Papers assess UK troops' role

British troops could be poised to join a ground offensive in Afghanistan, according to many front pages.

The Guardian says the decision to commit British forces, including the SAS, is expected this week, as the approaching winter intensifies pressure on military commanders.

According to the Daily Telegraph, some SAS soldiers are already in Afghanistan liaising with the Northern Alliance.

But the paper says more overt operations involving forces such as the Royal Marines and the Parachute Regiment are expected soon.

The Sun says lightning raids by US special forces have done more effective damage in two hours than the Russians managed when they invaded Afghanistan.

Call to arms

A Taliban fighter captured by the Northern Alliance is reported to have told a Daily Mail correspondent in northern Afghanistan that dozens of British Muslims are being trained in trench warfare in Kabul.

He claims they answered Osama Bin Laden's call to defend Afghanistan against British and American troops.

'Torture' tactics

Frustrated FBI investigators are considering resorting to torture to extract information from suspected members of Osama Bin Laden's al Qaida network, says The Times.

The paper says agents have been met with a wall of silence from more than 150 suspects jailed since the US terrorist attacks on 11 September.

Other options under consideration are said to include the use of truth drugs, and extraditing suspects to countries whose security services are more used to employing heavy-handed tactics.

Tax fears

There is a £5bn hole in Labour's spending plans for schools and hospitals, according to the Telegraph.

Using figures from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, the Tories are claiming that taxes may have to rise because the Chancellor has failed to include an unprecedented expansion in means-tested benefits in his forecasts.

Spin scandal

A report in The Sun accuses the Cabinet Office Minister, Lord MacDonald, of misleading Parliament and then sending an aide to put pressure on the writers of Hansard to alter the official record.

The incident involved a question in which Lord MacDonald was being asked about the cost of special advisers now, compared with when the Tories were in power.

The figures he quoted, which seemed to suggest little difference, both related to the period that Labour has been in power.

The Sun says Lord MacDonald is one of Tony Blair's closest lieutenants, and it describes the incident as a "new spin scandal".

Panda power

Reports and pictures of Yingying the weightlifting panda used in a Beijing circus have angered conservationists, says the Times.

The World Wildlife Fund charity says the right place for pandas is in the wild - not lifting dumbells, playing on children's slides or driving go-karts.

Loyal tourists

A leader in the Daily Express notes that America remains the number one holiday destination for the British, according to travel agents.

The paper says this shows that Britons are fiercely loyal and it tells readers that holidaying in the US is one way of underlining the unity between the two countries.