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Who is Ed McVey? Actor playing Prince William in Season 6 of ‘The Crown’

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Netflix is preparing for one of its biggest original series finales, with Season 6 of royal drama The Crown set to be hitting screens before the end of the year.

First debuting in 2016, the show dramatized the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II and her family, from national triumphs to personal tragedies, and it will conclude after 60 action packed episodes.

In an announcement on October 9, the streaming giant revealed that the final 10 episodes will be released in two installments, the first of which will hit screens on November 16 and the second on December 14.

The series has become well-known for its rotational casting, with leading actors playing the characters including Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip and Prince Charles for two seasons before being replaced. This eliminated the need to “age up” actors with makeup over the course of the seven decades shown on screen.

Season 6 features several newcomers to the cast, principally those playing the younger royals: Prince William (Ed McVey), Prince Harry (Luther Ford) and Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy).

Here Newsweek looks at everything we know about the actor playing Prince William in season 6 of The Crown.

Who Is Ed McVey?

Ed McVey is a British actor who will be making his on-screen debut as Prince William.

Not much is known about the young star’s background. McVey studied at the prestigious Drama Centre London, an acting school that counts a number of British stars among its alumni, such as Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan.

After graduating in 2021, McVey joined the Young Vic theatre production of the play Camp Siegfried, set in 1930s Germany about the radicalization of American youth and written by American playwright Bess Wohl. McVey was understudy for the male lead.

In September 2022, Netflix announced that McVey would take over the role of Prince William in The Crown for the latter part of the series’ sixth season.

William will begin the season being played by actor Rufus Kampa. It’s expected that McVey will take over in the second installment of episodes, which will portray the prince’s college years.

Writing on Instagram at the time his casting was announced, McVey said: “Ahhhhh the big news is now out!!! I’m absolutely buzzing to be given the opportunity to play Prince William in #thecrown in Series 6!!! Along side the amazing @megkbellamy Gunna be an amazing shoot can’t wait to learn all I can!”

What Storylines Will Feature Prince William in The Crown‘s Final Season?

Season 6 of The Crown will dramatize some of the most turbulent years of Prince William’s adolescence, beginning with the summer of 1997.

Aged 15, William was staying with his father, Prince Charles (played by Dominic West) and grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II (Imelda Staunton), when news broke that Princess Diana had died from injuries sustained in a Paris car crash.

On the day the news broke, William and Prince Harry were photographed attending the traditional Sunday church service with their family at Balmoral Castle and they traveled back to London five days later to attend their mother’s funeral.

William has rarely spoken about this period in his life, though he acknowledged the tragedy and impact of his mother’s death on him in interviews marking the 20th anniversary in 2017.

William famously met weeping mourners before the funeral outside Kensington Palace with Prince Harry and walked behind his mother’s coffin as millions watched around the world.

The events surrounding the princess’ death are expected to be covered in the first four episodes of the season.

The second installment, featuring McVey, will dramatize the prince’s college days at St. Andrew’s university, where he met and started dating his future wife, Kate Middleton (played by Meg Bellamy).

The couple met in 2001 and are reported to have begun seriously dating two years later.

Apart from the royal love story, William’s narrative could also include his reaction to his father’s relationship and marriage to Camilla Parker Bowles (played by Olivia Williams).

The events charted in the final season of Netflix’s royal drama will end in 2005.

The Crown season 6 will debut globally in two installments on November 16 and December 14 only on Netflix.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek’s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X, formerly Twitter, at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.

Who is Luther Ford? Actor playing Prince Harry in Season 6 of "The Crown"

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The Crown is coming back to screens in the coming months to bring audiences their final dose of the royal drama, with Netflix announcing that the hit show will air its series finale in two installments.

The first four episodes, which will focus on the death of Princess Diana, will be available to stream starting November 16. The final six episodes, which will debut December 14, dramatize Queen Elizabeth and her family’s transition into the new millennium.

In its announcement Monday, Netflix confirmed that the season will cover events during Elizabeth’s reign from the summer of 1997, when Diana died in a Paris car crash, to 2005, when Prince Charles (now King Charles III) married Camilla Parker Bowles.

