World Briefing: September 18, 2024
Israel's Mossad spy agency placed explosives in thousands of Hezbollah pagers before they detonated across Lebanon, multiple reports say. A senior Lebanese security source tells Reuters the pagers were brought into the country months ago. Separately, Israeli and US sources say Israel detonated the pagers earlier than planned, fearing that Hezbollah had become aware of the plan. The pagers seemed to carry a Taiwanese brand - but Taiwanese firm Gold Apollo denies any involvement, saying the pagers were made by a Hungarian firm it signed a deal with. At least nine people were killed and thousands injured when the pagers went off on Tuesday. A munition expert said the devices were likely packed with up to 20 grams of military-grade high explosive - BBC
Militant group Hezbollah promised to retaliate against Israel after accusing it of detonating pagers across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing nine people and wounding nearly 3,000 others who included fighters and Iran's envoy to Beirut. Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary condemned the late-afternoon detonation of the pagers - handheld devices that Hezbollah and others in Lebanon use to send messages - as an "Israeli aggression". Hezbollah said Israel would receive "its fair punishment" for the blasts. Separately, Air France announced late on Tuesday it was suspending flights connecting Paris with Beirut and Tel Aviv through Thursday due to security concerns - Reuters
Israel didn't inform the Biden administration in advance about its intelligence operation to explode thousands of Hezbollah members' pager devices, two U.S. officials told Axios. A U.S. official said that several minutes before the pagers started exploding across Lebanon, Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant called U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and told him Israel was going to conduct an operation in Lebanon soon, but refused to give any specific details. The U.S. official said the Israelis didn't tell the U.S. about the specifics of the operation, but added that Gallant's call was an attempt to avoid keeping the U.S. totally in the dark. Nevertheless, U.S. officials said they didn't see Gallant's call as a serious prior notice. "We were not aware of this operation and were not involved," U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday. Austin spoke to Gallant on the phone twice on Tuesday and discussed the situation, Israeli and U.S. officials said.
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday made his first public appearance since Sunday’s second apparent assassination attempt against him, speaking to a crowd chanting “God bless Trump!” and “Fight, Fight, Fight” as U.S. Secret Service agents surrounded the stage to protect him. “Only consequential presidents get shot at,” he said. Earlier in the day, Vice President Kamala Harris struck a measured tone, even steering clear of mentioning Trump by name in an interview with Black journalists that starkly contrasted with the former president’s own highly contentious appearance before the same group - AP
After making a “joke” asking why “no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,” in a now-deleted post, many call Elon Musk out for being a national security risk. Experts say that it raises concerns, especially given his substantial contracts with the US government through SpaceX. They also point to the more pressing risk of Musk’s potential to inspire further political violence. - Wired
A suspected Ukrainian drone strike overnight in Russia's Tver region northwest of Moscow has reportedly hit an arms depot and left emergency workers scrambling to fight fires and evacuate local residents. The Astra Telegram channel and other social media published videos that showed massive explosions and flames erupting into the night sky near the town of Toropets, located in the west of the Tver region. Other footage posted on social media showed rows of apartment buildings in the town with windows blown out from blast waves - RFE/RL
The world is far off track from achieving vital climate goals, a new UN report says. The impacts of climate change and hazardous weather are reversing development gains and threatening the well-being of people and the planet, according to the multi-agency report coordinated by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Greenhouse gas concentrations are at record levels, fuelling temperature increase into the future. The emissions gap between aspiration and reality remains high. Under current policies, there is a two thirds likelihood of global warming of 3 °C this century, says the report.
