Mass poll of marginal seats predicts crushing defeat for Labour
A mass poll of marginal seats published today suggests the Labour Government will suffer a crushing defeat at the next general election. The Conservatives will be returned to power with a Commons majority of 146 while eight members of the current Cabinet will lose their seats. The poll, conducted for the political website PoliticsHome.com, suggests the Labour Party will lose seats it has held since World War One and could take a decade to recover from the political bloodbath. However, a separate poll by ComRes shows Labour enjoying a 'bounce' at the expense of the Tories following Gordon Brown’s intervention in the economy. The survey suggests the Tory lead over Labour has been cut by nearly half, from 21 points to 12. (Observer, Independent on Sunday)
The Mole: Economic cloud has a silver lining for Brown 
Scores killed in bombing at Pakistan hotel
At least 60 people have been killed and 250 wounded by a huge lorry bomb which almost levelled the heavily-guarded Marriott Hotel in Islamabad, the Pakistani capital, yesterday. The blast left a crater 30ft deep in front of the 290-room hotel, which was still burning six hours later, with people trapped inside a structure which was close to collapse. No-one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but US intelligence authorities suspect al-Qaeda. The wounded include three British diplomats and two British children. (Independent on Sunday)
Musharraf's departure leaves West a bleak option
Brown unveils nursery plans
Gordon Brown, who opened the Labour Party conference last night, is to announce free nursery places for all children aged two. The new scheme, which could cost £1bn a year, is to play a central role in his drive for "upward social mobility" to form the core of his key-note conference address on Tuesday. Currently, three- and four-year-olds get up to 15 hours of free childcare a week. The new plan will extend this to two-year-olds. Brown said the measure would help "hard-working families" to "climb the ladder". (Sunday Times, Sunday Telegraph)
Johnson plans to replace Heathrow
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has set up a team to look into a radical plan to close Heathrow and replace it with a 24-hour airport built on an artificial island off Sheppey in the Thames estuary. Passengers would be transported from and to London on high-speed trains in about 35 minutes, while a rail connection to the Channel tunnel could open up links to Europe obviating the need for transfer flights. Johnson's aides believe the island airport could be built in just six years, and might replace Gatwick. (Sunday Times)
People: Boris hits turbulence at Gatwick
Credit crunch may hit taxpayers
Economic analysts believe that the financial turmoil and the measures to correct it will lead to soaring tax increases, with taxpayers giving as much as an extra 5p in every pound. Groups including the National Institute of Economic and Social Research and Capital Economics expect the Government to be forced to borrow as much as £100bn a year, giving the UK easily the biggest budget deficit of any western country. The warning comes as anger grows over the news that the US executives at failed Lehman Brothers will receive their bonuses. (Sunday Times)
In pictures: Banking's biggest crisis since the Depression
The confidential medical records of millions of NHS patients could be handed over to private companies under new Government proposals. Ministers are considering giving firms access to the new NHS computer database so that they can conduct medical research, or sell products to the NHS. (Sunday Telegraph)
NHS database awaits legal diagnosis
Labour MP Keith Vaz is under pressure to resign as chairman of the home affairs select committee over his intervention in a High Court case on behalf of a friend. One committee member said Vaz should step down because the allegations against him were casting a shadow over the whole committee. (Observer)
The Labour party conference was boosted by the news that author JK Rowling (left) has donated £1m to party funds. She said: "I believe poor families will fare much better under the Labour party than they would under... David Cameron." Brown told the conference: "We now have behind us the absolute magical power of Harry Potter." (Independent on Sunday)
People: Fans strike back over Harry Potter delay
A leak at the Large Hadron Collider means that the £4.4bn physics experiment will have to be put on hold for two months. A fault between two magnets caused a ton of helium to escape. The collider is intended to re-create conditions in the universe immediately after the Big Bang. (Sunday Telegraph)
In pictures: Large Hadron Collider, back with a big bang
Women undergoing fertility treatment are far more likely to successfully give birth if they also have acupuncture at the time of embryo transfer, a major scientific study has found. One explanation was offered by the Lister Hospital in London which said the process of complementary therapy "alleviates stress". (Observer)
A new league table based on official figures found that some of the UK's most prestigious universities have the country's unhappiest students, with widespread dissatisfaction over poor teaching and a lack of support from staff. Bristol, Edinburgh, Imperial College London and the LSE were all in the bottom 25. (Sunday Times)
Nine years after succeeding Nelson Mandela, South African president Thabo Mbeki (left) has been forced to resign after a split in the ANC. The decision clears the way for his chief rival, Jacob Zuma, after a high court judge ruled there had been 'political meddling' in fraud charges brought against Zuma. (Observer)
Jacob Zuma unzipped: a cartoon too far?
