Sundays ponder Syria's future

The Sunday Telegraph declares that the death of Syria's President Hafez al-Assad has thrown the Middle East into turmoil.

The paper believes that Syria faces a "vicious struggle for succession" between Assad's son, Bashar and the president's younger brother, Rifaat, who lives in exile in France.

The Observer believes that Bashar al-Assad has the backing of the military and security establishment after a recent purge of his potential rivals.

The Sunday Times reports that change has been under way in Damascus for some time.

It describes how the old looming portraits of the dictator had all but vanished from the capital's streets, replaced by the less threatening face of his son.

But the paper says Bashar has a hard act to follow as his father was regarded as a man of "great intelligence and ruthlessness.

Muddle over refugees

The Sunday Telegraph reports on what it calls a fresh embarrassment to Home Secretary Jack Straw with an admission that 2,500 refugees from Kosovo have been lost by immigration officials.

Senior Tories have told the paper that many of the refugees have disappeared into the black economy in order to stay on illegally in the UK.

It quotes a Refugee Council spokesman, who believes that most of the Kosovo refugees have applied for extensions to stay or have registered for flights home.

UK child poverty 'shame'

The disturbing findings of a United Nations report on child poverty are reported in the Observer.

It describes Britain's record on child poverty as shameful and says that millions of young people are trapped in conditions among the worst in Europe.

The paper says Chancellor Gordon Brown is planning to announce a multi-million pound package to tackle the problem which he regards as one of the most serious affecting Britain.

Cannabis at the Palace

The Royal Family dominates many of the tabloids.

The News of the World reports on the fury of the Queen after a police raid in a kitchen at Buckingham Palace.

The paper says that officers swooped when cannabis plants, ready to be harvested, were found thriving in one of the pages' kitchens.

The Sunday Mirror trumpets that "Bonnie Prince William" is to study History of Art at Edinburgh University, and reveals that the prince, like his father, has taken an active interest in art.

The public's attitude to Camilla Parker Bowles is weighed up in The Sunday Telegraph following her meeting last weekend with the Queen.

It reports that most people want to see her at the Prince of Wales' side - but only at social gatherings.

It publishes the result of a poll that suggests the public has reservations about her attending state events and is against her becoming Queen.

Shaky start for bridge

Many of the papers report on the shaky start for the new Millennium Bridge in London.

According to the Sunday Times the combination of wind and people walking in step caused the bridge to flex and twist.

The Independent on Sunday pictures some of the walkers who it describes pioneering "their way across the bridge" grabbing hold of the hand-rail for support.