Source: BBC
Security & Justice
Four Italian Soldiers Hurt in UNIFIL Base Attack, Hezbollah Suspected
Four Italian soldiers were lightly injured after two rockets exploded at a UNIFIL peacekeeping force base in southern Lebanon, the Rome government said on Friday, expressing outrage at the incident.
Friday, November 22, 2024
UN Reports Heavy Clashes Between Israeli Troops and Hezbollah in South Lebanon
Israeli troops fought fierce battles with Hezbollah fighters on Friday in different areas in south Lebanon, including a coastal town that is home to the headquarters of U.N. peacekeepers.
Friday, November 22, 2024
Opinion
Lebanon's Economy—Not Battlefield—May Have the Final Word
Time and again during this most recent war in Lebanon, we hear the phrase, “The battlefield has the final word”. It has become the sole and wholly unsatisfactory refrain of Hezbollah and the so-called 'Axis of Resistance'.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Flying Above the Bombs, a Lebanese Airline Becomes an Unlikely National Hero
It used to be like almost any other national carrier, fielding gripes about flight delays, ticket prices and bad food.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Sports
Israel Face France in Paris Football Match Under Tight Security
Israel face France in a Nations League football match in Paris on Thursday surrounded by a huge security operation to prevent a repetition of the attacks on Israeli fans in Amsterdam last week.
Thursday, November 14, 2024
Alcaraz Beats Rublev to Open ATP Finals Account
Carlos Alcaraz opened his account at the ATP Finals on Wednesday with an entertaining 6-3, 7-6 (10/8) win over Andrey Rublev which boosted his hopes of reaching the semifinals.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Monday 23 October 2023 15:55:46
Planet Earth III Magnificent but Horrifying, Say Reviewers
Critics have called Sir David Attenborough's latest series of Planet Earth "awe-inspiring" and "magnificent" but also "horrifying" and "sad".
The third instalment of the landmark, award-winning programme began on Sunday on BBC One.
The eight-part series shows animals around the world fighting for survival amid constant environmental change.
The Guardian described episode one as "yet more majestic TV" from the veteran broadcaster.
"This awe-inspiring series has a scale that is simply spectacular," wrote Rebecca Nicholson in a five-star review. "It is possible to watch and enjoy it purely for the astonishing footage - but it will horrify you too."
She added: "It should be alarming that, in the six years since Planet Earth last appeared on our screens, this third series finds itself in a darker mood."
The documentary, narrated by Sir David, 93, contains footage of the natural world - including shots from overhead drones and remotely operated deep-sea submersibles - gathered over five years across 43 countries.
The first episode is dedicated to coasts from Kent to South Africa, Mexico to Australia and beyond. It focuses on two cautionary tales; around the plights of the Caribbean flamingos on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, and the similarly endangered green turtles of Raine Island on the Great Barrier Reef.
We see old footage of a young Sir David visiting the same island more than 60 years earlier, and hear of the devastating impact human activity has had.
The Times' Carol Midgley, in a four-star review, said the new series "is magnificent, but it's a fast track to becoming really quite sad."
"I thought the footage of the desert lions paddling in the sea to catch cormorants mid-air in the pitch darkness was amazing," she wrote. "Miserably, so was the poor Caribbean flamingos having their entire nests wrecked by worsening storms (attributed to climate change), their chicks pathetically trying to scramble onto rocks as Attenborough's voice doomily explained: 'Soaked and cold [they] will soon perish unless they can get out of water. Some years no chicks survive.'"
The Telegraph's Ed Power wrote that Sir David "remains peerless when it comes describing the beauty - and fragility - of our planet".
Planet Earth III "packs the sort of dazzling visual punch of which Hollywood could only dream, with languid overhead shots of flapping flamingos and their young who struggle to survive in the freezing rain".
"At a time when there is so much uncertainty in the world, how enormously reassuring to know Attenborough is still on hand to share his passion with us," he concluded.
