An earthquake in Italy dominates this morning's broadcast headlines, whilst the death of a soldier during a live firing exercise leads defence-related news.
Soldier dies at Otterburn military range
Most papers, including Daily Telegraph, The Sun and the Daily Express, report that a soldier died during a night-time live firing exercise on a military range.
An Army Spokesperson said:
We can confirm a soldier serving with The Royal Regiment of Scotland has died while taking part in a live firing exercise on Otterburn Training Area. Northumbria Police is investigating the incident and all enquiries should be directed to the force and it would not be appropriate for us to comment further.
Armed Forces Minister, Mike Penning said:
It is with great sadness that I can confirm that a soldier from The Royal Regiment of Scotland has died while taking part in a night live firing exercise at Otterburn Training Area in Northumberland. My thoughts are with the soldier’s family, friends and colleagues at this difficult time.
The safety of our personnel is our absolute priority and while deaths in training don’t happen often, any death is a tragedy. As well as a police investigation, MOD accident investigators are looking into the circumstances surrounding this tragic incident.
Further details are available here.
Armed Forces in Germany
There is coverage of Prince William's, the Duke of Cambridge, visit to Düsseldorf for a series of events honouring the role of the Armed Forces based in Germany. He is pictured in The Telegraph speaking to members of the 20th Armoured Infantry Brigade as he arrived for a celebration to mark the 70th anniversary of North Rhine Westphalia state.
Saudi Arabia
There is continued reporting in The Guardian about Oxfam’s call for more transparency about UK weapons exports arrangements with Saudi Arabia.
A government spokesperson said:
The UK Government takes its arms export responsibilities very seriously and operates one of the most robust arms export control regimes in the world. The Government is satisfied that extant licences for Saudi Arabia are compliant with the UK’s export licensing criteria. The key test for our continued arms exports to Saudi Arabia in relation to International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is whether there is a clear risk that those weapons might be used in a serious violation of IHL. The situation is kept under careful and continual review.
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