In this new season, the focus will be on the younger generation of royals, most prominently Prince William (Ed McVey), Kate Middleton (Meg Bellamy) and Prince Harry (Luther Ford).

Here is everything we know about the actor playing the young Harry.

Who Is Luther Ford?

Ford is a British filmmaker who will make his on-screen debut in the second installment of The Crown’s sixth season, taking over from actor Fflyn Edwards, who plays Harry in the season’s earlier episodes.

In an interview with Hero magazine, Ford said he never intended to become an actor but attended an open-call casting session for The Crown on a whim.

“I didn’t apply with an expectation of getting it,” he said. “I just wanted to try.”

Playing Harry presented a challenge for the acting newcomer, but he said the key came from some advice given to the prince by Diana.

“I think the thing that helped me the most was that Diana said to Harry, ‘You can be as naughty as you like, just don’t get caught,'” Ford said. “And I was just like, Yes! It kind of summed up my experience of being in The Crown.”

Ford formed a close bond with McVey and Bellamy. The season will feature their blossoming royal romance and offer a glimpse into the monarchy’s future following the turbulent end of the 1990s.

Which Storylines Will Feature Harry?

Harry is expected to be featured as a major character throughout the final season of The Crown.

In the summer of 1997, where the events of Season 5 left off, the 12-year-old prince was spending a vacation at the royals’ Scottish castle, Balmoral, with William, Charles and the queen.

On August 31, the prince was awoken at the castle by his father and told that Diana had died from injuries she suffered in a car crash in Paris, which Harry wrote about in his 2023 memoir, Spare.

The Crown officially wrapped filming this past April. It is not yet known whether the series contains information supplied by Harry in its narrative.

At Diana’s funeral, Harry walked with his older brother, father, grandfather Prince Philip and uncle Earl Spencer behind the princess’s coffin on the journey to Westminster Abbey.

Harry was enrolled at Eton College in 1998, joining William at the school until his brother graduated in 2000. After graduating in 2004, Harry undertook a gap year, part of which he spent in Australia.

After returning home, Harry enrolled in the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in 2005 and began a career in the armed forces that would last until his retirement to take up full-time royal duties in 2015.

Apart from his post-educational life, Harry’s relationship with his brother is expected to be a key theme in The Crown‘s final season, particularly the “heir” and “spare” aspect.

The brother’s reactions to their father’s marriage to Bowles, which took place in 2005, could also be featured in the show. Harry revealed in his memoir that neither brother was initially supportive of the marriage.

James Crawford-Smith is Newsweek‘s royal reporter, based in London. You can find him on X (formerly Twitter) at @jrcrawfordsmith and read his stories on Newsweek‘s The Royals Facebook page.

Do you have a question about King Charles III, William and Kate, Meghan and Harry, or their family that you would like our experienced royal correspondents to answer? Email royals@newsweek.com. We’d love to hear from you.

Donald Trump’s five likely hair transplants, according to NY surgeon

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Throughout Donald Trump‘s presidency, the 77-year-old’s famous blonde hairdo received almost as much attention as his policies.

In 2015, fashion Bible Vanity Fair compared the business mogul’s barnet to a “dead, furry lobster,” while the New York Post dubbed it “bizarre.” Throughout his tenure, the former president battled accusations of a secret “combover,” while a gust of wind seemingly revealed a bald patch at the back of Trump’s head, sparking hair transplant rumors in November 2017.

New York City-based cosmetic surgeon Gary Linkov believes that the politician may have undergone five separate hair-transplant surgeries. Specializing in facial and hair procedures, Linkov shared a video to YouTube on October 8 explaining his reasoning.

“Did he get a hair transplant? It’s actually much more complicated than that and a great example of how hair restoration surgery has evolved over time,” he told his his 670,000 subscribers.

Linkov begins with an image of Trump at four years old, taken in 1950, to show viewers where the real-estate magnate’s hair naturally sits on the left side of his head.

“What a natural part means is that, that is where the hair changes direction,” Linkov explains. “While you can artificially create a part anywhere along your hairline, there is a place where that direction split naturally occurs.”

Linkov then moves ahead to 1964, sharing a photo of Trump at age 18. In this photograph, Trump’s hair is still parted to the left, but much further across his head, with his hair combed over to the right.

