'Israel steps up attacks' and Badenoch 'sparks maternity pay row'

Smoke rises from the site of Israeli air strikes in the Red Sea port city of Hudaydah, Yemen

A number of the front pages focus on the fighting in the Middle East.

The Guardian warns of escalating violence after a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. The paper says the attack on fuel and energy facilities, as well as ports, is one of the biggest operations in the nearly year long crisis in the region.

The Financial Times has the headline "Israel steps up attacks on Iran proxies". The paper says alongside the strikes in Yemen, Israeli forces have inflicted a string of devastating blows on Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The i says Israel is targeting the Iranian weapons network in Yemen, after wiping out Hezbollah leaders, while The Times says Lebanon is bracing for battle as Israel appears to be planning for a ground invasion by massing tanks on the border.

"Badenoch sparks Tory splits over maternity pay costs" is the Daily Telegraph's headline. The paper says rival Tory leadership candidates have turned on Kemi Badenoch, after she suggested that regulations around maternity pay had gone too far and were tying businesses in red tape. She has since said the comments were taken out of context.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mail leads with a claim by the former prime minister, Boris Johnson, that the French President Emmanuel Macron wanted Britain to suffer a "punishment beating" because of Brexit.

Elsewhere, the Financial Times says the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is hoping to attend a meeting of European Union finance ministers before the end of the year, as part of efforts to widen co-operation with the bloc. The paper says the arrangements are still being discussed, but that the Labour government seeks to "widen co-operation with the bloc".

"Emergency Money" is the headline for the Daily Mirror, which claims an exclusive insight into the upcoming budget. The paper says Rachel Reeves will put the NHS at the heart of her plans next month. It says any spare money will be ploughed into saving hospitals by slashing waiting times.

The Daily Express has the splash "cruel winter fuel cuts will cost NHS £169m a year". It quotes analysis by the campaign group, the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, which says Labour's decision to limit winter fuel payments will leave 262,000 pensioners needing NHS treatment.

And finally, the Daily Star cries "invasion of the killer fungi". It says dangerous Dead Man's Fingers and Death Cap mushrooms are "booming" across Britain because of the washout autumn. The paper says three people were poisoned and admitted to hospital after eating a death cap in Jersey last week.

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