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More pharmacies in England to prescribe medication from autumn

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More pharmacists in England will be able to prescribe medications as part of an effort to speed up care and ease pressure on GP surgeries and hospitals.

As part of the Pharmacy First scheme, pharmacists can currently prescribe medication for a sore throat, earache, sinusitis, shingles, impetigo, infected bites and urinary tract infections.

From the autumn, the new £340m investment will see five common ailments added to this list, although it is not yet clear what these will be.

However, National Pharmacy Association (NPA) has said the deal does not do enough to address rising business rates, employer costs and medicine prices.

The Pharmacy First scheme in England was first launched in 2024, and allows patients to see their pharmacist for advice, over-the-counter treatments and prescription-only medicines.

People can also visit the pharmacy for eye, ear, oral and dental care, as well as seek treatment for digestive problems.

According to the Department of Health and Social Care, more than 3.3 million consultations under the scheme were carried out between March 2025 and February 2026.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said the government is "making the most of our highly skilled pharmacists, while boosting access to services and giving patients more care right on their doorstep".

"Independent prescribing will play a major part in delivering this shift, easing pressures on GPs, cutting unnecessary red tape and helping patients get the right care closer to home," he said.

The NPA said that while the deal "points in the right direction", it did not address the "crippling" new costs hitting pharmacies.

"We remain concerned that it does very little to close the £2.5bn funding gap that the NHS itself identified a year ago," said NPA chairman Dr Olivier Picard, adding that the expanded scheme was "nowhere near ambitious enough to transform patient access to care, nor make full use of pharmacists' skills".

He went on: "We are also concerned that the current funding levels mean that many pharmacies will struggle to take this development forwards, risking its success. Pharmacies cannot sustain yet more loss-making work."

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Moment Blue Origin rocket explodes during test in Florida

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A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket exploded on a launch pad at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Thursday night.

The space technology company, which was founded in 2000 by Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, said there were no injuries from the incident.

"All personnel have been accounted for. We will provide updates as we learn more," Blue Origin said in a statement.

The explosion occurred during a "hotfire test", the company said, describing the incident as an "anomaly".

In a video message from Buckingham Palace, wildlife helps the King deliver a birthday card for Sir David Attenborough.

The forest where the Sumatran orangutans live has been split by a road.

Newly released video shows the moment the hatch of Artemis II's Orion capsule is unlocked to a joyful reunion with the four astronauts.

Steve Backshall spotted two of the UK's last surviving orcas which he described as one of his "greatest British wildlife moments".

France's Eiffel Tower and Barcelona's Sagrada Família Basilica were among the famous global landmarks that went dark for an hour on Saturday night.

The 98m tall Space Launch System (SLS) and Orion spacecraft made a four mile journey from their assembly building to Pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Tenerife hit by snow as Storm Therese batters Canary Islands

BBC science correspondent Pallab Ghosh explains what happens if an astronaut gets ill in space.

From meteor showers to supermoons, here are some of the sights that wowed stargazers this year.

The Met Office has issued yellow severe weather warnings for both wind and rain.

Baroness Kathy Willis talks about the importance of green and blue spaces in cities.

Studying samples from the ice sheet gives an environmental record of over a million years.

The animal rights activist has died aged 91, after a pioneering career studying chimps.

President Trump has suggested this week that wind power is the reason for rising energy bills in the UK. BBC Verify's Ben Chu takes a look at the data.

London Zoo in Regent's Park holds its annual animal weigh-in, with zookeepers weighing and measuring over 10,000 animals to monitor their health and wellbeing.

The astronomical event was captured on camera at North York Moors National Park on 13 August.

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Netanyahu says he has directed IDF to increase control of Gaza to 70%

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that he directed the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to increase control of Gaza to 70%.

Speaking at a conference on Thursday, he said: "We are currently squeezing Hamas; we now control 60% of the territory of the Strip – you know this. We were at 50, we moved to 60. My directive is to move to," he said before pausing as someone in the crowd said, "100".

"Let's go step by step. First of all, 70. Let's start with that. We're pressing them from all sides, we'll deal with the remnants."

