'Could anyone still be alive?' on yacht and PM's warning on unions

Rescue boats off the Sicilian coast

For a second day, some of Wednesday's front pages reflect the search operation in Sicily. "Probe into hatches left open on doomed superyacht" is the headline in the Daily Telegraph. The paper focuses on comments made by one expert who said the investigation would look at whether the crew had failed to close hatches, allowing the yacht to fill up with water quickly and sink. The Daily Express has a still of CCTV footage, captured from a nearby villa, showing the moments before the yacht capsized.

The Guardian says the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, is planning to raise taxes, cut spending and get tough on benefits in the budget in October. A Treasury source has told the paper that despite improved economic growth in the first half of this year, "Nothing in the recent data can offset the scale of the black hole in the public finances.”

A handful of papers feature photos of the King on his visit to Southport on Tuesday, surrounded by flowers left for the victims of last month's deadly knife attack. The Sun reports that he will host the families of the three girls who died, at a reception in London on Wednesday. The Daily Mail says following that event at Buckingham Palace, the King is due to return to Balmoral.

The Times is one of the papers highlighting a study by the University of Cambridge which suggests eating just two slices of ham a day could increase a person's risk of developing diabetes within ten years by 15%. The research, published in The Lancet medical journal, indicates that eating 100 grams of unprocessed red meat a day - equivalent to a small steak - also carries a higher risk.

The Daily Star features an account by the veteran actor Sir Ian McKellen, who says he is nervous to leave his home after his recent fall during a West End show. Sir Ian, who made the comments in an interview with Saga magazine, said he had suffered "agonising" pain, adding he was lucky that a fat suit he was wearing - in his role as Falstaff - had saved his ribs.

There is "Scorn in the USA", according to the Daily Mirror, which reveals that Nigel Farage is to be the keynote speaker at a US summit, his second trip stateside in just over a month. It says the Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton will attend the event in the state of Arizona this Saturday, much to the unhappiness of some of his constituents, who have spoken to the paper. Mr Farage said the engagement was organised well before July's election.

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