Papers give euro cautious welcome

With the euro now in operation in 12 EU countries, most papers give the single currency a cautious welcome.

"At last, the euro is born" declares The Independent and it goes on to say that "from Prussia to County Kerry, from Lapland to Crete, three hundred million people are paying for their daily bread or daily newspaper" with the euro.

The Sun takes the strongest anti-euro line on its front-page.

The paper thinks that the "future prosperity of 305 million European citizens is being risked" with what it calls a "flawed, politically-inspired gamble".

It states that Britain will not join what it believes is a "loopy lottery".

But The Mirror paints a much more positive picture.

On its front page, beneath a bright sunrise, the paper exclaims "Happy New Euro".

It goes on to assess the chancellor's five economic tests which will determine whether Britain is to join the single currency, and concludes that "as the year goes on, it will become blindingly clear that we must join the others".

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the single currency, The Guardian reports on the huge logistical effort that brought euro coins and notes to 12 countries by midnight.

The paper describes it as "probably the biggest and certainly the most fraught security operation western Europe has known since the Second World War".

But it points out that Spain has already reported the first euro bank robbery, with two armed thieves getting away with around 90,000 euros.

Giuliani farewell

Several papers note that midnight not only brought 2001 to an end, but it also marked the end of Rudolph Giuliani's reign as Mayor of New York.

The Independent says that for eight years "he played father to the people" of the city, "infuriated them, soothed them, scolded them, and sheltered them from crime".

The Guardian points out that until the events of September the eleventh, Mayor Giuliani faced leaving office like many of his predecessors, as a reviled man.

But the paper says that now "he goes as a global hero".

Linguistic lessons

The Daily Mail is among several papers to highlight a school in north London which will soon offer pupils the chance to study the curriculum in their native language.

Between them, the children speak 64 different languages.

But the Mail is wary of such a move and says that at a time when some young British Muslims are sympathetic to groups such as al-Qaeda, "it is utterly misguided for schools to be taking a step - no matter how well meant - that will impede assimilation, rather than hasten it".

Top monarch

The result of the Today programme poll to find Britain's greatest monarch has caused great debate in this morning's papers.

Elizabeth the First came top and Tim Hames of The Times says that any woman who has been portrayed by Dame Judi Dench, Glenda Jackson and Miranda Richardson "must have something going for her".