Press debates 'Vietnam in Iraq'

Is Iraq turning into a new Vietnam?

That is a question exercising many of the papers this morning.

On its front page, the Times pictures the burning military vehicle in which three American soldiers were wounded in Tuesday's rocket attack in northern Baghdad.

It calls the attack the most audacious since President Bush declared the war over.

The paper says the drive-by assault was reckless and inventive - and an alarming sign of how determined the Iraqi resistance is becoming.

The Independent quotes Paul Bremer, the US official now running Iraq, blaming such attacks on a few surviving supporters of Saddam Hussein, getting increasingly desperate as normal life is restored.

But it is more telling, the paper says, that Mr Bremer's upbeat news conferences are delivered from behind enormous fortifications of barbed wire and concrete blocks, in the centre of Baghdad.

Both the Financial Times and the Daily Telegraph report indications, from new opinion polls, that the American people's previously overwhelming support for the Iraq campaign may now be waning.

'Bra burnout'

It is 75 years since women won equal voting rights in Britain.

The Guardian reports the findings of a study commissioned by the Equal Opportunities Commission, that feminism and the fight for sex equality are widely seen as outmoded ideas that fail to address the strains of modern life.

Feminism is said to be regarded as old-fashioned and anti-men. Most of those questioned felt women were more equal than ever before, and that issues such as domestic roles and lower pay should be tackled by individuals rather than by "positive discrimination" or "political correctness".

For the Times "bra-burning feminism has reached burnout".

The Sun was quick off the mark with last night's story of the sale of Chelsea Football Club to a Russian oil tycoon.

Beckham galore

Describing the deal as one of the most amazing in soccer history, its headline is "Chelski".

It recalls how, in 1982, Chelsea's colourful chairman, Ken Bates, paid just a pound to take control; the Sun estimates he will depart with an £18m profit.

Still on the subject of ... high finance, there are pages and pictures galore of David Beckham's arrival in Madrid - for a medical.

His new employers, Real Madrid, agreed to pay Manchester United some £25m for his services.

The Daily Express and the Daily Star reckon they will recoup about two-thirds of that before he has even kicked a ball in the Spanish league.

Lucky Lotto girl

Because of Beckham, Real are said to have lined up an £8m tour of the Far East; the rest of the money will come from additional shirt sales, and other commercial spin-offs.

The Star calls it a "Cash Beck Deal".

All the papers feature the story of a 16-year-old girl who has become one of the youngest winners of a National Lottery jackpot.

The Telegraph tells how Callie Rogers, from Cockermouth in Cumbria, was earning £3.60 an hour at her local Co-op.

She has never travelled further than Blackpool.

On Saturday, she won £2m in the main Lotto draw.

Callie insists she will still go shopping on the high street - but she will splash out on a new wheelchair for her foster mother.

Flick lit

Much has been written in recent weeks about the boost to children's reading provided by the Harry Potter books.

But research by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the OECD - reported in the Independent - has found that secondary school pupils in Britain spend less time reading than almost any others in the world.

In only four out of 43 countries surveyed did a lower percentage of girls read for at least two hours a day.

The UK figure was three and a half per cent; for British boys, it was only two and half per cent.

However, British 15-year-olds still did well in international literacy tests because they spent more time browsing through magazines, emails and websites.