Author: Liam Porter

It was in the Beersheba, about a thousand kilometers and 2,500 years from Babylon, that Benjamin Netanyahu suggested on Thursday that the time had come for the Jews to repay their ancient debt to Cyrus the Great and bring liberation to Iran.The Israeli prime minister had just made a tour of Beersheba’s Soroka hospital which a few hours earlier had sustained a direct hit from an Iranian ballistic missile on one of its buildings. It was for that reason the scene of an escape which was already being dubbed miraculous by Israel’s leaders.The hospital’s director had only just ordered the…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Senior ministers are in urgent negotiations about boosting support for energy intensive British businesses and putting energy costs on a par with France and Germany.Lowering “eye-watering” UK energy costs will be the centrepiece of the government’s industrial strategy, expected early next week. In an effort to close the energy cost gap with key EU rivals, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds wants to go further than existing support for the steel and chemicals industries and launch a scheme that helps a much wider range…

Putting aside their exorbitant cost, the trouble with prescription hearing aids is the prescription. Find a doctor. Get an appointment. Sit in a waiting room. Suffer through an hour of testing before getting the hard sell on a pair of hearing aids. Why, the indignity of it all is even worse than going deaf.Telehealth offers a glimmer of a solution, but as everyone who’s tried to show off a concerning mole to a doctor via a smartphone camera knows: Video technology can only get you so far. Audiological testing requires significant one-on-one interaction and plenty of technology to back that…

The proceeds from the David Lynch Collection auction could buy quite a few cherry pies: Julien’s auction Wednesday with Turner Classic Movies raised $4.25 million total for the iconic filmmaker’s estate. Nearly 450 items were included in the auction, including pieces from the “Twin Peaks” TV show and films like “Mulholland Drive,” “Eraserhead” and “Dune.” Lynch’s director’s chair, which made a stop at Variety’s office Monday on its way to the action, fetched $91,000. The live auction attracted hundreds of collectors and fans online and at the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel. “Julien’s and TCM were privileged to represent this landmark…

Michelle RobertsDigital health editorGetty ImagesDuring hot weather, it can be easy to overheat.Although heat exhaustion is not usually serious – as long as you can cool yourself down – heatstroke is a medical emergency which requires immediate treatment.What is the difference between heat exhaustion and heatstroke?Heat exhaustion happens when your body becomes too hot and struggles to regulate its temperature.An obvious sign is excessive sweating, as well as feeling very hot and unwell – which is your body’s way of warning you to cool down, fast.Other symptoms include:headachedizziness and confusionloss of appetite and feeling sickcramps in the arms, legs and…

Getty Images Wyndham Clark has made more noise in recent months for his antics rather than his play. Speaking for the first time since the U.S. Open after photographs surfaced on social media of a damaged locker in the Oakmont Country Club locker room caused by Clark, the former U.S. Open champion apologized for his behavior and wishes to move on.”I’ve had a lot of highs and lows in my career, especially this year some lows,” Clark said. “I made a mistake that I deeply regret. I’m very sorry for what happened. But I’d also like to move on, not…

Here’s How Plastic Bag Bans Are WorkingData from beach cleanups show that banning or taxing single-use plastic bags makes a difference in ecosystemsBy Meghan Bartels edited by Allison Parshall For one in three U.S. residents, single-use plastic bags are no longer a cheap and easy ubiquity—and beaches, riverbanks and lakeshores are benefitting.That’s according to research published on June 19 in Science. Researchers analyzed data from thousands of shoreline cleanups across the U.S. and found that areas that implemented policies that banned single-use plastic bags or charged a fee for them had a reduced proportion of these items in their beach…

It was as strange a sight as you could stumble upon in the English countryside. As a muggy summer’s day began outside Shildon, County Durham – rain threatening, bees drowsy in the hedgerows – I found myself standing on an embankment, surveying two rows of colossal stone teeth jutting through the earth. It looked as if someone had buried a sleeping giant.“You wouldn’t believe it by looking at it, but this is one of railway history’s most amazing feats,” my companion, rail expert Richie Starrs, said as we gazed down at the molars beneath our feet. A closer look revealed…

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said that the relationship between the two countries was ‘getting stronger again’.Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Indonesian counterpart Prabowo Subianto as Moscow bids to strengthen ties in the Global South amid Western efforts to isolate the country following its war on Ukraine. On Thursday, Putin and Prabowo met in the Russian city of St Petersburg and signed a declaration on strategic partnership. Danatara, Indonesia’s sovereign wealth fund, and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, whose CEOs were also in Saint Petersburg, signed an agreement to create an investment fund worth 2 billion euros ($2.29bn). In a…

Kate WhannelPolitical reporterEPA-EFE/ShutterstockKim Leadbeater, the MP behind the assisted dying bill, has said she is “confident” MPs will back the legislation when it returns for its final stage in the House of Commons on Friday.If the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill – which allows terminally ill adults to get medical assistance to end their own lives – is approved it will then go to the House of Lords for further scrutiny. MPs gave the proposal their initial backing in November, with 330 MPs voting in favour and 275 against.But debate over the bill has become increasingly fractious and…