Mural artist Hussein Sabbagh, 13, one of 27 children killed in government attacks in north-west Syria in two monthsAmid the rubble of bombed homes in Binnish, a town in north-west Syria, a brightly painted mural stands out. The image shows an intact house, with love hearts streaming from the windows. Overhead, however, the dark silhouettes of birds are accompanied by helicopters, warplanes and missiles, and the garden’s red and yellow flowers look like flames.Related: Syria: Assad shells former opposition stronghold Deraa Continue reading...

Foreign secretary backs Israeli PM’s claims Iran was behind attack that killed one Briton and one RomanianThe UK has said it is “highly likely” that Iran carried out an “unlawful and callous attack” on a ship in the Middle East, which left a Briton dead.The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, said the government believed the drone attack on the oil tanker off the coast of Oman was “deliberate, targeted, and a clear violation of international law by Iran”. Continue reading...

Railway folly | Barclays bonus | Country diary | Dinner in Ireland | Mixed-up names | New heights for CovidSimon Jenkins makes compelling points regarding HS2, but surely the reality is that it cannot now be stopped (Depleted and unwanted, HS2 hurtles on as Johnson’s £100bn vanity project, 30 July). Were sense ever to prevail, then across London and the home counties, half-abandoned projects would for ever stand like the legs of Ozymandias. They would be enduring testaments to folly, and so cannot be permitted to remain as they would for ever point a finger towards those (ir)responsible. The rest of us can but despair – and pay.

Verdict due in case that could lead to Palestinians being forcibly displaced to make way for Jewish settlersIsrael’s supreme court is due to make a decision on whether to evict Palestinian families from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, in a final hearing in the controversial case that helped spark communal violence inside Israel and a new war with Hamas earlier this year.A verdict in the deeply contentious case, which could lead to the neighbourhood’s current residents being forcibly displaced to make way for Jewish settlers in a decades-old dispute, is expected on Monday morning. Continue reading...

Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir went into the city to protect their business as rioters clashed with police but never returnedIn her golden years Rukaya Begum’s home should have been full of the patter of grandchildren’s feet and the hustle of family get-togethers but instead there is an overwhelming silence.On 9 August 2011, Begum had been surrounded by her family; her husband, Ghazanfar, her three sons, Abdul Quddoos, Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir, and her daughter, Sumera Ali. It was Ramadan and she remembers in detail the food that she had cooked that night – keema kebabs, masala haandi with warm chappattis and sweet fruits for pudding. Just before they sat down for the family meal her son, Shazad, had affectionately fed her a date to break her fast. Continue reading...

Afghan forces defend western city of Herat and Lashkar Gah in south as Kandahar airport hit by rocketsThe Taliban escalated its nationwide offensive in Afghanistan on Sunday, launching renewed assaults on three major cities and rocketing a major airport in the south amid warnings that the conflict is rapidly worsening.As Afghan government forces struggled with a resurgent Taliban following the withdrawal of US-led foreign forces, hundreds of commandos were deployed to the economically important western city of Herat while authorities in the southern city of Lashkar Gah called for more troops to rein in the assaults. Continue reading...

Man is in custody after what police described as ‘domestic incident’ in Ty Mawr in TowynA man has been arrested after a 15-year-old girl died at a holiday park in north Wales.Police officers were called to Ty Mawr holiday park in Towyn, near Abergele, on Saturday afternoon to attend what police described as a “domestic disturbance”. Continue reading...

The Home Office appears to be in breach of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, says legal charityEuropean citizens who have applied for settled status are being detained and threatened with deportation, a development that contradicts assurances from ministers and appears to contravene the Brexit withdrawal agreement.The Home Office has served EU nationals with removal directions even though they could prove they had applied for settled status, which should protect their rights to remain in the UK. Continue reading...

Experts say mandates could be a logical step to contain the spread of the virus as cases of the Delta variant rise

Sailing into imperial delusions is no way to run foreign policyWhat would Jack Aubrey have made of it? When Patrick O’Brian’s fictitious Royal Navy hero sailed HMS Surprise to the far side of the world, the enemy was the USS Norfolk, a lone American frigate marauding in the Pacific. Full speed ahead from the war of 1812, to 2021, and today’s maritime sparring partners are HMS Queen Elizabeth, Britain’s new £3bn aircraft carrier, and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army navy and its 360 “battle-force” ships.It’s hardly an equal fight, though that would not have stopped Captain Aubrey. In any case, the government insists, slightly disingenuously, that it is not courting confrontation by parading modern-day gunboats under Beijing’s nose. The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, says the aim is “fly the flag for Global Britain”. Thus do deluded Brexiters spread their foolish, neo-imperial fantasies to points as distant as the hotly contested South China Sea. Continue reading...

