Papers assess euro battle

In a list of decisive moments it may not rank with the road to Damascus or the crossing of the Rubicon.

Nevertheless, The Guardian is convinced Tony Blair has embarked on a campaign which will either make him or break him.

The paper is not talking about the general election, but Europe - or what it calls "one of the epic political engagements in modern British history".

Two years from now, it says, Mr Blair will have either taken Britain into the single currency, or else he will have gambled his mandate on Europe and lost.

Other papers are not as dramatic in their language.

Yet they also see the prime minister's speech in Edinburgh yesterday as a significant moment in the election campaign.

The Daily Express applauds his confidence in putting the euro centre stage.

The Daily Mail - an implacable enemy of the single currency - agrees that Mr Blair has gone "boldly on the offensive on one of William Hague's strongest issues".

The Daily Telegraph joins with its euro-phobic ally in demanding rigorous arguments.

For the first time, the paper observes, Mr Blair has come out fighting for the single currency.

As such, it is essential that he begins a debate devoted to hard facts instead of ill-defined ideals and philosophies.

Future roles

The futures of two Labour politicians are plotted in the tabloids.

The Sun claims that the schools standards minister, Estelle Morris, will become education secretary after the election.

The Mirror reports that Mo Mowlam - who's leaving politics - will set up a network of halfway houses for recovering drugs addicts, to be known as Mo Mo Homes.

Wedding tragedy

There is harrowing testimony to the impact of the Jerusalem wedding party disaster on the families caught up in Israel's worst civilian tragedy.

Survivors speak of the dreadful moment when the floor at the Versailles banqueting hall collapsed.

Both The Times and The Independent see a possible explanation in Israeli history, arguing that cost-cutting in the construction industry and a tendency to ignore planning rules can be attributed to the rush to establish a modern, Jewish state.

Spy revelations

The Guardian reports that European citizens are to be given an unprecedented warning about the threat to their privacy of a global eavesdropping network developed during the Cold War by Britain and the United States.

The paper says a leaked draft of a European Parliament report removes any lingering doubts about the reality of the spy system, known as Echelon, even though no government has officially acknowledged involvement.

Stop, thief!

And finally, many of the papers pick up on criminal tale of mugging and mobile phones which could be called the "French connection".

The heroine is Karen Davies, from Duffield in Derbyshire, who took a call from her partner after he had been robbed on a business trip to Paris.

His brief-case, wallet and mobile phone were taken.

The Daily Star says Karen decided to use her rusty O-level French and a dictionary to send a text message to the thief, saying he could keep the cash, but could he return the passport and airline tickets.

As The Times says, it may not have been in the tradition of Maigret, but, mon Dieu, it worked.

The culprit rang back - and told her where he'd dumped the briefcase.