Nuclear arms reduction welcomed

The decision by the five nuclear powers to eliminate nuclear weapons receives cautious welcomes in many of the day's papers.

The Times says the move, while vague in scope and imprecise in detail, is as unexpected as it is heartening.

The Guardian thinks the major powers need to go further and launch an unconditional, multilateral arms reduction process.

Baby Blair

In terms of columns inches, it is the arrival of Leo Blair that again makes the running.

Both the prime minister and Mrs Blair are reported to be tired, and the papers ensure they are not short of hints on how to cope.

The Sun's health correspondent, for instance, says Mrs Blair should take expert advice and put her feet up for the next few days.

Much is made of the amount of cash offered to 10 Downing Street for exclusive pictures of the new baby.

According to The Times, some bids have topped £100,000 with the total standing at more than £1m. But they have all been rebuffed.

The Daily Telegraph believes the pictures will eventually emerge in an operation planned "with military precision" to make sure the prime minister's wife is not snapped in her night-dress, as she was once before.

Laptop scoop

The Mirror says it has been able to return a lap top computer containing highly secret information about a stealth fighter plane to the Ministry of Defence after it was stolen from a naval intelligence officer at a London station.

The paper notes it is not the first time that lap tops containing official secrets have gone astray and calls for security to be tightened up.

Peace process

The rejection by Sinn Fein of the proposed new police bill for Northern Ireland gets wide coverage.

The Independent believes it is a setback for the wider peace process which is now entering one of its most crucial and unpredictable phases.

Schoolgirl success

The Daily Mail reports the case of an 18-year-old girl from a comprehensive school who has been awarded a grant to study for her degree at Harvard after being turned down by Oxford University.

Laura Spence from North Tyneside was apparently rejected because she "did not show enough potential" in a "gruelling interview".

The Daily Mail says her headmaster has warned that Oxbridge colleges will suffer a brain drain if they continue to reject applications from talented state school pupils.

Blow to hunt ban

The Guardian, on its front page, claims that the campaign to ban fox hunting is soon to receive a severe blow.

It says that the report of an official inquiry will reveal there is no conclusive evidence that foxes suffer physical pain and terror when being pursued by a pack of dogs.

'Queen of purple prose'

The death of Barbara Cartland at the age of 98 is widely reported.

The Independent takes up much of its front page with a picture and report - dubbing her "the queen of purple prose".

The Independent notes that she could write a novel in five days and describes her output as " prodigious, driven and mind-boggling".

The Express, which carries a front page picture of Dame Barbara, describes her as the "outrageous lady in pink" noting that she began her literary career as one of the paper's gossip columnists, when she was " a bright young thing" in the 1920s.