• President and first lady to tour state in which 37 have died
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On Joe Biden’s visit to flood-ravaged eastern Kentucky today he is not just viewing the effects through the lens of a disaster needing federal assistance but also through the lens of the climate crisis that is making events like this more intense, more common and more deadly, in America and around the world.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the issue in her media briefing aboard Air Force One en route to Lexington with the US president and first lady Jill Biden a little earlier.

Event is on track to be most successful games in history with more than 1.5m tickets sold

Birmingham is expecting a surge of tourists over the summer as the city’s reputation receives a boost from the Commonwealth Games, business leaders said as the 11-day sports event comes to a close.

The event has been heralded as a roaring success for the Midlands city, with more than 1.5m tickets sold – making it on track to be one of the most successful Commonwealth Games in history.

Travis and Greg McMichael were also sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for the murder

The white father and son convicted of murder in Ahmaud Arbery’s fatal shooting after they chased him through a Georgia neighborhood were sentenced on Monday to life in prison for committing a federal hate crime.

Travis McMichael, 36, and Greg McMichael, 66, received their sentences from US district court judge Lisa Godbey Wood in the port city of Brunswick. The punishment is largely symbolic – the McMichaels were sentenced earlier this year to life without parole in a Georgia state court for 25-year-old Arbery’s murder.

The lawsuit alleges that when officers stopped the couple on 12 August last year, they did not recognize that Petito was in danger

The family of Gabby Petito announced plans to file a $50m wrongful death lawsuit against Utah police on Monday, claiming that officers in the small desert town of Moab, who stopped Petito and boyfriend Brian Laundrie last year, failed to recognize their daughter was in a domestic violence situation.

The notice of a forthcoming claim alleges that when officers stopped the couple on 12 August 2021, they did not recognize that Petito, 22, was in danger.

• Australian men’s team trounce India 7-0 to claim gold medal
• Australia end with 67 golds, 11 ahead of second-placed England

On the opening night of the Birmingham Commonwealth Games, Eddie Ockenden marched into Alexander Stadium, carrying the Australian flag with the broadest of smiles. A distinguished servant of Australian hockey for 16 years, Ockenden was a popular choice for the honour. His excellence with the hockey stick and his humility away from the pitch were on display again on Monday as the Kookaburras finished the Games with a gold medal.

A decider pitting the silver and bronze medallists at last year’s Tokyo Olympics against each other soon became a mismatch as Australia trounced India 7-0 in a romp to the gold medal. This was seventh heaven for Australian hockey, with the Kookaburras having claimed all seven tournaments when the sport was played in the Commonwealth Games. Australia have now won 41 of the 42 matches they have played at this level. In finals, the combined scoreline reads 33-2. Routs have become routine.

Pop star best known for her role in the film musical devoted her later life to activism in support of cancer research

Olivia Newton-John, the musical star who found enduring fame for her leading role in the film Grease, has died aged 73. The news was confirmed by her husband.

In a statement posted on social media, Olivia Newton-John’s widower John Easterling said: “Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends. We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.

Analysis: there are deep divisions among the party’s MPs about the leadership frontrunner’s spending promises

Liz Truss as prime minister will have to appeal to three very different constituencies. The first is Conservative members, a target audience that has been enthused by talk of tax cuts for both individuals and businesses, as well as cuts to Whitehall waste and a war against “woke”.

When she turns to face the wider electorate, that message will need to change considerably but – in between now and then – there is another constituency that will be crucial: agitated and sceptical Conservative MPs.

Tory frontrunner says tax cuts and spending could cost £30bn, but analysis shows a much higher price

Liz Truss’s emergency tax and spending pledges could cost upwards of £50bn a year, with experts warning they will fail to help the worst-off deal with the rising cost of living.

Truss, the strong favourite to be the next prime minister, has promised to cancel the national insurance rise, scrap a planned increase in corporation tax, spend more on defence, and remove green levies on energy bills for households and businesses – all of which would cost billions. She has also suggested boosting freeports, which would entail tax cuts for business, and mooted an increase in the married tax allowance.

