Newspaper headlines: MPs say China is a 'threat' and the 'Kate effect'

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The Guardian says Monday's call by the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza has left Israel in "near total isolation" on the world stage. It describes the development as a "significant break" between the Biden administration and the Israeli government and says it represents "a long-delayed show of international unity".

The Daily Telegraph says Downing Street faced a "backlash" from Conservative MPs on Monday night, after the UK helped to pass the UN resolution. It says the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, was challenged by four of his party colleagues at a meeting of the backbench 1922 Committee, with those who spoke up asking why Britain had backed the motion when the US had abstained.

The Daily Mail says Rishi Sunak is facing "fury" at what it calls his "feeble" rebuke to China, after the UK and the US revealed the scale of Beijing's efforts to subvert Western democracy via a wave of cyber-attacks. An unnamed MP who was targeted by China is quoted saying ministers had "turned up to a gunfight with a wooden spoon" - after the government announced sanctions against two hackers and a small firm in Wuhan. The Times says China is set to be formally declared a threat to Britain's national security, but some Tory MPs have warned that does not go far enough.

Several leader columns call on the government to get tough with China. "It's time to stand up to Chinese meddling," says the Daily Express. "Beijing's threats must be firmly challenged," insists the Telegraph. Writing in the same paper, the former Conservative leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, warns that the UK has "dragged its feet in facing up to this growing threat". He repeats the analogy he made in the Commons yesterday - likening the government's announcement of sanctions to "watching an elephant giving birth to a mouse" - and says ministers must now make clear that China presents a "systemic threat".

Image source, Reuters
Image caption,
The UN Security Council

The departure of Boeing's chief executive and chairman is the main story for the Financial Times, after the aircraft manufacturer announced a management shake-up. The paper describes the changes as an attempt to "draw a line" under the recent safety crisis, triggered when a door panel fell off a plane mid-flight in January. It says Dave Calhoun's decision to step down as Boeing's boss has been welcomed by the company's customers - including Ryanair, which said it hoped the new management team would help to eliminate delays to the deliveries of new aircraft.

With the headline "The Kate effect", the Daily Mirror highlights a huge search in online checks for cancer symptoms, after Catherine, Princess of Wales, revealed she was undergoing treatment for the disease. The paper says she has been praised for raising awareness by health bosses and charities who say it could save lives. The Sun reports that visits to the NHS cancer symptoms website averaged one every three seconds in the hours after the princess made her diagnosis public. It says her "courageous" video message "worked spectacularly" - meaning "she's done more good with one statement than the sick trolls who target her will do in a lifetime".

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