UK News

What the papers say (PA)

What the papers say – March 25
The cancellation of the King’s historic state visit to France due to protests dominates many of Saturday’s front pages.

UK holidaymakers wanting to avoid steep price rises are being forced to choose their destination carefully, new figure show (PA)

Holidaymakers need ‘careful planning’ to find bargain destinations – report

Drivers aged 70 or above were behind the wheel of cars involved in 2,410 crashes on Britain’s roads in 2021 (Akhararat Wathanasing/Alamy/PA)

Call for regular eye tests for drivers as 4% of licence holders are 80 or older

(Paul Swain/PA)

Man aims to break skateboarding world records in aid of mental health charity

Free tickets for England’s match against Ukraine at Wembley Stadium are to be made available to refugees and their sponsor families (Jonathan Brady/PA)

More funding announced as Kyiv asks for more Britons to take in Ukrainians

Dog chews instead of chicken breasts among unusual store delivery substitutions

Fire Brigade Union general secretary Matt Wrack has called for a national campaign of non-compliance with new employment laws

Unions should not comply with new minimum service laws, says FBU chief

Two teenage boys have been charged with the murder of a 16-year-old who was stabbed to death (Northamptonshire Police/PA)

Two teenage boys charged with murder of 16-year-old boy in Northampton

UK Armed Forces supported the evacuation of people from Kabul airport in Afghanistan in January 2022 (LPhot Ben Shread/MoD/Crown Copyright)

Afghan families say they are ‘trapped’ in hotels after losing High Court case

Man charged with murder after death of pedestrian in Plymouth

Then-PM Boris Johnson attends a gathering celebrating his birthday – in which cake and alcohol was provided – in the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street during the pandemic (Cabinet Office/PA)

Two thirds do not believe Johnson’s partygate defence, polling suggests

Queen’s pallbearers awarded Royal Victorian Medal for service during funeral

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Pallbearers carry the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II as it departs St Giles’ Cathedral (Russell Cheyne/PA)

St Giles’ Cathedral pallbearers honoured for services at Queen’s lying at rest

Gwyneth Paltrow says she is the ‘victim’ of ski crash as she begins testimony (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, Pool)

Gwyneth Paltrow says she is the ‘victim’ of ski crash as she begins testimony

A man remains under detention (PA)

Woman released in Kerry baby murder investigation while man still detained

Firemen with the remains of a rubbish fire in Paris (Thomas Padilla/AP)

Macron delays King’s visit amid massive demonstrations

U2’s The Edge poses with his Official Number 1 Album Award for Songs Of Surrender from the Official Charts Company (Emily Quinn)

U2 level with David Bowie as latest album sees band clinch 11th UK number one

1

Former prime minister Liz Truss has reportedly nominated four people for peerages in her resignation honours (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

Rishi Sunak urged to block Liz Truss’s reported resignation nominations

8

A head is placed on the frieze at the Acropolis museum (Petros Giannakouris/AP)

Greece welcomes back sculpture fragments from Parthenon

The threatened strike action in Scotland would be similar to the ongoing walkouts by junior doctor in England (Jacob King/PA)

Junior doctors in Scotland threaten 72-hour walkout in pay dispute

Police reject rules changes which would have kept names of suspects secret

GoPro video footage of Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash may not exist, a US court has been told (Rick Bowmer, Pool/AP)

GoPro video footage of Gwyneth Paltrow ski crash may not exist, US court told

Liam Holden with his family outside the Court of Appeal in Belfast after he had his conviction for murder quashed (Paul Faith/PA)

Family of man tortured into confessing that he killed soldier awarded £350,000

5

James Allchurch (Bronwen Weatherby/PA)

Radio Aryan host claims podcast ‘not racist’

Luke Pollard has said only ‘appropriate’ weapons owners should be able to get a firearms certificate (Richard Townshend/UK Parliament/PA)

Labour calls for major gun law review after MPs back Firearms Bill

Richard Sharp is the BBC chairman (DCMS/PA)

BBC raised concerns over chairman appointment process before Richard Sharp hired

3

West End make-up artist Rafaelle Tsakanika (Family photo/PA)

