Newspaper headlines: Messi ‘the greatest’ and strikes to ‘wreak havoc’

1px transparent line
By BBC News
Staff

"Mess Hysteria" booms the Metro next to a picture of Lionel Messi - he is holding the World Cup trophy aloft while cloaked in a traditional Arab robe and surrounded by his medal-wearing teammates.

"Greatest of all time" says the Daily Mirror, "Merry Kiss Mess" jokes the Daily Star, and the Daily Telegraph declares Messi the "greatest player in the best final ever". Or - if you're reading The Sun - the best final "since 1966".

In its editorial, the Daily Telegraph says Qatar considers itself the real winner for cementing its regional power. It says Saudi Arabia has been watching on with envy, and is considering a bid of its own for the 2030 World Cup or 2036 Olympics.

Reuters

"One of the most disruptive weeks of strike action in recent history" is how the Financial Times describes the forthcoming seven days.

The Times warns of two-hour queues at airports and the Telegraph says elderly people may be trapped in hospitals over Christmas.

The Daily Mirror blames what it calls "cold hearted Tories" for refusing to hold talks with nursing unions.

But, writing in the Daily Express, the Health Secretary Steve Barclay says the unions are at fault for going after what he says are "inflation-busting increases the country can't afford". The head of the largest nursing union, Pat Cullen - also writing in the Express - says the dispute can be "wrapped up by Christmas" if Mr Barclay gets round the negotiating table by Friday.

On its front page the Daily Mail says the football pundit Gary Neville has "sparked fury" by comparing striking workers in the UK to migrant labourers in Qatar.

Neville had said on ITV that poor pay and working conditions should not be tolerated either in the Gulf state or in the UK. The paper describes it as a "bizarre rant" and quotes the former Conservative party leader, Iain Duncan Smith, who says Neville "abused his position" and should have been cut off during the broadcast.

BBC News Daily email

Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your inbox.

The Times says allegations of bullying could stop one of Boris Johnson's aides getting a peerage. The newspaper says Dan Rosenfield's former colleagues are trying to block his nomination to the House of Lords. It carries claims he made "odd, sexist comments" and once shouted at a junior member of staff for getting his sandwich order wrong. It says the allegations are strongly denied by those close to Mr Rosenfield.

The Guardian says a piece written by Jeremy Clarkson about the Duchess of Sussex in Friday's edition of the Sun has been branded "vile, horrific, and disgusting".

The former Top Gear host wrote he "hates her on a cellular level" and "dreams of the day she is paraded naked through the streets" while crowds "throw excrement at her ". It features criticism from the activist Nimco Ali, the comedian John Bishop, the actor Kathy Burke, the presenter Carol Vorderman, and the author Philip Pullman.

The Daily Telegraph notes Clarkson's daughter is also among those calling the comments "misogynistic".

And there's a celebration of carols and choirs in a Guardian editorial.

The paper says group singing should not be as easily muted in the future as it was in the pandemic because it is fun, free and helps people connect - as well as having health benefits. Singing is for life, it says, not just for Christmas.