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The Israeli military's invasion of southern Lebanon has resulted in the demolition of entire villages, with homes rigged with explosives and razed to the ground in massive remote detonations.Videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media show Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura, and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages.The demolitions came after Israel's minister of defence, Israel Katz, called for the destruction of 'all houses' in border villages 'in accordance with the model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza' to stop threats to communities in northern Israel. The Israeli military destroyed 90% of homes in Rafah, in south Gaza.The tactic of mass destruction of homes in Gaza, where Israel has been accused of committing genocide, was described as domicide by academics, a strategy that is used to systematically destroy and damage civilian housing to render entire areas uninhabitable.The Israeli military has said they are targeting Hezbollah infrastructure such as tunnels and military facilities, which it claims the armed group has embedded in civilian homes, through these demolitions.Israel has said that it will occupy vast swathes of south Lebanon, establishing a 'security zone' in the entire area up to the Litani River, and that displaced people would not be allowed to return to their homes until the safety of Israel's northern cities is guaranteed, prompting concern there will be long-term displacement.Rights groups, however, have said these mass remote detonations could amount to wanton destruction: a war crime. The laws of war prohibit the deliberate destruction of civilian homes, except when necessary for lawful military reasons.'The possibility that Hezbollah may use some civilian structures in Lebanon's border villages for military purposes does not justify the wide-scale destruction of entire villages along the border,' said Ramzi Kaiss, the Lebanon researcher for Human Rights Watch.

The UK housing market is experiencing a downturn due to the Iran conflict, which has led to increased uncertainty and fear among buyers and sellers. This conflict has resulted in lenders pulling hundreds of mortgage products within 48 hours of the war's outbreak, replacing them with more expensive deals.As a result, buyers and sellers are having second thoughts, with some pulling out of deals altogether. The mood in the market is one of 'fear and uncertainty,' according to Andy Wicking, director of the Charles Bainbridge estate agency in Canterbury.In the first three months of this year, just 47% of homeowners who asked Wicking to value their property went on to list it, a significant drop from 68% in the same period in 2025. Wicking notes that owners are still asking for valuations but not acting on them.At the bottom end, first-time buyers and those with the smallest deposits and least experience of riding out a turbulent market are pulling out. Wicking says, 'The chains falling down at the lower end, they're the really cautious ones.'For those who do make it to market, prices are slumping. A house valued at £600,000 may now go on at £575,000 to get buyers through the door. Surveyors are increasingly down-valuing properties too.The conflict has also led to a rise in interest rates, with the average two-year fixed-rate mortgage standing at 5.90% on Wednesday, up from 4.83% at the start of March. Nearly a million homeowners are due to come off five-year fixed deals this year, with those who have secured new deals paying an average of £94 more a month.The timing of the conflict couldn't be worse for owners who usually bring their homes to market after hunkering down for the winter. As Brian Swint, an independent mortgage broker, notes, 'It's the fear.'

At least seven Palestinians have been killed and others wounded in Israeli strikes across the central and southern Gaza Strip. An Israeli drone fired two missiles close to a police post in Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, killing and wounding several people.Medical sources confirmed the early morning attack to Al Jazeera, saying the strike hit a group of civilians in the 'Block 9' area of Bureij. Several people were killed and seriously wounded, they said.Ambulance crews faced difficult conditions as they worked to transport the bodies and those injured to nearby hospitals, the sources added. The al-Aqsa hospital in central Gaza received six bodies and seven wounded people, including four in critical condition.Separately, in the southern Gaza Strip, Nasser Medical Complex received three wounded people following an Israeli drone strike against a tent of displaced people in the town of Bani Suheila, located east of Khan Younis.Al Jazeera's correspondent on the ground also reported Israeli artillery shelling and heavy tank fire near Bani Suheila and east of Gaza City.Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 72,300 people since it began in October 2023, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, including at least 738 since the so-called ceasefire went into effect last October.The tally includes at least 32 deaths since the start of April alone – among them Al Jazeera journalist Mohammed Wishah, who was killed in an attack west of Gaza City earlier this week.United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk condemned Israel's recent violence in the Gaza Strip, saying that 'the unrelenting pattern of killings' reflects Israel's 'sweeping impunity'.Meanwhile, in the occupied West Bank, Israeli settlers and forces stormed homes and villages throughout the morning, continuing an escalating campaign to expand their illegal settlements.