Mexico and Venezuela send crews to fight fire that has killed at least one and injured 125, with dozens of firefighters still missing

A deadly fire that began at Cuba’s main oil terminal in Matanzas has spread after a third crude tank caught fire and collapsed as firefighters struggled to fight the massive blaze.

At least one person has died and 125 are injured, with dozens of firefighters reported missing ever since lighting struck one of the facility’s eight tanks on Friday night. A second tank caught fire on Saturday, triggering several explosions at the facility, which plays a key part in Cuba’s electric system.

Review casts doubt on Boris Johnson’s claim that frontline services would not be harmed

Doubts have been cast on claims by Boris Johnson that it will be possible to go ahead with plans to axe 91,000 civil servants “without harming” frontline services.

The prime minister wrote in May to civil servants justifying plans for a reduction in headcount of almost 20%, saying the government must reduce its costs “just as many families are doing”.

Many areas are still without water and electricity following three days of Israeli airstrikes

In Shujaiya, a neighbourhood of Gaza City already scarred by several rounds of war, men passed around coffee and dates under the shade of a colourful mourning tent while Palestinian Islamic Jihad battle songs blared from a sound system.

Men carrying AK-47s, their faces shielded by black balaclavas, lined the entrance to the tent, and the militant group’s black and yellow flag flew overhead.

Exclusive: Lib Dem leader says new PM should let government pay £36bn cost in new ‘energy furlough scheme’

Liz Truss or Rishi Sunak should cancel the £1,400 energy price cap increase in October in a new “energy furlough scheme” and government should absorb the £36bn cost of the hike, the leader of the Liberal Democrats has said.

Ed Davey said neither candidate appeared to have any policies that grasped the magnitude of what could happen this autumn. “We are facing a catastrophe this winter, a drop in living standards unlike anything we have seen in my lifetime,” he said.

Revival of agreement awaits ‘political decisions’ in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agree text

The European Union has submitted a “final text” at talks to salvage the 2015 deal aimed at reining in Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

The revival of the agreement now awaits “political decisions” in Tehran and Washington after negotiators in Vienna agreed the text thrashed out between Iranian and European representatives over the past five days was the final text and could not be amended further.

Helen Rhodes was a ‘devoted wife and mother’ and ‘the glue that held her family together’, a friend said

A mother of two died in front of her children and husband after becoming unresponsive on a flight from Hong Kong to the UK.

Helen Rhodes, who was flying back to the UK with her family after more than 15 years abroad, was found unresponsive hours into the flight on 5 August, her friend Jayne Jeje wrote in a Go Fund Me which has since raised more than £13,000.

Announcement brings financial aid from US to $8.5bn; Ukraine says staff at plant working under ‘barrel of Russian guns’

• What we know on day 166 of the invasion

Oleh Synyehubov, the governor of Kharkiv, has said that two people were killed in shelling on the region in the last 24 hours. He claimed that overnight the roof of the administrative building in Kharkiv’s Kyiv district had caught fire due to the shelling. His message ended:

As you can see, the Russians, because of their lack of success at the front, are striking peaceful towns and villages in the region. But we are stronger than their pathetic attempts to intimidate us. Victory is ours!

On 8 August, at 2.57am, one of the Telegram channels spread information that there was an air alert in Lviv, but due to technical reasons, the city and phone applications did not turn on the notification. This information is not true! There was no threat. Follow and trust only official sources of information.

Axios, whose founders launched site in 2016, to be taken over by legacy publisher that owns US regional newspapers

For $525m, Axios – publisher of punchy, notated news briefs – is set to be acquired by Cox Enterprises, a legacy publisher that owns a series of US regional newspapers.

The cash deal, announced Monday, is expected to close in the next few weeks and marks a significant moment in the growth of the news outlet, which was founded in 2016 by the same journalists who launched Politico in 2007.

Blazes have consumed vast tracts of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador and remain out of control

Officials in Canada’s easternmost province have issued a state of emergency as crews battle the worst wildfires the region has experienced in more than half a century.

