The end of the road for HRT?

The findings of a study in the Lancet, that the most common form of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can double a woman's risk of developing breast cancer, is the main story for six of the newspapers.

The Guardian says the results deal a huge blow to the reputation of the therapy. The Financial Times believes they are likely to spell the end of HRT as a long-term treatment.

A family doctor writing in the Telegraph warns that the conclusions of the study are not just another health scare, but for real.

Manic smile

He expresses regret because - in his words - over the years, the lives of hundreds of thousands have been transformed by this wonder treatment that not only eliminates those hot flushes around the menopause, but for some reason provides a new lease of life as well.

Coverage of the death sentence on the man convicted for his part in the Bali bombings is dominated by his reaction to his fate.

A manic smile and raised fists, according to the Telegraph. The Times describes Amrozi bin Nurhasyim's thumbs-up sign as a macabre celebration; it headlines its report: "Bomber celebrates another death - his own."

The Sun captures his apparent mood with the headline: "Yessssss!" It was as if he had just been acquitted, the Guardian remarks.

Blair successor

In the words of the Independent, bravado and defiance characterised his demeanour throughout the trial, and judgment day was no different.

A report on the Times' front page says the Prime Minister and Gordon Brown have established a "working assumption" under which the Chancellor would succeed Tony Blair midway through the next parliament.

According to the paper, the Prime Minister and his leading allies are understood to have assured Mr Brown that he remains the only credible successor.

The report also adds that on his return from holiday, Mr Blair will begin to restructure his Downing Street team in an attempt to shed the government's reputation for spin, and political interference with the Civil Service.

'Random pointlessness'

The Independent and the Express report that Downing Street is planning to publish another Iraq weapons dossier.

According to the Express - quoting the Economist - intelligence agencies are said to have uncovered new evidence of an Iraqi weapons programme and attempts to hide weapons.

Finally, the Times has word of a new craze sweeping America and Europe - flash mobbing, or what it calls random acts of pointlessness.

It began when 150 people simultaneously converged on a department store in New York and proceeded to ask bemused staff about the possibility of buying a "love rug" for their "suburban commune" - then abruptly and inexplicably disappeared.

Within days, the Times goes on, 250 people gathered at a hotel in Manhattan and broke into 15 seconds of wild applause.

In London, 300 people arrived at a furniture store at closing time to look at sofas. In Rome, hundreds entered a book shop to ask for a non-existent title.

Crowds gathered around a washing machine display at a department store in Germany - before eating bananas. A man who had been tipped off about the London stunt tells the paper: "I thought it might be the start of a cultural phenomenon - something to tell the grandchildren about."