Newspaper headlines: PM and Carrie Symonds' first public engagement By BBC News

Staff Published duration 13 August 2019

image copyright @10DowningStreet

Boris Johnson and his partner Carrie Symonds are all smiles as they are pictured together inside Number 10 on the front of the Times, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail.

A Downing Street reception for hospice staff was the couple's first official engagement since Mr Johnson became prime minister last month.

However, it's the warm words of President's Trump's national security adviser, John Bolton, on future trade arrangements with the UK that is the focus for the Times.

"US promises fast-track trade deals after Brexit" is the headline, but the paper points out that experts are sceptical about whether achieving such "mini-deals" is really politically palatable in the US.

The leader column suggests the government faces "momentous choices" on its post-Brexit foreign policy as it faces pressure to align more closely with the US.

It warns that there isn't long to decide, as President Trump will look for answers at the G7 summit in Biarritz, later this month.

image copyright Getty Images

Several papers devote their front pages to a call from MPs for hands-free car kits to be banned.

The Daily Mail reports that as well as banning Bluetooth headsets and speakerphones, MPs want to increase punishments for drivers who use mobiles on the move.

"Hands-free car phone crackdown planned" is the headline in the "i". The Times reports that the number of deaths or serious injuries in which mobile use was a factor has risen by more than four-fifths - from 97 in 2011, to 178 in 2017.

The Guardian's front page claims it can exclusively reveal a "series of blackout near misses" at National Grid, which happened in the run-up to last week's power outages.

The paper says industry sources have disclosed that National Grid experienced three such events in as many months ahead of last Friday's shutdown, which caused huge disruption to homes and transport systems.

There is widespread coverage of the pro-democracy protests which have brought Hong Kong's airport to a standstill.

The Telegraph reports that police have made more than 600 arrests in recent days, highlighting an escalation in tensions with the authorities.

It notes that Beijing has introduced the word "terrorism" into descriptions of the demonstrations for the first time.

Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Free Press reports that police top brass faced "a barrage of questions" about injuries, and officers' use of weapons, and undercover tactics at a media briefing on Monday.

image copyright EPA image caption Officials say about 5,000 gathered for the fourth day of protests at the airport on Monday

"Now Snowflakes Ban Burgers" is the outraged headline in the Daily Mail. The cause of its ire - a decision by Goldsmiths University to ban beef from the canteen as part of a drive to become a carbon neutral campus.

The Daily Express reports that Goldsmiths produces around 3.7 million kilograms of carbon emissions each year. It carries the view of university warden Professor Frances Corner that "declaring a climate emergency cannot be empty words".

It also highlights the counterclaim from the National Farmers' Union that singling out one food product in a bid to help the planet is "simplistic".

And an end to the antipathy between one of America's literary greats and technology makes several papers. "Salinger goes digital" declares the Telegraph, as it reports that the son of Catcher in the Rye author JD Salinger has finally given approval to turn his father's works into e-books.

The Guardian reports that Matt Salinger had respected his father's preference for a tactile book experience for years - but that he had changed his mind after receiving a letter from a woman with a disability.