'Tax rises needed to plug £35bn gap' and 'Putin breaks Trump's 'ceasefire"

A significant story is unfolding on the international scene. 'Tax rises needed to plug £35bn gap' and 'Putin breaks Trump's 'ceasefire"Published1 minute agoImage caption, Several of today's papers cover a warning form the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) of a funding gap in UK finances ahead of the chancellor's Budget. The i Paper leads with the £35bn "gap", saying tax rises will be "needed to plug" it. It attributes this to "high inflation and the UK's defence spending pledge".

The Treasury declined to comment on speculation surrounding the Budget. The paper also covers the deadly attacks on Riyadh airport, saying they have alarmed "Saudi elite - and Washington". According to The i, the will fill its "license fee hole" by selling Blue Planet III and launching a "new dating show for right-wing men".

The Details

Image caption, Atop the Daily Telegraph is the headline "Putin breaks Trump's 'ceasefire'. " Russia attacked a power plant in Ukraine "just hours" after the US President "claimed" he had brokered a ceasefire on energy sites, it reports. Like The i, the Telegraph also writes that "Healey faces £35bn hole in Budget", saying the warning comes from "Britains top economic think tank".

The paper also covers a pledge from Reform UK to ban asylum applications for five years. Image caption, The Guardian also covers the UK's finances in its top story, writing that the heat pump subsidy will be "cut to fund defence plan". On US President Donald Trump's reported ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine on energy sites, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is quoted as saying the deal was "news to me".

Image caption, The Times notes that the IFS has said the tax rises needed to fill the funding gap would be equivalent to raising every tax bracket by three percentage points. It leads on its own investigation, which it says reveals that the government is "paying out sickness benefits to almost 2 million people without knowing whether they still qualify". It echoes the Guardian's coverage that Zelensky was unaware of the "energy truce".

What Experts Say

Image caption, "Lettuce Liz iceberg ahead! " warns the Daily Star, saying a "Truss-style crash can happen again". The chancellor has been "urged to steady the ship", it writes.

Image caption, Leading the Metro are comments from Prime Minister Andy Burnham's that Russia played a role in Brexit. He is the "first PM to confirm Kremlin meddling", it says. Image caption, The Financial Times reports that the US has threatened a "block on Kyiv's arms in push to halt Russian refinery attacks".

American officials have been lobbying European capitals and Kyiv, according to European officials quoted by the paper. It also reports that oil executives have pulled out of an energy conference in Riyadh after the attacks on its airport. Image caption, The Daily Mirror covers the fatal tiger attack in Yorkshire, saying a "hero tried to save" the man who died.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.