What Friday's papers are saying

Greek tragedy,Brown gets personal and the death of a fashion designer this morning.

According to the Guardian,despite yesterdays announcement on a rescue pacakage German chancellor,Angela Merkel refuses to rescue Greece's ailing economy

Despite a show of Franco-German unity on the crisis and the first statement from EU leaders pledging to safeguard the currency's stability, hopes on the markets of a German-led rescue plan to shore up Greece's critical public finances were dashed by Merkel, who repeatedly emphasised that Athens would need to put its own house in order and brushed aside all questions of financial support.

A divided European Union retreated from launching a multi-billion euro rescue package for Greece yesterday,says the Independent,whilst the Times reports that the attempt by Europe’s richest countries to end the crisis engulfing the euro failed to impress financial markets yesterday as the single currency fell,

The ramifications of Wednesday's court ruling continue,the Telegraph leads with the news that the director-general of MI5 has issued a passionate defence of the Security Service against the “conspiracy theory” that it covered up its involvement in torture.

Whilst the Independent reports that David Miliband and Alan Johnson,have said that the British Government was unaware that after 11 September the Bush administration had decided on a policy of torture and rendition in its "war on terror".

The Times leads with the news that Gordon Brown has spoken publicly about the grief of losing his newborn daughter as he opens up to voters as never before.

It's day two of the Lance Price revelations in the Independent as he reveals the guerrilla fighting that raged between the Blair and Brown camps

The British woman being held by Somali pirates has told how she narrowly escaped being raped,reports the Mail.

In a brief, anguished phone call, 56-year-old Rachel Chandler described cowering in terror as one of the gang burst into her tent.

All the papers heavily feature the death of Alexander McQueen.

The death of the enfant terrible of British fashion was confirmed in a statement by his publicists, as people in the industry struggled to convey their shock and the scale of the loss to the fashion world.says the Guardian.

I can't live without my mum says the Mirror,

McQueen, whose real Christian name was Lee, hanged himself because he was overcome with grief following his mother Joyce’s death 10 days ago.

Bill Clinton also heavily features.The Telegraph reports that he is expected to leave hospital today after undergoing heart surgery in New York to open up a clogged coronary artery.

Another Chelsea fotballer makes the front of the Sun,Ashley Cole last night told of his embarrassment after raunchy photos of him were sent to a topless model's mobile phone.

Football makes the front of the Independent as the paper has learnt that Professional footballers have refused to appear in a campaign video against homophobia because they fear being ridiculed for taking a stand against one of the sport's most stubborn taboos

A near suicide tragedy as the Mail reports that a father drove his car into an icy river yesterday with his two children inside.

Fewer people are tying the knot than at any time for more than a century reports the Guardian

A total of 232,990 couples were married in 2008, figures from the Office for National Statistics show. This is the lowest number of people opting for wedded bliss since 1895 and represents a drop of 1% in 12 months from 235,370 in 2007.

Finally academics have attacked a decision by a top university to scrap research into English history before 1700.

It was claimed that the move by Sussex University risked jeopardising the nation’s understanding of the subject and “entrenching the ignorance of the present”.

reports the Telegraph