“He has a widow’s peak right in the center of the hairline, and he has early slight frontal temporal recession,” he said, with an arrow pointing towards Trump’s left temple.

Linkov then moves on to an image of Trump at age 30, photographed in 1976. The Apprentice star has switched his parting to the opposite side and begun to comb his hair over his forehead.

“Donald Trump is able to conceal the frontal temporal corners,” he explained, but two years later, Trump’s hairline has “changed significantly.”

“The hairline is now much straighter, it’s lower and it appears to be less natural,” Linkov continues. “If you look closely, you’ll see what appears to be small islands of hair.

Linkov suspects that Trump has had a procedure using “plug grafts.” An older style of hair transplant surgery, plug grafts first became popular in the 1950s and involved taking 4mm patches of skin from the back of the head and suturing them to the front of the hairline.

Unlike modern hair-transplant procedures, which usually take smaller patches of 0.8mm to 1mm, plug grafts took larger patches of scalp. The result was less natural looking, with Linkov comparing the result to a “doll’s hair type of appearance.”

He said this procedure is also why Trump’s forehead seems much smaller compared to his teenage self, and why the hairline is much straighter. Linkov also believes that Trump may have begun taking finasteride, a drug to prevent hair loss.

Linkov believes that in 1991, at the age of 45, Trump had his second procedure. He highlights the unusual shape of the hair at Trump’s left temple, as well as what may be scarring.

He suggests that Trump could have wanted to cover the plugs and had a rotational flap, which was a new technique at the time. The surgery involves taking a large section of scalp from the back of the head, where the hair is denser, and relocating it to the front. Containing 6,000 to 10,000 follicular units, this technique allowed for fuller coverage in a short amount of time.

However, the procedure also had a higher risk of scarring, which is why Linkov reckons Trump continued to comb his hair downwards over his forehead throughout the 1990s, further reducing its size.

Linkov suspects that Trump may also have had another surgery known as follicular unit transplantation or “FUT” in the early 2000s, as the temporal area is more concealed and the hair appears thicker. Like earlier procedures, FUT involves removing a strip of scalp from the back of hair. However, rather than relocating the flesh, surgeons exact individual follicles and transplant them instead for a more natural result that also conceals scars.

By 2003, at the age of 57, Trump’s hairline is much thicker, but his forehead is almost completely obscured. Switching to a photo of the back of Trump’s head, taken one year later, Linkov highlights scar patterns consistent with a past rotational flap surgery.

In 2011, Linkov suggests that Trump may have had a follicular unit extraction or “FUE” procedure. Similar to FUT surgery, FUE involves retransplanting individual follicles. However, follicles are taken directly from the scalp, which results in a quicker healing time and is the most common type of hair transplant procedure used today.

Finally, Linkov shares the famous wind-blown snap of Trump from 2017, which was taken as he boarded Air Force One. The image shows his hair flying off all directions, which Linkov said supports his theory of multiple hair transplant procedures.

“The way the hair flops in his video, it looks to me like he might have had a right-sided rotational flap in the past as well,” Linkov said. “Historically, those were sometimes done one-to-two months apart, to add further density to the front or mid-scalp.

“This can all help explain the complex combing that is involved in getting Donald Trump’s hair to look the way it does.”

Linkov’s analysis was shared to X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, by user Ron Filipkowski, where it received over 333,000 views.

Many users made jokes about the purported procedures, with Chevron writing: “He’s not kidding anyone.”

“Wind, his real enemy!” said FreeUkraine.

“I’m no fancy clinician, but could it be he simply wears his hair on backwards?” asked Jamesey.

“As a fellow bald man, I think Ron would agree if he was really the self confident man he purports to be, he would have just left it all alone,” said billyb.

However, others defended Trump, with Johnny calling Filipkowski “pathetic” for sharing the video.

“Worried about Trumps hair, when there’s a war going on, and we may be next,” he wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to Gary Linkov and Donald Trump for comment via email.

Sexyy Red gets shoutout from Drake after Donald Trump controversy

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Drake has expressed admiration for Sexyy Red, the rapper who incurred the internet’s wrath not once, but twice last week—adding fuel to the fire of romance rumors.

