‘Trump rages’ and ‘Russian troops are laughing’- QHN

Donald Trump’s confirmation that he’ll appeal against his conviction for falsifying business records means that, for the second day in a row, many of the front pages feature photographs of the former US president. The papers largely focus on his news conference at Trump Tower in Manhattan where he repeated claims his trial in New York had been”rigged”. “Trump rages” says the Daily Express.

“They Don me wrong” is the headline in the Sun. The Daily Mirror says it was a typical rambling speech from the former president, summing up with, “Don rants at everything.”

Many of the papers also look at how the conviction could affect November’s presidential election in the United States, which Trump is hoping will see him returned to the White House. The Times argues that “by rights, Mr Trump should be history” but goes on to point out that instead “he may survive to make history as America’s first criminal president”.

Jonathan Freedland writes in the Guardian that the guilty verdict presents an opportunity for Joe Biden, but warns this comes with some risks. He says “press the point too hard, and it will play into the false Trumpist narrative that the Manhattan trial is part of a partisan witch hunt”.

The Daily Telegraph has picked up on reports that what it calls “Fujitsu’s scandal-hit Horizon system” is expected to continue running in Post Office branches for another five years. The current contract is set to end by March next year. The paper says this is when the Post Office had hoped to replace its IT system, but is struggling with a replacement. Fujitsu and the Cabinet Office haven’t responded to the article.

In an interview for the Guardian, Ukraine’s President Zelensky shares his frustrations with the speed of Western decision-making. He tells the paper that a day of talks, a day of contemplating, “takes people’s lives”. He also says President Biden’s delay in sanctioning the use of American-supplied weapons inside Russian territory, which after months of lobbying was given the green light earlier this week, had left the Kremlin’s soldiers laughing at Ukraine and able to “hunt” its people.

According to the Financial Times Weekend, the investment firm Baillie Gifford is in “crisis talks” with British literary festivals it supports after the end of its sponsorship deals with two flagship events recently. Earlier this week, the Edinburgh International Book Festival ended its 20-year funding partnership with Baillie Gifford after pressure from climate change protesters. The move follows a similar decision by the Hay festival last week. The paper quotes a source with close links to the asset manager as saying the firm was “not throwing in the towel on supporting culture”.

All four members of ABBA reuniting to receive Sweden’s equivalent of a knighthood features in most of the papers. Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad were recognised for their contributions to Swedish and international “music life” during a ceremony at the Royal Palace in Stockholm. The Guardian, The Express and The Mirror all make the same comment: “Thank you for the music.”