Papers look to knife crime fixes

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Police are calling for stronger stop and search powers to tackle knife crime, reports the Observer.

Police Federation chairman Paul McKeever argues that all Police Community Support Officers should be able to carry out searches.

Meanwhile, the News of the World has commissioned a poll to find out what young people think should be done about the issue.

Seven out of ten 16 to 24-year-olds surveyed backed an automatic two-year jail term for anyone caught with knives, it says.

Testing times

The Mail on Sunday says it has learned that the US company marking SATs papers has set up an emergency centre at a Manchester hotel to clear the backlog.

Results were due on 8 July, but many schools still do not have them.

But this last-minute effort may ultimately be a case of too little, too late, says the Sunday Telegraph.

The paper reports that lawyers from the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority are in discussion with the company, ETS, about ending its £156m contract.

Military manoeuvres

Gordon Brown has drawn up plans to pull UK troops out of Iraq before the next election, says the Sunday Express.

The Prime Minister hopes the withdrawal will help Labour's chances in a 2010 poll, the newspaper adds.

Meanwhile, the Independent on Sunday sees a potential transatlantic policy shift in the war on terror.

It says both Mr Brown and US Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama favour early troop withdrawals from Iraq to target efforts on Afghanistan.

Losing streak

A senior Downing Street advisor may have been the victim of a so-called "honeytrap", the Sunday Times claims.

The paper says that the aide lost his BlackBerry phone during a trip to China when he was picked up by a woman at a Shanghai disco.

The government has confirmed the loss, but insists there was neither a "honeytrap" nor a security risk.

This is just as well - because the Sunday Mirror says the 659th Ministry of Defence laptop in four years has been stolen.