Delta variant blamed for rise in cases in 14 provinces; UK records a further 71 deaths

Officer morale sinks in the 43 forces as attacks rise by 20% during the Covid crisisA major increase in attacks on police has been recorded during the pandemic, according to official figures revealing that there were more than 100 assaults on officers in England and Wales every day.With senior police figures warning that officers have faced deliberate spitting and coughing since the start of the crisis, it has emerged that there were 36,969 assaults on police in the year that followed the outbreak in March 2020. It represented a 20% rise on the previous year Continue reading...

200,000 take to the streets to oppose proof-of-vaccination for hospitals, trains, and cultural and leisure centres

Even by the standards of this extraordinary cases, this was a remarkable weekAfter two full days giving evidence Mohammed Hanifa Fatih was formally excused.But he wasn’t yet finished. Continue reading...

WG Sebald’s writing on the Holocaust was driven by the anger and distress he felt over his father’s service in Hitler’s armyHis books are saturated with despair. Over and over again, his emotionally traumatised characters are caught – inescapably – in plots that doom them to a life of anguish. Often, they kill themselves.Now, the psychological wounds and suicidal thoughts that blighted WG Sebald’s own life and secretly inspired him to begin writing fiction are to be laid bare for the first time in a forthcoming biography. Continue reading...

Beijing police detain the ex-boy band member after social media allegations of date rapeChinese-Canadian pop star Kris Wu has been detained by Beijing police on suspicion of rape.The 30-year-old former member of the Korean boyband EXO had previously been accused by a teenager of having sex with her while she was drunk. Wu denied the accusation. Continue reading...

Report after report is reaching the same conclusion: exporters, including many in the red wall, will be suffering for a long timeBrexit is beginning to take its toll. Trade with the EU is suffering and foreign investment is heading south. Neither trend is temporary and both harm the government’s stated aim of “levelling up” regions that until now have depended on overseas trade to create well-paid jobs.It’s not clear if the red wall has noticed. Or anyone among the 17.4 million people who voted for Brexit. So far, all the in-depth polling shows there is little movement on the vexed question of EU membership. Continue reading...

A massive landslide in the Sirmaur district of Himachal Pradesh in India has led to a road collapsing down the side of a mountain. The footage, captured on 30 July, has been widely shared on social media and Indian news channels. It is not clear whether there were any casualties. There have been incidents of landslides in the area amid heavy rains. Recently a huge rockfall hit the Sangla valley, destroying a bridge, cars and killing at least nine tourists Continue reading...

The spiritual leader has mused that he may return as a woman. But his succession has turned into a political battleA couple of years ago, during a meeting of Tibetan leaders in Dharamshala in India, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was asked about his reincarnation. Addressing the room of monks, religious teachers and Tibetan politicians, the Dalai Lama asked them to look into his eyes. “Do you think it’s time now?” he asked.It was a meeting that would end with the Tibetan leaders agreeing that the issue of reincarnation was one that would be decided only by the Dalai Lama himself. But China, which annexed Tibet in 1951 and has retained tight control over the region ever since, has other ideas. It insists that the choice of the next Dalai Lama lies only with China, and have even enshrined this right into Chinese law. Continue reading...

So often we interact with the world via phones and apps, but what if you struck up a converastion with a random person? A growing body of research suggests we shouldIt’s 7am on a Monday and my heart is racing. Normally my Mondays are reserved for tedious activities, but this morning I’m chasing a high. I’m not in a nightclub greeting sunrise with a tequila, sadly, but in an east London café. The source of my palpitations? I’m steeling myself to strike up a conversation with an unsuspecting man a few tables away.Given that I’m a journalist who interviews people for a living, you might think I’m being overly dramatic. But talking to strangers can be terrifying. The unpredictability of how they will respond to your overture, and the possibility of rejection, is paralysing. Perhaps the worst fear of all: might they find me annoying? Continue reading...

Boy was reported missing early on Saturday morning in Sarn village, north of BridgendThe body of a missing five-year-old boy has been found in a river in south Wales.Police were called at 5.45am on Saturday to a report of a missing child in Sarn, Bridgend. The boy’s body was later found in the Ogmore River near Pandy Park. Continue reading...

