BUSHFIRE HORROR
More shocking reports are coming in from the frontline of Australia's worst bushfires, with descriptions of fire falling from the sky as the disaster leaves 130 dead.
In the Telegraph, survivors describe the blaze as a "nuclear attack".
Chris Harvey, who lives in the township of Kinglake, north of Melbourne, says roadblocks have prevented residents returning to their lost homes: "There's a five-car pile-up on the road into town, all the cars are burnt. It's going to look like Hiroshima I tell you, it's going to look like a nuclear bomb. There are animals dead all over the road."
Gary Hughes, a journalist for The Australian, writes in the Times the speed at which the fire has spread: "It comes at you like a runaway train. First you're fighting for your home, then you're fighting for your life."
Meanwhile, two people, including a teenage boy, have been charged with arson for the deadly wildfires with the prime minister, Kevin Rudd, accusing the arsonists of "mass murder".
Times: First you're fighting for your home, then your life
Telegraph: Survivors describe blaze as like nuclear attack
Telegraph: Two charged with arson
Guardian: Day fire fell from the sky: 108 die in Australian inferno
A NIGHT FOR BRITISH TALENT
The papers celebrate the successes of British talent at last night's Bafta awards, with Kate Winslet and Slumdog Millionaire particularly in the spotlight. "For the first time in an ice age, British cinema is on top of the world. We haven't bullied the Americans like this in living memory," comments James Christopher in the Times. Many papers also said that the stage is now set for British film to have a good sweep at the Oscars in a few weeks time.
Despite Danny Boyle's disapproval of the tagline "feel-good movie" on posters for his film Slumdog Millionaire, the Independent praises the judges for crowning "the ultimate recession-beating tonic" as best film, adding that there's "nothing like a good dollop of the feel-good factor to soothe the collective pain of a nation suffering from a bad dose of credit crunch".
But for a night where American movie titans like Brad Pitt battled against British newcomers like Dev Patel, the triumph of Slumdog over the big-budget blockbuster The Curious Case of Benjamin Button drew comments in the Times that the Baftas were a "David and Goliath victory of good old-fashioned British zip and derring-do over charmless Hollywood whimsy".
Meanwhile, the Sun, always one for a catchy headline, renames the Bafta as the Brad-and-Angelina-Flop-at-The-Big-Awards.
It was also a triumph for Brits at the Grammy music awards, with old and young talent taking home an armful of coveted gongs. The night's top winners included former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant, Coldplay and Adele.
The Times: A victory for derring-do over Hollywood whimsy
The Independent: One in a million
The Sun: Slumdog beats Hollywood Topdogs
The Independent: Brits steal show at Grammys
The Guardian: Slumdog Millionaire is Bafta's best movie
BONUSES AND EXPENSES
Tales of bank bosses getting shapely bonuses and ministers claiming chunky expenses while the rest of Britain struggles under the weight of a recession continues to draw more outrage in the media.
In the Guardian, Jackie Ashley says a cut in testosterone is needed if bank bonuses are to go down: "If we are really having a serious rethink about the one-way-bet, coarsely competitive system that has brought us to this terrible pass, maybe gender should be on the table too," she writes, echoing Hazel Blears who said yesterday: "Maybe if we had some more women in the boardrooms we may not have seen as much risk-taking behaviour."
Ashley points out the 40% pay gap in the City between men and women and asks: how many women were up for mega bonuses?
In the Times, William Rees-Mogg writes that as an inquiry is launched into the banking crisis, it must be acknowledged that "excessive bonuses create false incentives. The dealers may take high risks, knowing that they will share in the profits, but that the banks will bear the losses".
The piece calls for more links to failure to restore prudence and security and questions whether the two functions of banking – the retail aspect through the transmission of money and global speculation of investment banking – should be kept separate in order to achieve more stability and confidence in the system.
Meanwhile, the Mail shines a torch over the cloudy area that is MPs' expenses with a piece claiming that the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has pocketed more than £116,000 of taxpayers' money for a second home while lodging with her sister.
The paper's Peter Oborne comments that the minister is behaving "no better than a common thief", adding that anyone else caught trying the same stunt would be arrested and sent to jail.
"MPs have called in British bankers to berate them about their bonuses," writes Oborne. "This is hypocrisy of the highest order."
The Guardian: To chop City bonuses, start by cutting testosterone
The Times: Links to failure, not just reward
The Mail: Minister for dodgy expenses
The Mail: Anyone else would be sent to jail
ATLANTIC RECORD SWIM
The Guardian carries the story of a 56-year-old woman who has been hailed as the first woman to swim across the Atlantic after propelling herself across thousands of miles of ocean while inside a cage to protect her from sharks.
But Jennifer Figge's business manager yesterday admitted that because some of the seas were so stormy, there were some days when the swimmer did not get into the water and remained onboard the catamaran.
Figge has not responded to requests for a comment, leaving unanswered just how many nautical miles she logged during the 19 swimming days of her 24-day journey.
The Guardian: Woman claims Atlantic record swim