F1 Austrian GP live: Lando Norris claims stunning pole position

A dominant Lando Norris delivered the perfect response to his Montreal horror show by securing an emphatic pole position for Sunday’s Austrian Grand Prix.

Norris’ F1 world championship bid was dealt a major setback a fortnight ago when he ran into the back of his McLaren team-mate Oscar Piastri.

But the British driver has been in excellent form at the Red Bull Ring, topping all of the practice sessions he has competed in, before landing the 12th pole of his career.

Norris’ margin over second-placed Charles Leclerc was a huge 0.521 seconds – the biggest of the year so far at the shortest track on the calendar. Piastri qualified in third, with Lewis Hamilton in fourth and Max Verstappen down in seventh.

Follow live updates of the Austrian Grand Prix with The Independent

Two children seriously injured after tree falls in public park

Two children are thought to have been seriously injured after a tree fell in a public park.

Officers were called to reports of a tree falling in Chalkwell Park in Southend, at around 3pm on Saturday, Essex Police said.

“We remain on the scene of a serious incident at Chalkwell Park. Officers, alongside ambulance and fire service colleagues, are responding,” the force said.

“There have been a number of casualties and our work at the scene is ongoing.

“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.”

Police said that at least two people were seriously injured in the incident, with the BBC reporting two children were among the casualties.

This is a breaking news story. More to follow.

Farewell, Anna Wintour – Queen of editors with a nuclear-force power

Farewell, Anna Wintour: sphinx-faced, super-enduring doyenne of global fashion. The news that the editor-in-chief of American Vogue has stepped down after 37 years marks the end of an era, but I don’t mean her reign over couture and catwalk.

What her bow marks is the golden age of magazines, when editors were celebrated as celebs in their own right and whose names were synonymous with their product. Mark Boxer at Tatler, Graydon Carter’s Vanity Fair, Nick Logan at The Face, Bill Buford heading Granta, Alan Coren at Punch and Tina Brown presiding over Tatler, Vanity Fair, The New Yorker and the Daily Beast. But “Nuclear Wintour” outsaw all of them, while the only famed editor still at his desk and outdoing Wintour by two years and still counting is my first boss, Ian Hislop, Private Eye’s Lord Gnome.

Magazines shaped my life after my publican parents turned their saloon bar into a comfy sitting room with sofas, log fires and piles of glossies. As my mother put it, “There’s Country Life for the life you want, Hello! to gawp at other people’s lives and Private Eye for the truth behind the lives.” Each copy was grey from being thumbed by riveted customers. By 1991, when the cousin of one of our regulars sent me off for an interview with Hislop at the Eye’s Soho offices, I was quivering with nerves at the prospect of meeting a demigod. But even then, I didn’t quite grasp how infinitesimally lucky I was to enter magazine journalism at a time of editorial giants, wide readerships, big ad revenue and significant sway.

It was an age when editors decided who was a star in the making – or fading. Front covers rather than TikTok anointed and cemented talent, while media bigwigs, rock stars and actors hung out together at the then newly founded Groucho Club, feeding on each other’s influence. The idea of a “chief content creator” wasn’t even a twinkle in a Californian tech bro’s eye – he was still in kindergarten.

All the lesser hacks relied on editors and their lavish expense accounts to lubricate the fun. Michael VerMeulen, the American editor of British GQ – where I landed my second job – negotiated an expense account of £40,000 on top of his salary and used to sweep his entire staff out for Groucho jollies. VerMeulen, with his flamboyant lingo of “big swinging dicks” (any man he admired) and “doesn’t blow the wind up my skirt” (a lacklustre features pitch) made such great copy that The Guardian sent a journalist to report on what it was like to work in his orbit. I have long cherished the memory of him telling me that when a girlfriend congratulated him on his sexual performance, he instantly replied, “Don’t tell me, tell your friends!” His death, one August bank holiday weekend after an excess of cocaine, was front-page news, and all of Mag Land mourned.

