From travel to vaccine passports, Covid policy is a mess because the prime minister struggles with the concept of protocolAre we nearly there yet? It is the backseat question that haunts long journeys, except in Britain’s pandemic road trip the impatie…
Shattered and scarred: Beirut’s devastation then and now – in pictures
One year on from the huge explosion in the port of Beirut in Lebanon the devastation from the blast is still visibleAt least 200 people were killed, and more than 6,000 injured in the Beirut blast that devastated the port area on 4 August 2020. The exp…
Suspected tanker hijacking off UAE coast is over, says British military
Armed group has left the Panama-registered Asphalt Princess, says British navy, after initial reports Iranian-backed forces had raided vesselA group of armed men who boarded a tanker off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Gulf of Oman have le…
Illegally sterilised Czech women to be offered compensation
Hundreds of mostly Roma women were threatened, tricked or bribed into being sterilised until 2012Women sterilised without their consent are to be offered compensation in the Czech Republic after President Miloš Zeman signed a bill into law this week. T…
Workers return to Bangladesh’s garment factories despite record Covid deaths
Hundreds of thousands flock to cities as government allows manufacturers to reopen, with exporters citing fears Western brands would divert ordersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageHundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi garment w…
Tencent curbs on gaming time will shock markets but please many parents
China’s regulators are on the march again but moves to restrict children’s access may be welcomed by manyChina’s Tencent tightens games controls for childrenChina’s regulators are on the march again, pushing one of the country’s most valuable technolog…
Weatherwatch: Cardiff taps into its subterranean heat
Pioneering scheme in Welsh capital uses groundwater boreholes to take advantage of urban warmthThe air in urban areas can be up to 3C (5.4F) warmer than in the surrounding countryside, known as the urban heat island effect. But less well known is that …
A year on from Beirut explosion, scars and questions remain
Lebanese capital remains a shell of a city as efforts to find who is to blame for tragedy have made little progressWhen his workplace blew to pieces, dockworker Yusuf Shehadi was waiting to hear back from colleagues who had scrambled to help firefighte…
North Korea wants sanctions eased on metal, fuel and ‘liquor and suits’ to restart US talks
Amid economic crisis, Kim Jong-un wants restrictions relaxed on necessities as well as luxury goods, South Korea lawmakers sayNorth Korea wants a raft of international sanctions eased – including on imports of luxury items such as high-class liquors an…
Coronavirus live news: England and Wales deaths reach three-month high; Indonesia struggles with surge in cases
Latest updates: Covid deaths registered in England and Wales in the week ending 23 July up 50%; Indonesia’s health workers struggle under weight of new casesUS reaches Biden’s 70% first-shot goal as threat to unvaccinated people growsHundreds of health…