UK 'hardest hit by Covid fallout' and next Bond 'shouldn't be American'

Bond actor Daniel Craig at the world premiere of Spectre in 2015

The Sunday Telegraph welcomes moves by the government to make it easier to dismiss civil servants if they are not performing well.

The paper's opinion column points out that the civil service's headcount has been allowed to swell "beyond reason".

But it argues that the measures need to go a lot further.

The Telegraph thinks ministers should possess the same powers over their departments as chief executives have over their companies - "dismissing the incompetent and ensuring that their orders are carried out".

The lead in the Sunday Times is: "Pro-Palestine activists target defence firms." It suggests that members of the group Palestine Action have carried out attacks on what it describes as the UK's "most strategically important defence contractors" including BAE Systems and Lockheed Martin.

It states that activists have ram-raided factories, cut internet cables and smashed up workshops and offices. Palestine Action is quoted saying: "The primary goal of our campaign is to rid Britain of Israeli weapons factories."

"Britons among hardest hit by Covid five years on" is the headline for the Observer.

It explains that - as events are held to mark the anniversary of the start of the pandemic - there is evidence that the UK is struggling more than other nations to recover.

The paper has analysed international data, and concludes that Britain is facing "larger drops in life expectancy, more people too sick to work, huge levels of homelessness and soaring mental health problems among young people".

There is anger on the front of the Sunday Express about the reported £6.6bn cost of asylum seeker and refugee support schemes in the UK.

The paper is horrified that some of the money has apparently been spent on activities including trips to the zoo, tennis lessons and even a visit to the Emirates football stadium in London.

The Home Office is quoted saying it has introduced "new controls" to minimise unnecessary spending.

The Sunday Mirror leads on plans by ministers to crack down on "thugs who terrorise communities".

It says Labour's "war on yobs" will involve a new law to be voted on by MPs this week.

This could give police, councils and other public bodies the power to ban persistent offenders from areas where they have "caused misery".

Breaching an order could result in up to two years in jail. The paper's leader calls it "the first step towards safe and secure neighbourhoods in which everyone can thrive".

"Sex cells" is the headline for the Sunday People - with the cells in question being in jails. It reports that the number of female prison staff who have been sacked for having sex with inmates has "trebled in recent years".

According to the paper, government figures indicate that forty women have been fired in such cases in the past four years.

And finally, the Mail on Sunday tries to quell fears which it says have been expressed by James Bond fans, about what Amazon's takeover of the 007 franchise could mean for its central character. It says a source at the American company has confirmed that "certain things" are "sacrosanct". We are told that the next Bond will be a man, and will be "British or from the Commonwealth".

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