The British military is investing in an “unmanned force” concept to defend against Russia, based on the Ukrainian model that is making major inroads in the battle against Vladimir Putin’s army.
The Army will spend £500m on upgrading its drone fleet and operations as part of a defence package of up to £15bn over three years, due to be announced on Tuesday, which is heavy on the drones and Artificial Intelligence that are driving major changes in conflict around the world.
Funding of around £500m has also been announced for new commando forces, to be spent on all kinds of surface and underwater drones. Meanwhile, plans to build a new class of naval destroyer, codenamed the Type 83, have been ditched. Instead, the new plan opts for up to six hybrid amphibious assault ships – platforms to launch drones for land, air and sea combat, and to support attack and rescue helicopters.
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When could another heatwave hit the UK?
Some forecasts suggest temperatures could begin to climb again as we enter July. Here is everything you need to know about another upcoming heatwave.
Caption: People enjoy the weather in the sea and on in the beach in Brighton, on the south coast of England on June 25, 2026, during a heatwave. The UK recorded its hottest ever June temperature on June 24 with the mercury rising to 36.1C in southern England, breaking the previous record of 35.6C set in 1976. (Photo by CARLOS JASSO / AFP via Getty Images)
Photographer: CARLOS JASSO
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
What you need to know
Temperatures are set to remain in the mid 20s this week but conditions to get warmer at the weekend.
Some models show temperatures reaching the low to mid 30s in England and Wales next week.
This follows a record-breaking heatwave in June.
Lingwood, in Norfolk, recorded a value of 37.7°C last Friday.
LIFESTYLE
5 min read
What the experts say
Although a return to heatwave conditions is looking increasingly likely for some areas, the likelihood of such extreme high temperatures or high levels of humidity as last week is currently low.
Tony Wisson – Met Office Deputy Chief Forecaster
Photo: (PA Wire)
Watch more from The i Paper
The UK just experienced it’s hottest June day on record with temperatures topping 36°C in some parts of the country. And while Britain has experienced hotter weather before, like the heatwave in July 2022, something about this one has felt particularly grim-humidity. But why does this make a difference? You can read Clare Wilson’s full article on The i Paper’s website. #heatwave #ukheatwave
♬ original sound – The i Paper – The i Paper
The eight changes recommended to overhaul NHS maternity system
The Government has said it will appoint a national maternity commissioner to drive change after a report concluded families have suffered from repeated failures in NHS care.
(Photo: Yui Mok/PA Wire)
The background
The “rapid review” into maternity care, led by Baroness Valerie Amos, calls for urgent change to the way women and families are treated.
Lady Amos said families should have the right to an independent investigation of their care when things go wrong and they do not agree with the findings of internal NHS reviews.
Lady Amos’s report includes eight recommendations on how the maternity system can be redesigned.
Explained
4 min read
The eight recommendations
1The creation of a “statutory Maternity and Neonatal Commissioner”.
2For the system to “take action to listen to the voices of women, birthing people and families”.
3To improve the “quality, transparency, oversight and accountability of investigations”, including a “full explanation” for families when death or harm occurs.
4To create a “Modern Service Framework” to set out national standards for “responsive, safe and improved services”.
The eight recommendations
5To treat racism, discrimination and inequality as a “critical maternity safety issue”, starting work immediately.
6For the “Modern Service Framework” to include “streamlined, national oversight and leadership model”, to have clear accountability.
7To “improve culture and teamworking” across the board – including those on the ward, on trust boards and in the government department.
8To “deliver estates and digital systems that are fit for modern maternity and neonatal care”.
Government promises change
For too long women, babies and families have been failed by a system that didn’t listen. Their stories are heart-breaking and demand action.
Secretary of state for health james murray
Ministers have backtracked on a promise to boost council funding to offer early years health support to help parents bond with, and feed, infant children (Photo: Andrew Matthews/PA)
Donations to charity have increased dramatically
But staff say many people treat their shops like a tip.
Here they share the most useful donations they get, and the
ones that drive them mad.
A rail of clothes in a second hand vintage charity shop – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
People won’t buy the current donations
The quality of donations over the last year has diminished.