Even back then, Anna Wintour rose above it all like a phoenix born of ice, who would never be glimpsed in civilian settings. A good friend went off to work at American Vogue and reported back that the maestra had her own work lavatory, forbidden to all others, so worker bees couldn’t bear witness to her doing something as human as going to the loo. (This was apparently even the case at her Met Gala balls, where even Hollywood superstars couldn’t share her personal facilities.)

During my brief stint at Conde Nast, before I was fired for sleeping with the deputy editor – reader, I married him – rumours of impending visits from Wintour took on the aspect of Elizabeth I descending on an earl’s country estate to test his coffers and loyalty. Even that friend who went to Vogue took on some of her boss’s grandiosity. When I bumped into her at an intimate London book launch, I was startled to find she affected not to know me, a phase that happily passed.

There was real power in the corridors of glossies back then, and this could distort personalities even more than the charlie so many meeja folk snorted. An actress or model who couldn’t land a Vogue cover was denied the super-stamp of being in fashion, and so it was for men who couldn’t make a splash on GQ or Esquire’s hoardings. Pamela Anderson may have equalled Princess Diana for sheer fame in the 1990s, but Wintour would not yield her the ultimate accolade of a cover: the sex tape that leaked of Anderson and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee deemed her trashy beyond redemption. But in 2023, Anderson had a radical image overhaul, ditching the bombshell slap and going makeup-free to Paris Fashion Week, and every event since. It was intellectual, interesting – and it’s got her on the list for the last two Met Galas.

This year, Anderson went a step further, with a severe bob and sculpted dress that gave her a faint whiff of catwalk Rosa Klebb. She’d have probably worn a straitjacket if it gained her admission to fashion’s front row. Because that, in the end, was Anna Wintour’s nuclear-force superpower: the quiet devastation of a “No”. She was not just an editor, she was the ultimate bouncer with Prada gloves.

Mother calls for rethink of changes to cervical cancer screenings

A woman whose grandmother and mother both had cervical cancer has called for the reversal of recent changes lengthening the intervals between life-saving screenings.

Gemma Barley, 34, had to undergo a biopsy in January 2022 after her regular three-year check-up found abnormal cells in her cervix – despite her previous screening being completely clear.

She fears that if she had been subject to new NHS England rules – which have lengthened the time between check-ups to five years – the outcome could have been worse.

“After a regular smear check-up in 2022 I got a letter to say we’ve found something abnormal in your smear and told I needed a biopsy,” the mother-of-one said.

“It was like my full life had flashed before my eyes. I thought my son was going to be left without a mum. It was horrifying.”

Cervical cancer has affected Ms Barley’s family for generations. She lost her grandmother to the disease aged 54, just three months after being diagnosed in 2004.

Her mother was also diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2018 and had to undergo a hysterectomy to mitigate the risks of the disease.

Ms Barley waited four weeks for her results – which said the cells were not cancerous.

But the psychology graduate said the experience proves how quickly things can change, and fears recent changes to screenings for cervical cancer could “put women’s lives at risk”.

Women aged 25 to 49 who test negative for human papillomavirus (HPV) will now be invited to cervical screening every five years instead of every three, under new NHS guidelines.

According to Cancer UK, nearly all cases of cervical cancer are caused by HPV. Most of the time HPV is cleared from the body by itself, but some types can cause cancer if they stay in the body for a long time so require extra monitoring.

After seeing the planned changes, Ms Barley started a petition to have them reversed and said: “I was really angry when I saw the changes. Because of my first-hand experience, it petrified me.

“My first smear was fine, and I’d seen no significant changes in my life since then. But then my second smear found abnormalities. That’s how quickly that could change – and yet they’re happy to extend it by a further two years.”

The change, set to take effect next month in England, follows recommendations from the UK National Screening Committee.

According to analysis from King’s College London, extending the screening interval to five years for HPV-negative women is just as safe as the current three-year interval, with a similar rate of cancer detection.

An NHS England spokesperson said: “We recognise that changes to cervical screening can seem worrying but want to reassure everyone that this new approach is based on robust scientific evidence and an expert recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee.

