Today’s news summary – Paper Talk: ‘Hostage baby died in Gaza’ & ‘Racist royals revealed’
Several of Thursday’s newspapers carry a picture of 10-month-old Kfir Bibas, who Hamas claims has died along with his mother and four-year-old brother, in an Israeli strike. Kfir is the youngest hostage to be taken on 7 October.
‘Smile of innocent’
The Daily Telegraph carries an image of Kfir Bibas in his mother’s arms. The Daily Express has a photo of Kfir’s face – “Smile of an innocent “lost” in a war with no end” – is its headline.
Away from the latest from the Middle East, The Times reports that Rwanda’s support for Britain’s deportation plans is at “risk of collapse” due to the constant delays in getting flights to take off.
The Guardian reports that air pollution from fossil fuels kills five million people a year. It says the figure will increase pressure on world leaders to take action.
The i newspaper says some Tory MPs and economists think its time to rethink the pensions triple lock. The policy, which was introduced in 2010, guarantees pensions will rise every year by whichever is highest out of inflation, average earnings or 2.5%. But some argue the system is not affordable in the long term because the UK’s population is ageing.
The Financial Times leads on the news an unnamed Indian government official is accused of involvement in a plot to have a Sikh activist in New York killed. The paper claims the case could derail America’s efforts to improve its relations with India.
The Daily Mirror leads on its own investigation into the NHS saying that performance reports on every hospital trust paint an alarming picture of accident and emergency wards “stretched to breaking point”, with over half rated as “inadequate” or “requiring improvement”.
Royal scandals
Several of the papers continue their coverage of the release of the Omid Scobie book about the royal family.
The Daily Mail reports that two Royals were named in a Dutch translation of the book as raising “concerns” about the skin colour of Harry’s son Archie.
The two were identified on UK TV by Piers Morgan as being King Charles and the Princess of Wales. Morgan says that revealing the names he believes it will allow people in the UK to have a more open debate about the claims.
The book has been pulled from the shelves in the Netherlands.