Claire Stockman, head of retail for St
Luke’s Hospice [pictured], says many donations include used items from fast fashion like Boohoo and Primark, which they cannot sell for more than £2, if at all.
What the workers see
60%
of what comes into St Luke’s Hospice is unsellable, Stockman says.
She adds its soiled, damaged beyond
repair or smelly.
Vinted
Harriet, a volunteer at Crisis in Dalston,
says people bring in clothes that are dirty and stained – things that they cannot sell
on Vinted.
She also sees dirty kitchenware and technology that no longer works.
It’s not all bad
Two young women shopping in a vintage charity shop – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Harriet says they still get their
fair share of designer items.
She’s seen a pair of Louboutins
sell for around £400.
People will buy high-end items
even if they’re a little worn.
First Person
6 min read
The best donations
There was a box donated after someone’s family had passed and in it were all these medals. I researched them and the whole collection ended up going for £2,340…
JANE THURNELL-READ, VOLUNTEER AT
THE OXFAM GENERAL SHOP IN EXETER
What is a good donation?
A young woman chooses clothes in a fashion store and reads the labels on things while shopping at the mall. A millennial shopaholic woman tries on clothes in a fashion boutique – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
A good donation is anything new with tags on, anything that hasn’t been opened, or higher quality items.
Items that have been well looked after are more likely to sell and generate a better price for charity too.
Harriet adds that knick-knacks and wine glasses are surprise hits in her branch.
The feeling of dread that the weekend is over is all too familiar.
Here, psychologists, career consultants and sleep experts give their best advice on how
to beat the gloom that the
work week is looming…
(Photo: Getty).
How to beat the Sunday scaries
Pave the way on Friday
Psychologist Maria-Teresa Daher-Cusack says to wrap up tasks and not to leave big or difficult things for Monday. And write a to-do list for the next week so you know what to expect when you return after the weekend.
Young man practicing meditation in nature at sunrise – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Working from home is being blamed by some councils for the rise in fraudulent ‘polygamous’ working (Photo: Moment RF/Getty)
Get outside early
Doctor Naheed Ali says getting out on a Sunday morning – not sleeping late – helps regulate the circadian rhythm that can become skewed over the weekend.
How to avoid Sunday scaries
On Sunday spend time away from technology to allow yourself a personal reset away from doom scrolling.
Relaxing with dog on sofa – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Rebrand your Sunday evenings from a daunting time to relaxing. Career consultant Victoria McLean goes out for dinner or reads something unrelated to work.
She also doesn’t check her inbox on a Sunday night as it can begin the dread.
How to beat the Sunday scaries
Sleep tourism in hotel. Exhausted woman sleeps sweetly in bed in the morning – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Sleep well
Put yourself in the best position to rest by avoiding large meals, screens and caffeine.
Structure your week
If possible don’t stack your Mondays with high-pressure tasks.
Caucasian mid adult patient writing a diary while recovering in the hospital ward – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Cheerful aged woman, senior intern waving, saying goodbye to her young colleagues while leaving office after first day at work – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Find the fun daily
Don’t just save joyful things for the weekend. On lunch breaks, try to do something you enjoy.
(Photo: Getty).
Sometimes, you
need to listen.
If the Sunday scaries are constant, listen to them. If every Sunday fills you with dread and nothing seems to quell it it’s worth asking if it’s the job, the culture or the career itself. No one should spend half their weekend bracing for impact… ” says Victoria McLean
The UK has one of the most stable electricity grids in the world.
But no country’s energy system is 100 per cent secure and large-scale blackouts, although rare, are possible.
Here’s how to prepare, and what could happen, if we do have a blackout.
The immediate effects
If the UK’s power went down tomorrow, these are the ways it is likely to impact you first.
You’d get stuck in lifts, wherever you are in the lift shaft.
Trains would be stopped as the signals depend on electricity.
Traffic lights would stop working on the roads – leading to congestion or crashes.
Contactless payments are likely to fail.
Your Wi-Fi at home would stop working and communication becomes difficult.
Fridges and freezers will turn off – unless you have a standalone generator – and food will spoil over time.
Hospitals and water treatment works have their own backup generators so will keep going until their supply runs out.
