Newspapers lament cricket attack

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/7922733.stm

Version 0 of 1.

The Independent conveys its horror at the attack on the Sri Lankan cricketers with a cartoon of a terrified batsman trying to fend off a cannon ball.

Murder has returned to sport, it says, on a day that changed cricket forever.

In the words of the Times, terrorists turned the guns on cricket, which, the Sun reminds us, is a gentlemanly sport.

For the Mirror, it was the saddest day in cricket's history, and the Guardian notes echoes of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics.

'Irritation'

The Telegraph and the Guardian both say Gordon Brown is resisting pressure from cabinet colleagues to apologise for his role in the economic crisis.

According to the Guardian, the prime minister's defence is that he believes the banking crisis started in the US.

The Telegraph says he was irritated by the chancellor's plea in Tuesday's paper for ministers to show "humility" and admit that mistakes were made.

The Mail says cabinet ministers are calling for a more contrite tone.

Style differences

Inevitably, the papers pore over the prime minister's meeting on Tuesday with Barack Obama, who the Times calls the world's most popular politician.

Their differences in style, and the body language and fashion sense of both men are explored in some depth.

The Independent saw an unconvincing show of friendship, with the two sitting stiffly side by side.

It did not help, the Guardian says, that they had worn virtually identical outfits for the brief encounter.

Circus

Writing in the Mail, BBC journalist James Landale, himself battling cancer, says his heart goes out to terminally ill TV celebrity Jade Goody.

But he says the "circus" of her last days is "fuelling the appetites of those who would have taken picnics to hangings".

Meanwhile, for some the recession is showing no signs of biting, with Paris Hilton still splashing the cash.

The Sun says the hotel heiress is having a £200,000 diamond-encrusted dashboard made for her pink Bentley.