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"Putin puts Russia on collision course with west over Ukraine," is the stark headline in the Guardian, after he two Russian-backed regions, in south-east Ukraine, as independent states.

The paper says the Russian president has declared that talks with the West are "at a dead end", and its central and eastern Europe correspondent, Shaun Walker, writes of "ominous" words about Ukraine from .

President Putin's announcement is also the lead in the Financial Times. The paper says he has put Russia on a "war footing", .

It says the markets have responded with alarm, including the Moex stock index in Moscow; the FT says it dropped 10.5%, its steepest fall since Russia seized Crimea in 2014.

"Putin warns of bloodshed as he moves troops into Ukraine," is the Daily Telegraph's headline. It says that the Russian leader's tone and his description of Ukraine as an imminent security threat .

The Times is sceptical about the Russian president's deployment of what he calls "peacekeeping" troops, saying in reality .

The paper warns him that Britain and its western allies are poised to hit back with sanctions.

"Putin and 'ill omen'," is the Daily Mirror's headline, as it . The paper accuses the Russian president of fanning the flames in Ukraine.

The Daily Mirror also features the prime minister's scrapping of Covid restrictions in England. "Lateral blow," is how the paper describes .

It says people may have to pay £5 for each test from April, after what it calls the "PM's bonfire of virus safeguards".

The Independent highlights a warning by England's chief medical officer, Professor Sir Chris Whitty of new, more virulent forms of Covid.

It says that .

The Independent says there are concerns that Boris Johnson's Living with Covid plan will neglect the most vulnerable people in society - and cause "uncertainty, anxiety and hardship".

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By contrast, the Daily Mail sees the end to curbs as the prime minister throwing off the shackles, after almost two years of on-off lockdowns.

The Mail's Scottish edition also has this front-page message for Scotland's first minister.

"It's time to end our Covid curbs, Nicola," reads the headline. Ms Sturgeon is due to set out her latest plans for dealing with coronavirus today.

Metro focuses on Boris Johnson's desire for people to . "Now it's over to you," declares the paper's headline.

A ball game - invented by three middle-aged men, one afternoon, in the United States - has drawn interest from the Times.

The sport is a tennis-like game, played with wooden bats and a perforated ball, and came about when the son of one of the men complained he had nothing to do.

"Pickleball" has become , in the summer of 2028.

As the Times puts it: "This is one pickle you'll want to be in."