Parents have been speaking to Tara outside St Marks R C Primary School.
Police are responding to an incident in Salford this afternoon with a primary school reportedly ‘in lockdown’ after a man entered the grounds with a brick.
A number of police vehicles are responding to the incident on Queensway in the Clifton area. According to our reporter on the scene, children can be seen leaving St Marks R C Primary School as parents wait outside to collect them.
A Greater Manchester Police spokesperson has said a man entered the school grounds with a brick. He has been taken to hospital, police say.
Click here to get the biggest stories straight to your inbox in our Daily Newsletter
They said: “Emergency services were called to reports of a concern for welfare on Queensway in Swinton at around 10am this morning (Friday 19 June).
“A man – who was potentially suffering a medical episode – entered the school grounds with a brick, causing alarm to school staff and pupils and damaging a window. Officers arrived on scene quickly and gained control of the man, who was taken by ambulance staff to hospital.
“No harm was caused to any of the school staff or the pupils, and the school has made the decision to close for the day and send children home.”
Follow our live blog below for the latest updates on this incident.
Parents have been speaking to Tara outside St Marks R C Primary School.
Police confirmed a window at St Marks R C Primary School was left damaged.
The man entered the school grounds with a brick.
Police said the man, who ‘was potentially suffering a medical episode’, was taken to hospital.
Officers ‘gained control of him’ and he was taken to hospital by ambulance staff.
Forensic officers are on the scene.
Police confirmed no children or staff were hurt in the incident.
The school has shut today and sent children home.
In a statement, a GMP spokesperson said:
“Emergency services were called to reports of a concern for welfare on Queensway in Swinton at around 10am this morning (Friday 19 June). A man – who was potentially suffering a medical episode – entered the school grounds with a brick, causing alarm to school staff and pupils and damaging a window. Officers arrived on scene quickly and gained control of the man, who was taken by ambulance staff to hospital. No harm was caused to any of the school staff or the pupils, and the school has made the decision to close for the day and send children home.”
Tara says there is a heavy police presence outside St Marks R C Primary School.
There’s something oddly dismissive about the way people divvy up New Zealand when planning a trip. If you have four weeks to do the whole thing, most people will probably tell you to spend three of them on the South Island and one week on the North Island — which is probably the right ratio, if you’re wanting to maximise your month and capitalise on all the things that make a trip to this magnificent country so unforgettable.
The problem with doing so is it leads to the assumption that the North Island is just an add-on: a one-week warm-up before the real deal. The North might be smaller and less dramatic in terms of scenery, but it’s far from a warm-up — it’s a full holiday in itself, and the best bits come when you stop trying to compare it and start seeing it as a destination in its own right.
There are tropical beaches, world-class wineries and landscapes straight out of Lord of the Rings (I’m talking about the Tongariro Crossing, one of most popular day hikes in the world). The weather is warmer and generally more reliable, it’s home to some of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and you’ll see more of the Māori culture there than in the South.
So if you do only have one week, here’s how to get the best from New Zealand’s North Island, from geothermal wonderlands to morning dips in crystal-blue lakes.

Auckland
Pexels
Many tourists land in Auckland, New Zealand’s busiest and largest international gateway, and head straight up the narrow Northland peninsula to the Bay of Islands. Friends recommend days spent kayaking, sailing and visiting vineyards up there, and it would have been a lovely slow, beachy way to kick-off our trip if we’d had more time.
Instead, we booked two nights in Auckland, picked up a hire car at the airport and drove straight to Mount Eden, a dormant volcanic cone just 4km from the city centre. It was a perfect way to kick-off our month in New Zealand, with panoramic views over the city and harbour laid out in front of us like a map. We stayed in Ponsonby, a gorgeous inner-city district in central Auckland, with cute, characterful homes on tree-lined avenues, and cool Asian restaurants mixed in with stylish boutiques.
Our first full day was spent on Waiheke Island, which is dotted with award-winning vineyards, million dollar homes and sheltered swimming bays. We had breakfast at Daily Bread, a cool hipster-like cafe close to the ferry terminal in the city centre, before catching the Fullers360 ferry and hopping on one of the island’s dozens of Hop On Hop Off buses. Don’t write the bus off just because it’s what all the hordes of tourists do — it’s not only the cheapest but the most fun way to see the island, with regular buses and plenty of fascinating commentary as you go (plus USB chargers for your phone).
Don’t bother packing a picnic – the island boasts endless food options, from bakeries and toastie shacks to high-end restaurants. Just grab a map, pick a few beaches and vineyards using the free guides, and plot a route that seems doable in a day (we picked two wineries so we could fit in some beach stops, but others tick off half a dozen in a day). Mudbrick is probably the most famous winery on the island; we finished there and enjoyed a glass of rosé looking back over the Auckland skyline. Heaven.

Cathedral Cove
Pexels
For much of the narrow, windy, drive from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula, we wondered if it would be worth it, especially as we sat in our third roadwork traffic jam of the morning. It absolutely was. If you haven’t heard of Cathedral Cove, it’s a giant natural rock-arch that reminded me of Durdle Door in Dorset and apparently reminded early European visitors of a cathedral.
We did what hundreds of tourists do every day and parked at Hahei Visitor Car Park and took the park-and-ride to Grange Road, before walking the 2.5km coastal track to the cove and dipping in the glorious crystal waters. The backdrop looked so tropical that friends asked if we were in Thailand or the Whitsundays when I put a couple of photos on Instagram.