“The NHS cervical screening programme tests for HPV and uses a better and more accurate test than before. This means if you test negative for HPV, you don’t need to be screened as often as your risk of developing cervical cancer is very low. If you test positive for HPV, we’ll monitor you more closely with additional tests and follow-up appointments.

“This personalised approach ensures everyone receives the right level of screening based on their individual risk factors, providing better protection while reducing unnecessary procedures.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “These changes are based on robust scientific evidence and an expert recommendation from the UK National Screening Committee.

“The NHS cervical screening programme tests for HPV which is a more accurate test than the old cytology (smear) test, therefore intervals for those not at high risk can be safely extended from three to five years.

“If you test positive for HPV, you can be assured you will be monitored closely with additional tests and follow-up appointments.”

Europe heatwave latest: Extreme heat grips the continent

Europe is on high alert as the continent faces its first major heatwave of the summer, with temperatures expected to climb as high as 42C.

Aemet, Spain’s national weather agency, issued a special warning, forecasting highs of up to 42C in the country’s southern regions in the coming days.

The forecaster said the heat would be both intense and prolonged, posing particular risks to vulnerable groups and those exposed to the sun for extended periods.

Madrid’s health ministry also urged people to take precautions, advising them to stay in the shade, drink plenty of fluids, and check on older people, pregnant women, and anyone with existing health conditions.

In neighbouring Portugal, around two-thirds of the country will be placed under high alert on Sunday due to extreme temperatures and the risk of wildfires. Lisbon could see highs of 42C.

Across the border in France, with temperatures in Marseille nearing 40C, local authorities have announced that public swimming pools will be free to help residents cool down.

In Italy, where cities such as Naples and Palermo are bracing for 39C heat, the regions of Sicily and Liguria have introduced bans on outdoor work during the hottest parts of the day.

The 7 best outdoor adventures in Sydney and New South Wales

Whether you’re lacing up your hiking boots, throwing on a wetsuit to catch some waves, or hitting the wide-open roads of New South Wales (NSW) by campervan, this Australian state is home to some of the country’s most exciting outdoor adventures – all easily accessible thanks to Qantas’ extensive domestic network.

Flying into Sydney with Qantas is the ideal way to experience a slice of Australia before you’ve even landed. And with onboard wellbeing perks, plus the option to book more discounted domestic legs using Qantas Explorer, it really is the savvy traveller’s best way to explore Australia.

Here are seven next-level outdoor adventures in NSW, and the best way to get there.

Sydney might be a modern metropolis, but it’s also home to an extraordinary natural playground, the star attraction of which is Sydney Harbour National Park. This protected area weaves through the city’s coastline, offering walking trails, secluded beaches, and panoramic views that blend wild bushland with iconic urban landmarks. Away from the National Park, you can paddle a kayak at dawn beneath the Sydney Harbour Bridge, go on a cycle tour and sunset cruise around Manly and North Heads coastal cliffs, or follow the Bondi to Coogee coastal walk for sweeping ocean views and refreshing swim spots.

Just a 90-minute trip from Sydney by road, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains is an endless landscape of towering eucalyptus forests and striking sandstone cliffs as far as the eye can see. There are few places quite as grand as this so close to a city. Don your hiking boots and traverse spectacular scenery to Wentworth Falls or take on the Grand Canyon Track – a 6km loop of dramatic cliffs, fern-fringed valleys and thundering waterfalls with lookouts to match. If you’re an early riser, watch the sunrise at Echo Point, where the Three Sisters rock formation is lit up by the glow of first light.

Wildlife lovers need to head north to Port Macquarie for some of the best marine encounters on the east coast. Humpback whales are almost guaranteed from May to November, and dolphins can be spotted all year round. For front-row views, jump on a whale-watching cruise, or pitch up with a picnic on a headland and watch the breaching giants from afar.

Swap the sandy beaches for subtropical rainforest in Coffs Harbour’s hinterland in Dorrigo National Park, where winding roads serpentine through flourishing banana plantations, dense palm-filled forest and endless rolling hills. The region’s cycling trails range from casual loops to more challenging rides with jaw-to-the-floor sea views.

