China drug execution case debated
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk/8433329.stm Version 0 of 1. Briton Akmal Shaikh's case is covered widely in the papers, printed hours before news emerged of his execution for heroin smuggling in China. The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/29/akmal-shaikh-execution-china">Guardian says the refusal to grant a reprieve </a> will lead to condemnation of Beijing's human rights record. The Daily Mirror says to carry out such a sentence on a mentally ill man in need of medical help is barbaric. But in the <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1239051/LEO-McKINSTRY-Sorry-join-liberal-wailing-heroin-traffickers-deserve-die.html">Daily Mail, Leo McKinstry insists China is right</a> to execute heroin traffickers. Tackling extremism Britain's approach to domestic Islamic extremism is also scrutinised in the press. This comes after a Nigerian man educated in London allegedly attempted to blow up a transatlantic airliner on Christmas Day. The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/6903728/Detroit-terror-attack-A-murderous-ideology-tolerated-for-too-long.html">Daily Telegraph is scathing about what it calls the toleration of a murderous ideology.</a> It says the indoctrination of students is being carried out under the noses of public servants who are terrified of being labelled Islamophobic, or racist. The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/conservatives-step-up-battle-with-labour-over-class-1852105.html"> Independent says the Tories have reignited class war by</a> claiming the estates of some 4m middle class people are now liable for inheritance tax after their death. The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/148639/Tories-inheritance-tax-test">Daily Express wants them to stick to their plan to raise the inheritance threshold to £1m,</a> if they win power. Winter woes The <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1239040/Shoppers-face-11bn-VAT-rise-shambles.html">Mail says many retailers are not yet passing on the increase in VAT,</a> which officially comes into effect on New Year's Day. The aim is to try to prolong the post-Christmas retail boom. Some papers are also discussing what became of the mild winter predicted by the Met Office. The Express suggests that, despite its inaccurate "barbecue summer" forecast earlier this year, the weather bureau isn't about to do another u-turn. A spokesman reminds the paper that the forecast was for the whole of the winter, not just for December. But the <a class="inlineText" href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/6901002/Warnings-of-more-snow-for-Britain-as-predictions-of-mild-winter-fall-flat.html">Telegraph says the latest blast of freezing weather</a> is threatening to make a mockery of the prediction. |