In today’s newsletter: Reform’s latest policy shift echoes strategies seen in Europe’s far right. Will this approach gain traction in the UK?

Good morning. In 2023, Nigel Farage went on a podcast to decry what he described as a culture of “welfarism” in the UK, insisting it was making millions of people in the country lazy. “‘I’m too fat, I’m too stupid, I’m too lazy, I don’t get out of bed in the morning. I smoke drugs, give me money’,” he said. “‘I don’t need to work, the state will provide for me’ … We cannot afford it.”

Less than two years later, the self-styled free-market crusader seems to be singing a different tune. Last week, he publicly backed the removal of the two-child benefit cap – a move that would lift 350,000 children out of poverty overnight and ease hardship for 700,000 more.

Ukraine | Ukraine has launched a “large-scale” drone attack against Russian military bombers in Siberia, striking more than 40 warplanes thousands of miles from its own territory. On the eve of peace talks, the drone attack on four separate airfields was part of a sharp ramping up of the three-year war.

Israel-Gaza war | More than 30 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire on Sunday as they went to an aid distribution point in Gaza, according to witnesses. Israeli forces were said to have opened fire as Palestinians headed for the aid distribution site run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Poland | The populist-right opposition candidate Karol Nawrocki has won the presidential race in an extremely close contest. A pro-Trump nationalist, Nawrocki beat the pro-European Warsaw mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, in a major blow for Donald Tusk’s coalition government.

Defence | Britain needs to be ready to fight a war in Europe or the Atlantic, a strategic defence review will conclude. But the plan, to be launched on Monday, it is not expected to contain any additional spending commitments.

Health | Exercise can reduce the risk of cancer patients dying by a third, stop tumours coming back and is even more effective than drugs, according to the results of a landmark trial that could transform health guidelines worldwide.

Politicians who are serious about public health can’t ignore the rising toll of illness and death linked to drinking

When the government’s 10-year health plan is published in July, prevention is expected to get a promotion. This won’t be the first time that ministers will have stressed the importance of healthy lifestyles. But nine months after Wes Streeting announced that a shift from treatment to prevention would be one of the principles governing Labour’s stewardship of the NHS, we are just a few weeks away from knowing how the idea will be put into practice, and turned into a narrative for voters.

In recent years, obesity has dominated discussions of the rising burden of chronic illness. But alcohol, too, is expected to feature in sections of the plan dealing with public health. Alcohol-related deaths in the UK reached a record high of 10,473 in 2023, with men more than twice as likely to die as women, and over-55s drinking far more than younger adults. The highest death rates are in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

While a test was quickly developed, weaknesses in the early pandemic response included no plan for nationwide testing and ineffective contact tracing

The Covid inquiry has spent the past three weeks on the UK’s attempts to control the pandemic through test, trace and isolation. Here we look at the key findings from the module and experts’ recommendations for future pandemic preparedness.

Margaret Tubridy, 69, took part in landmark study that reveals the role of exercise in preventing return of disease

• Exercise ‘better than drugs’ after cancer treatment, international trial finds

A landmark study shows exercise can reduce the risk of cancer patients dying by more than a third.

The world’s first randomised clinical trial specifically evaluated if a structured exercise regime after treatment could reduce the risk of recurrence or new cancers in patients.

First clear evidence that structured exercise regime reduces risk of dying by a third, can stop tumours coming back or a new cancer developing

• ‘Now I do weight training’: how exercise helped one patient stay free of cancer

Exercise can reduce the risk of cancer patients dying by a third, stop tumours coming back and is even more effective than drugs, according to the results of a landmark trial that could transform health guidelines worldwide.

For decades, doctors have recommended adopting a healthy lifestyle to lower the risk of developing cancer. But until now there has been little evidence of the impact it could have after diagnosis, with little support for incorporating exercise into patients’ routines.

Industry giant paid for Lord Vaizey’s trip to Switzerland before he tabled amendment to tobacco and vapes bill

A Conservative peer proposed delaying the UK’s proposed ban on heated tobacco, weeks after a leading cigarette company paid for him to visit its research facility in Switzerland.

The tobacco and vapes bill would gradually raise the age at which consumers can buy cigarettes and other tobacco products, making the UK the first major economy to chart a course towards phasing out tobacco altogether.

Begging doctors for tests, I worried that I was missing something and heading for an early death. Would understanding the roots of my health anxiety lead me to a cure?

Throughout my adolescence and into my mid-20s, I spent a lot of time trying to understand my body. I was unwell, that much was certain. The question of exactly what was wrong with me was one to which I applied myself studiously. I had theories, of course. Looking back, these tended to change quite frequently, and yet the fear was always the same: in short, that I was dying, that I had some dreadful and no doubt painful disease that, for all my worrying, I had carelessly allowed to reach the point at which it had become incurable.

This started at university, when I developed a headache that didn’t go away. The pain wasn’t severe, but it was constant – accompanied by a strange feeling of belatedness that told me it had already been going on for some time. How long, exactly, I couldn’t say – weeks, definitely. Maybe it had been years.

Around one in 10 fathers experience serious mental health issues in the period before and after their child is born. What can be done?

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Dean Rogut was holding it together.

He had become a father for the first time, but it had not gone to plan. At 12 weeks pregnant, his wife was put on bed rest. At 24 weeks, their son, Max, was born.

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Funding shortfalls and inadequate services are letting down people in psychiatric crises, the Bondi Junction stabbings inquest hears

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Joel Cauchi’s mother didn’t appear before the coronial inquest examining her son’s life and the day her son murdered six people at a popular Bondi Junction shopping centre. But her presence was often felt, taking shape in the form of notes she had written to his doctor or in a conversation with a police officer.

