Ian Burrell explores the backgrounds of the London rioters

Too many black men have been killed by the police. This is not the cause of these riots, but it's in the mix

The Prime Minister looks desperate. Desperately slow to react, desperately short of gravitas, and desperately remote from the amalgam of pressures

The pictures of blazing buildings in Tottenham, Hackney, Croydon and Ealing look likely to become the defining images of David Cameron's early days in Downing Street.

The man whose death was used as a spark for rioting and looting did not fire his weapon before being killed by armed police, investigators have said.

Ian Burrell explores the backgrounds of the London rioters

Once again the Metropolitan Police stands accused of misleading the public about a controversial death. A narrative (apparently relying heavily on police sources) emerged from reports on the death of the suspected gangster Mark Duggan last Thursday. It was claimed that Duggan had opened fire on officers from the Met's firearms unit when they moved in to arrest him. It was reported that the police had shot Duggan dead in response. There was even the suggestion that one officer only escaped being killed by Duggan because his radio took a bullet.

Cahal Milmo and Rob Hastings reconstruct the fateful events of Thursday evening that sparked three days of rioting

Immediately and inevitably in the aftermath of a riot attention turns to what lessons can be drawn from these acts of violence and theft. The spotlight has swung, as so often, to the police.

David Cameron cut short his holiday last night to fly back to Britain to take charge of the response to the wave of riots in London.

The Berkshire town of Maidenhead has long lived in the shadow of its more glitzy neighbour, Windsor, home to Eton College and the Royal Family's favourite castle.

Twitter users could face arrest for inciting violence in the wake of two nights of unrest in London, a Scotland Yard chief warned today.