Our only regret was not having all day to swim and sunbathe there, but we had a second famous beach to get to: Hot Water Beach, famous for hot water pools that emerge in the beach itself each tide. Park up in the car park, grab your spade (or rely on borrowing someone’s — bathing there is a bonding experience, you’ll struggle not to make friends) and follow the cries of “wow” and “ouch!” that will inevitably be coming from a crowd of half-dressed sandy bodies halfway down the beach. The reviews don’t exaggerate — the water is genuinely scolding in places, but pick the right pool and you’ve got your own natural hot tub. Brave it if you dare.
Our night on the peninsula was spent in Whitianga, a sleepy little town with a few bars, restaurants and a lovely waterfront. Our highlight was spotting a couple of orcas close to the shore as we ate our fish and chips in town, before racing back for a glorious orange sunset at our hillside Airbnb.

The ‘Champagne Pool’ at Wai o Topu
Pexels
Day four and another narrow, windy drive back through the lush green forests of the Coromandel Peninsula — this time heading south to Rotorua, the North Island’s so-called ‘bubbly city’ famous for its natural geysers and hot springs that burst out of the ground (and, unfortunately for locals, emit a rather unpleasant sulphuric smell).
We gave ourselves an early start to make it to Te Puia, a geothermal park on the edge of the city where visitors can experience Rotorua’s geothermal activity and Māori culture in a safe, accessible way. We signed up to the guided experience and saw some nocturnal Kiwi birds and a Māori cultural performance, before getting a customary snap in front of Te Puia’s geyser, which staff are proud to let erupt naturally as opposed to artificially, like other geothermal tourist spots in the region. Pack the sun cream: much of the tour is spent in the direct sunlight – and that’s before the temperature rises by several degrees as you approach the geysers themselves.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent getting even toastier at Rotorua’s Polynesian Spa, where we switched between alkaline and acidic pools ranging between 36 and 41C before being treated to a restorative mud massage right beside the city’s gorgeous turquoise lake. Book an Airbnb on the edge of the lake if you can — lakeside wake-ups and morning dips were one of our highlights of the trip.
Day five and it was another early start to see some geysers — this time for the 10.15am geyser show at Wai o Topu. This ‘geothermal wonderland’ is a short drive outside Rotorua, where staff do artificially induce the geyser, using a biodegradable surfactant (soap). It’s all over in minutes, after much more time spent battling hundreds of fellow tourists to get a place in the car park. But it’s an extraordinary sight, and for most people, their only chance to see a live steaming geyser close-up.
Hot tip: park at the main car park and walk to the geyser show, as the queues of cars to get out of the geyser car park after can be painful. Then walk back for a quick lap of the main part of Wai o Topu: its geothermal lakes including the famous Champagne Pool, whose orange rim and constantly bubbling surface are created by geothermal gases and mineral deposits. The colours are mesmerising, though like us you’ll probably want to make it a whistlestop tour simply because of the smell.

The Huka Falls Jet blasts along the Waikato River river to Taupō’s famous Huka Falls waterfall
Hukafalls Jet
Then on to Taupō, another lakeside city in the North Island and probably its most famous thanks to Lake Taupō being the largest lake in Australasia. It’s 12 times the size of Sydney Harbour, if you want a sense of its scale. A boat trip, therefore, is compulsory, ideally at sunset. We went with Ernest Kemp Cruises, whose cruise took us to see some Māori rock carvings at the side of the lake, but Chris Jolly Cruises and Sail Barbary’s tours come highly recommended too.
Other popular boating experiences in the area include the Huka Falls Jet, a fast and furious blast along the nearby Waikato River river to Taupō’s famous Huka Falls waterfall, featuring 360-degree spins and some deliberately close encounters with overhanging trees and rocks. Non-adrenaline junkies can also park nearby and visit the waterfall by foot. It’s an astonishing natural sight, particularly given the crystal clear waters cascading down the narrow gorge. If you’re lucky, you might spot a brave kayaker taking them on.
We stayed in another glorious Airbnb overlooking the lake before an early alarm for the most uncertain but exciting part of our North Island adventure: the Tongariro Crossing. The extent to which you must only do this hike in the right conditions cannot be over-emphasized (for guidance, check the Department of Conservation website), so our action-packed itinerary made this particularly risky given we only had one free day to do it (you very much need a full day including a very early start). Mercifully, we got lucky and had perfect conditions, with barely a cloud in the sky and views all the way to Mount Taranaki around 140km away on New Zealand’s west coast.
Friends’ summaries turned out to be spot-on, with a tough 20km of walking and scrambling but landscapes worthy of a lunar landing as your prize (one of the first peaks you see, Mount Ngauruhoe, was Mount Doom in Lord of the Rings). Pack your swimmers for a dip in the lake when you get back to Taupō after. And don’t be embarrassed to take walking poles — all the smartest (and happiest) hikers had them, and by the end we were practically skipping down the mountain compared to many of our fellow hikers as a result.

Wellington
Pexels
It’s a five-hour drive from Taupo to Wellington and some tourists choose to break up the drive with a walk in Tongariro National Park. For time purposes, we pressed on in favour of a fun afternoon wandering around Wellington: taking the cable car up the hill for views over the city, posing in front of the Solace in the Wind statue, and watching after-work rowers and run clubs on the harbour before an excellent dinner at Mr Go’s on Cuba Street.
The sun came out for our morning drive to the airport along the waterfront, with locals commuting into the city by bike and the outskirts of Wellington reminding us of a Devon fishing village. If we’d had more time, we’d have explored friends’ brewery recommendations (Garage Project and Parrotdog) and Zealandia wildlife sanctuary, but we had a flight to catch. It turns out leaving it until six weeks before your trip to book your ferry between the North and South Islands isn’t nearly organised enough — there wasn’t a single daytime or nighttime slot left all week.
