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https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-58395994 The power-sharing deal between the SNP and Scottish Greens is a "leap of faith" for both parties, Nicola Sturgeon has told MSPs. The first minister was speaking as Holyrood approved the appointment of Green politicians to ministerial office for the first time anywhere in the UK. She said the pact could represent "a new and better way of doing politics". Holyrood's other parties hit out at the deal, saying it was more about pursuing independence than the environment. However the SNP-Green majority in parliament was able to vote through the appointment of Patrick Harvie and Lorna Slater as junior ministers in the Scottish government. Live: Look back on Nicola Sturgeon's statement to MSPs Who are the new Scottish Green ministers? Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the Greens will no longer have a leaders question at First Minister's Questions or an automatic speaking slot at the start and end of Holyrood debates. The co-operation agreement between the SNP and Scottish Greens was hammered out during the parliament's summer recess. It technically falls short of a full coalition arrangement, with a range of areas set aside where the parties will be allowed to disagree over the coming years. However, it does see Green MSPs enter government, with co-leaders Mr Harvie and Ms Slater taking up posts focused on zero-carbon homes and green jobs. Ms Sturgeon told MSPs that the deal was "a milestone in this parliament's progress", and a "commitment to a new and better way of doing politics". She said it was "the product of much negotiation and some compromise, and also a leap of faith for both parties" - but "one we are taking willingly and for the common good". The first minister said the deal would "provide the strong platform needed to deliver the transformative policies that will build a greener, fairer country and make people's lives better". And she said delivering an independence referendum inside the current parliamentary term would be a "key strand" of the pact, saying there was an "undeniable" mandate for this. One consequence of the deal has been that the Greens will have fewer opportunities to ask questions and table debates at Holyrood. They will no longer have a regular place in the weekly session of First Minister's Questions or the right to respond to ministerial statements, and will have their allocation of "short money" funds cut. However the remaining five Green MSPs on the back benches will still be able to table questions - with Mark Ruskell demonstrating this after Ms Sturgeon's statement by intervening to praise the deal. Opposition parties were critical of the power-sharing arrangement, with Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross calling it a "nationalist coalition with one overriding goal - separating Scotland from the UK". He said the SNP had needed to do the deal as they "failed to get a majority" in May's election, and said it would "hammer everyone who works hard, everyone who runs a business and everyone who owns a vehicle". Scottish Labour's Anas Sarwar said the move was "more about the constitution than the climate". He said the pact was "not about delivering accountability and transparency", but about "greater control for Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP". And Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said the agreement was "thin gruel for the Green Party", claiming the "SNP have barely had to budge" on key policies such as education.

On the same day Lotus confirmed it will be launching four new electric models by 2026, Autocar has learned the sports car maker has recruited a new design boss to oversee the ambitious development plan. Peter Horbury, who currently heads design for Geely Auto, will be moving across to become senior vice president of design for Group Lotus. It is a homecoming for the 72-year old Brit, who has enjoyed one of the most distinguished careers in automotive design and won Autocar's Lifetime Achievement award in 2020. While many had expected him to retire when he left Geely, the temptation to lead a smaller company through a transformative product renaissance was obviously too great. Before taking the top job at Geely in 2011, Horbury worked as head of design for Ford of America and did two stints as Volvo’s design director. Horbury’s new role will include oversight of Lotus cars, but also the growing Lotus Engineering consultancy which works for third party clients. Lotus design director Russell Carr, who led the team behind the enthusiastically received Emira, will continue in his current role. Horbury’s empire will also include the growing Lotus studio in Coventry, under the control of Ben Payne, which will do much of the work on the wave of new models. While Lotus’s forthcoming pair of SUVs and coupe-saloon will be produced in China, the company says that all design will be led from the UK. “I first visited Hethel just after Lotus was acquired in 2017 and I’ve been watching closely as the new plans have developed,” Horbury told Autocar, “I’m delighted to be becoming a bigger part of that future.” German media reports say that Stefan Sielaff, who resigned from his role as Bentley’s design director in January, will be taking Horbury’s old role as head of Geely Design, but we await official confirmation on that.