Aussies love their surfing, and Byron Bay is the epitome of surf culture Down Under, with beaches to suit all skill levels; from the gentle swell at The Pass to barrel-laden breaks at Tallows. If you’ve got any stamina left, soak up the view from Cape Byron Lighthouse post-surf – the easternmost point of mainland Australia.

With over 8,000 islands to its name, Australia offers the ultimate in island adventures. Lord Howe is one of them, a UNESCO World Heritage-listed pristine island, where only 400 visitors are allowed at any one time. You’ll find rare birds, kaleidoscopic coral reefs, and Mount Gower, offering one of the best day hikes in the country, with epic coastline views and dizzying drops.

For those who need more than a beach stroll to get the heart pumping, grab a kayak and explore the Sapphire Coast from the water in Merimbula. Glide over crystal-clear waters, past secluded coves, pristine beaches, and the untouched beauty of surrounding national parks. Keep an eye out for dolphins and other marine life as you paddle. Once back on shore, refuel with the region’s famous fresh oysters and enjoy a refreshing dip at Bar Beach.

Book your flight to Sydney today at qantas.com and start your Australian adventure.

‘Trying to claim PIP was awful – Labour still wants to make it harder’

Sarah has just found out that she will likely be able to keep her personal independence payment (PIP) after months of worry.

The 40-year-old mother of one works from home, which allows her to juggle life with being a new parent and her disabilities. Chronic fatigue syndrome in her joints means she regularly experiences brain fog and exhaustion, and needs help.

And it’s her PIP that makes this possible, helping her to afford a carer, stay in work, and spend time with her baby.

Claimed by 3.7 million people, the health-linked benefit at the heart of Labour’s proposed welfare reforms is designed to help with extra costs incurred by living with an illness or disability.

The government’s concessions on plans to cut welfare spending now mean that Sarah won’t be subject to stricter eligibility criteria when next assessed for the benefit.

Instead, from November 2026, only new claimants look set to be subject to the tighter criteria, under Labour’s bill currently going through parliament.

But Sarah says she is struggling to see this as a victory.

“If there’s another Sarah who’s born a few years later, and ended up in this situation, it’s still just as appalling,” she says.

“It’s encouraging some disabled people to throw other disabled people under the bus. And it’s vicious, because it relies on some people being scared enough to say ‘well, we’ll take what we can get’.”

And like so many others, Sarah did not find applying for PIP an easy process to begin with.

“It feels like you’re being tripped up constantly,” Sarah says. “It feels really deliberate, how difficult it is. It feels extremely deliberate. Because there are so many ways it can be made more accessible to disabled people.”

Halfway through her assessment for PIP, Sarah’s infant daughter started to cry in the other room. This caused her to panic, and she shouted to her husband that the baby might need changing.

Because of this, “the assessor said I was clearly able to respond to my daughter’s needs and assess what she needed”, Sarah says.

“But I said to him, I can’t care for my daughter on my own, I rely on other people doing that for me. I need somebody with me while I’m with her.”

None of this was included in his report, she claims.

And it’s not just Sarah.

Ginny’s husband Tim was diagnosed with myotonic muscular dystrophy in 2006, a progressive genetic condition that affects muscles and movement.

The mother of two works part time while also caring for her husband full time. His PIP award means Ginny is entitled to a £200 carer’s allowance, which she says is essential to support her family.

“Tim doesn’t like to admit it, but people frequently can’t understand what he says. Every day I’m asking him to repeat himself as his wife, and I know him well,” Ginny explains.

“He was asked to repeat himself at least five times during the assessment. But when it came to the report, it said the assessor had no problem understanding him.”

Ginny says the assessor also wrote down that Tim was managing to work part time for 25 hours a week as a library assistant. He was actually working just 25 hours a month, just over six hours a week, Ginny says.