Thankfully, Air New Zealand flights turned out to be cheaper than ferrying anyway, and the faff of having to switch hire cars and arrive in Nelson, not Picton, was made worth it with a shorter journey time and magnificent views over the islands off the top of Marlborough Sounds from the plane. If that was just the warm-up, we really must be in for the trip of a lifetime. Bring on the South.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has said an object that crashed into a field in eastern Poland in the early hours of Thursday was probably a Russian missile.
The unidentified object caused a 10m-wide (33ft) crater a short distance from the village of Tarnawa Kolonia, about 100km (62 miles) from the border with Ukraine during a Russian attack on the city of Lviv.
“All the indications are that it was a Russian Kh-101 ballistic missile, but we want to be 100% certain about the type of missile and who launched it,” Tusk said during a specially convened meeting in nearby Lublin.
Ukraine’s acting Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha said earlier on Thursday that a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile had “crossed into Poland as part of Russia’s massive strike against Ukraine, violating Nato airspace”.
Tusk said he was in contact with fellow European leaders before heading to the scene of Thursday’s incident. There were no reports of casualties in Thursday’s incident, he said, but it was being treated as serious.
A number of Russian drones and one unarmed Russian missile have landed in Poland since Russia’s full-scale war in Ukraine began in February 2022.
Two Polish farmers were killed by a missile that landed just over the border from Ukraine In November 2022, but that was believed to have been a Ukrainian air defence missile responding to a Russian attack.
Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said about 20 objects were seen close to Polish airspace overnight and pyrotechnical analysis was being carried out to determine the identity of the object that fell near Tarnawa Kolonia.
Poland’s military detected the object at about 03:40 on Thursday (01:40 GMT) and sent an F-16 fighter jet to intercept it before it disappeared minutes later from radar systems. A military helicopter was then sent to search the area.
Air raid sirens blared in Lublin and Krasnystaw further to the south-east because of the Russian airstrikes that killed eight people in neighbouring Ukraine. Residents in Tarnawa Kolonia reported hearing a loud bang at about 04:00 and police found the crash site about an hour later.
The Polish leader had met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Lublin the previous evening as Zelensky was returning from talks with US President Donald Trump.
Thousands of people including tourists were evacuated late on Wednesday as fires threatened a tourist resort on the Greek island of Crete and continued to rage on Thursday, fanned by violent winds.
‘We evacuated (some) 8,000 people’ from the resort village of Agia Galini, Maria Lioni, deputy governor of the Rethymno area, told state TV ERT.
The evacuations were decided as the fire, which broke out Wednesday and had earlier killed two firefighters, got to within a kilometre of the village before changing direction in the evening.
The fire is believed to have burned down homes, agricultural facilities and farm animals, but the toll is unclear as the fire is ongoing, Lioni said, calling it a ‘dark day.’
Two firefighters were trapped on a mountain road near the village of Krya Vrysi and died as the winds kept changing direction.
A third firefighter collapsed and died during efforts to put out a separate fire near Gytheio in the Peloponnese peninsula.
It comes as Europe is battling some of the worst wildfires in living memory across multiple popular holiday destinations including France, Spain and Turkey:
Flames and ember rise as a wildfire burns next to the village of Krya Vrysi on the island of Crete
A volunteer works to extinguish a fire in low-lying vegetation in Krya Vrysi, Rethymno, Crete
A volunteer uses a shovel as they battle a wildfire at Seydikemer district in Mugla, Turkey
This picture shows burnt-out cars and properties ravaged by a wildfire in the Encinar del Alberche residential area in Villa del Prado, south-west of Madrid
The Crete fire department had dedicated a force of over 200 firefighters and 53 fire engines in the Rethymno area in southwestern Crete, but winds of up to 102 kilometres (63 miles) an hour was preventing most aircraft from taking on seawater.
The fire front in Rethymno is over 15 kilometres long according to local civil protection official Giorgos Tsapakos.
But inhabited areas are ‘not under immediate threat’ as the fire is mainly burning forest and agricultural land, Tsapakos told Skai TV.
A coastguard spokesman said there were four patrol boats at Agia Galini ready to help with additional evacuations, including one from EU border agency Frontex.
‘But conditions are extremely difficult, there are (violent) wind shears,’ he said.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis paid tribute to the fallen firefighters on Wednesday.
‘Our thoughts are with them, as well as with all the firefighters, volunteers and members of the security forces who are battling the fire fronts, in the midst of a new harsh reality that they are called upon to face every year,’ the prime minister said.
Nearly 100 firefighters were separately tackling a fire near the village of Plomari on the island of Lesbos.
The civil protection ministry placed several areas on near-maximum fire alert for Thursday, including Crete, the greater Athens area, the eastern Peloponnese and most of the Aegean islands.
The National Observatory’s weather website meteo.gr said wind shears in the Rethymno area had been recorded at up to 125 kilometres per hour, and wind intensity was expected to remain high on Thursday.
Greece faces destructive wildfires almost every summer as prolonged drought, high temperatures and strong winds create ideal conditions for blazes to spread rapidly.
A wildfire broke out on Thursday morning in Germany’s Chiemgau Alps mountain range, near the village of Unterwossen.
200 members of the fire departments, mountain rescue, emergency medical services, and the police are on the scene tackling the blaze.
‘People are being asked to keep their windows and doors closed, turn off their ventilation and air conditioning systems, and avoid the area around the incident site,’ said a spokesperson for the district fire department association.
Meanwhile in Spain, 207,000 hectares (511,000 acres) of land have burned nationwide, among the largest areas in any January to July period on record according to the European Forest Fire Information System.