During the Jewish festival of Passover, thousands of Israeli settlers converged on natural springs in the occupied West Bank, areas that were previously used by Palestinian communities. Videos circulating on settler chat groups show settlers wading and splashing in the same natural pools where Palestinian children once swam. Their parents barbecued nearby, expressing elation and crediting the 'hilltop youth' – young settlers carrying out systematic violence against Palestinians – for making this possible.The celebrations come as 1,727 Palestinians from 36 communities in the West Bank were displaced in the first three months of 2026 due to settler violence and access restrictions, according to the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). This already exceeds the highest annual figure recorded in any of the previous three years.For Palestinians like Haitham al-Zayed, 24, who was forcibly displaced from Shallal al-Auja by Jewish settlers, watching the videos was 'very hard to see' but unsurprising. He described the escalating violence and intimidation his community faced, including armed settlers on all-terrain vehicles funded by the Israeli government, chasing livestock and children, and raiding homes to interrogate or detain residents.Allegra Pacheco, chief of party of the West Bank Protection Consortium, described the videos as more than provocation, potentially evidence of the celebration of the intentional use of violence by Israeli settlers to forcibly displace Palestinians – a serious violation of international law. 'The praising of ethnic cleansing carried out by these settler youth,' she said, 'it’s really showing both the impunity and the lack of accountability we are seeing right now.'The displacement and violence have left many Palestinians, like Muhammad from Hammam al-Maleh, refusing to leave their homes despite the danger. 'I was born here. I was raised here. I am not willing to leave. Even if I die here – I will die happy, because I stayed on my land,' he said.

While holiday‑makers flocked to Lancashire’s coast for fresh sea air, residents of the former fishing port of Fleetwood were forced to endure a persistent, noxious odor emanating from the reopened Jameson Road landfill.The stench, identified as hydrogen sulphide – a toxic gas with a characteristic rotten‑egg smell – has been linked to the landfill’s re‑activation by recycling firm Transwaste in late 2023 after a five‑year closure.Local authorities report that the Environment Agency (EA) has received more than 20,000 complaints since the site reopened, including 6,000 complaints in the last six weeks alone. In the two‑year period ending January, the EA recorded 74 compliance breaches at the site, a third of which were classified as “significant”.Health impacts are mounting. Residents describe symptoms ranging from retching and vomiting to nosebleeds, headaches, itchy eyes and aggravated respiratory conditions such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). One resident, retired teacher Donna Davidson, reports that the smell has penetrated her home at night, describing it as “people are getting gassed in their beds”.Children are also affected; Dave McPartlin, headteacher of nearby Flakefleet Primary School, says pupils are refusing to play outside because the odor “lingers” even on sunny days. A family staying in an autism‑friendly caravan described their child’s severe nausea, calling the experience “hell”.Medical professionals are sounding the alarm. Dr. Barbara Kneale, a GP and occupational‑medicine consultant living a mile from the landfill, says the community feels “treated with contempt” by public agencies and is gathering detailed hydrogen sulphide readings to bolster a campaign for permanent closure.Local political pressure is intensifying. MP Lorraine Beavers used parliamentary privilege to label Transwaste “crooks” evading accountability, pledging to fight until the site is shut down. In response, Transwaste denied the allegations, insisting it complies with all regulations and attributing odour issues to the site’s re‑opening process.Wyre Borough Council, the landfill’s landlord, warned that legal action would only proceed if residents provide detailed diaries and allow council officers to witness the odour inside homes.Community activism has grown, with over 100 locals staging a slow march to the landfill, many using walking frames and face masks. Campaigners, including Davidson and Kneale, are also tracking the origins of waste trucks, which have been traced to locations as far as Dover, Dunfermline and Hull.The EA has pledged further enforcement, stating that “the community should not have to tolerate odours that affect their environment” and that it is pressing the operator to install permanent capping to prevent future emissions.As Fleetwood grapples with what residents call an “abomination”, the dispute highlights broader concerns about landfill management, air‑quality standards and the disproportionate impact on deprived communities with already high rates of respiratory illness.

Netflix's vast library of content often includes films that were initially intended for theatrical release but end up being off-loaded to the streaming platform. The latest example is 'Thrash', a shark thriller that was previously known as 'Beneath the Storm' and 'Shiver'. Despite its promising premise, the film fails to deliver, with critics calling it a messily made, choppily edited and entirely misfiring cavalcade of bad decisions and dodgy accents.The film, directed by Norwegian director Tommy Wirkola, tells the story of a hurricane that destroys a town while also thrusting a pack of bull sharks into the streets and homes of those unlucky enough to still be there. However, the film's distracting sense of inauthenticity and lack of suspense make it a disappointing watch. The cast, including Bridgerton's Phoebe Dynevor and Djimon Hounsou, struggle to elevate the poorly written characters and lackluster dialogue.'Thrash' is now available on Netflix, but it's unlikely to be a hit with viewers. The film's cheap production values and lack of originality make it feel like a low-budget B-movie, rather than a film that was once intended for theatrical release. With Netflix spending around $18bn on content last year, it's surprising that they would accept a film of such poor quality.

