Explosions were reported in southern Lebanon, including the city of Sidon, as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs and the Bekaa Valley
At least 20 people have been killed and more than 450 wounded by a second wave of explosions from wireless communication devices in Lebanon, the country’s health ministry says.
Walkie-talkies used by the armed group Hezbollah blew up in the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon – areas seen as its strongholds.
Some of the blasts took place during funerals for some of the 12 people who the ministry said were killed when Hezbollah members’ pagers exploded on Tuesday. Hezbollah blamed Israel for that attack. Israel has not commented.
The attacks came as Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant announced a “new phase in the war” and as an Israeli army division was redeployed to the north.
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UN Secretary General António Guterres warned of the “serious risk of a dramatic escalation” and called on all parties to “exercise maximum restraint”.
“Obviously the logic of making all these devices explode is to do it as a pre-emptive strike before a major military operation,” he told reporters.
There were already rising fears of an all-out conflict after 11 months of cross-border fighting sparked by the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
Hours after Wednesday’s explosions, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to return the tens of thousands of displaced people from the north of the country “securely to their homes”.
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Defence Minister Yoav Gallant meanwhile said Israel was “opening a new phase in the war” and that the “centre of gravity is shifting to the north through the diversion of resources and forces”.
An army division recently engaged in Gaza has been redeployed to the north, the Israeli military confirmed.
Hezbollah says it is acting in support of Hamas – which is also backed by Iran and proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Israel and many Western countries – and will only stop its cross-border attacks once the fighting in Gaza ends.
An indication of what the group might be planning to do next could come on Thursday, when its powerful leader, Hassan Nasrallah, is due to give a speech.
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Hezbollah’s media office on Wednesday announced the death of 13 of its fighters, including a 16-year-old boy, since the second wave of explosions.
It also said the group targeted Israeli forces near the border and in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights during the day, firing rockets at Israeli artillery positions.
The Israeli military said about 30 projectiles crossed from Lebanon on Wednesday, sparking a fire but causing no injuries.
It said Israeli aircraft struck Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon.
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Reuters
Some of the blasts took place during funerals for some of the 12 people killed by exploding pagers on Tuesday, who included Hezbollah fighter Mohammed Ammar
Wednesday’s deadly explosions represent another humiliation for Hezbollah and a possible indication that its entire communication network might have been infiltrated by Israel.
Many Lebanese are still shocked – and angered – by what happened on Tuesday, when thousands of pagers exploded at the same time, after people received a message they believed had come from the group.
Twelve people – including an eight-year-old girl and an 11-year-old boy – were killed and 2,800 others were wounded by the blasts, according to the Lebanese health minister.
A BBC team was at a funeral for four of those killed in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiya on Wednesday when they heard a loud explosion around 17:00 local time (14:00 GMT).
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There was chaos and confusion among the mourners, and then reports started to come in of explosions happening in other parts of the country as well.
The Lebanese Red Cross said more than 30 ambulances had responded to explosions in the capital’s southern suburbs, as well as in southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley.
The health ministry said the deadly explosions “targeted walkie-talkies”. A source close to Hezbollah also told AFP news agency that walkie-talkies used by its members had blown up.
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Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said one man was killed when a walkie-talkie exploded inside a shop selling cellular devices in Chaat, in the northern Bekaa Valley.
It identified the device as an ICOM-V82 handheld VHF radio, which is a now-discontinued model made by the Japan-based electronics manufacturer ICOM.
NNA said another ICOM-V82 exploded at a house on the outskirts of the nearby town of Baalbek. Video footage showed fire damage to a table and wall, as well as damaged parts of what appeared to be a walkie-talkie bearing the label “ICOM”.
An ICOM-branded walkie talkie was destroyed by a blast at a house on the outskirts of Baalbek
Reuters news agency cited a Lebanese security source as saying the walkie-talkies were purchased by Hezbollah five months ago – around the same time as the pagers were bought.
The BBC asked ICOM’s UK arm to comment on the reports, but it referred all media requests to the company’s press office in Japan. The BBC has reached out to ICOM Japan.
US and Lebanese sources told the New York Times and Reuters that Israel had planted small amounts of explosives inside the pagers which blew up on Tuesday.
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An ophthalmologist at one hospital in Beirut told the BBC that at least 60% of the people he had seen had lost at least one eye, with most also losing a hand.
“Probably this is the worst day of my life as a physician. I believe the number of casualties and the type of damage that has been done is humongous,” Dr Elias Warrak said.
“Unfortunately, we were not able to save a lot of eyes, and unfortunately the damage is not limited to the eyes – some of them have damage in the brain in addition to any facial damage.”
A Kentucky sheriff has been arrested after fatally shooting a judge in his chambers, police say.
District Judge Kevin Mullins died at the scene after being shot multiple times in the Letcher County Courthouse, Kentucky State Police said.
