'Statesmanship' call for US election

Most papers cover the descent of the American presidential race into further legal quagmire.

The Daily Express carries a picture of one demonstrator's solution, painted on a banner: "Flip A Coin", it suggests. "It's the only fair way".

Many of the papers examine how and when the next resident of the White House should become known.

The Times notes that recounts could be triggered in three more states - but in its editorial, it says such threats should not be implemented. Instead, it calls for statesmanship to take the place of partisanship.

The paper feels that, by maintaining a low profile, Messrs Gore and Bush might soon find their political options have been narrowed by unduly zealous supporters.

Bitter prose

That view is echoed by The Financial Times. It calls on both sides to show better grace: conceding victory will be all the more difficult unless the campaign teams tone down their bitter prose.

There is plenty of food for thought for the prime minister and Foreign Secretary Robin Cook as the papers chew over their speeches on Europe on Monday.

In a glowing editorial The Independent welcomes what it sees as the government's change of tack.

'Misleading exaggeration'

The Guardian too, is positive. But it feels it is plain daft to assume everything in the Brussels garden is blooming.

It also believes Mr Cook was lurching towards misleading exaggeration in suggesting next month's Nice summit was unadulterated good news.

Meanwhile The Daily Mail and The Sun go much further, lambasting Mr Cook for his assault on Euro-sceptics.

The Mail accuses him of insulting the electorate. The Sun says he has lost all credibility on Europe - his three years at the Foreign Office have left him brainwashed, it claims.

Ministers accused

An attack on the government from a member of the Patten Commission, which looked into policing in Northern Ireland, is carried in The Guardian.

Professor Clifford Shearing accuses ministers of "gutting" the Commission's report.

He says the bill, now before the House of Lords, fails to fulfil the hopes and vision of the Good Friday Agreement because its core elements have been undermined. But the government has rejected the criticism.

Rail compensation

Civil war in the rail industry is predicted by The Independent as it looks at the issue of compensation passengers should receive after recent delays.

Railtrack has set aside £150m, but the paper says the train operators want up to £330m. A Railtrack insider tells the paper that figure is all about horse-trading.

The Daily Telegraph agrees that passengers are likely to get just a small part of the money paid out by Railtrack.

'Virtuoso' Tiger Woods

He is usually more at home on, or near, the back pages, but Tiger Woods' virtuoso performance in London on Monday is the cue for a bigger splash.

For the Daily Express the young American golfer is arguably the biggest sports star since Muhammed Ali.

At his "golf clinic" in front of 5,000 fans in Hyde Park, the paper felt he managed to reduce the likes of Steve Redgrave and Gary Lineker to sporting pygmies with his dazzling skills.

The Daily Telegraph is a fan too. But it offers some consolation to the weekend hacker.

Woods, it says, managed to hit seven air-shots in a row. He was trying his trademark trickshot - juggling the ball on the face of the club before whacking it baseball-style into the air - he kept missing

After one wag's encouragement to "Keep your head down", he doffed his cap and accepted defeat.