What the papers say

Journalist Keith Baker takes a look at what is making the headlines in Tuesday's newspapers.

In the News Letter, the education minister's under fire again, this time from Sir Reg Empey.

He's angry about a decision to close Bloomfield Prep School in east Belfast which will shut in August next year because of falling numbers.

The News Letter says this is the first of NI's prep schools to close after the Minister slashed funding to the sector earlier this year.

Sir Reg tells the paper the threat to funding spooked a number of parents throughout Northern Ireland and some of them immediately sought alternative places for their children.

The Irish News has a picture of the wreckage of the stolen car in which a 23-year-old man died near Dundrod on Monday.

The paper points out that there were six people in the car when it crashed and it says it is a stark reminder of the car crime scourge.

And a tragic story in the Belfast Telegraph about the death of a child, this is a report of an inquest in Craigavon.

The inquest was told that the mother of a baby who died due to breathing difficulties and aged just six days was repeatedly told not to allow the infant to sleep in her bed.

In the Dublin papers there are headlines about gang wars, particularly about the shooting of two men in Dublin.

The Irish Independent has a front page picture of a body lying beside a car.

The Irish Times says so far this year 14 people have been shot dead in the Republic. The Independent says this was the second double gangland assassination.

A picture in the Irish News of a young Londonderry woman Karen McMenamin and her baby daughter Emily.

The paper says she's received an apology after she was ticked off for breastfeeding in Shantallow library.

It was suggested she should use a side room because there were some men and young people present who were offended.

A spokesman for Libraries NI says they're very sorry about all this and staff will be given guidance to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

In the cross-channel papers a headline in the Daily Telegraph you thought you might never see. "A proud day for British sport," it says.

Not a reference to the England football team, of course. This is the headline over a picture of Andy Murray.

As the paper says, he's powered his way through to the Wimbledon quarter finals.

As for the footballers, if anything the papers are even angrier than they were on Monday.

The Mirror has a front page picture of Ledley King and Ashley Cole having a laugh about something.

It says the shameless stars clearly don't share their fans' misery over their abysmal display.

Big questions of course over what will happen to Fabio Capello. The Guardian says an England manager is like Superman in reverse. He goes in dressed as a saviour and comes out like a tired accountant.

And as if all that wasn't enough, several papers report that almost every England player had underwear, clothing, jewellery and personal effects stolen from their hotel rooms after they left for the match against Germany on Sunday. Further misery for the England flops, the Mirror says.

The Times says cleaners went from room to room plundering the players' possessions and looking for souvenirs. The Sun says CCTV footage showed the thieves carrying bagfuls of loot.

But apparently all the stuff's been recovered and the culprits have already appeared in court.

So the boys will be happy about all that. But they may not be so happy about coming home, if the Sun's anything to go by.

It devotes its front page to a weather forecast. The headline says - "Sunny outlook in many areas but depression over Heathrow as shower drifts in from South Africa".