Papers applaud Olympic effort

It is still a long way to the finishing line - but Friday's newspapers are already handing Tony Blair bouquets for the government's decision to back London's bid to host the Olympic games.

The Daily Telegraph says ministers have been deeply hostile to the idea and praises the prime minister for calling the faint-hearts among his colleagues to order.

The Daily Mail congratulates him for brushing aside defeatist doubts and launching a challenge for what it calls an immense prize.

The Guardian says the announcement is an astonishing turnaround - Mr Blair had been thought unlikely to support the campaign.

The Times says the right decision has been taken - after weeks of dithering.

And Britain must now abandon its penchant for being cool and understated and show some enthusiasm and optimism.

There is much reflection on the wider benefits of the bid to east London.

The Telegraph says the prospect of being held up to worldwide ridicule should finally shake London Underground into improving its services.

So sceptic

The Mail uses its front page to announce it is taking an unprecedented step in the history of newspapers by offering everyone a vote on the EU constitution being drafted in Brussels.

The document will strip the UK of any meaningful control over its affairs, the paper fears.

Inside, the Mail reports the fears of a Lords committee that, under the proposals, Britain would lose its place on the UN Security Council.

The Sun mines the same Eurosceptic theme, saying nearly 63,000 of its readers called a telephone hotline to demand a referendum on the issue.

The Financial Times says such coverage would be good hysterical fun if it did not threaten to distort the EU debate in this country.

In its editorial it calls on ministers to do more to correct misconceptions.

Sars side-effect

The Times has details of another distressing side-effect of the Sars outbreak - the authorities in China have stopped issuing travel permits to overseas couples planning to adopt Chinese children.

Families who have been waiting years to bring home their baby have been left in limbo, the paper says.

Mimi memory

She is a church administrator and a grandmother of four - but, as The Independent puts it, Marion "Mimi" Fahnestock has an astonishing past.

The revelation she had an affair with John F Kennedy as a White House intern has thrown the minds of Americans forward four decades to the scandal that enveloped Bill Clinton, the paper says.

The Guardian suggests Mr Clinton will be cursing his luck and wishing his Monica was more like Mimi.

Bee-n and gone

Several papers report the demise of the bumblebee.

The Telegraph says its numbers have dropped by up to 95% since the 60s.

Gardeners are being urged to grow traditional cottage plants like lavender rather than modern hybrids.

Disappearing puffins

Meanwhile, birdwatchers have been distressed by the non-appearance of puffins on a island off Northumberland.

Last year nearly 19,000 breeding pairs squeezed onto Coquet Island.

This year just 87 pairs have arrived.

One expert tells the Mail the island may have become too popular, prompting the birds to decide, en masse, to go elsewhere.