G20/ London special

The Independent (UK)
Deal or no deal?

Yesterday the Franco-German barrage against Obama had already hit the headlines and today again the offensive 'threw a last minute spanner in the works'.

As summit chairman, Gordon Brown will be 'battling to broker a deal' as two worlds collide: the Anglo-Saxon ‘liberal’ economic model with 'light-touch' regulations and another that wants real change.

Liberation (France)
Changer de monde (Change the world)

This G20 special edition echoes the French president’s view on its cover. Again, two worlds and two pictures collide: the unruly protests in London and the poised palace picture at Buckingham. But Liberation’s columnist warns that change isn’t a self-fulfilling prophecy - many leaders hope to go back to their old ways after the crisis subsides…

Wall Street Journal (US)
France, Germany press Obama

The daily has a great picture on its front page. A flat screen TV is suspended in mid-air as riots begin in the financial district. There are more media around the scene than demonstrators!

The Guardian (UK-international edition)
Political protests should be about more than having a nice day out and fighting some bankers

In his column, Sam Leith explains he’s embarrassed and frustrated by the image protestors gave on the TV news last night, with one woman saying she’d like to hear 'rainforest polyphonic singing' in the Bank of England vaults. It’s 'not exactly disturbing the established order', but it is fodder for those cynics who see concern for climate change, world-poverty and problems in Gaza and Iraq as the stuff of 'stupid hippies', he writes. All these unconnected issues only result in a demonstration about nothing that ends up reinforcing the status quo.

The Independent (UK)
The madness of George Frideric Handel

All the UK’s dailies have picked up on this story today. The 250th anniversary of the composer’s death in London is coming up this month, but the reasons behind his demise are still a mystery. If you want to know the whys and wherefores of the tetchy, obese composer’s passing, it’s all in this great article.

The Daily Telegraph (UK)
Thou shalt not tell bible stories by tweaking our toys

From the man who composed the oratorios the Messiah, Salomon and Israel in Egypt… to a Playmobil reproduction of Moses in the bulrushes?

In Germany, Playmobil manufacturers are fuming as a pastor has recreated bible scenes on the internet using the famous figurines. The changes include adding breasts and an apple to Eve, or more bizarrely using a hairdryer to melt the Christ figure’s hands to a cross… But the pastor says he received a letter from Pope Benedict praising his work. So is this the next Vatican scandal?