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-58395954 Since they took control of Afghanistan just over two weeks ago, the Taliban have sought to portray a more moderate image than when they last seized power in 1996. They have repeatedly said they will grant amnesty to all, including those who worked for western militaries or the Afghan government or police. In a dramatic press conference after the group swept into Kabul, chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid made a declaration of forgiveness. But there is growing evidence that the reality on ground is different to the rhetoric coming from Taliban leaders and spokesmen. It was not lost on some watching the press conference in Kabul that Mr Mujahid made his declaration from the seat of the former government spokesman Dawa Khan Menapal, who had been killed by the group just weeks earlier, as "punishment for his deeds". Now sources inside Afghanistan, as well as some who recently fled, have told the BBC that Taliban fighters are searching for, and allegedly killing, people they pledged they would leave in peace. Several sources confirmed that Taliban fighters last week executed two senior police officials - Haji Mullah Achakzai, the security director of Badghis province, and Ghulam Sakhi Akbari, security director of Farah province. Video footage showed Mr Achakzai was kneeling, blindfolded, with his hands tied behind his back before he was shot. Those who managed to flee say they fear for their colleagues back home. Zala Zazai, a former Afghan policewoman, one of thousands trained since the Taliban was deposed in 2001, said she was still in touch with other former policewomen. "The Taliban call them from their office phones and ask them to come to work, and ask for their home address," she said. Ms Zazai said that even in Tajikistan she was not totally out of the reach of the Taliban. Her mother, who is with her, received messages urging both women to return to Afghanistan and "live in the Islamic way", she said A former Afghan soldier who fled from Badakhshan province along with his three brothers, all of whom were in the army, said Taliban fighters were harassing his family, "asking them for money saying your son was in the special forces". And a former Afghan special forces soldier still inside the country told the BBC that he and his family were in hiding after former colleagues were killed. "Since the Taliban have come to power they haven't stopped killing," he said. "A few days ago, they killed twelve members of the special forces in Kandahar and three soldiers in Jalalabad as well. They were my close friends. I was in touch with them. The Taliban took them out of their homes and shot them." The BBC was not able to independently confirm the killings, and the Taliban have repeatedly denied committing any revenge killings. But the group was widely thought to be behind a spate of assassinations after signing a peace deal with the US in 2020, and there are mounting reports they have been searching for targets since taking power two weeks ago. Amnesty International reported earlier this month that Taliban fighters massacred nine ethnic Hazara men after taking control of Afghanistan's Ghazni province in July. And Human Rights Watch reported that Taliban fighters were conducting searches in Kandahar province as they swept the country and detaining anyone suspected of working with the government, reportedly killing some detainees. A high-ranking Afghan police official, who did not want to be named for fear of reprisals, told the BBC from hiding that he'd heard the Taliban were searching for him. "They caught my assistant and interrogated him for five hours," the official said. "They treated him very badly. They asked him, 'Where is your chief?' If they are forgiving everyone then why are they hunting for me?" He said he was changing location every day with his wife and children. "I have no money to cross the border," he said, breaking down as he spoke. "The problem is the Taliban have no justice system. They have no courts, no jail. They are just killing." It is not just people who worked in the security forces who say they are being targeted. Members of the civil administration, and those who worked in jobs disapproved by the Taliban told similar stories. "The Taliban took my car, beat up my guards and took their weapons," said Zarifa Ghafari, who was Afghanistan's first female mayor, governing Maidan Shar, the capital of Wardak province. "They were searching for me. They called all the people who used to be in contact with me asking where I was. They even went to my husband's parents' house to look for me," she said. Ms Ghafari was speaking via a video call from Germany, where she fled after the Taliban took power. "They made me do something I never wanted to do," she said. "They made me leave a country that I love."

