Take five: A news summary for anxious times

Lost your appetite for rolling news? These are the headlines, good news stories and long reads you need to know about this week…

So, we now know who the candidates are to next lead Britain, but it’s safe to say they’ve made few of us feel more optimistic about life in a country now, quite literally, on fire. In fact, as the competition between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss continues, it’s mostly succeeding in turning more of us away from the news.

As ever then, this weekly summary aims to ensure you can cut through the noise without subjecting yourself to 24/7 negativity – particularly at a time when the stories most affecting marginalised communities are routinely bumped from the front page.

So, in a bid to ensure you can stay easily informed, today I bring you five news stories you need to know about from the last seven days, five good news stories to counter the negativity, and five columns, essays or long reads from across the internet which have got me thinking deeply this week.

Let’s go…

The headlines

1. Wildfires and transport chaos as Britain hit with record high temperatures