Suspect arrested after police officers saw man on ground surrounded by group of males – who fled sceneA murder investigation has been launched after a dying man was discovered surrounded by a group of males in High Wycombe.Thames Valley police said its officers were on patrol in the town, in Buckinghamshire, when they saw the man, in his 50s, on the ground in the early hours of Saturday. Continue reading...

Owners blame ‘low consumer confidence’ and confused government messages for poor post-‘freedom day’ attendancesNightclubs in England have seen low attendances and been forced to cancel events as the pandemic continues to disrupt the nightlife industry almost two weeks on from “freedom day”.Many operators blamed “low consumer confidence” in the face of confusing government messages about whether it was safe to attend. Continue reading...

Anti-lockdown protests planned in Sydney fail to materialise as police enforce exclusion zone

President Pedro Castillo completes his cabinet after causing shockwaves with appointment of controversial Guido Bellido as prime ministerAfter 24 hours of uncertainty and the worst Friday in years on the stock exchange, Peru’s new president, Pedro Castillo, has completed his cabinet, swearing in the moderate leftist economist Pedro Francke as finance minister, and in the process calming jittery investors and anxious Peruvians alike.Aníbal Torres was also sworn in, as justice minister, on Friday, filling the remaining empty cabinet posts. The rest were sworn in late on Thursday, amid deep unease over Castillo’s choice of prime minister, Guido Bellido, who is under investigation for allegedly defending the Shining Path, a Maoist rebel group that killed tens of thousands of Peruvians in the 1980s and 1990s, and is also accused of making homophobic remarks. Continue reading...

Human Rights Watch says army’s suppression of protests has included torture and murder, as small protests mark milestoneHuman Rights Watch has accused Myanmar’s military junta of crimes against humanity as small groups of protesters marked six months since the armed forces seized power.Bands of university students rode motorbikes around the country’s second-largest city Mandalay on Saturday waving red and green flags, saying they rejected any possibility of talks with the military to negotiate a return to civilian rule. Continue reading...

Snap three-day lockdown in Brisbane and surrounding areas of Queensland, while WHO urges containment ‘before more dangerous variants emerge’

Reporter Matilda Boseley tests your knowledge of the funniest and most bizarre moments from Australia’s Covid pressers in our new Saturday quiz seriesAustralians the country over have adopted a dark and destructive pastime. It may be vital to our very survival, but overindulge and you will find yourself a nervous wreck, rocking back and forth, or – even worse – falling in love with a chief health officer.I am of course talking about the daily spectacle of the Covid-19 press conference. Continue reading...

New Zealanders stranded abroad are growing increasingly frustrated with the country’s over-subscribed quarantine systemIn the age of coronavirus, New Zealand can seem like an idyll: a tightly sealed hermit kingdom, recently rated best place to survive global societal collapse, and one of the last countries in the world to evade incursions from the Delta variant. But the walls of fortress New Zealand aren’t only successful at keeping out Covid-19.With demand for government-required quarantine greatly exceeding the supply of spaces, desperate New Zealanders are going to enormous lengths – employing bots, coders, and $2000 booking assistants – to try to secure entry to the country. For many, the emotional and psychological toll is enormous. Continue reading...

Lewis Hughes, 24, handed suspended sentence over incident involving England’s chief medical officerA former estate agent left Prof Chris Whitty “humiliated” after he put him in a headlock when England’s chief medical officer declined to take a photo with him.Lewis Hughes, 24, of Romford, Essex, put his future at risk with “10 seconds of madness” when he accosted Whitty in St James’s Park in central London last month, Westminster magistrates court heard. Continue reading...

Actor best known for Vera Drake takes over from Olivia Colman for fifth series about the UK royal familyThe first image of Imelda Staunton in character as the Queen in season five of The Crown has been revealed.Staunton has taken over from the Golden Globe winner Olivia Colman, as the fresh series ushers in a new era for the royal family. Netflix gave fans a first glimpse of Staunton as the monarch while she was still filming the next instalment of the Netflix show. Continue reading...

High court judge issues ruling after man was denied antiretroviral medication for four daysThe Home Office failed to put in place systems to protect detainees with HIV, a high court judge has ruled, after a man was denied lifesaving medication for four days.The landmark ruling found that in failing to adequately care for people with HIV the Home Office breached article 3 of the European convention of human rights, which protects against inhuman and degrading treatment. Continue reading...

Long after two people have gone their separate ways, some partings still rankle. Readers reflect on the beloved items they left behindEven though my breakup was amicable, I felt a lot of guilt – so when I moved out I said: “Keep it all.” But, in the years since, there have been a few items of kitchenware that I wish I’d held on to: a Le Creuset casserole dish, my favourite mug, a digital cooking thermometer, the plastic bowl attachment for my stick blender (the blender itself I retained at her insistence, but I forgot all the accessories that came with it). There never seemed like a good time to ask for any of it back – I hope she’s at least getting some use out of them. Anonymous, Australia Continue reading...