The 25-year-old star—real name Janae Nierah Wherry—caused uproar after appearing on comedian Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast on October 3, thanks to her comments praising Donald Trump.

The following day, a sex tape involving Red was non-consensually posted to her Instagram Stories, leaving her “heartbroken.”

After the footage went live, Red took to X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, to tell fans she wasn’t responsible for the leak, writing: “Anybody that kno me knows I wouldn’t do no goofy s*** like that.”

Although Red confirmed the video was shared without her consent, fans accused the singer of leaking the sex tape herself to deflect from her remarks about Trump. In her interview with Von, Red called the former president “bold and funny” and said “we need him back in office,” dividing fans of the rapper.

It may have been a tough time for Red, but one famous face has her back. Drake gave the singer a shoutout on his Instagram stories on October 8, calling her “the kindest” and “most solid.”

Alongside a snap of Red holding a bunch of flowers in the backseat of a car, the 36-year-old wrote: “Thanks for holding me down and killing s*** all summer. You are the kindest most solid and I luhhhh ya @sexyyred.”

Red is currently supporting Drake on his It’s All a Blur tour, along with rapper 21 Savage. The pair have also previously collaborated on the track “Rich Baby Daddy,” along with SZA.

Rumors of a romance between the two began circling in July, when a photo of Red sitting on Drake’s lap while he kissed her cheek appeared on Instagram.

“Just met might my rightful wife @sexyyred,” he wrote alongside the snap, with Red resharing the photo to her own account.

The rapper has also recently referred to Red as his “baby mama” during a gig, walking off-stage to hug and kiss her on the forehead.

The online controversy surrounding Red doesn’t appear to have dented her popularity. Within 24 hours of podcast appearance and her sex tape going viral, Red gained more than 120,000 Instagram followers and over 80,000 X subscribers, along with her song “Shake Yo Dreads” making it to the top of Spotify’s “Most Necessary” playlist.

Newsweek has reached out to Sexyy Red and Drake for comment via email.

Video of gun-wielding Donald Trump on pickup truck at festival goes viral

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A Donald Trump fan’s truck has gone viral, with the owner’s dedication to the former president earning him over 405,000 views on social media.

While attending the Rod of Iron Freedom Festival in Pennsylvania—also known as “GunStock”— on October 7, producer Ford Fischer recorded footage of the MAGA supporter’s vehicle. Along with decals that read “Drain the swamp” and “Death row to pedos,” the truck features an image of Trump in a historic military uniform next to the date “1776”, the year of the declaration of independence.

The 77-year-old’s recent mugshot was also photoshopped onto the head of a muscle-bound torso, alongside the words “Pray for Uncle Trump.” However, the most eye-catching decal is the one of the business mogul wielding a gun with the phrase: “Merry MAGA you filthy animal.”

The image is a reference to the 1990 Christmas movie Home Alone, when Kevin McAllister (Macaulay Culkin) is secretly watching a mob movie after accidentally being left behind by his parents.

Fischer shared the video to X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, with the caption: “They love guns, and they love Trump!”

The clip stunned viewers, with user Izzy writing: “Tell me it’s not a cult.”

“These people are sad and scary,” said @Mominsweats.

“Where do people get the money for this stuff?” asked Diana Prince. “I thought they claimed that they were all struggling working class blue collar workers who have been left behind by the economy?”

“That is so cringe,” said Smith, while SMB called it: “The most pathetic thing I’ve ever seen.”

Fischer also shared snippets throughout his time at the festival, such as the firearms auction—which included a limited edition “Make America Great Again” AR-15 rifle—a Proud Boys booth, and a “concealed carry” fashion show.

Trump’s former deputy assistant, Sebastian Gorka, was in attendance at the event, where he received a Rod of Iron Award and a wooden American flag overlayed with Trump’s face. The 52-year-old media host also stopped by the Trump truck, where he signed his name under the “Pray for Uncle Trump” decal.

Despite his current legal battles—which include four investigations across Georgia, New York, Florida and Washington D.C.—Trump is still running for the Republican nomination in the current presidential primaries.

