Thai rescue diver dies, and crunch Brexit talks loom

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Thailand cave rescue: Diver dies on return from trapped group

A diver taking part in search efforts to rescue 12 boys and their football coach from a flooded cave in Thailand has died. Petty Officer Saman Gunan ran out of oxygen on his way back from delivering supplies to the Tham Luang cave complex. He had left the Thai navy but returned to help the rescue operation.

PO Gunan, 38, was one of around 1,000 people involved in trying to get the group out. Meanwhile, there are concerns over falling oxygen levels where the 11 to 16-year-old footballers and their 25-year-old coach are stuck. Authorities are working to get a 5km (3 mile) cable to them to improve supplies.

May: Cabinet must agree to Brexit plan

The cabinet is meeting today at Chequers, the prime minister’s country residence, in an attempt to reach a shared view of what they want the UK’s relationship with the EU to be like after Brexit. Theresa May says her colleagues have a “great opportunity – and a duty” to agree. She is expected to present a proposal for UK-EU customs arrangements that would see the UK set its own tariffs.

Did Novichok pass through the skin?

Police are still trying to establish how two people near Salisbury were poisoned by the nerve agent Novichok. Charlie Rowley, 45, and Dawn Sturgess, 44, remain critically ill. Now a government scientist has told the BBC the substance could have passed through the skin rather than being ingested, such is its toxicity.

The unstoppable momentum of Assad’s war

By Jeremy Bowen, Middle East editor

The Syrian army’s tactics are now familiar. Heavy military pressure is accompanied by talks for “reconciliation”, which is another word for a negotiated surrender. Some groups that have opposed the regime for years are complying. Others insist they will fight on. It is hard to see how the battle can be sustained for more than a short time against the firepower of the Syrian army and the Russians. Behind the fighting is a bigger reality. The Assad regime believes it has almost finished off its enemies. It cannot do much about the big powers who have troops in parts of Syria, particularly Turkey, the United States and their allies. But the armed groups who claim descent from the first demonstrators in Deraa in March 2011 are fighting their last battles.

What the papers say

The negotiations to come at Chequers over Brexit dominate the headlines. The Daily Telegraph reports that Theresa May’s plans could leave the UK aligned to some EU rules for the foreseeable future, while the Times says the PM is hoping to assuage Brexiteers by committing to an end to free movement. Meanwhile, the Sun says there are fears that Mrs May’s stance could damage the chances of a UK trade deal with the US. Meanwhile, Metro leads on suggestions the couple poisoned by Novichok could have been exposed to it via a cigarette butt.