Israeli airstrikes on central Beirut on Thursday left two neighbuorhoods smoldering, killed 22 people and wounded dozens, Lebanon's health ministry said, as well as further escalating Israel's bloody conflict with Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon.

New York: An analysis by Consumer Reports has revealed concerning levels of lead in a variety of cinnamon powders and multi-spice blends sold in the United States. The investigation, which tested 36 different products, found that 12 brands exceeded the lead safety threshold of 1 part per million (ppm) established by New York, the only state currently regulating heavy metals in spices in the U.S.

Stockholm: South Korean author Han Kang was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature Thursday for what the Nobel committee called “her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”

Deir al-Balah: An Israeli strike on a school sheltering the displaced in the Gaza Strip killed at least 27 people on Thursday, Palestinian medical officials said.

Two activists from the group Youth Demand replaced Pablo Picasso’s painting Motherhood at the National Gallery in London with a photograph of a Gazan mother and child, calling for a two-way arms embargo on Israel. The incident took place on Wednesday, with protesters covering the 1901 artwork with the photograph and pouring red paint on the gallery floor to symbolise bloodshed in Gaza.

Tel Aviv: At least six people were stabbed and wounded in northern Israel in what police say was a militant attack.

Istanbul, Turkey: A Turkish Airlines pilot died after collapsing mid-flight, forcing the Turkish national carrier to make an emergency landing in New York, the airline said on Wednesday.

The Nobel Prize in chemistry was awarded Wednesday to David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jumper for their work with proteins.