Senior policing figures warn that a backlash against anti-racism commitments could undo years of progress

Rupert Lowe’s new party has seen a huge surge in popularity, attracting support from extremists and billionaire Elon Musk, as it prepares to field a candidate in the Makerfield byelection

The Labour leadership hopeful criticised the US billionaire after his latest interference in UK politics, stoking tensions over a student’s murder

Why has Pope Leo written 42,000 words warning about the dangers of AI? Why is Britain at risk of ‘losing' a generation of young people? And what does the European heatwave have to do with the fairness of tennis?    Giles Whittell is joined by The Observer's John Simpson, Jessy Parker Humphreys and Erica Wagner as they battle it out and pitch the top stories of the day.    **We want to hear what you think! Email us at: newsmeeting@observer.co.uk  Follow us on Social Media:  @ObserverUK on X  @theobserveruk on Instagram and TikTok @theobserveruk.bsky.social‬ on bluesky    Host: Giles Whittell   Producer: Amalie Sortland   Executive Producer: Poppy Bullard   To find out more about The Observer:   Subscribe to TheObserver+ on Apple Podcasts for early access and ad-free content Head to our website observer.co.uk  Download the Observer app – for a listening experience curated by our journalists

The hotter weather has come at the right time for Britons holidaying at home due to rising costs, despite the amber weather warning and risk of wildfires

UK-based Veronica Otero alleges she saw colleagues on a prison boat guarded by Israeli soldiers emerge bloody and half-naked from shipping containers

Haroon Rashid has demanded a review of an investigation into Sheffield children’s hospital that upheld 307 complaints about his child’s care

Police were put under pressure as thousands jostled to hear Tommy Robinson and others protested over Gaza and Ukraine

Anti-racist group Hope Not Hate has warned a dozen of the party’s new councillors have allegedly been linked to Islamophobic, antisemitic and far-right social media posts

All sense of safety in the community has been shattered, say neighbourhood watch volunteers who bravely detained suspect after two men were stabbed

Former pupils of Elizabeth College allege that the school dismissed their allegations going back to the 1970s

Proxies for Iran or Hezbollah could be behind wave of fire bombings and foiled plots in London and across Europe

Daniel Kinahan, who represented Tyson Fury, was detained under a new extradition treaty between Ireland and the UAE

A teenager has been charged with the murder of Eghosa Ogbebor in Woolwich, as other suspect remains in custody

Bereaved decry ‘shocking’ lack of protection for the deceased as man pleads guilty to 67 charges related to burials

As the government finally agree on how to define anti-Muslim hatred, many Muslims continue to face abuse online

Campaigners’ hopes that stairwell wall had been saved for memorial are dashed after news that it has been destroyed

Government pauses ‘meaningless and cruel’ demolition after campaigners threatened judicial review

The death of the Soham killer will raise crucial questions over how inmates with nothing to lose are managed

Britain faces scarcity of cancer scientists, chefs and butchers as ministers say Shabana Mahmood has ‘lost the room’