Russia-Ukraine war: Odesa region hit by Russian missile attack, says area’s spokesman – live

‘Several’ missiles reportedly destroyed a recreation centre and private buildings

• Donetsk leader pledges cooperation with North Korea
• Ukraine aims to create chaos within Russian forces: Zelenskiy adviser
• What we know so far on day 175 of the invasion
  

Samantha Lock and Justin McCurry report:

North Korea and the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop “equally beneficial bilateral cooperation”, its self-appointed leader has said in a letter to Kim Jong-un, according to state media.

UK inflation hits 10.1% amid cost of living crisis as recession looms

ONS July figure shows further increase from 9.4% in June – rising to highest level since 1982

UK inflation has risen to 10.1%, adding to pressure on households amid the cost of living crisis.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics showed a further increase in July from 9.4% in June, as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI). The figure was last higher in February 1982.

A night at the races: out on the Speedway – in pictures

From broken-down bangers to boyhood fans, Henry Horenstein introduces his joyful 1970s images capturing the world of stock car racing before it became big business

• ‘You had to be quick’: Henry Horenstein on his breathtaking Speedway pictures
  

A moment that changed me: a scuba dive gone horribly wrong taught me the dangers of complacency

I was working on a boat on the Great Barrier Reef, when two crewmates began a 20-minute dive. Hours later, with rescue helicopters circling, there was still no sign of them

Twenty years ago, I took six months out from my NHS job as a psychologist to embark on a round-the-world trip. But, when I fell in love with scuba diving and took a job as a cook on a dive boat on the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia, I called my boss in England to tell her I wouldn’t be coming back.

After two days based at the diving school, the students would board a boat for a three-day trip. It was me they came to with their worries: “Are there sharks on the reef?”; “Are they dangerous?”; “Is it pitch black on a night dive?” I was the cook, but my psychology skills were put to good use.

‘People who move together’: the social power of house dance

From TikTok tutorials to street protests and celebrations, house dance is having a moment. Experts explain its liberating appeal

The closure of dance floors around the world during the Covid lockdowns didn’t harm the popularity of house and dance music. Instead it had a creative resurgence, as heard in albums such as Lady Gaga’s Chromatica and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia, which gave an escapist sense of dancing in the clubs. Both musicians said they wanted to give people happiness during challenging times.

House dance moves, too, boomed in popularity. The tutorials given by Mike Bredy AKA “Noodles” on TikTok went viral. Like many, I couldn’t stop smiling while practising as Bredy demonstrated basic steps such as the jumping, stomping “farmer” or the “skate” with its side-to-side leg and arm movements. Bredy, a 44-year-old New York native, Switzerland-based dancer and teacher, decided to provide a moment of fun for people to get through the pandemic – “even if it was just for one minute”.

Thai instant noodle makers seek government approval for first price hike in 14 years

Plea to government, which controls prices on some essentials, to allow rise as war in Ukraine and extreme weather drive up costs

Five major producers of instant noodles have urged the Thai government to allow them to increase their prices within a week, warning of soaring production costs affecting one of the country’s most popular grocery items.

The war in Ukraine, as well as droughts and floods over the past year, have caused the cost of wheat, energy and transport costs to rise sharply, affecting noodle prices across Asia.

‘I’m buying Manchester United’: Elon Musk ‘joke’ tweet charges debate over struggling club’s future

Billionaire’s claim was welcomed by fans unhappy about the team’s current American owners – but he quickly clarified he wasn’t serious

Tesla billionaire Elon Musk briefly electrified the debate about the future of Manchester United by claiming on Twitter that he is buying the struggling Premier League club – before saying that the post was part of a “long-running joke”.

He did not make clear his views on new coach Eric ten Hag’s controversial insistence on passing out from the back, or whether unhappy star striker Cristiano Ronaldo should be allowed to leave, but he did say that if he were to buy a sports team “it would be Man U. They were my fav team as a kid”.

Freeing of terrorist who killed Australian soldiers shows how the US gave Taliban leverage despite allies' objections | Ahmad Shuja Jamal

Many prisoners released under the US-Taliban deal took up arms again and then overran Kabul

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Many of the Taliban freed under the Doha Agreement took up arms, providing a deadly illustration of how the US-Taliban deal undermined the viability of the Afghan republic.

Hekmatullah, a Taliban infiltrator serving as a sergeant in the Afghan National Army, was involved in a so-called “green on blue” turncoat attack that killed three Australian soldiers in Uruzgan in 2012.

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Ian Foster endorsed as All Blacks coach through to 2023 Rugby World Cup

• Under-fire coach gets NZR vote of confidence after reversal of form
• Board unanimously agree Foster should see out his contract

Ian Foster has survived his performance review and will coach the All Blacks through to next year’s World Cup. Ending months of uncertainty, New Zealand Rugby on Wednesday backed the under-fire coach to stay on in the job.

The vote of confidence comes after the All Blacks’ gutsy 35-23 win over world champions South Africa at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park on Saturday. NZR board chair Stewart Mitchell said the win was “magnificent” before declaring Foster’s position safe.

Pakistan floods kill 580 and bring misery to millions

Government accused of inaction as downpours leave schools destroyed, homes ruined, crops failing and cholera on the rise

More than 580 people have died and thousands have lost their homes across Pakistan as torrential rains batter the country.

An estimated 1 million have been affected by heavy rainfall, flash floods and landslides since July as Pakistan endured more than 60% of its normal total monsoon rainfall in three weeks.

Welcome to the freeport, where turbocapitalism tramples over British democracy | George Monbiot

From Teesside to Plymouth, these ‘special economic zones’ are shrouded in secrecy – and exist solely to benefit big business

Democracy is the problem that capital is always striving to solve. To maintain its rates of profit, it seeks to drive down the taxes it must pay and annul the regulations that defend the living world, workers and consumers. This tends to be unpopular. Governments that permit beautiful places to be trashed, workers’ lives to be endangered and consumers to be conned might find themselves voted out of office. So fixes need to be found.

Political funding often does the job: research from the US shows how, generally, the party that attracts the most money wins. Distraction works pretty well, especially when it takes the form of culture wars. The billionaire press does a sterling job at misrepresenting our choices – to favour the very rich. But you can never be too careful. It’s safer, if possible, to bypass democracy altogether.

George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist

Stop drinking, keep reading, look after your hearing: a neurologist’s tips for fighting memory loss and Alzheimer’s

When does forgetfulness become something more serious? And how can we delay or even prevent that change? We talk to brain expert Richard Restak

You walk into a room, but can’t remember what you came in for. Or you bump into an old acquaintance at work, and forget their name. Most of us have had momentary memory lapses like this, but in middle age they can start to feel more ominous. Do they make us look unprofessional, or past it? Could this even be a sign of impending dementia? The good news for the increasingly forgetful, however, is that not only can memory be improved with practice, but that it looks increasingly as if some cases of Alzheimer’s may be preventable too.