Letcher County Sheriff Shawn Stines, 43, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder.
The shooting happened on Thursday after an argument inside the court, police said, but they have not yet revealed a motive.
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Officials said Mullins, 54, was shot multiple times at around 14:00 local time on Thursday at the court in Whitesburg, Kentucky, a small rural town about 150 miles (240km) south-east of Lexington.
Sheriff Stines was arrested at the scene without incident, Kentucky State Police said. They did not reveal the nature of the argument before the shooting.
According to local newspaper the Mountain Eagle, Sheriff Stines walked into the judge’s outer office and told court employees that he needed to speak alone with Mullins.
The two entered the judge’s chambers, closing the door behind them. Those outside heard gun shots, the newspaper reported.
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Sheriff Stines reportedly walked out with his hands up and surrendered to police. He was handcuffed in the courthouse foyer.
The state attorney general, Russell Coleman, said in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that his office “will fully investigate and pursue justice”.
Kentucky State Police spokesman Matt Gayheart told a news conference that the town was shocked by the incident
“This community is small in nature, and we’re all shook,” he said.
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Mr Gayheart said that 50 employees were inside the court building when the shooting occurred.
No-one else was hurt. A school in the area was briefly placed on lockdown.
Kentucky Supreme Court Chief Justice Laurance B VanMeter said he was “shocked by this act of violence”.
Announcing Judge Mullins’ death on social media, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear said: “There is far too much violence in this world, and I pray there is a path to a better tomorrow.”
Electric-vehicle makers boosted Hong Kong stocks on Friday, as major indices rose across the board in the wake of the US Federal Reserve’s interest rate cut.
The Hang Seng index rose 1.8 per cent, with Chinese EV companies Xpeng and Geely Auto adding 9 per cent and 4.8 per cent, respectively.
Japan’s Topix rose 1.5 per cent, while South Korea’s Kospi added 1 per cent.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.4 per cent, led by clinical trial groups Euren Pharmaceuticals and Telix Pharmaceuticals, which gained as much as 6.7 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively.
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On Thursday, the S&P 500 gained 1.7 per cent, hitting a new record after the Fed’s half-point rate cut announcement on Wednesday.
A picture of Scarlett Johansson features on the front of Daily Telegraph as she attends the London premiere of film Transformers One which she stars in. The paper leads on Sir Keir Starmer denying he has lost control of Downing Street “despite civil war breaking out at the centre of his government”. It adds tensions in No 10 and questions over chief of staff Sue Gray’s £170,000 salary threaten to overshadow the Labour Party conference.
A funeral in Lebanon is the main picture on the front of the i newspaper. It reports the Middle East is “steps closer to regional war” as Israel bombs southern Lebanon. Armed group Hezbollah was targeted with pager and walkie-talkie attacks. Elsewhere, it says there is a frantic hunt for the mole who leaked Sue Gray’s salary to the BBC.
The Guardian leads with Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah threatening Israel with “tough retribution and just punishment” in a speech on Thursday. He also threatened to strike Israel “where it expects and where it does not”. Hot To Go! singer Chappel Roan also features on the page, telling the paper: “My whole life has changed”.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has been provided with a £10bn budget boost by the Bank of England which is increasing pressure on her to ease spending cuts and tax rises, the Times writes. The paper says Labour MPs are calling for the cash to be used to delay scrapping some pensioners’ winter fuel payments.
“Al Fayed ‘a serial rapist’” headlines the Metro as it reports on the BBC investigation into late billionaire and Harrods owner Mohamed Al Fayed. The papers reports the BBC’s investigation found more than 20 female ex-employees say Mr Al Fayed sexually assaulted or raped them. The Metro writes the tycoon who was “portrayed as the gregarious father” of Diana’s lover Dodi in Netflix’s The Crown “was a monster”.
“Shop of horrors” headlines the Mirror as it picks up the BBC’s story on Mr Al Fayed. The Mirror says at least 100 women are feared to have been sexually abused by the tycoon. It quotes Gemma, his former personal assistant. Speaking to the BBC about Mr Al Fayed, who she accuses of raping her, she said: “He felt like such a powerful man with so much money.”
The Daily Express pictures RAF veteran Jack Barlow who says he survived atomic bomb tests but now asks if he will survive the winter due to his winter fuel payment being “snatched away”.
The Financial Times says consumer confidence in the UK fell sharply in September, wiping out progress made so far this year. The paper observes it comes despite consumers benefiting from cheaper loans, rising real wages and a decrease in inflation. Elsewhere, it pictures people in Lebanon watching the leader of Hezbollah give a speech in which he vowed revenge on Israel.
Tory leadership contender Robert Jenrick has written in the Daily Mail that mass immigration and woke culture have put England’s national identity at risk. He says the ties which bind the nation together are beginning to “fray”. Elsewhere, it reports Mr Starmer is “on the rack” over Ms Gray’s salary and freebies.
