Many of Saturday’s papers splash on a doting image of Donald Trump gifting his close ally Elon Musk with a large ceremonial key, marking his last official day with Doge – short for the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency. The Times splits its front page with this collegial image and a report that UK Defence Secretary John Healey has committed to spend 3% of GDP on defence by the year 2034. This, the paper reports, will be confirmed on Monday when the government’s new defence review is set to be announced.
“Trump’s farewell gift to Musk” similarly draws the reader’s eye away from some of the other stories leading The Telegraph’s front, including one that reports that “Foreigners claim £1bn a month in benefits”. Households with at least one claimant who is a foreign national received £941m in March this year, up from £461m in March 2022, the paper reports.
“The hungriest place on earth,” leads the front page of The Independent, with nearly the entire spread dedicated to a report from the UN, which describes Israel’s aid blockade as putting “100% of the population at risk of famine”. The paper also uses a small section of white space to acknowledge “Musk bowing out”, something it reports him doing with Trump’s praise for a “fantastic job”.
Mizuno and Asics are “jumping out of kangaroo leather” in making football boots reports The Financial Times. Japan’s top sports-shoe makers are the industry’s last major holdouts to end the practice of using the material decried by activist campaigns as coming at the cost of animal cruelty. Elsewhere, a picture of Ukraine’s first motorcycle combat unit zips across the front page – kicking up dust as the paper reports these units hope to “disappear before Russian drones can lock on” to them.
“PM told to sack legal chief over ‘Nazi’ slur” reads the front page of the Daily Mail. Sir Keir Starmer is reportedly facing “mounting pressure” to “sack” his attorney general for apparently comparing right-wing politicians to Nazis. Lord Hermer’s comments come after he reportedly criticised Reform UK and the Tories for saying Britain should quit institutions like the European Convention on Human Rights. Columnist Sarah Vine – and ex-wife of Conservative MP Michael Gove – teases some advice from her forthcoming memoir for “How NOT to be a political wife”.
“Cyber hackers will be deployed to fight drones on battlefield” reports the i Paper, using the lion’s share of its front page to tease various details from the strategic defence review that the government will unveil on Monday. The top fold of the i splashes on notably lighter fare, including a sun-seekers report on “summer’s best-value island escapes” as well as Gillian Anderson penning about how she’s “still getting jobs in her 50s”.
Defence is similarly top of mind over at The Guardian, where it reports that “Britain is facing ‘a new era of security threat'”. Like other papers, it highlights how Monday’s strategic defence review will conclude that drones and artificial intelligence are changing the nature of modern warfare. A peering Taylor Swift also makes the front, after the 35-year-old singer announced on Friday that she had bought back the rights to the master recordings to her first six albums, ending a long-running battle over the ownership of her music.
The Sun straddles its front page with Taylor Swift “buying back her life’s work” for an estimated “$360m”. It is not known how much it cost Swift to acquire her masters, but the catalogue previously sold for $300m (£222m) in 2020. Elsewhere, the Sun reports that Southport killer Axel Rudakubana still has access to “treats” – leading to “fury” among the jail officers.
“Strictly bombshell” splashes the front page of the Daily Mirror, which reports on radio host Wynne Evans’ announcement that he is leaving his BBC Radio Wales show after the broadcaster “decided not to renew” his contract. He had been taking time off his daytime show after apologising for making what he described as an “inappropriate and unacceptable” comment during the Strictly Come Dancing live tour launch in December. “I’m gutted,” Evans said in an Instagram post about the news.
“Rubbish idea” splashes the front page of the Daily Express, as it reports on a “huge disparity” in the number of bins people are permitted to take out each week across the UK. The Daily Express reports on the example of Conwy, North Wales, where it says households are responsible for having separate bins for paper, glass, plastic, textiles, coffee pods, general refuse and more.
“Tears of a clown” is how the Daily Star is setting up its report about changes the modern day jester is facing, which it reports include ending the practise of “slapping pies in people’s faces” and “squirting water” at audiences. The paper speaks with a founder of the London Clown Festival, who tells the Daily Star: “Things have really changed. Something that would make someone laugh ten years ago wouldn’t today.”