Mother of woman who died in Qatar criticises lack of action from Foreign Office

Gary Campbell was jailed at the High Court in Edinburgh last month (Andrew Milligan/PA)

Ex-fireman jailed for directing child abuse in Philippines from Scotland

Nadia Zaman argued that the council was required to find accommodation as close to possible to home for her (Alamy/PA)

London woman unhappy over offer of council home in Stoke wins fight with council

The trees were chopped down in Armada Way, Plymouth, in the middle of the night (Anthony Devlin/PA)

Campaigners win bid to continue injunction protecting Plymouth trees

Melissa Burr (Metropolitan Police/PA)

Jury in Victoria death crash fails to reach verdicts

(Jonathan Brady/PA)

UN official hails seven mothers on hunger strike outside Downing Street

(Metropolitan Police/PA)

Cash van driver jailed after faking £920,000 armed heist

Olivia Pratt-Korbel was shot dead in Liverpool (Family/PA)

Man denies lying to jury to ‘bail out’ alleged killer of nine-year-old Olivia

A damaged car at Cologne/Bonn airport (Henning Kaiser/dpa/AP)

Man drives at pedestrians in airport garage in Germany

1

SNP leadership candidate Kate Forbes during a visit to the Zakariyya Masjid mosque in Wishaw, North Lanarkshire (Jane Barlow/PA)

Forbes would seek ‘very early doors’ talks with Greens if elected SNP leader

The King (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA)

‘Disappointment’ that King’s visit to France had to be postponed, experts say

2

Gary Lineker is back hosting Match Of The Day (Danny Lawson/PA)

BBC defends its news coverage of Gary Lineker row after viewers’ complaints

11

Acute water stress will threaten billions of people by 2030 (Ben Birchall/PA)

Water missing from climate planning despite threat to billions, scientists warn

1

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen agreed the deal last month (Dan Kitwood/PA)

Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal for Northern Ireland gets formal sign-off

Brandon McNeil stabbed to death a motorcyclist taking part in the making of a music video (Met Police/PA)

Man who murdered motorcyclist has minimum jail term reduced

The King’s state visit to France has been postponed because of protests over the raising of the retirement age (Isabel Infantes/PA)

King’s state visit to France postponed amid widespread retirement age protests

1

France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks during a press conference at an EU summit in Brussels on Friday March 24 (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP)

Macron says ‘common sense’ meant delaying King Charles’s visit

3

The investigation is due to close next month, with a report due to be published by April 26 (Sean Dempsey/PA)

Watchdog drops games console concerns over £56bn Microsoft-Activision deal

An estimated 1.5 million people in private households in England were likely to have had coronavirus in the week ending March 13 (Danny Lawson/PA)

Final Covid-19 data shows infections in England highest since start of year

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Annie McCarrick has been missing since March 1993 (An Garda Siochana/PA)

Murder inquiry launched over 1993 disappearance of US woman in Dublin

The BBC said it will continue to engage with unions about the proposals on the BBC’s English Orchestras (Ian West/PA)

BBC suspends proposed closure of the BBC Singers

1

Wes Streeting said Labour would reform school inspections (Peter Byrne/PA)

Ofsted must ‘reflect on culture’ of school inspections, Labour says

1

Police forensics officers attend the scene where the bodies were found in Belvedere (Yui Mok/PA)

Two boys found dead at home with their mother had been strangled, inquest told

A new poll suggests people are going without dental care (Rui Vieira/PA)

One in 10 people have performed DIY dentistry, poll finds

A policeman at the scene of a crash in Hong Kong (Louise Delmotte/AP)

Eighty-seven people hurt in bus pile-up in Hong Kong

The manufacturing sector has struggled so far this month (Lesley Martin/PA)

Private sector growth slows in March as manufacturers drag

Twitter has announced it will be removing its legacy verified checkmarks on April 1, prompting blue-ticked users to joke it is time “to get a real job” (PA)

‘Time to get a real job’ verified users joke as Twitter axes legacy checkmarks

Humza Yousaf, Kate Forbes, centre, or Ash Regan will become Scotland’s new first minister next week (Andy Buchanan/PA)

Incoming first minister set immediate priorities by Reform Scotland