Sprawling blazes have consumed thousands of hectares of forest in Newfoundland and Labrador over the last two weeks and remain out of control.

In decision quashed by federal court, citizenship application was rejected despite father’s name on birth certificate and Medicare card

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The Department of Home Affairs rejected an Australian-born child’s citizenship application after her estranged Australian father couldn’t be reached to provide a DNA test, which her lawyer says rendered her “stateless”.

In a decision quashed by the federal court, the overseas-born mother of the child was told the department did not have proof of a biological link to the father – despite his name being listed on the girl’s birth certificate and Medicare card, his payment of child support and photos of the pair together.

Property managers are being advised to provide notices to leave when issuing fixed-term leases

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Queensland’s housing department says “best practice” advice given by the state’s peak real estate body that would see every renter issued with notice to leave at the start of their lease is “disappointing” and “not in the spirit” of rent reforms.

But the tenants’ union is calling for the state government to go further, urging them to restrict the issuing of “Form 12s” and make it harder for renters to be removed without reason.

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Other discoveries formally named and described include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog

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A blind cave-dwelling weevil, an ant that protects the caterpillars of one of Australia’s rarest butterflies, and the first millipede to actually have more than 1000 legs were among 139 new species described by scientists at CSIRO in the past year.

Other discoveries formally named and described in scientific journals include 131 insects and other invertebrates, four fish, three plants and a frog.

Whistleblower says he was instructed to tell customers the products were safe to consume, despite lack of testing evidence

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A subsidiary of the supplements company Blackmores left a pregnancy multivitamin on shelves for nearly a year despite hundreds of complaints that it was contaminated with mould-like black spots, a former staff member has alleged.

In a complaint to the Therapeutic Goods Administration, Peter Ellis alleged FIT-BioCeuticals brushed aside concerns about its products, including pregnancy vitamins and vitamin D drops being used by a children’s hospital, in potential breach of quality regulations.

Danish director, who won Palme d’Or for Dancer in the Dark, said to be ‘in good spirits’

Lars von Trier, the acclaimed and controversial Danish director, has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, his production company has announced.

In a statement released on Monday, Zentropa – which von Trier co-founded in 1992 with producer Peter Aalbæk Jensen – said the director is in “good spirits and is being treated for his symptoms” while he completes the upcoming final season of his TV trilogy series.

Water levels in southern Norway so low domestic consumers may be prioritised over international customers

British consumers could face even higher bills and potential energy shortages this winter after Norway threatened to ration electricity exports.

The UK receives hydroelectric power from Norway through a subsea interconnector cable running beneath the North Sea.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis said eavesdropping on the Pasok party chief, Nikos Androulakis, was wrong

The Greek prime minister has attempted to douse a wiretapping scandal engulfing his government, claiming he had no idea the country’s socialist party leader was being monitored by intelligence services reporting directly to him.

In an address to the nation on Monday, Kyriakos Mitsotakis described the phone tapping of the Pasok party chief, Nikos Androulakis, as a mistake that should never have occurred.

Two residents of Ukraine accused of working for Russian intelligence said to be under arrest

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

Ukraine’s domestic security service has arrested two people allegedly working for Russian intelligence services who planned to kill Ukraine’s defence minister and the head of its military intelligence agency.

The security service of Ukraine foiled the alleged plot by the Russian GRU military intelligence agency to use a sabotage group to carry out three murders including that of a prominent Ukrainian activist, the agency said in a statement on Monday.

Bernie Sanders calls climate measures a ‘very modest step forward’ and Republicans denounce the bill altogether

Democrats celebrated the much-delayed Senate passage of their healthcare and climate spending package, expressing hope that the bill’s approval could improve their prospects in the crucial midterm elections this November.

The bill, formally known as the Inflation Reduction Act, passed the Senate on Sunday in a party-line vote of 51-50, with Vice-President Kamala Harris breaking the tie in the evenly divided chamber.

