Newspaper headlines: Gavin Williamson fired and fights back By BBC News

Staff Published duration 2 May 2019

Pictures of a pensive Gavin Williamson leaving Westminster feature on many of the front pages - following his dismissal as defence secretary.

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In what the Daily Mail describes as an "extraordinary" interview , he swears "on his children's lives" that he did not leak information from a National Security Council meeting to the media.

"The prime minister has just sacked someone who is not guilty," he says, claiming he "dug her out of a few holes" when he worked as her chief whip.

Several papers - including the i - report comments Mr Williamson made to Sky News, suggesting he had been the victim of a "kangaroo court" led by the head of the Civil Service, Sir Mark Sedwill.

The Daily Telegraph adds that Downing Street has not offered proof Mr Williamson was behind the leak, and would likely "come under pressure to publish the evidence".

The Daily Mirror says the sacking came as a surprise , not because Gavin Williamson "wasn't a likely suspect, but because Number 10 had collectively shrugged its shoulders at regular leaks".

"There is no more serious offence than leaking secrets," he writes.

Writing in the Daily Express columnist and TV host Richard Madeley thinks Mr Williamson's political career is finished regardless.

"When a prime minister essentially calls you a leaking liar, multiple doors quietly, but firmly, click shut," he writes.

Several papers assess what future Caster Semenya might have in athletics - after the Olympic champion lost her appeal against new rules restricting testosterone levels in female runners competing over certain distances.

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The Guardian says the Court of Arbitration for Sport delivered a "brutal sting in the tail" - ruling it was necessary for athletes like Semenya to take hormone suppressants if they wanted to continue racing against other women.

"This is about the preservation of women's competition," he says, "for if there is no advantage in testosterone, why aren't athletes allowed to take it legally?"

image copyright Press handout image caption Stagecoach was announced as a Turner Prize sponsor when the 2019 nominees were unveiled

The company's chairman, Sir Brian Souter, has previously been criticised for his public comments on gay rights, and once donated £1m to a Scottish campaign to keep Section 28 - a law banning the promotion of homosexuality in schools.

Sir Brian has denied being homophobic, while Stagecoach describes itself in a statement as a transparent, diverse and respectful company, "committed to providing equal opportunities to all".

image copyright PA image caption Ed Sheeran: Now heard at funerals

Co-op Funeralcare, which organises about 100,000 funerals a year, says that for the first time in 2018, there were no hymns among its 10 most-requested songs.