De Morgen op Zaterdag - Belgium
“Koel. Bloeddoerstig. Onmenslijk.”
“Cold. Bloodthirsty. Inhuman.”

The town of Dendermonde, in the north-west of Belgium, is a tragic place today. The Belgian press display a sombre mood after the stabbing of two children and one adult at a nursery.

The title of Belgian daily De Morgen says it all: "Cold. Bloodthirsty. Inhuman." This is how they describe the man who injured a further 10 children and two adults.

Le Soir newspaper adds that the two dead children were aged six and nine months. Several Belgian dailies report that the killer gained morbid inspiration from the Joker character from the Batman films.


The Independent - United Kingdom
“Brown receives the call every politician wanted”

New US President Barack Obama’s first international calls on Wednesday were to Middle Eastern leaders. But British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is the first European leader to receive a call from the new incumbent of the White House.

British daily The Independent reports a 15-minute telephone conversation between the two world leaders. It was “friendly and substantive”, according to Downing Street.

The Independent writes that “Mr Brown was determined to receive the first phone call from the Oval Office, at least before Angela Merkel of Germany or Nicolas Sarkozy of France.” Sarkozy, though, is tipped to be the first European leader invited to the White House.


Libération - France
“Histoire d’une disgrâce”
"A story of disfavor"

Left-leaning French daily Libération is one of many newspapers covering the political wrangling surrounding French Justice minister Rachida Dati. She is stepping down from her post and is reported to be a candidate in the European elections in June.

Dati gave birth this month but she still refuses to say who the father might be. This has sparked an intense guessing game in the French press.


The Independent - United Kingdom
"Sealed with a kiss, the demise of Dati"

The international press love the story surrounding Rachida Dati. And you cannot blame them, as it has all the right ingredients. Along with the political upheaval, Dati has also provoked media interest due to her increasing celebrity status.

The Independent writes that her status in the French President Nicolas Sarkozy's government has weakened and that she has tense relationships with both Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni.

According to the British paper, Sarkozy has banished her to the "internal exile" of the European Parliament. The Independent says the reasons for this were not only her attempts to rationalise the French courts but also her emergence as a celebrity.


Le Figaro - France

The right-leaning Le Figaro has no mention of Rachida Dati’s downfall on its front page. The Figaro Web site broke the story yesterday, but the only woman on their cover today is Kate Winslet, who has been nominated for best acting Oscar for "The Reader".


The Sun - United Kingdom
"The Empire Strikes Barack”

The Sun, Britain's best-selling daily, has discovered footage from a well-known American news channel that “shows” a UFO flying over President Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony and whizzing past the Washington Monument.

Bloggers disagree over whether this flying object could be a bird or a UFO. One wrote that he thinks “the little green men rocked up to join the rest of the world in wishing Obama well”.