The headline on Friday’s front page Metro read, “Justice served but our hearts are broken.” The newspaper is quoting the family of 15-year-old Elyan Andam after her killer was convicted of her murder “over a dispute over a friend’s teddy bear”. It added, “As the verdict was read, 18-year-old Hassan Ssentamu held a stress ball”, then wiped away his tears and refused to sit down, gripping the dock.
The Daily Mirror writes that Elaine’s parents have said they are “pained” following her death, but promised that “her legacy will live on”. It says they have “vowed to honor his memory by fighting knife crime”.
The Financial Times says the Middle East is “in crisis” as a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas is “close to the finish line”. Featured is an image of Palestinians struggling for food aid in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah, as “the world waits for Israel to ratify the deal”. The paper calls on BP to “cut more than 5% of its workforce” as its “under-fire boss” fights to save costs and “revive a share price that has lagged behind rivals”.
The Guardian warned that there would be no Israeli vote on the ceasefire agreement “unless Hamas agrees to all the terms”. The newspaper says the delay raises fears that last-minute disputes or radicalization could derail the ceasefire that came into force on Sunday. Friday’s edition also pays tribute to the “great American surrealist” director David Lynch, who has died aged 78.
“The Government has been criticized over ‘toothless’ grooming investigation,” according to Friday’s Daily Mail. It said Labor had “faced wrath” for announcing “five local reviews” into grooming gangs, rather than the full national inquiry some were demanding. It was only after that announcement that the government “backtracked after previously insisting that no new investigation was needed”, the newspaper said.
“Why don’t you want to find out the real truth?” In an interview with the Daily Express, a victim of a grooming gang reacted to the news. Fiona Goddard is among those calling for a “full national inquiry” and says Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s announcement of a nationwide review on Thursday is “not good enough”.
Sticking to politics, and I’m leading with warnings from military figures that the UK military is “now ‘too small'” to play a major peacekeeping role in Ukraine, the country’s own Traveling for the first time. The newspaper writes that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has “(confirmed)” talks with several countries on plans to implement any future ceasefire in the country’s war with Russia. But, it also says, “the UK no longer has the depth to do this”.
According to the Times, first-time home buyers “will find it easier to get on the housing ladder”. Financial regulators are considering “loosening lending rules” as part of “mortgage market reform,” the newspaper writes. The front page also features Donald Trump’s official portrait, ahead of his inauguration as president next week. The newspaper says it shares “a certain amount of contempt” for Trump’s statement made after he was accused of trying to overturn the election in the US state of Georgia.
The Sun is calling for convicted murderer Jake Fahri to be sent back to jail with the headline: “Lock him up again”. Fahri was sentenced to life in prison in 2009 for the murder of teenager Jimmy Mizen, and was released on license in 2023. The newspaper says he “faces a return to jail after apparently breaching his licence”. A newspaper investigation published yesterday claims he recorded rap music referencing the murder.
And Friday’s Daily Star says the band Village People hope their iconic song, YMCA, will “save the world”. The song has become an unexpected anthem for US President-elect Donald Trump, and the band hopes that their performance at his inauguration will “help heal the world”.
