'Terror in the sky' and 'I've lost my hands and feet to sepsis'

The interior of Singapore Airlines flight SQ32Image source, Reuters
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Many of the papers are dominated by the mid-air turbulence that struck the Singapore Airlines flight on Tuesday. The Daily Mail calls it a "nightmare at 37,000 feet, external". It says friends have described the British man who died, 73-year-old Geoffrey Kitchen, as "adventurous". The Daily Express said Mr Kitchen and his wife were at the start of a "dream holiday", external to South East Asia and Australia.

The Daily Telegraph picks up on the International Monetary Fund urging the Bank of England to cut interest rates three times this year, external, as inflation falls. The paper says that is more than what is expected by the financial markets, and that such a move would boost the fortunes of millions of mortgage owners who, it says, are ''battling a surge in borrowing costs". The Financial Times says the IMF's warning against further tax cuts comes at a sensitive time, external for the chancellor as he tries to find room for cutting taxes before the general election.

Image source, Getty Images

The Times says that new advice to police forces, to consider making fewer non-urgent arrests, could hamper Rishi Sunak's efforts, external to restore the Conservatives' reputation as the party of law and order. The paper's leader column condemns the move as an "absurdity", external, and a "damning indictment" of the government's managerial capabilities. It suggests that to free up more space in prisons, ministers could revive a sentencing bill that would, in effect, have scrapped sentences of less than twelve months in England and Wales.

The Guardian reports that there has been a big increase in the number of people under 40 in the UK developing type 2 diabetes, external. Figures from the charity Diabetes UK show a rise of 39% over the past six years - fuelled, the paper says, by soaring obesity levels and cheap junk foods. The charity's chief executive, Collette Marshall, tells the paper the increase among children and young adults is "alarming", and she calls on ministers to take action. The government statement says it is committed to tackling the causes and effects of type 2 diabetes.

The Conservative MP who survived sepsis tells the Daily Telegraph he is lucky to be alive, external. Craig Mackinlay says his life-saving treatment by the health service was "exemplary" - though he describes the prosthetic hands given him by the NHS as "medieval", prompting him to go private for state-of-the-art multifunctional hands. The South Thanet MP also thanks his wife, Kati, a pharmacist, for calling the ambulance and insisting paramedics take him straight to hospital. "No doubt at all Kati saved my life," he says.

Image caption,

MP Craig Mackinlay had limbs amputated after getting sepsis

The Financial Times says the government will today start urging people in the UK to begin stock-piling, external tinned food, water and batteries, to better prepare for emergencies. The Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden, the paper explains, will unveil a website giving advice on what the public should have at home in the event of flooding, power cuts or biosecurity issues like the Covid pandemic. Retailers are said to be worried about panic-buying.

And the Times reveals that St Albans is trying to become the first British city to go "smartphone-free", external for children aged under 14. Primary school head teachers there are urging parents to delay buying their children smartphones - and suggesting they get them call and text-only phones, if necessary.

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