It’s easy to dismiss holiday novels as pulpy, but relaxing with a book you enjoy has huge health benefits. Here’s how to read yourself happy this summer

Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina is a masterpiece. It has never been out of print. Luminaries from William Faulkner to Jilly Cooper have remarked on its brilliance. It is usually within the top 10 of any list of the “100 books you simply must read before you die”. However, I would argue that it’s a singularly poor choice of a book to bring with you for 10 days on the beach in Tenerife. Especially in hardback.

I really tried. Every day, I’d read two or three pages before realising I’d read the same pages the day before, and it simply hadn’t stuck. I kept drifting off during the more complex descriptions of 19th-century property law. I simply couldn’t see what Anna saw in Vronsky; he seemed dreadful, just a slightly different kind of dreadful from her husband, Karenin. My arms ached, the sand seemed unusually gritty, and on day four, as children shrieked and splashed around me, their parents read Jack Reacher books while I failed to understand the significance of Levin scything his fields, I thought, ‘No more!’ My luggage allowance was about 20kg. Tolstoy had taken up more than a tenth of it, and 100% of my headspace. I couldn’t relax. I wasn’t enjoying myself. When I found a Sophie Kinsella novel in the hotel gift shop, I almost wept with relief. It didn’t matter that I’d already read The Undomestic Goddess – my aching brain craved comfort and joy, and it simply wasn’t finding it on Russian railway lines.

The welfare bill passed, but it was chaos. A party this dysfunctional and divided cannot escape the wrath of voters at the next election

The welfare bill has gone through, but what is on the minds of most Labour MPs and supporters is how did we get into this appalling mess over disability benefits? A key factor has been the immense lack of judgment of the party’s real decision-makers, the team in the leader’s office, fuelled by their overweening arrogance. The egos of the young men cloistering Keir Starmer have clearly been inflated by the multitude of articles written by sycophantic commentators desperate to secure access to the new regime.

However, the seeds of this debacle were sowed by the Treasury’s capture of the incoming government, enabling officials to bring back the same old austerity agenda of benefit cuts that they developed for George Osborne.

John McDonnell is the independent MP for Hayes and Harlington. He was shadow chancellor for Labour from 2015 to 2020

London Palladium
Zegler excels as Eva Perón and the crowds outside are used to capture the hypnotic appeal of populism but the narrative takes a backseat in his staging of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical

Director Jamie Lloyd has outraged some theatregoers, who evidently feel short-changed after paying good money to see Rachel Zegler as Eva Perón. In one scene, she wanders off stage and on to an outward-facing balcony to sing a magnetic reprise of Don’t Cry for Me Argentina to the gathered crowd outside the theatre.

What are these grumps complaining about? Not long ago, Lloyd staged Romeo and Juliet in the West End, but here is a balcony scene like no other. It makes for a sensational moment, when Perón triumphantly addresses the crowd on her husband Juan’s election victory. It is 360-degree theatre, for the rich inside (who see it on a video feed) and for the “hoi polloi” outside – very fitting for Perón given her disdain for the wealthy.

An adaptable and satisfying bean and tomato feast, a moreish frittata packed with herbs and veg, and a Palestinian take on egg and chips

What better way to welcome the weekend than with the smell and sound of herb-loaded ijeh frying? This is a thick, delicious frittata-like mixture of courgettes, leeks, peas, herbs and eggs, and in Palestine it’s often made with finely chopped onions, too. I always keep a couple of tins of ful (fava beans) in my pantry for those times when I crave a quick and satisfying late breakfast or weekend lunch. When simple toast and butter won’t do the trick and I’m in need of something more substantial and savoury, that’s when fava beans come to the rescue.

One of the consequences of Israel’s 12-day conflict with Iran was a drop-off in attention paid to the war in Gaza, where a terrible humanitarian situation deteriorated even further. This is a timeline of what happened

In the weeks leading up to Israel’s war with Iran, which it launched on 13 June, there had been little let-up in its offensive in Gaza. A tenuous ceasefire had broken down in March, and a wave of airstrikes followed, as well as an 11-week blockade on all aid. Though some humanitarian assistance was allowed in from late May, military action intensified at the same time.

Growing numbers of desperate Palestinians were being killed as they sought scarce food either from looted aid convoys or from distribution hubs set up by the new, secretive Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a group backed by Israel and the US as an alternative to the existing, much more comprehensive UN-led system. Rolling IDF “evacuation orders” covered much of the territory.

Calling the interviewees in this documentary survivors suggests their ordeals are over – but due to paltry laws and police reluctance, that is appallingly far from the case

Hello and welcome to part 86,747,398,464 of the continuing cataloguing via television documentary of the apparently infinite series Ways in Which Largely Men Terrorise Largely Women and Prevent Countless Millions of Them from Living Their Lives in Freedom and Contentment. This one comprises two episodes and is entitled To Catch a Stalker.

It comes from the corporation’s most youth-oriented arm, BBC Three, which mandates a telegenic presenter better versed in sympathy with the programme’s interviewees than interrogation of wider issues, and who has usually come up through the ranks of reality TV rather than journalism. Here, it’s Zara McDermott (Love Island, Made in Chelsea, The X Factor: Celebrity), who previously fronted entries in the infinite series on “revenge porn”, rape culture and eating disorders.

US president says Qatar and Egypt will deliver ‘final proposal’ to Hamas, whom he urged to accept deal ‘because it will not get better’

• Israel-Gaza war: latest updates

Donald Trump has claimed that Israel is ready to agree to a peace deal with Hamas as he seeks to broker a ceasefire to the war in Gaza that has claimed almost 60,000 lives.

In a post on Truth Social, the US president wrote: “Israel has agreed to the necessary conditions to finalize the 60 Day CEASEFIRE, during which time we will work with all parties to end the War.”

Tumultuous 24 hours capped by last-minute climbdown on cuts to Pips could define rest of Starmer’s time as PM

• How did your MP vote on the welfare reforms?

Hours before MPs were due to vote on the government’s welfare bill, Angela Rayner conveyed an urgent message to Downing Street.

She had spent the day in intense talks with Labour rebels including Sarah Owen and Florence Eshalomi, and come to the conclusion the concessions offered just days earlier had failed. Dozens of them were still planning to vote against the government, and one of Keir Starmer’s major economic policies hung in the balance.

Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader releases video statement in run-up to 90th birthday celebrations

The Dalai Lama has said the centuries-old Tibetan Buddhist institution will continue after his death, ending years of speculation that started when he indicated that he might be the last person to hold the role.

Speaking at prayer celebrations ahead of his 90th birthday on Sunday, the Nobel peace prize-winning spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism said in a recorded statement that the next Dalai Lama should be found and recognised as per past Buddhist traditions.

Government wants to cut annual intake of non-UK doctors from 34% to under 10% as part of 10-year plan

Hospitals and GP practices in England will be told to slash the number of overseas-trained doctors and nurses they recruit under government plans for the NHS that will be published on Thursday.

Graduates of UK medical schools will be given priority as part of a drive to reduce the health service’s dependence on medics from abroad.