'Minister for hypocrisy' and 'Pill for weight loss on NHS'

Rushanara Ali, Labour MP for Bethnal Green and Bow, who has resigned as UK homelessness minister.Image source, David Woolfall/UK Parliament/PA
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Several of Friday's papers lead on the resignation of the homelessness minister, Rushanara Ali, after claims about the way she handled rent increases on a property she owns in east London.

"Minister resigns over rental 'hypocrisy'" is the Daily Telegraph, external's headline. The Daily Mail , externalsays there were "mounting calls" for her to step down and it describes the episode as "embarrassing". The i Paper, external, which broke the initial story, says Ali used her resignation letter to say she had complied with all the "relevant legal requirements" but felt she was becoming a distraction.

News that Israel's security cabinet approved a proposal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the takeover of Gaza City broke too late for the morning papers but there has been reaction on their websites. The Times, external notes that in the run-up to the meeting the plans created a "sharp divide" within the country's leadership. The Guardian, external says the decision marks "another escalation" of Israel's offensive in Gaza.

The Times says new guidance is to be submitted to ministers which will tell schools, hospitals, leisure centres and cinemas to ban transgender women from using single-sex areas. This would include lavatories and changing rooms. The paper says the Equality and Human Rights Commission will make its submission later this month. In a statement the EHRC said the guidance had not yet been finalised.

The Daily Mirror, external and the Express, external lead on the daily obesity pill orforglipron after trials found it could help patients lose around 12% of their body weight over 72 weeks. Both papers say the drug could be available on the NHS, next year.

According to the Telegraph, scientists are looking at whether the unique ability of the apple snail to regrow eyes its after they have been cut off could lead to a cure for blindness. A team at the University of California has been studying the process. They have discovered that the gene likely responsible for the regrowth is also found in humans, but say further research is needed.

And the Daily Star , externalcriticises Fifa for putting England's Lionesses fourth in the world football rankings despite back-to-back Euros wins. The paper asks, "Where's VAR when you need it?"

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