People in Thornton-Cleveleys want answers on the impact of widespread contamination around the chemical plant

“Everything I wanted was finally coming to fruition. A house, a change of job and getting married,” says Liz Hurst, looking out to sea on a hot evening in Blackpool.

“But then all of a sudden, everything was put on hold.” Fifteen years ago, Hurst was diagnosed with kidney cancer aged 32.

Jayèma on working with England stars, a new look for Raphinha and forging a friendship with Lamine Yamal’s family

Jayèma has had a World Cup like no other. Who else but the London hair stylist has worked with footballers from England, Brazil, the United States and Canada, and hung out with Lamine Yamal and his family, while having no idea who Lionel Messi is until recently?

Who else but Jayèma has been to her first game of men’s football and left before the end of a tumultuous match between Mexico and England at the Azteca Stadium because the atmosphere was too “rowdy”? Who else has made so many footballers feel especially good about their hair and themselves, but the hardest-working stylist and male groomer in elite sport?

The five of us were supposed to leave for Cornwall at 9am. But it was noon before we set off and past midnight when we arrived. No wonder two of the family left the next morning

It was a last-minute May half-term break. We knew the cottage, lent to us by a relative, would be a squeeze for my husband, three teenage daughters and me. “But hey,” I told my unconvinced gang, “it’s near the beach – we’ll hardly be inside anyway.”

One daughter had a party the night before; she promised to be home by midnight, and we agreed we would begin the six-hour drive at 9am. Said daughter arrived back as I was making my morning tea. She was still drunk, and she had lost her phone.

Six months on from the bloody crackdown on anti-regime protesters, families remembering loved ones at their graves at Behesht-e Zahra in Tehran tell their stories

Family members gather to mourn Sepehr, who was 25 when he was killed in the January protests

A woman at Behesht-e Zahra prays for those killed in January’s protests

Maxxing trends – going all in on a particular trait, habit, quality or pastime – tend to burn brightly and briefly. But how many of the following are real?

It started more than a decade ago with looksmaxxing, a disturbing manosphere-based strategy for optimising personal appearance through diet, exercise, surgery or smashing your jawbone. Back then, “maxxing” carried with it an unwholesome sense of overkill for its own sake. Even that extra X – maxing out the word in a way that served no orthographic purpose – seemed to be a symptom.

Over time the -maxxing suffix has come to mean going all in on a particular trait, habit, quality or pastime, generally in a manner that misses the point. Booksmaxxing, for example, seems to be less about reading, and more about coming across as optimally bookish in your dating profile. Sleepmaxxing is about getting as much sleep as you can, rather than as much as you need.

Are the disappearances or deaths of 11 US scientists really linked in a nefarious plot? Or just a conspiracy theory with roots in a bizarre broadcast that rocked Britain in the 1970s?

In the last few years, 11 people allegedly tied to top secret US research have died or mysteriously disappeared, sparking a conspiracy that a clandestine operation is silencing those who know too much.

As Phil Tinline explains to Nosheen Iqbal, what began as a series of unrelated tragedies has morphed into a mainstream obsession and even triggered a federal investigation.

The negative perception of the party and its leader has grown, according to a polling expert

Immigration policy (see 9.24am) is just one area where Andy Burnham faces an acute challenge when he becomes PM. Here are some of the other stories around this morning about Burnham and what he might do when he takes power.

Jim Pickard, George Parker and Jennifer Williams in the Financial Times say Burnham is considering having a deputy PM based in Manchester running his No 10 North. The deputy Labour leader, Lucy Powell, is well placed to get this job, they report.

Burnham is expected to spend several days a month in Number 10 North. Caroline Simpson, chief executive of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority, has been lined up to run the new office.

But the transition team has also raised the idea that the new unit could be given political direction by the next deputy prime minister, who would be based in Manchester, according to people close to the situation.

John Bew, a former No 10 foreign policy adviser, has told the Times that Burnham could face an international crisis within weeks of taking office. Bew said:

I’d say there’s a high likelihood of a series of quite challenging contingencies happening.

One is a horizontal or vertical escalation from Putin over the course of this summer and beyond because the war [in Ukraine] is not going well for him.

Some ministers are lobbying Burnham to keep their jobs. In their London Playbook briefing for Politico, Sam Francis and Megan McElroy have a good summary.

Cabinet auditions continue across Westminster. Business Secretary Peter Kyle was at least direct about it, telling the Guardian’s Richard Partington that “I want to stay, I’ll just stay where I am.” He also declared Britain needs “Manchesterism.” In another not-very-subtle intervention, David Miliband used his foreign policy speech last night to restate his support for electoral reform (he previously backed the Alternative Vote at the 2011 referendum, while still an MP) and back a Burnham-style transfer of power out of Westminster (the Arguably substack has the full script). Just before Miliband spoke, Yvette Cooper revealed to Chatham House that she had spoken to Andy Burnham before heading to NATO — meaning she’s already giving him foreign affairs advice.

Potential candidates will … have four days, from Tuesday 14 July to Friday 17 July at 4pm, to submit their nominations.

Residents not already on the electoral register have until 28 July to apply to vote in time for the byelection, and until 5pm the following day (29 July) to apply for a postal or postal proxy vote.

At least four Britons believed to be among those who died attempting to flee blaze in heatwave-struck Almería region

At least 11 people have been killed and 19 are unaccounted for after a fast-moving wildfire broke out in south-east Spain as the country endures its second heatwave of the summer.

The regional government of Andalucía said the victims, four of whom are believed to be British, had died while trying to flee the flames near the village of Bédar in the Los Gallardos municipality of Almería.

Chloe Moffat, 26, killed herself day after meeting about anonymous complaint in which she was not allowed to bring a colleague

The mother of a young woman who took her own life after facing disciplinary proceedings at the Treasury has called on the government department to change its practices.

Chloe Moffat, 26, had worked at the Treasury as a personal assistant for almost three years. She “loved her job” and had an “exemplary employment record”, the coroner at her inquest heard this week.

Exclusive: PM-in-waiting says party must ‘do better’ in approach to Middle East and he will put more pressure on Israel

• Analysis: Burnham’s apology marks ‘reset moment’ as Labour seeks to win back progressive voters
  

Andy Burnham has apologised for Labour’s initial response to Israel’s military action in Gaza, saying the party “didn’t get it right” and needs to “do better” under his leadership signalling a significant shift in the UK’s approach to the Middle East.

The prime minister-in-waiting told the Guardian he would put more pressure on the Israeli government, including through further sanctions on individuals and entities, as well as a potential ban on the trade of goods with illegal settlements.