US treasury says popular cryptocurrency service reportedly laundered more than $7bn worth of virtual currency

The United States on Monday imposed sanctions on Tornado Cash, a popular cryptocurrency service that allows users to mask their transactions, accusing it of helping hackers, including from North Korea, to launder proceeds from their cybercrimes.

A senior treasury department official said Tornado Cash, one of the largest virtual currency “mixers” identified as problematic by the treasury, has reportedly laundered more than $7bn worth of virtual currency since it was created in 2019.

Anti-submarine attack and sea raid exercises begin, as Beijing maintains pressure on Taiwan’s defences

China carried out fresh military drills around Taiwan on Monday, including anti-submarine attack and sea raid operations, a day after its major live-fire exercises targeting the territory were supposed to end.

Beijing’s defence ministry also defended its shelving of military talks with the US in protest against Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last week, which have raised concerns about potential accidents escalating into conflict.

Finley Downer, eight, bitten on both legs by nurse sharks at Compass Cay before being pulled to safety

An eight-year-old British boy has been attacked by sharks while on holiday in the Bahamas.

Finley Downer was surrounded by three nurse sharks while swimming in a lagoon last week, his family said, before he was pulled to safety after suffering bites on both legs.

Analysis shows almost 15% of deaths in mid-July were due to Covid, with that figure likely to be an undercount

Covid-19 became the equal leading cause of death in New Zealand for the first time in July, overtaking stroke and drawing even with ischaemic heart disease as the country’s No 1 killer.

Michael Baker, an epidemiologist and public health professor, said that for a period in July-August Covid appeared to be causing at least as many deaths as heart disease.

At his swearing in Gustavo Petro, a former guerrilla, says the country is getting a ‘second chance’ to tackle violence and poverty

Colombia’s first leftist president has been sworn into office, promising to fight inequality and bring peace to a country long haunted by bloody feuds between the government, drug traffickers and rebel groups.

Gustavo Petro, a former member of Colombia’s M-19 guerrilla group, won the presidential election in June by beating conservative parties that offered moderate changes to the market-friendly economy, but failed to connect with voters frustrated by rising poverty and violence against human rights leaders and environmental groups in rural areas.

New US ambassador to Australia was in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Guadalcanal

A visit to Solomon Islands by senior US diplomats included a touching personal moment, as Caroline Kennedy, the new US ambassador to Australia, met with the children of two men who saved the life of her father, John F Kennedy, during the second world war.

Caroline Kennedy was in Honiara to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of Guadalcanal, a brutal seven-month land, sea and air fight between allied and Japanese forces that marked a turning point in the war.

Raila Odinga is leading William Ruto in the polls but the latter hopes his ‘hustler’ image will win him votes among the poor

Kenyans are heading to the ballot box on Tuesday after a campaign season marked by a shift in ethnic alliances and two big-ticket issues: the cost of living crisis and high unemployment.

The race pits presidential frontrunners Raila Odinga, the former prime minister, and deputy president William Ruto against each other in a hotly contested race. Polls place Odinga in the lead.

Joe Biden welcomes ceasefire agreed after three days of conflict triggered by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Strip

A truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad has taken effect in the Gaza Strip after three days of cross-border fighting triggered by surprise Israeli airstrikes.

US president Joe Biden welcomed the agreement on Sunday, and called on all parties to “fully implement the ceasefire, and to ensure fuel and humanitarian supplies are flowing into Gaza as the fighting subsides”.

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• China winds down days of military drills after Pelosi visit
• How worried should we be about military conflict?

Taiwan’s Premier Su Tseng-chang says China has “arrogantly” used military actions to disrupt regional peace and stability, according to a Reuters report.

Speaking to reporters in Taipei on Sunday, Su also called on Beijing to not flex its military muscles, and condemned “foreign enemies” he said were attempting to sap the morale of the Taiwanese people through cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns.

Horniman museum is first government-funded institution to hand back artefacts looted by British forces in 1897

A London museum is to return 72 treasured artefacts, including its collection of Benin bronzes, to Nigeria in what experts described as an “immensely significant” moment.

