Newspaper headlines: 'Lockdown at Palace' and 'AI claims first scalp'

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By BBC News
Staff
PA Media

Former Chancellor George Osborne has suggested smoking should be banned

A number of papers lead with the arrest of a man after suspected shotgun cartridges were thrown into the grounds of Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening.

The Daily Mail reports that, following the incident, "crowds of tourists were forced behind a cordon before specialists arrived to perform a controlled explosion". The Mirror says the Palace was put in lockdown, calling the episode a "Coronation security scare".

The Guardian says new anti-protest laws have been "rushed in" ahead of the Coronation. The papers says that, from Tuesday, protesters who block roads, airports or railways could be imprisoned for 12 months, while anyone locking themselves to objects or buildings faces six months in jail and an unlimited fine. It adds that the Home Office's police powers unit has written to anti-monarchy campaign group Republic to advise it of the changes.

According to the Times, the government is planning to introduce a ban on cold calling for all financial products. The aim is to prevent fraud, which it says is costing £7bn a year in the UK. The plans are part of a new anti-fraud strategy, to be announced on Wednesday, which the Daily Telegraph says will also include the use of spies to track down people who conduct scams via text. Writing for the paper, Home Secretary Suella Braverman says: "We have a bold solution that protects our citizens and will stop fraudsters in their tracks."

The Guardian says extra training is being given to young recruits in two out of the UK's big four accountancy firms. It follows concern at the firms that people who completed large amounts of their education remotely during the Covid lockdowns struggled with communication and teamwork tasks. Deloitte and PriceWaterhouseCoopers are offering newer recruits training on skills such as giving face-to-face presentations and participating at in-person meetings.

Former Chancellor George Osborne tells the Times smoking should be banned and that the government's sugar tax on soft drinks should be extended to cover fruit juice. He's been speaking to the paper's health commission, which is considering the future of health and social care in England, and compared his ideas to the smoking ban in public places and the safety measures in cars. He said. "No-one now would reintroduce smoking in pubs and no-one would now say you shouldn't wear a seatbelt."

Ahead of the Coronation, the Daily Mirror asks whether Charles is destined to be "the last king of the Commonwealth". It prints arguments from republican leaders around the world about why there should be a change - with the view from Australia being that "time moves on, countries evolve", while the argument from Grenada is that this is the chance to cut ties once and for all.

The Daily Telegraph predicts that, "true to form", the weather gods will show no respect for the big day. It says it looks as if rain will fall on the parade. But the Guardian speaks to royalists already camped on the Mall. One man from south London tells the paper: "There's nothing more special than the Coronation."