Newspaper headlines: 'House of Horror' and Bayeux Tapestry on the move

BBC NewsStaff

Most of Wednesday's papers focus on the fallout from the collapse of Carillion.

The Times reports the firm was dealt a severe blow by a £200m dispute in Qatar, concerning a project linked to the 2022 World Cup to be staged there.

It says Carillion executives believe the firm had never been paid for work it completed on a major development project in the capital, Doha.

The firm's dramatic collapse has started to hit thousands of the firm's suppliers, the Guardian adds.

The "threat of contagion afflicting the sector" has been likened to a near re-run of the 2008 banking crisis, it says.

"Subcontractors owed money by the construction and services giant are already being pressurised by their banks and have begun laying off workers."

News imageMOD British troopsMOD
Sir Mike Penning has a warning about military spending

The Sun has an interview with ex-armed forces minister Sir Mike Penning - in which he exposes what the paper describes as "Britain's shocking military shortfalls".

Sir Mike tells the paper that increasing numbers of personnel are leaving the SAS and SBS (Special Boat Service).

He also says Navy frigates can only track Russian submarines for up to six days because of staff shortages.

A Downing Street spokeswoman is quoted saying that Britain's defence budget will rise from £36bn to £40bn by 2021.

It says the increase is the biggest in Europe, the second biggest in Nato and the fifth largest in the world.

Knife education

The lead headline in the Guardian is: "Teach five-year-olds the dangers of knife crime."

The call comes from Det Ch Supt Sean Yates, who is the head of knife crime for London's Metropolitan Police.

The paper reports that 2017 was the worst year in more than a decade for knife-related deaths among young people.

Mr Yates is quoted as saying: "We need to be talking to these youngsters at a very early age. The teachable moment needs to be before they are lying in A&E."

News imageReuters The home of David Allen and Louise Anna TurpinReuters
News crews are now camped outside David and Louise Turpin's home in California

All of the papers cover the case of David and Louise Turpin - the Californian couple alleged to have held their 13 children captive.

Many have the same photograph, which features nine of their daughters, all wearing pink tartan dresses.

The Daily Express says it was taken when the couple renewed their marriage vows in 2015.

The Daily Telegraph uses a different image, in which the youngsters - and their parents - all have on matching red Doctor Seuss-style t-shirts.

They have "Thing 1", "Thing 2", "Thing 3" and so-on printed on them.

The Daily Mirror's headline is a quote from a neighbour, who says the children were "like vampires - thin and pale".

Bitcoin problems

According to the Financial Times, some people in the UK who invested in Bitcoin are having difficulties converting their profits into hard cash.

The paper says money laundering checks employed by British banks, and the high fees charged by crypto-currency exchanges, are proving costly to those hoping to withdraw the money they've made.

News imagePA Sir Desmond SwaynePA
Faking it? Was Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne really asleep?

Finally, the Daily Mail is one of several papers to use a photograph of Eurosceptic Conservative MP Sir Desmond Swayne apparently asleep in the Commons.

In the foreground, his colleague Ken Clarke is on his feet. He is, in the paper's words, "extolling the virtues of the EU".

The i newspaper covers the incident in its page three profile column, concluding that falling asleep in the House is "hardly the respectful, statesmanlike behaviour one might usually expect from a Member of Parliament".