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More delays for travellers despite temperatures easing

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If you've been wilting in the heat all week, the good news is that temperatures will range from a mere 23C to 25C (73F to 77F) in most areas on Friday. The bad news is transport companies are warning passengers to expect further delays. Sagging overhead cables prompted East Midlands Trains to advise people against travel in and out of London St Pancras, with Thameslink services also disrupted. And there are warnings of disruption for much of the morning from Greater Anglia, Stansted Express and East Coast Main Line operators, as well as on all routes in Birmingham.

Network Rail, which maintains the UK's railway infrastructure, apologised to passengers facing "uncomfortable conditions" on Thursday. Some complained of feeling trapped in "baking" carriages. However, speed restrictions in some areas did at least alleviate fears of the track buckling. Meanwhile, if thunderstorms provided relief to some, they ruined the travel plans of others. British Airways says they caused "significant delays and cancellations" at London airports overnight. If you're wondering why the UK always struggles to deal with hot weather, read our analysis.

Arsenal stars 'chase off' armed carjackers

Arsenal footballer Sead Kolasinac has been captured on film performing some heroic defending, though the footage doing the rounds on social media doesn't show him on the pitch at the Emirates Stadium. The left-back is seen fighting off armed attackers who attempted to steal a car from him and team-mate Mesut Ozil. Arsenal say neither player was hurt in Thursday's incident in Golders Green, north London, involving two knife-wielding men who arrived on motorbikes.

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Gamers compete to become millionaires

A world cup is getting under way at Flushing Meadows with a $30m (£24m) prize pot and $3m promised to the winner. But it's not tennis being played at the home of the US Open, it's online survival game Fortnite. Among the 100 finalists - mostly teenage boys - who qualified ahead of 40 million others are 11 Britons. Benjy Fish, 15, from Surrey, says he's practiced eight hours a day for five months and will buy a house for his family if he wins. "I've only ever played in my bedroom," he says, ahead of being watched by tens of thousands in New York's Arthur Ashe Stadium. Fortnite, in case you're perplexed, is the game Prince Harry dubbed "created to addict" and suggested should be banned. Our explainer runs through the concerns surrounding the game.

How did straws become a Trump culture war?

By Lauren Turner, BBC News, Washington

Ever given much thought to how you consume a cold drink? Well now, your chosen method could be seen as a political statement. Thousands of Trump-branded plastic straws have been sold on the US president's official campaign website - at $15 for 10 - since they were launched as an alternative to "liberal" paper straws.

The bright red straws, laser-engraved with the word Trump, are being marketed as reusable and recyclable, with the message: "Liberal paper straws don't work. Stand with President Trump and buy your recyclable straws today." Now environmental groups are saying most plastic straws can't actually be recycled... and that the material they're made of has no practicable use.

Read the full story

What the papers say

The UK is at "meltdown" - or at least "boiling point", depending on your paper of choice - in both its ability to deal with the heatwave and its relations with Brussels. And while the Sun contrives a "Johnsun" headline based on the prime minister's promise of a "new golden age" for Britain, the Times says Boris Johnson's attempts to secure the support of Tory Eurosceptics suffered a serious blow with Steve Baker's refusal to take a job in the Brexit department on the basis it would leave him "powerless". Read the full review for more detail.

Daily digest

Death row Criticism as US government orders first federal executions since 2003

Boris Johnson Recruitment of 20,000 police officers to begin 'within weeks'

US murder Ex-Oxford University employee pleads guilty

Weekly quiz How closely have you been following the news?

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Lookahead

07:00 Sports Direct to release full-year preliminary results after delaying the announcement from 15 July, blaming "complexities of integration into the company of House of Fraser" and "increased regulatory scrutiny of auditors".

Today Carl Beech to be sentenced for 12 counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of fraud in relation to false allegations of abuse and murder by a supposed "VIP ring" of MPs, military and intelligence officials.

On this day

1945 Clement Attlee is elected Britain's new prime minister as Labour sweeps into power.

From elsewhere

Social media companies are outsourcing their dirty work to the Philippines. A generation of workers is paying the price (Washington Post)

'The rot starts from the top': Russians protest over problems big and small (NPR)

Why Carrie Symonds will give the shallow British public exactly what they want (Telegraph)

Where's the advice for men on how to propose? (Guardian)