How transport would be affected
Caption: This photograph taken on April 29, 2026 shows people charging their electric vehicles at a charging station in Kathmandu. As global fuel markets reel from the Middle East war, motorists in Nepal are increasingly turning to electric vehicles, with high demand putting a strain on dealerships. (Photo by Prakash MATHEMA / AFP via Getty Images) / TO GO WITH ‘Nepal-Transport-Automobile-Energy’ FOCUS
Photographer: PRAKASH MATHEMA
Provider: AFP via Getty Images
Source: AFP
Copyright: AFP or licensors
For EV owners that are already on the road, Professor Keith Bell, who works in electricity planning, recommends that those with an EV with reasonable charge use it as a generator, like your own store of electricity.
In the case of the power system going down, petrol isn’t a totally safe option as queues at petrol stations could be huge and places are likely to run out of fuel.
The longer term effects
The longer the power takes to return the worse things are likely to get. In 2021 Storm Arwen physically damaged power lines across the UK.
Without nuclear to take the strain, that exposure to gas is costing us dear (Photo: Catherine Falls Commercial/Getty)
Caption: FILE PHOTO: A row of electricity pylons is seen near the Frodsham on shore wind farm in Frodsham, Britain, September 5, 2023. REUTERS/Phil Noble/File Photo
Photographer: Phil Noble
Provider: REUTERS
Source: REUTERS
During the 1977 New York blackout, which lasted 25 hours, there was civil unrest, resulting in widespread looting and arson, although intense heatwaves are thought to have exacerbated the situation.
Things to buy now to prepare
The Russian state-owned Sputnik news agency took over the BBC’s radio frequency in Lebanon (Photo: Getty)
Battery radio
To get updates during a power cut – a car radio can be used, but in severe weather it might be safer to stay inside.
Bottled water
A minimum of 2.5-3 litres of drinking water per person per day is recommended.
Caption: Plastic bottle with clean water on a blue background.
Photographer: SimpleImages
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
A Cuban rides his bike during a nation wide blackout in Havana on 21 March (Photo: Yamil Lage/AFP/Getty)
Wind-up torch
The Government recommends opting for torches over candles, for safety reasons.
How to prepare
A blackout is unlikely but we should make small changes.
If possible, don’t let your petrol tank run down to almost empty. Keep it over half full so you’re never caught short.
Always have a portable power bank, and spare batteries, to charge your phone and other essentials.
As card machines could fail, keep some cash at home.
To keep yourself distracted and entertained, keep board games and a pack of cards handy to play.
Eight easy ways to stop
your child spending summer glued to their devices
Not all screen time is bad
Using screens in a way that benefits your child’s development is key and balancing educational content and entertainment with offline activities ensures a well-rounded routine.
DR GUMMER
How to keep your kids off screens
Outdoor activities
For younger children, try scavenger hunts, garden games and nature walks. For older ones, hikes
and biking trips.
Create a schedule
Designated screen-free times helps children develop a routine that balances screen use with other activities.
Caption: Mid adult man with eyeglasses sitting on a comfortable sofa at home, thoughtfully writing notes in a small notebook while natural sunlight illuminates the room
Photographer: Milan Markovic
Provider: Getty Images
Source: E+
Family game nights
It’s an excellent way
to bond and develop critical thinking skills.
How to keep your kids off screens
Creative hobbies
Getting creative, through drawing, painting or model construction, enhances cognitive skills and offers an alternative to screens.
Social interaction
Arrange playdates or group activities with friends, or for older kids try an overnight camping trip in the garden.
How to keep your kids off screens
Lead by example
Showing that you value offline time encourages your children to do the same.
Have a reward
Implement a reward system where screen time is earned through positive behaviour.
Open conversations
Discuss the importance of balancing screen time with your children so they understand the reasons behind the rules.
Can following a particular diet
help prevent or delay dementia?
Some studies suggest so.
These are the eight brain-boosting foods registered dietitian Fareeha Jay
recommends people consume as part of a weekly diet…
Foods that can cut dementia risk
Caption: A detail of cracked egg falling into the pan as woman holds egg shells in both hands.
