blow

Video shows Israeli forces blowing up a mosque’s minaret in Khiam in southern Lebanon. Israel says it is fighting Hezbollah but has forcibly displaced more than a million people and stands accused of trying to depopulate the entire south of the country.

The Repair Shop star Dom Chinea was left stunned during the latest episode of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop

Dom Chinea suffered a massive setback on the most recent instalment of Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop as he tackled drift car racing for the first time.

The Repair Shop favourite, his wife Maria and their dog Wendy are embarking on the adventure of a lifetime as they exchange the commuter chaos of Kent for the rugged splendour of West Cornwall. The series chronicles Dom as he forges a new existence in the far west of Cornwall.

During the most recent instalment, Dom constructed a drift car with engineer Sam Lovegrove, where they competed in a drift car race. Dom revealed: “Today, I’m slightly nervous because Sam has emailed me with a link to a Mazda for sale. An MX5 with the title of ‘Let’s Go Drifting’, which fills me with fear.”

He continued: “But you know what? I’ve moved down here, moved down to Cornwall, willing to try new things. Drifting is something I have never done, never tried, and no experience in. But I would actually quite like to give it a go. It’s something I’d quite like to learn. So we’ll have to see.”

Subsequently, the pair went to inspect the Mazda MX5, where they purchased it and restored it. Later in the programme, they entered it into a drift racing competition, reports the Express.

Dom confessed: “This is not my world at all. It just goes to show being into cars is a very broad category, and this is something I’ve never experienced before. I am, to say I’m out of my depth here, is an understatement.

“In drift competitions, it’s not about who crosses the finish line first, but how well the cars perform on the track. Judges give points for how well drivers control their drifts, or skids, going around the corners. They’re looking for speed, and who can do it with style.”

Yet, mere minutes into the race, Dom and Sam’s vehicle swerved off track and collided with the barrier. Dom explained in a VT: “With our modifications, we’re confident our Phoenix is going to fly. The steering, the cornering, the suspension, all working together in perfect harmony. Until it didn’t.”

Exiting the car, Sam joked: “That didn’t go so well!” to which Dom replied: “Seriously? I didn’t even get a go. Are you kidding me? After all that work?” Sam then observed: “I think it’ll fix, but not this afternoon, I don’t think!”

In a VT, Dom quipped: “Well, we wanted our car to make an impact”, before adding: “We started this crazy adventure in the hope we’d meet like-minded petrolheads. I’d say this was mission accomplished.”

Discussing the episode beforehand, Dom revealed about the car race: “Sam showed me a Mazda MX5 for sale that we could fix up to try drift racing – something I’ve never done.”

He continued: “But we had to change the car quite a bit first – we needed a hydraulic handbrake, and the rear wheels needed to be able to spin, we had to lock them together to both spin at the same time. But that wasn’t completely straight forward – the underside was quite rusty.”

Dom Chinea’s Cornish Workshop can be viewed on U and Channel 4.

BRITS applying for a new standard passport will be charged more than £100 for the first time ever.

The fee for online applications for adults within the UK will rise on April 8 from £94.50 to £102.

Holidaymakers looking to renew their passport before the summer holiday rush will be stung unless they get their bid in soon.

The Home Office says the hike is to “move towards a system that meets its costs through those who use it, reducing reliance on funding from general taxation.”.

But it will likely spark a backlash for putting up prices as many families face the pinch in a cost of living crisis.

The standard fee for kids will rise from £61.50 to £66.50.

Postal applications will increase from £107 to £115.50 for adults and £74 to £80 for children.

The charge for a next-day premium service made from within the UK will rise from £222 to £239.50. 

The Home Office said: “The fees contribute to the cost of processing passport applications, consular support overseas, including for lost or stolen passports, and the cost of processing British citizens at UK borders.  

“In 2025, where no further information was required, 99.7 per cent of standard applications from the UK were processed within three weeks.” 

BEIRUT —  Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike, a move that represents a palpable hit to an Iranian leadership that has shown little interest in compromise after almost three weeks of war with the U.S. and Israel.

Killing Larijani, who led Iran as de facto wartime leader after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died on the first day of the war, eliminates a veteran official seen as the consummate insider despite not having the religious credentials for the Islamic Republic’s highest offices. Israel, in an announcement Tuesday, said the attack occurred the night before.

For all his bellicose comments since the war began, Larijani was also seen as a pragmatist, and observers say his death might strengthen the resolve of what’s left of Iran’s leadership, rather than induce a willingness to compromise.

His post as secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council gave Larijani control of the country’s top security body, where he tasked government forces with subduing anti-regime protests in January. Thousands of Iranians were killed.

Also killed in the Israeli strikes was Gen. Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij, the volunteer auxiliary wing of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and an integral part of the state’s ability to keep order.

“Larijani and the Basij commander were eliminated overnight and joined the head of the annihilation program, Khamenei, and all the eliminated members of the axis of evil, in the depths of hell,” Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement Tuesday.

Israeli officials have employed “axis of evil” to refer to Iran and its allies, including the militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Larijani had served as parliamentary speaker for 12 years and became the point man on nuclear negotiations as well as relations with allies such as China and Russia. He often acted as the government’s representative in the media.

Iranian officials confirmed that Larijani and Soleimani had been killed. They said Larijani’s son, the head of his office and several guards were also killed in the strikes.

Soon after Katz’s announcement, Iranian authorities released an undated note said to have been written by Larijani in which he honored Iranian sailors killed in a U.S. attack. The image of the note was also posted to Larijani’s account on X.

There was no explanation why the note was released and whether it is signified Larijani was still alive.

“We are undermining this regime in the hope of giving the Iranian people an opportunity to remove it,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu and President Trump have repeatedly called on ordinary Iranians to topple the government.

