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No 10 'tried to limit Johnson's access to secrets'

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When Conservative Party leadership candidate Boris Johnson became foreign secretary in 2016, he took on responsibility for the UK's Secret Intelligence Service - better known as MI6. But it's now emerged that Downing Street attempted to limit some of the secrets that he could see - a decision which made him "very unhappy". Those in the know say the move came about partly because of "control-freakery" in Number 10, nervousness over Mr Johnson's lack of discipline, and hostility between him and Theresa May. But it apparently caused some disquiet in MI6's ranks, because it's the foreign secretary who is accountable for the service and signs off on its sensitive operations.

Downing Street says it won't comment on intelligence matters, while sources say the former foreign secretary could "see what he needed to see".

China 'systematically removing Muslim children'

The BBC has discovered that the Chinese government has embarked on a large-scale project to separate Muslim children from their families. According to publicly available documents, and testimony from people who have left China to live in Turkey, the state has been building boarding schools in Xinjiang region where children are taken for "centralised care". This comes at the same time as hundreds of thousands of adults from the region's predominantly-Muslim Uighur ethnic group are being detained in giant camps, While the authorities say this is necessary to tackle religious extremism, there is evidence to suggest some are being detained simply for expressing their faith. You can read more about China's Muslim crackdown here, and there's also a long read on Xinjiang's hidden camps.

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'Rewiring' surgery partially reverses paralysis

Doctors in Australia have been able to restore some movement to the arms and hands of people suffering from paralysis, by "rewiring" some of their nerves. The patients in the trial all had quadriplegia, but were still able to move some muscles in their upper arms. By taking the working nerves and "rewiring" their function - called nerve transfer surgery - people have regained the ability to feed themselves, put on make-up, turn a key, handle money and type at a computer. Doctors say they're not going to be able to restore full hand movement - no-one's going to become a concert pianist, as one puts it - but the procedure will help patients regain extra quality of life.

Why are menstruating women removing their wombs?

By Geeta Pandey, BBC News, Delhi

Two pieces of very disturbing news involving working women and menstruation have emerged in India in recent months.

Periods have long been a taboo in the country: menstruating women are believed to be impure and are still excluded from social and religious events. In recent years, these archaic ideas have been increasingly challenged, especially by urban, educated women.

But two incidents show that India's very problematic relationship with menstruation continues. A vast majority of women, especially those from poor families, with no agency and no education, are forced to makes choices that have long-term and irreversible impacts on their health and their lives.

Read the full article

What the papers say

Another day, another mixed batch of headlines for the Conservative Party leadership contenders. But the ongoing contest to replace Theresa May is just one of a number of stories on the front pages. The Times reports the concerns of former Metropolitan Police chiefs who say, in a letter to the paper, that Britain has "descended into lawlessness" due to the "emasculation" of officers. The Daily Mail leads on criminals using a disused police station to grow £1.5m-worth of cannabis. The i and the FT say Iran and the UK are embroiled in a diplomatic row after Royal Marines seized an oil tanker which was suspected of taking supplies to Syria in breach of EU sanctions. And the Daily Star says it found MoD secrets dumped in a London bin. Take a look at the front and inside pages in our paper review.

Daily digest

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Lookahead

12:00 Parents and children due to gather in Parliament Square to protest against schools being forced to close early due to funding cuts.

Today Two hustings to be held where Conservative Party members can question the contenders for the leadership.

On this day

1954 The BBC broadcasts its first daily television news programme.

From elsewhere

How an alien-hunting Russian billionaire is helping crack one of the Universe's biggest mysteries (Wired)

The forgotten joy of soap (The Spectator)

The supernatural appeal of Stranger Things (The Economist)

The time paradox: How your brain creates the fourth dimension (New Scientist)