The UN special rapporteur discusses the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza, threats of arrest in Germany, and pressure to resign from her position.
UN’s Francesca Albanese defiant amid Israeli pressure and Gaza catastrophe
£8.99
£0
Get Apple TV+ here
Israeli soldiers, settlers harass Palestinian activist featured in BBC film
A Palestinian activist featured in a recent BBC documentary, which was praised for bringing attention to the plight of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, has been harassed by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
Israeli settlement attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem have soared, forcing Palestinians to flee their homes as the world’s attention has been drawn to Israel’s 18-month conflict there. Israeli settlers, who cite the Torah to assert their rights over Palestinian lands, are further encouraged by the lack of Israeli police action.
Issa Amro, who was featured in the documentary The Settlers, released video online showing how armed soldiers and settlers stormed his home in Hebron, West Bank, during the time that Louis Theroux, a British-American journalist and broadcaster, had been featured in.
Amro claimed that the police threatened him with arrest and told him not to file a complaint in an instance of apartheid that Israel had imposed in the West Bank. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International are two organizations that accuse Israel of operating in occupied areas.
Amro added that Donald Trump, the president of the United States, was backing them when Israeli settlers attacked him on Sunday. The activist claimed that the settlers were “emboldened by the Trump administration’s blind support.”
Theroux claimed that he and his team have kept in touch with Amro frequently.
. The Settlers star ISsaamro has posted videos of his most recent harassment of settlers and soldiers. Since the documentary and the past 24 hours, our team has maintained contact with him. The situation is still being closely watched. https://t.co/asEWKkVX5h
The documentary, which is a follow-up to Theroux’s 2012 film The Ultra Zionists, examines how the situation in occupied Palestinian territory has changed.
The documentary examined the significant growth of the settler population and how new military installations and Israeli infrastructure have spread across Palestinian territory, frequently with direct state support, while conducting interviews with Palestinian and Israeli figures.
It examines the religious and ideological motivations behind the Israeli expansion, which has caused numerous Palestinians to flee and engage in bloody hostility, and raises questions about the legality and morality of the occupation as judges rule that it violates international laws and standards.
You bring Jewish families [to the occupied West Bank], you lead a Jewish life, and you will experience light instead of darkness. In the documentary, Daniella Weiss, a key figure in the Israeli settler movement for decades, describes how the state of Israel was established and how we want to proceed in Gaza.
Weiss, who has received the support of a number of Israeli rabbis, claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is “happy” about the settlement expansion. The West Bank and East Jerusalem have been occupied by Netanyahu, who opposes Palestinian control of Gaza.
Israeli nationals who reside on private Palestinian lands in East Jerusalem and the West Bank are the settlers. They now number more than 700, 000. International law specifically prohibits all Israeli settlements.
The biggest obstacle to the establishment of a sovereign and independent Palestinian state living alongside Israel is seen as settlements and their expansions.
Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory was called upon by the UN General Assembly last year. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that Israel’s presence in Palestinian territory was “unlawful” several months prior.
When Israeli soldiers approached and attempted to force him to leave the area while filming a documentary in Hebron, Theroux himself was subject to harassment as well.
Hamdan Ballal, the Palestinian co-director of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land, was attacked by Israeli settlers in his home in Susya, West Bank, shortly after his harassment by Amro.
Late in March, armed and masked settlers attacked Ballal’s home and car, injuring him. The filmmaker was blindfolded and detained by Israeli soldiers while they were receiving medical in an ambulance. He was later unharmed and released.
Similar to Amro’s harassment on Saturday, the attack was also seen as reprisal for the documentary’s international success and its efforts to depict Palestinian struggles in the West Bank.
‘Starbase’: Residents of Texas site home to Musk’s SpaceX back city status
A community in the southern US state of Texas that is home to tech billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX will be renamed Starbase after residents – nearly all employees of the firm – backed the move to formally organise it into a city.
In a vote on Saturday, 212 of the almost 300 residents eligible to cast ballots were in favour of the change at the site on Boca Chica Bay bordering Mexico, with only six against.
Bobby Peden, who is vice president of testing and launches at SpaceX, was also confirmed as mayor. He was the only name on the ballot.
Official documents show nearly 500 people live around the base in Cameron County, on land mostly owned by SpaceX or its employees.
“Starbase, Texas”, Musk wrote on X, a social media platform he owns, “Is now a real city”!
The vote came at a difficult time for Musk, a major donor to US President Donald Trump and a backer of European far-right groups. The South African-born entrepreneur is expected to reduce his role as the unofficial head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency to instead focus more on his troubled electric car company, Tesla.
It was Musk who proposed the name Starbase in a social media post during a visit to the facility – a key testing location for the company’s rocket launches – four years ago. Then, last December, general manager of SpaceX Kathryn Lueders appealed to local authorities to grant municipality status to the site.
Saturday’s vote was never in doubt, but the change allows Starbase to control building and permitting and avoid other regulatory hurdles, while collecting taxes and writing local law.
However, not everyone has been upbeat about the prospect of a SpaceX town.
Bekah Hinojosa, co-founder of the South Texas Environmental Justice Network, was among those voicing concern over the environmental impact, warning of more “destruction”.
“They would attempt more illegal dumping, they would build up their dangerous rocket operations and cause more seismic activity, cause our homes to shake, and that they would destroy more of the wildlife habitat in the region”, she told the AFP news agency before election day.
Some reports in 2024 had also said SpaceX’s rockets had caused damage to wild bird nests. In response, Musk had said on social media at the time: “To make up for this heinous crime, I will refrain from having omelette for a week”.
Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency and Texas authorities also found that SpaceX was responsible for repeated spills and the release of pollutants into Texas waterways.
Lueders argued in her letter in December that SpaceX already maintained infrastructure such as roads, education services and medical care at the site.
MSF hospital bombing kills seven people in South Sudan
In Old Fangak, South Sudan, a Doctors Without Borders hospital was bombed, killing at least seven people and injuring 20 others. As fears of a return to civil war grow, MSF called the attack “a clear violation of international humanitarian law.”
Real meaning behind Lady Gaga alter-ego and why she ditched unique birth name
Lady Gaga has been the reigning queen of pop for over a decade now, but many fans still don’t know the true meaning behind her unique stage name and why she ditched her birth name
Lady Gaga is once again the talk of the town following the release of her latest album, Mayhem. She’s also been hitting headlines due to her accompanying tour, which saw fans desperately scrambling for tickets. Her new tracks ‘Abracadabra,’ ‘Disease,’ and ‘Garden of Eden’ have been a hit with her fanbase, affectionately known as Little Monsters.
Her performance at Coachella was another highlight, despite technical difficulties with her microphone. The incident led to the festival being humorously dubbed ‘Gagachella’, as she dominated conversations. When her mic failed, she simply quipped: “At least you know I sing live.”
But despite everyone going gaga for Gaga recently – there’s some trivia people are only just learning about the star. They’ve been interested to learn how she got her stage name.
Born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, Lady Gaga shot to fame in 2008 with her debut album ‘The Fame,’ featuring hits like ‘Just Dance,’ ‘Poker Face,’ and ‘LoveGame. ‘ Her popularity has only grown since then.
She further cemented her status in pop culture with ‘Born This Way,’ an anthem for the LGBTQIA+ community, using its lyrics to foster inclusivity. But where did the stage name ‘Lady Gaga’ originate?
Article continues below
While there’s some debate over the exact story, it’s thought that the name was born out of an autocorrect mishap by her ex-partner and music producer, Rob Fusari. He reportedly began calling her ‘Gaga’ after she reminded him of the 1984 Queen song ‘Radio Gaga’.
Later, when he tried to text ‘Radio Gaga,’ autocorrect changed it to ‘Lady Gaga’. Since then, she’s adopted the name with pride, and in a 2010 tell-all, she revealed her desire to “reinvent” herself.
In that interview, she reportedly stated: “So I said, ‘What about Lady Gaga?’ because Gaga is sort of crazy and Lady has such connotations.”
So why not stick with her distinctive real name, Stefani Germanotta?
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Gaga expressed a deep connection to her stage persona, admitting her childhood wasn’t a walk in the park.
She confessed: “I’ve always been Gaga… I suppressed all those eccentricities about myself so I could fit in. Once I was free, I was able to be myself.”
It was at the tender age of four that Lady Gaga, displaying early signs of her musical genius, self-taught piano by ear and composed ‘Dollar Bills’ using “Mickey Mouse staff paper”.
In another heartfelt admission during an interview, she recounted: “I used to get made fun of for being either too provocative or too eccentric, so I started to tone it down. I didn’t fit in, and I felt like a freak.”
Article continues below
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman hit the road in new ‘Long Way Home’ series
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back for the fourth instalment of their cross-country adventure series, riding vintage motorcycles through more than 15 countries in Scandinavia, the Baltics and continental Europe
Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman are back for another cross-country road trip in a new season of their ‘Long Way’ series. Streaming May 9, Long Way Home sees the duo hit the road more than 20 years after the first instalment of their epic motorcycle adventure.
Across 10 episodes, the latest series will see the two best friends ride refurbished vintage motorbikes from McGregor’s home in Scotland to Boorman’s in England – but rather than take the shortest route, they go the long way. They head across the North Sea to Scandinavia, all the way up to the Arctic Circle and then down to the Baltics and through continental Europe, before eventually hopping back over the English Channel two months later.
The nine-week adventure takes them to 17 countries and along some of the greatest driving roads in the world. It marks the fourth iteration of the Emmy-nominated series, following Long Way Round, Long Way Down and Long Way Up.
READ MORE: Sky brings back ‘lowest ever price’ TV and broadband deal in surprise Easter sale
READ MORE: Award-winning teeth whitening powder that makes ‘huge difference’ to tea stains is now £17
Long Way Home will launch exclusively on Apple TV+, which costs £8.99 per month after a seven-day-free trial. It joins the three previous seasons, all of which are available to stream on Apple TV+.
It comes as Disney+ launches a raft of its own docuseries, with National Geographic titles including Secrets of the Penguins, Tucci in Italy debuting May 19 and Limitless with Chris Hemsworth returning later this year. Throughout Long Way Home, McGregor rides a 1974 Moto Guzzi 850 El Dorado – previously used as a California police bike – while Boorman revives a 1972 BMW R75/5 once described as a ‘rust heap’.
Get Apple TV+ free for a week
The bikes take them to countries including Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, where they immerse themselves in each country’s culture, meet the locals and try their hand at unique and eclectic activities.
“For the last 20 years, my best friend Charley Boorman and I have travelled to some of the farthest corners of the world,” McGregor says in the series trailer. “Yet, we’ve never properly explored the countries on our own doorstep, so this time, Europe is our playground.”
Long Way Home is executive produced by McGregor and Boorman, alongside longtime collaborators David Alexanian and Russ Malkin, who also direct. Writing on X ahead of the series premiere, one Long Way fan said: “I’m soooo excited for this. Feels like just the other day we were watching the first one.”
Another said: “Looking forward to this. Put it in the calendar.”
Article continues below
A third said: “Sold. Great story and authentic people. I’ll take adventure stuff like this all day!