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By Paul Adams, Barbara Plett Usher and Ido Vock, BBC A damaged gate and debris at a football pitch after a reported strike fell in Majdal Shams village in the Israeli-annexed Golan area on 28 July, 2024. Photo: AFP/ Menahem Kahana Israel's air force says it has hit Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after 12 children and young adults were killed in a rocket attack while playing football in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. Israel has blamed the Lebanese militant group for Saturday's attack on the Druze town of Majdal Shams, but Hezbollah has strongly denied any involvement. Early on Sunday, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said it had conducted air strikes against seven Hezbollah targets "deep inside Lebanese territory". It is unclear whether there were any casualties. The rising tension...

By Charlotte Gallagher, BBC Culture reporter Actress Nicole Rieko Setsuko is en garde and lost at sea in Something in the Water, one of several recent shark films. Photo: AFP/ StudioCanal From the Steven Spielberg classic Jaws, to predators stalking the Seine in Under Paris, there is no shortage of shark films. Hollywood and audiences love them, seemingly never tiring of the suspense, gore and terror. There are prehistoric giant sharks in The Meg, genetically engineered ones in Deep Blue Sea and sharks high on cocaine in the ingeniously named Cocaine Shark. Even Donald Trump is a fan - he was reportedly due to play the US president in a Sharknado film, before becoming the actual US president. I became hooked on them after watching the James Bond film, Thunderball, where the villain k...

By Philippa Roxby, BBC News Ultra-processed foods. Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly They are the bête noire of many nutritionists - mass-produced yet moreish foods like chicken nuggets, packaged snacks, fizzy drinks, ice cream or even sliced brown bread. So-called ultra-processed foods (UPF) account for 56 percent of calories consumed across the UK, and that figure is higher for children and people who live in poorer areas. UPFs are defined by how many industrial processes they have been through and the number of ingredients - often unpronounceable - on their packaging. Most are high in fat, sugar or salt; many you'd call fast food. What unites them is their synthetic look and taste, which has made them a target for some clean-living advocates. There is a growing body of evidence t...

By Lucy Wallis, BBC The city of Hiroshima was left in ruins Photo: Supplied It was early in the day, but already hot. As she wiped sweat from her brow, Chieko Kiriake searched for some shade. As she did so, there was a blinding light - it was like nothing the 15-year-old had ever experienced. It was 8:15am on 6 August 1945. "It felt like the sun had fallen - and I grew dizzy," she recalls. The United States had just dropped an atomic bomb on Chieko's home city of Hiroshima - the first time a nuclear weapon had ever been used in warfare. While Germany had surrendered in Europe, allied forces fighting in World War Two were still at war with Japan. Warning: This article contains graphic content that some readers may find upsetting Chieko was a student, but like many older pupils, had be...

US Vice President Kamala Harris and former US President and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Photo: Brendan SMIALOWSKI and Patrick T. Fallon / AFP By Stephanie Kelly, Jeff Mason and Tim Reid, Reuters Vice President Kamala Harris cast herself as the "underdog" in the presidential race and called her Republican opponent Donald Trump "just plain weird," while Trump painted Harris as "evil," "sick" and "unhinged" as the rivals exchanged barbs from afar on Saturday. The dueling appearances capped a whirlwind week that saw Harris ascend to the top of the Democratic ticket after President Joe Biden, 81, dropped his reelection bid under mounting pressure from his fellow Democrats. A series of polls indicate that Harris' entry erased the lead Trump had enjoyed over Biden in a...

Robert Downey Jr has been announced to return for two Avengers movies - as the villain. Photo: CHRIS DELMAS / AFP Robert Downey Jr is returning to Marvel movies - but not as Iron Man. A panel at the San Diego Comic Con today announced that Oscar winner Downey will be returning to play an entirely different character, the iconic comic book villain Dr. Doom, in two new Avengers movies, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Downey was unveiled as Dr. Doom, a foe who first appeared in Fantastic Four comics in the 1960s, to a rapturous crowd at the comic convention. "New mask, same task," Downey said. "What can I tell you? I like playing complicated characters." In the comics, he's the evil ruler of the European nation Latveria and has battled the Avengers and Fantastic Four many tim...