Welcome to Thursday’s Early Edition from i.

If only there was a way to harness the amount of time and effort spent on discussing the energy crisis, and convert it into a novel solution to powering up homes this winter. Alas, there is not, and most political discussions have so far gone in circles while bills are still set to soar. Today, however, ministers will attempt to shift the dial, as Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi and Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng host a meeting with energy bosses. What’s on the table? We’ll take a look, after the headlines.  

A man accused of being part of the notorious “Beatles” terror cell accused of atrocities has been arrested on terror charges after arriving in the UK. Aine Davis flew into Luton Airport from Turkey, according to reports, where he had served a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence for being a member of a terrorist group.

The UK’s green and pleasant land has been turned into a sea of brown and yellow, striking satellite imagery shows. Nasa Worldview shots show scorched fields extending across much of southern and central England, reaching up the north-east coast towards Scotland. See the before and after pictures here.

One million children aged between one and nine in London will be offered a dose of polio vaccine to help prevent the first outbreak of the disease in 50 years. The decision by health officials follows the discovery of type 2 vaccine-derived poliovirus in sewage in north and east London earlier this year.

Residents in Northend, Oxfordshire, have resorted to using bottled water for everything – from filling troughs to bathing. “The worst thing is not being able to flush the toilet,” one says. Here’s what happens when a town runs dry.

Nicola Sturgeon says Liz Truss badgered her about “how she could get into Vogue” when they met at the Cop26 conference in Glasgow last year. The Scottish First Minister, speaking at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, said the Tory leadership contender looked like she had “swallowed a wasp” when she told her that she had appeared in the magazine several times.

Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights on Wednesday and refused to answer questions about a New York state investigation into his family’s business practices. The former president was to be deposed by lawyers for the state’s attorney general as part of a civil investigation lasting more than three years into whether the Trump Organisation misled lenders, insurers and tax authorities.

The US would suffer “devastating losses” in a full-scale conflict with China over the future of Taiwan, a Washington think-tank has said. The analysis by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies estimated that in “the worst scenario”, 900 American fighter and attack aircraft — equivalent to half the US Air Force and Navy’s combat planes — would be lost in four weeks.

Satellite images appear to show extensive damage and at least eight Russian warplanes at a Crimea airbase. The images, from the US-based Planet Labs, show large areas of scorched earth left from fires that had erupted.

Jerry Hall has asked judges to dismiss her divorce case against Rupert Murdoch, which she filed just five weeks ago. The document says the divorce should be dismissed without prejudice, meaning that it can be revived. It is not clear why she filed the dismissal, or if they had agreed to settle out of court.

It might be the land of pizza – but Domino’s has had to pull out of the Italian market after failing to take off. The US pizza chain has been forced to depart from the country, after only opening 29 of a targeted 880 outlets. “It would have been very strange if [Domino’s] had worked here,” said one pizzeria owner in Naples, the birthplace of the margherita pizza.

more Tory leadership hustings, this time in Cheltenham. 

The next Tory U-turn desperately needs to be their attitude towards state support, writes Paul Waugh. A proper social security safety net should be for life, not just for Christmas crises, he says.

Society’s most vulnerable won’t survive more heatwaves without better designed homes, writes Tassos Kougionis.

Don’t give up on dating younger men just yet, Lucy Holden says in a message to Kim Kardashian. They might not do their laundry or text back, but young-guns have a lot to offer, she writes.

Raymond Briggs pretended to be a curmudgeon, but I met the real him, writes Etan Smallman. The Snowman writer and illustrator, who died this week aged 88, was a world away from his grumpy public persona.

New data reveals Britons sweltered in “lethal” conditions during the July heatwave, with average temperatures in homes reaching 29°C in July. With another heatwave on the way, here is how best to cope.

An utterly unpredictable US Open shows Serena Williams is leaving the world she created. Williams is bowing out after the US Open, and while Iga Swiatek is favourite the list of recent champions at Flushing Meadows proves nothing is certain yet.

It was 1995, and four 10-year-old boys decided to write a note and place it in a bottle, before throwing it into a bayou in La Marque, Texas. “If you find this please call,” the note said, including two phone numbers. “If not home, leave it on answer machine. Please leave phone #.” Typically, they forgot about it. Until this summer – some 27 years later, when a clean-up volunteer stumbled upon it. “To see my handwriting and my friends’ names was a surreal and emotional thing,” Brian Standefer, who wrote the note, said.

All rights reserved. © 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited.