“An army of online conspiracy theorists” pushed Julia Wandelt to believe she was missing girl Madeleine McCann, according to the Daily Mail. The newspaper writes that “a jury convicted her yesterday [Wandelt] to torment Kate and Gerry McCann in a campaign that began on the Internet,” pushing Wandelt to claim she was his missing daughter after being kidnapped during a family vacation in 2007. DNA tests show Wandelt is not Madeleine.
“Madeleine McCann’s parents say fantasist who posed as their missing daughter needs help,” headlines the Daily Mirror. Madeleine’s family has shown “compassion” to Wandelt following his conviction, the newspaper writes.
The Financial Times leads with a $1.2 trillion “AI selloff” among some of the biggest “AI stocks,” including Nvidia, Meta, Palantir and Oracle. It also reports a slippage between tech giants Microsoft, Amazon and Alphabet, which are “borrowing hundreds of billions to fund the expansion of AI.” According to the newspaper, the sell-off “is putting Wall Street on track for its worst week since [US President] Donald Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ Tariffs in April”.
“The disgraced Andrew Windsor is spending his final weeks at Royal Lodge ‘ranting to himself’,” according to the Sun’s lead story, after the former prince lost his title and was ordered to leave Royal Lodge. Citing inside sources, the paper also writes that his ex-wife Sarah Ferguson “pours her heart out to the staff at a secret bar called The Doghouse.”
Under the headline “Trump goes to war with the BBC”, the Daily Telegraph quotes White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt commenting on a Panorama report on the January 6 Capitol riots, which she says shows the BBC is a “leftist propaganda machine”. Leavitt described the report’s editing of a Trump speech as “further evidence that [BBC] “It’s total, 100 per cent fake news.” The BBC has said it is investigating the issues raised about the programme.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves “will announce a stealth tax raid on retirement savings” in the next budget, the Times writes. The paper says it is expected to “cap a tax break on pension contributions for both employers and employees to raise up to £2bn a year”. He cites “concern that it would penalize people for ‘trying to do the right thing’ and save for retirement.”
“Labor MPs now plotting to topple Starmer,” is the headline of the i Paper, which writes of the group in “desperation over Labour’s poll ratings and plan to rip up the manifesto by raising income tax in this month’s budget.” Labor MPs met in a private bar in the House of Commons, according to the newspaper, to discuss the “mechanics of a future coup”, while “Cabinet ministers urge caution”.
“Guinness socialite Lady Mary Charteris has sparked a war on her posh street after turning her posh home into a real-life ‘Barbie House’,” the Daily Star reports, after the DJ and model “decided to paint her house bright pink.”
The Daily Express headlines its weekend front page with a “Christmas appeal to help 1,000 children waiting for life-saving wheelchairs”, urging readers to “give the gift of freedom to every child”.
The living conditions of Andrew Mountbatten Windsor continue to headline some of the newspapers. The Sun reports that he is spending his final weeks at Royal Lodge in Windsor “ranting to himself”. His ex-wife Sarah Ferguson is reportedly opening her heart to the staff at a secret garden bar called the Doghouse. According to the Daily Mail, Mountbatten Windsor is “playing hardball” before leaving Royal Lodge. Inside sources told the newspaper he wants a cook, a housekeeper, a secretary and butler and gardeners for his new home on the Sandringham estate.
The i Weekend publishes claims that Labor MPs are plotting to overthrow the Prime Minister. The newspaper says that while a challenge against Sir Keir Starmer is not imminent, talks about his future have intensified in recent weeks. The Times reflects a similar sentiment, with the mood among some MPs said to border on “outright hostility”. The Daily Express says many Labor MPs are scared, after a poll this week put the party in fourth place behind Reform UK, the Greens and the Conservatives.
According to the Times, Chancellor Rachel Reeves plans to use the Budget to announce a “stealth tax raid” on retirement savings. Reeves will reportedly cap a tax break on pension contributions for both employers and employees to raise up to £2bn a year.
“Trump goes to war against the BBC,” writes the Daily Telegraph. The US president’s press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, accused the broadcaster of “deliberate dishonesty” for editing a speech by Donald Trump. The BBC has not responded to Ms Leavitt’s comments.
There was near-universal acclaim for Thursday night’s finale of Celebrity Traitors on BBC One. i Weekend’s editor’s letter describes the show as “equal parts jaw-dropping and hilarious”. The Daily Star claims that the “brilliant” series managed to exceed all expectations. The Guardian suggests that the most impressive achievement was the show’s ability to get “Generation Z watching live TV” and move away from the “algorithmic solution of digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram.”
