Papers assess truckers' 'damp squib'

Just 60 days after fuel campaigners almost brought the UK to a standstill, the papers compare the summer protest with the convoy and demonstration in Hyde Park on Tuesday.

The Times harks back to "that heady, late summer madness" when hauliers set a 60-day deadline for Chancellor Gordon Brown to meet their demands.

Since then, it says, "there's been biblical flooding, a mini-Budget and madness in Washington. The public has moved on".

The Daily Star describes Tuesday's protests as "low-key". The Daily Express calls them a "damp squib".

The Daily Mail says it is clear the pressure of running the campaign has taken its toll on the dairy farmer, David Handley, who announced he was standing down as chairman of the People's Fuel Lobby.

Only The Sun believes the truckers' protest hammered home their message, "ending on a high".

Lawyer count

The disarray surrounding the US elections continues to attract the papers' attention.

The Financial Times says Al Gore's hopes of winning the election appeared to be waning after a state judge upheld Tuesday's deadline for the recount.

The Daily Telegraph shares the view that Mr Gore has suffered a setback.

But the paper claims that the two sides were considering a secret deal that could bring the acrimony to an end.

It says both Mr Gore and George W Bush would agree to drop their legal actions and abide by the results of a recount across the whole of Florida.

In The Independent, Rupert Cornwell reports that each side is reported to have sent 100 lawyers to Florida to help clear up the electoral mess. And both camps have set up fund-raising committees to pay for a battle costing hundreds of thousands of dollars a day.

Patented genes

A human heart illustrates The Guardian's claim that the race for commercial control over the essence of life is threatening to spiral out of control.

It says private firms, universities and charities are rushing to isolate and patent human genes.

The paper notes that "nine patents have been applied for on the genes which determine your eyeball, 40 on those for your heart and no fewer than 152 on a single grain of rice".

The Independent shares concerns that patents could increase the cost of medical research or even inhibit such work. But it believes there are many examples of patenting which have enabled natural substances to be exploited to everyone's advantage.

End of an era

Beneath the headline "Ta-ra, pet", The Mirror records the passing of Coronation Street tabby cat Frisky.

For 10 years, Frisky has crouched on the roof of Jack Duckworth's pigeon loft in the opening titles of the TV soap.

A programme spokesman says he's been "as much a part of Coronation Street as the cobbles and the Rovers Return".

But The Sun claims that "Corrie" fans may soon catch their final glimpse of Britain's most famous pub.

The paper says it is set to be revamped as a theme pub called The Boozy Newt.