Gay adoption rights hits headlines

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The row over gay adoption rights has divided the papers as convincingly as it appears to have divided the Cabinet.

They all agree the child's interests should be paramount, but are split over the best way to achieve that.

The Daily Mirror and the Independent say the Roman Catholic Church cannot be exempt from new equality laws.

But the Daily Mail warns that New Labour is becoming intolerant in its demands for tolerance and urges them to allow Catholics to opt out.

Oil spill

The environmental and social impact of the stricken ship, MSC Napoli, is considered in Wednesday's papers.

The Sun reports that three dead dolphins have been found off the coast of Dorset - marine experts fear they could have swallowed oil from the ship.

The Times says more than 2,000 seabirds are contaminated by the leaking oil.

And the Daily Telegraph reports conservationists' concerns about the effect of the spill on the sunset cup corals and pink sea fans of Lyme Bay.

Bush's call

Environmental worries from the US feature strongly in the papers.

Although President George W Bush's State of the Union speech came too late for the papers, editors knew he would call for a 20% cut in US petrol consumption.

The Financial Times says the speech marks the president's most open effort yet to talk about climate change.

The Guardian believes that his plans are motivated by security concerns surrounding the dependence of the US on oil from the volatile Middle East.

Drastic measures

The problem of prison overcrowding is discussed in several of the papers.

The difficulty is so acute, the Daily Mail says, that the home secretary has asked judges to stop sending all but the most dangerous criminals to jail.

The paper believes it is the first in a series of drastic steps John Reid will take to try to end the crisis.

The Guardian also predicts that Mr Reid has several "politically unpalatable" options under urgent consideration, including an early release programme.