Israel has launched a wave of air strikes on Gaza, killing hundreds of people and damaging the fragile ceasefire with Hamas. The "surprise attack" has "shattered a period of relative calm" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, said The Associated Press. It has also "raised the prospect of a full return to fighting".

What did the commentators say?
The ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas was "already hanging in the balance", said CNN. All sides had been at "loggerheads over a path forward that might see remaining Israeli hostages freed and a permanent peace secured".

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the overnight attacks on Hamas targets because of the "repeated refusal to release our hostages". The US, which was consulted by Israel before the air strikes began, has also sought to blame Hamas: National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes said the militant group "could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but, instead, chose refusal and war".

All this comes as Netanyahu faces "mounting domestic pressure, with mass protests planned over his handling of the hostage crisis and his decision to fire the head of Israel's internal security agency", said Time. He has repeatedly been accused of escalating the war to distract from his legal problems, and "his latest testimony in a long-running corruption trial was cancelled after the strikes".

International outcry over the air strikes has been fierce but more damaging to the Israeli PM will be criticism from domestic groups, especially those representing the families of the hostages still held by Hamas. Accusing the government of backing out of the ceasefire, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement that it was "shocked, angry and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas".

What next?
Israel's defence minister, Israel Katz, has warned that the "gates of hell will open in Gaza" if the remaining hostages are not released. This may, therefore, be the "beginning of a broader and more sustained military operation", said The Spectator.

It is now up to mediators in Qatar and Egypt to "continue trying to figure out a way forward", said Al Jazeera. 

Human beings have evolved to become "perfectly adapted to life on Earth", said Sky News. So, spending time in space, without gravity or sunlight, and exposed to radiation, "poses a real challenge, physically".

For "stranded" astronauts Barry "Butch" Wilmore and Sunita "Suni" Williams (pictured above) – whose routine eight-day visit to the International Space Station turned into an unscheduled nine-month stay – the challenge may be even bigger, when they finally come back home to Earth today.

The pair, travelling in a SpaceX Dragon capsule, left the ISS early this morning. After a "fast and fiery re-entry through Earth's atmosphere", they are due to splash down off the coast of Florida tonight, said the BBC. The fresh air will feel "fantastic", said Helen Sharman, Britain's first astronaut, but such an extended space mission will, said the broadcaster, have taken a "toll on the body".

'Exit spacecraft on stretchers'
"You adapt incredibly quickly to being in space," Nasa astronaut Frank Rubio, who spent 371 days in space in 2023, told Time magazine last year. But readapting to life back to Earth can be "a little bit longer and more difficult". The first two or three months will be focused on recovery, "reincorporating yourself into Earth, your family, and then also rehabilitating your body".

After splashdown, the astronauts will be taken to the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas, for a medical check-up. Astronauts returning from long-duration space missions "routinely exit their spacecraft on stretchers", said CNN, because their bodies "need time to adjust to feeling Earth's gravity".

'Incredible connection to humanity'
Nine months without gravity will have caused "significant, and irreparable, bone density loss", said The Guardian. Being in space "causes muscles to waste" and fluids "don't drain as easily". The returning astronauts will "struggle to walk, get dizzy easily, and have bad eyesight", because the "build-up of fluid changes the shape of their eyeballs, and weakens their vision". They may need glasses for the rest of their lives.

In space, clothing floats off your skin, so your skin gets "almost baby-like sensitivity", said Alan Duffy, an astrophysicist at Australia's Swinburne University told the paper. On Earth, some astronauts "feel like their clothing is sandpaper".

Seeing the Earth from space has also led some astronauts to report "an incredible connection to humanity", said The Guardian, and "an immediate sense of its fragility".

Cold water swimmers may be able to take their dips more often, as part of the government's reforms to bathing rules. As outdoor swimming has "surged in popularity", monitoring of wild swimming spots will become more flexible, and may happen outside the traditional May to September bathing season. As the rules are updated for the first time since 2013, here are some of the best places to practise your strokes.

Wastwater, Cumbria
Wastwater (pictured above) is England’s deepest lake, descending to 258 feet, making it an "eerie place for a swim", said The Telegraph. But this "glacial lake" will inspire a "magical sense of freedom".

River Thames, Pangbourne Meadows
An "effortlessly romantic" spot that is made for "strong swimmers", Pangbourne Meadows is at the heart of the Berkshire village where the Princess of Wales grew up, said Time Out. With "scenic bridges, velvety waters and vast grassy verges", you'll be able to bathe with "uninterrupted views of chalk beaches and the Chiltern Hills". 

Grantchester Meadows, Cambridgeshire
This length of the River Cam has "changed little since Edwardian times", said Countryfile. Virginia Woolf and her Grantchester group gathered here in the early 1900s to picnic and "swim naked". During the summer months, this "mile-long stretch of river" is still "dotted with dons drinking Pimm's".

Salmon Leaps, River Teign
This Dartmoor location offers a "calm river and pool for a tranquil dip, grassy banks for picnics", plus the "stunning Victorian Salmon Leaps – three plunge pools in the woods below Castle Drogo", said Stylist. Kids will be particularly enamoured with the "exhilarating ride" down "nature's Jacuzzis".

Keeper's Pond, Black Mountains
This "high-level" lake gives "superb views of the Brecon Beacons", making it perfect for a "summer swim", said The Times. It was built in 1817 and, once upon a time, powered the Garnddyryns iron forge below.

Sorry, Wes – my A&E is full of people having a mental health crisis
Dr Ammad Butt in The i Paper
Working in an "overstretched emergency department", I've been "shocked" at how many A&E patients "present with mental health conditions", writes Dr Ammad Butt. I'd agree that "there may be inappropriate diagnoses of some mental health conditions" but there is also a clear link to "poverty" and "inequality". Wes Streeting's claim that doctors are adding to NHS pressures "by overdiagnosing mental health conditions" requires "a second opinion".

Give our workshy young people a break
Suzanne Moore in The Telegraph
"An entire generation are drifting out of work," writes Suzanne Moore, as a study reveals "four in 10 Gen Zers are considering leaving their job" and going on benefits. The young "cannot pay back" their student loans, and "have to live at home forever or pay extortionate rents". So, "how dare" politicians, who went straight from university to "cushy" jobs, "lecture the rest of us on the dignity of work"?

Stop messing around with my crumpets!
Hilary Rose in The Times
Crumpets "have never been more popular", writes Hilary Rose, but this has a "dark side" and "I feel driven" to "stage an intervention". Chefs have started topping crumpets "with God knows what" and serving them "for dinner" with a "knife and fork, and a glass of wine". But "crumpets are not dinner, they are tea", and they "must not under any circumstances" be topped with anything but "salty butter".