Other livesTacita DeanObituaryJoseph Dean obituaryMy father, Joseph Dean, who has died aged 88, was the youngest son of Basil Dean, the theatre director and producer who went on to found Ealing Studios and the forces' entertainment organisation Ensa, and his wife Esther. Basil was disdainful of family life and took no interest in his children. He was absent at my father's birth but still insisted he be given the middle name Jolyon, after the character in his friend John Galsworthy's newly published Forsyte Saga – a name Galsworthy had made up.

Afghanistan This article is more than 11 years oldKandahar's 'poo pond' gets a stay of executionThis article is more than 11 years oldMilitary mission to drain Afghan airfield's lake of sewage has had to be postponed until mid-2013The so-called "poo pond" at Kandahar airfield is one of the few parts of the US and Nato mission in Afghanistan that everyone agreed should go as soon as possible. A lake of sewage sitting on the indisputably grim-looking intersection of All-American Boulevard and Louisiana Road, it holds the waste produced by 30,000 people using hundreds of portable toilets.

Climate crisis This article is more than 5 months old‘Like a blowtorch’: Mediterranean on fire as blazes spread across nine countriesThis article is more than 5 months old‘There is no magical defence mechanism,’ says Greek prime minister as fires burn in northern Africa and southern Europe Wildfires were burning in at least nine countries across the Mediterranean on Tuesday as blazes spread in Croatia, Italy and Portugal, with thousands of firefighters in Europe and north Africa working to contain flames stoked by high temperatures, dry conditions and strong winds.

Week in geekFilmTwo years away from release, the film is already mired in controversy and confusion, with one US channel even making its own anti-woke rival movie. Is this revamp really needed? Disney’s live action take on the classic 1937 animation Snow White won’t be hitting multiplexes until at least 2025 thanks to the recent writers’ strike, so you might wonder why the studio has chosen this week to publish a first still of the famous princess surrounded by her seven faithful homunculi.

TheatreIt took months of training to get the actors in shape for Beautiful Burnout. It was a big Edinburgh hit, but will it work in a real boxing venue? By Laura BarnettOf the thousands of shows that hit the Edinburgh fringe every year, only a handful end up making a real stir beyond the festival. This August, one such stand-out was Beautiful Burnout, a new play by Bryony Lavery about five teenage Glaswegians who are desperate to become professional boxers.