Newspaper headlines: Boris 'partner row' rumbles on across front pages By BBC News

Staff Published duration 23 June 2019

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Boris Johnson is on nearly all the front pages - but the headlines won't make comfortable reading for his campaign team.

"Why won't Boris tell us what happened?" asks the Sunday Express next to a picture of a troubled-looking Mr Johnson with his hand on his brow.

The row at the home of his girlfriend, Carrie Symonds, has prompted the Tory leadership contest to erupt into acrimony, according to the Sunday Times

It points to comments by his rival, Jeremy Hunt, who warns that Mr Johnson doesn't deserve to lead the country unless he answers questions about his character.

And the paper quotes an unnamed cabinet minister - close to Theresa May - who believes the former Foreign Secretary's colourful private life makes him a security risk, because he could be vulnerable to blackmail by other states.

The Sunday Telegraph gives more details of the couple who taped the dispute during the early hours of Friday morning.

It says one of them is a pro-EU theatre producer and writer who once bragged on social media about making a rude gesture to Mr Johnson.

The Sun says that nobody should be in any doubt that the former foreign secretary was the victim of a left-wing stitch-up.

And it mocks the concern of Ms Symonds' neighbours, noting this was so great they immediately gave the recording to the Guardian.

Nevertheless, the Sun believes Mr Johnson was wrong to duck questions about what happened, arguing he needs to put the incident behind him.

Iran cyber-strike

Some of the American papers report that President Trump approved a cyber-strike against Iran, even as he backed away from launching a conventional military attack.

The Washington Post says the cyber-offensive, which was first reported by Yahoo News, disabled Iranian computer systems used to control rocket and missile launches.

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The New York Times says the designated target was the Iranian intelligence group which American officials believe helped plan recent attacks against oil tankers.

It adds the operation was intended to be "below the threshold of armed conflict".

The Sunday People warns that more than a hundred libraries a year are closing because of government cuts.

It says a quarter of the budget for them has been axed in the past eight years and campaigners are hoping a Commons debate on the crisis next month will help protect library spending.

Ministers tell the paper that councils have a legal duty to provide efficient library services and they're investing £1.6bn in the arts, museums and libraries.

The Observer reports that a masterpiece created by one of the world's greatest painters, Diego Velázquez, has been rediscovered and is to go under the hammer next month.

For almost 300 years, The Portrait of Olimpia Maidalchini Pamphilj was believed destroyed.

Its subject, Donna Olimpia, was the reputed lover of Pope Innocent X and was regarded as the power behind the papal throne.