If you want to get this briefing by email, sign up here

Image copyright Getty Images

Grenfell Tower fire: Fire brigade criticised

Fewer people would have died in the Grenfell Tower fire if London Fire Brigade had taken certain actions earlier - including asking residents to leave their flats - the author of a report says. Also, firefighters who attended had not had training on how best to deal with a cladding fire, Sir Martin Moore-Bick's inquiry finds.

But there is praise for the courage of the firefighters.

Seventy-two people died in the fire, on 14 June 2017. Sir Martin's 1,000-page report will be published on Wednesday, but the BBC has seen it in advance. Here are the details.

The BBC also looks at what happened on the night of the fire. And we remember the victims.

Johnson to make another December election bid

Boris Johnson failed to get his plans for a 12 December election through the Commons on Monday, but the prime minister will try again later, via a different parliamentary route. Under the rules, his motion required two-thirds of MPs to support it - unfeasible with Labour opposing it. So, instead, he will today submit a parliamentary bill, needing a simple majority of MPs' backing.

That means Mr Johnson will still have to get the SNP and the Liberal Democrats to side with him. It looks set to be another lively and interesting day in Parliament. BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg gives her take on things.

Meanwhile, the EU has granted a Brexit delay until 31 January (or earlier if Parliament backs the PM's deal with the EU before then). But is this the last such extension? BBC Europe editor Katya Adler gauges the mood.

Plus, see how your MP voted on Monday.

Get news from the BBC in your inbox, each weekday morning

California fires: Thousands of homes evacuated

A fast-moving wildfire that started on Monday has forced the evacuation of several thousand homes in Los Angeles. California's governor has declared a state of emergency, as power supplies are disrupted. Fires are also raging in northern California, with roads around Santa Rosa, north of San Francisco, filled with cars as people attempt to flee.

"If you are in an evacuation zone, don't screw around," tweeted former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, among those who have left their homes. "Get out."

Is climate change to blame for these and other recent fires? We look at the evidence.

Is it OK if someone wants to live for years on a bench?

By Tom de Castella

A large bulky object wrapped in a bright blue tarpaulin. It is sitting in the middle of the pavement. It could be an old piano, maintenance equipment, a delivery waiting to be unpacked. But then the tarpaulin starts to move, an arm appears and the cover is pulled back to reveal a man and a woman, swaddled in blankets sitting on a bench.

They have been living on this bench on a busy London street for more than four years. By day they sit there watching the world go by. At night they pull the cover over and sleep. The bench has become their home.

Read the full article

What the papers say

The newspapers deal in detail with the wrangling in Parliament over a possible December election. The Daily Mail promises a "dramatic final push" for one by the PM later today, while the Financial Times says this means Brexit deal discussions have been put "on ice". And the Times reports that a "squabble" over the exact date could thwart the entire plan. Elsewhere, the Daily Mirror leads on the "shame" of Labour MP Keith Vaz, who faces a possible Commons suspension after its standards body found "compelling evidence" he offered to pay for a class A drug and had paid-for sex in August 2016.

Daily digest

Shark attack Two British men injured at Queensland tourist spot

Brain illness Tick-borne encephalitis virus has reached UK

Trump impeachment Democrats plan first formal vote this week

Narcissists They may be unpleasant, but are they happy?

If you watch one thing today

Ibiza: One season too many?

If you listen to one thing today

The cult of King Tut

If you read one thing today

Image copyright Amanda Mancino-Williams

When reserving a train seat goes wrong

Sign up for a morning briefing direct to your phone

Lookahead

09:05 The UK team for the Invictus Games in The Hague, the Netherlands, next year, gather for the first time in London.

19:45 Haringey's FA Cup fourth qualifying round tie with Yeovil, abandoned earlier this month amid reports of racial abuse, is replayed.

On this day

1998 The report by South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission accuses leading political figures of human rights violations.

From elsewhere

How our brains remember things depends upon how we learn them (Oxford University)

Why we can't tell the truth about ageing (New Yorker)

Thirty years later: Where the Berlin Wall once stood (Daily Mail)

London's tiniest attractions (Daily Telegraph)