A comprehensive poll has found that racism among white Americans has cost Democrat Barack Obama a commanding lead in the US presidential election, and could yet deny him victory. One third of white Democrats polled agreed with negative stereotypes of black people being "lazy" or "violent". (Sunday Telegraph)
US Election: the latest news, gossip and analysis
Intimidation and fear still rule in Zimbabwe, despite President Robert Mugabe agreeing to share cabinet posts with the opposition. Mugabe has told his supporters that he is still in "the driving seat", and has not spoken of co-operation, while his party's youth group is still beating up opposition supporters, it is claimed. (Independent on Sunday)
Zimbabwe Today: exclusive reports from our man in Harare
The bailout fund created by the US Treasury to help beleaguered banks survive the credit crisis is to extend to as much as $700bn, it has been disclosed. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson (left) and Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke are seeking bipartisan approval for the plan to free banks from "toxic" debts. (Sunday Telegraph)
The Business pages
Welcome to Wall Street's cash machine
Lloyds TSB intends to close as many as 700 high street banks after its merger - effectively a rescue takeover - with stricken HBOS later this year. The bank has contacted property consultants to take on the task of shutting down its branches, adding to fears the merger will bring heavy job losses. (Independent on Sunday)
HBOS - Lloyds rides to the rescue
Business groups are urging the Bank of England to cut interest rates now as a defensive measure against recession. A spokesman for the British Chambers of Commerce said the Bank must cut as soon as possible, and take a "much more alert approach in responding to the problems in the banking sector". (Observer)
In pictures: Banking's biggest crisis since the Depression
Newly published drawings and doodles by Philip Larkin have revealed a light-hearted and affectionate side to the famously gloomy poet. Often thought of as a misanthrope or even a misogynist, Larkin had an artistic bent and often illustrated letters to friends and girlfriends with drawings depicting them as animals. (Sunday Times)
People: Larkin likened himself to Stan Laurel in letters
Only months after her husband, an innovative surgeon, died at 43, actress Natascha McElhone (left) is to play a pioneering female doctor. McElhone will take the role of James Miranda Barry who, disguised as a man, in 1812 became the first woman to graduate as a British doctor, in the film Heaven and Earth. (Observer)
The authenticity of one of the most famous and controversial war photographs ever taken - The Falling Soldier by Robert Capa, shot in 1936 during the Spanish Civil War – is back in the news because of an exhibition at London's Barbican Centre next month. The show will include other photographs taken by Magnum founder Capa on the same day which have never been seen before and which are said to deny the theory that the photographer faked the picture. (Sunday Times)
People: Capa photographs discovered
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (left) is to attend a summit of oil states in London in December. His visit is causing a headache for civil servants as he had asked to pitch his bedouin tents in one of the Royal Parks. (Sunday Telegraph)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has recorded a rap, part of The Cry, a requiem composed by Arthur Snell to be premiered at St Paul's cathedral. (Independent on Sunday)
Ronnie Wood, party-goer and Rolling Stones guitarist, is to steer clear of daughter Leah's 30th celebrations tomorrow. Ronnie allegedly fears that the model is a "bad influence" on him. (Sunday Telegraph)
Art-collecting millionaire Poju Zabludowicz is thought to be considering a bid for Newcastle United Football Club. His wife Anita is a Geordie. (Observer)
"A life-support system to a pair of breasts" - Kathy Lette (left) sums up Bond girls after producer Barbara Broccoli claimed some of them were "progressive". (Sunday Telegraph)
Artist Stuart Semple will combine wearable art and collectable fashion in an exhibition called Cult of Denim, featuring pairs of jeans selling for £1,000. The show at Selfridges in October also includes installations and canvasses. (Independent on Sunday)
Actor Christian Bale has pulled out of Oliver Stone's latest film project, after prosthetic tests which Stone says cost "thousands and thousands of dollars". Bale was to have played George W Bush in Stone's upcoming W. (Sunday Telegraph)
