'Walkie-talkie blasts' and conflict's 'new phase'

Attacks in Lebanon are on most front pages. "Death by walkie talkie" is the Sun's line, while the Daily Mirror and the Daily Telegraph describe the explosion of hand-held radios as a "walkie talkie blitz." The Guardian says international observers have warned that the simultaneous detonation of thousands of booby-trapped communications devices may constitute a war crime.

An article by a Lebanese journalist in the Daily Mail describes how Beirut has collapsed into panic with wild rumours doing rounds that solar panels, batteries and fridges might also explode. But there is, he says, one small silver lining - a sense of togetherness, with people from Christian and Sunni neighbourhoods queueing to donate blood, even though many of them loath Hezbollah whose members are Shia Muslims.

Analysis in the Times says the apparent Israeli intelligence operation has humiliated Hezbollah. The paper says the blow will be felt across the organisation - from commanders to rank-and-file members, and many of them will now question the wisdom of their leadership.

In an interview for the Daily Mail Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, accuses the UK government of undermining his country. He says Britain's decision to suspend some arms export licences to Israel sends "a horrible message" to Hamas. Mr Netanyahu also said it would be preposterous if the International Criminal Court issued a warrant for his arrest.

Almost all papers report that Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff, Sue Gray, earns £170,000 - £3,000 thousand more than the prime minister. The Times describes the leak as another embarrassment for Sir Keir and says it highlights dysfunction at the heart of No. 10.

In an editorial the Telegraph says the pay rise for Ms Gray points to what it calls "an arrogant propensity to lecture the rest of us about ethical behaviour our leaders singularly fail to observe themselves." The paper says Labour chiefs taking big pay rises, just after they have cut the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners is further evidence of this government's breath-taking hypocrisy.

According to the i the Treasury is braced for bad news when the latest data on public finances is released on Friday. Last month's figures showed the government borrowed £3bn more than forecast in the spring, and the paper says a similar higher-than-expected borrowing figure would add to the pressure on the chancellor to announce spending cuts and tax increases in the budget next month.

In an editorial the Sun calls for a change in the sentencing rules to ensure that paedophiles caught with the worst child sexual abuse images go to prison. The paper describes the suspended jail sentence handed down to the former BBC presenter Huw Edwards as a "shocking leniency" which it says should be the trigger for a new intolerance towards perverts fuelling a heinous global trade which destroys children's lives.

And the Daily Telegraph says Donald trump's wife, Melania, has defended her nude modelling in the 1990s. In a video for her new book she said the photoshoots were a "means of self-expression."

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