One of the most striking moments of the inquest was when Michele Cauchi, now in her mid-70s, was filmed via body-worn video camera on a police officer.

Experts praise groundbreaking results from therapy using genetically modified Car T-cells

Cancer patients treated with a pioneering immunotherapy that genetically modifies their own cells to wipe out tumours live 40% longer, according to “exciting” and “groundbreaking” results from a world-first clinical trial.

Car T-cell therapy is a new form of immunotherapy where a patient’s own T-cells – a type of white blood cell – are tweaked in a lab to target and kill cancer cells. The designer cells are then infused back into their bloodstream to fight the disease.

Experts establish four themes to the misinformation contained in videos with a #mentalhealthtips hashtag

• More than half of top 100 mental health TikToks contain misinformation, study finds

Thousands of influencers peddle mental health misinformation on social media platforms – some out of a naive belief that their personal experience will help people, others because they want to boost their following or sell products.

As part of a Guardian investigation, experts established clear themes to the misinformation contained in videos posted with a #mentalhealthtips hashtag on TikTok.

Guardian investigation reveals promotion of dubious advice, questionable supplements and quick-fix healing methods

• What is the most common mental health misinformation on TikTok?

More than half of all the top trending videos offering mental health advice on TikTok contain misinformation, a Guardian investigation has found.

People are increasingly turning to social media for mental health support, yet research has revealed that many influencers are peddling misinformation, including misused therapeutic language, “quick fix” solutions and false claims.

Sociologist and women’s health activist who was a co-author of the groundbreaking book Our Bodies, Ourselves

In 1958, Norma Meras Swenson, who has died aged 93, gave birth to her daughter, Sarah, in Boston, Massachusetts. The experience opened her eyes to how little agency American women had over something as natural as childbirth, and this set her up for a lifetime of activism.

She became an expert in reproductive health and women’s rights and the book she co-wrote, Our Bodies, Ourselves, changed the landscape of women’s health. It brought into the open subjects such as contraception, birth and masturbation and has been compared to Dr Spock’s Baby & Child Care in terms of impact. Since 1970, it has been through nine editions, sold more than 4m copies and has been translated into 31 languages. In 2012, it featured in the Library of Congress exhibition Books that Shaped America.

Study shows combination treatment for aggressive breast cancer delays advance by average 17 months and chemotherapy by two years

A new triple therapy for aggressive, advanced breast cancer slows the progression of the disease, delays the need for further chemotherapy and helps patients live longer, research reveals.

The combination treatment is made up of two targeted drugs: inavolisib and palbociclib, and the hormone therapy fulvestrant. It improved overall survival by an average of seven months, compared with the patients in the control group, who were given palbociclib and fulvestrant.

The ban, enforced from Sunday, is designed to reduce youth vaping and tackle environmental damage

Vapers have been warned not to stockpile soon-to-be-banned disposables before Sunday’s outright ban as they “pose a significant fire risk”.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said users were stocking up on single-use e-cigarettes while they could, as shops would face fines for selling them after the ban takes effect.

London transport body says allowing Bpas adverts on its network could bring police and City Hall into disrepute

Transport for London has blocked adverts that urge people to lobby their MPs to vote to decriminalise abortion from running on its network because it claims they could bring the police and City Hall into disrepute.

Parliament is expected to vote on whether to decriminalise abortion in England and Wales in the coming weeks, with amendments tabled to the crime and policing bill seeking to change the law.

Global trial shows immunotherapy drug significantly lowers chance of cancer spreading or returning

An immunotherapy drug can ward off head and neck cancers for twice as long as the standard treatment, in the biggest breakthrough in two decades.

Pembrolizumab stimulates the immune system to fight cancer, targeting a specific protein that enables the drug to wipe out cancer cells.

Doctor whose discovery helped create mifepristone was ‘guided by his commitment to progress made possible by science’

French scientist Étienne-Émile Baulieu, the inventor of the abortion pill, has died at the age of 98 at his home in Paris.

The doctor and researcher, who achieved worldwide renown for his work that led to the pill, had an eventful life that included fighting in the French resistance and becoming friends with artists such as Andy Warhol.

Currently women are only eligible for breast screening from the age of 50, but thousands are diagnosed younger

Millions of women in their thirties could be offered breast cancer checks on the NHS after a world-first trial identified those with a higher risk of developing the disease.

Currently, women are only eligible for breast screening from the age of 50. But about 10,000 women under 50 are diagnosed with breast cancer in the UK each year, including 2,400 in their thirties. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death in women aged 35 to 50.

Faaiza Munir responds to Archie Bland’s article about his son and shares her own life-altering experience

Archie Bland’s article about his son and his family’s experience mirrors that of my own family (The boy who came back: the near-death, and changed life, of my son Max, 24 May). My son, who is now nine years old, had a blood clot in his small intestine which led to two major life-saving operations in 48 hours, and a complete change in his health, capabilities and lifestyle. My life has now been for ever split between “Before 16 April 2023” (the day my son nearly died) and “After”.

Archie detailed the intense emotions of every step beautifully. One of the hardest things when you go through nearly losing a child, and having an altered child return to you, is the loneliness. He depicts this so well, as even if you are lucky enough to be surrounded by family and friends, it is hard to not feel as though you and your partner are the only two people in the world who are dealing with this fear, sadness, worry and desperate need to help your child.