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George Clooney has publicly denounced Donald Trump's threat to Iran that 'a whole civilization will die tonight', labeling it a war crime. Speaking to 3,000 high school students in Cuneo, Italy, Clooney emphasized that making such threats crosses a line of decency.'Some say Donald Trump is fine,' the 64-year-old actor stated. 'But if anyone says he wants to end a civilization, that's a war crime. You can still support the conservative point of view but there must be a line of decency, and we must not cross it.'The White House responded through communications director Steven Cheung, who retorted: 'The only person committing war crimes is George Clooney for his awful movies and terrible acting ability.'Clooney, a longtime Democratic supporter and donor, has been vocal about his political views for decades. He has previously criticized Trump, who has responded with personal attacks against Clooney.In a statement, Clooney referenced the Genocide Convention and the Rome Statute, defining a war crime as 'when there is intent to physically destroy a nation.' He challenged the administration to defend their stance.The ongoing feud between Clooney and Trump has been marked by public criticisms and counter-attacks. Despite their political differences, Clooney mentioned once being on good terms with Trump before his presidency.

What would Henrik Ibsen’s iconic heroine Nora look like in today’s Britain? In this bold re‑imagining, playwright Anya Reiss transports the 19th‑century drama into a world of high‑salary banking, social‑media façades and post‑pandemic consumer excess. Set against a sleek, white‑goods‑strewn stage designed by Hyemi Shin, the story follows Nora (played by Romola Garai) as the wife of a lucrative London banker, Torvald (Tom Mothersdale), who is also battling drug addiction. Though presented as a “trophy wife”, Nora is far sharper than her husband realises – she has secretly rescued the family from financial collapse and funded Torvald’s recovery, all while maintaining a veneer of festive, pre‑Christmas splurging. The familiar Ibsen plot points survive the update: a blackmail threat from Torvald’s colleague Nils Krogstad (James Corrigan) and a visit from the destitute, marriage‑for‑money‑failed friend Kristine (Thalissa Teixeira). Their interactions expose the tension between outward affluence and hidden desperation. Reiss’s version is unmistakably contemporary, peppering dialogue with references to Instagram, a stock market rattled by conflict in the Middle East, and the relentless pursuit of material status. This backdrop reframes the marital power struggle as a clash of class and modern capitalism, asking whether love can ever be insulated from market forces. Despite the heavy thematic load, the cast delivers a series of compelling performances. Garai’s Nora oscillates between calculated seduction – even donning a provocative nurse’s outfit for a flirtatious dance – and a keen intellect that refuses to be reduced to a mere commodity. Her portrayal suggests that, for Nora, the body has become a form of currency, yet she remains acutely aware of the performative nature of both marriage and motherhood. Notably, the children appear only through baby‑monitor audio, a deliberate choice that underscores the couple’s emotional distance and mirrors the original’s focus on Nora’s internal emancipation. The climax arrives in a charged confrontation where Nora questions, “Is love meant to be subject to the market?” The line encapsulates Reiss’s preoccupation with the commodification of intimacy, even as it feels like a summarising refrain rather than a fresh revelation. Ultimately, the production offers a nuanced, if occasionally over‑engineered, vision of Ibsen’s feminist aspirations. It hints at a future where Nora and Torvald might seek couples therapy to untangle their financial and emotional entanglements – a decidedly modern resolution. A Doll’s House runs at the Almeida Theatre, London, until 23 May.

Israel's attacks on Lebanon have intensified, with the country launching its largest and most destructive attack on Lebanon in years, killing at least 300 people and wounding over 1,100. The attacks have sparked widespread panic and overwhelmed hospitals in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.The escalation has significant implications for the US-Iran ceasefire, which was agreed upon just days ago. Iranian leaders are accusing the US of failing to uphold the truce and threatening to back out of it unless Washington restrains its ally, Israel. 'The U.S. must choose – ceasefire or continued war via Israel. It cannot have both,' Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, wrote on Twitter/X.The conflict has been fueled by Netanyahu's actions, who has sought to expand the conflict out of Gaza and into a wider war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. The Israeli prime minister has undermined ceasefire talks and blocked potential deals, adding new conditions or changing his mind at the last minute. 'There is no ceasefire in Lebanon,' Netanyahu said in a recorded message, as Israel continued its attacks.The situation is volatile, with Hezbollah showing it is not as weak as Israel and the US had thought. The militia has fought pitched battles with invading Israeli troops and fired hundreds of rockets and drones at northern Israel. The conflict has forcibly displaced over 1.1 million people, many of whom are living on the streets.

