How the desperate search for two missing girls in 2002 and their now-dead killer claimed its place in the country’s museum of appalling crimes

• Soham murderer Ian Huntley dies after prison attack

The death of Ian Huntley is, perhaps, a moment to pause and remember, and not to dwell on the manner and circumstances of his killing.

August 2002 is the time to return to, and the place is Soham: a pretty Cambridgeshire village that few outside the county, and possibly many within it too, knew much about before that summer. Before it happened.

He’s television’s most daring documentary-maker, known for asking questions others wouldn’t. But Theroux doesn’t seem to like it when the tables are turned

On the pavement outside the Netflix office, I stand in the rain, confused. Was that interview a little off? Louis Theroux seemed not to like my questions, which were typical interview questions, related to him and his big glossy Netflix debut, Inside the Manosphere. He seemed, I don’t know, prickly? A bit testy? I’m prone to rumination, so perhaps I am overthinking. Because Louis Theroux is a good guy, right? He skewers the bad guys. And yet here I am, baffled. The only thing to do is sit in a cafe and replay the tape.

Theroux is solicitous, lightly ironic in tone. “Louis,” he says. “How do you do?” I am fine. Looking forward to our chat, as you may imagine. Theroux, 55, might be north London dad in appearance – specs, grey T-shirt, black jeans, sneakers – but he’s the grandmaster of both the immersive documentary and interview form. The son of American writer Paul Theroux (a nepo baby before they existed), he has built a 30‑year career in television, much of it at the BBC, making a virtue of being a socially awkward verbivore, hyper‑curious, super-funny.

The lowdown on journey times, season ticket costs and average house prices in places you should know about

• In pictures: homes for sale in new commuter hotspots in England

The commuter belt is being redrawn. During Covid, in the hope that remote working would stick, buyers broke free from conventions and transformed the housing map. A race for space – and to the coast and rural areas – were the stories of the pandemic.

As the call back to the office intensified, this trend unwound and homebuyers began targeting the more traditional commuter zones once again. Unfortunately, the homebuying landscape is very different to five years ago and some of those locations are unaffordable.

A story that started in the British Virgin Islands led to a sensational arrest 4,000 miles away – but was it ever more than a shaggy dog story?

Is it really plausible that Peter Mandelson could have hatched a daring plot to escape to the British Virgin Islands? In the capital of Road Town for the last week or so, the question has been on many minds. And even if the UK’s Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, came away with that possibility in mind from a recent visit, very few of them are convinced.

“It seemed strange to me,” said one bemused local official who had met Hoyle at a function a few days earlier, “that if you were going to flee, it would be to a British territory. From a logical point of view, you’re still more or less in the UK. It’s like fleeing to Southampton.”

Her YA classic was inspired by racism in 1990s Britain. A quarter of a century later, she talks about success, death threats and getting shoutouts from Tinie Tempah and Stormzy

‘I’m useless at this bit,” Malorie Blackman laughs, shifting awkwardly in a plum-coloured jacket and smart black trousers. It is a gloomy February evening in the back room of a theatre in west London, and she is having her photograph taken, the rain pummelling the brick outside.

Blackman is, by any reasonable metric, one of the most significant writers Britain has produced in the past quarter of a century – the closest thing my generation, who were raised on her books, has to a literary rockstar. And yet, she seems faintly baffled by the notion that the spotlight should rest on her for long. “I hate being in front of the camera!”

Didn’t you know? True British patriots are the ones who want to join an obviously disastrous war on behalf of Israel and Donald Trump

Have you heard enough pant-wetting about Britain’s “reputation” this week? Honestly, I don’t think any of us can bear the social embarrassment of not getting immediately involved in an obviously disastrous war in the Middle East. The awks of it. How will good old Britannia hold her head up high if she isn’t an instant ride-or-die for a US administration described by a former senior Nato commander as “gung-ho nutters” with “no clear understanding of how this thing is going to end”? You should be simply unable to stand it. You should have Middle East-catastrophe Fomo.

Opposition party leaders and politicians seem genuinely excruciated by the fact that Earth’s pettiest man, Donald Trump, sniffed earlier this week of Keir Starmer: “This is not Winston Churchill we’re dealing with.” Boo-hoo for you, pal. We’re having to deal with the Cheeto FDR, so everyone’s making sacrifices.

Masoud Pezeshkian says no more attacks against neighbouring countries unless they were the source of an attack against Iran

• Tell us: how have you been affected by the latest events in the Middle East?

The Saudi defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, urged Iran on Saturday to “avoid miscalculation” after missile and drone launches at the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said earlier in the day it had blocked repeated missile launches at an airbase housing US military personnel and drone attacks at a major oilfield.

We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation.

Masoud Pezeshkian issues rare apology to neighbouring Gulf states for Iranian strikes as war enters eighth day

• Middle East crisis live: latest news updates

The president of Iran has rejected Donald Trump’s call for the country’s “unconditional surrender” as a “dream”, while issuing a rare apology for Iranian strikes that had targeted sites in neighbouring Gulf states.

In a prerecorded address broadcast on state television on Saturday, Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said the country would never capitulate, responding to remarks by the US president, who said on Friday that only Iran’s total submission could bring the war to an end.

Iran’s targeting of commercial datacentres in the UAE and Bahrain signals a new frontier in asymmetric warfare

It is believed to be a first: the deliberate targeting of a commercial datacentre by the armed forces of a country at war.

At 4.30am on Sunday morning, an Iranian Shahed 136 drone struck an Amazon Web Services datacentre in the United Arab Emirates, setting off a devastating fire and forcing a shutdown of the power supply. Further damage was inflicted as attempts were made to suppress the flames with water.

Nusaybah Sattar and five relatives were kept off evacuation flight despite holding tickets and UK passports

• Middle East crisis live: latest news updates

A British family stranded in the Middle East after being wrongly refused entry to an evacuation flight from Oman say they have received an apology from the Foreign Office, but no actual help to get home.

Nusaybah Sattar, 26, from London, was in Dubai with her family to celebrate her brother-in-law’s 40th birthday when the city was hit by Iranian drones and missiles last Saturday.