Many of Wednesday's papers lead on a speech from MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum. Under the headline "red alert", The Daily Mirror reports on his warning that Russia is the "number one threat" to UK security. Danger exists in the form of "sabotage, arson, AI, bio-weapons, coercion and violence", with the MI5 chief comparing the situation to that the which existed after 9/11.
The Daily Express also leads with the warning, headlining that the "UK must not 'play into hands' of Putin". It notes that the MI5 chief said "Russia trolls" who are alleged to have attempted to sway the Brexit referendum will be "delighted" to be "front page news once again" after being mentioned in the prime minister in a recent interview.
The Telegraph pulls out a different line from the MI5 chief's speech, headlining "Russia did not sway Brexit vote". Sir Ken said it was "a matter of public record" that there was interference in the referendum by online trolls and bots.
The Times also includes coverage of the MI5 chief's speech, noting that AI is being used by terrorists in attack plans. Its main story is the "online tax crackdown to boost the high street", reporting that "Healey's budget plan will stop foreign sellers avoiding VAT on Amazon, eBay and Temu".
The Guardian's take on the spy chief's speech is "MI5 warns of rightwing shift from anti-migrant opinion to terrorism". The Guardian also reports that the UK has resisted "EU pressure to hit China with tariffs".
The i Paper also leads with the spy chief's speech, quoting him as saying threats from foreign adversaries have quadrupled in a decade. Also on its front page, television chef Dipna Anand shares that she had 13 miscarriages.
The Independent goes with Sir Ken's warning that "AI is 'supercharging" threat to Britain" for its lead story. It also carries a picture of the man killed in a tiger enclosure, who has been named as William Chapman.
The Daily Star says that 23-year-old Chapman was once a "child actor" in its headline. He had appeared on both the BBC and ITV, it says.
Tax fears have been "eased in Burnham's 'pro-business' pitch to bosses", according to the Financial Times. The paper also reports a warning from Anthropic, developers of chatbot Claude, which has warned that "AI worms" will soon able to "hijack smart home devices such as ovens and televisions".
"Toxic water spills surge", writes the Metro, saying a toxic spill "pollutes our waterways every 90 mins." This is an exclusive for the paper.
According to the Daily Mail, "four out of five new jobs went to foreigners in the past decade". It also announces the arrival of Trump's "very glamorous" new press secretary Katie Zacharia, saying "move over Eyelashes Andy" - a reference to Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
The Sun headlines with "Man shifty" as it says the prime minister has been "accused of covering up his links to scandal-hit Manchester City". It says he had two "freebie dinners" with City and that a Sun probe has found "deleted records".
