The Guardian – Starmer tells Putin: you started this war, you can end it any time
The Guardian leads with the prime minister’s comments that President Vladimir Putin could end the conflict in Ukraine “straight away”. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has responded directly to Putin’s threats, the paper says, by saying Russia started this war and could choose to end it at any time.
A large image of a US tech billionaire in space makes the front page. Jared Isaacman completed the world’s first commercial spacewalk as part of a SpaceX mission.
News that the prime minister is to ban junk food ads before 9pm makes the front page. The move is part of a public health drive to help ease the strain on the NHS.
Starmer tells Putin Russia started Ukraine war and can end it any time
Keir Starmer has told Vladimir Putin that he started the war in Ukraine and could end it at any time after the Russian leader warned that any use of long-range British missiles into Russian territory would put Nato at war with his country.
The prime minister spoke en route to Washington to see US president Joe Biden as he sought to justify a western decision made behind closed doors that would allow Ukraine to attack inside Russia with partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles.
Responding directly to threats earlier by the Russian president, Starmer told reporters: “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away. Ukraine has the right to self-defence.”
The UK, he added, had provided “training and capability” – a reference to weapons – to help Ukraine repel the Russian invasion and said that he was visiting the US president partly because “there are obviously further discussions to be had about the nature of that capability”.
Junk food TV ads to be banned pre-watershed in UK from October 2025
Junk food TV advertisements are to be banned from airing before the 9pm watershed as part of the government’s drive to improve public health.
In addition, online ads for products that are high in fat, salt and sugar will be banned altogether, Andrew Gwynne, the public health minister, told the Commons on Thursday. Both measures will come into force on 1 October 2025.
Health campaigners welcomed the move as an overdue restriction on firms’ ability to bombard children with ads for their unhealthy food and drink products.
James Toop, the chief executive of Bite Back, which is part of the chef Jamie Oliver’s organisation, said: “This is fantastic news. These restrictions will help shield children from exposure to unhealthy food and drink advertising, which research shows significantly shapes their relationship with food.
Six UN aid workers among 18 killed in Israeli strike on Gaza school
Israel has bombed a UN school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza, killing at least 18 people, including the shelter manager and five other Unrwa staff.
The al-Jaouni school in Nuseirat is home to about 12,000 displaced people, mostly women and children, the UN said. It has been hit five times since the start of the war in Gaza.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, called the attack “totally unacceptable” and said it broke international laws that protect civilians in war. “These dramatic violations of international humanitarian law need to stop now.”
The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said he was “outraged” by the bombing. “The disregard of the basic principles of international humanitarian law, especially protection of civilians, cannot and should not be accepted by the international community.”
Today’s news summary – Paper Talk
If you are someone who reads every perspective of a story, here is a news summary of all of today’s front pages from today’s newspapers; summarised in a 2-minute read
Editorial 13 September 2024.
Friday’s leads report on the war in Ukraine as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer flies to Washington for talks with US President Joe Biden. The meeting is expected to cover whether to give Ukraine permission to fire Western long-range weapons into Russia.
A second, domestic, lead for the papers reports that junk food adverts are going to be banned from TV before 21:00 from October next year.