What the papers say

Journalist Mike Philpott takes a look at what is making the headlines in Wednesday's morning papers.

Criticism of the police is highlighted on a couple of the front pages of the Belfast newspapers.

The story centres on the Police Ombudsman's report on the investigation into the murder of Arlene Arkinson in 1994.

As the Belfast Telegraph reports, Arlene's family have also blamed police failures for allowing a known sex offender to escape and later kill another schoolgirl in England.

"Police Failed My Murdered Sister," says the headline.

The Irish News says most people will find it "incredible" that a man who had a history of sex offences and in whose company Arlene was last seen wasn't immediately arrested. But that is exactly what happened.

It hopes the police haven't waited for the publication of this report to learn lessons from what happened.

Creationism

The News Letter goes instead for the controversial remarks by the chairman of the Assembly's Education Committee, Mervyn Storey, that creationism should be taught in schools alongside evolution.

The paper quotes him as saying that he believes it would be "ideal" if evolution were not taught at all.

His views have been ridiculed by the biologist Richard Dawkins, who is also quoted in the story as saying that he felt "sad" when creationists were elected to positions of power.

There are further money problems in Dublin.

The government's tax revenues fell by another 776m Euro in July - and that puts its figures more than 2bn behind target.

The Irish Times says it is "the biggest shortfall this year by a long way", and they have been described by an opposition politician as evidence of "a long and deep recession".

Part of the problem was a fall in VAT receipts, which the paper says is a sign of a further slowdown in consumer spending.

'Breathtaking'

The Irish Independent says the outcome will be further spending cuts and tax rises. One economist tells the paper that the VAT shortfall in July was "breathtaking".

Economic matters are also on the agenda in London.

Stamp duty is the big talking point, after hints that the government is planning to allow housebuyers to postpone their payment.

The Independent says it is the most likely of all the options being considered by the Treasury to kick-start the housing market.

The paper says it would be "gesture politics", but it recalls that similar measures were taken in the 1990s.

It also wonders if we really want to revive the market by allowing people to get into more debt - part of what caused the problem in the first place.

The Times says it's all very well offering a holiday on stamp duty payments, but it's no help if you can't even get a mortgage.

The Daily Express describes stamp duty as a "relic" and says it needs radical reform.

'Slow food'

Finally, there's some new evidence that shatters our beliefs about life in the Stone Age.

The Daily Telegraph says the established view is that Stone Age men were brave hunters, chasing sabre-toothed tigers and other forms of large wildlife.

But a discovery of fossils in Spain indicates that they were more inclined to chase tortoises because they were easier to catch.

Never one to miss a pun, the Express says it is good to see that they were not addicted to fast food.