UK to freeze Syria asylum claims and 'Red card for Coote'

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has told hospitals to focus on stopping people dying avoidably as flu cases rise this winter, the Times reports

The fallout from the toppling of Bashar al-Assad in Syria continues to lead the papers.

The Times has a report from the Saydnaya prison near Damascus, where many of Assad's opponents were held, tortured and killed. The paper features a photograph of a man holding up two bloodied nooses found during the search for survivors. The Guardian has a similar photograph from the prison, which it says is known locally as "the human slaughterhouse".

"Syria rebels rush to consolidate power as fears of regional instability mount", reads the headline in the Financial Times. The paper says rebel officials have met the former government to negotiate a peaceful transition of power. The Daily Mirror quotes Foreign Secretary David Lammy calling Assad's downfall a "humiliation" for his backers, Iran and Russia.

The Guardian reports on a decision by the UK government to suspend asylum applications from Syria, saying it comes "despite a lack of clarity over what lies ahead" for the country. The Daily Telegraph quotes security sources who say the UK is at risk of British jihadists returning from Syria if they are freed from prison under the new regime.

Former MI6 chief Sir Alex Younger is quoted by the Daily Mail saying there is now a risk that a "very large number" of Islamic State detainees will be freed and that they would pose a "chronic" security threat to the UK.

The Times says the health secretary's decision to prioritise treatment for the sickest people this winter could undermine the government's goal of reducing NHS waiting lists. Wes Streeting told health bosses yesterday to focus on stopping people dying avoidably in A&E corridors as flu cases rise this winter. But the paper quotes a senior health official who says this will probably mean elective surgeries are delayed or cancelled.

The Daily Telegraph says criminals are being allowed to work from home to complete community sentences. The paper said a freedom of information request sent to the Ministry of Justice revealed offenders carried out a total of 540,000 hours of online courses last year, 12% of all completed community sentences. A government spokesperson tells the paper that the majority of offenders' unpaid work was done in person, and that the courses were designed to help get people into work and away from crime.

The Daily Express says the rise in employers' national insurance contributions introduced in October's Budget will cost children's hospices almost £140,000 a year each in additional staffing costs. It says seriously ill children will "pay the price" of the increase. The Department for Health and Social Care says it is working with NHS England to address the financial pressures facing the hospice sector.

"Red card for Coote" is the splash on the Sun's front page. It follows the sacking of Premier League referee David Coote after he was seen in a video allegedly making derogatory comments about Liverpool's then-manager, Jurgen Klopp, and in a photo appearing to sniff white powder through a rolled up bank note. The Sun says Coote is likely to lose £2m in earnings following his dismissal, though in an article for the paper former referee Mark Halsey says there could be a way back for Coote.

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