Newspaper headlines: 'Murder at the shops' and 'doctors demand 30% pay rise'

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By BBC News
Staff
Reuters

At least 18 people died in the missile strike on a shopping centre in the Ukrainian city of Kremenchuk

Many of the front pages have pictures of the burning shopping centre that Russia attacked in Ukraine on Monday.

"Crime against humanity" is the headline in the Daily Express - which says Vladimir Putin has "plumbed new depths".

The Sun calls the Russian president the "Beast From The East" whose "mass-murdering barbarians know no limit".

The i says the missile strike amounted to "murder at the shops" - and highlights the "industrialised deceit" of state media in Moscow, which accused Ukrainian forces of setting the shopping centre on fire themselves.

The Financial Times focuses on Nato's pledge to put 300,000 troops on high alert in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

The paper says it's a "historic shift from the post-Cold War era" - as the military alliance "belatedly" recognises Russia as the most "significant and direct threat to its security".

The Daily Telegraph welcomes the move - but says Western leaders need to be honest with voters "and explain that none of this will come cheaply".

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The Guardian leads on calls from the main doctors' union for a pay rise of up to 30% over the next five years.

It says the British Medical Association wants the government to make up for repeated real-terms salary cuts to help its members deal with the effects of soaring inflation.

The Daily Mail reports that doctors could go on strike "within months" if they don't get the increase, describing the demand as "extraordinary".

The Department of Health says NHS staff had a 3% pay rise last year, and will get another one this year.

According to the Times, Boris Johnson and Chancellor Rishi Sunak are resisting calls from Conservative backbenchers to announce tax cuts when they set out their future economic strategy next month.

Reuters

The paper says they haven't agreed the contents of the speech, which is expected in the next three weeks, but any commitment to lower taxes will now probably be pushed back to the autumn Budget.

A source involved in the speech suggests it's more likely to focus on a "long-term plan for dealing with the cost-of-living crisis".

The Daily Mirror says the man who killed insurance clerk Helen McCourt more than 30 years ago has died without ever revealing where he left her body.

Ian Simms was convicted of the 22-year-old's murder on Merseyside in 1989, and had been living in supervised accommodation following his release from prison in 2020.

The victim's mother, Marie McCourt, tells the paper it's "so very, very sad" that Simms never divulged the burial site and she's glad he has been "wiped off the earth".

She's now campaigning to make it harder for killers to secure parole if they refuse to give up such information.

'Bribed with treats'

And the Daily Star reports on a London tennis club's failed attempt to replace ball boys and girls - with dogs.

The Wilton club - which is less than two miles from Wimbledon - had tried to teach the pooches to fetch stray balls and return them at "lightning speed".

But staff found the dogs were reluctant to give the balls back and had to be bribed with treats. The Star sums up the story with the headline: "Who's a good ball boy then?"