Strictly star 'vindicated' and 'world holds breath'

The Strictly abuse report has been "revealed at last", says Metro, with Amanda Abbington saying she has been "vindicated" by the verdict. The BBC apologised to the actress and upheld some of her complaints against her 2023 dance partner on the show, Giovanni Pernice, but cleared him of the most serious allegations.

"I've won", splashes the Sun over pictures of both Abbington and Pernice. She has received a BBC apology, while he has been "cleared of violence in a fudged report", the paper says. According to an unnamed source quoted by the title, Abbington is now considering whether to sue the BBC.

The Daily Express also leads with the Strictly report. Its second story is about a "flying visit to UK" by the Duke of Sussex. "No time for dad or brother," it says of Prince Harry, referring to King Charles and the Prince of Wales.

For the Daily Mail the Strictly report is also a "fudge" but the paper's front page is dominated by the news from the Middle East. "World holds breath as Israel set to invade Lebanon," its headline declares.

According to the Guardian, which has a picture of Israeli battle tanks massing, Israel has already "begun ground attacks on Hezbollah inside Lebanon".

"Netanyahu warns Iran: You're in our sights", is the Daily Telegraph take on the escalating conflict in the Middle East. It refers to new remarks made by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Closer to home, former Home Secretary James Cleverly has said his party was wrong in office to say it could "stop the boats" in tackling undocumented migrants. Cleverly, who is running for the leadership of the Conservative Party, said it had been an "unachievable target".

"Migrants to be stuck in hotels for three years," the Times says. It notes a manifesto pledge by Sir Keir Starmer, the new Labour prime minister, to "end asylum hotels". On the Tory leadership race, the paper focuses on a different contender, Kemi Badenoch, who says she knows "how Thatcher felt" after being criticised for suggesting maternity pay was placing an "excessive burden on businesses".

A photo of weeping mourners at the funeral of a "victim of Israeli air strikes" in southern Lebanon looks out of the front page of the Financial Times, under the headline "Israel's forces poised for imminent ground assault". Chinese pressure on European carmakers leads the paper's business coverage. "Stellantis and Aston Martin shares fall as strength of Chinese rivals dents sales," it reports.

An accounting system used by Post Office sub-postmasters before the controversial Horizon software was introduced is likely to have also been faulty, an investigation has found. The i paper splashes on this, saying the "second IT scandal" is "linked to wrongful convictions". Badenoch also gets a mention but the comparison here is not with the Tories' first female prime minister, the late Margaret Thatcher, but rather their most recent, Liz Truss. "There is a bit of Liz about Kemi," an unnamed "former aide" to Truss is quoted as saying.

"The Matrix is real", if we're to believe the Daily Star. It brings to bear its "fifth favourite boffin in the whole world" on the nature of the universe, which turns out to be "actually an advanced AI simulation" with all of us humans "just characters playing a part".

Israeli armour on the border with Lebanon on Monday

The Daily Mail says the "world holds its breath" as Israel starts its invasion of Lebanon. The Middle East is on the brink, it argues, with US officials "locked in talks" with Israel about what happens next. It reports that President Joe Biden is tying to salvage his ceasefire proposal for Israel and Hezbollah. The Financial Times says the US is sending an "additional few thousand troops" and fighter jets to the region to protect the 40,000 US service peronnel already there and help Israel defend itself.

The Daily Telegraph homes in on the Israeli prime minister's warning to Iran that it is heading towards the "abyss". The paper reports that Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech - in English - directed at citizens in Iran, in which he said the Islamic Republic's "puppets" were being eliminated by the day. "There is nowhere in the Middle East Israel cannot reach," the Telegraph quotes him as saying. The paper says his words were a "possible prelude" to a war with Iran itself.

The Times says it has been told that migrants will continue to be housed in hotels for up to three years because the asylum backlog will take much longer to clear than Labour thought. Ending the use of hotels was one of Sir Keir Starmer's election pledges, though the party gave no time frame. According to the paper, Home Office officials had been expecting to stop using the last hotel within a year. But Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is said to have conceded privately it would take longer to clear the backlog. The Telegraph notes that her predecessor James Cleverley told a fringe event at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham that it was a mistake to use the phrase "stop the boats" about tackling migrant crossings. The Tory leadership contender said its use distilled a complicated problem into a soundbite.

According to the Guardian, the prime minister has been urged to do more to help with rising gas and electricity costs this winter as average energy bills go up today by almost £150 a year. The Resolution Foundation think tank said its research suggested around 7.7 million households would struggle to heat their homes, in the wake of the winter fuel payment cuts for most pensioners in England and Wales.

Many of the papers cover the BBC's verdict on the Strictly Come Dancing bullying claims. The corporation cleared Giovanni Pernice of using physical aggression towards his partner Amanda Abbington but he was found to have used belittling language. The Express highlights the "vindication" for Abbington, noting the BBC apologised to her over bullying complaints against Pernice. The Daily Mirror says both sides claimed victory, while the Sun's front page features a single speech bubble over the former dance partners, with both saying, "I've won".

And the Guardian and Times both report Mount Everest is having a "growth spurt" and becoming taller. Scientists says it is partly down to "isostatic rebound", where extreme erosion of surrounding areas allows the mountain to be pushed upwards, by as much as half a millimetre a year.

Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.