The conflict that erupted in April 2023 between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces has driven the country’s humanitarian situation to catastrophic levels, according to the international non‑governmental organisation Humanity & Inclusion.Three years on, the NGO warns that civilians are enduring a deepening crisis, while people with disabilities are confronting extreme challenges as violence continues, essential services crumble, and unexploded ordnance spreads across former battle zones.Humanity & Inclusion estimates that 11.6 million Sudanese have been displaced by the fighting, and that **more than 33 million people now require humanitarian assistance**—roughly half the nation’s population. By the end of January 2026, over **3 million displaced individuals had begun returning home**, including **700,000 who had fled abroad**. Most of these returns have been to states where hostilities have eased, such as Khartoum, the Blue Nile and Gezira regions.The organisation highlights that **4.6 million Sudanese—about 16 % of the total population—live with disabilities**. In conflict‑affected areas this proportion is likely higher due to war‑related injuries, trauma, and deteriorating health conditions. The NGO stresses that disabled persons “face extreme challenges in fleeing violence, accessing aid, and protecting themselves from harm,” and are often among “the first to be left behind,” exposing them to heightened risks of violence, abuse, discrimination and exclusion.Adding to the peril, Humanity & Inclusion points to the lingering presence of **explosive remnants of war**, describing them as a “new and deadly danger” for millions returning to their homes. Unexploded ordnance—including antipersonnel mines—has contaminated former front lines, residential areas, schools, hospitals, places of worship and roadways, severely restricting access to essential services and livelihoods.These findings underscore the urgent need for intensified humanitarian response, targeted protection measures for people with disabilities, and comprehensive clearance of explosive hazards to prevent further civilian casualties and enable the safe return of displaced populations.

The Al‑Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem reopened after a 40‑day closure imposed by Israeli authorities.Verified video footage released by Al Jazeera shows crowds streaming through the gates early Thursday, with approximately 3,000 worshippers attending the morning prayers.The ban had been total—or limited to a few dozen faithful—at Christian, Jewish and Muslim sites since the US‑Israeli war on Iran began on February 28. Israel frequently imposes restrictions, especially on Palestinian worshippers.The Islamic Waqf Department in occupied Jerusalem confirmed that the doors of Al‑Aqsa would be opened to all worshippers from dawn; the Jordanian‑affiliated authority managing the site offered no further details.Volunteers and caretakers were seen preparing courtyards and prayer areas to receive the faithful, while Israeli officials announced the simultaneous opening of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Wednesday evening.Israeli police attributed the decision to “updated instructions from the Israeli Home Front Command” and highlighted a massive security deployment, with hundreds of police officers and border guards stationed throughout the Old City and surrounding roads to “secure visitors.”Jerusalem’s holy sites have endured strict security measures and repeated closures during the six‑week regional war, curtailing celebrations of Lent, Passover, Ramadan and, for the first time since Israel’s 1967 occupation, Eid al‑Fitr prayers at Al‑Aqsa.The lifting of the ban arrives just in time for Orthodox Christians, who observe Easter on Sunday, a week after Catholic and Protestant celebrations.Continued Raids in the Occupied West BankIsraeli forces continued operations across the occupied West Bank. In Nablus, a woman was detained and a man assaulted during an early‑morning raid, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.The Ramallah‑based Palestinian Health Ministry reported that Israeli forces fatally shot 28‑year‑old Alaa Khaled Mohammed Sbeih near the village of Tayasir on Wednesday night; the Israeli military said an off‑duty soldier fired at a stone‑thrower.Wafa added that six young men were detained in Tayasir, while troops stormed homes in Ya’bad, south of Jenin, destroying the contents of three houses. Additional raids hit the villages of Qusra and Awarta, though no arrests were reported there.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that more than 1,100 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank since 2023, with at least 10,000 people forcibly displaced.

Israel's heaviest and deadliest air attacks on Lebanon in years have left the country reeling, with at least 254 people killed and over 1,160 injured. The strikes, which occurred in dozens of locations across Beirut, its suburbs, the south, and the eastern Bekaa Valley, have sparked fears of a rising toll as more victims are recovered from the rubble.The attacks came hours after a Pakistani-negotiated ceasefire between the US and Iran took effect, but Israel and the US argued that Lebanon was not included in the agreement. US President Donald Trump described Lebanon as a 'separate skirmish,' while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed the ceasefire 'does not include Lebanon.'Netanyahu's goal appears to be taking advantage of the fluid situation to maximize operational achievements in Lebanon, according to Dania Arayssi, a senior analyst at New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy. 'He must take into account that a US-Iran deal might include ceasing the war on Iranian proxies, which would greatly complicate the Israeli war effort against Hezbollah in Lebanon.'The conflict escalated in early March when Israel intensified its war on Lebanon, following a salvo of rockets launched by Hezbollah. Since then, over 1,700 people have been killed and more than 1.2 million displaced. Hezbollah has claimed its right to respond to the attacks, affirming that it will resist occupation and respond to aggression.The airstrikes, which included over 100 attacks in fewer than 10 minutes, targeted Hezbollah headquarters and military targets, but many strikes were in densely populated residential areas. Hospitals were overwhelmed, and people were forced to flee their homes, with some attempting to return to their homes in the south amid confusion over Lebanon's inclusion in the ceasefire.'People are afraid,' said Najib Merhe, owner of a restaurant in the Manara neighborhood. 'This kind of situation no one can afford nor endure.'