The YMCA will continue its summer activities to entertain and feed young people and children, particularly from struggling families. It wants the Government to invest more in youth projects to avoid crime down the line and help desperate families as the long summer holidays loom. Richard James has urged churches to rally around their communities and offer similar initiatives for the children in their parishes. Experts foresee a difficult summer for families struggling with the cost of living crisis, as children will not receive free school lunches. James has seen a noticeable difference in children's experiences using the YMCA’s summer services in recent years and says it feels as if every year is another challenge. He says, ‘Some boroughs’ budgets have zero pounds per young person per head.’ In 2020, YMCA England reported a billion-pound decline in the amount of funding afforded to youth services by local authorities, with a decline of 69% since 2010. See

Data released on 8 June showed that A&Es experienced the busiest May on record, putting emergency care staff under significant pressure. Ambulance crews attended 624,092 call-outs, the highest number in a year. Alongside this, the figures show another record-breaking twelve months of cancer treatment and referrals, with more people than ever before getting checked and starting treatment. Tens of thousands of patients are set to receive a diagnosis and treatment for skin cancer faster, with accelerated NHS rollout of ‘teledermatology’, which involves taking high-spec images of spots, moles or lesions on people’s skin. NHS’s national medical director said, ‘As hospitals dealt with the most disruptive industrial action in history, average waits on waiting lists dropped to under 14 weeks - the lowest since before winter.’ In April 51,700 calls were answered daily by NHS 111.

Prince Harry has been on a collision course with the tabloid press for years - and finally he is pressing charges of phone hacking. He has said that changing the media landscape is his ‘life's work’, and this gladiatorial courtroom encounter could be one of his own defining moments. He has a single-minded determination to keep going without settling and is rich enough to take the financial hit if he loses. He has found this wasn’t like taking questions from Oprah Winfrey in a celebrity interview. He had a hostile encounter with a highly-skilled cross-examiner armed with a battery of techniques to undermine credibility. Giving evidence is daunting.

Kakhovka hydropower dam in Russian-controlled Ukraine has been destroyed, unleashing floods of water on either side of the Dnipro river. So far, thousands have been evacuated from local communities; but as water continues to gush, it is a race against time. The UN humanitarian aid chief warns of grave, far-reaching consequences for thousands. Pray for the safety of families threatened by floating mines, disease, and hazardous chemicals in the floodwaters. Fears of vast swathes of grain-producing land flooding caused global grain prices to rise. NATO’s secretary general said the ‘outrageous’ destruction of the dam showed ‘the brutality of Russia's war in Ukraine’. EU’s council president said, ‘Russian destruction of civilian infrastructure is a war crime’. The Red Cross reported that huge numbers of landmines have washed down downstream, threatening rescue operations. Pray for rescuers to be cautious. Water is being transported by drones to the stranded. May boats reach them soon.