Neuroscientist Dr Richard Restak is a past president of the American Neuropsychiatric Association, who has lectured on the brain and behaviour everywhere from the Pentagon to Nasa, and written more than 20 books on the human brain. His latest, The Complete Guide to Memory: The Science of Strengthening Your Mind, homes in on the great unspoken fear that every time you can’t remember where you put your reading glasses, it’s a sign of impending doom. “In America today,” he writes “anyone over 50 lives in dread of the big A.” Memory lapses are, he writes, the single most common complaint over-55s raise with their doctors, even though much of what they describe turns out to be nothing to worry about.

Defiant Scott Morrison resists pressure to resign, defends secret portfolios as ‘necessary’

Former PM says the powers he assumed could have been ‘misinterpreted and misunderstood’ and caused unnecessary angst if made public

• Australia news live: Scott Morrison says at press conference he didn’t reveal secret powers over concerns they would be ‘misinterpreted’
• Secret ministerial appointments made Australia vulnerable, home affairs minister says
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Scott Morrison says he will not resign from federal parliament after his five secret ministry self-appointments were revealed, defending his decision to keep those ministries concealed because he says he never exercised the powers he had.

Morrison, at a press conference in Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, struck a defiant tone and said he would remain as the member for Cook, despite growing calls from some even inside his own party for him to quit.

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Major cities blighted by nitrogen dioxide pollution, research finds

Shanghai, Moscow and Tehran have the highest levels of NO₂ pollution, according to the research

Cities in relatively prosperous countries are blighted by serious levels of air pollution from nitrogen dioxide, often without realising the extent of the problem, research has found.

Moscow is the world’s second worst city for nitrogen dioxide pollution, behind Shanghai in China, while St Petersburg takes fourth place. Other cities near Russia follow close behind, including Ashgabat, capital of Turkmenistan, and Minsk, capital of Belarus, at seventh and eighth place respectively, according to the research, published on Wednesday.

Residents of Athens’ lawless Exarchia Square resist metro station plan

Protesters say station is part of gentrification scheme aimed at altering historically leftwing area

The battle lines are drawn early in Exarchia Square – and in the depths of summer, they are rigorously defined. “By 6.30am we’re here,” says Chrysoula Papageorgiou, a bespectacled schoolteacher now involved in the fight of her life to stop a metro station being built in the historic plaza. “That’s just before the first construction workers arrive. As for them, they’re here 24/7.”

The “them” in this case is a shifting platoon of police, some equipped with shields and teargas, others in full battle dress and yet others in uniforms of simple blue. Papageorgiou is among the protesters who in energy-sapping temperatures have been meeting daily and chanting themselves hoarse at the lower end of the square.

Tree loss due to fire is worst in far northern latitudes, data shows

Forests in Russia are most affected, as scientists warn of escape of huge quantities of buried carbon dioxide

The boreal forests in the far northern latitudes have suffered more tree cover loss owing to fire in the last decade than any other place on Earth, with Russia losing more trees to fire than any other country, data has shown.

The boreal region is a huge stretch of coniferous forests that encircles the northern hemisphere taking in parts of Scandinavia, Estonia, Lithuania, Russia, Alaska and Canada, among other countries.

Liz Cheney loses Wyoming Republican primary to Trump-endorsed rival

The vice-chair of the House January 6 panel faced retribution from state voters for going against the former president

Liz Cheney has paid the price for her staunch opposition to Donald Trump’s assault on American democracy by losing her seat in Congress to a challenger backed by the former president.

The vice-chair of the January 6 committee was beaten by a conservative lawyer, Harriet Hageman – who has echoed Trump’s false claims of widespread voter fraud – in a Republican primary election to decide Wyoming’s lone member in the House of Representatives.

Donetsk self-proclaimed leader pledges ‘bilateral cooperation’ with North Korea

Russian-backed self-appointed leader writes Kim Jong-un a letter, shortly after Vladimir Putin said Moscow and Pyongyang would expand relations

North Korea and the Russian-occupied Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop “equally beneficial bilateral cooperation”, its self-appointed leader has said in a letter to Kim Jong-un, according to state media.

Denis Pushilin made the pledge in a message congratulating Kim on the 15 August Korean liberation day, North Korean state news agency KCNA reported, two days after reporting a similar message from Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to Kim.

The violent attack on Salman Rushdie – podcast

Columnist Nesrine Malik on the history of the fatwa against the author Salman Rushdie and power of his work

On Friday, the author Salman Rushdie was stabbed 10 times at an event in New York state. The attack comes 33 years after Iran accused him of blasphemy, and issued a fatwa against him following the publication of his book The Satanic Verses.

Rushdie, a British-American citizen born in India, has life changing injuries and is recovering in hospital.

Serena Williams bows out in Cincinnati as Emma Raducanu shows no mercy

• British No 1 breezes to 6-4, 6-0 win in first-round encounter
• Retiring American has won just once in last three tournaments

Even in the face of all-time greatness and unprecedented longevity that has spanned 27 remarkable years, time is undefeated and it will eventually come for us all. With every passing day, the end of Serena Williams’ professional tennis career draws alarmingly near and the chances of one final, spectacular result fades.

In what is likely the penultimate tournament of her great career, Williams bowed out of the Western and Southern Open in her opening round match with a grim performance, emphatically losing 6-4, 6-0 to a spotless Emma Raducanu who did not put a foot wrong throughout.

Russia-Ukraine war latest: what we know on day 175 of the invasion

Key Zelenskiy adviser says counteroffensive will aim to create ‘chaos within Russian forces’; Ukraine hints it was behind a series of recent strikes in occupied Crimea

• See all our Ukraine war coverage

There could be more attacks in the “next two or three months” similar to the strikes in Crimea, a key adviser to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said in an exclusive interview with the Guardian. Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine is engaged in a counteroffensive aimed at creating “chaos within Russian forces” by striking at the invaders’ supply lines deep into occupied territories.

Ukraine has hinted it was behind a series of mysterious and devastating strikes in occupied Crimea that destroyed a key railway junction used for supplying Russian troops and a military airbase. Several explosions on Tuesday appeared to have destroyed a Russian ammunition depot and an electricity substation about 125 miles (200km) from the frontline with Ukrainian forces. Russia blamed saboteurs for orchestrating the series of explosions.

The leaders of Ukraine, Turkey and the UN are set to meet to review the grain export deal in Lviv on Thursday. UN secretary general António Guterres, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will also discuss “the need for a political solution to this conflict” and the situation at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

Ukraine’s nuclear operator reported what it called an “unprecedented” cyberattack on its website, but said its operations have not been disrupted. “On August 16, 2022, the most powerful cyberattack since the start of the Russian invasion occurred against Energoatom’s website,” the operator said, adding it “was attacked from Russian territory”.

