12/05 The Morning JOE

The Front Pages

A new resident at 10 Downing Street, the Dublin Metro project gets a boost, head shops are forced to close, the Pope admits there is sin in the church and Irish air travel gets a green light.

All of the nationals make the new UK Prime Minister their centrepiece today following last night’s announcement that Conservative Leader, David Cameron, has gone into Government with the Liberal Democrats. The coalition spells the end for Gordon Brown, while Mr Cameron has become the youngest prime minister in 200 years according to The Irish Times.

Mr Cameron (43) and wife, Samantha, are pictured on the doorstep of Number 10, Downing Street before nipping over to Buckingham Palace to ask the Queen for permission to enter Government.

In the News Digest of the Times there are snippets saying that the Dublin Metro project has received a massive boost with the informal announcement that the European Investment Bank will come up with a €500 million loan.

Another lead story details the statement released by Pope Benedict XVI, who has said that “sin exists in the church” and that the sex abuse scandals are “terrifying”.

The Irish Examiner runs another major news story which has been continuously followed by the Irish media recently. As Gardaí clamp down on head shops following legislation passed to ban “legal highs” in all of the 102 head shops in Ireland. Garda teams will continue to raid the head shops although many closed yesterday afternoon as reports of the new law leaked out.

Irish air travellers seem to have finally been given a break from the airport chaos which has occurred due to the persistent volcanic ash cloud. Now, it has been reported in The Irish Independent a 100km-plus ‘no-fly’ zone has been lifted from over Ireland. Monitoring of flights and tests during the past few weeks have resulted favourably for airlines and air passengers.

Tales from the Tabs

Cheryl Cole may be looking for a team, other than England, to support in this summer’s World Cup in South Africa. That’s according to Lionel Messi’s comments in The Sun.

The X-Factor judge has been advised by the Barcelona wizard to support his national side, Argentina, claiming that his countrymen know “how to treat their women”.

The dig at Cheryl’s cheating husband and England left-back, Ashley Cole, came from Messi who went on to say that there would be plenty of interest in the Girls Aloud singer if she wanted to join the Argies should they lift the trophy and suggested a tango may be on the cards.

Meanwhile, France’s First Lady, Carla Bruni, has been described in The Daily Star as sex ‘starved’ from her president husband, Nicolas Sarkozy.

In a new book penned by Jonathan Alter, it is claimed that “the press of state business prevents her husband from making love to her as much as she would like.”

The Sports Pages

England football manager Fabio Capello has added a new word to his adopted vocabulary…‘No’.

Firstly, the English FA put a halt to the infamous ‘Capello’s Index’ yesterday and it was also revealed that the Italian’s offer of a World Cup place to Manchester United stalwart Paul Scholes was snubbed.

The Sun calls it a “double whammy” for the manager who came under intense pressure to distance himself from an online player’s ratings game. Capello had planned to rate all of his England players just two hours after each World Cup match for the business venture.

Capello admitted his management team chased Scholes to make a comeback however the Man United midfielder has opted for a family holiday this summer.

Ahead of tonight’s Europa League final, Fulham captain Danny Murphy believes the entire nation is behind the Cottagers. Roy Hodgson is attempting to guide the club to their greatest achievement ever against Atletico Madrid in Hamburg.

Murphy said in The Star that Fulham is “everyone’s second favourite club because of our spirit”.

Finally, according to a report in The Daily Express sacked West Ham United manager Gianfranco Zola is ready to sue the club.

Zola’s contract at Upton Park was terminated yesterday and the Italian believes he is entitled to £5.7 million in compensation. A tidy little packet.