At a PIP assessment, the assessor will decide if an applicant has limited ability to carry out daily living activities. They do this by asking applicants to carry out a range of activities, awarding them points based on how limited their ability is.

According to one former assessor, opening questions might include: “How are you doing today? How did you get here? Do you have a dog?”

An applicant could be forgiven for thinking these questions are just small talk, their PIP assessor being friendly and trying to ease them into the process.

But in most cases, the assessment has already begun, the former worker says. How they answer these questions could be the difference between a lifeline to pay for their health-related costs or nothing.

The former assessor, who wished to remain anonymous, said this approach is standard for PIP assessors. It is permitted under the DWP’s PIP assessment guide, which recommends assessors carry out “informal observations” that may “show discrepancies”.

“As soon as you say to them, ‘I’m here to do the assessment, is that OK?’ and they say yes, it’s started,” she explains.

“And then you’ll comment, you’ll look around the room for photographs of them on holiday, of children. You’re looking for evidence that they’re not telling the truth.”

According to polling by disability charity Sense, over half (51 per cent) of disabled people with complex needs report feeling humiliated during benefits assessment. A further 45 per cent said the process made their symptoms worse.

The charity’s policy adviser, Evan John, said: “I think sometimes when you hear some of the discussion around PIP, somebody might think that it was an easy benefit to claim, but that experience is really divorced from the experiences of disabled people.”

“We’d like to see a system that treats disabled people with dignity, that assesses people fairly, but doesn’t make them feel like criminals for trying to access the support they need.”

Neither Sarah nor Tim was awarded any points at their PIP assessment. Instead, they asked for a mandatory consideration, but were turned down and faced a lengthy wait for an appeal at a tribunal.

“We went to mandatory consideration fully aware that they would just turn that down because that seems to be the standard with them,” Ginny says. “But that was just a step to go to appeal.”

Sarah was only given the lowest rate of PIP after the tribunal, while Tim was awarded his in light of more medical evidence.

Around 56 per cent of PIP assessments resulted in a reward between 2019 and 2024. However, around two-thirds of decisions are overturned at the tribunal stage, independent of the DWP, by a panel of decision-makers, including a judge.

“You have to fight tooth and nail,” Ginny says. “All the government’s talk about ‘people just are getting this too easily’ or ‘supporting people who have the most severe conditions’.

“In my book, my husband has a severe condition and it just feels like they’re redefining disability to suit themselves.”

It remains to be seen whether the government’s concessions over its welfare plans will be enough to appease wavering backbenchers, with MPs set to vote on the measures on Tuesday.

A DWP spokesperson said: “The fact is that PIP assessment suppliers and healthcare professionals are involved in the process but are only one part of the evidence used – they have no role in the decision-making process, and are clearly instructed not to base their opinions solely on the situation seen at assessment.

“We’re creating a sustainable welfare system that genuinely supports sick and disabled people while always protecting those who need it most, and at the heart of this is our review of the PIP assessment to ensure it is fit for the future.

“We will work with disabled people and a range of experts on this as we deliver our Plan for Change.”

How a family’s beef wellington lunch ended in a murder trial

No one has disputed that death cap mushrooms were in the beef wellington that killed three people and left another in a coma for weeks, after a fateful lunch on a July Saturday in 2023.

But the key question in the Australian murder trial of Erin Patterson was how those deadly mushrooms got there.

The mother of two has been charged with murdering her estranged husband’s parents, Don and Gail Patterson, as well as Gail’s sister, Heather Wilkinson, and with the attempted murder of Heather’s husband, Ian.

The trial is due to conclude next week, with the jury expected to retire to consider its verdict. The court has heard in great detail over the course of two months about what happened, yet questions about why still linger.

In her own words, Ms Patterson was a big fan of mushrooms.

“They taste good and are very healthy,” she told the regional Victorian court. “I’d buy all the different types that Woolies [Woolworths] would sell.”

She got so into mushrooms that she began foraging for wild ones during Covid lockdowns, Ms Patterson said, but admitted that identifying safe varieties was sometimes difficult. She testified that she couldn’t remember, but it was possible she had searched online for death cap mushrooms.