The Horniman museum said it would transfer the ownership of the historic objects to the Nigerian government after an unanimous vote by its board of trustees.

Exclusive: Hekmatullah, who killed three Australian soldiers, is living in a heavily protected luxury Kabul home after being freed from prison

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Hekmatullah, the rogue Afghan soldier who killed three unarmed Australian diggers in Afghanistan a decade ago, is living in a luxury home in the capital Kabul, treated as a “returning hero” by the Taliban who released him from prison.

He has said he does not regret killing Australian soldiers, and has vowed he would again kill Australians, or anyone who opposes the Taliban.

Outbound shipments grew 18% after struggle with shortages of raw materials and lockdowns in first half of year

China’s export industries performed strongly last month after spending the first half of the year hampered by shortages of raw materials and pandemic-related lockdowns at major ports.

Offering an encouraging boost to the economy, outbound shipments grew 18% in July from a year earlier, the fastest pace this year, official customs data showed on Sunday, beating analysts’ expectations for a 15% gain, though imports remained sluggish.

Analysts had expected exports to fade amid growing signs that Europe, the US, UK and Australia are heading for recession, dampening the outlook for global consumption.

Mercenary group does not officially exist but is playing a more public role and openly recruiting in Russia

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest updates

Three billboards in the Ural city of Ekaterinburg shine a light on what was once one of Russia’s most shadowy organisations, the private military contractor Wagner.

“Motherland, Honour, Blood, Bravery. WAGNER”, one of the posters reads.

Warships shadow each other in final hours of exercises as White House calls Beijing’s actions ‘irresponsible’

China has wrapped up its unprecedented four days of drills that showcased Beijing’s growing military prowess and determination to challenge what it called “any attempt to separate Taiwan from China”, after the controversial visit to the island democracy last week by the US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi.

A Chinese state television commentator said the Chinese military would now conduct “regular” drills on the Taiwan side of the line, saying the “historic task” of China’s “reunification” could be realised.

Despite their promises of peace and stability, the country is on its knees, and its people are desperate

Maryam* is near the top of her sixth grade class in Kabul, which under Taliban rule means that her education should be ending in a few months.

But the 10-year-old, whose name we have changed to protect her identity, has a strategy to stay in school for another year, and her eyes dance with satisfaction as she explains her plan. “I will make sure I don’t answer too many questions right. I have decided to fail, so I can study sixth grade again.”

Home Office accused of failing to ensure safety of thousands including teachers and translators

Thousands of Afghans who worked for the UK have been abandoned and remain at risk from the Taliban a year after the evacuation from Kabul, a coalition of human rights groups has said.

In a parliamentary briefing, nine expert groups on Afghanistan criticised the British government’s resettlement schemes as “unjustifiably restrictive”. They said it was deeply concerning that the government is currently not offering a safe route for many Afghan women and girls or to oppressed minority groups.

Body found after 800 people evacuated as smoke billows towards Havana following lightning strike at Matanzas supertanker base

Fire started by a lightning strike has engulfed an oil storage facility in the Cuban city of Matanzas, setting off explosions and injuring 121 people. Seventeen firefighters were missing and one body had been found, Cuban authorities said.

The blaze at the Matanzas supertanker base began during a thunderstorm on Friday night, the ministry of energy and mines tweeted. The government said later that it had asked for help from international experts in “friendly countries” with experience in the oil sector.

Suspect already in custody is likely leader of illegal fishing mafia based in Amazon region, police say

Brazilian police arrested another five people in connection with the murders of British journalist Dom Phillips and Brazilian Indigenous activist Bruno Pereira on Saturday, and said one of the suspects already in custody was likely the leader of an illegal fishing mafia based in the Amazon region.

Although they gave few details, police said three of those detained in operations near Brazil’s borders with Peru and Colombia were wanted for helping bury the bodies of Phillips and Pereira.

