Newspaper headlines: Praise for spy attack 'hero' officer By BBC News

Staff Published duration 9 March 2018

image copyright Wiltshire Police

Pictures of the police officer who fell critically ill after responding to the attack on the former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury appear on several front pages.

Det Sgt Nick Bailey's recovery makes the lead for the Daily Express and the Sun

The Sun says the officer joined the Wiltshire force in 2002 and was commended in 2016 for helping to catch and convict a rapist.

The Daily Mail reports that when he rushed to the scene on Sunday , he was responding to a routine call about what was initially believed to be two drunks acting strangely on a bench.

World Cup boycott

Meanwhile, the Times says detectives are understood to be considering the possibility that the Russian pair were poisoned at Mr Skripal's house in the city, where a cordon has been extended and a fingertip search is being carried out.

It also says Theresa May is expected - within days - to name Russia as the chief suspect in the attempted murders of the Skripals.

It reports Britain is in talks with the US and Nato about a co-ordinated response to Russia if President Putin's government is found to be behind the poisoning.

It says ministers are under growing pressure to order a boycott of the tournament in Russia this summer.

The paper quotes the former Labour minister, Chris Bryant - chairman of the all-party parliamentary Russia group - as saying it would be "very difficult" for England's football team to compete if Moscow is proved to be linked to the attack.

And the US president accepted it within two hours, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

image copyright Getty Images

For the New York Times, it is an audacious diplomatic overture that would bring together two strong-willed, idiosyncratic leaders who have traded threats of war.

It says Mr Trump and Mr Kim share a penchant for bold, dramatic moves, and their personal participation in a negotiation could take it in unexpected directions.

It says the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is studying evidence that has led the US to change its advice, making millions more patients eligible for daily drugs to cut their risk of heart attack.

Trials in America found that aggressively using drugs to lower blood pressure could reduce the risk of death among people aged over 50 by almost a quarter, the paper adds.

'Pest from the West'

There are many pictures of accidents and traffic chaos on the roads caused by Thursday's snowfall in several parts of the country.

image copyright PA

The Daily Mail says the weather split Britain into two - with the north getting a final taste of winter and spring finally rearing its head in the south.

And after last week's Siberian big freeze courtesy of the "Beast from the East", the Daily Mirror and the Sun christen the Atlantic front that brought the snow the "Pest from the West".

Finally, a solution has been found for tech addicts who cannot bear to spend time away from their phones and Facebook - even while taking a bath or shower.