Six in The Morning Sunday August 24

24 August 2014 Last updated at 09:15

James Foley killing betrays Britain, says Philip Hammond

The killing of a US journalist by an Islamic State militant believed to be from the UK is "an utter betrayal of everything the British people stand for", the foreign secretary has said.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Philip Hammond said the government was investing "significant resources" to tackle "a barbaric ideology".

He said the threat from conflicts in Syria and Iraq could last a generation.

It comes as Downing Street said it had appointed a new security envoy to Iraq.

A spokesman said the posting to the Kurdistan region of the country showed the government was "stepping up" its efforts to help Iraq defeat Islamic State (IS) militants operating in the area.

Gaza strikes destroy highrises

Apartment building that Israeli military said housed a Hamas operations room is one of two multi-storey complexes destroyed

• Harriet Sherwood in Jerusalem and agencies in Gaza
• theguardian.com, Sunday 24 August 2014 07.14 BST

Two multi-storey buildings in Gaza have been completely destroyed by Israeli air strikes in less than 24 hours, possibly signalling a new tactic in Israel’s military campaign.

A 12-storey apartment building in Gaza City was brought down on Saturday evening and a seven-floor office building in Rafah was razed early on Sunday.

The hits followed warnings by the Israel Defence Forces, in leaflets, text messages and automated phone calls. The text of a leaflet dropped from aircraft said: “The IDF intends to attack terrorists and terror infrastructure across the Gaza Strip … Israel is currently attacking, and will continue to attack, every area from which terror activities against Israel originate. Every house from which militant activity is carried out, will be targeted. For your own safety, prevent terrorists from utilising your property for terror agendas, and stay away from every site in which terrorist organisations are operating.”

The teenage girl whose baseball success provides a flimsy bridge across America's great racial divide

Out of America: Mo'ne is a black 13-year-old bringing a small ray of light against the dark backdrop of Missouri

RUPERT CORNWELL

Sunday 24 August 2014

At last there's a good news story from America. Put aside the chaos abroad and the beheadings in Iraq, the sense of a president adrift and aloof, and the violence in Ferguson, Missouri, ripping open racial wounds that seemed to be healing. Instead, consider the feats of Mo'ne Davis.

Mo'ne is a black girl, aged 13, who hails from inner-city Philadelphia – and right now she's probably the most famous baseball player on the planet. She's on the cover of the latest Sports Illustrated; Michelle Obama has tweeted about her and every talk show in the land has tried to land her.

Baseball is a game for males, right? Not in the case of the Taney Dragons little leaguers, for whom Mo'ne is star pitcher and hitter. Little League has its own version of the World Series, for children between 11 and 13. Girls have featured in it before, but none with the impact of Mo'ne.

Ultimate Reality TV: A Crazy Plan for a Mars Colony

By Manfred Dworschak

It might become the mother of all reality shows. Fully 704 candidates are soon to begin competing for a trip to Mars to establish a colony there. Broadcasting rights are to fund the mission, but a return ticket is not part of the deal.

If his greatest wish is fulfilled, then Stephan Günther will one day die on Mars. He's already thought long and hard about the eventuality. He would like his companions to pack his remains in an airtight coffin before depositing him outside the colony among the rocks.

"Perhaps there are unknown forms of life on Mars," 45-year-old Günther says. "We can't just intervene."

It is a sentiment which displays the enlightenment of today's conquerors. They want to take ownership of a planet, but they are concerned that their own remains could contaminate bacterial cultures in its dusty, rocky ecosystem.

Militias turn Libya's capital Tripoli into no-go zone for govt, travellers

August 24, 2014 - 3:10PM

Heba al-Shibani

Benghazi, Libya: Forces from the Libyan city of Misrata claim to have seized Tripoli's main airport after more than a month of fighting with a rival militia.

If confirmed, the airport's capture would be a major development in the battle to control Libya's capital.

Fighting between the militias that helped overthrow Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi in 2011 has forced the government to relocate its offices from the city and travellers to use smaller airports. In the NATO-backed campaign to oust Gaddafi, fighters from the western region of Zintan and Misrata, east of Tripoli, were comrades-in-arms. But they later fell out and have now turned parts of Tripoli into a battlefield.

Death toll from Hiroshima landslides reaches 50; 38 missing

NATIONAL AUG. 24, 2014 - 04:50PM JST

TOKYO —

The death toll from devastating midweek landslides in Hiroshima rose to 50 with 38 others missing on Sunday as fresh rain stoked fears of more disasters and hampered the round-the-clock search for survivors.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called off a planned inspection tour of the city by helicopter on the day as his presence was feared to further complicate the search and rescue mission as rain intensified, media reports said.

Abe has been criticized by opposition parties and some media for continuing to play golf in a summer resort for about one hour after being informed of the disaster, which occurred early Wednesday.