North Korea and the Russian-backed separatist Donetsk region of Ukraine will develop “equally beneficial bilateral cooperation”, Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said in a letter to Kim Jong-un, North Korean state media reported on Wednesday.

The first ship to depart Ukraine under a grain export deal docked in Syria on Tuesday, according to a shipping source and satellite data. Another ship carrying the first cargo of food aid bound for Africa also left Ukraine’s ports.

Russia’s defence ministry has warned Britain against a planned spy plane flight over Russian territory, saying its air force has been given orders to prevent an intrusion. The ministry said the UK sent a notice informing about a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes over Russian territory. “We regard this action as a deliberate provocation,” the ministry said.

Estonian authorities removed a Soviet-era tank from its pedestal in the eastern city of Narva, the most significant removal yet out of an estimated 200 to 400 such monuments that the government has pledged to take down by the end of the year. “No one wants to see our militant and hostile neighbour foment tensions in our home,” prime minister, Kaja Kallas, said on Tuesday. Estonia will also this week close its border to more than 50,000 Russians with previously issued visas.

Finland announced it will cut the number of visas it issues to Russians to 10% of current volumes from 1 September after Russian tourists begun using the country as a gateway to European holiday destinations. Finland will also join the Baltic states in jointly proposing the discontinuation of an EU visa facilitation agreement with Russia that makes it easier and cheaper for Russians to travel to and within the EU, foreign minister, Pekka Haavisto, said.

US issues western water cuts as drought leaves Colorado River near ‘tipping point’

Arizona, Nevada and Mexico affected as federal government steps in after states failed to reach agreement

After western US states failed to reach agreements to reduce water use from the beleaguered Colorado River, the federal government stepped in on Tuesday, issuing cuts that will affect two states and Mexico.

Officials with the Bureau of Reclamation declared a “tier 2” shortage in the river basin as the drought continues to pummel the American west, pushing its largest reservoirs to new lows. The waning water levels, which have left dramatic bathtub rings in reservoirs and unearthed buried bodies and other artifacts, continue to threaten hydroelectric power production, drinking water, and agricultural production.

Poland pulls 100 tonnes of dead fish from Oder river after mystery mass die-off

More than 500 firefighters deployed to haul in dead fish, using dams, boats, quad bikes and even a drone

Polish firefighters have recovered 100 tonnes of dead fish from the Oder river running through Germany and Poland, deepening concerns of an environmental disaster for which no cause has yet been identified.

“We’d never had an operation of this scope on a river before,” said Monika Nowakowska-Drynda from the national firefighter press office on Tuesday.

Spain wildfires: up to 20 injured after passengers break out of train engulfed by flames

Train driver was in process of reversing train out of danger when panicked passengers broke the windows to escape

As many as 20 passengers have suffered burns, three of them seriously, after they jumped from a train when it was engulfed by a forest fire near Castellón in north-east Spain.

The train, en route from Sagunto in the eastern province of Valencia, to Zaragoza, stopped while the driver, seeing that the fire meant it was too dangerous to proceed, was preparing to reverse the train.

UK starts dispute proceedings, claiming exclusion from EU scientific research

Liz Truss is seeking ‘formal consultations’ after Horizon programme grants to scientists under Brexit treaty were cancelled

The UK is triggering dispute proceedings with the EU, accusing it of breaching the Brexit treaty by freezing it out of scientific research programmes following the row over Northern Ireland.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary and Tory leadership frontrunner, said there had been a “clear breach” of the trade and cooperation agreement, with her department writing to Brussels requesting formal dispute talks.

Saudi woman given 34-year prison sentence for using Twitter

Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds University student, was charged with following and retweeting dissidents and activists

A Saudi student at Leeds University who had returned home to the kingdom for a holiday has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for having a Twitter account and for following and retweeting dissidents and activists.

The sentencing by Saudi’s special terrorist court was handed down weeks after the US president Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which human rights activists had warned could embolden the kingdom to escalate its crackdown on dissidents and other pro-democracy activists.

Rangers have to settle for draw with PSV Eindhoven after Obispo’s late header

Whether Rangers make a long-awaited return to the Champions League, or drop into the familiar surroundings of the Europa League, still hangs in the balance.

Against PSV, Rangers rode their luck, a goalkeeping disaster by Walter Benítez from Tom Lawrence’s free-kick gifting them their second goal, though there were flashes of the chaotic momentum that carried them to last season’s Europa League final. Next Wednesday in Eindhoven will be a familiar test of nerve.

Lückenkemper and Jacobs take 100m golds as Asher-Smith pulls up in final

• GB’s Daryll Neita beaten into third in tight European final finish
• Zarnel Hughes and Jeremiah Azu take silver and bronze

It was supposed to be a shootout for the ages, with the two fastest female British sprinters in history going toe-to-toe with pride, bragging rights, and a European 100m gold medal on the line. But on a wild and intoxicating night in Munich, Dina Asher-Smith pulled up with cramp and then her compatriot Daryll Neita blamed the same problem for robbing her of glory. It was staggering, discombobulating, and – frankly – very, very weird.

Asher-Smith admitted afterwards she had never had cramp in her life. Meanwhile Neita insisted that she had been so worried about an injury that she said a silent prayer. But as they shook their heads and licked their wounds, the huge 45,000 crowd in the Olympic Stadium got the miracle they craved as home favourite Gina Lückenkemper got up on the line to take a shock gold in 10.99sec.

Lula says Bolsonaro ‘possessed by devil’ as he launches Brazil election campaign

Leftwing frontrunner counters far-right president’s efforts to demonize him with evangelical voters in bitterly divided country

Brazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has formally launched his campaign to reclaim the presidency with a ferocious broadside against his rival, Jair Bolsonaro, who he claimed was “possessed by the devil”.

Lula’s rebuke came on the first official day of campaigning before Brazil’s October election when 156.5 million citizens will choose the next leader of a bitterly divided nation.

Papua New Guinea’s undocumented children face ‘perfect storm of vulnerability’

Just 15% of children in PNG have their birth registered. Without a birth certificate, trafficking and exploitation are far easier

When 11-year-old Mary’s mother remarried after her husband’s death, Mary was left in the care of an aunt who exploited her.

Her aunt sent Mary out on to the streets of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea’s capital, to sell small goods and forced her to slave at domestic work around the house. Mary has never been to school and is illiterate.

Leaked audio reveals Liz Truss said British workers needed ‘more graft’

Exclusive: Tory leadership frontrunner suggested Britons lacked ‘skill and application’, in echo of ‘idlers’ row

Liz Truss, now the Tory leadership frontrunner, launched an astonishing broadside against British workers, saying they needed “more graft” and suggesting they lacked the “skill and application” of foreign rivals, the Guardian can reveal.