Poplar and Limehouse MP acquitted over claims she withheld information to get social housingThe Labour MP Apsana Begum has been cleared by a jury over claims of housing fraud, in a prosecution brought by Tower Hamlets council, which claimed she had withheld information about her circumstances to obtain social housing.The Poplar and Limehouse MP, who was first elected in 2019 with a 28,904 majority, was acquitted on three counts of housing fraud between 2013 and 2016 at Snaresbrook crown court in east London following a week-long trial. Continue reading...

Measures in Tokyo also extended until 31 August, after the Olympics and well into the Paralympics

Advanz Pharma and former private equity owners were fined £100m by markets watchdogA pharmaceuticals firm that inflated thyroid drug prices by up to 6,000% over a decade paid out more than £400m to shareholders and directors during the same period.London-based Advanz Pharma – and its former private equity owners HgCapital and Cinven – were fined a combined £100m by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on Thursday. Continue reading...

With former president’s political rights restored, polls suggest he would thrash Jair Bolsonaro if he stands for electionAnazir Maria de Oliveira has a simple message for the man they call Lula.“Comrade, I want you back,” said the 88-year-old union veteran and black activist as she celebrated the return of her “guru” to Brazil’s political fray. Continue reading...

Key voices reflect on the events that sparked civil unrest across the UK and impacted a generation of young people

Data analysis finds large-scale cuts to youth services and increase in racial disparity 10 years on

Measures condemned by media and rights groups as attempt to shut down negative news reports

Security guard Steve Bouquet, 54, finally captured on CCTV by a cat owner after attacks on 16 animalsA security guard who killed cats in a string of attacks in Brighton has been jailed for more than five years.Steve Bouquet, 54, a shopping mall security guard from Brighton and Hove, had denied 16 counts of criminal damage in relation to cats and one count of possession of a knife but was convicted last month. Continue reading...

When will life go back to normal? When can Australians fly overseas? How soon will lockdowns become a thing of the past? Here’s what we know about the national pandemic exit plan

Grant Shapps defends decision to put France on UK’s amber-plus list over Beta variant threat

Fans in Nobel prizewinner’s favourite haunt of Key West hold their 40th competition on his birthdayErnest Hemingway is survived as much by his macho mythology as he is by his writing. Hemingway was in two plane crashes in two days. Hemingway shot himself in both legs while wrangling a shark. Hemingway had at least nine major concussions – and four wives. He had brain damage. He won the Pulitzer and the Nobel prize. He hunted and fished and wrote plays and books and articles and stories, for ever in pursuit of the truest sentence. He was rageful, charming, violent, brilliant and drunk.Hemingway is also something of a Key West mascot, especially for a week every July, when a festival called Hemingway Days, which coincides with his birthday (this year, he would be 122) honours his legacy by gathering his lookalikes together. Continue reading...

Former waiter Tong Ying-kit is first person charged and tried under draconian law introduced last yearThe first person charged and tried under Hong Kong’s draconian national security law has been sentenced to nine years in jail after he was convicted of secession and terrorism for crashing his motorbike into police officers while flying a protest flag.Tong Ying-kit, a 24-year-old former waiter, was convicted on Tuesday by a three-judge panel appointed by Hong Kong’s leader to hear national security cases. On Thursday, he was sentenced to six and a half years for the secession offence and eight years for terrorism, with two and a half years of the latter sentence to be served consecutively. Continue reading...

Exclusive: UN body warns ministers they must do more to protect Britain’s historic landmarksUK cultural landmarks such as Stonehenge could be stripped of their coveted World Heritage status unless the government curbs “ill-advised development” and protects historic sites for future generations, a Unesco chief has warned.Dr Mechtild Rössler, the director of Unesco’s World Heritage Centre, urged ministers to “do everything” they can to conserve the UK’s treasures after Liverpool became only the third place in nearly 50 years to lose its revered title. Continue reading...

Man who may have attended anti-lockdown protest in Sydney tests positive; Dfat reveals numbers of stranded Australians by country; NSW will vaccinate 20,000 year 12 students over five days, as state records 170 local Covid-19 cases overnight; three local cases recorded in Victoria. Follow latest updates

Group hopes to raise passenger capacity for summer to about 45% of its 2019 pre-Covid capacity