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We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
We have a curated list of the most noteworthy news from all across the globe. With any subscription plan, you get access to exclusive articles that let you stay ahead of the curve.
Under new laws, fuel retailers found to be unfairly increasing prices swill face hefty penalties.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the crackdown will include lying about the reason for price increases, price fixing and colluding.
Fuel sellers caught unfairly inflating prices amid the ongoing Middle Eastern conflict, which is affecting supply chains, will face significant fines under new legislation.
On Wednesday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers proposed a bill designed to combat “price gouging at its roots,” empowering the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) with the authority to enforce stricter penalties.
This legislative change would see the maximum fines doubled from $50 million to $100 million for each infringement.
“Since the conflict began, we’ve observed a marked rise in petrol and diesel prices nationwide,” Chalmers remarked on Wednesday while addressing the House of Representatives.
“This situation exacerbates the financial strain on drivers and families who are already facing hardships.”
“Our message to petrol retailers has been very clear: ‘You are on notice. Do not use this conflict to take advantage of Australians.’”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the powers will help the consumer watchdog issue fines for suppliers taking advantage of Australians at the bowser. Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
Chalmers said the crackdown will include “lying about the reason for price increases, price fixing, colluding on prices and other cartel behaviour”.
The consumer watchdog will investigate allegations of price gouging by major fuel suppliers Ampol, BP, Mobil Oil and Viva Energy.
The announcement of that investigation came on the same day as the establishment of the fuel supply task force, led by Anthea Harris, who will drive coordination between states and the Commonwealth governments and provide updates on fuel supply outlook.
Since then, the widely used international benchmark for oil prices, Brent Crude, has risen from around US$72 ($103) a barrel to a high of $US112 a barrel on 20 March, according to Trading Economics.
The price per barrel has since dropped to around US$98.
Shaun Temby, commercial dispute lawyer and partner at Maddocks law firm, said it may take years for consumers to see the impact of the changes.
“ACCC investigations can take years in themselves and then fully contested court trials could be 18 months from commencement until hearing and then you have to wait for a Judgement,” he told SBS News.
“In short, these new penalties wont kick in any meaningful way for several years. However, no doubt the government is hoping that the increased penalties will be a strong deterrent to businesses now from engaging in conduct that breaches the Australian consumer law.”
Will penalties deter price gouging?
It is not the first time penalties have been increased, with the Albanese government raising them five-fold to $50 million in 2022.
Morgan Campbell, head of policy at consumer advocate group CHOICE, said the new penalties will have a “deterrent effect”.
“If there’s a company out there which is colluding with another company to keep prices high, there were going to be bigger penalties for that. So there’s a deterrent effect in all of that,” he told SBS News.
However, he expressed concern that there still isn’t a ban on price gouging, questioning whether the absence of such a ban was fair and reasonable.
The Greens agreed, stating Chalmers was “misleading the Australian people” about the “crackdown”, arguing it doesn’t go far enough.
“The government’s law doesn’t make price gouging illegal, it just punishes companies that lie about doing it,” Greens senator Nick McKim said.
Campbell suggested examining existing powers around the misuse of market power or looking at how other countries assess price shifts during supply disruptions.
“We’ve got a law that says it’s illegal to use your market power to keep prices artificially low, but we have no law that says it’s illegal to use your market power to keep prices artificially high,” he said.
“Other countries have things in place specifically to address market disruptions and supply shortages, which say that, when there’s a disruption or shortage, it’s illegal to charge unreasonable prices.”
Under the law, large retailers found to have charged prices that are excessive when compared to the cost of the supply, plus a reasonable margin, will face fines up to $10 million.
A gripping courtroom scene unfolded Wednesday as jurors were presented with graphic body camera footage and a blood-stained rock, alleged to be the weapon used in a violent cliffside assault. The case revolves around Hawaii physician, Dr. Gerhardt Konig, who is on trial for attempted murder.
On the fourth day of the trial, testimony from an evidence specialist and several responding officers provided jurors with a detailed account of the alleged attack and its immediate fallout. The evidence included video clips showing a disoriented and injured Arielle Konig, reportedly attacked by her husband.
The courtroom viewed footage capturing bystanders assisting Arielle, who was visibly bleeding with a head bandage following the alleged assault. Jurors also examined the rock that prosecutors claim Dr. Konig used in an attempt to push his wife off a cliff.
