Papers dazzled by Mars discovery

Stunning, brightly coloured pictures of frozen water on Mars are accompanied on the front of the Times by a bold assertion about the historical importance of the find.

Dr John Murray, a member of the Mars Express team, writes that scientists are on the threshold of the most exciting discovery about humanity's place in the Universe since Galileo and Copernicus proved that the Earth goes round the Sun.

The Independent fully understands the level of excitement - it briskly traces the development of space science from Galileo, to the conquering of space, to the Viking missions to Mars, but says none of them proved there was water on the red planet.

Now, it says, we know oceans may once have been a feature of the landscape there.

The Sun helpfully depicts a lush, green landscape to show how Mars might have looked millions of years ago, and adds a side panel with details of other "great discoveries", such as fire, the wheel, and penicillin.

Education fees

There are reports of new concessions to try to win over backbench Labour MPs planning to vote against variable tuition fees next week.

The Financial Times says the Education Secretary, Charles Clarke, is to reassure rebels that a review of the scheme in three years time would be genuinely independent.

Mr Clarke also tells the Daily Telegraph that he is actively looking at a "copper-bottomed" guarantee that the fees would not rise beyond £3,000 until around 2010.

In the full interview inside the paper, Mr Clarke is said to be confident of victory, but furious with former ministers who he thinks have been whipping up opposition to the plans just to get back at Tony Blair.

The Guardian agrees with his assessment. It says the revolt is made up mainly of incorrigible opponents, bolstered by embittered ex-ministers, who see the chance to unseat Mr Blair without damaging Labour.

It thinks they are mistaken, and adds that they will be allying themselves with the Tories and the right-wing press if they bring down the Blair government.

Ironically, the Guardian therefore finds itself agreeing with the Sun.

Its leader-writer says the rebels are mad if they think kicking out Tony Blair is in the best interests of the party, and advises them to think carefully over the weekend.

Plum army jobs

The Ministry of Defence comes in for fresh criticism in the Daily Mirror, which leads with a claim that the SAS is facing the biggest manning crisis in its history.

It says 40 soldiers are leaving because they are sick of low pay, red tape, and the tendency to give all the "plum jobs" to American special forces.

Senior commanders are said to be seriously concerned about the exodus - and former SAS soldier Andy McNab adds that although soldiers always leave the army after a major campaign such as the Iraq war, the scale of this exodus is quite exceptional, and is bad news for the regiment.

Fake photo

Several papers cover the story of Kevin McGuire, who successfully challenged a parking ticket when it emerged that photographic evidence against him had been faked.

The Times tells how an adjudicator in Greater Manchester ruled that photos which the car-parking company NCP said were taken on different days were actually the same picture, with a different date added.

The Daily Express thinks the shocking case is the last straw for Britain's beleaguered motorists.

Mr McGuire himself says heads should roll, and that all cases won using the evidence of digital photography should be overturned.

The Daily Telegraph leads its front page with a claim that some cancer patients are being forced to wait so that government targets can be met.

Geoffrey Wilson, a consultant surgeon at Epsom General hospital in Surrey, says he has been told to operate on six non-urgent cases because the patients will soon have been waiting 12 months, exceeding a target which should have been met last year.

Mr Wilson tells the paper he is considering resigning from the NHS over the issue, but the hospital trust has denied the claim.