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58374306 Marks & Spencer no longer sells men's suits at more than half of its 254 bigger stores as the pandemic hit "fast forward" on the trend for casual wear. It said men's preferences were already shifting to "smart separates" such as chinos and shirts before coronavirus. But Wes Taylor, director of menswear at M&S, said: "Covid hit fast forward on the trend to more casual dressing that was already in train." Now the retailer only sells men's suits at 110 large shops. In total, sales of them in the UK have fallen by 2.3 million over five years, according to the market research firm Kantar Group. It said men purchased two million of them in the year to July compared to 4.3 million for the same period in 2017. The decline in M&S stores selling men's suits, which was first reported in The Sunday Times, was already being seen in 2019 when the retailer said sales fell by seven per cent. However, in the first two months of the Covid pandemic, when millions of people were forced to work from home, M&S said it sold just 7,500 suits - a fall of 80% compared to the same period in the previous year. In contrast, it said, "shorts and jogger sales were up". Mr Taylor said: "During the pandemic we worked hard to adapt our product offer to be more relevant to customers' rapidly changing needs." While M&S says it has seen some increase in demand following the easing of Covid restrictions and weddings now being allowed to take place, Mr Taylor said: "Our Smartwear is now more focused on smart separates - easy to wear, stylish smart clothing that can be worn in lots of different ways". The average spend on men's suits has also declined over the past decade, according to Kantar, from a high of £534m in 2011. Some five years ago, spending on men's suits hit £469m but fell to just £159m in the 12 months to July. Kantar said that although there has also been a fall in sales of women's suits over five years, it is less pronounced than men's professional wear. In the year to July, women bought 500,000 of them compared to 600,000 in 2017. M&S said it continues to sell ties and shirts at its 254 larger stores which offer clothing as well as food. M&S has around 700 stores in total, the majority of which are food-only but people who buy suits online can have them delivered to any of its shops. The retailer also launched an online video consultation service during the pandemic for men seeking advice on buying suits.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58378788 Ida gathered strength over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico during the weekend. More than 90% of oil production there has been shut down as a result of the storm. On Sunday, Ida made landfall south of New Orleans as a category four hurricane - meaning it would cause severe damage to buildings, trees and power lines. As it moves inland, Ida's winds have dropped to 95mph (153km/h), meaning it is now a category one storm. There are still fears of storm surges along the coast - which could be as high as 16ft (4.8m), potentially submerging parts of the low-lying coastline. 2px presentational grey line Fear in the Big Easy By Nada Tawfik, BBC News It's an eerie feeling to stand in New Orleans as it's plunged into darkness. And all around the famous French quarter debris and tree branches litter the streets. Standing outside is painful. The rain pelts you as winds of 70mph make it difficult to stand. Residents for the most part have heeded warnings to stay indoors for the worst of the storm. When you speak to them, they'll tell you that hurricanes have become a part of their lives. It's the trade-off they accept for everything else the Big Easy has to offer. Still, there's always a fear that the next storm could be "the big one". Kenneth McGruder has lived in the lower 9th ward for more than 30 years. He evacuated for Hurricane Katrina and, like many others, came back to find his house under water. He is an older man who speaks openly about the trauma that caused. Ida strengthened so quickly, he felt he didn't have enough time to leave his home. He trusts the city's new hurricane infrastructure but again, there's always that fear. 2px presentational grey line Covid-19 has also further complicated efforts to keep people safe. Louisiana hospitals are already under pressure from Covid-19, as the state has the third-highest rate of infections in the US. Normally, hospitals in the predicted path of the hurricane would be evacuated, but this time there are few beds available, even at facilities further inland. "We don't have any place to bring those patients. Not in state, not out of state," Mr Edwards said. Ida came ashore on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, a category three storm when it made landfall. media captionStorm Ida to bring further heavy rain and strong winds Since then, billions of dollars have been spent on flood defences, known as levees. So far, the levees have held, though a flash flood warning is in place for New Orleans. High winds tore part of the roof off a hospital in the town of Cut Off, Louisiana, just inland from the Gulf of Mexico. The hospital said it had suffered "significant damage" but that its patients were safe. Hurricanes: A guide to the world's deadliest storms." The impact of climate change on the frequency of storms is still unclear, but increased sea surface temperatures warm the air above, making more energy available to drive hurricanes.