Emergency services have been working since last Thursday to put out a blaze in the Madrid region, and another in the nearby province of Avila, which officials said is the worst in Spain’s recent history.
The blazes forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of people, many of whom have now been allowed to return home.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday that efforts to extinguish a major wildfire near Madrid were progressing ‘favourably’ and the coming hours would be ‘decisive’.
Tourists prepare to be transferred on a bus from the town of Moires as a wildfire burns on the island of Crete
An aerial view shows firefighting teams continue aerial and ground operations to contain a forest fire that spread due to strong winds in the Alanya district of Antalya
A helicopter drops water to extinguish a fire in the mountain forest in the Chiemgau Alps, near the village of Unterwossen, Germany
A house and belongings destroyed by a wildfire are photographed as the fire continues to spread in Pelayos de la Presa, Madrid province
Smoke rises in a wooden area during a wildfire, south of Rethymno in the Greek island of Crete
Firefighters take a break after working to extinguish a fire in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France
‘Today I believe we are closer to that final objective’ of ‘defeating the fire’, Sanchez told reporters in televised comments at a command centre in the town of Navalcarnero near the fire zone.
‘Things are progressing favourably, with the greatest of caution,’ he added.
‘I believe the next 12 hours will be very important – they will be decisive for consolidating the work that has been done’ by firefighters.
A new wildfire broke out on Wednesday near Spain’s border with Portugal, forcing the evacuation of more than 600 people, emergency services said.
A total of 11 areas were evacuated, and residents of two others were ordered to shelter in place, the services said.
Authorities did not say the area burned in the fire in Fermosselle region, but several roads have been closed.
Spain’s Military Emergency Unit (UME) was deployed to the Level 2 fire – a classification that triggers extra support from the central government.
Two other Level 2 fires – at Val de la Loba and San Cipriano del Condado – are active in the same Zamora province, in the Castile and Leon region which has already been hit by the largest fire in Spanish history since record-keeping began.
In France, some 92,000 hectares have burned between January and July – the largest area ever documented in records that date back two decades.
The Gironde region reported a second calm night and said the massive fire west of France’s wine-making capital of Bordeaux remained stable despite a spike in temperatures on Wednesday as the fourth heatwave of the summer roasted the area.
‘If the night goes well, we can reasonably be more optimistic for tomorrow and the days to come,’ Sophie Brocas, a senior regional official, said.
In the southeastern region of Var, however, more than 600 people were forced to flee after a fresh fire erupted in the region nestled along France’s Mediterranean coast between the cities of Marseille and Nice.
The new fire erupted less than a day after another blaze in the Var was brought under control.
Another forest fire erupted in the eastern region of Burgundy near the city of Dijon, sweeping across 125 hectares but without causing any casualties or damage to homes, local officials said.
And Turkish firefighters on Wednesday battled wildfires near the country’s southern tourist beaches that have forced the evacuation of hundreds of people, authorities said.
Hundreds of firefighters went up against the biggest fire in Mugla province, with more than 20 planes and helicopters bombing water on the flames, the agriculture ministry said.
Media reports said the main highway from the tourist city of Antalya to the beach resort of Fethiye had been closed because of the smoke.
NTV television said that access to the ancient ruins at Olympos in Antalya province had been closed.
In Mugla province, the wildfire started on agricultural land and spread to a forest, the provincial governor’s office said. It added that 202 residents and some patients from a hospital had been evacuated.
Another major fire burned in the Balikesir region on the Aegean coast along the road connecting Izmir, the country’s third-largest city, to the Dardanelles region.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said late Wednesday that some 90 fires had broken out on Wednesday in the country, with 81 brought under control.
People walk on a beach as smoke rises from a wildfire burning next to the village of Plomari
A fire rages in the forest near Blagon, during wildfires in southwestern France
Tourists take shelter at the sports hall of the town of Moires as a wildfire burns on the island of Crete
Several wildfires are affecting the southern part of Brignoles and threatening the village of Camps-la-Source
A firefighter uses a waterhose as they operate to battle a wildfire at Seydikemer district in Mugla
Fire burns on the Greek island of Crete
More than 3,000 firefighters are working to contain the remaining fires, he said.
Turkey has sent two firefighting planes to Spain to help with its wildfires and two others to France, which has also been battling forest fires.
On Wednesday, nine villages were evacuated on the Greek holiday island of Paros.
Footage shared on social media shows bright orange flames rising above the mountains as dark clouds of smoke engulf the island.
Local media has reported that residents are fleeing to the beaches on the instructions of emergency services.
According to Greek news outlet ProtoThema, emergency crews have been battling the blaze non-stop since Tuesday afternoon.
The response team in Paros includes 66 firefighters, specialised forest firefighting units from Athens, five helicopters, and two water-bombing planes.
One resident who fled to the neighbouring island of Antiparos told Swiss outlet Blick: ‘This is turning into a real catastrophe! The fire spread further south with the wind in just three hours.’
Early on Wednesday, residents in Trypiti, Glyfa, Pyrgaki and Aspro Chorio were ordered to evacuate towards Dryos, after an earlier alert told people in Agkairia to flee to Aliki beach.
The orders followed Tuesday’s evacuations from Agios Charalambos, Kambi, Bougados, Aneratza and Kamari as the blaze continued to spread.
Deputy Mayor Haris Giourtzidis said authorities did not yet have ‘a clear picture of the extent of the damage’, adding: ‘So far, we know that two barns have burned down.’
He said strong, persistent winds were hampering firefighting efforts and revealed emergency crews had been forced to remove some residents from their homes after they refused to leave their animals behind.
