Drivers aged over 70 may be banned from the road if they fail compulsory eye tests, under reforms of motoring regulations in England and Wales. The proposal is part of the biggest shake-up of UK driving laws "for decades", said justice minister and Pontypridd MP Alex Davies-Jones.

What are the new proposals?
The government's new road safety strategy, due to be published in the autumn, would make eye tests compulsory for the over-70s when they renew their driving licence every three years.

The drink-drive limit is also expected to be lowered, from 35 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of breath to 22 micrograms, which would match the laws in Scotland. And police may be allowed to bring prosecutions for drug-driving on the basis of roadside saliva tests rather than blood tests. 

Tougher seatbelt rules may include penalty points for drivers if their passengers fail to wear a seatbelt, and uninsured drivers may also face tougher penalties.

Why are they being suggested now?
Last year, 1,633 people were killed in traffic incidents, and almost 28,000 were seriously injured, according to data from the Department for Transport. Ministers have concluded that the current safety messaging is not working and that it's time to act.

At an inquest into four deaths caused by drivers with poor eyesight, James Adeley, the senior coroner for Lancashire, described the UK's licensing system as the "laxest in Europe" for vision testing.

Would the changes make roads safer?
Sub-par vision is a significant factor in many road accidents. But the impact of lowering the alcohol limit is not "clear-cut", said Auto Express. In the decade since the drink-drive limit was reduced in Scotland, the number of accidents hasn't fallen. A study by researchers at the universities of Bath and Essex found that "stricter limits alone" may not be enough to reduce drink-driving accidents unless matched by "effective enforcement".

Israel's plan to occupy Gaza City is facing mounting criticism from world leaders, hostage families and, reportedly, even Benjamin Netanyahu's own military top brass. But the Israeli leader appears undeterred.

What did the commentators say?
The only way to prevent Hamas' resurgence is its "complete dismantling as the effective ruling entity in the Gaza Strip", said Kobi Michael and Yossi Kuperwasser, from Tel Aviv University's Institute for National Security Studies. "The aim is to convince Gaza's public that Hamas will not return." Until that happens, "no real reconstruction process in the area can begin". The burden on Israel's army, though, would be "substantial".

Taking control of Gaza City risks a "strategic dead-end" for Israel, said Patrick Kingsley at The New York Times. Netanyahu says he ultimately intends to hand Gaza to "Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us". But Israel's army is "depleted" after fighting the "longest high-intensity war in the country's history".

Netanyahu says the "full occupation" of the Palestinian territory would "signal the end of Hamas", said The Jerusalem Post, but "experience and military analysis suggest otherwise". Occupation would allow Hamas to "go underground and regroup" in an asymmetric fight, bogging Israel down in a "costly, open-ended war with no end in sight".

What next?
Hamas and Netanyahu "both want to keep the Gaza war going", said Jonathan D. Strum at The Hill. The Israeli prime minister and his "ultra-nationalist" backers are following a "vision of a Palestinian-free Gaza", which is why they continue the war despite military advice that further fighting serves "no military purpose". Hamas, meanwhile, wants to survive as a "political force" and can best do that while Israel continues the "self-inflicted injury" of a prolonged war.

Occupying Gaza could be a "political tactic to pressure Hamas" for ceasefire negotiations, said PBS NewsHour. Netanyahu has set out an "ambitious goal", said David Makovsky, the director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy's Project on Arab-Israel Relations. But the dynamic could prove tricky if Hamas does not return to negotiations. "We just don't know yet."

The Sturgeon Moon, the traditional name for the full Moon in August, rises over Istanbul's Galata Tower. At this time of year, when the orb is low on the horizon, it looks much bigger than normal.

Yasin Akgul / AFP / Getty Images

As the weather hots up again, the lure of a picnic looms large. If the only thing holding you back from a "picky tea" on the grass is the idea of cooking and prepping it all, you could indulge your hamper hankerings with these excellent ready-to-eat snacks.

Tesco Finest Italian Aperitivo Trio
This "deceptively simple" aperitivo platter is a "shining miracle among a slew of dissembling con artists", said Sophie Morris in The i Paper. The biscuity Italian crackers "taste ten times better than they look", and the "wonderfully fresh-tasting, fleshy" Sicilian Nocarella olives are also a real treat. Completed by a "salty and crumbly" cheese that tastes similar to Parmesan, the three-part platter has "all the food groups covered".

M&S Our Best Ever Sausage Roll
M&S "wasn't fibbing" when it named this delightful sausage roll, said Good Housekeeping. Our taste testers thought it was "perfect": "buttery, flaky" pastry encases pork mincemeat with caramelised onions, sage and thyme. Eat them straight from the packet or, if you're picnicking in the garden, whack them in the oven first for "even better" results.

Unearthed Spanish Spinach Tortilla
"This is controversial," said Morris in The i Paper, "but I'd like to put forward the Spanish tortilla as a replacement for the picnic quiche." While the latter can become "claggy" when transported in the great outdoors, Unearthed's "chic" tortilla works exceptionally well cold, "holds its shape" and is "easy to serve and share". With just a handful of ingredients, "there's no crap in this one, either".

Even I see the point of prenups these days
Libby Purves in The Times
Prenuptial agreements are "worth discussing", even if "traditional spirits may wince", writes Libby Purves. More than four in 10 marriages break up, and "money does matter". Our "inexcusably wide wealth gap" is exacerbated by a "twistedly absurd housing market", making prenups "very tempting if one party has built up assets". If prenups become a preventative "norm, like insurance or fire extinguishers", it "might all feel less creepy" too. "But sigh! It's not romantic…"

The importance of slowing down
Camilla Cavendish in the Financial Times
"Many of us are not terribly good at holidays" because we're "unable or unwilling" to switch off from work, writes Camilla Cavendish. But when hip surgery "forced" me to "take things easier", it not only turned me into "a person who notices the sky and smells the jasmine", but also made me "more productive". I emerged with "a host of new ideas" and "a realisation that you don't lose your soul if you have an empty diary". 

I couldn't be silenced in life – now it's time to share my final privilege and last word
James Whale in the Daily Express
"If you're reading this then I'm dead," says broadcaster James Whale. I'm writing this as I face "the last few weeks of my life", after kidney cancer "spread to my spine, my brain, all over really". For more than half a century, "I've watched history being made, and got to talk about it". And as I now have "the last word", I believe Britain is still "the best country in the world even if we don't always know it".