Newspaper headlines: Questions of migration - and doping

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The Calais crisis- and questions about immigration generally - continues to dominate the papers.

The Sunday Express says tempers have risen in the dispute between Britain and France over how the migrants are being dealt with and the French have "sneered at Cameron" and threatened to "let migrants into [the] UK".

In fact, the "sneer" and the "threat" seems to only have come from the deputy-mayor of Calais and at governmental level usual diplomacy seems to be proceeding, but there is no doubt the situation around the port is still bad with reports of more migrants arriving and the "jungle" camp deteriorating accordingly.

Image source, Reuters

The Sunday Telegraph leads with a joint commentary written for the paper by Home Secretary Theresa May and her French counterpart Bernard Cazeneuve.

The two politicians say that solving the crisis is their joint "top priority", but they say their efforts need to be matched by other EU states - and by African nations that are so often the start point of the migrants' journeys.

"Ultimately, the long-term answer to this problem lies in reducing the number of migrants who are crossing into Europe from Africa. Many see Europe, and particularly Britain, as somewhere that offers the prospect of financial gain.

"This is not the case - our streets are not paved with gold," the duo write.

Better targeting of development aid is one solution floated in their article, along with a tougher crackdown on human trafficking gangs.

The Observer's lead has the Bishop of Dover attacking politicians and the press for a lack of humanity in talking about and dealing with migrants.

The bishop, the Right Rev Trevor Willmott, was "speaking with the backing of the Church", the paper adds.

Writing in the paper in similar terms, columnist Nick Cohen says "Humans are a restless species: our common ancestors were migrants.

"In hating those now in Calais, we hate ourselves."

The Independent on Sunday has four pages detailing the financial and human cost of Operation Stack - the parking of up to 5,000 lorries on the M20 in Kent, due to disruption triggered by the migrant incursions.

Image source, PA
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The Bishop of Dover says we need to "rediscover what it is to be human" over the migrant crisis

The paper reports that it took HGVs an average of 36 hours to move down the last 36 miles of the motorway during the month of July.

The paper interviews lorry driver Les, who says he risks his life every time he travels through Calais, but the route is his livelihood.

"It's my duty to look after the trailer, but what can you do if they turn up mob-handed?" he asks.

The Mail on Sunday has a detailed report interviewing some of the migrants who have made it across the Channel to claim asylum and are now living in British hotel rooms, with three cooked meals a day and a £35-a-week spending allowance while their status is assessed.

It says paying guests in some of the hotels have complained they were staying "in a refugee camp" and the paper's editorial says we should end Britain's "reputation for naive generosity".

A front page story in the Sunday Times says the government are planning to alter benefit rules to remove the right to claim to failed asylum seeking families.

The paper says the plan aims to make "Britain less attractive for migrants" but ministers are braced for a "fierce row" over the proposal.

Question marks

The major story to break in Sunday's press is the Sunday Times' exclusive about disquiet in the world of athletics over the number of top athletes returning "suspicious" blood tests.

The paper - along with a German broadcaster - received a copy of a database of blood tests which suggests that a third of athletes who won medals in Olympic and World Championship endurance events may have used dangerous "blood-doping" techniques to gain an unfair advantage.

Blood doping involves boosting the red-blood cell count by transfusion or the use of specialist drugs.

Image source, PA
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Gold medallist Mo Farah has had his integrity questioned over doping, but the Sunday Times report shows his blood tests show no abnormal results

Two independent experts examined the findings of 12,000 blood samples from 5,000 competitors and their conclusions suggests athletics is in the "diabolical state" that cycling was during the Lance Armstrong era, the paper continues.

One scientist tells the paper that he has never seen such abnormal blood test results, adding that the sports' governing body, the IAAF, seems to have "have sat idly by and let this happen."

In its five-page report on the scandal, the Sunday Times says that while the report exonerates many household names - including Mo Farah, Usain Bolt and Jessica Ennis-Hill - other famous athletes have question marks over their blood tests.