In a leaked recording, the then No 2 at the Treasury also risked pitting Londoners against the rest of the country by attempting to explain the difference between the capital and other regions in the UK.

Darius Campbell Danesh, former Pop Idol star, dies aged 41

Singer and actor found dead in Minnesota, US, on 11 August but cause of death remains unknown

The former Pop Idol contestant and theatre star Darius Campbell Danesh has died at the age of 41, his family have announced.

The singer and actor was found dead in his apartment in Rochester, Minnesota, on 11 August. The cause of death is as yet unknown.

Manchester United size up Casemiro move with Adrien Rabiot bid set to fail

• France midfielder’s wage demands likely to scupper move
• Football director John Murtough exploring Casemiro bid

Manchester United’s attempt to buy Juventus’s Adrien Rabiot is almost certainly off because of the midfielder’s wage demands, and Real Madrid’s Casemiro is being explored as an alternative to strengthen this department of Erik ten Hag’s squad.

United had reached an agreed fee with Juventus of an initial £15m for Rabiot but the 27-year-old player’s mother and agent, Veronique, wished him to be paid more than many of the club’s top earners such as Bruno Fernandes, who receives around £240,000 a week. This is because the Frenchman is a free agent next summer.

Wolfgang Petersen, director of Das Boot and Air Force One, dies aged 81

German film-maker was known for action and suspense thrillers, including In the Line of Fire, Outbreak and The Perfect Storm

The German film-maker Wolfgang Petersen has died at the age of 81.

The Oscar-nominated writer-director was known for films such as Das Boot, Air Force One and In the Line of Fire. He died of pancreatic cancer at home in the company of his wife, Maria Borgel Petersen. His death was confirmed by his representative.

‘I’m always picking his brains’: Norrie faces old mentor Murray as favourite | Tumaini Carayol

The in-form Cameron Norrie has much to thank the former world No 1 for as they prepare to meet in Cincinnati

Five years ago, during the pre‑Wimbledon tournament at Queen’s Club, Cameron Norrie was in the midst of taking his first small step towards the top levels of professional tennis after college when he was granted a rare privilege. For the first time in his life, he had been drafted as a practice partner for the great Andy Murray. As an inexperienced wildcard about to meet the No 1 player in the world, he did not know what to do.

“He came up to me and introduced himself, which I thought was extremely humble of him and nice,” Norrie recalled, smiling. “I think I was practising with him later that week or in the afternoon. I was pretty tight: ‘Do I go and say hi to him or not? Does he even know who I am?’

England aim to reignite early summer fire but will be wary of South Africa | Ali Martin

Ben Stokes has made it clear England will maintain their high-octane Test tactics in the series opener at Lord’s

For those who prefer their international cricket played with a red ball rather than white, the past six weeks have required a great deal of patience. Ben Stokes has been among them, England’s Test captain itching to rekindle the magic that lit up the first half of the summer through those four rip-roaring victories against New Zealand and India.

To that end Stokes held a team meeting on Sunday when his players reconvened before the first Test against South Africa which starts on Wednesday; a refresher course intended to reaffirm the positive ethos that himself and the head coach, Brendon McCullum, are demanding.

Judge to consider unsealing Trump search affidavit as legal worries mount

Justice department says making Mar-a-Lago affidavit public could jeopardize investigation as White House lawyers receive subpoenas in separate case

A federal judge in Florida will hear arguments on Thursday over whether to make public an affidavit used to justify a search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate, as broadening legal disputes on multiple fronts intensify against the former president and his allies.

In a 13-page filing on Monday, the justice department objected to efforts to unseal the document, arguing that doing so would “jeopardize the integrity of this national security investigation” into Trump’s handling of some of the government’s most closely held records after leaving the White House. The prosecutors said that the affidavit that gave the FBI probable cause to search Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort contained sensitive information about witnesses who are key and acknowledged that its investigation involved “highly classified material”.

‘Nobody gave us a hope in hell’: 83, the feelgood film about India’s underdog cricket team

Director Kabir Khan shares his memories of India’s surprise World Cup win, and imbuing his unconventional biopic with generational weight

On Sunday night, one film did a clean sweep of the awards at this year’s Indian film festival of Melbourne: 83, an unconventional sports biopic and one of the best Bollywood crowd-pleasers in recent years. The comedy-drama won best film, best director for the renowned writer-director Kabir Khan and best actor for Ranveer Singh, who portrays Kapil Dev, the captain of India’s vastly underestimated and underfunded 1983 Cricket World Cup team who famously claimed victory against returning two-time champions the West Indies.

Khan was 15 when the final was played at Lord’s cricket ground in London, but he couldn’t grasp the magnitude at the time. “More than the match itself, I remember very distinctly thinking that day: why the hell has everyone gone mad?” he says. “Why are the grownup relatives of my family crying? Why are people dancing?”

Taiwan is now a touchstone issue for the UK, the US and for us in China. This is how we see it | Zheng Zeguang

After Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, relations between the countries are at a delicate stage. There must be no miscalculation

• Zheng Zeguang is the Chinese ambassador to the UK
• Chinese ambassador warns UK not to cross ‘red lines’ over Taiwan

Over the past weeks, the world has seen the resolute response from China after the visit to Taiwan of US House speaker Nancy Pelosi. Some people have asked why this is necessary. To understand, one needs to learn some history.

Taiwan has been an inalienable part of China’s territory since ancient times. Throughout history, the island has been twice lost and regained. During the colonial expansion of western countries, it was occupied by the Dutch for 38 years before it was recovered in 1662 by Chinese national hero Zheng Chenggong. When imperial powers were carving up the world among themselves, Taiwan was subjected to Japanese occupation for 50 years. The Cairo declaration of 1943 and the Potsdam proclamation of 1945 made it clear that Taiwan should be returned to China.

Zheng Zeguang is the Chinese ambassador to the UK

‘More profound than Breaking Bad’: goodbye Better Call Saul, the show like nothing else on TV

After 61 immaculate episodes, this cinematic, immersive drama ends today. It was visually beautiful, detail-oriented TV that became so much more than Vince Gilligan’s previous show

Farewell Saul Goodman: the star of the spin-off we never saw coming. When Jesse Pinkman drove off into the desert, leaving Walter White murdered by cartel goons at the end of Breaking Bad’s final episode nine years ago, the safe money would not have bet on Bob Odenkirk starring as the reptilian “Slipping” Jimmy McGill in a prequel that traced his mutation from small-time schlemiel into still more slimy attorney Saul Goodman.

