Newspaper headlines: Macron's French resistance and Royal budget flight By BBC News

Staff Published duration 23 August 2019

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Examining Boris Johnson's meeting with President Macron, the Daily Mail asks, is this "Le Breakthrough"?

The Daily Telegraph says that ministers have been ordered to "turbocharge" work on finding a new solution to the Irish border.

The i highlights what it calls "the tricky diplomatic test" Mr Macron faces at it hosts this weekend's G7 meeting in Biarritz.

The Washington Post likens the gathering to a family holiday where the main goal is "to minimize the chances that President Trump will blow it up". The US paper says Mr Trump has complained repeatedly about having to attend and sees his meeting with Boris Johnson as the only bright spot.

The Financial Times urges the G7 to forget the official agenda and focus on the big issues of the moment, such as Brexit.

A Brazilian journalist based in the Amazon, Eliane Brum, makes an impassioned plea in the Guardian for the rest of the world to act to try stop the fires and deforestation . She says the trees covering an area the size of greater London were destroyed in three weeks in July.

'Toughened up' tests

The Daily Mail raises issues with what it calls "two health breakthroughs". The first is the latest overhaul of food in NHS hospitals and the decision to draft in TV chef Prue Leith

The Mail cautions that using celebrities in the past hadn't helped because of what it called "government inaction".

The paper also warns that the new four-in-one pill against strokes and heart attacks . while welcome. could lead to "over-medicalising" and discourage people from taking responsibility for their wellbeing.

All the papers reflect on yesterday's GCSE results. The Daily Express notes that although the exams have been "toughened up" the top grades rose for the second year in a row.

"So much for the 'tougher' GCSEs," remarks the Daily Mail . An education professor, speaking to the Mail, queries the value of qualifications where the pass mark can be as low as 18%.

The Sun objects to what it calls "carping from the usual suspects," and offers its congratulations to the pupils "rising to the challenge."

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A special lane for pedestrians was set up in an area of Manchester yesterday that was designed for what the Daily Star calls "zombie smartphone users". A photograph reveals how the mobile phone lane is allows people to "stroll and scroll".

The Daily Mail reveals that such a move has already been tried in Tel Aviv, where Israeli planners even set LED strips into the path to mark out the green and red road lights. The Mail concedes the Manchester event was a stunt, but asks, was it really "such an awful idea"?

The EU is examining ways to impose strict limits on the use of facial recognition technology in public places, according to the Financial Times. It wants to give citizens rights over the use of data collected in this way and, the paper says, to set a world standard on artificial intelligence rules.

'PR war'

Several newspapers contrast the decision of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to fly with a no-frills airline with that of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to use a private jet. Carbon footprints and costs are compared.

The Daily Star says "we know who is winning the PR war".

Analysis in the Daily Express suggests it marks the "growing separation of the two princes" but a feud is ruled out by the Daily Mail.

A climate campaigner tells the Daily Mirror that, in fact, a train would have been even more environmentally friendly.

But their carbon emissions would be dwarfed by those of any passenger taking what the Guardian reveals could be the longest non-stop commercial flight - from London to Sydney.

Qantas is to test non-stop direct flights between the two cities to see whether passengers and crew can tolerate the 19-hour journey. A doctor tells the Guardian that airlines considering such flights would need to offer passengers more space to avoid health risks.

The Daily Mail admires Apple's new sleek titanium credit card, but is less impressed by its significant flaw: you can't put it in your wallet. The i explains that the company has warned the leather could stain its pristine surface. Jeans pockets are also a no-no.