Private Eye editor Ian Hislop once called it a legal "weapon" deployed by the rich and powerful. But now the lifting of a super-injunction that blocked reporting of the calamitous Afghan data leak for more than two years has raised concerns about the government using courts to cover up information.

What makes an injunction super?
An injunction (or an interdict in Scotland) is a court order directing someone to take a particular action or preventing a person from doing something – such as reporting specific confidential or private information. It can be granted for a set period or on an undefined temporary basis. Breaching an injunction can be considered contempt of court, and punished by up to two years in prison or a substantial fine.

A super-injunction, said The Independent, "adds an extra layer to this by banning the reporting of the existence of the order itself".

How do you get one?
The judge must agree that there is a "justifiable reason with a strong argument" to grant a super-injunction, said law firm Alston Asquith. One might be needed when any disclosure of the regular injunction order "would defeat the very object of that injunction in the first place". They are something of a rarity, as the prohibitive legal costs make them "a privilege of the wealthy and famous".

When can it be broken?
The only way to reveal the existence of a super-injunction is if an existing order expires and a judge refuses to extend it. Or the person who sought it in the first place could volunteer the information themselves. MPs and lords could also reveal the information in Parliament, as happened in the case of Ryan Giggs in 2011. Parliamentary privilege means they are not bound by the rules of injunctions when speaking in the Houses of Parliament.

And an injunction or super-injunction issued in the UK cannot be enforced in jurisdictions beyond the scope of UK courts. This has been a particular headache in the internet age, when overseas news publications and social media accounts are easily accessible from the UK.

Outdoor seawater pools offer an enchanting "dose of the wild in an enclave of safety", said The Guardian. These "sheltered" areas allow swimmers to enjoy the tide and "rich saltwater" while being protected from the wide ocean's "turbulent waves". The UK is home to many of these breathtaking tidal swimming pools. Here are some of the best.

Bude Sea Pool, Cornwall
This "magical" semi-natural tidal pool (pictured above) is a "safe haven for wild swimming", said Cornwall Live. Open year-round and free to splash about in, it is "constantly rated the best in Cornwall", which is home to more than 30 seawater pools.

Walpole Bay Tidal Pool, Kent
Opened in 1937, this Grade II listed "concrete-sided colossus" is enjoyed by swimmers and baby seals alike, said The Times. Spanning four acres, the Walpole Bay Tidal Pool stretches across the seafront in Margate and is fed by both the sea and "freshwater springs from below".

Stonehaven Open Air Pool, Aberdeenshire
This "Olympic-sized pool" seems to have been taken straight from a "Wes Anderson set", said The Telegraph. Opened in 1938 in Aberdeenshire, the art deco pool is filled with "seawater taken directly from Stonehaven Bay", filtered and heated to a "toasty" 29C. It was first used as a place for troops to shower and swim during the Second World War.

Gourock Outdoor Pool, Renfrewshire
One of the "oldest lidos in the UK", this heated saltwater pool in Scotland's Lowlands dates back to 1909, said The Times. The "invigorating" seafront lido overlooks the Clyde Estuary and has a diving board that "draws queues of daredevils in high summer". 

Trump loved Epstein conspiracy theories – now he's at the heart of one
Pablo O'Hana in Metro
"For well over a decade, Donald Trump has thrived on conspiracy," writes Pablo O'Hana. So when he recently dismissed "the saga" of the Jeffrey Epstein files as a "very boring story", the backlash from his "conspiratorial base" was "swift and furious". The president "fuelled the fire" of speculation for years but now that "scrutiny" of Epstein's network has "edged closer to Trump himself", he's "no longer interested". He's "terrified" – "and he should be".

Gaza will radicalise a generation
Oli Dugmore in The New Statesman
"The sheer unrelenting savagery of Israel's offensive is an affront to our allegedly shared humanity," writes Oli Dugmore. But as horrific videos from Gaza surge across our social media platforms, UK politics and media coverage have been "characterised by a sanitised euphemism". "Palestine is the governing moral question of conversation", and Labour's "bleak state of disassociation" has "alienated a generation". The "electoral fallout will be as significant as the Iraq or Vietnam wars".

Save us from the Lime bike invasion
Joan Collins in The Spectator
There's "an invasion" of rental bikes and powered scooters in London, writes actor Joan Collins. They "litter our pavements". I've tripped over "discarded cycles on the streets of Belgravia" and I've been "almost run over twice" by a Lime bike. "Everyone I know has experienced the rudeness and sloppiness of most of these bike riders", who "dart recklessly between vehicles" and don't care for "road rules, pedestrians, safety, or anyone but themselves".