Papers prepare for Olympics start

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Preparations ahead of the start of the Olympics in China are widely reported in Friday's newspapers.

The Guardian says the country made specific commitments on human rights to Olympic officials which it has failed to adhere to.

"Like the quality of the air the athletes are due to perform in," says the paper, "Beijing has come up short on the standards it set for itself".

And the Independent warns against being swept away by the opening ceremony.

'Moral relativists'

Lord Tebbit has criticised Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams.

It comes after the archbishop's apparent admission in private letters that he thinks gay partnerships could be comparable to marriage.

Writing in the Daily Mail, Lord Tebbit says Dr Williams appears to be allowing himself to be "dragged along" on the coat tails of "moral relativists".

The Tory peer says without clear leadership, Christianity would be in danger of being replaced in the UK by Islam "with a modern face".

Expensive energy

A number of Friday's papers report that foreign energy firms are charging British consumers more for their gas and electricity.

The trend seems to be so that the firms can keep prices down in their own countries.

The Daily Telegraph quotes the government's consumer champion saying our pockets are being picked because of protectionist European energy markets.

And the Daily Express says it seems to be an iron law of economics that British consumers get ripped off.

Madeleine 'sightings'

Fresh revelations about the Madeleine McCann case provide the front page story in the Sun.

It reports that a girl resembling the child was spotted three times in Belgium soon after the child vanished.

And, also leading with a story about the case, the Daily Mirror's front page features drawings of a couple seen with a girl resembling Madeleine.

The sketches were drawn for the paper by a police artist on the evidence of a witness who saw them in Amsterdam.