News Daily: MPs urge more defence spending, and heatwave to last to weekend
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Raise defence spending, MPs urge
MPs have warned that unless government spending on defence rises, the UK risks losing influence with the US and other Nato allies. The Commons Defence Committee says an increase in the Ministry of Defence's budget from 2% of GDP to 3% (or £60bn a year) is needed. This should go towards improving the readiness of the armed forces and bolstering anti-submarine warfare, it adds.
It's been reported that Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Prime Minister Theresa May are involved in an acrimonious row over the MoD's budget., external And, at next month's Nato summit, US President Donald Trump is expected to repeat demands for European allies to spend more on defence.
An MoD spokesman said the UK would "continue to exceed" Nato's target for spending 2% of GDP on defence and "strengthen our armed forces in the face of intensifying threats".
Heathrow expansion backed by Commons
In the end, the plan to build a third runway at Heathrow Airport passed easily through the House of Commons, MPs supporting it by a majority of 296. But complaints about the absence of Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson - a vocal opponent of the government-backed plan - continued. Opposition MPs shouted "Where's Boris?" as Conservative Greg Hands, who resigned as international trade minister over the issue, said the debate was "about being true to your word and to your election pledges". BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg looks at why Mr Johnson, who is on a trade mission to Afghanistan, missed the vote.
Heatwave to last until weekend
It reached 30.1C at Hampton waterworks in west London on Monday, beating the year's highest recorded temperature so far - 29.1C. And the hot weather isn't showing any sign of relenting yet. The Met Office says there is an 80% chance of temperatures reaching levels that could be a risk to life. Network Rail has imposed speed restrictions in case tracks buckle, while pollen and UV levels are very high. Things are expected to cool down slightly at the weekend. Here are some pictures of people, cats and dogs reacting to the heat.
I made police catch my best friend's killer - 25 years later
By BBC Stories
By 2004, 20 years after Angie was murdered, we had moved to Tennessee and I had two sons. One evening I was doing Bible study homework. I dreaded doing it. Whoever designed it did not design it for someone who's dyslexic - small print, close together, very tight - it's torture for me to read. So I was reading and then I remember looking to the right and there was Angie. I thought, "Am I dreaming? Am I asleep? What is it?"
There was no talking; it was just her and her great smile. I don't know if I believe in ghosts, but I have a lot of faith and I believe that there are messages, and at that moment I thought, "It's time." I leaned over to my nightstand and picked up the phone and called the Dallas Police Department, just like that.
What the papers say
Boris Johnson's absence from the Commons Heathrow vote "provoked derision" in the chamber, the Times reports. Metro's headline is "Bo Jo's no show for Heathrow", while the i's is "Johnson takes flak on runway dodge". Meanwhile, the Daily Telegraph quotes Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss complaining of "demands for unsustainable budget increases" by some cabinet colleagues. And the Daily Mail says fake and real UK passports have been sold on Facebook for as little as £800.
Daily digest
Petroleum jelly Slathering minor cuts, scrapes and burns might be a bad idea, scientists say
Boost for narcissists Obsessive attention seekers "often do better than rivals"
Reproductive worries Women rank concerns over periods, the menopause, STIs and infertility
Migrant families US temporarily stops prosecutions of people who illegally enter the country with children
If you see one thing today
If you listen to one thing today
If you read one thing today
Lookahead
Today The Duke of Cambridge is in Israel, as his tour of the Middle East continues.
11:00 Bee Gees singer-songwriter Barry Gibb receives his knighthood for services to music and charity.
On this day
1959 The Queen and US President Dwight D Eisenhower inaugurate the 2,300-mile (3,700km) St Lawrence Seaway in Canada, linking the Atlantic with the Great Lakes of North America.
From elsewhere
How the humanitarian crisis on the Mexico border could worsen (New Yorker), external
I delivered packages for Amazon and it was a nightmare (The Atlantic), external
Children today 'have more willpower than those in the 1960s' (Daily Mail), external
The comedian who paved the way for Alan Partridge (Independent), external