Severe weather dominates papers

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Severe weather conditions in the UK feature prominently in a number of Saturday's newspapers.

The Daily Express's coverage of the issue comes under the headline, "Battered Britain".

There are pictures of a van making tracks in the snow in Cumbria and the stricken ferry, the Riverdance, listing off the coast of Blackpool.

And a Shetland pony surrounded by heavy snow in County Durham provides the Independent with its main picture.

President Blair?

Tony Blair is actively considering his next career move, according to reports in the Guardian and Times.

The Guardian leads with a report that he has been holding talks with old allies about how he could mount a campaign to become president of Europe.

The Times agrees he is keen, citing a French broadcast on Friday in which he reportedly praised the EU and sketched his agenda for its future.

The new job will be known as president of the European Council of Ministers.

'Economic house arrest'

Egg's decision to cancel the credit cards of 161,000 of its customers is the Daily Mail's main story.

The paper says the move represents a dramatic turnaround from recent years when banks provided easy credit.

The Daily Telegraph gives top billing to the government's new welfare adviser, David Freud.

He estimates that up to two-thirds of incapacity benefit claimants are not entitled to it, describing the benefit as "a form of economic house arrest".

Google rival?

The Financial Times highlights Microsoft's bid for the online search engine, Yahoo, which it sees as an attempt to stifle Google's dominance.

And the Daily Mirror and Sun think the Spice Girls have split up again.

The Mirror leads with the news that they are cutting short their world tour, a decision which it says followed a series of rows.

It says their final concert, in Toronto at the end of the month, will probably be their last performance.