Papers attack Anglican Church

He is old, frail and desperately tired - but the Pope still has formidable inner strength and unshakeable resolve, according to the Daily Mail.

"The contrast with the confused, divided, Anglicans could hardly be more glaring", the newspaper adds.

The Mail is one of several to criticise the Anglican Church and the Archbishop of Canterbury for the handling of a row about a gay bishop's appointment in America.

The paper says the Anglican tradition has been courting disaster for decades by watering down its message and trimming its sails to every passing fashion.

The Independent also has harsh words for Dr Rowan Williams - saying he has failed to stand up to bigotry.

It says Anglicanism worldwide is not a unitary body and ought to be able to accept further differences.

The Times says Dr Williams has been "inept" and "naive" in his handling of the issue of gay bishops in the past.

But the paper also has harsh words for the American Church - accusing it of being parochial and deaf to pleas for understanding.

Iain trouble

There is little comfort for another leader facing difficulties - Iain Duncan Smith.

The Daily Telegraph says senior Conservative MP Sir Patrick Cormack has urged the Tory leader to submit himself voluntarily to a vote of confidence.

The paper says Sir Patrick's intervention could act as a catalyst for those MPs who want a change of leader but have so far held back from requesting a confidence vote.

To add to Mr Duncan Smith's woes, The Times claims to have seen a confidential report warning the party is heading for a £3m deficit this year.

On hedge

The Guardian is one of a number of papers to say neighbour disputes about leylandii hedges could soon be a thing of the past.

The government is proposing to amend the Anti-social Behaviour Bill to allow councils to chop down overgrown hedges.

The Guardian says oversized leylandii have led to more than 10,000 "unneighbourly" disputes, including one that ended in murder.

Won't wash

The case of motorist Richard Jeffery receives wide coverage.

The Sun among others says police spent half an hour checking Mr Jeffery's car during a patrol of his estate at Wakefield, West Yorkshire.

The only thing they could find wrong was he had no water in his screen washer bottle.

Still, they fined Mr Jeffery £60 and gave him three penalty points on his licence.

Later West Yorkshire Police said the officers may have been overzealous and the fine would be withdrawn.

This was not enough to stop the Daily Express asking: "Has Britain gone mad?"

Dumptying down

The Mail has the latest example of the spread of political correctness.

It says a CD of nursery songs, sold by Mothercare, features an extra verse at the end of Humpty Dumpty.

Apparently the makers were concerned young children might be upset by the idea of poor Humpty coming to a tragic end.

So they have added an extra verse suggesting that, after the fall, he counts to 10 and picks himself up again, none the worse for his ordeal.

A Mothercare spokesman said the company behind the CD was trying to be supportive to parents who might find it difficult to explain death and injury to a young child.

The Mail says it can surely now only be a matter of time before the Three Blind Mice have their tails stuck on again.