Missing a few days of school should not add up to a fine
Letters: Readers respond to an article by Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett in which she argues that Labour should abolish fines for parents taking their children on holiday during term time
Corrections and clarifications
Kick It Out | M&S Oxford Street
England’s climate is changing and our planting must change with it
Letter: We are trying to keep a pre‑industrial flora alive in a post‑industrial climate, writes Richard Eltringham
Toast the cat survives Utah apartment fire by sheltering in closet for three days
Feline escaped his namesake fate when blaze ripped through building and displaced more than 40 families
If English devolution is to be a success, it must be done right
Letters: Responding to an editorial, Scott Hunter writes that the benefits of being a devolved authority have not yet arrived in Tees Valley, while John Hall calls for constitutional reform. Plus letters from Richard Dowling and Miland Joshi
‘Our new champion’: Philippines swept up in tennis fever after Alex Eala’s historic win
WTA event win earns 21-year-old a presidential reception in the Philippines as interest in tennis surges in home country
Thar she blows! Hull Maritime Museum resurfaces with a walk-in whale and a ‘monkey mermaid’
The £20m reboot shows off exhibits ranging from a giant whale skeleton to tiny ‘scrimshaws’ of carved bone to a very strange mermaid, all telling a gripping tale of a great seafaring city
As the lights go out, Cuba’s true believers vow to resist US intervention
Proud and defiant in the rolling blackouts, thousands come together to mark the 1953 raid seen as the first step to Fidel Castro taking power
Why waste your time on social media when you could be flicking through picture books?
From histories of opera to compendiums of mosses, they’re beautiful, expertly written and don’t leave you feeling grubby, writes Joel Snape. What’s not to like?
This is your in-flight comedian speaking
Brief letters: Jimmy Cricket | Creative science | Clacton vote | Humanists and humanity | Short showers
Family pay tribute to girl, nine, who died on camping trip in Scotland as man is charged
Minnie Merriman was found injured on industrial estate in Arbroath on Monday and a man has appeared in court
Italy to place all 27 of its major cities on highest heat alert
Move comes as fourth heatwave of summer intensifies, edging temperatures in some areas close to 40C
I’m Every Woman: The Chaka Khan Musical review – Queen of Funk’s jukebox epic lacks the X factor
Alexandra Burke is valiant in the leading role but the superstar’s story is squandered in this sprawling and uneven show
‘Prisoners killed each other’s kittens. So now they’re forbidden inside’: Vladimir Karamazov’s best photograph
‘The men in this jail in Bulgaria used to adopt these stray kittens. But pets can be a problem. They get killed as punishment or for revenge’
Mexico’s top university orders 58,000 students to resit entrance exam after suspected cheating
National Autonomous University of Mexico says applicants must take test in person after online debacle
Hundreds in Morocco gather near Ceuta border in anxious wait for missing loved ones
People hope to see friends or relatives among those still returning as death toll from mass crossing nears 100