Photographer: SimpleImages
Provider: Getty Images
Source: Moment RF
Eggs
They contain several nutrients thought to support brain health, including choline, vitamin B12 and iodine.
Coffee
Caffeine can reduce inflammation and
slow the degeneration
of brain cells.
Barista hand making cappuccino Coffee with espresso machine in cafe – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Cooking fruit and vegetables (Photor: GMVozd/Getty Images/E+)
Broccoli
It’s packed with antioxidants and high in vitamin K, which is essentially for healthy brain cells.
Fibre is overlooked in dementia prevention
Caption: Cookie jar, tea, wine, nuts, books, lit candles and Christmas decorations on the table. Cozy Christmas hygge at home. Selective focus.
Photographer: Jelena990
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStockphoto
To increase fibre intake, include wholegrains, nuts, seeds, lentils, and legumes.
Fermented foods also support brain health by improving the gut microbiome.
LIFESTYLE
4 min read
Foods that can cut dementia risk
(Photo: Joff Lee/Getty Images)
Oily fish
Your brain uses Omega-3s to build brain and nerve cells – so a diet rich in them may slow age-related mental decline.
Walnuts
These improve heart health markers, which is linked to a lower risk of neurological disorders.
Health professionals are nuts about nuts – with good reason!
Supermarkets report increasing demand for blueberries (Photo: RHS/Guy Harrop)
Blueberries
They contain compounds which have been shown to improve blood flow to the brain, cognitive function, and memory.
The Mind diet
The diet aims to reduce dementia risk and the decline in brain health.
It was created in 2015 by Dr Martha Clare Morris and colleagues at Rush University Medical Centre and the Harvard Chan School of Public Health.
It encourages vegetables, berries, nuts, whole grains, olive oil, fish, beans, and poultry.
These foods contain nutrients that promote good brain health by reducing oxidative stress and inflammation.
The Midlife MOT is open to all and covers three key areas: work, wealth and well-being (Photo: Westend61/Getty)
Feeling insecure at work
in your 50s? You’re not alone
The final decades of work
There’s this assumption about being put out to pasture… but now that we’re living and working longer, we have to challenge myths around ageing and remember that over-50s are a crucial part of the workforce…
LYNDSEY SIMPSON, AUTHOR OF AGE REBELLION AND FOUNDER OF 55/REDEFINED
The current situation
By 2030, almost half of all employees in the UK workforce will be over 50.
36%
Now one in three workers are over 50.
Yet more than a third of those between 50 and 69 believe that their age puts them at a disadvantage when they apply for jobs.
37%
The Age Without Limits study from 2024 shows that 37 per cent of workers between 51 to 70 felt badly treated in work because of their age.
The things to do, says Simpson
More and more people are using AI for counselling (Photo: Oscar Wong/Getty/Moment RF)
Keep learning new skills
We need the same level of career planning in
our fifties as our twenties. It’s possible to reinvent yourself again.
Embrace technology
It’s nonsense that older people can’t pick up how to use new tech.
Caption: John?r Bildbyr? AB
+46 8 644 83 30
www.johner.se
info@johner.se
sales@johner.se
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Think about money
Do you need a pay rise? Could you trade some of that money you earn, to work a bit less, and do more things you enjoy?
The things not to do
Become full-time childcare
Grandparenting on the horizon? If you don’t want to do childcare, have the conversation early – even before a child becomes pregnant – that you plan to continue working and love your job.
Caption: Indoor image of thoughtful puzzled senior woman with gray hair in glasses looking at paycheck holding head in hand, upset with high rent charge, sitting at kitchen table in front of laptop
Photographer: shurkin_son
Provider: Getty Images
Source: iStockphoto
Grandparents and granddaughter gardening together – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Accept redundancy too quickly
It’s going to be so much harder to get back into work if you don’t have a plan before you take that leap.
The things not to do
Rush into retirement
Senior bed woman problem pain headache home elderly mature pain bedroom upset unhappy female caucasian adult relationship retirement old difficulty ache head sick migraine hangover sleep – stock photo. (Photo: Getty)
Everybody thinks early retirement is the dream but the reality can be different. There can be loneliness, lack of purpose and a sense of invisibility.
