Colorado declares town abandoned amid water and leadership crisis
A small town in south-eastern Colorado was recently declared abandoned after all of its local public leaders resigned amid a drinking water supply crisis.
The office of Colorado’s secretary of state, Jena Griswold, announced the fate of Hartman on 29 July, a little more than a month after being advised in writing that the town “had lacked chlorine in its water for [more than] one month and the water was not potable and ‘smells horrible’”, according to public documents.
Beneath Tunisia’s silence, public anger simmers
Five years after Tunisian President Kais Saied’s dramatic power grab, few of the hopes that charged the region following the country’s landmark 2011 revolution remain intact.
The people’s sense of participation in forming a template for a new constitution and democratic order that followed the revolution has all but vanished.
Knickers in a twist: why M&S selling crotchless underwear isn’t as outrageous as it seems
The news that Marks & Spencer is selling Ann Summers crotchless knickers on their website has been greeted – as might be expected – with outrage online, being described as everything from “tawdry” to “S & M”.
Football must be ‘shaped through proper consultation’ by FIFA, says AFC
Asian Football Confederation says FIFA future must be ‘shaped through proper consultation’ after World Cup plan fallout.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa has welcomed FIFA’s decision to walk back plans to sell a stake in the World Cup and stressed the need to discuss all such moves with transparency in the future.
‘MPs have had their stomachs pumped’: concerns over ‘alcohol-soaked’ culture in Westminster
Parliament is “Britain’s last alcohol-soaked workplace” where MPs are offered free drinks as early as midday despite alcohol-related scandals, a report has revealed.
Drinking is commonplace and some MPs have had their stomachs pumped after consuming so much alcohol that they ended up in hospital, one disclosed.
EU relations, climate crisis and Gaza: why Ed Miliband is fired up by Foreign Office challenges
Extraordinarily, given the importance of geopolitics, the office of foreign secretary has sometimes appeared a consolation prize in British politics, perhaps reflecting the transfer of responsibility to Downing Street or the Cabinet Office.
First Australian mass mortality event suspected as deadly bird flu virus rapidly escalates among native birds
More than 80 dead and sick birds seen on rocks off the South Australian coast are suspected to be the first mass mortality event from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, only six weeks after the disease arrived in Australia.
Israeli West Bank settler tells BBC attacks on Palestinians are justified as revenge
The Israeli settler outpost of Havat Gilad, deep inside the occupied West Bank, is spread across several hilltops, its sheds and simple block houses clearly visible from neighbouring Palestinian villages.
What is Iran's Pickaxe Mountain and why does Trump say he wants to bomb it?
Image source, Vantor
ByShayan Sardarizadeh, Jake Horton and Ghoncheh Habibiazad
BBC Verify and BBC Persian
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened to bomb a suspected underground nuclear site in Iran known as Pickaxe Mountain, where recent satellite images appear to show construction work taking place.
Singapore bans Massive Attack for showing Palestinian flag, breaching ban on foreign emblems
British trip-hop band Massive Attack has been barred from performing in Singapore after an investigation found two members unfurled a Palestinian flag during a concert, police said.
Singapore, known for its tough laws on public speech and assembly, bans the open display of all foreign flags, national emblems or banners without a permit.