Top story: ‘I feel lucky to be alive’
Hello, I’m Warren Murray and here is the news that matters this morning.
More than 20 people have been killed and at least 100 injured as forest fires rage out of control near Athens. Authorities urged people to abandon their homes in two areas either side of the Greek capital. “I saw corpses, burned-out cars. I feel lucky to be alive,” said one woman after fire ripped through the resort of Mati, north-east of Athens.
The country was like a tinderbox, emergency workers said, after a dry winter and a summer heatwave that has seen temperatures above 40C. Authorities deployed firefighters and equipment from across Greece to deal with the situation, while the government called for EU help, and Cyprus and Spain stepped in to offer assistance. “People should leave, close up their homes and just leave,” said Achilleas Tzouvaras, a senior fire chief in Kineta. “This is an extreme situation.”
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Corbyn’s pitch to bosses – Theresa May’s government failed to get manufacturers geared up to take advantage of the drop in the pound since the Brexit referendum, Jeremy Corbyn will say today. “After the EU referendum result, the pound became more competitive and that should have helped our exporters,” the Labour leader is to tell industry chiefs in a Birmingham speech. “But they are being sold out by a lack of a Conservative government industrial plan, which has left our economy far too reliant on imports.” Corbyn will urge Theresa May to reconsider the option of negotiating a new customs union with the EU as “a matter of practical common sense”. It comes after May chaired a cabinet meeting in Gateshead where she met factory workers, reaffirmed her commitment to the “northern powerhouse” and promoted her Chequers plan for Brexit.
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Downing Street papers – Margaret Thatcher’s government blacklisted more than 1,400 civil servants as “subversives”, while MI5 also compiled lists of suspect local councillors and active trade unionists deemed to be of similar concern. And senior figures in Harold Wilson’s Labour government tried to use a shadowy propaganda unit known as the Information Research Department to discredit leftwing trade union leaders. John Major, meanwhile, gloated after seeing off challenges by William Rees-Mogg and parliamentary Eurosceptics in one of a number of gruelling battles over the future of the EU. The revelations are contained in papers released by No 10 to the National Archives at Kew today.
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The other Isis threat – The risk from Isis-linked women and minors returning to Britain from Syria and Iraq is being significantly underestimated, researchers at King’s College London have warned. Joana Cook and Gina Vale said 850 British citizens joined Isis in those countries, including 145 women and 50 minors. The university’s International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICR) warns that the Isis-indoctrinated women and children now include a generation of “minors who have been born and/or raised in IS”, while women are more likely to become combatants. Members of Britain’s first all-female terror cell linked to Isis were convicted this year.
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Heat is on – The Met Office has issued an amber heat health watch warning and advised people to stay out of the sun for the rest of the week. The warning applies until 9am on Friday in the Midlands, south-east England and east England. At work, employers are being urged to relax dress codes and keep offices cool. Outside it’s all about about hats, sunscreen, a bottle of water and hugging the shade. At home the Met advises: “Keep your home as cool as possible – shading windows and shutting them during the day may help. Open them when it is cooler at night. Keep drinking fluids. If there’s anybody you know, for example an older person living on their own, who might be at special risk, make sure they know what to do.” Here are the Guardian’s tips for making sure you don’t melt.
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Greektown shooting – The gunman Faisal Hussain, who shot and killed two people in Toronto, had severe psychosis and depression, his family says. “Our hearts are in pieces for the victims and for our city … We will mourn those who were lost for the rest of our lives,” said the Hussain family. One victim, Reese Fallon, 18, was a recent high school graduate who was politically active and due to attend McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, later this year. The other deceased, a girl aged 10, was not yet named. Another 13 people were wounded when Hussain, 29, fired on people in restaurants along the city’s Danforth Avenue before being killed in a gunfight with police.
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Carry on, driver – British motorists have named Thurrock services on the M25 as the worst of its kind, with a 68% approval rating. The best stopping-off point in England, according to the report, is Norton Canes on the M6 toll road which received a glowing 100% rating by drivers in the Transport Focus survey. In London, meanwhile, speed limits are being cut to 20mph in central areas and 30mph in others to reduce road deaths and injuries. Steve McNamara of the taxi drivers’ association predicted it would make little difference in central London as “those roads are all at a virtual standstill” anyway.
Lunchtime read: ‘Skinny women with perfect bodies’
“You’re watching lots of very skinny women with perfect bodies and boobs.” Then come the ads – for the “gastric band in a glass”, for cosmetic surgery. The feminist group Level Up says it is time for Love Island to stop being shown alongside such ads.
Level Up’s executive director, Carys Afoko, says: “You’re basically saying: ‘Look at these skinny women – here’s how you can be skinny. Here are women with fake boobs – here’s how you can get fake boobs.’” ITV says such ads have been broadcast only a few times and there are no more scheduled. Afoko says ITV should formally renounce them and bring in a more diverse cast. “It just feels like they should put viewers’ mental health above their bottom line … I think it does mean meeting with groups like us and starting to think: ‘What is the impact on young women watching the show?’”
Sport
Sir Dave Brailsford expects the cascade of vitriol directed at Team Sky to continue all the way to Paris and has condemned Tour de France organisers for not doing more to stop it. Meanwhile, Chris Froome has said he is “happy” to sacrifice a fifth Tour crown for teammate Geraint Thomas. Winning the Premier League title is “the next step” for Liverpool, according to manager Jürgen Klopp. “I know about the expectations and that is completely normal,” he told the Guardian in an interview.
Elsewhere, Angela Merkel has insisted that Germany is “a cosmopolitan country” and praised Mesut Özil’s achievements for the national side, after the Arsenal midfielder’s resignation from the German national team over alleged racism kicked football deep into the country’s political arena. Ryan Lochte, the second most decorated male Olympic swimmer of all time, has been banned for 14 months for receiving an intravenous infusion without a therapeutic use exemption. And Jonny Bairstow’s combative 82 was the standout contribution with the bat in a so far bowler-friendly Roses match, in which Lancashire are chasing an highly unlikely 323.
Business
More trouble for Elon Musk as Tesla shares plunged 5% after the leaking of a memo showing that the loss-making electric car maker asked some suppliers to return payments because it was “essential” for the company to continue operating.
Optimism has returned to Asia-Pacific markets after a rough session on Monday saw big falls in the region thanks to concerns about a US-China trade war. Despite a better showing, Australia’s treasurer, Scott Morrison, says the global trade system as presided over by the WTO has failed and needs reform in order to tackle underlying problems. The pound is buying $1.309 and €1.12.
The papers
The Guardian’s lead story is “Warning of threat from Isis women”. The FT’s headline is “Cut tax or face post-Brexit exodus Treasury warned by Wall St banks”. Several other papers lead on the controversy around May’s consent for US prosecution of British jihadis despite the risk they could be executed. The Times says “May willing to let jihad Britons face execution”, the i has “UK in death penalty row” and the Telegraph headline is “Johnson warned of Isil death penalty risk”.
Many papers, including the Guardian and the Times, carry the Met Office’s warning that people should stay out of the sun during the hot weather. The Sun’s headline is “Hazard warming”, the Mirror says “Britain in 95F meltdown” (it also has a story about an “Eye test to beat dementia”). “Stay out of the sun until Friday”, advises the Express. The Mail calls the Met’s warning evidence of a “nanny state” and leads with “Tourism chiefs’ fury at summer killjoys”, with hospitality industry leaders and MPs telling people to get out and enjoy the weather.
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