Newspaper headlines: Trump to 'take on' North Korea and the fight for Gibraltar By BBC News

Staff Published duration 3 April 2017

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An exclusive interview with US President Donald Trump in the Financial Times also features on several other newspaper front pages.

The FT says the White House views North Korea as the most imminent threat to the United States because of the progress Pyongyang has made in developing long-range missiles and nuclear weapons.

The paper adds that a review of US options on North Korea, ordered by Mr Trump when he took office, has now been completed by the National Security Council and will be referred to by the president when he meets the Chinese leader later this week.

The Times describes his message to China as an "ultimatum" and notes sharpening US rhetoric, including warnings that military action against North Korea is being considered.

The Daily Telegraph reports recent warnings from South Korean intelligence that another North Korean nuclear test is imminent , suggesting that Pyongyang could seek to overshadow the meeting between the US and Chinese presidents later this week.

Aside from reporting his comments about North Korea, the Financial Times also uses its interview with Mr Trump to assess the start of his presidency. It says there are tentative signs that there is more method behind the madness than critics suggest.

It points out the president and his advisors see the world as a place where the US must vigorously assert its own interests. It adds that while many experts worried that Mr Trump would be dangerously volatile in foreign policy, the combination of advisers such as defence secretary James Mattis and his influential son-in-law Jared Kushner appears to be "steadying the ship".

Scotland and the EU

Amid the row about the status of Gibraltar in the Brexit negotiations, the Daily Mail is one of a number of papers to report that the Spanish government has dropped its opposition to an independent Scotland joining the EU.

It points out that the country had been expected to veto any potential Scottish application as part of its efforts to resist demands for independence from the Catalonia region. The Mail says the SNP has welcomed the remarks as a "significant intervention" in its campaign for a second independence referendum.

Pilots with 'poor English'

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A report in the Times highlights concern about the poor standard of English among foreign pilots operating within British airspace. It says research commissioned by the Civil Aviation Authority found evidence of cheating in language tests and corruption in the issuing of English-speaking certificates.

It cites an incident in which a pilot taxied onto a runway at an airport in the Midlands without being given clearance as an example. It says the report warns that a lack of English risks leading to miscommunication and disaster in the skies over Britain.

Asylum seeker attack

The attack on a 17-year-old asylum seeker in south London is the lead story in the Daily Mail. It says the boy was chased and viciously attacked by a mob of up to 30 men and women, while up to 20 bystanders did nothing to help.

It reports that the Kurdish Iranian teenager screamed "help, help, help" as he was thrown to the floor and punched in a "horrendous and frenzied" assault. The paper claims the attack has what it calls "chilling echoes" of the murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence in south London in 1993.

'Yorkshire Ripper questioned'

The paper says the incidents bear "chilling similarities" to the known crimes of Peter Sutcliffe. It reports that detectives visited the 70-year-old at Frankland Prison to discuss the attacks, all of which involved women who survived.

Couch potatoes

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Many of the papers report a warning from the British Heart Foundation about the costs of physical inactivity. The front page headline in the Daily Express is: "Daily walk to save your life". It says more than 20 million British people have been described as "couch potatoes"

The Daily Telegraph says one in three people risk an early death because of a lack of exercise. It quotes government guidance which advises adults to take at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity each week.

Police probe Saudis

The Guardian says it can reveal that Scotland Yard is examining allegations of war crimes by Saudi Arabia during its military action in neighbouring Yemen.

It reports that the force's SO15 counter-terrorism unit has revealed to a human rights lawyer that it carried out what is described as a "scoping exercise" into the claims ahead of a visit to London last week by Major General Ahmed al-Asiri of the Saudi armed forces.

It claims the revelation could trigger a diplomatic row between Britain and Saudi Arabia on the eve of a visit to the country by Theresa May.

'Moving tribute'

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A number of front pages feature pictures of Lydia Wilkinson, the 18-year-old student who returned home to Stourbridge to lay flowers at the house where her mother and brother were stabbed to death.

The Times says she has been at the bedside of her father Peter who was wounded in the attack and is being treated in hospital.

French elections

The Daily Telegraph says France's polling watchdog has issued a warning about a misleading Russian report which claimed that Francois Fillon, the conservative candidate whose campaign has been mired in controversy, has regained the lead in the race to become the country's next president.

It states that the report was based on a survey by Brand Analytics, an online research firm based in Moscow, and its findings defy other polls which suggest that the Centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron is the current front-runner.

The paper observes that the warning follows multiple allegations of Russian meddling in the French election.

Super-rat Roland

The paper says he lived in a lair on an islet a mile off the coast of Northumberland and posed a threat to seabirds including endangered roseate terns and puffins.

However all attempts to trap the animal using bait including pork pies, chocolate and smelly cheese failed. Help came in the form of the Duke of Northumberland whose gamekeepers and terriers were dispatched to Coquet Island.