El Mundo, Spain
Production of flu vaccine will begin in two weeks

That headline should, in theory, calm fears over our preparedness for a flu pandemic. But the vaccine won't be ready for four to six months - good for fighting off a winter onslaught, but not much use for those who need it now. Genetic engineering has been mooted as one way of speeding up development, but the science just isn't advanced enough yet to do this.

Times of India
Don’t panic

In a headline that would make Captain Mainwaring from the legendary British comedy Dad's Army proud, the Times looks for a bit of perspective to the hysteria triggered by influenza A (H1N1). It reminds us that during the SARS outbreak of 2002 - 2003, more than 8,000 people were infected but less than 800 died before the virus petered out.

Le Parisien

Unions stand united but divide over the future

The Germans may have been revolting during May Day, but here in France the annual street demonstrations have been written off as a bit of a damp squib. True, the estimated 1.2 million people who took to the streets beat last year's figure, but it was down on the day-long demonstration in March. 

Le Figaro

Demonstrations, then what?

This opinion piece thinks the reason for the lacklustre show by the French is that the appetite simply wasn't there. Le Figaro is a vocal supporter of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, so it's no surprise to read that he has supposedly dampened France's revolutionary fervour by reacting early to the global economic crisis with stimulus packages and bank recapitalisation. More demonstrations will simply prolong the recovery, according to this piece.

The Sun
Inside Burma’s lost village

A year on from Burma's devastating hurricane, the country is still in dire trouble. Save the Children staff who filed this report for the Sun found a village where just nine out of 200 children survived; parents managed to recover just one body from all the missing.

The Independent

Denial of aid is as effective a way of killing my people as a bullet”

Burmese writer Zoya Phan rounds on the West for tolerating the Burmese military junta who have exacerbated her people's suffering by blocking vital aid shipments. She accuses the generals of continuing to abuse human rights by forcing orphaned children into the army, for example.

Liberation, France

Pulling power with a soup spoon

Move over metrosexual man: the French gastrosexual is on the march. Armed with a saucepan instead of a bunch of flowers, these culinary Casanovas are wooing women with their kitchen skills. The phenomenon has been triggered by more men moving into the kitchen since the 1970s, when women began to work in greater numbers. One amorous cook tells the paper he has a 75 per cent success rate with the ladies after wining and dining them at his place.