Newspaper review: Obama ahead but 'too close to call'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-20202302

Version 0 of 1.

Barack Obama is photographed on many of the front pages giving one of his final speeches in the campaign for the US Presidential elections on Tuesday.

The <a href="http://www.ft.com/home/uk" >Financial Times says the incumbent president holds a small but winning edge</a> in battleground states.

The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/us-election/9654603/Barack-Obama-and-Mitt-Romney-launch-final-frenzied-campaigning-drive.html" >Daily Telegraph agrees</a> but says the race is still too close to call.

<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-elections/like-2008-its-all-about-hope-but-this-time-obama-isnt-preaching-it-hes-relying-on-it-8281326.html" >The Independent says Mr Obama could win the majority of electoral college votes,</a> and therefore a second term, but lose the national popular vote.

Most of the papers report that Barack Obama has a slight edge over his Republican challenger, Mitt Romney, in the crucial swing states.

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/04/obama-romney-campaign-desperation" >The Guardian says the symbolic resonance of Obama's victory</a> for black Americans four years ago has not diminished.

The <a href="http://www.ft.com/home/uk" >Financial Times says the campaign has been "dispiriting"</a>, with neither Mr Obama or Mr Romney offering much idea of what they would do in office but the paper says Mr Obama looks the better choice.

David Cameron is facing new pressure to release details of his communications with the former chief executive of News International, Rebekah Brooks.

After text messages were published the Independent says only total transparency will do to end suspicions.

The Daily Mirror describing Mr Cameron's horse rides and country suppers with Mr and Mrs Brooks says that they were "beyond satire".

Peter McKay, in the Daily Mail, says the texts were "playfully suggestive".

<a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4627229/Jimmy-Savile-victim-aged-EIGHT-is-youngest-to-emerge-so-far.html" >The Sun says it has found the youngest victim so far</a> of Jimmy Savile.

The woman says she was eight and a patient at Stoke Mandeville Hospital when she was molested.

The <a href="http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/280748/Jimmy-Saville-s-sick-toy-hoard/" >Daily Star accuses the former Jim'll Fix It presenter</a> of hoarding toys left by the public in memory of Princess Diana.

It says bin bags of dolls and teddies, which were meant to have been handed to sick children, were found at the DJ's flat at Stoke Mandeville.

The Work and Pensions Secretary, Iain Duncan Smith, "piled pressure on David Cameron" with his comments on Europe, according to the Daily Mirror.

In an interview with the BBC, he backed calls for a cut in the European Union budget and said the UK could thrive outside it.

<a href="http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/356171/EU-referemndum-is-inevitable-says-Iain-Duncan-Smith" >The Daily Express, which is leading a self-proclaimed crusade</a> to get the UK out of the EU, welcomed Mr Duncan-Smith's comments and pointed out how much the political landscape had changed in recent years.

<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/nov/04/cabinet-minister-resign-eurosceptic-revolt" >The Guardian reports claims that a cabinet minister</a> came close to resigning to take charge of a growing revolt against the PM over Europe.

While in the main cartoon in Daily Telegraph, the EU is depicted as a horse being ridden by Mr Cameron.

In a reference to the text message he sent to Mrs Brooks, the prime minister is shown describing his mount as "fast, unpredictable and hard to control".

<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/britains-biggest-care-home-owners-have-debts-of-more-than-45bn-8281270.html" >The Independent leads with a report on the finances of Britain's care homes</a>.

It says the UK's biggest private care home owners have debts of £4.5bn.

The paper says the debts of three firms - who collectively own nearly 800 homes - are considered risky by leading credit agencies.

Receivers were recently called in at a fourth company.

Age UK, the GMB Union and the Shadow Health Minister, Andy Burnham, all tell the paper there needs to be greater transparency about the finances of companies looking after the elderly.

Secrets of the Queen's wardrobe for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations, revealed in a book written by her dressmaker, are pored over by several papers.

The Daily Telegraph reports that peach was chosen for the dress worn by Her Majesty, and her stunt double, for the opening ceremony of the Olympics because it was not a colour associated with any of the participating nations.

<a href="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4627048/Raining-Monarch-Secrets-of-Queens-Jubilee-wardrobe.html" >The Sun picks up on the detail</a> that the cloth used to make her Majesty's gold dress for the Jubilee concert had been bought in 1961.

Several papers report that the former X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne has undergone a double mastectomy as a precaution against developing cancer.

"For me, it wasn't a big decision, it was a no-brainer," <a href="http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/sharon-osbournes-double-mastectomy-she-talks-1416732" >she is quoted in the Mirror, in an interview attributed to Hello magazine.</a>

The <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/9654109/Dream-holiday-homes-becoming-millstones-for-divorcees-after-Euro-property-plunge.html" >Telegraph says affluent couples in the midst of divorce</a> are being hit with a new dilemma - who is to be saddled with the European holiday home.

The paper says hefty mortgages on properties in various eurozone countries, where property prices are tumbling, have created a toxic legacy.

It quotes one lawyer who describes dividing property assets as "a game of pass the bomb".