Dr. Gerhardt Konig, an anesthesiologist, stands accused of second-degree attempted murder stemming from the incident on Oahu’s Pali Puka Trail, dated March 24, 2025. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.
Dr. Gerhardt Konig, a physician in Hawaii, was seen via video link during an arraignment on April 7, 2025, in Honolulu, following his indictment for allegedly attempting to murder his wife.(AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
The testimony followed a dramatic day in court Tuesday, when Arielle Konig told jurors her husband attacked her during a birthday hike, tried to push her off a cliff and struck her repeatedly in the head with a rock.
“He’s trying to kill me,” she testified.
According to her account, her husband grabbed her and tried to force her toward the cliff, leading to a struggle on the ground. During that struggle, she said she saw him holding a syringe, which she knocked away.
She testified that he then picked up a rock and struck her multiple times in the head.
At one point, she said, he told her, “Nobody’s coming to save you.”
She said she fought him off, clung to vegetation to avoid going over the edge and was able to escape when two hikers intervened and called 911.
Gerhardt Konig was charged with attempted second-degree murder after he allegedly tried to kill his wife while hiking in Hawaii. (Gerhardt Konig/Facebook)
On Wednesday, prosecutors began tying that account to physical evidence.
Jurors were shown the rock investigators say was used in the attack and watched body camera video from responding officers documenting the aftermath.
Officers described encountering a chaotic situation, with Arielle Konig injured and disoriented as hikers who intervened helped her to safety.
Gerhardt Konig is accused of trying to kill his wife.(Honolulu Police Department)
Defense attorney Thomas Otake has argued the incident was not an attempted murder but an “unplanned” confrontation that escalated, suggesting the encounter has been mischaracterized.
He has pointed to strain in the couple’s relationship, including Arielle Konig’s acknowledgment of an emotional relationship with a coworker, and suggested the incident has been overstated.
Arielle Konig rejected that claim during her testimony, telling jurors, “I would call it an attack versus a scuffle.”
As the case moves forward, jurors will be asked to weigh whether the physical evidence supports prosecutors’ claims of an intentional attempt to kill or the defense’s argument that the encounter was a fight that spiraled out of control.
Stepheny Price covers crime, including missing persons, homicides and migrant crime. Send story tips to stepheny.price@fox.com.
Stepheny Price is a Writer at Fox News with a focus on West Coast and Midwest news, missing persons, national and international crime stories, homicide cases, and border security.
Inset: Shahin Gheblehshenas (Santa Clara DA’s Office). Background: Gheblehshenas’s California home where two toddlers drowned in 2023 (KNTV).
A 67-year-old woman from California has been sentenced to prison following a tragic incident at her unlicensed home day care, where two toddlers tragically drowned in a backyard pool after being left unsupervised.
Shahin Gheblehshenas was found guilty of three felony counts of child endangerment by a Santa Clara County jury, which reached its verdict after just two hours of deliberation, according to local authorities.
The conviction comes after a three-week trial that featured testimony from over 30 witnesses, shedding light on the heartbreaking events.
The day care was co-owned by Gheblehshenas’s daughter, 43-year-old Nina Fathizadeh, who had earlier admitted guilt to child endangerment charges related to the same case.
A news release from the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office detailed that the convictions arose from an incident in October 2023 at the San Jose home day care. During this incident, several toddlers managed to access the pool unsupervised, leading to the tragic drownings.
As Law&Crime previously reported, Gheblehshenas left her home that morning to go to an appointment then to another unlicensed day care operated at her daughter’s residence. Another worker had called in sick that day, leaving Fathizadeh as the sole caregiver at her mother’s home.
Gheblehshenas knew her husband regularly watered the plants and occasionally did not close the pool gate, prosecutors said. She didn’t check the pool gate before the day care opened that Monday morning and didn’t ask anyone else to check on it either, court documents obtained by NBC’s Bay Area affiliate KNTV stated.
At Gheblehshenas’s day care, the children played in the living room before Fathizadeh opened the sliding glass door and directed them into the backyard. She had a view of the pool gate — still propped open — yet she did nothing to close it, the charging document alleges.
Then she walked to the kitchen to finish preparing tea and oatmeal. From the kitchen, she could not see the children or the backyard. She was there for at least five minutes before going to the backyard to check on the children, the document said.