For the first time, scientists have observed a 'civil war' in wild chimpanzees, where a once unified group turned on itself, leading to a years-long conflict. In a study published in the journal Science, researchers detail the dramatic shift in behavior among the Ngogo chimpanzee group in Uganda's Kibale national park.Primatologist Aaron Sandel, who led the research, noted that the conflict began in 2015 when the group's dynamics started to change. A change in social hierarchies, the death of key older individuals, and a disease outbreak in 2017 contributed to the group's fracture. By 2018, two distinct groups had emerged: the western chimps and the central chimps.The conflict escalated into 24 sustained and coordinated attacks by the western group on the central group over seven years, resulting in the deaths of at least seven adult males and 17 infants. This level of in-group violence is rare in the animal kingdom and has significant implications for understanding human conflict.Sandel suggests that human activities disrupting social cohesion, such as deforestation, climate change, or disease outbreaks, could make such inter-group conflicts more common among chimpanzees, who are already threatened with extinction. The study highlights the fragility of social ties and the potential for group cohesion to be disrupted under specific circumstances.Brian Wood, an evolutionary anthropologist, noted that the western chimps increased their Darwinian fitness by decreasing the survival and reproduction of their former community members. This conflict has resulted in the lowest survivorship ever documented in a wild chimpanzee community.

Northampton Saints' JJ van der Mescht is a force to be reckoned with on the rugby field. Standing at an impressive 6ft 7in and weighing 23st, he is the joint-heaviest player in the Premiership. His size and strength make him a major collision threat, and his skills have earned him a spot in South Africa's alignment squad.Van der Mescht, 26, has a unique playing style that has drawn comparisons to Australia's Will Skelton. He is too heavy to be lifted regularly in the lineout, but his ability to give his team vital post-contact metres makes him a valuable asset. His director of rugby, Phil Dowson, describes him as 'a fly-half trapped in a second-row's body.'The South African lock has a personal connection with Bath prop Thomas du Toit, with whom he played as a youngster at the Sharks in Durban. He is eager to bump into his old friend during the match, and he expects a fierce encounter. Van der Mescht has dropped seven kilos since joining Northampton and currently weighs 146kg. He credits the club with rekindling his love for rugby, saying that he now enjoys the game again and feels happy.Van der Mescht's impressive performance has put him back on the South African radar, and he may be considered for the Springboks in the future. For now, he is focused on helping Northampton overcome Bath in the Champions Cup quarter-final. The match could be a prelude to another battle between England's top two sides in the Premiership final.

The son of a British couple detained in Tehran on espionage charges has called on Keir Starmer to prioritize their case in the “very opportune moment” of a ceasefire in the Iran conflict.Lindsay and Craig Foreman, from East Sussex, were arrested while on a five-day trip across Iran in January last year and have been held in Evin prison for 15 months.As Starmer visits the Gulf to discuss efforts to uphold the ceasefire, the couple’s family have called on the prime minister and the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, to raise the case in all diplomatic discussions.Lindsay’s son, Joe Bennett, said: “If peace is genuinely part of the agenda, then that has to include the release of innocent people. I don’t see how it can be peaceful and that’s the case.”The 31-year-old said it was a “very opportune moment” for the prime minister, and the government should “take courage” from the release this week of two French citizens. Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris had been detained in Iran for almost four years on espionage charges and were also held in Evin prison before they were released but barred from leaving Tehran.“Macron was incredibly vocal, he was championing above all else, and I think that’s where we can take some courage and have a look at how do we apply that kind of pressure in the right way,” said Bennett. “There’s a genuine opportunity for resolution here.”The UK government has faced claims that it is in denial about the extent of hostage-taking by foreign states and has failed to fulfil its promise to appoint a special envoy to combat the issue.Bennett has been campaigning for the couple’s release with significant cross-party parliamentary support. Despite several meetings with the foreign secretary, and a hearing into their case held by the all-party parliamentary group on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs, he said there had been no visible progress in 15 months.On Thursday morning, Bennett spoke with his mother in Evin prison. The past 48 hours had been tumultuous, he said, after a supposed ceasefire was agreed on Tuesday, little more than an hour before a self-imposed deadline by Donald Trump, who had threatened Iran’s “whole civilisation” would die if it did not meet his demands.The comments made Bennett feel “pure fear” until news of the two-week ceasefire was announced. The potential for peace talks had given the couple some hope that “they’ll be fought for” by the UK government, he said.“Yvette Cooper called it unjustifiable and that she would be fighting relentlessly to get them home. I need to see signs of that,” said Bennett.Despite a UN legal submission, significant cross-party parliamentary support, and several meetings with the foreign secretary and a hearing into their case by UK parliamentarians from the APPG on arbitrary detention and hostage affairs, he said there has been no visible progress to date towards securing their release.A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “The UK government continues work to safely return Craig and Lindsay to the UK.”