At the moment, the former president is the clear frontrunner. According to poll analysis site FiveThirtyEight, Trump currently is ahead with 55.9 percent, followed by Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis at 14.7 percent and pharmaceutical business owner Vivek Ramaswamy with 7.9 percent.

Newsweek has reached out to Ford Fischer for comment via Twitter.

Hamas hostages: What we know about people taken captive

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More than a hundred people are being held captive in locations across the Gaza Strip after being abducted from Israel during an assault by Islamist militants over the weekend, a senior Hamas official told the al-Ghad news network, according to the Associated Press.

Mousa Abu Marzouk reportedly said that the number of hostages was in addition to the 30-or-so people taken by members of the Islamic Jihad militant group, which was also involved in the attacks.

Video footage appeared to show militants taking citizens in Israeli territory they had infiltrated in border regions near Gaza, including women, children and the elderly. Hamas officials demanded the release of all Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails in exchange for the prisoners, though analysts say they may have been taken to soften the military response by Israel on Hamas sites.

On Monday morning, the BBC reported four hostages had been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza, citing a Hamas spokesperson. Newsweek could not immediately verify this information.

Israeli officials have confirmed American citizens were among those taken captive, but gave no details of their identities or how many were from the U.S. Ron Dermer, Israel’s minister for strategic affairs, suggested many may have been dual Israeli-American citizens.

“Any American anywhere who is being detained or held hostage, that is going to be a priority for this government, this administration, and for me,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Sunday. The same day, the Pentagon ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier strike group into the Eastern Mediterranean.

“We can confirm that there are unaccounted-for U.S. citizens, and we are working with our Israeli partners to determine their whereabouts,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement to Newsweek.

Individuals from other countries are also thought to be among those taken by the militant groups. German tattoo artist Shani Louk was identified by her family as being the woman slumped in the back of a pick-up truck in widely-circulated footage from distinctive tattoos on her legs, after she had been attending a music festival in southern Israel.

It is unclear whether Louk is still alive, or whether she was alive when the video was taken.

Several others are thought to have been taken from the same festival in Kibbutz Re’im, from which 260 bodies have so far been recovered. The Israeli Embassy in the U.K. confirmed to multiple British outlets that Jake Marlowe, 26, who was working as a security guard at the event, and Dan Darlington, also originally from Britain, who had been visiting Israel from Germany, were missing.

Noa Argamani, 25, was also attending the festival with her boyfriend Avi Nathan. Argamani was seen being taken away from the festival on a motorbike while Nathan attempted to stop them.

The parents of Hersh Golberg-Polin, a 23-year-old American-Israeli, originally from Berkeley, California, told The Jerusalem Post that they believed their son to be missing after receiving two short text messages—”I love you” and “I’m sorry”—on Saturday morning, while at the festival.

A Mexican woman and man have “presumably” been taken hostage by Hamas militants, Alicia Barcena, Mexico’s foreign minister, announced on Sunday. CNN reported, citing Brazilian officials, that at least three Brazilian nationals were also missing.

Israeli media reports suggest that residents of communities near the Gaza border including Be’eri and Ofakim were being taken by militants who had infiltrated the settlements on Saturday. Footage geolocated by CNN to Be’eri appears to show multiple Israelis being taken hostage, the network said.

However, the full extent of those captured and where they were taken from remains unclear. Newsweek approached the Israeli government via email for comment on Monday.

On Saturday, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials said there was fighting in 22 locations along the border. By Monday morning, the IDF said it had successfully retaken all territories previously held by Hamas militants, and that the defense minister, Yoav Gallant, had ordered a “complete siege” on the Gaza Strip.

Harvard students blaming Israel for Hamas attacks sparks fury: "Despicable"

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A statement signed by dozens of Harvard student organizations blaming Israel for the violence unfolding after Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented incursion into the country has sparked criticism on social media.

Hamas militants broke through a fortified border fence and gunned down civilians and soldiers in Israeli communities along the Gaza frontier on Saturday.

Israel formally declared war and hit back with airstrikes, including one that flattened a 14-story tower that held Hamas offices. At least 700 people were reported killed in Israel and more than 400 in Gaza, while thousands were wounded. Some 123,000 displaced people in Gaza were in shelters, the U.N. said.