All the while, the accused agreed during her two weeks on the witness stand that her relationship with her estranged husband, Simon Patterson, had become strained.

The Pattersons had separated several times after the birth of their son in 2009 and separated for good in 2015, but maintained a friendly relationship, as both told the court. Mr Patterson told the court that the issue seemed to begin when he had listed himself as separated on a tax return.

“She wasn’t happy with that,” he said, explaining that the change would affect their family tax benefit, and they mutually agreed she would pursue child support payments.

In the months before the fatal lunch, she had tried to involve her in-laws, Don and Gail Patterson, in their dispute over school fees. She acknowledged in court that this was unfair.

“They were doing nothing but trying to support us,” she said. “I was asking them to agree with me that I was right and Simon was wrong, and that wasn’t fair.”

She revealed that, in private messages to friends, she had vented frustration by calling the Patterson family a “lost cause” and saying, “so f*** ’em”.

Growing visibly emotional in court, she told the jury she had “needed to vent”.

“The choice was either go into the paddock and tell the sheep or vent to these women,” she said, adding that she had probably “played up the emotion” to get support from her online friends.

“I wish I’d never said it. I feel ashamed for saying it and I wish that the family didn’t have to hear that I said that,” she told the court. “They didn’t deserve it.”

Ms Patterson had been a “fundamentalist atheist” when she met her future husband, a Christian, in 2004, while working at a Melbourne council. But she told the court she had a “spiritual experience” at the Korumburra Baptist Church, led by Mr Patterson’s uncle and the only surviving lunch victim, Mr Wilkinson.

The court heard Ms Patterson inherited AU$2m (£950,000) from her grandmother two years later, and she used the money to buy properties and loan money to her husband’s siblings.

She also admitted to having low self-esteem and to struggling with her weight.

Ms Patterson lied to her lunch guests about having cancer because she felt ashamed that she was really having bariatric surgery for weight loss, she told the court.

Her estranged husband had also been invited, but he turned the invitation down the day before, the jury heard, and in messages shown to the court, she expressed disappointment at his decision.

“That’s really disappointing, I’ve spent many hours this week preparing lunch for tomorrow,” Ms Patterson allegedly responded. “It’s important for me that you’re all there … I hope you change your mind.”

In closing arguments, prosecutors outlined four calculated deceptions at the heart of their case: a fake cancer diagnosis to lure her guests, the deliberate death cap mushroom poisoning, lies that she too had fallen ill, and an ongoing cover-up to hide the alleged truth.

“She had complete control over the ingredients that went into the lunch,” chief prosecutor Nanette Rogers said.

Two of the lunch guests had also noted that Ms Patterson’s lunch meal was served on a different coloured plate to that of her guests, the court heard.

Afterwards, the prosecution said Ms Patterson gave inconsistent and vague accounts about where she got the mushrooms from, and was slow to respond to the Department of Health, which was trying to get to the bottom of the source of the deadly fungi.

The prosecution also told the jury Ms Patterson had pretended to be sick to family and to medical workers to suggest she had also eaten the same meal as her guests, in an attempt “to disguise her crime”.

But Ms Patterson denied these allegations. At the end of her cross-examination, three accusations were put to her: that she deliberately got death cap mushrooms, that she knowingly put them in the beef wellington, and that she intended to kill her lunch guests.

To each accusation, she said: “Disagree.”

Her defence said she panicked after learning her lunch may have poisoned her guests, and she had not been prepared for the intense reaction she received when first arriving at hospital with symptoms of loose stools following the meal.

Summarising the trial, Chief Justice Christopher Beale told the jury that her defence said “she found it difficult to accept she may have suffered death cap mushroom poisoning. She had not come prepared to be admitted overnight. She needed to make arrangements for the children and the animals … and was intending to return to hospital.”

From Monday afternoon, the jury will have to weigh the nine weeks of testimony to decide whether the prosecution has proven beyond reasonable doubt that Ms Patterson committed murder.