'Pound falls after Reeves's tears' and 'Brave face' Kate

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BBC "I'm under so much pressure" headlines The Sun over a shot that many papers have used of Chancellor Rachel Reeves in tears. "Markets panic as she sobs behind PM", it writes, adding "government in meltdown". "Diddy's court prayer" is also featured on its front page as it reports that hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs was cleared on three of five charges in a high-profile trial.

Much of the Daily Mail's front page is taken up by the shot of Reeves as it asks "what - or who - caused the tears that sparked turmoil in the markets?". There are "claims of angry bust-up" with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner ahead of PMQs, it says. Sarah Vine writes, "Rachel needed a hug. Instead [Sir Keir] Starmer sucked her dry to shore up his own position". The journalist calls the prime minister a "political vampire".

The Times runs with the same close-up of Reeves, saying she "battles doubters after PM spooks markets". Her show of emotion "prompted the biggest jump in Britain's borrowing costs since Liz Truss's premiership", it writes. In health news, "thousands more GPs and fewer hospital consultants will be trained" as the government wants to "move healthcare closer to where people live". The new efforts will be announced today and will "fundamentally rewire" the NHS, the PM has said.

The Daily Telegraph headlines on the drop in value of the pound following "Reeves's tears". One financial expert it quotes suggests more taxes are on the way. The Telegraph's Judith Woods asks "if this was a personal matter, why did she have to sit there?" The paper also runs with the new NHS reforms on its front page, as "Starmer pins hopes on six-day 'neighbourhood' NHS". Dentists will have "a new tie-in forcing them to work for the NHS for at least three years", it reports.

It is "tears and turmoil" in The Guardian as "PM forced to defend Reeves after welfare fiasco". The chancellor "was accused of political misjudgement for trying to force through cuts in the face of deep backbench unhappiness". Elsewhere, a bomb that the Israeli military reportedly used against a cafe in Gaza may be an "IDF war crime" according to experts.

There has been a slump in gilts as well as the pound after the chancellor's "tears trigger fears for fiscal vigilance" writes the Financial Times. Sir Keir "refused to say that the chancellor would remain in her post". Elsewhere on the front page, "Gen Z's thirst gives drinks brands cause to celebrate" as the young up their alcohol intake. And Bumble boss Whitney Wolfe Herd said her staff were "freaking out" after she laid off more than 160. The dating app said it had made some "very difficult decisions" to better position the company for "long term growth and success".

The chancellor's future is "in doubt" writes The i Paper after her "tearful PMQs". No 10 later insisted Reeves was upset by a "personal matter", it writes. Her sister, who is also an MP, "comforts her in the chamber".

Metro also goes with Reeves crying in the Commons for its headline, but focuses on the PM with "tears & jeers for Starmer". Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked "absolutely miserable", Metro reports.

The Daily Express writes of a "day of drama" that "leaves Reeves on brink". Sir Keir is "desperately scrambling to contain a growing crisis" after the chancellor's tears, it writes. Also on the front, Catherine, Princess of Wales, shares her "brave face" during her "really difficult" cancer recovery.

"My roller coaster recovery" tops the Daily Mirror as the Princess of Wales tells of her difficulty to find "new normal" after cancer treatment. "Diddy guilty" reads another of the top stories, keeping the story of the end to the rapper's trial brief.

The Daily Star's headline reads "freak show" as the "rap star verdict" emerged. Also on its front page, another shot of "the crying chancellor".

Four dead, dozens missing after ferry sinks off Bali

Family members wait for updates as a search for missing passengers continue, after a ferry sank off Bali, Indonesia

At least four people have died and dozens are missing after a ferry sank off Indonesia's tourist island of Bali, rescuers said.

The boat was carrying 53 passengers and 12 crew members when it sank at 23:20 local time (15:35 GMT) on Wednesday while on its way to Bali from Banyuwangi on the eastern coast of Java island, the Surabaya office of the National Search and Rescue Agency said.

Four passengers were found on a lifeboat in the early hours of Thursday while the search for more survivors continues.

Photos published by Antara news agency showed ambulances on standby and residents waiting for updates by the roadside.

Gaza hospital director killed in Israeli strike, Hamas-run health ministry says

4 hours ago Share Save Mallory Moench BBC News Share Save

Gaza Ministry of Health Dr Marwan Sultan was the director of the Indonesian Hospital in north Gaza

The director of Gaza's Indonesian Hospital has been killed in an Israeli air strike on his home in Gaza City along with several family members, the Hamas-run health ministry has said. The ministry said Dr Marwan Sultan had a long career in medicine, and condemned "this heinous crime against our medical cadres". The Israeli military said it had struck a "key terrorist" from Hamas in the Gaza City area and that claims "uninvolved civilians" were harmed as a result of the strike were being reviewed. Meanwhile, at least five people were killed and others injured, including children, in a strike on the al-Mawasi "safe zone", one of several other attacks reported by news agencies.

