Child protection services in England are unsustainable and are failing youngsters because more and more people need help. That was the findings from the independent review of council-run children's social care which also said there was not enough support early on for families. There was too much focus on investigating when there was a crisis, it says. The reason for this might be explained by budget cuts over the past decade, which has resulted in councils having to prioritise what they are legally required to do - so that’s meant early help has suffered.
More than 1,000 young people, families and staff working in children's services were spoken to and a picture emerged of a system under significant strain. The number of families being investigated is increasing, more children are in care and costs are spiralling. "If we carry on like this, children's social care will both become more expensive and continue to be inadequate in the support it gives to children and families, so we need to change," says Josh MacAlister, who chaired the review. While the child protection system in England was one of the safest in the world, the directors who run the council services said the report represented a chance to make meaningful and lasting change. The government says it’s giving councils an extra £16m to target earlier support and a final report including recommendations will be published next spring.

Younger people who have not yet had their vaccines are driving much of the growth of the Covid epidemic in England, a study suggests. Most cases were found in five to 12-year-olds and 18 to 24-year-olds, researchers from Imperial College London discovered, and they say the rollout of jabs to younger people is key to reducing further spread. They have been inviting a representative sample of the population to take Covid swab tests for the React-1 study, which also found the reproduction (R) number was an estimated 1.44 and of the 108,911 people tested, 135 were positive - a rise from 0.1% to 0.15%. This data is from 10 days ago but our health correspondent Nick Triggle says the latest daily figures are showing some encouraging signs, albeit it very tentative. The government’s plan to vaccinate all adults by 19 July “will make a very big difference and increase the total amount of population immunity”, Prof Paul Elliot, who directs the study, adds.

We have lift-off. Astronauts have been launched into orbit by China to spend three months in its new space station - the longest human mission in the country's history. Nie Haisheng, Liu Boming and Tang Hongbo will be some 380km (236 miles) above the Earth on the 22.5-tonne Tianhe module to bring it into service. You can watch as the rocket blasted off into orbit from the Jiuquan satellite launch centre in the Gobi desert earlier. Before the launch Commander Nie Haishen revealed he had “a lot of expectations”, saying the mission will be “tough and challenging”. This mission reflects China growing space ambitions, and confidence, which has seen it land a robot on Mars and become the first country to send an un-crewed rover to the far side of the Moon.

“Hopeless” appears in the headlines of many of the papers this morning. They are referring to an apparent description made by Prime Minister Boris Johnson about Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The prime minister’s former adviser Dominic Cummings published the message on Wednesday, which has left the Daily Mirror asking: "15 months and 128,000 deaths after PM's damning verdict on his health secretary... how come he's still in a job?". The Guardian says Mr Cummings claims Mr Johnson intended to leave office after the next election to "have fun and make money". The Metro describes the WhatsApp messages as explosive. While the Daily Express claims the prime minister is standing by Mr Hancock, declaring “sorry Dom, we've got bigger fish to fry”. The Daily Telegraph opts for a different lead story altogether, about summer holidays and vaccinations. Read the newspaper review here.

We all do things that make our lives a bit easier but one woman has become a sensation on TikTok by asking people to reveal their life hacks. Kelly Hurst racked up more than seven million views with one of hers which involves a bowl of crisps, a martini glass and dip - and now she’s encouraging you to share yours.
Maybe spiders would class this as a hack. Massive webs were found stretching across trees and paddocks near towns in Australia recently hit by floods. Take a look at the pictures. Experts say it’s a survival tactic so spiders can climb on to higher ground. And finally, if you’re afraid of heights, this might not be for you. Check out how weaving techniques passed from generation to generation have been used to replace an Inca rope bridge over a river in Peru.

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