“Upon seeing that the gate to the pool was propped open by a drying rack, [Fathizadeh] went to the pool and located John Doe floating in the shallow end,” the charging document said.
She removed the boy from the pool and attempted CPR before moving him to a living room, calling 911, and trying CPR again.
She then woke her brother, asleep in his bedroom, for help. He went to the pool and found two toddlers floating in the deep end. The brother removed the children from the pool, called 911, and attempted CPR.
The children were taken to hospitals in critical status. Two of the victims, 18-month-old Peyton Cobb and 16-month-old Lillian Hanan, died despite lifesaving efforts. The third child survived.
Investigators determined the pool’s safety gate had been propped open, allowing the children to access the water. Authorities said neither Gheblehshenas nor Fathizadeh checked the gate before allowing the children outside, despite prior knowledge that it had been left unsecured.
“These defendants had the ultimate responsibility to care for these little ones and they criminally failed,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said in a statement following the verdict. “These small children tragically paid for this inattention and incompetence with their lives. We can’t bring them back. All we can do is pray for their families to find some peace in the knowledge that there will be accountability.”
The day care had faced scrutiny over staffing and supervision issues. Charging documents indicated Gheblehshenas left the home that morning without ensuring the environment was safe, even after learning staffing was limited. She also chose not to return after realizing she did not have the appointment she initially left for.
Both women are scheduled to be sentenced on May 22. They each face more than 10 years in prison. Fathizadeh faces an additional nine years in prison for “reckless driving” with seven unsecured toddlers “on a field trip outing from the day care,” prosecutors said.
The Houthis floated the possibility of cutting off the Bab al-Mandab Strait which separates the Arabian Peninsula and Africa.
The Houthi militia could create major headaches for global shipping. (AP)
A source quoted by Tasnim revealed that Yemeni Ansarullah fighters are ready to assume a pivotal role in controlling the Bab al-Mandab Strait if it becomes necessary to exert further pressure on adversaries.
This strait serves as a critical passage in international trade, representing the narrowest part of the route between Europe and Asia.
Any disruption could force ships to navigate around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope instead of utilizing the Suez Canal, thereby extending travel time by approximately two weeks.
Traveling via the Suez Canal through the Bab al-Mandab Strait reduces a journey by about 8,000 kilometers.
In 2023, the Houthis initiated attacks on vessels passing through the strait, significantly impacting global trade logistics.
Houthi drones are somewhat capable of sinking ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. (AP)
“For the amount of missiles and drones they fired, their hit rate on ships was not particularly high, and they only sunk a few,” Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia Jennifer Parker told nine.com.au.
“Most companies made the decision that it was more appropriate to go around the Cape of Good Hope.”
On one side of the strait is a large swathe of territory in Yemen controlled by the Houthis.
During Yemen’s long civil war, Iran’s government has supplied the Houthis with missiles and drones.
The Houthis have learned from Iran’s example and begun to keep their weapons underground to avoid missile and air strikes.
“It’s harder to have a material impact on air campaigns against them,” Parker said.
“You’ll never disable them unless you send in ground forces, which nobody’s about to do.”
But Parker suspected Iran was seeking to draw the Houthis into the war to expand the battlefield.
“The fact that Iran has said this doesn’t mean the Houthis will actually do it,” she said.
“What (the Houthis are) actually trying to achieve is to take over Yemen versus supporting Iran.”
Parker said the Houthis relied less on Iran than Hezbollah or Hamas, both of which receive much of their support from the regime.
The Red Sea is one of the world’s busiest shipping routes. (Adobe Stock)
“The Houthis will weigh that up based on how influential they think the Iranian regime are going to be moving forward,” she said.
“Even though you’re not going to have regime change, there’s a lot of evidence to say that the Iranian regime is significantly weakened.”
Parker served as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy for 20 years and was deployed to the Middle East three times.
At its narrowest point, the strait is 26 kilometres wide.
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Craig Conover is questioning his future on Southern Charm after fellow cast members criticized him for perceived anger issues during the dramatic Mexico trip in season 11.
“You all have demonized vulnerability, so I can’t be open with you anymore,” Craig, 37, expressed to producers as he returned to the stage for the second part of the Southern Charm season 11 reunion on Wednesday, March 25.