"It enabled me to get rid of a box of problems - but it just gets replaced by a posher box of even bigger problems" - £11m Lottery winner Mark Gardiner. (News of the World)
Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld (left) is to go to court to prevent the distribution in France of a new book about him which alleges that he exaggerated his aristocratic origins. (Sunday Times)
Posters for the Al Pacino and Robert De Niro movie Righteous Kill bear the slogan: "There's nothing wrong with a little shooting as long as the right people get shot." There is one outside Stockwell tube station in London, where Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead in error by the police. (Independent on Sunday)
A fridge designed by Albert Einstein in 1930 is to make a comeback. The design is being revived as it uses no electricity. (Observer)
A YouTube video spreading like wildfire suggests that former Monty Python actor Michael Palin would be a better US vice president than his namesake the Republican candidate Sarah Palin. His stance on the environment: "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK." (Sunday Times)
Comic Ricky Gervais (left) was asked by an American journalist about the horrible false teeth he wore for his latest film role. Unfortunately, he had to admit they were his own. (Mail on Sunday)
Mayor of London Boris Johnson is to provide "well-being workshops" for staff affected by cost-cutting measures - arguably the sort of spending he has decried as ridiculous in the past. (Observer)
Multi-millionaire singer George Michael was arrested last week in a seedy public toilet in London with what is believed to be crack cocaine and cannabis, it has emerged. He was released with a caution. (People)
Model Kate Moss (left) has been photographed with Blake Wood, a friend of Amy Winehouse. A source said: "Kate was absolutely trashed. She spent most of the night flirting with Blake." (News of the World)
Madonna's friend, baseball player Alex Rodriguez, has finalised his divorce from his wife of five years, Cynthia, who allegedly told friends she was uneasy about his relationship with Madonna. (Sunday Mirror)
Two drunk men broke into a cricket pavilion in Rawtenstall in Lancashire, stole alcohol but then passed out at the scene. Coach Jeff Pickup found them asleep in stolen club jerseys the next morning. (Sunday Mirror)
Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo's Brazillian lover Fernanda has been filmed apparently selling cocaine and offering sex for £460. And it has been claimed she works as a prostitute without his knowledge. (News of the World)
r Christian Bale has pulled out of Oliver Stone's latest film project, after prosthetic tests which Stone says cost "thousands and thousands of dollars". Bale was to have played George W Bush in Stone's upcoming W. (Sunday Telegraph) "It enabled me to get rid of a box of problems - but it just gets replaced by a posher box of even bigger problems" - £11m Lottery winner Mark Gardiner. (News of the World) Fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld (left) is to go to court to prevent the distribution in France of a new book about him which alleges that he exaggerated his aristocratic origins. (Sunday Times) Posters for the Al Pacino and Robert De Niro movie Righteous Kill bear the slogan: "There's nothing wrong with a little shooting as long as the right people get shot." There is one outside Stockwell tube station in London, where Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead in error by the police. (Independent on Sunday) A fridge designed by Albert Einstein in 1930 is to make a comeback. The design is being revived as it uses no electricity. (Observer) A YouTube video spreading like wildfire suggests that former Monty Python actor Michael Palin would be a better US vice president than his namesake the Republican candidate Sarah Palin. His stance on the environment: "I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK." (Sunday Times) Comic Ricky Gervais (left) was asked by an American journalist about the horrible false teeth he wore for his latest film role. Unfortunately, he had to admit they were his own. (Mail on Sunday) Mayor of London Boris Johnson is to provide "well-being workshops" for staff affected by cost-cutting measures - arguably the sort of spending he has decried as ridiculous in the past. (Observer)
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