Pharma Weblog

Journalist Tony Macaulay takes a look at what is making the headlines in Friday’s morning papers.

When is a deadline not a deadline?

In Friday’s News Letter, the headline says the secretary of state was “left with egg on his face” as his 24 November deadline for political agreement came back to bite him.

It says “Peter Hain’s threats to close down the assembly and stop MLAs salaries now looks hollow”.

The News Letter says he “has downgraded his ambitions from devolved government being established by the 24 November to the DUP and Sinn Fein nominating first and deputy first ministers”.

And on Thursday, with the publication of legislation to move the St Andrews Agreement forward, the paper says “it became apparent there would be no nominations either”.

Poverty levels

Meanwhile, The Irish News claims that poverty levels are soaring in Northern Ireland.

The paper highlights a new report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation warning that “rising rates and impending water charges will send countless families plunging into poverty”.

The report warns that “families relying on low wages will be driven into poverty when they are faced with additional household bills next year”.

The Belfast Telegraph tells the good news story of a Coleraine mother who has defied medical predictions.

Doctors told Stephanie Murphy that she could never have another child after being diagnosed with advanced breast cancer in 2002 and undergoing aggressive chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

But a beautiful picture on the front page shows Stephanie cuddling her daughter Nicole who recently celebrated her first birthday.

She says: “Cancer does not have to be a death sentence… I’m living proof of that and so is Nicole”.

The Independent front page is devoted to a special report from inside Zimbabwe.

Above a disturbing picture of freshly dug graves the headline is “Dead by 34 - this is the fate of women in Zimbabwe” where they now have the world’s lowest life expectancy after 26 years of Mugabe.

Life expectancy for women in the country was 65 just over a decade ago.

The paper says “Aids and starvation are condemning women to an early grave”.

It says the Robert Mugabe regime has succeeded in turning Zimbabwe “into a famished and demoralised land deserted by its men of working age, with its women left to die a silent death”.

The Daily Mail leads with a report that “parents are bullying GPs into prescribing anti-depressants for their children in record numbers”.

‘The Prozac Generation’

The paper says that middle-class parents are among the worst culprits, especially those with children under pressure to do well at school.

It says there is concern that children who are simply unhappy are being labelled as depressed and over a third of GPs feel under pressure from parents to provide a quick fix through drugs such as Prozac when counselling would be better.

The headline is: “The Prozac Generation”.

Finally, The Sun reports on a survey that reveals what it calls a “craze for wacky names” sweeping the country.

The paper says celebrity obsessed parents are giving their children names such as Gazza, Madonna, Superman, Tupac and Arsenal.

Apparently nearly 300 parents are doting over their little Beyonces and six parents can now be heard shouting “Gandalf - your dinner’s ready!”

Originaly from Source