Papers focus on hunt for missing girl

There is a wide range of lead stories on offer in Friday's newspapers, with only the Daily Mail and The Sun choosing the same topic - the hunt for the missing Surrey schoolgirl, Amanda Dowler.

The front page of the Mail is dominated by an aerial view of detectives searching her home for clues - police have stressed that no members of Amanda's family are under suspicion.

The Daily Express looks at claims that foreign teachers recruited to cover the staffing crisis in British schools are returning home within days because they are so appalled by pupils' behaviour.

According to the paper, recruits from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean are shocked by the violence and abuse they suffer.

Menial tasks

The plight of foreign nurses recruited to Britain is highlighted in The Mirror.

It says unscrupulous private companies are charging highly-trained foreign staff thousands of pounds in fees in return for the promise of jobs in the National Health Service.

Instead, the paper goes on, they end up as slave labour doing menial tasks in private care homes, working long hours for little pay.

The Guardian leads on the latest developments in the Middle East - describing the adoption of the Saudi peace plan at the Arab summit in Beirut as an impressive display of unity.

But as its headline makes clear, in a reference to the suicide bombing in Netanya, the killing goes on.

VAT rise?

The scrapping of the policy of sending boys under the age of 18 to war is the main story for the Daily Telegraph.

The Times reports that Labour's general secretary has given a warning in an interview for the paper that trade unions must not try to influence government policy by flexing their financial muscles within the party.

It says his message came as the Communication Workers Union became the latest body to cut its funding to the party in protest at Post Office deregulation.

The Independent says the Chancellor is to announce sweeping changes to national insurance in the Budget - with cuts for the low-paid matched by higher payments for the better-off.

On the same subject, the Telegraph reports that the Institute for Chartered Accountants in England has expressed concern that Gordon Brown might raise VAT to 19 or 20% to pay for NHS improvements.

'Drive safely'

The start of the Easter weekend is marked by some traditional features and images.

They include the Queen greeting well-wishers after the Maundy service at Canterbury Cathedral, in The Times.

And an Easter message from the Archbishop of Canterbury appears in the Mail - which also has the world's biggest hot cross bun.

If you have not yet bought an Easter egg, the Express has some suggestions about what it considers the best from among the huge selection in the shops.

The Times and the Independent have their guides to the weekend's big traffic hotspots.

And with many papers carrying pictures of the huge tailbacks caused by the accidents on several motorways, The Sun has a message for everyone about to set out on the roads: "Please, please drive safely".