From today's UK papers

The Times

A detailed history of the earliest humans to live in Britain is to be written in a £1.2 million study that will shed new light on the origins of modern man. The Ancient Human Occupation of Britain project will use fossils and artefacts, river sediments and animal remains to investigate when, where and how Britain was inhabited by man's ancestors.

Flirting in the workplace is not only a good way to relieve anxiety and stress, but can strengthen relationships with partners at home, according to a survey in Italy. Seven out of ten Italians said that giving their working enviroment "an erotic charge" helped them to get through the day, the Italian Gestalt Institute reported yesterday.

The Guardian

The north and south are not only divided over housing and employment - but over cannabis use too, according to Whitehall research. Almost 40 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds in London are estimated to have smoked cannabis, compared with 16 per cent in Wales and 15 per cent in Scotland, as the Metropolitan Police Force shows greater tolerance about the use of soft drugs.

Scientists are about to probe the biggest missing person mystery of all time - the disappearance of the British for more than 100,000 years.

Pesticide-residue testing of UK food is so inadequate that safety cannot be guaranteed, Friends of the Earth claimed yesterday.

Daily Telegraph

A pioneering form of gene therapy that reprogrammes the immune systems of dangerously sick children is offering new hope to the parents of "babies in bubbles". In the first trial of its kind in Britain's Great Ormond Street Hospital, ten babies with two types of potentially fatal immune-system disease will be given the treatment.

Scientists at Tokyo University are developing a remote-controlled cockroach that can carry a tiny camera and microphone for spying missions or can be used for searching under rubble for disaster victims.

For the first time in the history of the Church of England the number of baptised Anglicans is less than half of the country's population. Research by the University of Sheffield has found that the number of infants born in England and baptised into the Church of England dropped by 21 per cent in 1999.

Thousands of teenagers will soon be leaving home for college or university, but most will struggle with independent living, a study has found. More than four in five boys, and more than a quarter of girls had never done their own washing, according to the report by Abbey National.

Financial Times

The Fulbright Commission in London has cancelled its annual College Day - where students and parents can meet representatives of up to 100 US universities.

Edinburgh University is to create a £100 million science park on a 50-hectare site south of the city centre in partnership with Grosvenor Estates, the property and investment company.

The US Supreme Court is to decide whether school voucher programmes, which give parents federal money to spend on private education, violate the constitution.

Daily Mail

Parents are losing control over what their children watch on television, according to a report out today. The rapid growth of digital, cable and satellite TV and home computer technology is to blame, according to a study.

A prominent British psychiatrist has launched a £4.3 million court case, claiming he lost a £180,000 a year job for criticising Prozac. Dr David Healy said the job offer from the University of Toronto and an affiliated teaching hospital was revoked the week after he linked the anti-depressant drug to higher suicide rates.

A research scientist who accused steelmaker Corus of stereotyping him as a "polite little Indian" won an extra golden handshake from the company yesterday. As well as taking early retirement, 61-year-old Kanal Chatterjee accepted undisclosed damages in an out-of-court settlement over his claims of racial discrimination.