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Lebanon’s state news agency said there were blasts in the southern suburbs of Beirut and several other areas. Hezbollah's al-Manar TV also said many pagers had exploded, without identifying those hurt.

Videos and photos on social media appeared to show wounded men sitting or lying on floors and others being rushed to hospitals. Unconfirmed CCTV footage showed blasts in shops.

A Hezbollah official told Reuters news agency it constituted the "biggest security breach yet" since hostilities with Israel escalated 11 months ago in parallel with the Gaza war.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.

However, the events come hours after Israel’s security cabinet made the safe return of 60,000 residents displaced in the north by Hezbollah attacks an official war goal.

"The security cabinet has updated the objectives of the war to include the following: Returning the residents of the north securely to their homes," the prime minister's office said. "Israel will continue to act to implement this objective.”

On Monday, Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said the only way to return Israel's northern residents was through "military action", during a meeting with US envoy Amos Hochstein.

“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict,” a statement from his office said.

Israel has repeatedly warned it could launch a military operation to drive Hezbollah away from the border.

There have been almost daily exchanges of fire across the frontier since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on 7 October.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian group. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.

Since October, at least 589 people have been killed - the vast majority of them Hezbollah fighters - according to Lebanon's health ministry.

On the Israeli side, 25 civilians and 21 members of security forces have been killed, the Israeli government says.

Iran’s ambassador to Lebanon was among 2,800 other people who were wounded by the simultaneous blasts in Beirut and several other regions.

Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, said the pagers belonged “to employees of various Hezbollah units and institutions” and that at least two members were among the dead.

The group blamed Israel for what it called “this criminal aggression” and vowed that it would get “just retribution”. The Israeli military declined to comment.

Israel has been exchanging fire with Hezbollah since last October in parallel with the Gaza war, raising fears of a wider regional conflict.

The UN's spokesman said the developments were "extremely concerning, especially given that this is taking place within a context that is extremely volatile".

Hezbollah relies heavily on pagers for communications. The group has warned its members to stop using mobile phones because they could be hacked or tracked by Israeli security forces.

According to Hezbollah, an unspecified number of pagers exploded in multiple areas of Lebanon at around 15:30 local time (12:30 GMT).

One CCTV video showed an explosion in a man’s bag or pocket at a supermarket. He is then seen falling backwards to the ground and crying out in pain as other shoppers run for cover.

"In all my life I've never seen someone walking on the street... and then explode," Musa, a resident of a southern Beirut suburb, told AFP news agency.

"My wife and I were going to the doctor. I found people lying on the ground in front of me," he said. "People didn't know what was happening."

Lebanese Health Minister Firass Abiad told a news conference that casualties were brought to hospitals across the country, including those in southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, the southern port city of Tyre, and in the Bekaa Valley.

He said most had wounds to the face, hands and stomach, and that about 200 were in a critical condition that required surgery or admission to intensive care.

Iranian state TV reported that Iran’s ambassador in Beirut, Mojtaba Amani, suffered "superficial" injuries in one of the explosions.

A source close to Hezbollah told AFP that two of those killed by the pager explosions were the sons of two Hezbollah MPs, Ali Ammar and Hassan Fadlallah. They also identified the dead child as the 10-year-old daughter of a Hezbollah member in the Bekaa Valley.

Fourteen people were also wounded by exploding pagers in neighbouring Syria, where Hezbollah is fighting alongside government forces in the country's civil war, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

“We hold the Israeli enemy fully responsible for this criminal aggression,” Hezbollah said in a statement on Tuesday evening.

“This treacherous and criminal enemy will certainly get his just retribution on this sinful aggression from where it counts and from where it does not count,” it added.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati also blamed Israel for the explosions, saying that they represented a “serious violation of Lebanese sovereignty and a crime by all standards”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said he told his Lebanese counterpart that he "strongly condemned Israeli terrorism".

The US has denied any involvement in the incident and urged Iran not to heighten tensions.

Hezbollah did not say what it believed had caused the pagers to explode.

The Wall Street Journal cited a source as saying the affected devices were from a new shipment that Hezbollah had received in recent days. A Hezbollah official also told the newspaper some people had felt the pagers heat up before the blasts.

Overheated lithium-ion batteries can catch fire, but experts said hacking into the pagers and making them overheat would not usually cause such explosions.