Back on stage, Craig faced his fellow cast members who brought up his outburst in Mexico, which happened when he was significantly intoxicated.
“This show, man. Maybe it’s not the right fit for me,” Craig admitted after many of his castmates suggested that his anger, not his drinking, was the real issue. “Maybe I shouldn’t be here.”
As fans brace themselves for the end of another Southern Charm season, the upcoming reunion promises to focus intensely on Craig Conover. “There are certain people that need to be held accountable,” a foreboding voice teases in the official season 11 reunion trailer released by Bravo on Wednesday, March 11, just hours before the reunion aired.
Craig, who has been part of the Southern Charm cast since its 2013 premiere, noted, “I would love to figure out a way to enjoy this again and not feel like I’m always [against everyone] even if it’s in my own head.”
Craig’s revelation came after he recalled the cast’s group trip to Mexico, where he yelled at Salley Carson for allegedly meddling in his life — and ruining his budding romance with Charley Manley. He also went off on Venita Aspen for sticking her nose into his and Austen Kroll’s issues.
“I was just sick of being meddled with. … I was like, I’m so sick of everyone getting involved in my business,” Craig confessed of his state of mind during that gateway.
When it came to why he thinks he blew up at Salley, 31, Craig noted, “I wasn’t of right mind,” hinting that his alcohol consumption was to blame for him flying off the handle.
Craig Conover found himself in the hot seat during part 2 of the Southern Charm season 10 reunion after his castmates called him out for his temper. “You’re from, like, an ivory tower, man, sometimes of, like, superiority,” Austen Kroll claimed during the Thursday, April 3, episode of the Bravo series. Craig, 36, argued that […]
“You still need to take accountability for your anger,” Salley said, while Rodrigo Reyes compared Craig’s actions to a “f***ing tornado.”
“That was a psychotic break,” Austen, 38, added, noting he watched the whole thing unfold.
Craig explained that being so drunk that he didn’t know exactly what happened, which worried him. “It scares the s*** out of you,” he confessed.
Shep Rose suggested that there is “this inner turmoil that you can’t get rid of.” Craig agreed that he was “in a place that no one should be in,” claiming that drinking too much “triggered a legit meltdown.”
Paul Cheney/Bravo
“If I wouldn’t have drank it wouldn’t have happened,” Craig alleged, claiming he didn’t eat much that day and didn’t have any water between drinks.
Rodrigo, however, confessed, “I think it’s more of an anger issue than an alcohol issue.” Salley agreed, adding, “I don’t necessarily think it’s your drinking.”
“I didn’t realize I just bottle it all up,” Craig eventually told his costars, revealing that it didn’t register that he could be angry. “And then when you get so out of control there’s no more bottling and it comes out in a horrible way.”
Craig Conover finally revealed just how hard he fell for costar Charley Manley after his romance with ex-girlfriend Paige DeSorbo. “I think we were a lot closer than anyone knew. We’d FaceTime for hours every night. We would talk for hours a day, every day,” Craig, 37, told Salley Carson about his relationship with Charley, […]
Craig remembered feeling “rejected” by Charley, 28, who started to pull away from him during the Mexico vacation and “blaming the situation” on the environment and then “freaked out.”
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When asked what’s next for him, Craig said he planned to “redirect” the topic of conversation during his therapy sessions.
“I always focused on ‘If I didn’t drink it wouldn’t be an issue,’” Craig revealed, confirming that he now sees the possibility that anger is a bigger factor to his volatility.
Craig concluded by saying, “I’m obviously sorry” to everyone in the cast. “I will try my hardest to make sure it never happens again,” he added.
Cardi B remains among the dwindling number of celebrities who freely express their candid views about X, formerly known as Twitter. Known for her fiery social media exchanges with fellow celebrities, Cardi doesn’t hold back when confronted. Although she’s recently expressed a desire to reduce her involvement in online disputes, completely walking away isn’t in her plans.
Cardi B said she wants to limit the time she spends fighting on Twitter
A staple in the music industry for several years, Cardi B has just dropped her second studio album and is currently on tour. Reflecting on her journey to stardom, she shared some words of wisdom she wished she could offer her younger self.
