Friday briefing: How high energy bills make life harder for those ‘on the edge’ – in their own words

In today's newsletter: With price cap expected to reach 3,500, we hear from those with the least to spare on how they will cope

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Good morning. Even in a year where energy prices have dominated the news agenda, this is a significant day: Ofgem, the UK industry regulator, is due to announce a change to the energy price cap - with prices expected to go up from October to an annual maximum of more than 3,500. That number could be a staggering 5,300 by the new year.

For almost anyone, those prices will make a difference to their standard of living. But for the most vulnerable, such exorbitant costs will have a profound impact, and in many cases make an already difficult situation impossible.

Education | Headteachers in England are calling on ministers to delay the return of pre-pandemic exam conditions for another year, after GCSE results showed a disturbing gap in attainment between pupils in the north and south.

Ukraine | Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said the world narrowly avoided a radiation disaster" as the last regular line supplying electricity to Ukraine's Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was restored hours after being cut by shelling.

Health | The health secretary has been confronted outside a hospital by a woman who angrily criticised the government for doing bugger all" to fix record-high ambulance wait times. Steve Barclay was told the Conservatives had had long enough" to fix the NHS by a visibly angry member of the public.

Crime | Police say they have identified the second man seen fleeing the gunman who shot dead nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel. They said there had been a number of very positive lines of inquiry" that could lead to identifying the gunman, who is still at large.

Lobbying | A Conservative hereditary peer, the Earl of Shrewsbury, is under investigation for a second time by the House of Lords standards watchdog over allegations that he misused his parliamentary position to lobby for a firm that was paying him.

Michael Cragg hails the return of Britney Spears, whose comeback single Hold Me Closer (a duet with Elton John) is a sign of what could have been if Spears' megawatt pop-superstar shine hadn't been dimmed". Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters

Broadcaster Emily Maitlis delivered an excoriating lecture this week on the state of the BBC, criticising both sidesism", the pacifying" of government officials and interference from an agent of the Tory party" at her former employer. Charlie Lindlar, production editor, newsletters

Not an article but, as is occasionally customary here, a podcast recommendation for Decoder Ring. This series on cultural mysteries recently wrapped its latest season, and with episodes like the most famous poet no one remembers" and the first alien abductees", it's hard to resist. Hannah

With one last major tournament left before Serena Williams' retirement, Andrew Lawrence wonders how far the tennis great may go at the US Open. Be warned, you would have to be a fool to count her out". Charlie

Alexis Petridis has ranked Robbie Williams' 20 greatest songs and it's a total treat (even though I would've put Strong at number one). Hannah