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Demonstrators wave flags and hold pictures of Ismail Haniyeh during a protest over his death in Beirut's Burj al-Barajneh camp for Palestinian refugees. Photo: Fadel ITANI / AFP By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Parisa Hafezi, Reuters Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday morning local time, an attack that drew threats of revenge on Israel and fuelled further concern that the conflict in Gaza was turning into a wider Middle East war. The Palestinian Islamist militant group and Iran's Revolutionary Guards confirmed Haniyeh's death. The Guards said it took place hours after he attended a swearing-in ceremony for Iran's new president. Although the attack was widely assumed to have been carried out by Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's...

Zoe Hobbs is among elite sprinters who have gone under 11 seconds for the 100m. Photo: PHOTOSPORT New Zealand's fastest ever female 100m sprinter is set to make her Olympic Games debut in Paris. Zoe Hobbs went tantalisingly close to making the team for the Tokyo Olympics but has made certain of selection this time round. In Sydney in March 2023 she became the first woman in Oceania to crack the 11-second mark for the blue riband event and repeated the feat in Switzerland four months later. If the 26-year-old could make the final in the Stade de France on 4 August she would become the first Kiwi to reach such a pinnacle in 100 years. The last to do so was Arthur Porritt who won bronze at the Paris Games in 1924. Taranaki-raised Auckland-based Hobbs has had loads of experience at competin...

Regular eye tests can detect problems early. Photo: 123rf Treating failing eyesight and high cholesterol are two new ways to lower the risk of dementia developing, a major report suggests. Scientists have now identified 14 health issues which, if reduced or eliminated, could theoretically prevent nearly half of dementias in the world. Middle-aged people and poorer countries have most to gain from targeting these risk factors, says the Lancet Commission's latest report on the topic. It predicts that the number of people living with dementia could more than double to 153 million by 2050. 'Never too late' Photo: Supplied / Lancet Dementia occurs when a disease, such as Alzheimer's, damages nerve cells in the brain and leads to confusion and memory loss - but it is not an inevitabl...

By Marcelo Teixeira, Reuters The recommended single serving for chocolate is about 30gm to 60gm. (file image) Photo: Unsplash / Tetiana Bykovets Concentrations of heavy metals found in single servings of some chocolates and cocoa-based products are too low in most cases to pose a health risk to consumers, research published on Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition shows. This is true when products are consumed as a single serving, but consumption of more than one serving per day or in combination with other sources of heavy metals - such as seafood and unwashed brown rice - may cumulatively add up to exposure that exceeds recommendations, the researchers said. Some consumer groups and independent test agencies have previously reported heavy metal contamination in cocoa produc...

Photo: RICH POLK British pop rock band The 1975 are being sued by the organisers of a Malaysian music festival which was shut down after the group's frontman kissed a male band mate onstage and criticised the country's anti-LGBTQ laws. Future Sounds Asia is suing The 1975 and its individual members for 1.9 million pounds (NZ$4.1 million), according to UK High Court documents reported by the entertainment publication Variety. In July 2023, Malaysian authorities halted the three-day Good Vibes Festival after videos widely shared on social media showed the band's Matty Healy kissing bassist Ross MacDonald. According to Variety, documents lodged with the court claim that The 1975 were aware of prohibitions on certain behaviour while performing, especially since they had performed at the fest...