Japan is racing to build up its armed forces in the face of increased political and military assertiveness by China, even as it struggles to reconcile the nationalist ambitions of its prime minister with the demands of its pacifist constitution.

In a defence white paper Shinzo Abe’s government spelt out its growing anxiety about China and the urgency of upgrading the Self-Defence Forces, as its army, navy and air force are called. It condemns Beijing’s almost daily dispatch of ships into areas around disputed islands that are controlled by Japan but claimed by the Chinese.

Monica Gomez, the councillor responsible for the town’s beaches, on the Costa Blanca in south-east Spain, claimed tranquillity had been the ‘tonic of the day’.

But visitors and locals moaned they had been waiting for up to two hours at reservation stands set up for sunseekers who couldn’t or didn’t want to pre-book online.

The US education secretary Betsy DeVos has also backed Trump’s demands, despite a long history of championing local control and pushing back on federal mandates.

The administration’s rush to reopen has been met with alarm, particularly among education and healthcare professionals, who worry it could hasten the spread of the virus and put students and teachers in danger. On Friday, the president of one of the country’s biggest teaching unions called the president’s plan “reckless”.

He added: “It is my strong and sincere hope that we will be able to review the outstanding restrictions and allow a more significant return to normality from November at the earliest – possibly in time for Christmas”.

Patrick Vallance, the chief scientific adviser, and Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, were not at Mr Johnson’s side at a press conference in Downing Street in which he announced a cautious lifting of the government’s ‘work from home’ message.

Police suspected Ms Taylor’s flat was used to receive drugs from a gang situated 10 miles away.

She reportedly dated one of the suspects involved in the drug network.