The Independent

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, was obliged to admit "shortcomings" in the 34-day-old conflict in Lebanon yesterday as he launched what may prove a protracted fight for his own political survival. By Donald Macintyre

The oxygen-starved "dead zone" along America's Pacific Coast that is causing widespread crab and fish deaths is worse than first thought, scientists said. By Joseph B Frazier

Typhoon Saomai, the most powerful storm to hit China in five decades, raged ashore yesterday and churned across the south-east of the country, killing at least two people, wrecking houses and capsizing ships after 1.5 million residents were evacuated. By Joe McDonald

Visitors to China will be allowed to hunt an array of weird and wonderful wild animals, including endangered species, if they secure a hunting licence in an auction at the weekend. By Clifford Coonan

All drivers in Europe may have to keep headlights on in daytime, prompting a fierce debate on whether safety gains outweigh the cost to the environment. By Stephen Castle

Israel has approved a major escalation of war by voting to send thousands of fresh troops deeper into Lebanon in an expanded offensive echoing its invasion nearly a quarter of a century ago. By Donald Macintyre

Claims that US troops shot dead up to six unarmed Afghan civilians two months ago in Kabul have been given added credibility with a series of photographs offering visual evidence of military misconduct. By Tom Coghlan

"I don't want to die. I want to go to school," says Jamal, a four-year-old Lebanese boy scarred by the Israeli bombing of his country. Home for Jamal is now a "displacement centre" in the southern town of Jezzine, where his family fled in fear for their lives. By Anne Penketh and Kim Sengupta

A 12-year-old boy dead on a stretcher. A mother in shock and disbelief after her son was shot dead for standing on their roof. A phone rings and a voice in broken Arabic orders residents to abandon their home on pain of death. By Anne Penketh

The heatwave which delivered the hottest July on record has caused a disastrous slump in vegetable crops which is expected to send prices soaring, as they did when the 1976 drought hit. By Ian Herbert

Israel has led my country into destruction and my people into a humanitarian emergency. By Merhi Rima

Tony Blair and George Bush defied the growing anger across the world yesterday by seeking a UN resolution that fell far short of a ceasefire to end the killing of Lebanese civilians. By Colin Brown and Francis Elliott

The massive aerial bombardment and blockade of Lebanon began in response to a cross-border raid in which two Israeli soldiers were abducted by Hizbollah 17 days ago. But its goal is now to minimise the threat to Israel's northern border posed by Hizbollah. By Donald Macintyre

Will aerial bombing work for Israel? By Kim Sengupta

The Amazon rainforest has won a temporary reprieve from an invasion by soya farmers, after Brazil's major traders in the bean agreed to a two-year moratorium on crops from newly deforested land. By Daniel Howden

It's among the biggest, the rarest, and most beautiful creatures on Earth. But now the western north Pacific gray whale is being forced to share its home with one of the most ambitious oil and gas drilling projects ever undertaken.

And that could speed up global warming with 'incalculable consequences', says alarming new research. By Geoffrey Lean in Manaus and Fred Pearce

Tomorrow promises to be the hottest day in Britain since records began. But with the sunshine comes a health warning: extreme temperatures have severe effects on every part of the body. Jeremy Laurance explains

Is it just a freak summer? Or proof of global warming? As temperatures hit record highs, what's fuelling the heatwave?

Tomorrow, a UN report highlights the need to provide the most vital resource of all. By Paul Vallely

As a textbook example of hi-tech precision bombardment it could hardly be improved. Smoke was still rising yesterday from the scorched wreckage of the six transformers at Gaza's only power station, each destroyed by a single missile fired by an Israeli warplane some 10 hours earlier.

In the guise of fighting terrorism and maintaining public order, Tony Blair's Government has quietly and systematically taken power from Parliament and the British people.

More than one million children are suffering from mental disorders severe enough to require treatment, doctors say. By Jeremy Laurance

Snapshots form the offfice of sensitive

A new generation of reactors is suddenly likely. But at what cost? And what will happen to the waste? By Cole Moreton

MPs demand to know why invasion chiefs and billionaire got awards. By Francis Elliott

Their sons, husbands and grandsons are all serving soldiers. And they are joining a major new campaign for the safe return of our troops from a war they believe is 'based on lies'. They talk exclusively to Severin Carrell

Few places on Earth are less hospitable, less suited to human life than the Sahara desert. Yet as global warming accelerates and the prospect of profound climate change looms large, we must face the fact that vast areas of our planet will be rendered equally barren.

You would think that winning the Nobel Peace Prize would have provided a measure of protection for Shirin Ebadi, a Iranian human rights lawyer who has taken up the cases of Iran's most prominent dissidents, from the wrath of the mullahs. By Anne Penketh

WWF, formerly the World Wildlife Fund, estimates that 80 per cent of orangutan habitat has been lost in the past 20 years. Experts warn that at current rates of deforestation, the orangutan will be extinct in the wild in just 12 years. By Martin Hickman