News Daily: Thomas Cook collapse and Labour Brexit row

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Thomas Cook collapses

The effort to bring back 150,000 people to the UK – described as the country’s largest peacetime repatriation – has begun, following the collapse of tour operator Thomas Cook. The 178-year-old company has entered compulsory liquidation, putting 22,000 jobs worldwide at risk – 9,000 of them in the UK.

The Civil Aviation Authority and the government have hired dozens of planes to bring customers back free-of-charge. No one should be stranded, ministers say.

Meanwhile, Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom is urging the Insolvency Service to “fast-track” its investigation into what has gone wrong at Thomas Cook, described by one expert as “the mightiest brand in travel”. Here’s a history of the company.

Labour conference: Corbyn told to resolve Brexit divisions

Senior Remain-supporting figures in Labour are putting pressure on leader Jeremy Corbyn to say the party will back staying in the EU. Mr Corbyn’s policy is to let the public decide in another referendum, saying that his own stance would depend on what kind of deal he could reach with Brussels, if he becomes prime minister.

But shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour must “lead the campaign to remain”, and deputy leader Tom Watson argued that doing this would mean “we can deliver a Labour government”.

However, Unite union boss Len McCluskey has denied talk of divisions at Labour’s annual conference in Brighton as “fake news”. Members vote on Brexit policy later.

Here’s where all the main parties stand on Brexit.

Meanwhile, Labour is promising free personal care – help with washing, eating and dressing – in England for over-65s most in need of it.

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Emmy Awards: British stars win big

The Emmy Awards, celebrating top-quality television, have taken place, with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, creator of the BBC comedy series Fleabag winning three prizes. Killing Eve star Jodie Comer had a good night at the ceremony in Los Angeles too. Read the full details.

Plus, we have pictures from the red carpet. And take a look at six highlights from the ceremony itself.

The five-minute chat that led to refugee novel

By Duncan Leatherdale

Alix Extence was desperate to get her despondent husband out of the house after a hoard of publishers had rejected his first novel. So she signed him up to teach English to foreign nationals in their home city of Sheffield, hoping that would get him out of his slump.

It was at one such class that Gavin Extence met Zeyn, an Iranian refugee who, in a five-minute conversation, explained how he had fled Iran for the UK to seek asylum, including swimming across the Aegean Sea from Turkey to Greece. “It was eye-opening,” Extence says. “I was astonished. I went home and started looking at maps just to see how it could be done.”

Read the full article

What the papers say

Thomas Cook customers face a fortnight of “chaos” following the firm’s collapse, the Daily Mail warns on its front page, while the Sun focuses on the size of the efforts to get home those left on holiday. Meanwhile, the i says Labour faces “civil” war over Brexit, with the Daily Telegraph reporting that Jeremy Corbyn could be confronted with a “full-scale revolt” by MPs over his “neutral” position. Elsewhere, the Daily Star, in the latest of its splashes on “psycho” seagulls, claims TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson is being “terrorised” by them.