One "top British athlete" who the paper approached threatened to sue if the paper named names.

Events under scrutiny include the 1500 metres; 20km walk; 800m; 5,000m; 3km steeplechase; 10,000m; 50km walk; heptathlon/decathlon and the marathon.

The Sunday Times says 4% of British athletes recorded abnormal blood tests in the years 2001 to 2012 suggesting a problem sports administrators here need to address.

Image source, PA
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Ten medallists from the 2012 London Olympics are under suspicion, the Sunday Times says

The paper notes that this total was dwarfed by the "dirty tests" on other country's athletes, saying that Russians; Ukrainians; Turks; Greeks and Moroccans had the highest percentage of suspicious results.

It also claims doping is "widespread" in Kenya, where doctors can be bribed to submit falsified test results and one has been filmed doing so.

The IAAF tells the Sunday Times it sets aside a higher percentage of its income to fight doping than any other sport and it "systematically" sends "atypical" blood samples on for further analysis.

The paper's editorial says urgent action must be undertaken by the body to halt "cheats prospering" and it commends Lord Coe's pledge to set up an independent anti-doping agency, should he be elected president of the IAAF.

Eye-catching headlines

One for the climb: A Cumbrian wine bar owner has created an alcoholic liqueur using the ingredients of mountaineers' favourite, Kendal Mint Cake. The Sunday Times reveals all.

Sound the alarm: The Observer says the bassoon has joined lions, pandas and polar bears on the endangered list after the learning of the reed instrument, and its use in orchestras, has declined. A Save The Bassoon campaign has been launched by a Dutch "rock bassoonist".

Noel No Deal: Channel 4 is thinking of ending Deal or No Deal after a 10-year run and have not offered a continuing contract to present the programme to TV veteran Noel Edmonds, the Sunday People says.

Pants on fire!: The Independent on Sunday reports on a study into lying which found that adolescents were the biggest tellers of fibs. Young children and pensioners were the most honest members of society.

Space weather

Fed up with cloudy and rainy summer days?

Well, according to the Independent on Sunday they may not just be ruining your holiday, they may be ruining your health.

The paper leads with an official report which says that Britain lacks the amount of sunshine to enable the body to manufacture healthy levels of Vitamin D.

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Sunbathing is one of the most enjoyable ways to gain Vitamin D, but different people manufacture it at different rates - and Britain may not be sunny enough for many

It explains that the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition has suggested the government set a recommended daily intake of the vitamin, which is associated with developing strong bones.

It had hitherto been assumed that people were able to naturally make enough Vitamin D to counter most dietary deficiencies, but the Independent says the new research found that this is not the case for many Britons.

"Experts said that the report marked a "sea change" in thinking about vitamin D and was likely to lead to a spike in the sales of supplements, as well as the creation of specially enriched foods.," the paper adds.

As well as stronger bones, Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to respiratory illnesses and there are suggestions it may play a role in protecting against cancer, multiple sclerosis and Type 2 diabetes, it continues.

"The average British diet is not conducive to a high intake of vitamin D, which can be obtained from relatively few food sources including oily fish, red meat, certain mushrooms and, to a lesser extent, from eggs," the paper says, explaining that experts still recommend getting as much sunshine as possible - while avoiding sunburn.

But before we all collectively rush to book a holiday in somewhere more balmy than the UK, turn to page 8 of the Sunday Telegraph for the bad news.

Image source, Reuters
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Not everything the sun does is good news...

Another official advisory group has told the government that air passengers and crew could be at risk from dangerous levels of cosmic radiation.

The Cosmic Radiation Advisory Group is preparing a report on "coronal mass ejections" - the occasional projections of magnetically charged gas that issue from the sun.

Really huge "solar events" could disrupt utilities and transport on the earth and put people in the air at risk of radiation effects, the group has warned.

Radiation from such cosmic sources only reach the ground in too small a dose to be significant, however they do "shower" airline altitude, an expert tells the paper.

It looks like we could all be reading the space weather reports more closely in future.

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