The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups released a statement signed by at least 35 student groups that put the blame for the unfolding violence on Israel.

“We, the undersigned student organizations, hold the Israeli regime entirely responsible for all unfolding violence,” the Harvard Undergraduate Palestine Solidarity Committee and Harvard Graduate Students for Palestine said in a joint statement posted on social media.

Saturday’s events “did not occur in a vacuum,” it said. “For the last two decades, millions of Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to live in an open-air prison.

“Israeli officials promise to ‘open the gates of hell,’ and the massacres in Gaza have already commenced. Palestinians in Gaza have no shelters for refuge and nowhere to escape. In the coming days, Palestinians will be forced to bear the full brunt of Israel’s violence.”

The groups who have signed the statement include Amnesty International at Harvard, Harvard Jews for Liberation, the African American Resistance Organization and the Society of Arab Students.

The statement went on to condemn the actions of the “apartheid regime” in Israel, adding that Israeli violence has “structured every aspect of Palestinian existence for 75 years.”

“The apartheid regime is the only one to blame,” it said. “From systematized land seizures to routine airstrikes, arbitrary detentions to military checkpoints, and enforced family separations to targeted killings, Palestinians have been forced to live in a state of death, both slow and sudden.

“Today, the Palestinian ordeal enters into uncharted territory. The coming days will require a firm stand against colonial retaliation. We call on the Harvard community to take action to stop the ongoing annihilation of Palestinians.”

The statement has been met with a social media backlash.

“This is the final crack in my broken heart—a joint statement from @Harvard students,” social media consultant Yael Bar tur wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “I could be sitting in class with these students, watching children brutally murdered, raped, kidnapped and their mutated bodies torn apart by a jeering crowd—and hear why it’s justified.”

Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik wrote that it “is abhorrent and heinous that Harvard student groups are blaming Israel for Hamas’ barbaric terrorist attacks that have killed over 700 Israelis. Any voice that excuses the slaughter of innocent women and children has chosen the side of evil and terrorism.”

She added: “I am calling on the leadership of @Harvard to immediately publicly condemn these vile anti-Semitic statements.”

Ian Bremmer, a political scientist, wrote in a post that a “large number of harvard student organizations blaming israel solely for hamas terrorist attacks killing 700 civilians.

“Can’t imagine who would want to identify with such a group. harvard parents—talk to your educated kids about this.”

Tymofiy Mylovanov, president of the Kyiv School of Economics and a former Ukrainian government minister, called it “despicable.”

“Who forces Hamas to kill civilians and parade their bodies? Israel?” Mylovanov wrote on the platform.

The Harvard Palestine Solidarity Groups and Harvard University have been contacted for comment via email.

Before and after photos show river in Amazon dry up

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Shocking photos shared on social media show the extent of a severe drought plaguing the Amazon.

The Rio Negro in Brazil is suffering from low water levels as El Niño grips the region. The climate phenomenon is known for causing warm water in the tropical Pacific Ocean west of South America, but the impacts have been exacerbated by climate change—resulting in low water levels restricting the transport of supplies and marine wildlife being killed.

On Friday, social media user @sergiofreire shared two photos of the Rio Negro—one from July and another from early October. The difference between the two was drastic.

“The extent of the drought in Amazonas. The top photo is now. The other, from July,” WFLA-TV Chief Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli wrote on X, formerly Twitter while reposting the photos.

The top photo in the post was the most recent and shows a dry, muddy riverbed. The bottom photo, taken in July, shows a beautiful blow river flowing through a lush landscape. The original post had been viewed more than 4.3 million times.

Since mid-September, the Rio Negro has fallen by about a foot a day, according to the Port of Manaus website. Drought has drastically depleted the river water levels, which is a massive tributary to the Amazon River.

Newsweek reached out to the Port of Manaus via email for comment.

In a follow-up post, @sergiofreire posted a map of the river and noted that the pictures were specifically of Igarapé Tumbira, a branch of the Rio Negro.

The vastly different river landscape has turned fatal, killing hundreds of fish and also dozens of river dolphins as the marine animals struggle to survive in warming waters.