A British warship together with a Royal Air Force P‑8 maritime patrol aircraft monitored three Russian submarines that were trying to survey key undersea infrastructure in the North Atlantic, the defence secretary John Healey said at a Downing Street briefing.Healey explained that the operation, which lasted **over a month**, took place not within UK territorial waters but in the country's exclusive economic zone – the area extending up to 200 nautical miles from the coastline and bordering neighbouring zones.The Russian vessels comprised an Akula‑class nuclear‑powered submarine and two deep‑sea research submarines from the GUGI directorate, a unit that normally conducts peacetime surveys of underwater infrastructure but possesses the capability to damage it in conflict.According to the minister, the British forces tracked and deterred any malign activity around the submarines 24/7, deploying regular sonar buoys to demonstrate continuous monitoring. The presence of the Royal Navy ship and the P‑8 aircraft, supported by NATO allies, left the Russian crews with “no doubt that they were being watched”.As a result, the Akula submarine “retreated home” and the two GUGI subs subsequently exited the UK’s maritime zone, heading northward. The operation involved **about 500 UK personnel**.Healey stressed that there was **no evidence of damage** to any pipelines or cables, but that UK forces and allies would verify the integrity of the infrastructure. He warned President Putin that any attempt to sabotage the network would “not be tolerated and will have serious consequences”.The defence secretary framed the incident as proof that Moscow is “the primary threat to the UK and to NATO”, underscoring the need for heightened vigilance over undersea assets amid the broader security fallout from the Ukraine war and recent tensions in the Middle East.He also linked the episode to broader defence policy, stating that the successful deterrence demonstrates the UK’s ability to detect, deter and, if necessary, respond to threats against its critical maritime infrastructure, while calling for continued investment in defence capabilities.

The ceasefire deal between Iran and the US has been hailed as a significant achievement for China, which has been actively working to promote de-escalation and an end to hostilities in the region. Beijing's powerbrokers are being credited with pushing Iran towards agreeing to the ceasefire, bolstering its status as a regional mediator.In China's tightly censored domestic media, articles basking in the glory of China being the grown-up in the room at a time of international crisis were allowed to circulate. China's role in the negotiations was confirmed by US President Donald Trump, who told the Agence France-Presse news agency that he believed China had got Iran to agree to a ceasefire.However, some analysts are sceptical about how influential China could actually have been in the late-night discussions. The deal is advantageous to Iran, and encouraging the regime to agree to it would have been like 'pushing an open door', according to one analyst. Nicholas Lyall, a senior researcher at Trends, a research and advisory firm in Abu Dhabi, said: 'In terms of whether China had to do much pushing of Iran for it to agree to the temporary ceasefire, and whether Iran was swayed by this reported Chinese effort, it's essential to clarify what Iran has actually agreed to.'Officially, China has not confirmed or denied reports that it played an active role in the Islamabad negotiations. At a press conference on Wednesday, the foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said only that China 'had been actively working to promote de-escalation and an end to all hostilities'. China's economic interests are also at stake, as the risk of a global recession and soaring fossil fuel prices poses a threat to the Chinese economy, which is heavily dependent on exports.Analysts are even more sceptical of the idea that China might act as the guarantor of any ceasefire agreement in the Middle East. Song Bo, a fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University, said: 'China doesn't have a direct stake with any of the parties in the Middle East. Acting as a guarantor for a ceasefire would be an extremely high-cost diplomatic undertaking, and I don't think China would commit to that easily.'

The debate over space exploration has sparked intense discussion, with critics arguing that the vast sums of money spent on it could be better used to address pressing global issues. The Artemis programme, with its $100bn budget, has been singled out as a prime example of such misallocation. This programme's cost could, for instance, fully fund the UN World Food Programme for 10 years, a global initiative that benefits over 150 million people annually in more than 120 countries.On the other hand, proponents of space exploration argue that it is crucial for humanity's long-term survival. They contend that as Earth faces environmental challenges, space could provide a necessary escape route. Moreover, the advancement of technology and knowledge gained through space exploration could have unforeseen benefits for human society.Critics also point out the short-sightedness of prioritizing space travel over solving Earth's problems, such as war and environmental destruction. They suggest that parenting-like responsibility should be applied to space exploration, implying that humanity should focus on solving its current issues before venturing further into space.However, supporters emphasize that space exploration represents a 'shining light of hope' for humanity's future, especially in a world threatened by autocrats and environmental crises. They argue that even small steps in space exploration are necessary for our long-term existence.Ultimately, the question of whether space exploration is worth the money and effort remains a complex and contentious issue. While some see it as a luxury we cannot afford, others believe it is an investment in our future survival.