Today marks the 20th anniversary of the attacks by four suicide bombers that left 52 people dead and injured more than 700 across London's transport network. What many people may no longer recall is that two weeks after the horrors of 7/7, there were four attempted copy-cat attacks.

What happened?
In an attempted repeat of the 7/7 attacks, four Islamist extremists targeted three London Underground trains and a bus, but fled after their devices failed to explode, with just the detonators going off.

The only reported injury was a minor asthma attack, but it was "nevertheless a terrible reminder" of the capital's "vulnerability to domestic terrorism" and the "apparently ubiquitous threat of Islamist extremism", said historian Dominic Sandbrook on the BBC.

How were they caught?
The failure of the bombs to explode meant police were able to recover forensic material from the scenes, and CCTV images of the bombers were also widely shared.

The then Metropolitan Police commissioner, Ian Blair, said the manhunt for the suspects was "the greatest operational challenge ever faced" by the force. The investigation took a tragic turn when, the day after the failed attacks, police shot dead Jean Charles de Menezes, a Brazilian electrician who was mistaken for one of the bombers.

Within eight days, police had arrested all four main suspects. One was apprehended in Birmingham, two in London and a fourth was caught in Rome and extradited to the UK.

What happened to the perpetrators?
At their trial, the judge described the plot as a "viable attempt at mass murder". Ramzi Mohammed, Muktar Said Ibrahim and Yassin Omar were found guilty of conspiracy to murder and sentenced to minimum prison terms of 40 years.

A fourth man, Ismail Abdurahman, was convicted of assisting one of the failed bombers and failing to disclose information about the planned attacks. He was sentenced to 10 years, reduced to eight on appeal. Abdurahman was released in 2011, subject to licence conditions for 15 years. The other three attackers remain behind bars.

"Evoking memories of countryside rambles and summer fetes, there can be few more quintessentially British flavours than elderflower," said Andrew Ellson in The Times. And with Ocado reporting a year-on-year 107% rise in demand for elderflower liqueur, a key ingredient in the Hugo spritz, the cocktail could be set to "dethrone" Aperol as "spritz of the summer".

Despite going viral in recent years, the Hugo spritz is believed to have been invented two decades ago by Roland Gruber, as a "lighter version" of the Aperol spritz, at his bar in South Tyrol. The elderflower liqueur infuses the Hugo with a delicate hint of "floral aromatics", said Carrie Allen in The Washington Post, while the "crisp" prosecco and "big floof of mint" help to enhance the herbaceous flavour.

I make my Hugo spritz at home with elderflower liqueur (you can swap this for cordial mixed with gin or vodka), a few leaves of mint, prosecco, sparkling water and a dash of Angostura bitters, said Richard Godwin in The Observer. Be sure to "slap the mint to release the aromas" before mixing with the other ingredients, and garnish with a slice of lemon.

If that sounds too labour-intensive, Aldi's "viral" 750ml bottle of the cocktail costs just £4.49 and warrants the "hype", said Sarah Barltrop in the Daily Express. I was "dubious" about trying a pre-packaged version, but it was "light, delicately bubbly" and not too sweet. "It's a bargain."

The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world
Moustafa Bayoumi in The Guardian
Israel's war in Gaza is "chipping away" at much of what had been agreed internationally as acceptable, says Moustafa Bayoumi, "from freedom of speech to the very laws of armed conflict". The collapse of the international system that has "defined our lives for generations" is being ignored at our "collective peril". Amid "official outrage" over the slaughter that "is at best muted", all that was considered "institutionally solid melts into air", enabling Israel to "get away with murder".

Britain's high streets have become unhappy, dangerous places
Noor Qurashi in The Spectator
It "should shock us" that supermarket staff in London are serving customers from "inside glass and metal cages", says Noor Qurashi, yet it "generates barely a murmur". Thanks to a rise in shoplifting, shops have "morphed" into environments where customers are "watched like hawks and treated with suspicion". Something needs to be done about rising crime in stores, but the "endless stream of security measures" doesn't seem to be working.

Elon Musk’s latest Trump spat could end the Maga saga for good
Sean O'Grady in The Independent
The world's richest man and the "most powerful" one are in "jilted-partner-flirts-with-someone-else-to-spite-them" phase, writes Sean O'Grady in The Independent. After calling Donald Trump's "big, beautiful bill" a "pork-filled" abomination, Elon Musk is launching a political party that could "paralyse" his former friend's presidency and "break his uncertain hold" on Congress. "Backed by practically unlimited funds", Musk's America Party will focus on targeting the "relatively few Republican/Maga-held Senate seats" that "could tip the balance of power" away from Trump.