The Ford Focus is being readied for a mid-life facelift to ensure it remains competitive against newer rivals including the Volkswagen Golf, Skoda Octavia and BMW 1 Series. A lightly camouflaged prototype of the hot ST version has now been spotted testing on public roads, giving a closer look at the design changes that will take the Focus into 2022. The most obvious change will be a new-look front end that bucks the industry trend with a smaller grille than that of the current car. The headlights have been slimmed down for a more aggressive look, and bulkier camouflage around the lower half suggests we'll see new foglights and air intake designs as well. A similar treatment will apply to the rear end, where the current car's brake light clusters will make way for slimmer, more heavily angled units, while the boot lid recess looks to have been raised slightly to bring the numberplate more in line with the rear windscreen. Red brake calipers, beefy twin exhausts and performance-style alloy wheels give this test mule away as the full-fat ST, which should be unveiled at the same time as the standard car given its production-ready look. Most interestingly, it's wearing a new and distinctive shade of bright green that looks to be a close match for the 'Ultimate Green' worn by the second-generation Focus RS. Whether this will be an option for the standard car or reserved for a limited-run special edition remains to be seen. No details have emerged yet in terms of tweaks to the Focus's powertrains, but the engine line-up was recently revamped to include a new 1.0-litre mild-hybrid petrol option in two states of tune. That is expected to be carried over along with the sole non-electrified petrol option. The Focus, unlike its Fiesta sibling, remains available with a choice of EcoBlue diesel powertrains: a 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder and a larger 2.0-litre unit. The Fiesta supermini recently became petrol-only in the UK, with Ford citing "very, very low" diesel sales, but the relative ongoing po[CENSORED]rity of the fuel in the larger family hatchback segment suggests diesel could be retained in at least one form for the updated Focus.

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https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-58361211 The US intelligence community has been unable to determine the origins of Covid-19, and is split on whether it leaked from a lab or developed in nature, according to a new report. The report issued by the office that oversees the nation's 18 spy agencies did conclusively determine that it was not developed as a biological weapon. Experts warn that time is running out to gather evidence of its beginnings. China's foreign minister has dismissed the report as "anti-science". The report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence said the intelligence community remains divided on Covid's most likely origin. "All agencies assess that two hypotheses are plausible: natural exposure to an infected animal and a laboratory-associated incident." According to the report, several unnamed spy agencies thought Covid emerged from "natural exposure to an animal infected with it or a close progenitor virus". But they only had "low confidence" in this conclusion. One intelligence agency developed "moderate confidence" that the first human infection was likely due a "laboratory-associated incident" at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which has studied coronaviruses in bats for more than a decade. President Biden issued a statement after the report's publication, criticising China for not co-operating with the investigation. "Critical information about the origins of this pandemic exists in the People's Republic of China, yet from the beginning, government officials in China have worked to prevent international investigators and members of the global public health community from accessing it," Mr Biden said. "The world deserves answers, and I will not rest until we get them, "he added. The pandemic, which has claimed nearly 4.5 million lives around the world, began in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December 2019. Why the lab-leak theory is being taken seriously The US base behind China's latest Covid conspiracy A World Health Organization (WHO) team, which visited Wuhan, concluded earlier this year that the disease most likely spilled over from an animal sold at a market. This conclusion has been rejected by some scientists. In May, Mr Biden asked US intelligence agencies to assess the data and produce a report that "could bring us closer to a definitive conclusion" on the origins of the virus. China meanwhile has been stoking baseless claims that virus originated from Fort Detrick, a military installation in the US. Earlier this week, the WHO panel warned that it would soon be "biologically impossible" to gather evidence dating back to the virus' origin. "The window of opportunity for conducting this crucial inquiry is closing fast," they warned, calling on researchers and governments to expedite studies.

