- Wednesday, 20 August 2025
Reuters
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Israel and Hezbollah launch new attacks after deadly day in Lebanon
Israel struck Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and the Iran-backed group attacked military facilities in northern Israel on Tuesday, increasing fears of a full-blown conflict after Lebanon suffered its deadliest day in decades. Israel's military said it hit dozens of Hezbollah targets overnight, a day after carrying out airstrikes against the armed group which Lebanese authorities said killed nearly 500 people and sent tens of thousands fleeing for safety.
Israel mounts airstrikes on Hezbollah in Lebanon, tells citizens to evacuate
Israel unleashed its most widespread wave of air strikes against Hezbollah on Monday and warned Lebanese citizens to evacuate areas where the armed group was storing weapons, moving closer to all-out war. "We are deepening our attacks in Lebanon, the actions will continue until we achieve our goal to return the northern residents safely to their homes," Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said in a video published by his office on Monday.
Top Hezbollah commander among 14 killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander and other senior figures in the Lebanese movement in an airstrike on Beirut on Friday, vowing to press on with a new military campaign until it is able to secure the area around the Lebanese border. The Israeli military and a security source in Lebanon said Ibrahim Aqil had been killed with other senior members of an elite Hezbollah unit in the airstrike, sharply escalating the year-long conflict between Israel and the Iran-backed group.
Second wave of exploding devices raises fears of wider Israel-Lebanon conflict
Hand-held radios used by the armed group Hezbollah detonated on Wednesday across Lebanon's south in the country's deadliest day since cross-border fighting erupted between the militants and Israel nearly a year ago, stoking tensions after similar explosions of the group's pagers the day before.
Trump safe after assassination attempt thwarted at Florida golf course
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was safe on Sunday after the Secret Service foiled what the FBI called an apparent assassination attempt while he was golfing on his course in West Palm Beach, Florida. Several Secret Service agents fired on a gunman in bushes near the property line of the golf course after he was spotted a few hundred yards from where Trump was playing, law enforcement officials said.
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Myanmar's flooding death toll jumps to 74, state media reports
Myanmar's flooding death toll rose to 74 as of Friday evening, according to a state media report on Sunday, after heavy rains triggered widespread floods across the war-torn country. Search and rescue operations are ongoing, with at least 89 people missing as of Friday evening, the report said.
Harris rattles Trump in combative debate
Democratic candidate Kamala Harris put her Republican rival Donald Trump on the defensive in a combative presidential debate with a stream of attacks on his fitness for office, his support of abortion restrictions and his myriad legal woes. A former prosecutor, Harris, 59, controlled the debate from the start, getting under her rival's skin repeatedly and prompting a visibly angry Trump, 78, to deliver a series of falsehood-filled retorts.
New Delhi to renew firecracker ban ahead of Diwali to combat pollution
India's capital will ban the use of firecrackers ahead of the Hindu festival of Diwali in November in a bid to control air pollution that reaches hazardous levels every winter, the local government said on Monday.
Ethnic violence in India's Manipur escalates, six killed
Six people, including one civilian, were killed as fresh violence broke out between two warring ethnic communities in the northeast Indian state of Manipur on Saturday, authorities said. The majority Meitei community and the tribal Kukis have clashed sporadically since last year after a court ordered the state government to consider extending special economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education enjoyed by the Kukis to the Meiteis as well.
France's Macron names former Brexit negotiator Barnier as new prime minister
French President Emmanuel Macron appointed Michel Barnier, the European Union's former Brexit negotiator, as his new prime minister on Thursday, after weeks of drawn-out talks following an inconclusive snap election.
Climate change costs Africa up to 5% of GDP, UN climate head says
The impact of global warming is costing African nations up to 5% of their economic output, the United Nations climate chief said on Thursday, calling for more investments to help adapt to climate change.
Bangladesh floods leave 71 dead, fears of waterborne disease rise
The death toll from floods in Bangladesh rose to 71 on Tuesday with millions of people still stranded in devastated areas and increasing concern about outbreaks of waterborne disease as the inundation recedes. The floods, triggered by relentless monsoon rains and runoff from upstream waterways, have wreaked havoc over the past two weeks, causing widespread destruction and affecting around five million people.
Blood tests allow 30-year estimates of women's cardio risks, new study says
Women’s heart disease risks and their need to start taking preventive medications should be evaluated when they are in their 30s rather than well after menopause as is now the practice, said researchers who published a study on Saturday. Presenting the findings at the European Society of Cardiology annual meeting in London, they said the study showed for the first time that simple blood tests make it possible to estimate a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease over the next three decades.
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Brazil watchdog moves to block access to Elon Musk's X after court order
Brazil's telecommunications regulator said that it was suspending access to Elon Musk's X social network in the country to comply with an order from a judge who has been locked in a months-long feud with the billionaire investor. The popular social media platform missed a court-imposed deadline on Thursday evening to name a legal representative in Brazil, triggering the suspension.
Thousands evacuated, schools shut as India, Pakistan brace for rare August cyclone
Coastal towns and cities in India and Pakistan braced for a rare August cyclone on Friday, as heavy rains and winds forced authorities to close schools and evacuate thousands. India's weather office said a deep depression had formed over land and was likely to intensify into a cyclonic storm by Friday evening, moving north-westwards over the Arabian Sea in the next two days.