“Honestly, I would tell myself, ‘Why are you arguing with people on Twitter? What’s the point, girl?'” Cardi remarked during an appearance on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
When Fallon inquired about her penchant for social media clashes, Cardi simply replied, “I don’t know. But it was fun. I had a good time.”
Fallon pointed out that she no longer needs to engage in these online disputes, and Cardi agreed. While she’s not entirely abandoning Twitter confrontations, she’s making a conscious effort to spend less time embroiled in them.
He noted that she no longer has to get into spats online, and she agreed. She hasn’t given up Twitter feuds altogether, but she’s tried to limit the amount of time she spends on them.
“Well, not as much. I reduced the time,” she said. “Before I would argue for like 13 hours.”
Cardi B recently got into a bitter argument with Nicki Minaj on Twitter
While Cardi said she has limited the amount of time she dedicates to online feuds, she recently got into a huge one. Cardi and Nicki Minaj, who have feuded for years, got into it online in 2025. They spent days firing insults at each other over social media after Minaj claimed Cardi’s album sales had been unfairly inflated.
The feud quickly got personal. Minaj directly mentioned Cardi’s children, prompting Cardi to accuse Minaj of abusing drugs and impacting her son’s development. A post in which Nicki threatened to kick Cardi’s child made the latter threaten to take the fight off social media.
“Didn’t you say you was in NY???” she wrote. “This past words now.. WHERE TF YOU AT??? Cuz today gonna be the day I go to jail.”
She said she tries to avoid drama
Though Cardi said she once spent most of her day feuding with people, she admitted that drama exhausts her. Still, she admitted she can be an instigator.
“I be every kind of tired and it exhausts me,” she told Paper Magazine. “There’s drama that I expected to come. Because if I’m throwing shots at b****es, I expect the drama to come from them. I’m not gonna act like, Oh, it wasn’t gonna come when I’m directly talking to you. I can’t be surprised that a b**** is trying me, because I pull their cards.”
She said she found it frustrating when people tried to start drama with her unprompted. She felt that she couldn’t avoid it.
“However, when people just be trying you, and you’re not even paying attention to them, you’re not even talking to them about them, it’s like, This is why I say that I am the drama,” she said. “I even bother b****es when I don’t even give them attention. It’s still an issue. So that just means that is that. I am the drama. No matter how much I avoid it is gonna come to me. It’s gonna come to me even with the stupidest stuff.”
The security guard involved in the controversial Chappell Roan hotel incident that left Jude Law’s daughter deeply upset has finally spoken out.
Pascal Duvier, 53, identified as the security guard in question, issued a statement on Instagram on Wednesday. This follows reports that he ‘aggressively’ approached 11-year-old Ada Law while she was having breakfast with her mother at a luxury hotel in São Paulo, Brazil, where Roan was also staying.
“I take full responsibility for the interactions on March 21st. I was at the hotel representing another individual and was not part of Chappell Roan’s personal security team,” Duvier stated.
He further clarified, “The actions I took were not on behalf of Chappell Roan, her personal security team, her management, or any other individuals.”
Duvier explained, “I made a judgment call based on information we received from the hotel, events I had witnessed in the days leading up to the incident, and the increased overall security concerns at our location.”
Duvier wrapped up his statement writing, ‘My sole interaction with the mother was calm and with good intentions, and the outcome of the encounter is regretful.’
Pascal Duvier, 53, the security guard at the center of the Chappell Roan hotel incident that left Jude Law’s daughter Ada, 11, in tears has finally broken his silence; Duvier seen in 2015
‘I take full responsibility for the interactions on March 21st. I was at the hotel on behalf of another individual, and I was not part of the personal security team of Chappell Roan,’ he wrote via Instagram on Wednesday
Duvier previously worked for Kim Kardashian but was reportedly fired after she was robbed in Paris in 2016.
Roan has denied having any knowledge of an interaction between her staff and Ada, who was staying with her mother Catherine Harding and stepfather, Brazilian soccer star Jorginho Frello, at the same hotel as the Grammy winner.
‘She did not direct her personal security or anyone on her team to interact with them,’ Roan’s spokesperson has said.
Ada and her mother had been planning to attend Roan’s performance at the Lollapalooza music festival.
But, according to a social media post written by Ada’s irate stepfather, the outing was scrapped after their interaction with Duvier.
Jorginho said the confrontation came after Ada had wandered past the table where Roan was having breakfast.