Danny Welbeck is set for a medical at Chelsea, who have clinched another shock signing in the form of Jordan Henderson as they also get ready to announce the arrival of Maxence Lacroix. Liverpool are launching their first bid for Bradley Barcola, who wants to move to Anfield, while Manchester United remain in pursuit of a third midfielder as they target the likes of Aurelien Tchouameni, Eduardo Camavinga, Manu Kone and Carlos Baleba.
A person has been taken to hosptial after an early morning crash in Co Armagh.
Police are appealing for information following a single-vehicle collision in the Moy Road area just before 1am on July 30.
The road remains closed to traffic on Thursday morning.
A PSNI spokesperson said: “At approximately 12.40am, a report was received of a single-vehicle collision in the Moy Road area.
“Officers along with colleagues from other emergency services attended and one person was taken to hospital for treatment for their injuries.
“Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or with CCTV or other footage that could assist with enquiries, is asked to contact police on 101 quoting reference 47 30/07/26.
“The Moy Road between Drumcairn Road and Cabragh Road remains closed at this time.”
For all the latest news, visit the Belfast Live homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.
NATO scrambled warplanes during a huge Russian attack on Ukraine, as a missile landed in Poland creating a 33ft crater.
Polish police found the crater and scattered debris in a field near the village of Tarnawa-Kolonia in the Lublin province, following reports of an explosion.
The missile disappeared from army radars tracking it in domestic airspace during Russian strikes on Ukraine, authorities said on Thursday.
Poland scrambled fighter jets to secure its airspace after Russian air strikes killed at least 13 in neighbouring Ukraine, including one in Kyiv, the capital, in attacks that spread as far as the western city of Lviv.
‘An unidentified object moving westward was detected in Polish airspace,’ the operational command of the armed forces said on X, adding that it disappeared from radars soon after the sighting at 3.40am.
A Mi-24 helicopter that went to the object’s last location to verify and confirm the radar data pinpointed the likely crash site, it added.
Later, Prime Minister Donald Tusk confirmed the object was a missile, saying: ‘From the early morning hours, we have all been very strongly mobilised.
‘During Russia’s massive missile attack on Ukraine, a serious incident also occurred in Poland. A missile fell in the village of Tarnowa-Kolonia. Fortunately, there are no reports of casualties or damage.’
First responders operate at a residential building partially destroyed as a result of Russian missile strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on July 30, 2026, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine
Local residents react outside a residential building partially destroyed as a result of Russian missile strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on July 30
First responders escort a wounded local resident (C) outside a residential building partially destroyed as a result of Russian missile strikes in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on July 30
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said a Russian cruise missile had ‘crossed into Poland’ as part an attack on Ukraine, ‘violating NATO airspace’.
The missile, which Ukraine identified as a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile, landed around 1.2 miles from the nearest buildings.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow had launched more than 70 missiles and over 280 drones at the country overnight.
One person was killed and two more injured in the capital, emergency services said, with six more, including two children, killed in the regions of Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava.
In Zelensky’s hometown, the central city of Kryvyi Rih, two girls aged 5 and 12 were among six killed, with eight injured in what Oleksandr Vilkul, the city’s defence council head, said was a direct strike by a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile.
‘A dark night,’ Vilkul said on Telegram, adding that the missile, launched from Russia’s Voronezh region, struck the home of a large family, and warned the death toll could increase as emergency workers clear away rubble.
Earlier, Zelensky had warned a massive Russian attack was likely, saying the safety of Ukrainians depended on the willingness of allies to provide anti-missile defences.
‘It is important that our partners fully understand what is happening and that the protection of people’s lives depends directly on their willingness,’ Zelensky wrote on Telegram.
Russia’s defence ministry said on Thursday its forces struck what it called military facilities across Ukraine, in areas from the capital Kyiv to Lviv and Dnipropetrovsk, as well as three cargo ships.
The attacks come as Zelensky returns from the United States, where he said President Donald Trump agreed to give Ukraine licences for Patriot missiles.
A man reacts near an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine July 30
A woman reacts near an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Lviv, Ukraine July 30
Smoke rises as firefighters work to extinguish a fire at Wildberries logistics hub following a Ukrainian drone attack in the Ryazan region of Russia on July 29
A warehouse of Russian top online retailer Wildberries caught fire in the western city of Penza after Ukraine’s drone attack, regional governor Oleg Melnichenko said on Telegram.
One person was injured and about 200 people evacuated from the site, he added, just a day after the company, which has become a frequent target of Ukraine’s attacks, evacuated another facility in central Russia.
Another of its facilities, in Sarapul in Russia’s Udmurtia region, also caught fire after a drone attack, the company said separately on Thursday.
Its losses pile on the pain for ordinary Russians, some of whom have made online sales their main source of income, as Ukraine continues hitting energy facilities and refineries, deepening the fuel crisis in the world’s largest country by area.
Drone strikes have damaged nearly a dozen Wildberries warehouses recently, destroying about 10 per cent of storage capacity and inflicting losses on tens of thousands of small businesses using the platform, the company and local authorities say.
Russia’s biggest bank, Sberbank, has warned it may have to boost loan-loss provisions as attacks on Wildberries hit the finances of online retailers and their suppliers.
Russia downed a total of 258 drones overnight, its defence ministry said.
That figure covers Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Both Russia and Ukraine deny targeting civilians in the war following Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.
Glorious Goodwood and the Galway Festival are dominating horse racing betting sites this week as two of the biggest meetings of the summer run concurrently.
All the UK betting sites will cover these festivals in some way, but there is plenty that separates a genuinely good racing site from a general sportsbook that happens to offer racing odds.
