Newspaper headlines: May survives, but for how long? By BBC News

Staff Published duration 13 December 2018

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Nearly all the papers lead with Theresa May's victory in Wednesday's confidence vote.

The 'i' says she's had a 'Stay of Execution'. The Financial Times agrees, saying the win gave the prime minister some "political breathing space", but it adds that the contest doesn't change the fact she needs to win parliamentary backing for her Brexit deal.

It's a point echoed by Isabel Hardman, writing online for The Spectator magazine. She concludes that "despite all the drama, nothing has changed". The Tory party is split, she writes, and MPs are angrier with one another than ever before.

The Huffpost website also points out there is still no majority for Mrs May's deal. Parliament, it says, remains deadlocked. The Times puts it another way: "Almost every problem Theresa May had yesterday she still has today".

The Sun says the prime minister is nothing if not a survivor, but its editorial says she is badly mistaken if she thinks her victory is a mandate for an even softer Brexit than her existing deal. The paper warns the more than 17 million leave voters will be "merciless" if the Tories now pivot towards a Norway Plus deal or a second referendum.

Wednesday's vote was also being monitored across the EU. The Spanish paper El Pais says Theresa May is now the political walking dead. In Poland, the Wyborcza newspaper says the spectre of a defeat in a vote on her withdrawal agreement is still looming over Mrs May, as is a "hard Brexit", early elections or a second referendum. In Germany, Bild says Britain is on course to strike an iceberg and doesn't seem to care. The Frankfurter Allgemeine says Mrs May is now "strengthened" ahead of Thursday's EU summit.

Stress, anxiety and alcohol are being blamed for an increase, of around a third, in the risk of a heart attack at 22:00 GMT on Christmas Eve, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal. The research analysed the exact timing of more than 200,000 heart attacks over 16 years. The Times says even if you make it through Christmas, there are new risks associated with New Year - including exposure to cold temperatures and lack of sleep. The 'i' points out that the risk goes down at Easter.

GPs should encourage older people to have more sex for the sake of their health and the NHS, according to the Sun, which along with the Mail and the Daily Mirror reports on a new study by researchers at Anglia Ruskin University and UCL. It found having regular sex in your 60s and 70s boosted well-being.