Country’s government says Sexual Minorities Uganda ‘operating illegally’ in east African nation

The Ugandan government has suspended the country’s leading gay rights organisation, accusing it of operating illegally in the east African nation, in a move campaigners condemned as “a clear witch-hunt”.

The National Bureau for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) – part of the internal affairs ministry – announced on Friday that it had suspended Sexual Minorities Uganda (Smug) for not registering with the authorities.

Health authorities in Palestinian enclave report 24 dead in Israeli attacks targeting Islamic Jihad

Residents of the Gaza Strip were bracing for the possibility of a new round of war on Saturday after two days of “pre-emptive” Israeli airstrikes against a Palestinian militant group.

Israeli warplanes hit several sites in the blockaded territory on Friday, part of a surprise operation named “Breaking Dawn” that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said thwarted alleged planned rocket attacks by Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Special unit spread fake news about leftist politician, Oginga Odinga, seen as threat to British interests in 1960s

British cold war propagandists smeared Kenyan vice-president Oginga Odinga in the 1960s in “black” propaganda operations, newly declassified files reveal.

The Foreign Office’s propaganda arm, the Information Research Department (IRD), targeted the Kenyan nationalist in a three-year campaign run by its dirty tricks section, the Special Editorial Unit (SEU).

The explosion happened in a western district where the minority Shia Muslim community regularly meet

A bomb exploded in a busy shopping street in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Saturday killed eight people and injured at least 22, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The blast occurred in a western district of the city where members of the minority Shia Muslim community regularly meet.

Death of Samira Islam, 20, follows deaths of Rafiqul, 51, and Mahiqul, 16, during holiday

A woman has become the latest family member of a British family of five on holiday in Bangladesh to die from a suspected poisoning.

Samira Islam, 20, died on Friday after she was discovered unconscious in a locked room by police officers on 26 July. Her father, Rafiqul Islam, 51, a taxi driver, and his 16-year-old son, Mahiqul, also died in the rented flat in the eastern city of Sylhet.

Palestinian officials say at least 10 dead after Israel said it was preparing to ‘remove the threat from this region’

Israeli warplanes struck numerous sites in the Gaza Strip on Friday in what Israel said was a preemptive strike against Palestinian factions allegedly planning rocket strikes at targets in Israel.

Palestinian health officials reported that at least 10 people died and 55 were wounded in an initial barrage which killed the commander of Islamic Jihad, Tayseer Jabari, in the north of Gaza. Among the fatalities was an eight-year-old girl.

New president Ranil Wickremesinghe is attempting to crush mass protests that forced out predecessor

The Sri Lankan government has been accused of a draconian crackdown on protesters who were involved in toppling Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president, with activists facing intimidation, surveillance and arbitrary arrest.

Dozens of protesters have been detained by the police in recent days as the government, led by the newly appointed president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, tried to crush the mass protest movement that forced Rajapaksa to flee the country and resign in early July.

With elections due next year, analysts fear political motives could be driving the rising violence and tensions in the region

Fears of a new wave of violence in the restive east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are growing after weeks of deadly protests against UN peacekeepers and rising regional tensions.

Thirty-six people, including four UN peacekeepers, have died in the past two weeks as hundreds of protesters vandalised and set fire to UN buildings in several cities in eastern frontier provinces.

Further collapse of city’s grain silos, almost to the minute of blast, seen as symbol of failure to bring anyone to justice

For two years, Beirut’s crumbing grain silos had teetered over the ruins of the nearby port, a battered backdrop to a broken city that has barely stayed on its feet.

Almost to the minute of the second anniversary of the Beirut port explosion that destroyed them and pulverised nearby neighbours, a huge slither of the silos collapsed, showcasing yet again the dysfunction of Lebanon and the failed quest to bring those responsible to justice.

The truce will bring some relief to a country exhausted by war and famine, but critics say the Houthis will use the peace to regroup

The UN has announced that the warring sides in Yemen have agreed to extend the current ceasefire for a further two months.

Late on Tuesday the government and the Houthi rebels committed to intensify efforts on negotiations, said Hans Grundberg, special envoy for the country.