The Standard’s betting experts have reviewed horse racing betting sites and assessed them on racing-specific features, such as best odds guaranteed, each-way terms, money-back specials, pool betting options, and welcome offer value.
It should be noted that the online horse racing bookmaker depends on how you bet on racing – each-way punters will prefer different things to ante-post specialists, for example.
|
Bookmaker |
Offer |
Details |
|
Tote |
Money back if 2nd in any race |
Get your stake back in free bets, up to £10, if your horse finishes second in any race at Goodwood or Galway. |
|
Betway |
Bet £20, get a £5 free bet |
Wager £20 or more on a Glorious Goodwood accumulator (4+ selection, minimum odds of 1/2) and get a £5 free bet. |
|
William Hill |
Bet and get a free racing bet |
Opt in and place a bet on any race at Goodwood at odds of evens or greater. William Hill will match your stake with a free racing bet. |
|
Coral |
Paid as a winner if 2nd |
Wager a maximum of £10 on any race at Goodwood and if your selection finishes 2nd by a head or less, Coral will pay out as if it’s won. |
|
Sky Bet |
Cash back on select races |
Get your stake back in cash if your horse finishes second or third in one race every day of Glorious Goodwood. |
|
Bookmaker |
Welcome offer |
Key feature |
|---|---|---|
|
Tote |
Bet £10, get £20 in free bets |
UK’s only pool betting operator |
|
BOYLE Sports |
Bet £10, get £40 in free bets |
Strong Irish horse racing markets and coverage |
|
Spreadex |
Bet £10, get £60 in free bets |
Spread betting operator with racing features |
|
Bet365 |
Bet £10, get £30 in free bets |
Early prices on UK & Irish racing |
|
Betfred |
Bet £10, get £50 in free bets |
Highest-value welcome offer on the market |
|
Paddy Power |
Bet £10, get £5 in free bets |
Extra place promotion |
|
Coral |
Bet £5, get £30 in free bets |
Coral Rewards loyalty programme |
The Standard’s betting experts have selected the best horse racing betting sites on racing-specific factors and promotions, including best odds guaranteed, each-way terms, money-back specials, festival coverage, and welcome offer structure for racing bettors.
|
UKGC license number |
54779 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.3/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.1/5 |
|
Standard score |
4.5/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
3-5 business days |
Tote is the UK’s only pool betting operator. Bettors’ stakes go into a shared pool and dividends are calculated after the event, meaning better potential returns on outsiders that fewer punters have backed than fixed-odds books.
You may not be familiar with how pool betting works – the dividend is variable, not fixed. That means the best returns come on big-field races when a well-fancied winner is beaten by an underdog.
While Tote don’t offer fixed odds on racing, they do offer a great range of racing offers, such as money back if your selection finishes second at major meetings and a free bets club where punters can secure £10 in Tote credit each week.
There’s also a Tote guarantee that means they’ll always pay the starting price on win bets. All of this can be accessed from the excellent Tote app, which ranks as one of the best betting apps in the country.
|
UKGC License |
39469 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.4/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.3/5 |
|
Standard score |
4.4/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
2-5 business days |
BOYLE Sports excels when it comes to racing offers and tools, with money back specials every day on a selected UK or Irish meeting. As an Irish-based bookmaker, they take pride in their Irish racing coverage, which is superior to many other racing bookmakers.
Regular racing acca bettors will find all the accumulator offers, while there’s also a free bet refund available if your horse fails to start a race.
The BOYLE Sports site isn’t always the easiest to navigate, with offers hidden away on pages and easily missed, but there’s plenty of information on those pages to help bettors make informed decisions when wagering on racing.
|
UKGC license number |
8835 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.7/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.5/5 |
|
Standard score |
4.2/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
2 hours (Visa Fast Funds only) |
Spreadex are one of a handful of UK spread betting sites, with racing spread betting an option. For those unaware, spread betting carries a greater level of risk than traditional betting, with bettors able to lose more than their original stake.
However, Spreadex does offer a fixed-odds sportsbook and a good selection of racing offers, helping it to rank as one of our top racing betting sites.
The current Spreadex welcome offer gives bettors the chance to claim £60 in free bets, while racing punters can benefit from money back if second to a 33/1 shot or bigger and an odds boost on Lucky 15/31/63 bets that finish with one winner.
Spreadex also have an excellent app, with both iOS and Android users scoring it highly, while they offer fast withdrawals when using selected methods.
|
UKGC license number |
55148 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.7/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.6/5 |
|
Standard score |
4.4/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
Instant (Apple Pay), 1-4 hours otherwise |
If bettors are looking for the earliest prices on a race, bet365 is usually the palce to go. They consistently get their markets priced up ahead of every other racing betting site and their odds tend to be competitive as well.
There’s plenty more to like about bet365, beyond being quick off the draw, including a welcome offer that features up to £30 in free bets, all of which can be wagered on horse racing.
Bet365 offer racing bet builders and will regularly run a winnings boost, up to 25 per cent, for those bet builders. The other unique racing feature is the Position Payout market, where punters can place a wager on a horse and the higher it finishes, the bigger the payout is.
During the big meeting, bettors can also look forward to a Super Boost, where bet365 take the price of a well-fancied horse and boost it way beyond the market average.
Best Odds Guaranteed, extra place races and live streaming are also available, either through the desktop or one of the best betting apps on the market.
|
UKGC license number |
39544 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.6/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.4/5 |
|
Standard score |
4.2/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
4-6 hours (debit card, instant bank transfer) |
Betfred have the highest-value welcome offer on the market with £50 worth of free bets available to new users. They are also one of the top racing bookmakers when it comes to offers for existing customers, with best odds guaranteed, extra place races and winnings boosts for various system bets.
