'Healey eyes banks and oil tax' and 'X Factor comeback'
As rescue efforts enter a fifth day on the Nepal-Tibet border following the devastating flash flood, Sunday's papers report on the climbing death toll. The Independent headlines on the anguish of families waiting to find out about missing loved ones.
The Observer leads with news that at least 675 are dead and 3,000 remain missing "along a 60-mile ribbon of mud" on the border. The main image captures grieving families holding and comforting each other.
A senior advisor to Vladimir Putin has warned of a Russian "hybrid attack" on a drone factory in the UK, the Mail on Sunday reports, as tensions escalate over London's ongoing support for Kyiv.
To avoid a major strike, Prime Minister Andy Burnham has given train drivers "a lucrative pay rise" on the London to Manchester line, the Sunday Times reports. The Avanti West Coast pay deal will avoid strike action between the capital and the city the prime minister was recently mayor of.
As he draws up his first Budget, Chancellor John Healey is "considering a windfall tax on banks and oil companies", the Sunday Telegraph reports. According to the paper, he is looking to plug a hole in public finances and shield individuals from direct tax increases.
The Sun on Sunday reports that ITV is reportedly "in talks" about bringing back the X Factor seven years after the last UK series. The reboot of the singing contest could include ex-judge Simon Cowell, the paper says.
The UK's summer heatwaves have been "blamed for the deaths of at least 3,000 people", the Daily Star reports, which adds that they are "only going to get worse".
The Sunday Express says migrants living in taxpayer-funded hotels are receiving free condoms from the NHS. NHS England said it provides condoms to "asylum seekers living on the state as part of its usual services", the paper reports.
Grieving parents have told the Sunday Mirror "it doesn't seem right" that the ex-boss at the centre of a baby death scandal co-owns a firm providing maternity training for the NHS. A review of Nottingham NHS Trust found 520 mums and babies suffered potentially avoidable harm or death, according to the Sunday Mirror, while former CEO Peter Homa "raked in thousands" through his co-owned business.
And a common cholesterol-lowering medication can "slash" the risk of dementia, the Sunday People says. There is hope for the 10 million Britons taking the drug statins, the paper says.
