"It was a Virgin Australia pilot who first raised the alarm" on Friday about three Chinese navy vessels conducting live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea, 300 miles east of Australia, said The Telegraph. Flights were quickly diverted to avoid the area, which lies outside Australia's territorial waters but within the country's wider exclusive economic zone, until the Chinese vessels departed on Monday.

The surprise manoeuvres signal a "new era of sea power in the Southwest Pacific", said Anne-Marie Brady at The Diplomat – not least because they show that China's People's Liberation Army "could cut off the air and sea links between Australia and New Zealand at any time, with no warning".

What did the commentators say?
Veerle Nouwens, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia, told The Telegraph that China's disputed claim to the Taiwan Strait and parts of the South China Sea were probably behind the choice of location. Beijing is signalling that "if Australia and others can sail through, and conduct exercises in, what China considers its waters and neighbourhood, then China will do the same".

The naval drills are also a test of Donald Trump's loyalty to America's longtime allies, said James Char of Singapore's S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. If the US reacts to the exercises with indifference, "it's a win for China". Indeed, Beijing's aggressiveness highlights "Australia's vulnerability at the exact moment that the US is demonstrating American unreliability", said Peter Hartcher in The Sydney Morning Herald.

What next?
China's ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, said Beijing had given proper notice of the drills, and that there was "no need" for Australians to feel "concerned". The country's prime minister, Anthony Albanese, made clear there was plenty of concern. "We have protested," he said.

In the meantime, China's naval power continues to grow. Beijing has almost doubled the size of its fleet – to around 400 vessels – over the past decade, and is now developing a "huge nuclear-powered aircraft carrier that would rival the biggest vessel in the American fleet", said NBC News.

It was "virtually unheard of in the 20th century" but now bowel cancer in people under the age of 50 accounts for "around 10% of all new cases worldwide", said the New Scientist. And England is one of the countries worst affected. 

Rates of early-onset bowel cancer in England have increased by 3.6% per year over the past decade, according to American Cancer Society research published in The Lancet – the fourth-highest of all the countries analysed.

What is bowel cancer?
Bowel cancer is caused by the growth of abnormal cells in the inner lining of the large bowel (which includes the colon and the rectum). Symptoms can include bleeding from your back passage, blood in your poo, a change in your "bowel habit" or losing weight without trying.

Every year, around 44,100 people in the UK are diagnosed with bowel cancer, and more than 16,800 people die from the disease. But the five-year survival rates are high when the disease is diagnosed early.

Why are rates in younger people rising?
Experts are "still in the early stages of understanding" why there has been a rise in early-onset bowel cancer, said The Guardian, and research has produced conflicting results. But higher consumption of junk food, lower physical activity and "the obesity epidemic" are "likely to be among the factors". 

There has also been a "soaring" increase in the use of antibiotics, said the New Scientist. These can have a "profound impact on the gut microbiome, and there is good evidence that disturbances to the microbiome are a risk factor" for bowel cancer. 

How can you reduce your risk?
Experts agree that diet is an "important factor", said The Guardian. Too much red and processed meat are thought to be responsible for an estimated 13% of bowel cancer cases in the UK. Eating more fibre and cutting back on alcohol and sugary drinks should also help. Aim, too, to maintain a healthy weight and take regular exercise.

You could also look at upping your calcium intake: Oxford University researchers have found that women who drink a large glass of cow's milk every day can cut their bowel-cancer risk by nearly a fifth, said The i Paper.

"Dream Count", Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's first novel in over a decade, is "dreamy indeed", said Alexandra Jacobs in The New York Times. An "accumulation of scenes and sensations, cloud-like in their contour", it's set against the backdrop of the pandemic that distorted "time itself".

With her "sharp wisdom and sturdy empathy", Adichie reminds us why she is regarded as "one of the most celebrated voices in fiction", said Helen Wieffering at The Associated Press. The action follows four women living between Nigeria and the US as they navigate love, trauma, regret and societal pressures. Travel writer Chiamaka sees her career "hampered by American editors" who are hung up on "outdated stereotypes of Africans", while "saucy, sharp" former banker Omelogor feels "ridiculed and dismissed in America".

But the book begins to "crackle with outrage and urgency" when we're introduced to Kadiatou, a maid at a luxury hotel who is "suddenly, horrifically assaulted" by a prominent guest. At times, the pacing "speeds up too quickly", and the fourth member of the quartet, Zikora, "fades away" in the final section of the book. But these issues never dampen the novel's "vibrant energy" and, on every page, the writer's voice is as "forthright and clarifying as ever".

It's almost as if Adichie has treated us to "four novels for the price of one", said Anthony Cummins in The Guardian, each charged with the "thrill" of "lavishly imagined" characters. "It was worth the wait."

For Israel, ceasefire is a continuation of war by other means
Belén Fernández on Al Jazeera
Israel's behaviour during the Gaza ceasefire has shown a "profound lack of interest in actually ceasing hostilities", writes Belén Fernández. Not only does its military "continue to kill Palestinians", it has also "refused to abandon occupation" of the border corridor between Gaza and Egypt. Israel has also "blocked all humanitarian-aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip", in what amounts to a "straightforward admission" that it will use "starvation as a bargaining chip".

Europe has always stood alone
Sebastian Milbank in The Critic
The "truth is slowly dawning on Western leaders", writes Sebastian Milbank, that "Europe stands alone." They are rightly "pissed off" by Donald Trump's boast that he holds "all the cards", but it's "criminally stupid" to be surprised. This is a chance for Europe to "shake itself back awake" and embrace "real independence from America", even if that means "stepping out of the nursery" and making some "brutally hard decisions".

For once, local government is correct: nobody has a right to park in their drive
Henry Hill in The Telegraph
It's "rare" that a council is "unambiguously right" about "enforcing a planning regulation", writes Henry Hill, but London's Lambeth Council is "entirely right to crack down on unauthorised driveways". Dropped kerbs remove parking spaces, and can be a "real pain" for people with pushchairs or wheelchairs and for those who are "unsteady on their feet". So, "if you're going to annex part of the street to your house, you should pay for it".