Betfred also run a racing rewards scheme, where bettors earn points for placing bets that can be exchanged for tickets to meetings, including Cheltenham and Royal Ascot.
We also like Betfred for the speedy withdrawals across a variety of banking methods and the mobile-first design, which makes navigation and use on mobile devices a stress-free experience.
|
UKGC license number |
39439 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.8/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.6/5 |
|
Standard score |
4/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
1-3 business days (instant via Pay By Bank) |
Paddy Power’s extra places promotion gives additional each-way places on selected races. There are also regular money-back special races spread across both the National Hunt and Flat seasons.
The Rewards Club and Wonder Wheel give bettors further opportunities to claim a free bet on a regular basis, although there are no guarantees on what prizes a punter will receive from those free-to-play games.
The odds on Paddy Power could be a little sharper, but there’s little doubt they offer a good all-round betting experience for racing.
|
UKGC license |
54743 |
|
App rating (iOS) |
4.6/5 |
|
App rating (Android) |
4.4/5 |
|
Standard score |
4/5 |
|
Estimated withdrawal speed |
Under 4 hours (Fast Funds) |
Coral is a dependable pick for racing bettors thanks to its low £5 qualifying bet. Coral also has a strong high street presence and racing heritage, highlighting why they are trusted by thousands of punters for horse racing.
There are plenty of racing-friendly offers, such as the daily rewards shaker, which includes prizes of free bets and profit boosts, while there’s a chance to own a racehorse with Coral’s Racing Club.
A good betting site will tick if not all of the following boxes: competitive odds, user-friendly platform, good market choice, excellent security, fast and safe payments, and top-level customer service.
Those are some of the basic requirements for a good betting site. But what about a good horse racing betting site? When seeking out those, our betting experts at The Standard look for some of the following attributes to gauge how appropriate a bookie is for a racing punter.
Best Odds Guaranteed (BOG) means bettors get the best price on a winner, be that the odds of the horse when they placed the bet, or the starting price at the beginning of the race. Not all bookmakers offer BOG, while some do it better than others.
Best Odds Guaranteed are only available on the day of the race, but while some bookmakers will offer BOG prices from 8am, for others, it won’t start before 10am. Check which horse racing betting sites offer BOG and when the offer starts each day.
Having a good selection of offers is one thing, but are they applicable to betting on racing? The best racing bookies run money-back special race, winnings boosts for successful accumulator and system bets, and offer insurance should your selection fail to start or lose by a neck.
We are also on the lookout for promotions like extra-place races, which can increase the value of a racing bet. Bookmakers who don’t offer enough of these promos, or cater too much towards betting on football and other sports, don’t make the cut.
Nearly every bookmaker offers the same number of places for an each-way bet, depending on the number of runners. Extra-place races can increase the chances of securing a return on a wager, as can the percentage of the starting price bookies pay for an each-way bet.
More racing bookmakers offer 1/5 the starting price on an each-way, but some are still going with 1/4 the SP. That can make a big difference to regular racing bettors.
Many online racing bookmakers now carry live streaming of races. However, the quality and quantity of live streams can vary. Some bookmakers will only offer live streams on selected UK courses, others will have all UK and Irish racing.
Some will also carry international racing, providing streams on the action from Australia, the United States, France, Japan, and beyond.
Cheltenham, the Grand National and Royal Ascot are the three big racing events of the year in the UK. Every year, some bookmakers will mark the big meetings with extra offers, more extra place races and plenty of odds boosts.
Other bookmakers will stick with the same offers they have all year round. We have a strong preference towards those bookies keen to celebrate the big festivals.
All licensed horse racing betting sites are required to provide safer gambling tools as part of their licence with the UK Gambling Commission. These features are designed to help customers stay in control of their betting and may include deposit limits, loss limits, reality checks, time-outs, cooling-off periods, and self-exclusion options.
If you enjoy betting on horse racing, it’s worth taking a few minutes to familiarise yourself with the responsible gambling tools available. Setting deposit limits or enabling regular reality check reminders can help you keep track of both your spending and the amount of time you have been betting.
Horse racing betting should always be viewed as a form of entertainment rather than a way to make money. There are no guaranteed winners, so never chase losses or bet more than you can afford in an attempt to recover previous bets. If betting stops being enjoyable, it’s time to stop.
Being aware of your betting habits is essential. Pay attention to how you feel before, during, and after placing bets. If you become concerned that horse racing betting is affecting your finances, wellbeing, or relationships, don’t hesitate to speak to someone you trust or seek professional support.
Help is available day or night through a range of specialist organisations:
The best site depends on how you bet on horse racing. See the comparison table above to see how different best horse racing betting sites stack up against each other.
For example, Tote are the only bookmakers that provide pool betting, whilst Betfred has the highest welcome offer value and a wide range of offers.
Best Odds Guaranteed (sometimes called BOG) means if you take a price on a horse and the starting price (SP) is higher, the bookmaker pays you at the SP.
BOG availability varies by bookmaker and is not available at every site. Make sure to check before betting.
An each-way bet is two bets in one – one on your selected horse to win, one on it to place (finish in the top positions).
The place part pays a fraction of the win odds. Both the amount of places paid and the exact fraction of the odds paid out vary both by race type and from bookmaker to bookmaker.
Money-back specials are a common feature at UK racing bookmakers – typically a refund of your stake in free bets if your horse finishes second to the SP favourite, or a non-runner replacement.
BetGoodwin is the UK leader for money-back specials volume, whilst Paddy Power is another site with regular money-back promotions.
