Newspaper headlines: ‘You only live twice’

The words “back from the dead” appear in several headlines reporting the reappearance of the exiled Russian journalist, Arkady Babchenko, in Ukraine – a day after he was supposedly murdered on the orders of the Kremlin.

The Star also has a picture of Mr Babchenko under another James Bond-inspired headline: “I think I’ll die another day.”

Vadim Karasev, from the Institute of Global Strategies, says the main object was to send a message that the Ukranian special services are working and the country is not descending into lawlessness and chaos.

However, political analyst Alexei Yakubin, believes it could backfire – after all, he says, we saw how easily intelligence services can manipulate public opinion.

The Russian paper Izvestia gives wide coverage to critics of the episode. It quotes the head of the Russian Federation of Journalists saying Mr Babchenko “left the profession when he agreed to take part” – he committed professional suicide.

Novaya Gazeyta is known for being critical of the Putin regime and a number of its reporters have been murdered. In an editorial, it concludes that its former employee’s deception was justified.

Analysts say the increases will take £570m a year out of the pockets of consumers who are being ripped off. Experts advise people to switch to smaller energy firms.

SSE tells the paper the rises are caused by higher wholesale energy prices and the cost of delivering government policy initiatives, such as subsidising wind farms, helping vulnerable households and installing smart meters.

Ten of the biggest firms have no women on their boards, a situation condemned by ministers as “outrageous”.

The paper also criticises what it describes as “antedeluvian” attitudes.

Gender diversity in business leadership, it says, is good for company performance and productivity – and it benefits investors, the wider economy and society as a whole.

The paper says Britain had initially been confident that its capabilities in law enforcement and intelligence would help to overcome ideological objections, as other member states prioritised security.

The paper says it is seen at first hand how the Swiss manage to avoid a hard border with neighbouring EU countries by using technology and assessing risk.

“Switzerland remains outside the customs union,” the paper says, “yet each day 2.1m people, 1.1m million cars and 24,000 lorries cross the border”.

It will not perhaps make for easy or popular viewing, the paper says, but it is the right thing to do. Justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done.

Parliament should agree to the reform and then get on with opening up the rest of the system in the same way.

The “revitalisation project” also proposed widening the definition of “pub” to include cafe-style developments and micro-breweries that do not have a bar.