It was more likely that glamorous slacker meth-cook Jesse would drive off to adventures new. Instead, of course, Aaron Paul went on to voice Todd in BoJack Horseman, who is essentially a more lovable Jesse minus the crystal blue persuasion.

Ukraine aiming to create chaos within Russian forces, Zelenskiy adviser says

Exclusive: Mykhailo Podolyak says Russian supply lines will be targeted and predicts similar attacks to last week’s explosion at Crimean airbase

• Russia-Ukraine war: live news

Ukraine is engaged in a counteroffensive aimed at creating “chaos within Russian forces” by striking at the invaders’ supply lines deep into occupied territories, according to a key adviser to the president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Mykhailo Podolyak told the Guardian there could be more attacks in the “next two or three months” similar to Tuesday’s mysterious strikes on a railway junction and an airbase in Crimea, as well as last week’s hit on Russian warplanes at the peninsula’s Saky aerodrome.

Russia warns Britain against planned spy plane overflight

Russia’s defence ministry says it considered the action a ‘deliberate provocation’

Russia’s defence ministry has warned Britain against a planned spy plane flight over Russian territory, saying its air force has been given orders to prevent an intrusion.

The ministry said on Tuesday that the UK had sent a notice informing about a planned flight of an RC-135 reconnaissance plane along a route that partly passes over Russian territory.

I let go of cleaning the house and embraced the mess. I chose myself | Saima Mir

After realising I had time to either do household chores or write, I decided to give up caring and be creative instead

When I lived alone, my sisters would joke that I’d have them eat over the sink if I could, to avoid crumbs.

I was organised. When I left the house at 6am for the early reporting shift at the local paper, you wouldn’t have known anyone had slept in my house. The bed was perfectly made, the breakfast things cleared away, the bathroom mirror wiped clean and the hairdryer placed neatly in the drawer.

Saima Mir is a freelance journalist and author of the 2021 novel The Khan

Who wants a lockdown one-liner? How comics are covering Covid at Edinburgh fringe

The festival is in full swing with audiences crammed into comedy clubs. But is our global pandemic the elephant in the room?

Comedian Sam Nicoresti starts his show with an elaborate sanitising ritual. Alex MacKeith kicks off with a number about lockdown with his dad: “One whole year,” he sings, appalled, “with one whole man.” Jacob Hawley apologises in advance for his in-yer-face opening gambit: “How many of you pussies have been vaccinated?” There’s no avoiding Covid-19 on the fringe this year – even as, at time of writing, the festival runs smoothly and largely infection-free. Covid cancellations are at a minimum, and everyone hopes – if we tiptoe – we might get to the end without the virus, that sworn foe of festivals everywhere, breaking out again.

This is the same virus that confronted us, after all, with what just two years ago seemed unthinkable: a fringe-free summer. When the following year only a radically slimmed-down event was possible amid ongoing Covid anxiety, many of us wondered whether the uncontainable highlight of our year, the world’s biggest arts festival and the event around which the UK’s live comedy calendar is constructed, would ever rise again. That’s the context in which many of us this year are experiencing a pinch-yourself fringe. Are we allowed to do this again? Are the crowds here in sufficient number to make it worthwhile? And – did somebody just cough?

Kenya opposition leader rejects election result as ‘null and void’

Raila Odinga’s comments on poll he was declared to have lost come after some officials disown final tally

The Kenyan opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has rejected as “null and void” the result of a presidential election that he was declared to have lost, and pledged to challenge the outcome with “all constitutional and legal options”.

Odinga said he would channel his complaints through “appropriate authorities”, in his first comments since William Ruto, the deputy president, was declared the winner with 50.49% of the vote by the electoral commission chair, Wafula Chebukati, on Monday.

Thunderstorms, zebras and a West Sussex prairie – Tuesday’s best photos

The Guardian’s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world

England must reduce meat intake to avoid climate breakdown, says food tsar

Henry Dimbleby says move is politically toxic but only way to achieve sustainable land use and avoid ecological breakdown

• Revealed: the most damaging farm products
• How can the UK reduce meat consumption and cut emissions?

The only way to have sustainable land use in this country, and avoid ecological breakdown, is to vastly reduce consumption of meat and dairy, according to the UK government’s food tsar.

Henry Dimbleby told the Guardian that although asking the public to eat less meat – supported by a mix of incentives and penalties – would be politically toxic, it was the only way to meet the country’s climate and biodiversity targets.

UK weather: Devon and Cornwall hit by heavy rain and flooding

Travel disruption expected as rain and thunderstorm warnings remain in place for much of UK

Torrential downpours have led to flash floods in parts of England and Wales as more areas were warned they face being deluged as a line of thunderstorms moves east.

Dramatic floods hit parts of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and south Wales. At the same time, a drought was formally declared in Yorkshire and more supply problems in Surrey led to dozens of homes suffering a fifth day without water.

Apologetic Darwin Núñez ‘has to control himself’, Virgil van Dijk warns

• Liverpool striker was sent off against Crystal Palace
• ‘We will always back him,’ Van Dijk adds

Virgil van Dijk has said Darwin Núñez needs to control himself after being sent off for violent conduct on his full Premier League debut for Liverpool. The Uruguay international, who tweeted an apology on Wednesday night, was “really stupid” to leave Liverpool with 10 men against Crystal Palace according to Joachim Andersen, the defender on the receiving end of Núñez’s headbutt at Anfield on Monday.

Liverpool, who are already without forwards Roberto Firmino and Diogo Jota because of injury, will lose their main summer signing for Premier League games against Manchester United, Bournemouth and Newcastle. He will not be available until the Merseyside derby at Everton on 3 September. In a brief tweet Núñez said: “Apologies to Liverpool all. I’ll be back.”

Nigel Slater’s recipe for fried prawns and watermelon

A vivid dish of sizzling spicy seafood and cool sumptuous fruit

Sizzling prawns in a savoury crust, with cool watermelon. A supper of contrasts.

In a shallow bowl, mix together 3 tbsp of Thai or Vietnamese fish sauce, 2 level tsp of dried chilli flakes, a grinding of black pepper and a couple of good pinches of sugar. Put 250g of medium-sized or large peeled prawns into the marinade and set aside for 30 minutes.

Delhi drinkers left dry after government’s alcohol policy U-turn

Aam Aadmi party’s decision to scrap plan to privatise sale of alcohol comes after pressure from rival BJP

All over the Indian capital, the sound of metal shutters being pulled down at off-licences has left drinkers high and dry.

The dry spell, expected to last until 1 September, is the result of Delhi’s government scrapping a new alcohol policy that would have allowed private companies to operate off-licences.

