A man has been charged with the murder of a 46-year-old woman found stabbed following a gas explosion at a house in London.

Clifton George, 44, will appear at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

He has also been charged with arson with intent to endanger life, the Metropolitan Police said.

Charity worker Annabel Rook was found fatally injured at a property in Dumont Road, Stoke Newington, northeast London, just before 5am on Tuesday.

In a statement following her death, Ms Rook’s family said they were “struggling to come to terms with this terrible tragedy”.

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“We have lost our beautiful daughter, sister, friend and mother. Annabel was a truly wonderful woman,” the tribute read.

“She touched the hearts of so many.

“She gave her life to helping the vulnerable and the disadvantaged whether it was in refugee camps in Africa or setting up MamaSuze in London, to enhance the lives of survivors of forced displacement and gender-based violence.”

When I got to Chequers on Sunday, the prime minister had clearly been up for most of the night and hitting the phones all morning with calls to fellow leaders in Europe and the Middle East, as he and others scrambled to try to contain a very dangerous situation. 

His primary message was to try to reassure the public that the UK government was working to stabilise the region as best it could and press for a return to diplomacy.

But what struck me in our short interview was not what he did say but what he didn’t – what he couldn’t – say about the US strikes.

It was clear from his swerve on the question of whether the UK supported the strikes that the prime minister neither wanted to endorse US strikes nor overtly criticise President Donald Trump.

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Instead, his was a form of words – repeated later in a joint statement of the E3 (the UK, Germany and France) – to acknowledge the US strikes and reiterate where they can agree: the need to prevent Iran having a nuclear weapon.

He also didn’t want to engage in the very obvious observation that President Trump simply isn’t listening to Sir Keir Starmer or other allies, who had been very publicly pressing for de-escalation all week, from the G7 summit in Canada to this weekend as European countries convened talks in Geneva with Iran.

It was only five days ago that the prime minister told me he didn’t think a US attack was imminent, when I asked him what was going on following President Trump’s abrupt decision to quit the G7 early and convene his security council at the White House.

When I asked him if he felt foolish or frustrated that Trump had done that and didn’t seem to be listening, he told me it was a “fast moving situation” with a “huge amount of discussions in the days since the G7” and said he was intensely pressing his consistent position of de-escalation.

What else really could he say? He has calculated that criticising Trump goes against UK interests and has no other option but to press for a diplomatic solution and work with other leaders to achieve that aim.

Before these strikes, Tehran was clear it would not enter negotiations until Israel stopped firing missiles into Iran – something Israel is still saying it is not prepared to do.

The US has been briefing that one of the reasons it took action was because it did not think the Iranians were taking the talks convened by the Europeans in Geneva seriously enough.

It is hard now to see how these strikes will not serve but to deepen the conflict in the Middle East and the mood in government is bleak.

Iran will probably conclude that continuing to strike only Israel in light of the US attacks – the first airstrikes ever by the US on Iran – is a response that will make the regime seem weak.

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But escalation could draw the UK into a wider conflict it does not want. If Iran struck US assets, it could trigger Article 5 of NATO (an attack on one is an attack on all) and draw the UK into military action.

If Iran chose to attack the US via proxies, then UK bases and assets could be under threat.

The prime minister was at pains to stress on Sunday that the UK had not been involved in these strikes.

Meanwhile, the UK-controlled airbase on Diego Garcia was not used to launch the US attacks.

There was no request to use the Diego Garcia base, the president moving unilaterally, underlining his disinterest in what the UK has to say.

The world is waiting nervously to see how Iran might respond, as the PM moves more military assets to the region while simultaneously hitting the phones.

The prime minister may be deeply opposed to this war, but stopping it is not in his gift.

GPs will be able to prescribe weight loss jabs on the NHS from today.

About 220,000 people with the “greatest need” are set to receive Mounjaro – with strict criteria for the first year of the rollout.

Initially, only those with a body mass index of over 40 who have at least four other health problems linked to obesity will be eligible.

Some doctors have raised concerns about the additional workload this new programme will bring, while pharmacists fear it could lead to supply shortages.

While an estimated 1.5 million people are now taking weight loss drugs across the UK, they could previously only be accessed through specialist services or private prescriptions.

Dr Claire Fuller from NHS England said: “We urgently need to address rising levels of obesity and prioritise support for those who are experiencing severe ill health – and greater access to weight loss drugs will make a significant difference to the lives of those people.”

She added: “While not everyone will be eligible for weight loss drugs, it’s important that anyone who is worried about the impact of their weight on their health discusses the range of NHS support available with their healthcare professional.”

The chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs welcomed NHS England’s decision to pursue a phased rollout, and said current workloads must be factored in to ensure the jabs can be prescribed safely.

Professor Kamila Hawthorne went on to say: “While weight loss medications have a lot of potential benefits for patients who are struggling to lose weight and who meet all the clinical criteria for a prescription, they mustn’t be seen as a ‘silver bullet’ to aid weight loss.

“We also need to see a focus on prevention, stopping people becoming overweight in the first place so they don’t require a medical intervention later.”

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Her remarks were echoed by the National Pharmacy Association’s chairman Olivier Picard, who says “prescribing these medications alone misses the point”.

He argued that they need to be part of a comprehensive strategy that includes lifestyle coaching, exercise and nutritional guidance – but many GPs currently “lack the bandwidth” to provide this support.

“As a result, we could end up in a situation where patients are prescribed the medication, lose weight, and then experience rebound weight gain once the course ends – simply because the foundational lifestyle changes weren’t addressed,” Mr Picard added.

Estimates suggest about 29% of the adult population is obese.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the government “is determined to bring revolutionary modern treatments to everyone who needs them, not just those who can afford to pay”.