NHS boss urges more DNA testing | Hammond stands firm on pay | Father of youngest Manchester victim speaks

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By Justin Parkinson

NHS boss calls for more gene testing

Could cancer patients be routinely offered DNA tests to improve their diagnosis and care? The chief executive of NHS England, Dame Sally Davies, is calling for her "genomic dream" to happen within five years.   Humans have about 20,000 genes - bits of DNA code or instructions that control the workings of our bodies - and tiny errors can lead to cancer and other illnesses.

Hammond stands firm over pay

Several of his cabinet colleagues have made known that they want the 1% pay-rise cap for public sector workers dropped, but Chancellor Philip Hammond has rejected any suggestion that he's going to "take the foot off the pedal" . He said he understood many people were "weary" after seven years of austerity, but told a business leaders' dinner it was essential to get the "right balance between being fair to our public servants and fair to those who pay for them".

Hammond's public sector pay challenge   The Treasury knows it is in a difficult position - and must be heaving a sigh of relief that the health service pay review body is not due to report until next spring.           Read full analysis >          Kamal Ahmed Economics editor

Government 'in the dark' over vulnerable children

England's children's commissioner says 670,000 young people are thought to be living in high-risk family situations , many of those with parents who suffer addictions. And councils say 200,000 are judged to have experienced trauma or abuse. But commissioner Anne Longfield thinks the figures available need to be more up-to-date and that ministers are "in the dark" about the true level of suffering. The government said it recognised the "scale of the challenge" and was taking action.

Youngest Manchester bomb victim's father speaks

This would have been Saffie Roussos's ninth birthday. She was the youngest of the 22 victims of the suicide bombing of the Manchester Arena in May. Saffie's father Andrew has told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme his daughter was a "stunning young girl". "She was a joker," he said. "She was a huge character. She was just everything you could wish for in a little girl."

What the papers say

Several newspapers report on the discussions among senior ministers over the cap on pay increases for public sector workers. The Daily Mirror calls for a "decent rise" for "heroes" in the emergency services, while the Times says Chancellor Philip Hammond is coming under pressure to scrap or delay tax cuts in order to fund higher pay. Meanwhile, Metro splashes on the proposed demolition of a notorious children's home in Jersey, Haut de la Garenne, found to have been a centre of "child slavery, bullying and sex abuse".

Daily digest

IS fight US-backed Syrian forces breach wall of Raqqa's Old City       On a roll Subway plans another 500 UK outlets by 2020       Love hotels Cuba brings back by-the-hour rooms       Stars and Stripes, in Suffolk Life in England's "Little America"

If you watch one thing today   'Last in the line' of Gipsy palm readers

If you listen to one thing today   Cold War: The fall of Khrushchev

If you read one thing today   Ascension:  The unreachable Island

Today's lookahead

12:30 A French judge rules on the case the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge brought against Closer magazine for publishing topless photos of the duchess while the couple were on holiday in 2012.       22:15 President Donald Trump and his wife Melania join a military families' picnic on the White House lawn, as the US marks Independence Day.

On this day     1954 Fourteen years of food rationing in Britain ends, as restrictions on the sale and purchase of meat and bacon are lifted.

From elsewhere       The World War Two refugees trying to help others (Washington Post)         What 24 hours in a squat taught me (Vice)             Coming of age with the Legend of Zelda (The Atlantic)       Where are the great tennis books? (Guardian)

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