A former British Army munitions expert, who asked not to be named, told the BBC the pagers would have likely been packed with between 10g and 20g of military-grade high explosive, hidden inside a fake electronic component.

Once armed by a signal, called an alphanumeric text message, the next person to use the device would have triggered the explosive, the expert said.

Lina Khatib, a Middle East analyst at the UK-based Chatham House think tank, told the BBC: "Israel has been engaging in cyber operations against Hezbollah for several months, but this security breach is the largest in scale.”

Nicholas Blanford, a Beirut-based senior fellow of the American think tank the Atlantic Council, said: “Israel in one fell swoop has rendered combat ineffective hundreds if not thousands of Hezbollah fighters, in some cases permanently.”

“More senior field officers may not have been affected because they simply do not carry electronic communications devices, relying on messengers. But this is a big blow.”

He warned that Hezbollah's leaders would now “face extreme pressure from the ranks and supporters to retaliate heavily”, describing it as "the most dangerous moment" in the Hezbollah-Israel conflict since October.

A statement put out by the Israeli military on Tuesday evening did not comment on the pager explosions, but said the chief of staff Lt Gen Herzi Halevi had held a situational assessment with commanders "focusing on readiness in both offence and defence in all arenas".

It also said there was no change in defensive guidelines to the Israeli public but asked them to remain alert and vigilant.

On Tuesday morning, Israel's security cabinet made the safe return of 60,000 residents displaced in the north by Hezbollah attacks an official goal of the Gaza war.

Israel Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said during a meeting with US envoy Amos Hochstein on Monday that the only way to return northern residents was through "military action".

“The possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas, and refuses to end the conflict,” a statement from his office said.

There have been almost daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border since the day after the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza on 7 October.

Hezbollah has said it is acting in support of the Palestinian group. Both are backed by Iran and proscribed as terrorist organisations by Israel, the UK and other countries.

Since October, at least 589 people have been killed in Lebanon, the vast majority of them Hezbollah fighters, according to the Lebanese health ministry.

On the Israeli side, 25 civilians and 21 members of security forces have been killed, the Israeli government says.

When Robbie Williams told an interviewer that he felt like a performing monkey, he didn’t mean it literally. But that’s exactly how “The Greatest Showman” director Michael Gracey interprets the remark in “Better Man,” an off-the-wall musical biopic that surely would have seemed banal — as opposed to downright bananas — had it featured a flesh-and-blood actor in the Robbie Williams role.

Gracey takes audiences through all the expected beats of Williams’ career, from his breakthrough as a member of Take That to his record-breaking solo concert at Knebworth, but does so with a CG chimpanzee standing in for the Britpop bad boy. Against all odds, that gimmick works, distinguishing the project from so many other cookie-cutter pop-star hagiographies. If you want to fawn over this boy-band backup singer-turned-solo superstar for four hours, check out the “Robbie Williams” doc series on Netflix. But if you want to see a chimp doing coke with Oasis, or getting a fateful hand job in front of manager Nigel Martin Smith (Damon Herriman), this is your movie.

By inserting what looks an awful lot like Caesar from the new-and-improved “Planet of the Apes” franchise in Williams’ place, Gracey dodges the main question folks have about musical biopics — namely, “Who’s gonna play him?” So if you worry whether the whole chimp thing could be distracting, don’t forget how barmy it felt pretending that Elton John’s life would have turned out the same if he’d looked anything like Taron Egerton, or that a pair of false teeth could transform Rami Malek into the strutting sex symbol that was Freddie Mercury.

Recently, “Stardust,” “Back to Black” and even “Elvis” were undermined by the chasm we felt between those films’ lead actors and the pop icons they were portraying. By contrast, “Better Man” falls squarely in that uncanny valley, and for once, that’s a good thing. First off, Americans don’t really know who Williams is, making it easy to accept whatever Gracey puts in his place. Better still, his simian CG counterpart proves far more expressive than most human actors, meaning the movie is built around an animated performance powerful enough to wring tears.