The midfielder said his stepdaughter did a double take to make sure it was the singer, before walking back to her own table.
It was there that towering Duvier confronted the mother and the little girl – leaving Ada ‘extremely shaken’ and in floods of tears.
London-born Harding addressed the altercation in a social media post late on Sunday night and acknowledged Roan has denied personally sending Duvier to intervene.
Roan has denied having any knowledge of an interaction between her staff and Ada, who was staying with her mother Catherine Harding and stepfather, Brazilian soccer star Jorginho Frello, at the same hotel as the Grammy winner; Roan seen March 4
Jorginho publicly blasted the singer in an Instagram post over the security guard’s aggressive speech toward Ada (pictured)
Responding to her comments, Harding said: ‘Look, I would like to hope not, but at the same time, I think that you have a responsibility when you are a celebrity to make sure, I guess, that the people who work for you and that act on your behalf are acting on your behalf.’
She added: ‘Would he do that if he didn’t have her authority to do so? I don’t know. If he does, then, obviously, that’s a big problem because then he’s representing her in a way that she doesn’t want to be represented.’
According to Harding, the incident ‘ruined’ Ada’s birthday treat after Duvier chose to ‘berate and scold’ the mother-daughter pair with a ‘very aggressive tone’.
Harding added: ‘For me, I feel like if she [Roan] really didn’t send him, [the security guard] overstepped a boundary because he is quite an intimidating [man].’
The mom-of-two also claimed Duvier had told her that her daughter was ‘badly educated’ and had threatened to file a complaint with the hotel.
Duvier previously worked for Kim Kardashian; Seen in 2016 in Paris
Harding concluded: ‘If it wasn’t her, I hope she learns to maybe not allow the people who work for her to treat people like this.’
The fallout from the altercation has seen Roan banned from performing in Rio de Janeiro – where Jorginho now plies his trade for Brazilian Série A club Flamengo – by the city’s mayor Eduardo Cavaliere.
The long journey home for Sierra and Kasen Millwood from Georgia to Pensacola took a harrowing turn last Friday, forever altering their lives. As they traveled back, the routine trip was disrupted by an unexpected and terrifying incident.
“We were about an hour and a half into our drive when we reached Valdosta,” Kasen recounted, describing the moment their lives were thrown into chaos.
Experts say the move is an “alarming” development in Israel’s decades-long struggle for control of southern Lebanon.
Experts tell SBS News they feel that Israel is “reaching back into a playbook from the 1980s and 1990s.”
In a significant development, Israel has confirmed its intention to take control of southern Lebanon, a move that encompasses around 10% of the nation’s territory. This decision, experts warn, is likely to lead to dire humanitarian ramifications.
Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, revealed overnight plans for Israeli forces to establish control over a security zone in Lebanon extending to the Litani River, situated about 30 kilometers north of the Lebanon-Israel border.
Recent weeks have seen over a million people displaced across Lebanon, as reported by Lebanese officials. This displacement follows an attack by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah on Israel earlier this month.
Hezbollah’s initial launch of six rockets was a retaliatory action against joint U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on February 28, which resulted in the death of Iran’s leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, a Hezbollah ally.
In response, Israel has conducted extensive airstrikes across Lebanon, causing at least 1,072 casualties, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. Additionally, Israel has deployed ground troops to the country’s southern region and has issued evacuation orders for Lebanese residents from the area south of the Zahrani River.
“Hundreds of thousands of residents” of southern Lebanon who evacuated would not return south of the Litani river until “security is guaranteed for residents of the north”, Katz said.
Hezbollah has said it would fight to prevent Israeli troops from occupying southern Lebanon, calling it an “existential threat”.
Experts say the move is an “alarming” development in Israel’s decades-long struggle for control of southern Lebanon, which carries the potential for a severe humanitarian cost.
Mariam Farida, a lecturer in terrorism studies at Macquarie University, said Israel’s move was “unsurprising”.
“This comes in a sequence of events in which the Israeli army and the Israeli government have been exploring scenarios for how they can manifest this ground operation,” she told SBS News.
Farida said, given Israel’s stated objective to wipe out Hezbollah in Lebanon, “we’re more likely looking at a reoccupation of the whole of south Lebanon”.