Money-back specials can be a solid safety net but always be prepared to lose money when gambling, as it should not be treated as a source of income.
New UKGC-licensed sites continue to launch. Newer operators are required to meet the same regulatory standards as established brands. Newer sites sometimes offer competitive welcome offers to attract customers in a crowded market. The UKGC ensures punters can trust licensed sites.
New laws were introduced to cap wagering requirements for any sportsbook or casino bonuses at 10x. The other major change was to make it illegal to combine welcome bonuses for both sportsbooks and casino sites, with online racing bookmakers required to run separate sign-up offers.
We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Standard a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK’s best online gambling companies.
Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.
Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.
According to research by Morrisons, almost half (48%) of parents have admitted they have been forced to skip meals entirely just to make ends meet and ensure their child does not go without during the summer holidays. Most often, breakfast is the number one thing cut from the menu.
In an effort to help families make their money go further this summer, Morrisons is offering a free deal to everyone until September, no questions asked. Families visiting their local Morrisons Café can enjoy a free Kellogg’s Breakfast.
The deal was recently highlighted by ITV’s This Morning regular and money specialist Jordon Cox. In an Instagram post to remind families of the deal, he said: “If you’re struggling over the school summer holidays – head down to a Morrisons Cafe.
“Anyone can claim this, although the deal is focused on helping people who may be struggling to afford keeping the kids fed/entertained over the summer. So maybe only use it if you need it!”
To redeem the offer, ask for at the cafe till for a ‘Kellogg’s Breakfast’, and staff will give you the items included in the deal for free. Alternatively, people can use touch-screen ordering kiosks in certain stores with those installed, as there will be a specific option for the free breakfast.
Matt Khan, senior trader for Morrisons Café, said: “We know that when schools close for the summer, family budgets get stretched to the absolute limit. Losing that daily routine makes it a challenging time for parents and grandparents.
“By teaming up with Kellogg’s, we want to take some of that pressure off by offering a welcoming space where families can sit down and enjoy a healthy, proper breakfast together, completely free of charge.” Andrew Ridge, social impact manager at Kellogg’s, added that the cereal company is ” incredibly proud to partner with Morrisons” to support families left feeling the pinch.
On top of the Kellogg’s Breakfast offer, Morrisons popular Kids Eat Free offer will also continue to run in all of its Cafés. This all-day offer allows families to enjoy a free meal and drink for one child aged 16 or under when they purchase an adult main meal costing over £5 from The Breakfasts and The Classics menu.
Families can take advantage of the offer at Morrisons Cafés nationwide throughout the 2026 school holidays (running from June 29 to September 6). Limited to one per person per day, Morrisons has partnered with Kellogg’s to offer a simple yet balanced breakfast option that won’t eat into a family budget this summer.
When redeeming the offer, customers receive a complete breakfast, including a portion pack of Cornflakes (24g) or Rice Krispies (22g) with milk or a milk alternative (125ml). On top of this, the offer includes a portion of fruit (usually an apple or banana).
Mohamad Douba said a member of the mosque “noticed suspicious activity and heard what appeared to be a shooting” in the early hours of Thursday (July 30).
“They immediately contacted the police, who attended the scene promptly,” he said. “We would like to thank our brave member of the community for their quick thinking and for immediately alerting the police.”
Mr Douba said the mosque is “grateful that no one was injured, and there have been no reports of any members of our congregation, staff, volunteers or students being harmed”.
A police cordon remains in the area with the mosque closed “as a precaution” while officers work at the scene, he said.
Read more:
Mr Douba thanked police for “their swift response and for their continued support in ensuring the safety of our community”.
“We are cooperating fully with the authorities and will provide an update to the community once we have confirmation that it is safe to reopen,” he said. “We will inform everyone as soon as the mosque is ready to resume normal activities.
“The safety and wellbeing of our worshippers, students, staff, volunteers and the wider community remain our highest priority.
“We kindly ask everyone to avoid speculation and to allow the police to carry out their investigation.”
He urged anyone with information about the reported incident to contact police quoting reference number 12260145924.
Police said a 44-year-old York man, described as a white UK national, was arrested following the alleged incident and remains in custody.
Weekend Open Thread: Brooks Brothers
Commonwealth Games boxing: Jadumani Singh seals dominant 5-0 win over Pakistan’s Sumama Rehman to enter quarter-finals | Commonwealth Games News
Why Trees Belong on the Risk Register
Intel is reversing course and bringing hyper-threading back to its server chips
Luke Littler dismantles Gerwyn Price to retain title in Blackpool
Ripple bought a bank in pieces. The $4 billion audit
The Part of the Electric Transition Nobody Wants to Discuss
A New Post-Apocalyptic Gundam Anime Series Blasts Into SDCC
BITCOIN JUST ENTERED THIS CRITICAL ZONE…
16 Dresses for the High Summer Event
2026 3M Open leaderboard: Scottie Scheffler finds putter in Round 1, sits three back
The Peugeot Family: How 200 Years of an “Old Money” Dynasty Died in A Boardroom
Major shareholder moves on Canyon
XRP Ledger adds $2.6B as RWA inflows rank second
Spain sweeps the board at 2026 World Cup with individual awards
Uniswap (UNI) pushes deeper into tokenized RWAs with permissioned trading pools
‘Stargate’ Creator’s New Sci-Fi Series Returns for Season 3 Tomorrow
Anthropic launches Claude Opus 5, a cheaper AI model for coding, agents and enterprise workflows
Sara Gilson Killed By Husband After Viral “Pedophile” TikTok Video
Claude: Build Financial Dashboards in Minutes (2026)
You must be logged in to post a comment Login