Though assassinating Larijani counts as yet another intelligence coup for Israel and the U.S., both may come to regret the loss of a figure who, despite his defiant rhetoric since the war began Feb. 28, was considered by some analysts as a realist.

His killing adds to the evisceration of Iran’s upper echelons, raising the question of who is left to negotiate an end to the war, or have enough influence to make Iran’s deep state accept compromise.

Some observers say that’s the point.

“Why did the Israelis take out Larijani in this moment? Because Netanyahu is focused on blocking Trump’s pathways for a ceasefire and follow-up negotiations with Iran,” said Ellie Geranmayeh, a senior policy fellow at the European Council for Foreign Relations, adding that “Larijani would have been the man to get that job done.”

Khamenei’s assassination, Geranmayeh said, had already empowered more hard-line figures in government, and Larijani’s death “could act as an accelerator to that path.”

“Israel seems to be turning its attention to targeting those that could push for a political solution to the current crisis,” she said.

Larijani’s death would add to the murkiness surrounding Iran’s leadership. After Khamenei was killed and it remained unclear who would replace him, Trump added to the uncertainty by saying that the country’s new leader would need his approval, but also that the U.S. had killed many of the leaders whom he would have deemed acceptable.

After Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, was named the new supreme leader, Trump expressed his displeasure but repeatedly dodged questions about what the transition under the younger Khamenei would mean for the U.S. war effort.

After the elder Khamenei’s death, Larijani emerged as a high-profile voice for Iran, saying that Trump must “pay the price” for the U.S. strikes on the country.

In response, Trump acted as if he didn’t know who Larijani was.

“I have no idea what he’s talking about, who he is. I couldn’t care less,” Trump told CBS News.

Benjamin Radd, a political scientist and senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, said Larijani was perceived to be “the last of the competent bunch” within the Iranian leadership — an intellectual who had a complex understanding of the geopolitical reality on the ground, who had negotiated with the U.S. in the past, and who was “adept at maneuvering” all the various parts of the Iranian power structure.

Radd said Larijani “lost that mantle of being the pragmatist” when he strongly backed the deadly January crackdown on protesters, for which he was “more responsible than anyone else.”

He “absolutely was responsible for a tremendous amount of carnage and death and destruction,” Radd said.

And yet, with his death, “all of that diplomatic, institutional experience” that he did have “is gone” from the Iranian leadership, Radd said.

Those left in power, he said, are “generally not the sharpest people, they’re not the people who understand the subtleties of diplomacy, of what negotiating with the U.S. is like.”

Bulos reported from Beirut and Rector from Colorado.

WASHINGTON — A federal judge on Friday quashed Justice Department subpoenas issued to the Federal Reserve in January, a severe blow to an investigation that has already attracted strong criticism on Capitol Hill.

Judge James Boasberg said that a “mountain of evidence suggests” that the purpose of the subpoenas was simply to pressure the Fed to cut its key interest rate, as President Trump has repeatedly demanded.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell revealed the investigation Jan. 11, prompting Senator Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican to block consideration of Trump’s pick to replace Powell as Fed chair when his term expires May. 15.

Rugaber writes for the Associated Press.

After many delays, ETIAS should be in place by the end of this year, but many holidaymakers have been surprised by the fee that has been hiked to nearly three times as much as originally announced

The European Travel Information and Authorisation System (ETIAS) is set to become mandatory for Brits travelling to 30 European countries in the last quarter of 2026. Citizens of the UK and 58 other visa-exempt countries will need to apply for travel authorisation ahead of visiting EU countries including France, Spain, and Portugal.

This means that Brits heading off to the Costas or Dordogne, among other holiday hotspots, will need to apply for an ETIAS before they travel, and all passengers will need to complete a form online. While the plan is for most ETIAS approvals to take minutes, those who need further checks could be waiting up to 30 days for approval, so it’s something that should be sorted as soon as a holiday is booked.

While the process sounds simple enough, the fee that comes with an ETIAS application has become the latest blow for British holidaymakers. When it was first announced in 2018, the fee was planned to be €7, just over £6, but it was announced late last year that the fee will actually be €20, about £17.37, almost three times the original cost.

Passengers of all ages will need to get an ETIAS, but the fee is waived for children and seniors, so luckily only visitors aged 18-70 will need to pay it. However, for a couple travelling together, this adds another €40 cost to a holiday that needs to be budgeted.

A statement on the European Commission website says: “ETIAS fee has been set at EUR 20 instead of the previous EUR 7. The new fee takes into account the rise in inflation since 2018 and additional operational costs related to new technical features integrated into the system. It also brings the cost for an ETIAS travel authorisation in line with similar travel authorisation programmes around the globe.”

Once approved, an ETIAS is valid for three years, or until your passport expires, depending on which date comes first. It can be used for multiple trips.

Brits heading to the EU in recent months have also had to use the new EU Entry/Exit system at airports. Set to replace manual passport stamping, it involves taking a photo and fingerprints of anyone entering the Schengen area.

READ MORE: Foreign Office issues fresh Cyprus travel update for BritsREAD MORE: Closed UK airport unveils latest plans to finally reopen 12 years after it was abandoned

The EES system aims to increase security and easily identify overstayers, and once fully-implemented should reduce queues for non-EU citizens such as Brits. However, many travellers have reported delays due to technological issues, with three hour waits reported in Tenerife.

Unlike the ETIAS, Brits don’t need to register in advance for EES. However, they can download the official Travel to Europe app, which allows them to register their details in advance, potentially helping to speed up the process.

At the time of writing, there’s no official start date for the ETIAS. The European Commission has previously said it will announce the date several months in advance, allowing travellers and airports time to prepare. Brits do not currently need to pay for an ETIAS, and once launched, should only use the official ETIAS website for applications.

Have a story you want to share? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com