“That 30km buffer zone evidently shows the Israeli army will be staying there as an occupying force, similar to what had happened back in the 80s. We’re just seeing it under a different pretext and under different circumstances now.”
Israel has issued evacuation orders for Lebanese residents from the Zahrani River down, and said it will occupy a “security zone” from the Litani River down to the border with Israel. Source: SBS News
Jessica Genauer, associate professor of international relations at the University of NSW, said Israel’s objective to create a so-called “security buffer” in Lebanon dates back decades, “punctuated with moments of outright war” between the two countries.
Israeli troops occupied part of southern Lebanon for 18 years, from 1982 until 2000.
“The aim there from the Israeli side was to try to permanently occupy a security buffer zone, where they could guarantee that they would not see offensive action take place towards Israel from the southern part of Lebanon,” Genauer told SBS News.
“What happened in practice was Hezbollah, which formed in the early 80s with the backing of Iran, primarily to resist the existence of Israel in the region. From the very formation of Hezbollah, there has been ongoing conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, and that drags in the Lebanese state and the people of Lebanon as well.”
The ‘failure’ of Israel’s 18-year occupation
Genauer said Israel’s 18-year occupation of Lebanon officially ended in 2000 as domestic pressure within Israel grew.
“As we often see when there’s a foreign force occupying another country and facing an insurgency, their own domestic populations start to become very unhappy with the mounting costs and the lack of a clear victory,” she said.
“What we saw in those 18 years, from 1982 to 2000, when Israel was occupying a portion of southern Lebanon, was that there was an ongoing insurgency from Hezbollah. And eventually, Israel had to withdraw. “
Genauer compared the situation with the US occupation of Iraq or Afghanistan.
“It seems as though Israel is reaching back into a playbook from the 1980s and 1990s, but it’s very unlikely that Prime Minister Netanyahu will be able to achieve his objectives, vis-a-vis Hezbollah.”
She said there needs to be a focus on “a parallel track of political discussions and negotiations” because a military approach is not going to be able to achieve what the Israeli state hopes it will.
“Even though Israel has far greater military capability than Hezbollah, which is essentially a quasi-state group, Israel has never managed to fully eliminate Hezbollah’s ability to engage in attacks, and never managed to fully degrade and decimate Hezbollah as a fighting force,” she said.
Farida said Hezbollah was quick to claim Israel’s 2000 retreat as a major victory, “not just for Lebanon, but the whole of the Arab world”.
“It was then considered as the first non-military, non-state organisation that was able to deter an Israeli invasion from its lands, something that it was seen that states were not able to achieve.
“So it just gave [Hezbollah] a whole range of pan-Arab credibility and legitimacy back then.”
But in the years since, Hezbollah has continued to engage in militant activity towards Israel.
Genauer said the ongoing activity was “unsurprising”, attributed to the “very formation and identity” of Hezbollah, which was formed with the core identity of fighting against Israel.
“Within Israel, there is a consistent objective to try to eliminate the threat coming from the north. So on both sides, there’s been a very consistent objective on the Hezbollah side to attack and antagonise Israel, and on the Israeli side, trying to eliminate and degrade the military capability of Hezbollah.”
“Looking at the way that asymmetric conflict tends to work, I don’t think that the Israeli government will be successful in (eliminating Hezbollah), but that’s certainly what’s driving the way that they’re now focusing on an additional boots-on-the-ground military occupation of Lebanon.”
Fears for Lebanese civilians
Evacuation orders and strikes in southern Lebanon have already led to a humanitarian crisis in the country, with Doctors Without Borders and Amnesty International calling for the protection of medical workers, civilians seeking medical attention, and displaced communities.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia supports Lebanon’s sovereignty and called on Hezbollah to disarm.
“Australia is gravely concerned at the expansion of the conflict in Lebanon, the loss of life and displacement of more than one million civilians,” Wong said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Australia supports Lebanon’s sovereignty — so we do not want to see occupation of southern Lebanon by Israel.”
Wong called for adherence to international humanitarian law and for the protection of civilians and aid workers, reiterating a call for Australians in Lebanon to come home.
Genauer said it was likely that a large proportion of southern Lebanon would become “essentially unlivable”.
“There’s no doubt that the human cost for the Lebanese people will be quite severe.”
