'Outrage' at sailors' treatment

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There is widespread anger in the papers at Iran's treatment of the 15 Royal Navy personnel who appeared on Iranian television after being seized in the Gulf last Friday.

A picture of Faye Turney, the only woman in the group, wearing a headscarf, is widely used on the front pages.

The Mirror's headline "Outrage" reflects the widespread mood of anger.

The paper says she was paraded like a trophy and forced to lie during her interview.

The Guardian describes the broadcast as a propaganda video.

'Humiliated'

For the Sun, Leading Seaman Turney was humiliated in a sick stunt.

It has the headline: "Who do you think you are kidding, Mr Ahmadinejad?"

In the words of the Times' headline, she was "a mother on parade in Iran's propaganda war".

The Daily Telegraph says she appeared to be speaking under duress.

And the Independent asks in its headline: "Can we believe the words of Faye Turney?"

The stance of the Foreign Office is condemned by the Daily Mail. It says the servicewoman was forced to wear a hijab and made to praise her kidnappers.

"And the thundering response from our mighty Foreign Office?" it asks. "This is unacceptable, they squeaked."

'Wrong-footed'

The government's defeat in the House of Lords over its plans for a super-casino and sixteen smaller casinos, is the lead for the Financial Times.

It says ministers could struggle to get a new casino policy in place before Tony Blair steps down.

The paper points out that Gordon Brown, the favourite among Labour MPs to succeed Mr Blair, is known not to share the prime minister's enthusiasm for liberalising gambling, and would be unlikely to sanction a super-casino.

The government has only itself to blame for being so badly wrong-footed, says the Sun.

While it was busy concentrating on winning the vote in the Commons, it foolishly failed to spot the ambush being prepared in the Lords.

In the Telegraph's view, the defeat would seem to make the political demise of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell a certainty after Mr Blair leaves office.

Tall order

There is plenty of interest in the news from China that the world's tallest man, at 2.36m (7ft 8.95in), has finally met his match, after a lengthy search for a bride.

According to the Times, the 65-year-old herdsman from the Inner Mongolia region of China, had been seeking a wife for decades and took out newspaper ads all over the world.

It was, the Mirror quips, a tall order. Eventually, the Telegraph reports, he found her in his home town, right under his nose.

She is a saleswoman, half his age and two-thirds his height.

And, the Times observes, she barely comes up to his elbow.

The Guardian says she accepted his proposal after a month-long courtship. As they got to know each other, she stopped noticing how tall he was and was moved instead by his thoughtfulness.

It was, the Independent suggests, the height of romance.