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Pop star Ed Sheeran is to perform a free concert in Coventry, it has been announced. Sheeran will perform to 700 fans, aged over 18, to mark the "grand opening" of HMV Empire in Hertford Street. The concert on 25 August is also part of celebrations for the company's centenary with tickets to be issued in a free draw. The venue has moved from Far Gosford Street and undergone a £500,000 redevelopment.

Source: bbc.com

At least three rockets landed near the Afghan presidential palace on Tuesday as the country's leader Ashraf Ghani held outdoor prayers with top officials to mark the start of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday. Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility, it was the first rocket attack on Kabul since the Taliban launched a series of offensives to coincide with the final drawdown of foreign troops from the war-wracked country. The early morning holiday calm was shattered by incoming rockets heard across the heavily fortified Green Zone, which houses the presidential palace and several embassies, including the US mission.

Source: france24.com

The European Handball Federation (EHF) said it had imposed the fine because of a case of "improper clothing". Norway's players wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms during a bronze medal match against Spain in Varna, Bulgaria. Norway's Handball Federation (NHF) had already stated it would pay if their players were fined. Kare Geir Lio, the head of NHF, had told news agency AFP any penalty would be paid but added: "It should be a free choice within a standardised framework. "The most important thing is to have equipment that athletes are comfortable with."

Source: bbc.com

More than 100 million single-use surgical masks are thrown away in the UK each week and, as guidance changes on face masks, many more are set to be discarded in landfill. Working with film and TV costume design extraordinaire Tom Silverwood - who's made costumes for everything from Doctor Who to Tia Kofi on RuPaul's Drag Race UK - Hitched commissioned a gorgeous dress made out of 1,500 upcycled face masks.

Source: korrespondent.net

Cannabis' earliest roots may have stemmed from northwestern China -- not South Asia as commonly believed. Researchers found the Cannabis sativa species -- the "much beloved and maligned plant" widely used as a recreational drug -- likely emerged from the region by Neolithic times (10,000-3,000 BC), according to a news release from the journal Science Advances, where the study was published.

Source: cnn.com

In the US state of Oregon, the nation's largest active wildfire has burned through more than 300,000 acres, prompting thousands of evacuations. Over 2,000 firefighters are tackling the so-called Bootleg Fire - one of the largest blazes in Oregon's history. Since starting on 6 July, it has already scorched an area larger than the city of Los Angeles. It is one of more than 80 major fires raging across 13 US states, spurred by heatwaves and high winds.

Source: bbc.com

South Korea's Olympic team will cook food for its athletes separately and screen ingredients for radiation during the Tokyo Olympics, an official said on Monday, a potential further irritant to frayed Seoul-Tokyo relations around the Games. South Korea has periodically irked Japan with such steps as curbing imports of Japanese seafood, citing safety concerns after the 2011 Fukushima tsunami and nuclear disaster. A spokesperson for the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee said it has booked a hotel near the Olympic village to prepare and deliver boxed meals to its athletes, adding that the country has run its own food programmes at every Olympic Games to help its athletes feel at home.

Source: reuters.com

Haiti's interim Prime Minister Claude Joseph, who has run the country following the assassination of president Jovenel Moise, will step down and a new government will be formed with Ariel Henry as prime minister, an official said Monday. The new government will not have a president, and will be tasked with organizing fresh elections "as soon as possible," said the government official, who is close to the prime minister's office.

Source: france24.com

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused excess deaths in India to cross more than four million, a new study has found. Excess deaths are a measure of how many more people are dying than would be expected compared to the previous few years. Although it is difficult to say how many of these deaths have been caused by Covid-19, they are a measure of the overall impact of the pandemic. India has officially recorded more than 414,000 Covid-19 deaths so far.

Source: bbc.com

Divers have discovered rare remains of a military vessel in the ancient sunken city of Thônis-Heracleion - once Egypt's largest port on the Mediterranean - and a funerary complex illustrating the presence of Greek merchants, the country said on Monday. The city, which controlled the entrance to Egypt at the mouth of a western branch of the Nile, dominated the area for centuries before the foundation of Alexandria nearby by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. The military vessel, discovered by an Egyptian-French mission led by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology (IEASM), sank when the famed temple of Amun it was mooring next to collapsed in the second century BC.

Source: reuters.com

Pedro Castillo has been declared president-elect of Peru, weeks after winning the popular vote in a tightly-contested run-off election. The country's election authority announced its verdict after reviewing claims of electoral fraud by his right-wing rival, Keiko Fujimori. Mr Castillo, a 51-year-old former school teacher and union leader, secured just over 50% of the votes. He will now be sworn in as Peru's president on 28 July.

Source: bbc.com

South Korean President Moon Jae-in will not visit Tokyo for the upcoming Olympics, his office said on Monday, scrapping plans for what would have been his first summit with Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The announcement came after Seoul lodged a protest over a news report on Friday that a senior diplomat at Japan's embassy in Seoul had said Moon was "masturbating" when describing his efforts to improve relations between the two countries.

Source: reuters.com

The laboratory study suggests that penicillin changes the microbiome—the trillions of beneficial microorganisms that live in and on our bodies—as well as gene expression, which allows cells to respond to its changing environment, in key areas of the developing brain. The findings suggest reducing widespread antibiotic use or using alternatives when possible to prevent neurodevelopment problems. Antibiotic exposure early in life could alter human brain development in areas responsible for cognitive and emotional functions, according to a new study with mice.

Source: futurity.org

The United Arab Emirates' de facto ruler held talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Monday with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, at a time of tensions between the two Gulf allies that led this month to an open standoff over oil policy. A public dispute between the two states this month disrupted policy setting by OPEC+, an oil producers' group that comprises OPEC and a number of allies. On Sunday, OPEC+ secured agreement to boost oil supplies after the two Gulf producers reached an understanding.

Source: reuters.com

Heavy monsoon rains have been lashing the western city of Mumbai, India’s financial capital. At least 30 people have died in landslides, a building collapse and from electrocution. Transport services have been hit and many areas are reporting flooding. The weather department has issued a red alert, warning people of heavy rains over the next 24 hours.

Source: bbc.com

Britney Spears on Saturday said she would not perform again while her father retains control over her career, and said the conservatorship she has been under for 13 years had "killed my dreams." Spears, 39, who has undisclosed mental health issues, has not performed in public since late 2018 at the end of a world tour and an extended concert residency in Las Vegas. Spears this week appointed a new lawyer to represent her in her bid to bring the conservatorship to an end, calling it abusive.

Source: reuters.com

North Korean state media has urged its young people against using slang from South Korea and told them to speak North Korea's standard language. There were also fresh warnings in North Korea's official newspaper against adopting the fashions, hairstyles and music of South Korea. It is part of a sweeping new law which seeks to stamp out any kind of foreign influence, with harsh penalties.

Source: bbc.com

A tabletop mountain that inspired a 19th-century artist is for sale on eBay for a fraction of its original $1.2 million price tag. The Zirkelstein, the smallest table hill of Saxon Switzerland, was listed for sale on the online platform on July 15. The current owners hope to get at least $235,000 for the hill, which rises about 1,261 feet above the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, also known as the Elbe Sandstone Highlands. The peak, which is wooded and cone-shaped, with a notable 130 foot-table-top summit of sandstone, gained fame after German landscape artist Caspar David Friedrich painted it in the background of his 1818 masterpiece “Wanderer above the Sea of Fog.”

Source: local21news.com