The health ministry said Dr Sultan's career was one of compassion "during which he was a symbol of dedication, steadfastness and sincerity, during the most difficult circumstances and most trying moments experienced by our people under continuous aggression". Dr Sultan was the director at the Indonesian Hospital, declared out of service by the health ministry after what the UN later described as "repeated Israeli attacks and sustained structural damage". The Israeli military had said it was fighting "terrorist infrastructure sites" in the area. There are now no functioning hospitals in the north Gaza governate, according to the UN. The health ministry accused the Israeli military of targeting medical and humanitarian teams. In its statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals" and "operates to mitigate harm to them as much as possible". The IDF said Hamas "systematically violates international law while using civilian infrastructure for terrorist activity and the civilian population as human shields". But Dr Sultan's doctor's daughter, Lubna al-Sultan, said "an F-16 missile targeted his room exactly, right where he was, directly on him". "All the rooms in the house were intact except for his room, which was hit by the missile. My father was martyred in it," she told the Associated Press. She said he was "not affiliated with a movement or anything, he just fears for the patients [he] treats, throughout the war". Across Gaza, at least 139 people were killed by Israeli military operations in the 24 hours before midday on Wednesday, the health ministry said. In the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis, at least five people were killed and others, including children, wounded in an Israeli strike that hit a tent housing displaced people, news agencies reported. Family members of those killed said it hit at 00:40 local time (22:40 BST) while they were sleeping. Tamam Abu Rizq told AFP the strike "shook the place like an earthquake", and she "went outside and found the tent on fire". The al-Mawasi area was declared a "safe zone" by the Israeli military, as the UN says 80% of Gaza is either an Israeli military zone or under an evacuation order. "They came here thinking it was a safe area and they were killed... What did they do?" Maha Abu Rizq said. At the scene, surrounded by destruction and a jumble of personal items, one man held up a pack of nappies and asked: "Is this a weapon?" Footage recorded by AFP shows men alighting from a car in front of nearby Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and rushing inside carrying blood-covered children in their arms. Inside the hospital, young children cry as doctors treat their wounds.

Reuters Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of a strike on a tent sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis

Women weep over the bodies of their relatives in funerals at the hospital in other AFP footage. "Anyone of any religion must take action and say: Enough! Stop this war!" Ekram al-Akhras, who lost several cousins in one of the strikes, said. In Gaza City, another four people from the same family were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house, news agencies reported. The four people killed were Ahmed Ayyad Zeno, his wife Ayat Zeno, and their daughters, Zahra Zeno and Obaida Zeno, according to Palestinian news outlet WAFA. The BBC has contacted the IDF for comment about the two incidents.

Reuters At Nasser Hospital, people grieve those killed in an overnight Israeli strike on a tent

Mass evacuations as wildfire rages in Greek island of Crete

1 hour ago Share Save Nikos Papanikolaou BBC News Share Save

Watch: Beachgoers look on as wildfires burn in Greece

A major wildfire in Greece continues to burn out of control in eastern Crete, after breaking out on Wednesday afternoon in rugged forested terrain near the municipality of Ierapetra. Fanned by gale-force winds reaching up to eight on the Beaufort scale, the flames have spread rapidly southward, threatening homes, tourist accommodation, and critical infrastructure, including a fuel station. The fire front now extends over at least 6km, according to emergency services, making containment increasingly difficult. Thick smoke engulfed the wider area, reducing visibility to near zero in places.

EPA Tourists evacuate a hotel during a wildfire in Ierapetra, on Greek island of Crete

The smoke stretched as far as Makry Gialos beach, 10km from Achlia in Lasithi where firefighters were battling the blaze. The main road near the settlement of Agia Fotia has been closed by police, who have urged residents and visitors to avoid all non-essential travel due to hazardous air quality, extreme heat, and falling ash. In the settlement of Agia Fotia, homes and rental properties have been destroyed, and the area is experiencing a power outage, according to local reports. At least four elderly people have been taken to hospital with respiratory problems caused by smoke inhalation. As a precaution, all hospitals in Crete have been placed on alert by health authorities. Authorities have also ordered the mass evacuation of hotels, rental rooms and homes in the Ferma municipality, as the flames approach the area. The operation is underway with the support of the fire service, police and local volunteers. So far, approximately 1,500 people have been evacuated from surrounding settlements and tourist areas and moved to Ierapetra. Around 200 evacuees are being sheltered in the town's indoor sports arena.

EPA