Tuesday Briefing: Israel conducts raids in Lebanon

October 1, 2024

	By Gaya Gupta

Good morning. We’re covering Israeli raids in Lebanon and the closure of Britain’s last coal plant.

Plus, creating fashion in prison.

Soldiers next to a tank in a field, with a line of trees behind and a hillside seen through haze beyond that.

An Israeli tank in a staging area in northern Israel on Sunday. Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York Times

Israeli conducted raids in Lebanon

Israeli commando units made brief incursions into Lebanon yesterday as troops gathered at the border, possibly to prepare for a wider invasion targeting Hezbollah, according to Israeli and Western officials.

The raids have focused on gathering intelligence about Hezbollah positions close to Israel’s northern border, as well as on identifying Hezbollah tunnels and military infrastructure. Military officials said a final decision had yet to be made about whether or when to launch a major ground operation against Hezbollah in Lebanon, which would be Israel’s first there in two decades.

American officials said that they believed that the invasion would be a limited one and that their efforts dissuade Israel from a major ground invasion had been productive.

Beirut: Israel said it was behind a blast in Lebanon’s capital that hit a residential building overnight, the first known Israeli attack in central Beirut since 2006.

Death toll: More than 1,700 people have been killed in Lebanon since Oct. 7 — the majority in the last two weeks.

Donald Trump, wearing a red hat, shakes hands with people in orange shirts.

Donald Trump was greeted yesterday by residents of Valdosta, Ga. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Harris and Trump focused on hurricane devastation

Both Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris turned their attention to the aftermath of Hurricane Helene yesterday, as large swaths of the South continued to reel from the devastating storm. The death toll from the hurricane has risen to more than 100 people across six states.

Trump thanked local leaders and emergency workers in Georgia, promising “complete solidarity” with those suffering in the storm’s aftermath. A White House official said Harris, who received briefings from the Federal Emergency Management Agency in Washington, planned to visit the devastated region as soon as it could be done without disrupting emergency operations.

More on the U.S. election

Americans head to the polls in less than 40 days.

The nominees for vice president, JD Vance and Tim Walz, will hold a debate on Tuesday night.
Women from a secretive evangelical church in North Carolina are helping to stage Donald Trump’s campaign events.
Two months after abandoning his bid for a second term, President Biden appears to be liberated by the decision, soaking up the adoration from supporters.
After two assassination attempts, some wondered if Trump’s attendance at a college-football game this weekend was wise.

Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

Power-plant cooling towers stand above a grove of trees and several rail lines curving into the distance.

The Ratcliffe-on-Soar power plant in England closed yesterday. Rui Vieira/Associated Press

Britain shut down its last coal plant

Britain shut down its last coal-burning power station, becoming the first among the world’s major industrialized economies to wean itself off coal. The move is all the more symbolic because the nation was the first to burn tremendous amounts of it during the Industrial Revolution, launching a global addiction to coal.

The British government aims to generate all its electricity from sources other than fossil fuels by 2030. Oil and gas account for the majority of its power supply, though renewables make up 40 percent of its electricity generation.

MORE TOP NEWS

A man standing at a lectern and speaking. Behind him are two curved rows of desks.

Lee Im-jae was the chief of police in Yongsan District, the area in central Seoul where the disaster happened. Yonhap/EPA, via Shutterstock

South Korea: A court sentenced a senior police officer to three years in prison for contributing through negligence to a Halloween crowd crush that killed nearly 160 people in 2022.
Mexico: President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who steps down tomorrow, transformed his nation more so than any other leader in recent history.
Iran: The country united militias to take on Israel in an “axis of resistance.” But as the Israelis pummel one group, Hezbollah, the rest have so far largely failed to come to its aid.
France: The far-right leader Marine Le Pen and over 20 other people went on trial on charges that they embezzled funds from the European Parliament.
Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky returned from a high-stakes diplomatic trip to the U.S. with limited new aid and mounting battlefield challenges.
Entertainment: Francis Ford Coppola’s $140 million “Megalopolis” debuted to an estimated $4 million in weekend ticket sales.

U.S. News

New York City: Lawyers for Mayor Eric Adams asked a federal judge to throw out the bribery charge against him, providing an early glimpse at his defense.
Higher education: California banned legacy admissions at private universities.

Sports

A photo of Dikembe Mutombo on the basketball court raising his right pointer finger in the air.

Dikembe Mutombo in 1998 while playing for the Atlanta Hawks. Scott Cunningham/NBAE, via Getty Images

Dikembe Mutombo: The N.B.A. star and humanitarian died at 58.
Soccer: Manchester United’s world has fallen apart — again.
Golf: Patrick Cantlay is the big winner of Presidents Cup week.

MORNING READ

Large flames coming out of a wok in a kitchen.

Alex Lau for The New York Times

Wok hei, meaning “the breath of the wok,” is the signature, smoky, charred flavor found among Hong Kong’s open-air food stalls. But because of new government regulations, there are only around 20 of these stalls left. A food photographer traveled with his mother to Hong Kong in search of the elusive and exquisite flavor that she hadn’t tasted for 50 years.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Saving a skyscraper: A plan to preserve the only high-rise Frank Lloyd Wright designed is in trouble. The building’s new owners, who tried to rescue it from financial woes, now have it on the auction block.
Little house of horrors: At the Spruce House in Finland, macabre jokes about the end of the world are built into a comfortable island cabin.
The ultimate celebrity photographer: Kevin Mazur has thrived by gaining the trust of the world’s biggest stars. His motto: “Why wouldn’t you want to make people look good?”

We hope you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times .

ARTS AND IDEAS

A young woman with dark hair that is pulled back stands in the foreground at an ironing board in a room with two windows and shelves of supplies. Another woman, with gray hair and glasses, works in the background at a large table.

Clara Vannucci for The New York Times

Creating beauty behind bars

Italy is the world’s leading luxury fashion manufacturer, largely thanks to its craftspeople. But it’s lacking a new generation trained in artisanal fabrication skills.

Cooperativa Alice, a Milan nonprofit, has a solution: sewing workshops that train inmates and former prisoners in Italian sartorial craft. The training can be a pathway to a career in the fashion industry, which is desperately short of skilled workers, and a degree of emancipation, even while incarcerated.

“It does us good to hear ‘Well done, ladies,’” an inmate said. “It helps me live.”

RECOMMENDATIONS

Four baked chicken breasts, crusted with crumbled Ritz crackers then baked, sit atop a wire rack set inside a baking sheet.

Armando Rafael for The New York Times

Cook: These cheesy chicken cutlets coated with buttery Ritz crackers are as good as they sound.

Listen: Apple Music released its list of the 100 best albums of all time. Our pop culture critic listened to all of them and discussed what it got wrong.

Well: How much should you worry about mercury in tuna and other seafood? Experts weigh in.

Play: Spelling Bee, the Mini Crossword, Wordle and Sudoku. Find all our games here.

That’s it for today. See you tomorrow. — Gaya

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