Author: News Desk

Various TikTok influencers will be paid by the government to persuade migrants not to cross the Channel in small boats, the Metro reports. The Home Office hopes the move will combat human traffickers who use the app to coax people to make the dangerous crossing.

The Daily Express reports Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has been urged to cut £20bn off the collective tax bill in light of an improvement in economic forecasts.

The Daily Mirror says the Royal College of Nursing union boss, Pat Cullen, has said a collapse in nursing recruitment is putting the future of the NHS at risk and will cause patient safety to suffer too.

The Sun leads with radio DJ Steve Wright who died on Monday at the age of 69. It reports that he “died of a broken heart” after the BBC sacked him from a long-running show, his friends said.

Several of Thursday’s front pages report on the findings of an annual report on antisemitism in the UK, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. 

Elsewhere, the UK economy and other domestic stories make the front page.

Police have apprehended three suspects in connection to the shooting.

Japan unexpectedly slips into a recession Japan has unexpectedly slipped into a recession as its economy contracted for two consecutive quarters. In the final three months of 2023, Japan’s gross domestic product (GDP) unexpectedly shrank by 0.4% compared to the same period a year ago, following a 3.3% contraction in the previous quarter. These figures, released by Japan’s Cabinet Office, also reveal that Japan has yielded its position as the world’s third-largest economy to Germany. Economists had anticipated a growth of over 1% in Japan’s GDP for the fourth quarter of the preceding year. These initial figures mark the first…

Israel Gaza: Netanyahu vows to press ahead with Rafah offensive Benjamin Netanyahu has said his troops will advance on the Gazan city of Rafah, ignoring pleas to reconsider. France’s Macron was among those issuing a warning. He told Netanyahu that the human cost of Israel’s operation was “intolerable.” Netanyahu has ordered his army to prepare for a ground assault. There are currently around 1.4 million Palestinians crammed into Rafah – which has already been heavily bombarded.  Netanyahu said Israel’s “powerful” assault will continue until Hamas are eliminated from the southern city. ‘Calls for operations to cease’ President Macron phoned Netanyahu…

Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed at least seven civilians, security sources say, after Hezbollah rocket fire killed a soldier in Israel.

A woman and two children were killed in Souaneh, and at least four members of a family were later killed in Nabatieh.

Before Trump’s initial presidential campaign in 2016, Putin had lauded him as “outstanding and talented.” Biden has long been a vocal critic of Putin, labelling him a “killer” well before the invasion of Ukraine.