At the end of two long days and several thousands of collective test miles, our five-man jury agreed that they had been in the company of two driver’s cars truly fit for Aberdeenshire’s spectacular roads in this year’s Britain’s Best Affordable Driver’s Car contest – but only one was really a deserving winner. That car was the wonderfully – perhaps even surprisingly – purposeful Hyundai i20 N. As is the way with these things, each judge gave each competing car a score out of a maximum 25 marks on the basis of driver appeal versus value for money, because that’s how BBADC works. The i20 N was the only car impressive enough to score 20 marks or higher consistently. Only one car could have beaten it, and only then if we had allowed the marks of the Caterham Super Seven to stand in a field against which it was competing with the benefit of so many natural advantages. In the end, we simply couldn’t. The Caterham weighed less than half as much as the next lightest car on test. It carried with it the sharpened performance, heightened agility and gentler suspension rates associated with that kerb weight. Additionally, it was the only car on test able to circumvent normal type approval restrictions and, despite a driving experience that glittered like nothing else in the field could, it offered a markedly less usable ownership proposition than its opponents. You would always find reasons to drive the Seven were it yours, but you could never use it like a hatchback. For those reasons and others, it wouldn’t have been fair to score the Caterham the same as its one-and-a-half tonne, front- and four-wheel-drive rivals. Much fairer, as one tester put it, to treat it like Lewis Hamilton competing as a one-off guest in a Formula Ford race: enjoy the spectacle and use him as a yardstick if you like, but don’t award him championship points. The lion’s share of those, quite rightly, went to a car that feels like a big leap forward for the Hyundai N performance sub-brand. One with a refreshingly appealing price and a more serious performance character than you might expect from a fast supermini, certainly; but also one that can take a snaking mountain pass apart more vividly than cars costing five figures more and hold your attention and enthusiasm every bit as well as it holds the road.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-58360592 Two British nationals, and the child of another British national, died in the explosion at Kabul airport, the foreign secretary has said. Dominic Raab said two others were also injured in the suicide bomb attack on Thursday. "It is a tragedy that as they sought to bring their loved ones to safety in the UK they were murdered by cowardly terrorists," he said. At least 95 people were killed in the attack. Mr Raab said he was "deeply saddened" by the deaths. He added: "Yesterday's despicable attack underlines the dangers facing those in Afghanistan and reinforces why we are doing all we can to get people out. We are offering consular support to their families. "We will not turn our backs on those who look to us in their hour of need, and we will never be cowed by terrorists." Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his thoughts were "very much with their families and their loved ones", adding that "what their loss really underlines is the urgency of getting on and concluding" the evacuation effort. The US, which is running the airport, is withdrawing its troops by 31 August. More than 150 people were wounded in the attack, which the group known as Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) says it was behind. The Pentagon said 13 US service personnel were also among those killed. It had earlier been thought there were two explosions, but the Pentagon said on Friday that there had been no second explosion at, or near, the Baron Hotel, which is close to the airport. Live: Final evacuations resume in Kabul after attacks Kabul airport attack: What do we know? Tired and scared, Afghans start new lives in the UK Afghan details found in British embassy in Kabul News of the deaths comes as the UK entered the final stage of its evacuations from Kabul and ceased calls for people to come to the airport to leave. The Ministry of Defence said processing facilities at the Baron Hotel had been closed. Following news of the British deaths, the SNP's Westminster leader Ian Blackford said the UK "must not abandon those we have a responsibility to protect". He said: "My heart goes out to the victims, their families, our personnel on the ground, and to the vulnerable Afghan people stuck in this nightmare situation." Defence Secretary Ben Wallace expressed his "deep regret" that not everyone eligible had been evacuated, including around 800 to 1,100 Afghans and 100 to 150 Britons. He said the withdrawal had not been hastened by the airport attack. Mr Wallace said this included nearly 8,000 Afghans eligible under the UK's relocation scheme for those who worked for the UK government and other vulnerable individuals, as well as 4,000 British passport holders. Others evacuated include embassy staff and nationals from partner nations. The defence secretary said the operation was "a remarkable achievement" in a "very hostile environment". But he told LBC Radio around 800 to 1,100 eligible Afghans would be left behind, as well as approximately 100 to 150 British nationals, some of whom he said were staying willingly.