Several of Wednesday’s papers are leading with Hurricane Melissa, after it made landfall in Jamaica on Tuesday. “Storm of the century” is how the i describes it, reporting that the 185mph hurricane – the strongest on record for the Caribbean country – will bring “catastrophic and life-threatening” flooding.
For Metro, Melissa is “pure fury”, bringing “carnage” and “terror” to Jamaica. There are “fears” for the thousands of Jamaicans who are refusing to shelter, the paper reports.
The Daily Mirror says Jamaica has been “battered” Melissa, describing it as “hell at 185mph”. The paper also celebrates actress Prunella Scales as “a comic genius with joy for life” following her death.
The Daily Telegraph also bids “farewell” to Scales, best known for her portrayal of Sybil Fawlty in the iconic 70s sitcom Fawlty Towers. A photo of the actress in a butter-yellow shirt is on the front page. Elsewhere, the paper reports that councils are being told by Labour to end so-called “four-day weeks”, with a government source describing them as a “waste of taxpayer money and damage services”.
The Guardian pays tribute to a “really wonderful comic actress”, alongside a photo of Scales as Sybil. The paper also carries comments from Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who writes in the paper that she is determined to “defy forecasts” after the productivity downgrade from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Meanwhile, the Daily Express reports that television presenter Sue Cook is urging Reeves to give pensioners a “fair deal” in the upcoming Budget. And in an exclusive for the paper, former Prime Minister Liz Truss has issued a warning for the Conservative Party.
The Times leads with a warning from house builders to the Budget watchdog that the government will miss its target of building 1.5 million new homes by the end of the decade. A private letter from Britain’s developers to the OBR says its forecasts for economic growth from housebuilding are too optimistic, the paper reports.
The Daily Mail’s front page is dominated by the story of Tuesday’s triple stabbing in Uxbridge. A dog walker, named locally as Wayne Broadhurst, died at the scene and police have arrested an Afghan national. Officers have described the incident as a “shocking and senseless act of violence”, the paper says.
Microsoft has topped a $4tn valuation after a restructuring of OpenAI, reports the Financial Times. A snap of recently-elected Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi with US President Donald Trump is also splashed across the front page, as Trump hailed their “cherished alliance” on a visit to Tokyo this week.
And the Sun leads with a plea to “save our bets”, as it reports that Rachel Reeves’ Budget will hike taxes on betting by 138%. The paper calls on the chancellor to “shelve [the] crackdown on fun”.
BBC
