Israeli fire killed at least 40 people, half of them near an aid distribution site operated by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation yesterday, the territory&s health ministry said, as UN officials denounced Israeli-backed aid delivery methods.

Israeli strikes targeting Iranian energy production facilities, manufacturing plants and aviation signalled the start of a wider and more intense phase of the conflict as Israeli war planes pursued new targets deeper in Iran&s cities and towns.

Three hikers, including two brothers and the wife of one of the men, were killed by a lightning strike during a thunderstorm in Austria's Tyrolean Alps over the weekend, police said on Monday.

A massive two-day manhunt ended on Sunday with the arrest of Vance Boelter, 57, for allegedly killing a Minnesota Democratic state lawmaker and her husband while posing as a police officer, Governor Tim Walz said.