Newspaper headlines: Cummings accused of leaks and a beaming Prince Louis

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-56854427

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Dominic Cummings left Downing Street in November last year

Senior Downing Street sources tell the Daily Telegraph, the Times and the Sun that Boris Johnson's former chief adviser Dominic Cummings is suspected of being behind recent leaks of the prime minister's text messages.

The Telegraph says Mr Cummings is considered the "prime suspect" behind the leaked messages between Boris Johnson and the Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, as well as those with Sir James Dyson.

The Sun says Mr Johnson is "deeply disappointed" that the texts have been made public and fears Mr Cummings it trying to "undermine the government."

A No 10 source suggests to the Times that the ex-adviser "feels bitter about what's happened since he left". Mr Cummings has not responded to requests for comment, the paper said.

The Telegraph suggests that the success of the UK's vaccination programme means Britain is no longer in a pandemic but is now in an endemic, as new data showed the vaccination programme is reducing symptomatic Covid infections by up to 90%.

The research prompts the Daily Mail to declare that "jabs are the path out of the crisis" and complains that the prime minister is "stubbornly refusing to speed up lifting lockdown".

The Daily Mail also reports that children as young as 12 will get their vaccines from September.

India has close to 16 million confirmed infections and saw a record number of cases on Thursday

The Times of India considers how it has ended up shattering the global record for the most Covid infections in a day. Experts suggest people let down their guard, believing the worst was over, while the government failed to improve its health infrastructure and vaccinate aggressively.

The Financial Times reveals how staff at Wirecard, the German financial technology company that went bust last year, carried millions of euros out of its Munich headquarters in carrier bags over many years. The practice is said to have started as early as 2012 with employees moving six-digit sums of banknotes in Aldi and Lidl plastic bags.

And finally many front pages feature a smiling Prince Louis on a red balance bike as he celebrates his third birthday.

The Daily Express describes the picture as "Kate's sweet birthday snap," explaining that he was photographed shortly before leaving for nursery.

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