Some responses to the social media post argued that parts of the river dry up annually. However, government officials have stated that the drought is the result of El Niño and has been exacerbated by climate change.

El Niño is one of two climate patterns that greatly impact Earth’s weather. La Niña recently culminated in the spring, ending a multiyear period in which the pattern influenced the weather. El Niño started in June, and a recent update from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said it has high odds of being historically strong.

El Niño is known to bring higher-than-average precipitation to the southern portion of the United States, but it has the opposite effect for Brazil.

“For northern Brazil where the river is, El Niño tends to lead to drier, warmer than normal conditions going through their spring and into their summer,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Jason Nicholls previously told Newsweek.

Nicholls added that relief is not likely for the region until March or April, when cooler weather arrives in the area and when El Niño starts to weaken.

Until rain arrives, Brazil’s government is working to assuage some of the most severe impacts. Government officials appointed a task force to provide support to people living in the area. The drought has already impacted 111,000 people and could impact up to 500,000 if the drought continues.

Last week, Brazil’s government announced that it would provide emergency assistance to people living in the area who had been impacted by the severe drought. Thousands of people rely on Amazonian rivers like the Rio Negro as their life support.

Israeli soldiers attacked on Lebanon border as Hezbollah fears grow

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Fears were growing on Monday that the war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas could be set to spiral, amid reports that other Islamist groups may be planning to join the fighting.

On Monday, Daniel Hagari, spokesperson for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), appeared to suggest that another militant group was becoming involved. In translated comments on social media site X, formerly known as Twitter, Hagari said: “A report was received about the infiltration of several suspects into Israeli territory from Lebanese territory. IDF forces are deployed in the area.”

Tensions in the region are running high after Palestinian militant group Hamas launched a surprise rocket attack against Israel on Saturday. Israel and Palestine have been engaged in a bitter territorial dispute for decades. Following the attack, which saw scores of victims, including Americans kidnapped, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel was now at war with Hamas and launched a series of air strikes across Gaza. By Monday morning, at least 700 people had been killed in Israel and more than 400 killed in Gaza, according to the Associated Press.

On Sunday, just a day after Hamas launched its surprise attack against Israel, news agency Reuters reported that Lebanon’s Hezbollah—which the U.S. considers a terrorist organization—said it had targeted Israeli military positions in the Shebaa Farms area, claiming it was acting “in solidarity” with the Palestinian people.

Shebaa Farms is an Israeli-held strip of land along the Lebanese border, which Islamist group Hezbollah claims is part of Lebanon’s territory. The IDF responded by shooting artillery into Lebanon. There were no reports of casualties on either side.

Hashem Safi al-Din, the head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council, suggested on Sunday that the group could become involved in the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas. “The responsibility obliges all the sons of our nation not to be neutral and we are not neutral,” he said at a pro-Palestinian rally in Beirut, according to Lebanese news site Naharnet.

Social media commentators reported that gunfire had been heard at the Lebanon border on Monday, sparking fears that Hezbollah was becoming involved in the fighting. Hezbollah was previously involved in a five-week war with Israel back in 2006 and tensions have remained high.

Journalist Oz Katerji, a member of the Foreign Press Association, posted on X: “Looks like Hezbollah may be deciding to enter the conflict. Let’s wait for confirmation before jumping to conclusions, but this could get very bad, very quickly.”

Israeli defense journalist Hallel Bitton Rosen, of the news outlet Now 14, uploaded a post on X on Monday, rendered by Google Translate as reading: “Following the incident in the north, four terrorists infiltrated, two were killed, one apparently returned to Lebanon.” It is unclear what happened to the fourth.

He later added: “Following the report of another incursion at the Lebanese border, two more suspects were identified in the area. Our forces are on them.”

Another Israeli outlet, N12 News, reported claims that three IDF soldiers had been wounded in a gun battle on Monday.

“The thwarted infiltration at the Lebanese border: 3 soldiers were moderately injured in an exchange of fire with terrorists,” the outlet posted on X.

Newsweek has not yet been able to independently verify the claims about skirmishes along the Lebanese border, but is attempting to seek clarification from both sides. Newsweek emailed Israel’s IDF and Lebanon’s Ministry of Information on Monday, requesting further information and comment.

