Newspaper headlines: MI5 boss warns web giants and pension 'timebomb' By BBC News

Staff Published duration 18 October 2017

image copyright MI5 image caption MI5 chief Andrew Parker features on several of Tuesday's front pages

The Guardian leads with a warning from the head of MI5 that Britain is facing its most severe terror threat ever.

The paper says that Andrew Parker believes more attacks are inevitable.

The Daily Mail, which also has the story on its front page, says Mr Parker wants internet companies to do more to stop extremists using the "safe spaces" on the web to learn bomb-making techniques.

The BBC's decision to axe the evening edition of Crimewatch after more than three decades has been criticised in the Daily Telegraph as "utter madness" by the family of James Bulger.

James' stepfather Stuart Fergus, who also manages the James Bulger Memorial Trust, describes the programme as an institution and says it helped to bring justice for his stepson.

In the Times, the father of the murdered schoolboy Damilola Taylor has also called for the BBC to reconsider its decision.

The Daily Telegraph says that one of the City's most senior figures is warning that France and Germany risk starting a new global financial crisis - if they try to use Brexit as an excuse to dismantle London as one of the world's main financial centres.

Xavier Rolet, who is chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group, warns Paris and Berlin against making "a political point".

The paper's business editor, Ben Wright, says that destabilisation of the City would undermine the whole global financial framework.

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According to the Daily Mail, sunflower oil is being tested to see if it could be used to fill cracks in the road to prevent potholes.

The paper says Highways England is carrying out the unusual trial after sunflower oil capsules were found to make roads "self heal" when added to asphalt.

The Mail says it costs more than £88 million each year to fill in the potholes in England's roads and - at about £1.15 a litre - the cooking oil is a cheaper alternative.

The Daily Mirror leads with research from the Financial Conduct Authority which suggests that a third of workers - 15 million people - are not paying into a pension.

The paper warns of what it calls a "pension timebomb" and says that many people will have to keep working into their 70s and 80s to make ends meet.

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According to the Daily Express, British researchers believe that a new once-a-day tablet could "significantly" improve the health of people with type 2 diabetes.

The paper says that semaglutide has the power to lower blood sugar and promote weight loss in just three months.

One of the lead researchers describes the findings as "hugely promising".

And the Times reports that the Conservative MP, Tim Loughton, recommends an hour in the bath each morning to cleanse the body and clear the mind.

Mr Loughton, who is co-chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on mindfulness, was speaking at a conference exploring how meditation and greater self-awareness can improve the conduct of politics.