Newspaper headlines: UK defends Oxford jab and vigil policing fallout

"Chaos" is how the Daily Telegraph describes the decision by major EU countries including France and Germany to suspend use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine because of concerns about blood clots.

The paper says the move has baffled British experts, who point out that the union's own medicines regulator insists the jab is safe.

"There is no data to support what they're doing", one Whitehall source tells the Daily Mail - which believes the suspensions are "reckless" and could cost lives.

The Daily Express calls it a "shameful" situation and asks on its front page, "what on Earth are the EU playing at?"

The Independent website agrees that the scientific consensus on the vaccine's safety is "overwhelming" - and says reported cases of blood clots "could easily be coincidental".

Several papers have already seen the government's new foreign policy strategy - which is published today.

The Guardian says a cap on the number of Trident nuclear warheads the UK can stockpile will be increased by more than 40% - in response to perceived threats from Russia and China.

The Times reports that security will also be increased around critical infrastructure - such as the National Grid - so Britain can boost trade links with China without sensitive technology being threatened.

In an editorial, Boris Johnson says the UK will not "swagger" or "strike attitudes" on the world stage - but will work to protect its own interests by engaging with the international community.

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The Sun says the Metropolitan Police have launched a "high-level internal inquiry" - after an officer involved in the search for Sarah Everard allegedly sent highly-inappropriate pictures to colleagues referencing her kidnap and murder.

It describes the content of the messages as a "twisted joke", and says the officer was swiftly reported to Scotland Yard management - who've since put him on restricted duties.

A former detective chief constable at the Met, Mick Neville, tells the Sun that the incident risks further undermining public trust in the force.

According to the i, ministers look set to lift the current ban on gene editing on farms in England - meaning that crops and livestock could be genetically engineered to protect them against disease and increase food supplies.

A 10-week consultation on the plan closes tomorrow, and the chief scientific adviser at Defra - the government department responsible for farming - says there appears to be "pretty general support for it".

But opponents, including the RSPCA, believe the proposal raises significant animal welfare issues.

And there's palpable relief from people who took advantage of hairdressers reopening in Wales yesterday.

The Daily Mirror calls it a "good hair Dai" for the lucky few who managed to get appointments, while the Guardian paints the scene in one busy salon in Caerphilly, where colour and cuts were taking longer than usual because the owner "kept having to dart to the reception desk to field calls".

The paper says staff in nearby barber shops set about fixing men's self-inflicted bald patches and wonky fringes.

"I looked terrible when I went in," says 75-year-old Gilbert Fuller - "like the mad professor".