With “Better Man,” the musical maestro adds ridiculously complicated technical challenges to his résumé — like the jaw-dropping “Rock DJ” number staged in London’s busy Regent Street, shot over four days and stitched together to look like a single unbroken take, or the “Come Undone” sequence where he speeds away from the boy-band breakup, nearly smashes his car into an oncoming bus and plunges into a sea of paparazzi. These numbers deliver essential emotional information in unimaginably dynamic ways, leaving traditional tuners in the dust.

And yet, “Better Man” suffers from the same issue that afflicts nearly all pop-star portraits: Instead of picking a significant chapter from their subjects’ lives, these biopics typically take the cradle-to-the-grave approach (or cradle-to-rehab, as the case may be). That works for docs, but when it comes to dramatic retellings, the strategy forces the world’s most fascinating characters into familiar arcs: First they demonstrate natural talent, then they’re discovered, then they become insanely rich and famous, only to sabotage it all with addiction, infidelity and ego. If they’re lucky, they don’t OD, assuring normies everywhere they’re better off not being famous.

“Better Man” wants to be “All That Jazz,” but it falls back on the redemptive life-story formula, introducing Robbie as a boy — or in this case, an adolescent chimp, looking scrawnier (and a great deal hairier) than his peers. Little Robbie’s bad at sports, worse at school, but a natural clown, as he learns during a school play. Robbie gets that cheeky streak from his father, a cabaret comedian (stage name Peter Conway, played here by Steve Pemberton) who leaves home to pursue his own showbiz dreams when Robbie is just a lad.

The truth is more complicated, but a stunted man-child searching for Dad’s approval makes Williams relatable. Gracey extensively interviewed the superstar about his life, then constructed the narrative he wanted to tell with co-writers Simon Gleeson and Oliver Cole. His angle is frustratingly familiar, though the execution is downright astonishing — we’re talking Wachowski-level ingenuity as Gracey fashions sophisticated montages where you can’t even spot the cuts.

Consider the scene where Williams learns his most unconditinoal supporter has died, just before playing his biggest show. The camera starts with a tight close-up on Robbie’s eyes, then pulls out to reveal him suspended upside down above the stage, rotating 180 degrees as it flies over the heads of several thousand fans. His eyes are the best thing about that scene — and every scene. They make all the difference: dazzling green and stylized to look more human than chimp-like. Gracey’s visual effects team (led by Wētā whizzes Luke Millar and Andy Taylor) studied hours of archival footage to get the singer’s facial expressions just right, so every squint, wink and scowl corresponds to the real Robbie.

Disarmingly unfiltered at times, Williams swears up a storm, dropping expletives (and trou) without warning — an irreverent trait Gracey slyly re-creates here, placing the chimp in familiar photo shoots. He even offers a version of the “Rock DJ” music video, in which Williams strips down to his insides. The star’s ape avatar goes through a staggering range of emotions over the course of the movie, from being smitten with fellow pop star Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno) to feeling devastated by her decision to abort their child for a No. 1 hit. Even his bisexuality is fair game, making “Better Man” a better movie than “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Same goes for his clinical depression — though the death match between all of his different personas (which plays out like “War for the Planet of the Apes”) takes his self-destructive tendencies a step too far.

No matter how dark Williams gets, he remains an undeniably charming character, rendered more so by the monkey thing. Frankly, Gracey’s chimpanzee conceit was always a stretch, since the “performing monkey” put-down really only applies when Williams is doing someone else’s bidding. Behind the CG ape is a real actor, Jonno Davies, who performed his trickiest scenes on set, including much of Ashley Wallen’s inventive choreography. While it’s hard to say how much of Davies’ work survives, the finishing-touch animation is so good, the Academy needs to find the right category in which to acknowledge it.

Mr Barnier, 73, is the EU's former chief Brexit negotiator and led talks with the UK government between 2016 and 2019.

A veteran of the right-wing Republicans (LR) party, he has had a long political career and filled various senior posts, both in France and within the EU.

He will now have to form a government that will need to survive a National Assembly divided into three big political blocs, with none able to form a clear majority.

Three years ago Mr Barnier said he wanted to take on President Macron for the French presidency, saying he wanted to limit and take control of immigration. He eventually failed to be the selected as a candidate by his party.

Known in France as Monsieur Brexit, Mr Barnier will be France's oldest prime minister since the Fifth Republic came into being in 1958.

He is set to succeed Gabriel Attal, France's youngest ever prime minister, who President Macron first appointed prime minister in early 2024 and who has stayed in post as caretaker since July.