The Sun reports Snooker player Ronnie O’Sullivan has split from fiancee actress Laila Rouass.
The Daily Star asks “what planet are they on?” It says minister defends “cadger PM’s £100k of freebies” as some pensioners lose the winter fuel payment.
Last week JPMorgan made headlines by announcing it planned to cap its junior bankers’ working week to 80 hours (“High pressure, long days, crushing workloads: why is investment banking like this?”, FT Alphaville, FT.com, September 13).
The media and most western professionals and other workers will see that figure as extraordinarily high — but the small print makes clear that the cap will not apply when junior bankers are working on “live” deals.
The 80-hour working week, it seems, is the routine baseline expectation.
Former investment banker Craig Coben, author of the FT Alphaville piece, outlined the history and factors that make the long-hours culture a seemingly intractable fact of life across the investment banking industry — and other related sectors such as Big Law.
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As investment banking is a bespoke service the work cannot fit into a standard nine-to-five schedule. The question is: does this bespoke service require regular “all-nighters”?
Is this really the most efficient approach? Research shows that working long hours does not improve productivity. Studies document diminishing returns after a certain threshold — typically around 50 hours per week.
Coben also pointed to the mega-salaries junior bankers earn. In the end, there is no such thing as a free lunch in life.
They know what they are getting themselves into. The reality may not be as glamorous as it seems. Assuming an entry salary of £90,000, as indicated in the article, an 80-hour working week for 47 weeks a year — admittedly a very basic calculation — junior bankers would earn a higher hourly rate by doing private tutoring!
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Yes, this is partly down to the nature of the business but it is also a self-perpetuating culture that is blocking efforts to at least mitigate its worst excesses.
Addressing this could, in fact, positively impact productivity as well.
Sonia Falconieri Professor in Corporate Finance, Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), London EC1, UK
“We asked for a thorough investigation,” says Olivia.
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“That’s definitely what they’ve done as it’s been a while now.
“I hope the FA do the right thing.
“It’s important we don’t skim over what happened.”
Regardless of the outcome, the 25-year-old says there’s no way things can stay the same in women’s football.
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“I’d like to think that after what’s happened to my sister, there’s no way there can’t be any change.
“Maddy ultimately lost her life and her spirit to football and it’s important that nobody else goes through that.”
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Before signing with Sheffield United, Maddy previously played for Birmingham, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest
Maddy’s family has launched a foundation in her name to support women and girls in football and hopes to be a voice for them too.
“You can’t bury your head in the sand,” says Olivia.
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“You need to stand up for these girls and stand up for Maddy ultimately as well.
“We just really wanted to find what was missing and give these girls a voice.”
They recently hit a £50,000 milestone, something Olivia says she “never even dreamed of”.
“It made me really proud,” she says.
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“I thought, we could really change the game here and change young girls’ lives.”
‘I’m going to be like Maddy’
Some of the money raised goes towards supporting girls like eight-year-old Neveah, who idolised Maddy.
Neveah’s mum, Beth, tells Newsbeat the love started when she was assigned the same number football shirt.
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“She’d see Maddy play and say, ‘Mum that’s me – I’m number eight, I’m going to be like Maddy’.”
Last year, Neveah was a mascot for Sheffield United and chose to walk out with Maddy, which Beth says helped to “grow her love of football”.
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Neveah would always wear Maddy’s Sheffield United shirt under her kit, her mum Beth says
When Maddy died, Beth says Neveah “took it really hard” and, in December, the foundation offered to pay for her to have new boots – something the family had done for Maddy every Christmas.
Since then it has also sponsored her kit.
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“She was very touched by that,” Beth says.
“We always get in touch with the family because she likes to tell them how many goals she’s scored for Maddy.”
Although Neveah is sometimes the only girl on the pitch, she is generally supported and encouraged in the sport, says Beth.
But she knows that might not always be the case, and that is why the work of the foundation is so important.
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“[Girls] need to know that support is available for them,” she says.
“I just hope Neveah’s journey through football, however long it is, continues to be positive.”
Olivia says her sister was “loved and adored and an inspiration to so many”.
“My main focus with the foundation is to carry that on for as long as I can and to bring her to life for as long as I can as well.”
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There will be a vigil for Maddy later and she will also be remembered at a match between Sheffield United and Derby County – the club Maddy supported – on Saturday.
“She would’ve been there for sure,” Olivia says of her big sister. “With a beaming smile.”
A spokesperson for Sheffield United told Newsbeat they were pleased to mark the anniversary with the match.
“The thoughts of everyone associated with Sheffield United Football Club remain with the Cusack family, as well as Maddy’s friends, colleagues and team-mates,” they added.
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The FA said it would not be appropriate to comment while it was still investigating.
If you’ve been affected by the issues raised in this article, help and support is available via BBC Action Line.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
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