She said the humanitarian situation is “very alarming” and the Lebanese government, “is already weak and corrupt and fragile to be able to contain” the number of displaced people.
More than a million people in Lebanon have been displaced since the start of the war, according to Lebanese authorities. Source: Getty / Anadolu / Houssam Shbaro
“You already have a society that is charged with sectarian differences, and unfortunately, this can be easily used to stir up some clashes between different factions, political factions or between just local communities.”
Farida said there had already been “sparks” of discrimination against displaced people and refugees from the Shia community.
“People are afraid of sheltering them or letting them rent in their properties because they think that there could be a price on their head, or they will be assassinated.”
‘Alarming’ consequences
The Lebanese government officially banned Hezbollah’s military activities earlier this month, with some ministers arguing its strikes against Israeli targets had given Israel a pretext to attack Lebanon.
Genauer said it was unlikely that any remaining Hezbollah fighters would give up, and said it was unlikely Israel would “succeed”.
“It’s really the core of their identity to fight against Israel,” she said.
“I think we’re likely to see an insurgency-type resistance to any Israeli boots on the ground in Lebanon. And I think that that would be ongoing as long as there are Israeli forces in Lebanon.”
Farida said, against a background of distrust in institutions and a collapse in government power from the 2019 Lebanese financial crisis, the occupation in the south and the armed conflict could provoke a civil war.
“If we look historically at how this unfolded in the Lebanese society and Lebanon as a whole, this eventually turned into a civil war.
“Because you already have a society that was charged with differences, be it religious, sectarian or ideological. And this eventually translated into an armed conflict. This might be repeated. I think this is the biggest fear nowadays,” she said.
This article addresses the sensitive topic of suicide. If you or someone you know is in distress, please reach out to the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
In a Massachusetts courtroom, a former police officer accused of attempting to murder a colleague has taken the stand, asserting that she never intended any harm toward her fellow officer.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, who served as a police officer in North Andover at the time of the incident, firmly denied charges of attempting to kill her colleague. During her testimony, she claimed that her actions were a bid to take her own life as officers arrived to deliver a restraining order filed by her fiancé, Justin Aylaian.
Her defense lawyer, Timothy Bradl, sought clarification by asking if she had pointed the gun’s muzzle toward Officer Patrick Noonan.
“No, never,” Fitzsimmons responded emphatically during her testimony.
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, a former North Andover police officer, testified Wednesday that she never pointed her gun at Officer Patrick Noonan.(POOL)
Fitzsimmons was shot by a fellow officer after she allegedly pointed a gun at him and attempted to fire it on June 25, 2025. The 28-year-old was arrested and arraigned on one count of armed assault with intent to murder and two counts of assault with a dangerous weapon.
She was indicted in Essex Superior Court later that month, and the charges were presented to a grand jury. The grand jury chose to charge her with just one count of assault with a dangerous weapon. Fitzsimmons is now facing a bench trial.
Prosecutors allege that she tried to shoot Patrick Noonan as he was serving her a restraining order from her fiancé. Fitzsimmons disputes this version of events, maintaining that she was pointing the gun at herself in a suicide attempt and didn’t want to reach out to the community of officers at her station.
“I didn’t want to involve anybody. I wanted to take my own life,” she said. “I never pointed the gun at a fellow police officer. It never happened.”
Kelsey Fitzsimmons, 28, was shot during a confrontation with her fellow officers. (North Andover Police Department)
While testifying Wednesday, Fitzsimmons recounted the moment that she was shot.
“I went into like a huge adrenaline shock. It didn’t feel like normal pain, it almost felt like absent pain, but it felt like my entire body was burning, and I was completely alert, completely awake the whole time,” Fitzsimmons said.
“I was speaking as much as I could. My lung was punctured, so that’s why I was having trouble breathing, but other than that, I was very alert and aware of my surroundings.”
Later, the former officer shared that as the fire department and additional resources arrived at her home and took her to the hospital that she repeatedly said that she “wanted to die.”
“They brought me outside, and I think when I was still in my house one of the firefighters was trying to put oxygen on my face, and I was taking it off and just saying, ‘I want to die, I want to die, I want to die.’”
Kelsey Fitzsimmons is seen in images from the North Andover Police Department. (North Andover Police Department. )
Fitzsimmons has pleaded not guilty to assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with the June 2025 incident.