Labour has a plan to freeze bills and secure Britain’s energy supply. Why doesn’t the government? | Ed Miliband

The current crisis could drag half of UK households into fuel poverty, while the Conservatives support oil and gas giants

The cost of living emergency facing the British people is not an inevitable, unalterable fact of life. We are told so often by government ministers that the pain and anguish the British people are facing is something we have to get used to, and all we can do is tinker round the edges. This energy bill crisis will devastate millions of families and could force more than half of British households into fuel poverty. Unlike the Conservatives, Labour is not willing to stand by and allow that social catastrophe to happen. This is why Labour has proposed to freeze energy prices.

It’s important we understand the deeper lessons this moment teaches us. First, while some of the causes of this cost of living crisis are driven by global factors, its effects – who suffers, who pays and who government protects – are not predetermined. It is a deeply political decision: the Conservatives have opted to let families and businesses pay unsustainably high energy bills ​while oil and gas companies enjoy huge and unexpected profits.​

Ed Miliband is the Labour MP for Doncaster North and is shadow business, energy and industry secretary

Asian Americans are buying guns in record numbers. What’s caused this surge?

More than five million people became first-time gun owners during the pandemic as gun sales to the community rose by about 43%

Vivian Moon, a real estate agent and artist, had never felt particularly afraid as a woman living alone in Buena Park, a small California city outside Los Angeles. But when violent attacks against Asian women and seniors increased across the US early last year, she became disillusioned with the police’s ability – and willingness – to protect people who looked like her.

So, like many other Americans of Asian descent, she decided to buy a gun. “I realized I have to take ownership of how I want to live my life,” said Moon, 33.

‘It must have felt extraordinary’: the play inspired by English theatre’s first female actors

The company behind The Actress has dug into 17th-century archives to bring to life two pioneering women of the stage

On 8 December 1660, crowds gathered on Vere Street, off Oxford Street in London, where the King’s Company was performing Othello. The night was cold and windy, the sky prepped for a storm. For the first time in the history of professional English theatre, a woman was taking to the stage.

“It must have felt extraordinary,” says Eve Pearson-Wright, from the husband-and-wife company Long Lane Theatre. Its new production, The Actress, explores the era. “These women – who have lived through the Puritan era – are suddenly witnessing one of their own, up there on stage, going toe to toe with the men.”

My partner doesn’t masturbate – and gets frustrated when we don’t have sex

Parenting and housework take up so much of my time. Must I be responsible for his sexual satisfaction as well?

My partner doesn’t masturbate and he gets very frustrated and difficult to live with when we don’t have sex. I feel it’s unfair for all the responsibility to fall on me to relieve him of his sexual tension. It just ends up becoming a chore I have to do on top of the parenting, housework, etc. I want to get another opinion on whether this is fair, plus advice on how to manage a man’s expectations about how much sex couples with kids have in long-term relationships.

I suspect this is not really about masturbation, or even sex. There is underlying resentment between you, and it needs to be addressed before everything becomes worse. You believe there is an unfair arrangement – and this can only be resolved by you asking him for more help. Be specific, and approach him calmly – expressing your feelings without starting a fight. You deserve to be less stressed.

‘It’s much easier to stop someone lighting a match than to put out a 1,000-acre fire’

In Peru’s Sacred Valley, a community-led initiative is creating fire prevention brigades to stop devastating wildfires before they even begin

Peru’s Sacred Valley, the breathtaking landscape between Cusco and Machu Picchu, has always had a few conventional fire brigades, but anyone who has ever witnessed a bushfire will know there is little you can do once it takes hold.

While there is a place for carefully managed burning – at the right time of year and in the right weather conditions it can clear land of brush and understory – reckless burns can be catastrophic. “Years of hard work can be undone in a single day,” says Joaquín Randall, who has set up the NGO Valle Sagrado Verde, a reforestation project planting native trees such as huaranhuay, chachacomo, molle and tara in the Sacred Valley. “2020 was a really bad year. One fire burned 20,000 replanted trees in one go. Another killed eight people.”

Give grease a chance: inside an oily Pittsburgh factory – in pictures

Class, race and labour are all dissected in Gordon Parks’ 1940s photographs for the Standard Oil Company

Discreet Crete: exploring the Greek island’s gorges and ancient villages on a new eco-tour

Away from the bars and bustle, Crete’s spectacular White Mountains are opening up to sensitive and sustainable travel – with scrumptious food

‘Tonight there will be you and me and the goats,” my guide Vassia Mastrogianni explained as we began our car journey into Crete’s White Mountains. At the wheel was Antonis who, ominously, Mastrogianni had just introduced as “a very good driver.” It wasn’t long before I could see why, as the road became a tangle of ascending switchbacks and plunging valleys. It was the kind of road that would have caused a meltdown had I been the one driving.

We were headed for a remote mountain guesthouse in western Crete, where the deep creases of Samaria national park rise up to limestone crests more than 2,000 metres high before crashing into the southern coast. For half the year the White Mountains are slick with snow, but in summer the rocky summits are famous for their gleaming, milky complexion, continuing to give the appearance of snow long after it’s all but melted away.

Silence, stigma and unaffordable drugs: the Kenyan woman finding sickle cell solutions

As a child, Lea Kilenga was ostracised because of her sickle cell disease. Now she is a champion for others

• Sickle cell disease: nearly 50% of patients receive poor care, study says

For Lea Kilenga, life seemed normal until a new boy at her school encouraged other children not to sit next to her. The incident was her first realisation that there was a stigma to living with sickle cell disease.

Like her two sisters, Kilenga was diagnosed with the genetic blood condition in early childhood. The disease changes the shape of red blood cells from round to crescent-shaped. These cells then stick together, causing blood clots, intense pain and anaemia. The condition mainly affects people of African or Caribbean heritage.

Lebanese town stays silent on Salman Rushdie’s alleged attacker

In Yaroun, where Hadi Matar is thought to have spent several summers, locals are keeping their heads down

The home town of the father of Salman Rushdie’s would-be assassin is a forbidding place, where Shia Islamic iconography sits among palatial mansions, bullet-pockmarked homes and wary locals, who for now want nothing to do with visitors.

Yaroun, on Lebanon’s border with Israel, has long been a centre of Iran’s four-decade-old conflict with Israel. Its ridges and valleys have been key to several wars, and photos of its martyrs line most streets, along with the ever-present yellow banners of its most powerful player, Hezbollah.

‘Ask all the time: why do I need this?’ How to stop your vacuum from spying on you

Even if you’re not gadget-obsessed, the odds are you’ve got at least one smart device at home. So how do you limit the internet of things from listening in?

• Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email

This month, Amazon inked a deal to acquire smart vacuum company iRobot – the makers of Roomba – for a tidy US$1.7bn. As some see it, if the purchase goes through, that should worry us.

“It’s all about the data,” says David Vaile from the Australian Privacy Foundation.