LIFESTYLE
5 min read
It represents a major sea change in the UK’s approach to military spending. Previous plans for an unmanned British force were nixed by the Treasury three years ago as being too expensive – and the UK has subsequently watched as Ukraine’s drones have devastated supply lines to a depth of 25 miles behind Russia’s front lines. Ukrainian forces have made the two main road routes across southern Ukraine beyond hazardous by targeting Russian trucks. Russian-occupied Crimea is all but stranded.
These attacks are being matched by the increase in the use of medium and long-range missiles against fuel dumps and factories in Russia itself.
This has led to fears that Putin may lash out and expand the war with hybrid activities – Latvia and Estonia are thought to be particularly vulnerable.
The UK, meanwhile, has been trialling its new Asgard AI-enabled targeting network system. It allows targets to be identified by a range of sensors, satellites drones and recce aircraft, and orders to be transmitted within seconds to “effectors” or “shooters” – anything from rocket artillery to howitzers, attack helicopters, drones, cruise missiles or bomber aircraft.
New funding will go into enhancing the system and moving it into full production. But money will also be spent on the new architecture of the fighting Army – depicted as the “20-40-40” plan by General Sir Roly Walker, its chief.
The 20 is the heavy equipment: tanks, artillery and carriers. The 40 is the new agile kit that turns the modern battle: aerial; drones, robot attack vehicles and carriers that are more dispensable and can be risked more easily. The remaining 40 is the mixed reserve and vital support forces.
An F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole fighter jet overflies RAF Lakenheath in April 2026 (Photo: Leon Neal/Getty Images)
The RAF is also expecting an uplift – notably a squadron of long-range F-35A Lightning II aircraft capable of dropping a tactical nuclear bomb, as well as more funding for the new Wedgetail EW early warning aircraft. It has three but wants five.
One item for the long term is guaranteed funding for the 6th generation combat aircraft, Tempest, which Britain shares with Italy and Japan. An extra £6bn is being earmarked for the next phase of development. The first prototype is due to fly next year, but more money is needed if it is to be ready by 2035.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Defence Secretary Dan Jarvis will announce the Defence Investment Plan later on Tuesday.
The critical boost has been welcomed by the Army and Navy, after some wrangling with the Treasury over the past ten days. It appears to be just in time and just enough, as they used to say in Japanese business management – more than the Armed Forces expected, but also less than they hoped for. They had been aiming for £18bn.
In many ways, the new plan has a touch of the quick and dirty about it. The services have got just about the minimum of what they wanted, but it is also clear the fight for defence funding is far from over.
Britain needs to present a fully funded plan for the modernisation and deployment of its forces when Nato heads of state meet in Ankara in just over a week. This will, in all probability, be Starmer’s last major appearance as Prime Minister on the international stage, though the funding has also been broadly agreed with Andy Burnham, his likely successor. It would have been embarrassing turning up with nothing yet agreed.
An Anafi Parrot quadcopter being launched from HMS Dagger by members of the Royal Navy’s Gibraltar Squadron (Photo: Lt Ryan Price/MoD)
In many ways, the new funding plan is a two- to three-year plan, rather than a ten-year plan. This is a good thing, with the speed in which warfare is changing in conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. The whole future of defence, including nuclear weaponry, is likely to get a thorough going over in next year’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
But it’s fair to say that British forces are looking at a revolution in how we meet the complex challenges we are seeing today. There is a move away from being “joint forces” that work together on occasion, but have a separate culture and command, to becoming an “integrated force” led by one strategic command.
After continuous wrangling over a funding plan which was supposed to be ready ten months ago, the new Defence Investment Plan is a notable development. It sets us up for the future, but plans will need continuous revision and upgrade. New threats and challenges are already here: quantum computing and new biological and chemical weaponry, to name but two.
Now one funding round is sorted, the next will already be under discussion in some quarters.
And what of future funding? The ever-reliable rumour mill of the barrack room and sergeants mess has come up with one extraordinary but unconfirmed rumour. “We think Dan Jarvis will be replaced,” one insider said. “Burnham would likely want to send him north again, so he’ll put Rachel Reeves in as defence secretary. She’s always been going on about defence accounts, so now she can sort them herself.”