Papers focus on missing girl

The disappearance of a 12-year-old Greater Manchester girl, apparently with an American marine she befriended through the internet, makes the lead in the Sun, Daily Express and Daily Mirror.

The Daily Mail says Shevaun Pennington's case has again highlighted the dangers of internet chatrooms and shows how difficult they are to police.

The Sun says the web should not be blamed.

It says it is up to parents to monitor what their children use it for.

Guantanamo 'stalemate'

The Guardian claims the government has given up hope that two British men facing a US military tribunal at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba will be repatriated to stand trial in the UK.

The paper says the ministers believe the legal barriers are insurmountable - even though the stalemate is hugely embarrassing for Tony Blair as he prepares for his trip to Washington later this week.

But Downing Street has rejected the allegations and insists that negotiations are continuing.

Prosecution defended

High profile legal failures feature prominently in the Times interview with Crown Prosecution Service head Sir David Calvert-Smith.

In it he fiercely defends the prosecutions of Trupti Patel - who was wrongly accused of murdering three of her children, and Paul Burrell, the former royal butler acquitted of stealing items belonging to Princess Diana.

In Mrs Patel's case, Sir David tells the paper babies have human rights like anyone else and the CPS had a duty to inquire into suspicious deaths.

Mugabe 'promise'

The Independent reports Robert Mugabe will stand down as Zimbabwe's president in December, paving the way for new elections by next June.

It says the promise was relayed to President Bush by the South African leader, Thabo Mbeki, when the two men met last week.

Mr Mbeki's assurance was apparently based on a personal promise from Mr Mugabe.

In return, Mr Bush is said to have pledged $10bn (£6.2bn) to help rebuild Zimbabwe.

Card trick

Some of British retailing's most respected and respectable names are in the Daily Mail's gunsights.

It leads with the conclusion of the Commons Treasury select committee that the likes of Debenhams, House of Fraser, Laura Ashley and Dorothy Perkins are, in effect, fleecing customers who use their store cards.

The MPs condemned the bank that provides the cards, which have exorbitant rates of interest at a time when the Bank of England's base rate is at a 50-year low.

In its editorial, the paper urges the chancellor to do more to protect the public, particularly the less well off.

Dry spell

As the sun comes up for another boiling hot day, the Times has a report which is almost guaranteed to bring rain - the first hosepipe ban of the summer is being introduced in Kent.

Local people are being urged to take showers rather than baths and stop using garden sprinklers.

The heatwave gives the tabloids an excuse for all the usual seaside photo-opportunities.

But spare a thought for the tiny island of Muckle Holm in the Shetland Islands.

On Monday, as Cardiff sweltered at 31C, it barely topped 14C.

And that, says the Independent, was one of its better days.