What happened
Four members of Palestine Action have been convicted of criminal damage after a break-in at a UK facility near Bristol operated by Elbit Systems. Prosecutors said the group had forced entry to the site using a vehicle before damaging equipment, including drones and computers, causing an estimated £1 million in losses.

The activists confronted police and security staff during the incident. One defendant was additionally convicted of grievous bodily harm after a police officer suffered a fractured spine.

Who said what
Following the verdicts, Avon and Somerset police federation chair Tom Gent described the attack as “pure evil” that “wasn’t protest; this was violent and deliberate thuggery”. One defendant, Samuel Corner, said in evidence he “would never want to seriously hurt anyone”, arguing that events escalated amid confusion during the confrontation.

“Finally, the law showed up,” said Stephen Daisley in The Telegraph. “Just when it seemed that victims of Palestine Action’s campaign of criminal damage could no longer rely on the justice system to protect them, the courts drew a line.”

What next?
Those convicted have been remanded in custody ahead of sentencing next month.

What happened
Several airlines have cancelled about 13,000 flights scheduled for this month, according to new data from aviation analytics firm Cirium. Carriers such as British Airways, Lufthansa and Air France have collectively axed the equivalent of almost two million seats, with routes through the Middle East particularly affected.

Who said what
Half-term travel plans have been “thrown into chaos”, said The Telegraph. Although UK airlines have been “partly protected” from rising jet fuel prices by their use of hedging contracts (buying fuel in advance at pre-agreed prices), the government has suspended so-called “use it or lose it” rules, allowing the carriers to cancel flights without penalty.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told Sky News it was “very likely” that holidays would be affected. “Even if we do everything we can do, if the jet fuel is not there, then it’s not there.”

What next?
Until now, hedging contracts have offered some protection from the spike in fuel costs, but many operators will be “increasingly exposed to the jump in market prices as those contracts end in the coming weeks and months”, said The Telegraph.

Poor architecture can lead to a public health crisis, but moving families into specially designed Star Homes in Tanzania saw a marked reduction in the spread of certain deadly diseases among the children living within them. These homes have features that make them cooler and more hygienic, and they can be built with fewer resources while also reducing emissions.

Most housing in Tanzanian villages “uses mud and thatch”, and is “single-story, placing the sleeping spaces at-grade”, said The Architect’s Newspaper. These living arrangements are likely contributing to the spread of malaria, diarrhea and acute respiratory infections, which are the “major causes of mortality in young children in sub-Saharan Africa”, according to a study published in the journal Nature Medicine.

Researchers designed a structure called the Star Home to provide an improved environment for Tanzanian children. It is a “novel double-story house” that can “provide an insect-proof, cleaner, cooler and smoke-free environment, with a reliable supply of water and sanitation”, said the study. The houses contain “screened facades to allow airflow while keeping out insects; bedrooms on the top floor because mosquitoes mostly stay close to the ground; and an outdoor latrine and system to harvest and store rainwater to help reduce the spread of diarrheal diseases”, said Science. They also have a “rodent-proof storage room, self-closing doors and a solar-powered electric light”.

The Star Home solves multiple problems and “costs 24% less in materials than a conventional single-story cement-block house, requires 73% less concrete and generates 57% less embodied carbon”, said a release about the study.