Newspaper headlines: 'The Great Fall of China' By Andy Sully

BBC News Published duration 25 August 2015

Whether it's called Black Monday or the Great Fall of China, there is just one story dominating Tuesday's press - the wiping out of an estimated $1tn of value to share prices around the world in a day of market turmoil.

Commodity and currency markets were hit as well as stocks and shares, the paper continues.

image copyright Getty Images

But why the panic over China?

The Times continues: "China, the world's second-biggest economy, has been regarded as a powerful engine of growth for the rest of the world, with its appetite for raw materials, energy and consumer goods."

Australian miners, Brazilian soya bean farmers and London fashion houses are among the many enterprises highly dependent on China's continued economic growth, it adds.

Sky News business presenter Ian King writes in the paper that the hope is that the market falls are a late summer "squall".

Market volatility is common in August, he notes, as - due to holidays - turnover on markets is light and "it takes little to spark sharp declines".

Ruth Sutherland, the Daily Mail's associate city editor, blames "Communist blunders" for the instability.

She says the decision by China's central bank to devalue the currency "ignited fears that... growth had stalled so badly that it needed to cheapen its currency to persuade foreigners to buy more of its exports".

The Independent's editorial points out that the new economic adage should be "when Shanghai sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold".

It adds that Chinese stock markets are still bulging in a "speculative boom".

"With an investment approach sometimes not far removed from gambling, inexperienced Chinese investors have piled in, and then piled out, with some violence," it continues.

Daily Telegraph cartoonist Matt pictures two diners at a Chinese restaurant. One says: "My fortune cookie says 'sell, sell, sell'."

image caption China's "dragon" economy has been financed in part by many small and inexperienced investors, the papers say

The paper's editorial says: "The panic has served to remind us of the fragility of Britain's economic recovery, and how vulnerable the highly indebted world economy is to continued crisis and setback."

The Guardian's economics editor Larry Elliott says the crash is about more than just China.

Financial markets in the west have been booming for the past six years at a time that the rest of the economy has been struggling.

The reason - he says - is that they have been "pumped full of stimulants" in the form of cash from central banks' quantitative easing.

The Financial Times says all eyes will now be on the world's banks to see if their health is threatened by the crisis.

But the paper points out that falling oil prices should filter through to give consumers more spending power, hopefully stabilising the global economy.

The paper's editorial says China's leaders need to think hard about how they might boost domestic consumption and be open about their conclusions, "however much this may go against the grain".

Risks involved

In the aftermath of the Shoreham Airshow disaster, there is plenty of coverage of the new regulations designed to make such events safer - as well as news of the casualties, and the grief of family and friends.

The Daily Mirror reports that all the remaining veteran Hawker Hunter jets will be grounded until further notice, and other vintage aircraft will be forbidden from undertaking dangerous manoeuvres at airshows.

image copyright PA

The paper also interviews pilot Chris Heames, who was originally booked to be the Hunter's pilot, but had arranged a holiday on the day instead.

Mr Heames, 62, says he learned of the crash from worried friends frantically phoning him. His name was listed in the airshow programme as pilot.

"They thought I was dead," he adds.

Former pilot Lord Tebbit writes in the Daily Telegraph that he is a big fan of airshows, but "every pilot knows the risks involved when you push aircraft to the limits".

"For now, though, it seems likely that we've seen the last of aerobatic loop the loops and for the time being, at least, those wonderful classic fighter aircraft.

The Telegraph is among a number of papers to report that the Red Arrows had apparently turned down a request to fly at Shoreham because they considered the location "too dangerous" for stunt flying.

A former airshow promoter is quoted as saying: "Any accident would be a disaster there - there is nowhere to put a plane down safely without killing someone."

image caption Lord Tebbit flew Meteor and Vampire jets during his days in the RAF

The Sun's front page says the measures announced are learned "too little, too late".

"It is inconceivable it was thought safe to let an ageing jet perform stunts over a busy road in Sussex. The Civil Aviation Authority owes us answers," it adds.

David Learmount, consulting editor of Flightglobal magazine, tells the paper that any attempt to make planes too far away from crowds and too high up would deter visitors.

"The key word is 'thrill'," he says, "people want the feeling of the rush of the aircraft coming past at high speed and close to the ground. If it's too safe, people will stop going."

'Cracked the code'

Two potentially highly significant medical breakthroughs are reported in Tuesday's papers.

The Independent reports that scientists in the US and Holland have developed a flu vaccine that works against more than one strain of the disease.

The paper explains that current seasonal influenza vaccines are useful against only a single variant of flu, meaning if a mutated strain of the virus takes hold they will be ineffective.

image copyright AP

"This happened last winter when health officials said that the flu vaccine they had prepared the year previously in anticipation of the influenza season protected only 3 per cent of those who were inoculated instead of a more typical 50 per cent protection rate," it adds.

The new technique works by concentrating on a protein found within all strains of the virus.

It has successfully immunised mice and ferrets in laboratory tests, the Independent adds.

But the paper notes it could be another five years before the vaccine is trialled on human volunteers.

The Daily Mail is among a number of papers to report that researchers from a centre in Florida have "cracked the code that can 'turn off' cancer".

Working on samples of bladder and breast cancers, the scientists were able to "reset" the cells to make them manufacture a missing protein that prevents them from multiplying and forming tumours.

"The work is still at an early stage but brings with it hope that cancer will take fewer lives in the future," the Mail adds.

'Nothing to do'

It's still "silly season" in the press, so time for a quick look at some lighter stories.

Or maybe they aren't so light, as the Daily Telegraph reports that Father Christmas is facing bankruptcy.

Well, perhaps not Saint Nick himself, but his "office" in the Finnish Arctic town of Rovaniemi.

The facility receives 300,000 visitors a year, but numbers have dropped sharply in recent times due to austerity in southern Europe and sanctions in Russia.

"Santa is here, every day, as he has been for the last two decades," the office's Facebook page says, in an appeal for funds.

image caption Santa: Maintaining a brave face despite apparent money problems...

It does not make clear where Santa was before this time.

The crisis has prompted the Finnish government to issue a statement, pointing out that other Yuletide visitor attractions are open in the country and "the Santa Claus Village (where Santa is based) is not under threat in any way".

So that's alright then.

Under more threat is beer in Russia.

The Times reports that crowds of ultra-patriotic Cossacks, perhaps enraged by the lack of opportunities to visit Father Christmas, have launched a campaign to destroy western beer in favour of the home-grown variety.

Rock star Stas Baretsky kicked off the protests "apparently against western sanctions" by ripping apart several cans of Danish lager with his teeth at a supermarket in St Petersburg.

He then offered to mop up the resultant mess.

"It didn't seem like a joke," says one acquaintance. "None of his musician friends is speaking to him now."

Where in Britain is the best place to earn a living, do you reckon?

The Daily Mirror has an answer that may surprise some - Blackburn in Lancashire.

image copyright PA image caption Balmy Blackburn

The paper says analysis by a credit comparison website looked at the cost of living, health of residents and the area's job market.

However, the Mirror reports that the findings have been treated with some scepticism by some of Blackburn's inhabitants.

One tells the paper: "Things might be cheaper, but you don't earn much up here. there are some real pockets of deprivation everywhere you look."

Another says: "No way! It's almost impossible to get a job round here if you're young... and there is nothing to do even if you have money to spend."

Gloucester was Britain's worst place to earn a living, but the Mirror manages to find one of its citizens who has moved to Lancashire and his comments may dent Blackburn local pride.

Cafe owner Phil Ingham says: "Gloucester is by far the better place to live.

"Here wages are poor... plus it is always raining. It never stops."

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