What happened
The Israeli parliament has approved legislation enabling courts to impose execution by hanging on Palestinians convicted of lethal militant violence. While capital punishment has technically existed in Israel for decades, it has been used only twice.

The new measure was spearheaded by far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir (pictured above), who for some time has worn a noose pin on his lapel to signal his support for the bill. The law makes execution the standard penalty in the military courts handling such cases, with limited judicial discretion for exceptions. Legal analysts say the framework, in practice, is unlikely to be used against Jewish extremists convicted of similar crimes.

Who said what
Supporters in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition argue that executions could deter future attacks and hostage-taking. “Each time we don’t use the death penalty we are encouraging the next attempt to take hostages,” said Knesset member Moshe Saada.

The legislation “comes amid a surge in Israeli military and settler attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank”, said Al Jazeera, as well as “thousands of arrests, in the shadow of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza”. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the move as a “dangerous escalation”.

What next?
Petitions challenging the law have already been filed with Israel’s Supreme Court, raising the prospect that it could be struck down.

What happened
Scott Mills has been dismissed by the BBC, reportedly over allegations relating to a “historic relationship”. According to The Mirror, which broke the story yesterday, his termination is linked to a previously unknown police investigation from 2016 into “serious sexual offences” committed against a teenage boy. Mill was questioned by police under caution, the Mirror reported, but the investigation was closed due to a lack of evidence.

The presenter took over Radio 2’s breakfast show from Zoe Ball in January last year; it has since become the UK’s most popular, with 6.5 million listeners. Mills (pictured above) ended last Tuesday’s programme saying “back tomorrow”, but on Wednesday colleague Gary Davie said he was “in for Scott Mills”.

Who said what
Mills has been “a presence on BBC radio and TV for more than 25 years and is its 11th highest-paid star”, said the BBC.

The 53-year-old was initially “taken off air” while the BBC “assessed the information”. This news “will be sudden and unexpected, and therefore must come as a shock”, wrote BBC director of music Lorna Clarke in an email to staff.

What next?
The BBC does not “comment on matters relating to individuals”, but “can confirm that Scott Mills is no longer contracted to work with the BBC”, said a spokesperson.

For centuries, the New England coastal state of Maine has been identified with its lobster industry, which supplies most US supermarkets and restaurants to this day. However, 2025 saw Maine’s lobster haul decline for the fourth straight year to reach a 17-year low, and that is ringing alarm bells for many in the industry.

Maine fishermen caught a total of 78.8 million pounds of lobsters last year compared to more than 110 million in 2024, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources. The principal cause is a 10% drop in the number of fishing expeditions from the state as “rising bait, fuel and gear prices made many trips economically unviable”, said the Portland Press Herald. As lobster fishing becomes more difficult, diners across the country may also be turning up their noses at the price of a restaurant lobster, said Bloomberg.

Not all is lost, though. While the industry in Maine faces specific challenges from “climate change, regulation and increased fishing”, the wider lobster trade is booming “on the back of high prices and Chinese demand”. This is particularly true in Canada, which “now has triple the lobster catch of the US”.

Despite the challenges, lobster fishing has always been a generational business in Maine, and that isn’t likely to go away. “My youngest son didn’t go to college and now my oldest son wants to come home and go fishing,” Sonny Beal, a member of the Maine Lobstermen’s Association board, told Marketplace. “You can’t raise these guys fishing and being on the ocean and expect them not to do it when they get older.”