'Countdown to conflagration' and 'Restore high streets or lose election'
Many of the papers have headlined on Iran, with the Mail declaring: "Countdown to conflagration". It says US President Donald Trump has issued a "chilling threat" to the Middle Eastern nation, demanding that the Ayatollah make a nuclear deal or "face an overwhelming military onslaught". Tehran says that any attack on Iran would be considered an "act of war", the Mail reports.
The Guardian writes that a US armada "heads towards Iran", and notes that it is "prepared to rapidly fulfil its mission, with speed and violence if necessary" as per Trump's post to Truth Social. The "decline of Britain's high streets" also features prominently on the front page, with new research from the University of Southhampton indicating that the Labour Party must address the problem or risk being "washed away in a tide of discontent".
"Trump's war threat to Iran" says the Mirror, alongside a photo of the USS Abraham Lincoln, which reportedly leads the armada currently en route to the Gulf.
The unfolding situation in Iran has been labelled a "nuclear ultimatum" by the i Paper, which reports that people are fleeing Tehran in anticipation of an imminent attack. Iran's foreign minister has said that armed forces are ready "with fingers on the trigger" to "powerfully respond" to aggression.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is the focus of the Daily Telegraph's leading story, which says he called for European human rights laws to be invoked in order to investigate British soldiers in Iraq, in a book published by "disgraced lawyer" Phil Shiner. The piece follows on from the paper's front page yesterday, which revealed Sir Keir's involvement in a landmark legal case in 2007. A No 10 spokesperson said that the prime minister assisted the court on points of law, but did not advocate for either side. "The prime minister was not involved in the subsequent case heard in the European Court of Human Rights," the spokesperson said, and added that allegations were a "desperate and deliberate misrepresentation".
"PM shelves fresh plan to overhaul benefits" reads the Times, which says that Sir Keir has vetoed plans for a new attempt to reform the UK's welfare system. Two reviews of the welfare state are due to report this year, it reports, but both are expected to require legislation. This latest decision by the prime minister makes welfare reform before the next election unlikely, according to the paper.
The Express quotes Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch on its front page, following a speech where she addressed recent defections to Reform UK. "My party is for serious people and not drama queens," said Badenoch, and claimed those joining Nigel Farage were having a "tantrum dressed up as politics".
The world's biggest mining companies have added almost half a trillion dollars to their valuations this year, according to the Financial Times. The paper notes that the "biggest winners" included Rio Tinto and Glencore, as well as Sydney-listed BHP and China's Zijin Mining.
A retired police official has told the Sun that he believes nurse Lucy Letby is innocent, and that her conviction could be "the greatest miscarriage of justice this century". Letby is currently serving 15 life sentences in jail for the murder of seven babies, and the attempted murder of seven more.
The Metro reports that a British lotto winner has been jailed for building a "drug empire" worth £228m. The paper says the man, 80, won £2.4m in 2010.
"Spend it like Beckham" says the Star, pricing a wine featured in Brooklyn Beckham's Instagram post at £80,000.