The expansion in control by Israel would contradict the terms of the Donald Trump-led ceasefire Israel and Hamas agreed to in October 2025.

Netanyahu's statement comes as Israel continues strikes on Gaza despite the ceasefire, and as Israel and Hamas remain deadlocked in indirect, US-brokered talks to advance Trump's peace plan.

At least 738 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire came into effect in October, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable.

Netanyahu has made several public remarks confirming that the IDF controls more than 60% of the Strip, up from the 53% agreed in October. Under the ceasefire agreement, the IDF withdrew to a demarcation line, known as the "yellow line".

The next steps in the 20-point peace proposal would see Hamas disarm and Israeli troops withdraw, but indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian armed group have stalled.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that his country had "pledged to eliminate everyone who led the October 7 massacre" in 2023.

"We pledged that Hamas will not rule Gaza civilly or militarily," he said.

He also said that what he called the "plan for voluntary emigration from Gaza" would be implemented "at the proper time and in the proper manner".

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich have previously publicly defended what they describe as the "voluntary migration" of Palestinians from Gaza – which could amount to the forced displacement of civilians, a war crime – and resettling it with Jews.

This week has also seen several strikes in Gaza. At least 10 people, including five children, were killed in an Israeli strike on a building in Gaza City late on Wednesday, according to local hospitals.

The Israeli military has released a short statement saying it struck "two central Hamas terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip", without disclosing their identities.

The target of the attack appeared to have been Hamas battalion commander Imad Asleem, who was killed alongside his teenage daughter Israa.

The Gaza City attack came a day after the newly chosen head of the Hamas military wing, Mohammed Odeh, was killed along with his wife and two sons in an Israeli strike. One other woman was reportedly killed.

The Israeli military has also said a strike on a car in Khan Younis on Tuesday killed Ihab Khrizim, the head of a Hamas funds transfer network, and Mohammed al-Habash, a unit commander in Hamas's production headquarters who was said to have been involved in weapons manufacturing.

About 1,200 people were killed in the 2023 Hamas-led attack which triggered the Gaza war and 251 others were taken hostage.

Israel responded by launching a massive military campaign in Gaza, which reduced much of the Palestinian territory to ruins and left many of its 2.1 million residents displaced.

As of 12 May 2026, 72,742 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and 172,565 injured, according to its Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN considers reliable. Of those killed, at least 21,283 were children.

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The Papers: Burnham's 'blast at Blair' and 'Labour plans welfare shake-up'

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The Guardian says Labour is "poised for a fresh attempt at welfare reform", after Alan Milburn published his interim report on youth inactivity. The Financial Times says he's insisted that there's "appetite" within government for changing the benefits system. But the paper also highlights concerns from the Labour chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Debbie Abrahams. She warns that any changes could "potentially undermine youth employability by driving up child poverty or exacerbating underlying health conditions".

The Times leads on what it calls Andy Burnham's "riposte" to Sir Tony Blair – who has warned Labour against moving further to the left. The mayor of Greater Manchester, who is expected to challenge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer if he wins the Makerfield by-election, says "the fall in the living standards of millions" is a "gaping omission" in Sir Tony's analysis. A full list of the parties who have so far announced their candidates for the by-election can be found on the BBC News website.

Former Prime Minister David Cameron has criticised proposals to limit prostate cancer screening to only a few thousand men, according to the Daily Telegraph. Lord Cameron, who revealed last year he had been treated for the disease, has described the plan as a "a real step backwards". Another prostate cancer patient, the Soho House founder Nick Jones, tells the Daily Mail that the decision "feels mind-boggling". In the Daily Mirror, the executive director of Cancer Research UK acknowledges the move will upset many, but says the blood tests used to detect the disease are "not effective enough to support wider screening".

The Sun says Fifa is facing legal action from at least three US states over claims it has pushed up World Cup ticket prices by limiting supplies and switching categories. An investigation by the paper has also revealed some venues have sold fewer than half their seats, less than two weeks before the competition kicks off. The Sun says it approached Fifa for comment.

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