It has taken President Macron 60 days to make up his mind on choosing a prime minister, having called a "political truce" during the Paris Olympics.

In the past few days he has interviewed several potential candidates for the job, but his task was complicated by the need to come up with a name who would not lose a vote of confidence on their first appearance in the National Assembly.

The Elysée Palace said Mr Barnier's appointment had come after an unprecedented period of consultation, and that Mr Macron had ensured that the prime minister and future government would offer the greatest possible stability and the broadest possible unity.

Mr Barnier had been given the task of forming a unifying government "in the service of the country and the French people", the presidency stressed.

However, Mr Macron's choice of prime minister has already caused discontent within the the left-wing New Popular Front (NFP), which won the most seats in the July snap election and whose own candidate for prime minister was rejected by the president.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the leader of the radical France Unbowed (LFI) - the biggest of the four parties that make up NFP - reacted angrily. The election had been "stolen from the French people", he claimed.

Instead of coming from the the alliance that came first on 7 July, he complained that the prime minister would be "a member of a party that came last at the elections."

"This is now essentially a Macron-Le Pen government," said Mr Mélenchon, referring to the leader of the far-right National Rally (RN).

He then called for people to join a left-wing protest against Mr Macron's decision planned for Saturday.

Jordan Bardella, the young president of the RN was more measured in his response. Writing on X, he said his party's prime demand was respecting 11 million RN voters.

He made clear that Mr Barnier would be judged on his words, his actions and his decisions on France's next budget, which has to be put before parliament by 1 October.

He cited the cost of living, security and immigration as major emergencies for the French people, adding that "we hold all means of political action in reserve if this is not the case in the coming weeks".

The cultural phenomenon that is "brat" has inspired millions of posts, plenty of dance moves and even reached the heights of American politics.

But as the days become smaller and the nights draw in Charli XCX - who spawned the phrase - has said it's over.

The singer posted to say "goodbye forever brat summer" along with some of notable brat-related moments.

But some fans - particularly those in the southern hemisphere, where summer is yet to arrive - have vowed to keep the spirit alive.

Brat is the name of Charli's sixth studio album which has found critical success and worldwide appeal as people have rushed to embrace its rebellious attitude.

The singer told the BBC's Sidetracked podcast brat was a concept that represented a person who might have "a pack of cigs, a Bic lighter and a strappy white top with no bra".

It is thought of by some as a rejection of the "clean girl" aesthetic - which suggested a groomed ideal of femininity.

"You’re just like that girl who is a little messy and likes to party and maybe says some dumb things sometimes," Charli explained on social media.

"Who feels like herself but maybe also has a breakdown. But kind of like parties through it, is very honest, very blunt.

"A little bit volatile. Like, does dumb things. But it’s brat. You’re brat. That’s brat." 'kamala IS brat'

It does not take much for the heat of US politics to spawn endless memes, but brat has hit the race to be the most powerful politician in the world.

Shortly after President Joe Biden announced he was leaving the US election race and endorsed his vice-president Kamala Harris, Charli posted "kamala IS brat".

The Harris campaign then scattered references to the album across its social media accounts, renaming her profile Kamala HQ.

Obviously, it had to be a new lime green photo in the style of the Brat album cover.

Experts have said it was part of an effort for Kamala Harris to appeal more to younger voters.

We'll find out how successful it's been in November.

The Apple legacy

No, not to do with the phone.

Millions of people have tried (and mostly succeeded) in splitting an apple down symmetrical lines.

The TikTok trend has had courageous attempts from celebs such as Glen Powell, Amelia Dimoldenberg and Daisy Edgar-Jones trying to move their arms up, down and side to side, in sync to the lyrics of Apple.

But as the trend eventually fades away, the videos and memories remain.

We'll let you decide if they are rotten right to the core.

So is brat summer actually over "forever"?

Not everyone agrees with Charli that we are done with the lime green entirely.

"It’s our responsibility as Australians to create a Brat Summer," writes one fan.

"Don't forget about South America," says another.

And ultimately, "brat summer is a state of mind, not a season," according to another fan.

Charli herself has teased a possible Brat Autumn.

So as we approach the mild orange chill of Halloween season, is it maybe time to rebrand?