Why is England so vulnerable to droughts? – podcast

Half of England is in a drought but the culprit is not just climate change. Helena Horton reports

Eight areas of England are officially in a drought.

It’s been a summer of extremely hot weather and very little rain. And the climate crisis has made these kinds of events much more likely, and much more severe when they happen.

Lady Gaga, Brad Pitt and … a porcupine: the portraits of Robert Wilson – in pictures

Wilson, the famed New York theatre director and artist, is known for his filmed portraits of famous faces (and some not so famous) which blend his love for the theatrical, art history, dance, beauty and film. His collaborator Chris Green shares the stories behind the shoots

• Robert Wilson: Moving Portraits is on display at the Art Gallery of South Australia until 3 October

Copenhagen Fashion Week SS23: the key collections – in pictures

Scandinavian style is lauded for its sustainability and minimalism – but that’s only half the story. The youngest fashion week on the calendar, Copenhagen looks set to be the next big thing. Here are 15 designers making headlines at this year’s event

Uprooted by partition: ‘I feel I don’t belong in England. I’m a very proud Punjabi’

Impact of ‘traumatic period’ still lingers with those now based in UK – and their families – 75 years on

After living in Britain for nearly half a century, Pabitra Ghosh is still gripped by a rootlessness borne after being displaced from modern-day Bangladesh as a child.

When a communal riot broke out in 1950, Ghosh, then five, fled with his family across the newly carved Indian border from East Pakistan. The train journey was both “bedlam” and “traumatic” as they abandoned their home to start afresh in Kolkata.

‘The woman’s to-do list is relentless’: how to achieve an equal split of household chores

Gender expert Kate Mangino tracked down 40 men who did their fair share in the home to find out if they had anything in common – or whether there is a formula for getting the balance right

When Kate Mangino started studying men whom she calls “equal partners” – those who do an equal share of domestic labour – she was hoping to unearth some kind of common truth. She was looking for something that would explain why they were relatively unusual, maybe even something to help a future partner spot one in the wild. “It was a disappointment, to be honest,” she says, with a laugh.

Then she realised it was good news – these were men who hadn’t grown up with equal-partner fathers (only two of the 40 men she interviewed had). If they had willingly taken on half the domestic load, without seeing that as normal while growing up, then so could other men. “No matter where you came from, you can say: ‘I’d like to make this change,’” says Mangino, a gender expert who has written a book, Equal Partners: Improving Gender Equality at Home. “It might take some work and it might take some practice, but it’s not impossible.”

The big idea: why modern medicine can’t work without stories

Few of us see the same GP twice, but the doctor-patient relationship saves lives

Most of us over the age of 30 can remember the family doctor we had when we were kids. They met us as babies and watched us grow up. They knew our stories, those of our siblings, our parents and often our grandparents, too. These stories were fundamental to the bond of trust between doctors and their patients. We are now learning that this deep, accumulated knowledge was also palpably beneficial in medical terms.

The stories came in fragments, of course. Any GP will tell you this: that alongside the medical history, there are glimpses of the life that accompanies it: a past trauma, a triumph, a family crisis, a morbid fear or a reason to hope. Reducing any patient to their affliction, the tumorous breast or lazy pancreas, is akin to regarding a book as nothing more than paper and ink.

Liz Truss v Rishi Sunak: a timeline of their roads to Tory final two

Differences and similarities in paths the prime ministerial candidates have taken show the experiences that have shaped them

In recent days, Tory party members tasked with choosing their next leader and, by default, prime minister, have received their ballot papers. As the final results of the vote loom closer, we look at the lives of the two contenders and the experiences that shaped them.

Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor, both took the same course at Oxford University and both have clocked up at least a decade in the private sector: Truss in the oil industry and telecoms, and Sunak in hedge funds.

How we met: ‘Ben told me he now identified as a trans man. I had been waiting for it to happen’

Anna, 51, and Ben, 55, met at a friend’s birthday brunch in 1993. After she split from her girlfriend, Anna begged one of Ben’s friends to set them up. They now have three children and live in Oakland, California

In late 1993, Anna was invited to her girlfriend’s birthday brunch in San Francisco, where they were both living. “We were dating casually at the time,” she says. “We went for a crepe party with a big group of people at her place.” She remembers spotting Ben straight away, who at that time identified as a woman.

“I saw Ben wearing glasses and thought they were adorable,” she says. “I remember thinking we’d be together one day.” They chatted briefly, but Ben didn’t show much interest.

Taliban rule in Afghanistan, one year on: ‘Women don’t want to stay here’ – photo essay

It’s been a year since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan. The photojournalist Stefanie Glinski has been in the country since then, charting the rise of the Islamic emirate and the effect on the population

Sitting on a thin mat, a plastic tarpaulin propped up above her head, offering an escape from Kabul’s summer sun, Sabsa Gul is reading women’s palms. She’s a fortune teller, mostly giving marriage or job advice, though lately discussion topics have changed, the 40-year-old says.

“Women are now asking me to help them leave the country. They don’t want to stay in Afghanistan any longer.”

Offices of the former government in Herat are now controlled by the Taliban.

‘A referendum is not right’: occupied Kherson looks to uncertain future

People in Russian-controlled region of Ukraine describe nervous atmosphere over Moscow’s next steps

“A city with a Russian history,” proclaim billboards across the Ukrainian city of Kherson, occupied by the Russian army since the first days of March. Others display the Russian flag, or quotes from Vladimir Putin.

Over the past five months, Moscow has appointed an occupation administration to run the Kherson region and ordered schools to teach the Russian curriculum. Local people are encouraged to apply for Russian passports to access pensions and other benefits.

One year into Taliban rule: the girls defying bans to go to school

On the anniversary of the fall of Kabul, the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison, reports from the secret schools set up in Afghanistan to continue girls’ education

One year ago, the Taliban swept into Kabul to cap a remarkable return to power, two decades after they previously ruled over Afghanistan.

It marked not only a humiliating conclusion to the western military presence in the country but a daunting new chapter for millions of Afghan girls.

Fireworks explosion tears through shopping mall in Armenia – video

Video showed thick grey smoke rising above a shopping mall in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, followed by an explosion that sent people running from the scene. Two blasts ripped through a fireworks warehouse in the mall, killing three people and injuring  dozens more, Armenia's emergency ministry said

‘The west doesn’t want Russians partying in the streets of Europe’: calls grow for a visa ban

As EU politicians debate a ban from the beaches, Russian exiles fear a return to Soviet-style isolation will be dangerous for them

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Thousands of Russians have flocked to Europe on short-term visas since the country invaded Ukraine. Some sought an escape from repression, while summer has brought Russian tourists just looking to escape to the beach. Now some European politicians are calling for an end to the short-term visas that allow Russians to holiday in the EU as the war in Ukraine rages on.

