Shock over schoolboy stabbing

Many of Wednesday's papers write of the shock and disbelief in the quiet rural village where Lincolnshire schoolboy Luke Walmsley was stabbed.

The incident may, as the Daily Mail puts it, have echoes of the death of Damilola Taylor in south London, but the location could hardly be more different - outside a classroom between lessons.

The Guardian says that although the area has its share of tough families and local feuds, Luke's school prides itself on a strong pastoral support system.

The Independent says the stabbing has brought calls for American-style security measures in schools, such as metal detectors.

In its editorial, the Mirror says Britain is still a long way from the US experience of having armed officers patrolling schools. But it says Luke's death should act as a wake-up call.

It wants a crackdown on the possession of weapons by children.

NEC row

The Guardian and the Times have more evidence of what the Guardian calls "the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the two most powerful men in government".

They report that the prime minister has twice blocked efforts by the Chancellor Gordon Brown to get onto Labour's National Executive Committee.

The paper says membership of the NEC would have put Mr Brown at the heart of the party machine in the run-up to the next election - and strengthened his hand in any future leadership contest.

The Times says Mr Blair's decision reinforces suspicions that he is determined to restrict the chancellor's pre-election role.

Euro tension

The Daily Telegraph extracts more mileage from Mr Brown's criticisms on Tuesday of the EU constitution.

Its correspondent, Toby Helm, says that when Mr Brown talks about Europe these days, he sounds more like a hardline Tory eurosceptic than the pro-Euro Labour chancellor Tony Blair would like him to be.

But this is nothing new. The paper says Mr Brown has been ratcheting up the anti-Brussels rhetoric for months, increasing pressure on Mr Blair which he could do without.

Debt timebomb

With economists forecasting a rise in interest rates on Thursday, the Daily Express has a gloomy prediction.

It says money experts are warning that Britain's "devastating debt timebomb" is on the verge of exploding.

A report by the consumer group CPP suggests one in four of us will not be able to keep up with debt repayments and bills over the next three months and many will choose to default.

A spokeswoman tells the paper a rate rise on Thursday will tip many borrowers over the edge.

Fashion frenzy

The fashion world is in a frenzy, according to the Guardian. Why? Because of the resignations of Tom Ford and Domenico de Sole of Gucci.

The men are, says the Financial Times, the most powerful duo in fashion.

It says their departure marks the end of an era in which Gucci became a global luxury brand, although some of the gloss has come off in the past year.

A Gucci source tells the Daily Telegraph there were" bare knuckle" negotiations over new contracts for the men but, in the end, no agreement could be reached.

The Guardian says that other designers, like Stella McCartney, may now leave the group.

Firework findings

Finally, 398 years to the day after Guy Fawkes's plot was foiled, scientists have calculated the devastation all that gunpowder under the Palace of Westminster would have caused.

Several papers report the findings of researchers at the University of Wales.

They concluded that the 36 barrels of explosives would have caused damage up to a third of a mile away.

The Times says large parts of central London would have been flattened.