The reports came the same day that Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said his government has received assurances from Hezbollah that the group would not join the fighting—unless Israel “harasses” Lebanon. His claims were reported by The Times of Israel.

In a separate article, also published on Monday, the newspaper said Russian officials had suggested there was a significant “risk” of a third party entering the conflict. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the TASS news agency: “The risk of third forces becoming involved in this conflict is high.”

Speculation has already been swirling about whether Russia had any connection to the Hamas attack, which Hamas is calling “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood.”

Meanwhile, Hezbollah has threatened to attack U.S. positions in the Middle East if America intervenes directly in the Israel/Hamas conflict, Reuters reported. Hezbollah is backed by Tehran, which has stoked further fears that Iran could get involved too. Tehran has rejected such claims, Reuters said.

Update 10/09/23, 11:08 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with further details and information.

Israel’s failure to anticipate Hamas assault fuels conspiracy theories

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The surprise attack by Hamas on Israel has sparked conspiracy theories as to how the Middle East’s most powerful military could be caught so off-guard.

Israel said on Monday it had brought in special forces to try to wrest control of four sites from Hamas fighters after the militant group launched an unprecedented incursion into the country two days earlier from Gaza.

At least 700 people have reportedly been killed in Israel and more than 400 have been killed in Gaza, following Israeli strikes, according to The Associated Press.

Israel’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, has said that there would be a “complete siege” on Gaza in which electricity, food, water and fuel would be cut. Israel’s military announced it had regained control of its communities near Gaza but some militants remain active.

Amid the anger in Israel was speculation about how such catastrophic failure of its security and intelligence allowed the incursion of around 1,000 Hamas fighters and their deployment of missiles, bulldozers, hand gliders and motorbikes.

It led to conspiracy theories that it might have been a “false flag” operation, referring to an action designed to blame another party.

The X (formerly Twitter) account of Bull Crypto said without offering proof that “Netanyahu and Hamas are working together” and that the attack had been a “ridiculous false flag,”

Russell McGregor also gave the “false flag” explanation to his 49,000 followers, while the account of Russian Market, which pushes Kremlin propaganda, posted: “They simply drove into Israel. Where is the Israeli army? Are they intentionally allowing them to enter?”

The theory that Russia was behind the attack by Hamas also gained traction over the weekend. Ukrainian-American racing car driver Igor Sushko posted that “Hamas terrorists massacring Israelis were trained by Russia’s Wagner PMC and Redut PMC terrorist groups with Putin’s approval.”

The Wagner private military company that helped Moscow’s fight in Ukraine staged a mutiny against Putin’s authority in June. Its founder, Yevgeny Prigozhin, died in a plane crash two months later.

“Blowback for the West’s inadequate support of Ukraine to neutralize Russia,” added Suskhko, who noted how “earlier this year Hamas leadership even openly met with Russia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Lavrov in Moscow.”

The Institute for the Study of War said Russia might benefit from the shift in international attention away from its invasion of Ukraine although there is no proof that Moscow played any role in the events of the last two days.

Foreign policy expert Hannah Notte wrote in a thread that “there was no need for Russian assistance” and despite Moscow’s ties with Tehran, which backs Hamas, “the Iran-Hezbollah-Hamas axis is ‘highly’ capable.”

Also proliferating on social media is a fair amount of misinformation, according to the X account of Shayan Sardarizadeh from BBC Verify, which checks the veracity of claims.

In one instance, he noted how a widely shared video purporting to show a salvo of rockets fired by Hamas towards Israel was in fact from the Syrian civil war and first appeared online in 2020.

He also said that a video viewed 600,000 times, which allegedly showed Hamas militants parachuting into Israel, had been “filmed in Cairo, Egypt, and posted to TikTok in September.”

“This video, viewed 900,000 times, doesn’t show Hamas militants entering Israel. It was filmed in Egypt, and posted to TikTok in September,” he wrote regarding other footage.

Meanwhile, another clip that claimed to show Israeli strikes on Hamas had been “all old clips of fireworks and celebrations by supporters of CR Belouizdad after winning the Algerian [soccer] championship title.”