'Divers bring bodies ashore' and 'jobs tax looms'

Rescue personnel transport a body bag after a luxury yacht, which was carrying British entrepreneur Mike Lynch, sank off the coast of Porticello, near the Sicilian city of Palermo, Italy, August 21, 2024. Image source, Reuters
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Most of the papers feature pictures on their front pages of the Italian emergency teams bringing victims of the superyacht disaster back to shore. The Daily Express describes a "grim discovery" for rescue teams, external, while the Daily Mail reports , externalthe captain of the Bayesian, James Cutfield, was questioned for two hours by investigators. The paper says there have been claims hatches left open contributed to the vessel's sudden sinking. The Sun is among the papers which say the missing British entrepreneur Mike Lynch is among those who have died, but Italian authorities have not yet confirmed any names.

According to the Daily Telegraph, external, the medicines watchdog, the MHRA, is expected to give the green light for the breakthrough Alzheimer's drug, Lecanemab, to be used in Britain. Tests have showed it slowed cognitive decline in sufferers by 27%. The move would mean it could be prescribed privately. The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence would then decide whether it could be used on the NHS. But, the Telegraph points out, rolling it out on the NHS would require a mass expansion of diagnostic capacity, to identify who would benefit from the drug. An MHRA spokesman said a "rigorous assessment" was being completed.

The Financial Times reports that the Trades Union Congress is to push the Labour government for "pay restoration", external, making up for more than a decade of real-term public sector salary cuts. Matt Wrack, the head of the Fire Brigades Union, which holds the revolving TUC presidency, has told the paper he expects delegates at a meeting next month to back a demand for broader, above-inflation pay rises. The paper says the move will add to strains between Labour and its union backers with demands for higher pay clashing with ministers' attempts to keep a tight grip on Britain's "straitened public finances".

The National Crime Agency warns in the Guardian that it could seek to extradite foreign cybercriminals, external as part of a crackdown on "sextortion" - the blackmailing of people, mostly teenagers, who are tricked into sending sexual images online. The crime has been linked to the deaths of at least two teenagers in Britain in recent years. The agency said gangs, often based in West Africa, would not be safe from prosecution in the UK.

The Times says ministers are prepared to let young Europeans live and work in Britain, external as part of a wider reset with Brussels. The paper quotes government sources suggesting that, under the move, EU citizens under 30 would be allowed to live and work in the UK for up to three years. There would be a reciprocal arrangement for British citizens. Downing Street has denied it is considering such a measure.

The Daily Telegraph and the Times both report that government is set to allow councils to create more 20mph zones and low traffic neighbourhoods. The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, is quoted as telling a podcast that local authorities would have her "absolute support" to introduce the schemes. The Sun suggests Ms Haigh is abdicating her responsibility, external by - in its words - casually letting 20mph zones spring up randomly. It says a balance must be struck between public safety and letting drivers go about their business at reasonable speed.

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