the Times, translates what Mr Putin said in his speech to "what he meant" and suggests what was left "unsaid".

In the speech, the writer finds a threat to make life hard for Western interests in Russia, along with a statement that Russia does not want to partition Ukraine which fails to rule out using force there. He suggests that while Mr Putin declares that Russia never aims for confrontation with the West, the hidden implication of his statement is: "If our 'partners' want to start a fight, we say bring it on."

And many papers doubt Mr Putin's motives. The Daily Mail hears in Mr Putin's address "echoes of Hitler's 1938 speech on the seizure of the Sudetenland", the German-speaking area of Czechoslovakia.

The Daily Star's cartoon imagines Mr Putin devouring Crimea as he carves up Ukraine on a plate, while its leader column says: "Politicians in Moscow want their leader to invade more former Soviet states. Oil and gas-rich Kazakhstan... is top of the list."

The West's response - in the form of sanctions against a number of Russian individuals - is roundly condemned in the press as "weak", with historian Max Hastings summing up Britain's retaliation in the Mail: "[Foreign Seretary] William Hague's stern remarks about Ukraine impress foes and friends alike no more than the same lines delivered by Winnie the Pooh."

Meanwhile, in the Financial Times, Guy Chazan finds Crimea's "choicest assets" - oil and gas facilities and ministry or union-owned holiday facilities - in the control of pro-Russian forces, with private business expecting a "carve-up" of property and possessions.

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Budget demands
Prototype 12-sided £1 coin

The Daily Mail is among papers to report that the £1 coin is to be scrapped, leading on the fact it will be replaced by a coin "shaped like an old threepenny bit".

"Unfortunately if you take inflation into account it probably isn't worth much more than the old threepenny bit either," laments the Daily Express.

While any other fresh Budget titbits are seemingly locked away in George Osborne's red despatch box, there's no shortage of advice for the chancellor in the papers.

"Wanted: Budget to end the misery of our hungry poor," says the Daily Mirror's Ros Wynne-Jones, who charts a year of meeting poverty-hit folk and campaigning with faith leaders which culminated in the delivery to Downing Street of a 70,000-name petition calling for an end to UK poverty.

The Sun visits a Downing Street in both Newport and Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, to hear the demands of residents, which include more support for first-time buyers, help with childcare costs, a cut in petrol prices and a rise in the minimum wage.

Mary Riddell, writing in the Daily Telegraph, says Mr Osborne must show he is "truly on the side of those who suffer" or face handing a decisive victory to Labour, with its repeated claims that the coalition government's policies are "unfair". The Times too, in its editorial column, says the chancellor needs to find a way to "make people feel the recovery".

Before Mr Osborne has even taken to his feet, the Financial Times hands down verdicts on the expected announcements. However, in the eyes of Daniel Finkelstein, of the Times, the Budget is just a "gimmick" and should be "ditched".

"The leader of the opposition is required to give a detailed reply... more or less as soon as the [chancellor] sits down," the writer complains. "What makes this task entirely hopeless is that the speech must be prepared without having seen the Budget... how absurd."

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T'riffic
Composite image of Neil Trotter with girlfriend Nicky Ottaway, left, and David Jason playing Derek Trotter in 2001

One man who presumably won't be too worried about how the Budget affects him is Neil Trotter, who won £108m on the Euromillions lottery and - in the process - provided sub-editors with all manner of fun.

"Del Boy Trotter wins £108m," says the Daily Star, enjoying the fact the mechanic shares a name with the Only Fools and Horses character. It notes he even enjoyed a twist on one of Del's catchphrases before the draw, telling friends: "This time tomorrow, I'll be a millionaire."

According to the Daily Mirror, his win puts him 745th on the UK rich list, above singers David Bowie, George Michael and Robbie Williams. It suggests he could splurge on a fleet of 72 Bugatti Veyron cars, 771 pairs of diamond-encrusted shoes, the rights to the Beatles back catalogue or a set of under-performing Tottenham Hotspur summer signings.

"Lovely bubbly," says the Sun, next to an image of Mr Trotter opening a bottle of champagne with girlfriend Nicky Ottaway. It says he could buy 332 flats in Peckham, 71,955 Reliant Robins, or 19,624,109 pina coladas with his winnings. It was "lucky dipstick" that won him the prize, it adds.

Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports an incident "just like a scene from Only Fools". It says: "Life imitated art when a chandelier being lowered for cleaning at a stately home fell, crashing on to a table, causing nearly £3,000 damage to the light fighting."

The paper says it happened at Towneley Hall in Burnley, where the local council reportedly insisted: "This was an unfortunate accident. It was nothing like the Only Fools and Horses Episode."

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Making people click

Daily Telegraph: MH370: Maldives Islanders claim to have spotted 'low flying jet'

Guardian: Lurid coverage of L'Wren Scott's death shows British tabloids at their worst - Joan Smith

The Times: Putin needs to hear a four-letter word: Nato

Daily Express: Malaysian plane: 20 passengers worked for electronic warfare and military radar firm


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