<b>Hello and welcome to the ‘Best of the Week’, your guide to some of </b><i><b>The National</b></i><b>’s most compelling, informative and entertaining content of the past seven days.</b> <b>COVER STORY</b> <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2021/08/02/inside-the-fight-for-herat-as-the-taliban-threaten-afghanistans-third-biggest-city/" target="_blank">Read our dispatch from Herat </a>as government fighters battle to protect the city from the advancing Taliban. To mark the anniversary of the Beirut bomb blast, survivors told us of their <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/lebanon/2021/08/03/beirut-blast-families-in-anguish-as-death-toll-uncounted-one-year-on/" target="_blank">fight for justice</a>, and we investigated what happened to <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/mena/lebanon/2021/08/04/beirut-blast-investigation-what-happened-to-the-case-that-could-break-the-regime/" target="_blank">”the case that could break the regime”</a>. Our correspondent joined the clifftop spotters overlooking the English Channel who brave online threats to <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2021/07/31/on-patrol-with-channel-rescue-the-clifftop-spotters-watching-out-for-migrants/" target="_blank">help migrants making the perilous crossing from France</a>. <b>WEEKEND READS</b> The inside story of how scientists came up with the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/coronavirus/2021/08/02/sotrovimab-inside-the-creation-of-life-saving-covid-drug-that-will-withstand-variants/" target="_blank">breakthrough Covid-19 treatment Sotrovimab</a>. Pakistani writers who have <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/books/2021/07/31/pakistani-authors-challenging-patriarchal-conditions-respond-to-recent-femicide-cases/" target="_blank">tackled the subject of domestic violence</a> in the country told us why they had to speak out. We took a trip inside the <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2021/08/06/mighty-mole-bores-through-hajar-mountains-to-make-way-for-etihad-rail/" target="_blank">gaping tunnel in the Hajar mountains </a>created by a ‘mighty mole’ boring machine to make way for Etihad Rail. <b>THE ESSAY</b> <b>CULTURE</b> Meet the Jordanian diplomat who became <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/uae/2021/07/31/meet-the-jordanian-diplomat-who-fell-in-love-with-the-uaes-national-sport/" target="_blank">hooked on the UAE’s beloved jiu-jitsu</a> during his time in Abu Dhabi. And we found out why <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/luxury/2021/07/29/why-fragrances-by-omans-amouage-are-among-the-most-valuable-in-the-world/" target="_blank">Oman’s Amouage fragrances</a> are among the world’s most valuable. Watch the haunting moment <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9OQJSNKvROg" target="_blank">Beirut fell silent</a> to remember the victims of the port explosion. <b>MONEY</b> As <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfEx-f4OSGI" target="_blank">Barack Obama turns 60</a>, find out about his legacy in the Middle East. And we sat down with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf1RfWBTrsY&t=12s" target="_blank">Mohamed Ramadan</a>, the Egyptian star of screen, song and social media. <b>PLUS</b> In a four-part <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/beyond-the-headlines/2021/08/02/the-blast-episode-1-how-the-ammonium-nitrate-that-blew-up-beirut-got-to-lebanon/" target="_blank">Beyond the Headlines special</a>, we investigated the Beirut blast to find out how it happened - and what comes next. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/business-extra/2021/08/04/can-robots-care-a-conversation-with-the-world-economic-forums-head-of-ai-business-extra/" target="_blank">Business Extra</a> asked the World Economic Forum's head of AI: can robots care? And don't forget to get all the daily news you need in our <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/podcasts/trending-middle-east/" target="_blank"><i>Trending Middle East</i></a> podcast. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2021/08/01/will-iran-be-pleased-with-bidens-middle-east-exit/" target="_blank">Raghida Dergham</a> considered whether Joe Biden's exit from the Middle East would go down well in Tehran. <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2021/08/01/the-ecj-ruling-on-the-hijab-is-bigotry-passing-off-as-neutrality/" target="_blank">HA Hellyer</a> condemned the European Court of Justice's recent ruling against the hijab as prejudice veiled in neutrality. And <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/opinion/comment/2021/08/05/there-is-no-asterisk-needed-for-the-tokyo-olympics/" target="_blank">Nick March </a>penned a eulogy to the Tokyo Olympics - faster, higher, stronger than ever before. <b>SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTERS</b>