Plus: New device fitted in skull to control epileptic seizures, and ship that struck Baltimore Bridge sails away after three months ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
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| Hello. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated some of the country's forces would move to its border with Lebanon. As tensions are mounting between Hezbollah and Israel, Lucy Williamson reports from both sides of the border. I have some uplifting medical news as the trial of a device implanted in an epileptic boy's skull shows promising results. The end of your newsletter takes us from Hollywood to Wales and from Seoul to Paris. | |
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| Moving closer to an all-out war | | Full-scale war is likely to be devastating for both Israel and Lebanon. Credit: BBC | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the "intense phase” of fighting Hamas in Gaza is nearly over, allowing forces to move to the northern border with Lebanon to confront Hezbollah. As the tit-for-tat conflict grinds on, the mood is grim on both sides of the border. |
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| | Lucy Williamson, Middle East correspondent |
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| | Last month, a Hezbollah rocket fired from Lebanon landed in David Kamari's front garden in the Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona, cracking his house in several places and filling it with rubble. He is still living there, pieces of shrapnel entangled with the remains of his television set. Most of the town's population was evacuated after the 7 October Hamas attacks. David is one of the few who stayed. "I’ve lived here 71 years," he said. "I won’t go." His solution? "War with Hezbollah; kill Hezbollah," he says.
Fatima Belhas lives near a village a few miles (7km) on the other side of the border. In the early days, she would shake with fear when Israel bombed the area, she says, but has since come to terms with the bombardments and no longer thinks of leaving. "Where would I go?" she asked. "Maybe it is better to die at home with dignity," she said. "We have grown up resisting. We won’t be driven out of our land like the Palestinians." |
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| | | - Watch: Tens of thousands of Israelis have protested in Tel Aviv demanding a Gaza ceasefire deal and the return of hostages held by Hamas.
| - In the West Bank: The Israeli military confirmed its forces strapped a wounded Palestinian man to the front of their vehicle during a raid in Jenin, saying its forces violated protocol.
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QUESTIONS ANSWERED | World first epilepsy device fitted in a skull |
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| | Oran Knowlson's device can be charged thanks to wireless headphones. Credit: Justine Knowlson | A 13-year-old British boy with severe epilepsy has become the first patient in the world to try a new device fitted in their skull to control seizures. |
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| | Fergus Walsh, medical editor |
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| What is Oran suffering from? | He has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, an external, a treatment-resistant form of epilepsy which he developed at the age of three. Since then he has suffered dozens of daily seizures, including some where he fell to the ground, shook violently, and lost consciousness. | How does the device work? | Epilepsy seizures are triggered by abnormal bursts of electrical activity in the brain. The device, which emits a constant pulse of current, aims to block or disrupt the abnormal signals. The neurosurgery team inserted two electrodes deep into Oran’s brain until they reached the thalamus, a key relay station for neuronal information. The neurostimulator was then screwed into the surrounding skull, to anchor it in place. | How have things changed for Oran? | We visited Oran and his family seven months post-op to see how they were getting on. His mother Justine told us there had been a massive improvement in Oran's epilepsy: "He is more alert and with no drop seizures during the day." His night-time seizures are also "shorter and less severe". "I'm definitely getting him back slowly," she said. | | | |
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THE BIG PICTURE | The Hollywood star and the whistleblower |
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| | | The actor Michael Sheen described what he discovered as "extraordinary". Credit: Getty Images | It was a line in a Wikipedia article that prompted stage and screen star Michael Sheen to record Douglas Gowan, a fellow Welshman who had discovered dangerously high levels of a toxic chemical escaping a landfill in South Wales. Now Mr Gowan's final testimony is part of a "true-crime" podcast exploring a dark environmental secret. |
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FOR YOUR DOWNTIME | Talking Movies | Exploring the innovative techniques behind Korea's renowned storytelling. | |
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And finally... in France | What better way to celebrate 100 years of French fashion than to turn Paris's historic Place Vendôme into a catwalk? The square, home to many of the city's high-end fashion houses, was the venue for fashion magazine Vogue World's event, which nodded to the forthcoming Olympic Games by using a different sport as a backdrop for each decade of fashion from the 1920s onwards. And tennis great Serena Williams was among 188 athletes who joined more than 150 models, singers and celebrities - including Sabrina Carpenter, Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner - for the event. See the best of the looks. | |
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Medal Moments | Your daily newsletter guide to the Paris Olympics, from global highlights to heroic stories, throughout the Games. | |
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MORE BBC NEWSLETTERS | - The Essential List: The week's best stories, handpicked by BBC editors, in your inbox twice a week. Subscribe.
| - In History: The past comes to life through the BBC's unique audio, video and written archive, each Thursday. Subscribe.
| - US Election Unspun: Cut through the noise in the race for the White House, every Wednesday. Subscribe.
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– Jules | | | | |
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