Countries including Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, Finland and the Czech Republic have called for the EU to limit or block short-term Schengen visas for Russians, in protest at their country’s invasion of Ukraine.

I had babies in Germany 10 years apart. This is what I learned about healthcare, motherhood and race

My son was born soon after we moved to Berlin to open a bookshop. Last year I had twins – and things went far less smoothly

• More stories of Black women’s birth experiences around the world

Of the mothers in my circle, I thought I was the most “one and done”. I became pregnant with my first child at the age of 29, shortly after marrying my husband, and a year after I’d moved to Berlin following Boris Johnson’s election as mayor of London. I felt he would damage my home city, taking it further along the road to unaffordability and unfettered capitalism. The rise in the cost of everything in London meant the life I had assumed I would have as a third-generation Londoner wasn’t possible.

It was a childhood dream to open a bookshop and to have a family of my own, and Berlin made both those things possible. I was lucky to have a smooth pregnancy, and the public healthcare insurance scheme in Germany cost me the same as I would pay in national insurance contributions in the UK. Included in my plan was a monthly scan with my gynaecologist, as well as two deep scans and one 4D scan, so when my child arrived I knew everything about him. The care from my doctor was stern and medicalised – when my six-week scan showed two eggs, she told me not to get excited as one egg could vanish, which was alarming and upsetting. I chose to also get a midwife, paid for by my health insurance, who had a more holistic approach. My son was two weeks late, and she suggested that I insert a tampon soaked in olive oil and cloves, sit on a toilet filled with lavender and hay, and drink camomile tea. The doctor suggested that I be induced. I did both, and the latter brought me my son.

'My mother was beheaded in front of me': a survivor recalls India's violent partition

Zareena Parveen was 12 years old when British colonial India was carved up along religious lines. Two independent states were created: Hindu-majority India, and the Muslim-majority Dominion of Pakistan, which was made up of West Pakistan and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

As millions rushed to cross the new borders, violence erupted between Hindu, Muslim and Sikh populations that had coexisted for thousands of years. In the months that followed, an estimated 1 million people were killed, up to 15 million were displaced and between 75,000 and 100,000 women were abducted and raped.

With the 75th anniversary of India's partition approaching, Parveen recalls seeing family members killed in front of her, the Sikh officer who pulled her from the rubble of her house, and her tortuous journey to Lahore.

‘A Sikh soldier pulled me out of the rubble’: survivors recall India’s violent partition – and reflect on its legacy

How a Spanish tourist spot became a global hub for live animal export

Millions of sheep and cattle are being shipped from Cartagena to the Middle East in a trade branded ‘cruel and unnecessary’

It is 7am in the port of Cartagena, and the Jouri, a livestock carrier, is getting ready for loading. Dozens of trucks full of noisy cattle line up, waiting for their animals to be weighed before they are transferred to the vessel.

The tourists who visit its Roman ruins and nearby beaches might never guess that this region has quietly become one of the biggest players in the global trade of live animals.

How the Amazon has started to heat the planet – video

The Amazon absorbs huge amount of CO2 and helps to cool the world, but recent studies have shown the rainforest is approaching a tipping point, with profound implications for the global climate and biodiversity. The section in Brazil, which has suffered the most deforestation since 2006, is already producing more carbon than it absorbs, and there are worrying signs that the rest of the forest is not far behind. Josh Toussaint-Strauss investigates how the Amazon has reached this point, and how agriculture and Brazilian politics are playing a central role  

Post your questions for Kevin Bacon

Since shooting to fame in 1984’s Footloose, Bacon has become one of Hollywood’s most prolific actors. Now’s your chance to grill him

Everybody loves the smell of Kevin Bacon in the morning – or at any point during the day or night. Hollywood’s enduringly boyish 64-year-old actor/dancer/mobile phone network salesman shot to fame in 1984’s Footloose, after smaller roles in Animal House, Friday the 13th and Diner.

It was a breakthrough that hobbled – until he learned not to accept any role pitched as perfect for him (clean-cut, friendly, wholesome, twinkle-toed). Cue a career of shifty and charming brilliance, from the salty sex worker in Oliver Stone’s JFK to the smug attorney in A Few Good Men to the stricken paedophile in The Woodsman.

China launches missiles into Taiwan strait after Pelosi visit – video

Footage shows China launching missiles into the waters off Taiwan. Beijing confirmed military drills had started in six areas encircling the island country. Tensions between the two countries increased after the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan on Wednesday to strengthen relations with the US

• China begins live-fire military exercises in six zones around Taiwan, says state media – live
• Taiwan ‘preparing for war without seeking war’ as China begins military exercises

'We thought it was a shooting star': uncontrolled Chinese rocket fragments seen in Malaysia – video

A Chinese booster rocket has made an uncontrolled return to Earth. US defence department officials have chided Beijing for not sharing information on the potentially hazardous object’s descent. The Long March 5B rocket re-entered Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian ocean on Saturday. People in several parts of Malaysia reported seeing the fragments. 'At first we thought it was a shooting star,' said Aizul Sidek, who was in the city of Kuching in Sarawak state when he captured footage with his smartphone

• Nasa criticises China after space rocket makes uncontrolled return to Earth
• As more space junk falls to Earth, will China clean up its act?

How Kenya is flooding in a drought – video

For more than 10 years, Kenya’s great lakes have been flooding, displacing hundreds of thousands of people as rising water levels leave towns and villages almost completely submerged. Flooding is also affecting nature reserves and destroying important habitats for endangered species. Josh Toussaint-Strauss explores why the human and ecological disaster is happening – and why the Kenyan government is so slow to act

A drowning world: Kenya’s quiet slide underwater

‘We relied on the lake. Now it’s killing us’: climate crisis threatens future of Kenya’s El Molo people

‘Moving a giraffe is a delicate process’: rising waters threaten Kenya's wildlife

Putin's Russia: dictator syndrome and the rise of a 'mafia state' – video

Guardian correspondent Luke Harding chronicles the defining moments in Putin's early presidency that helped turn Russia into a 'mafia state' – from the clampdown on the independent media, to shocking assassinations and the emergence of pro-western democratic movements in neighbouring Georgia and Ukraine

• Episode one: Putin's Russia: from KGB agent to Kremlin operator – video

Russians: tell us what the mood is like in your country

We would like to the views and experiences from Russians at this stage of the Russia-Ukraine war

More than 80 days after the start of the Russia-Ukraine war, we would like to hear from those living in Russia on what the mood is like in the country.

How are you, family and friends feeling about the situation at the moment? What are your thoughts on the developments? We would also like to hear from Russians living in the UK, US or elsewhere.

Tell us: how have you been affected by the situation in Ukraine?

We would like to hear from people in Ukraine about events in the country. We would also like to hear from others who are affected

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