550 Dead
Plus: Eric Adams is for sale, Telegram snitches on users, Tuvalu tries something novel, and more...
Update from yesterday: On Monday, the Israeli military hit 1,600 targets in Lebanon, at sites they say are linked to the terrorist group Hezbollah, which they've been exchanging fire with since roughly October of last year.
In yesterday's Roundup (titled "Lebanon's Deadliest Day Since October"), I reported that Israeli fire had killed 100 and injured 400 more in Lebanon. By the end of the day, Israeli strikes had killed more than 490 people, 90 of whom were women and children. The breakdown of how many targets were actual Hezbollah fighters has not been released yet.
This morning's total brings the count up to 550, according to Lebanese authorities. Yesterday was the deadliest day not just since October, but since the Israel-Hezbollah war back in 2006, a 34-day armed conflict that killed some 1,200-plus civilians and 500–900 militants.
Hezbollah, which is Iran's largest proxy in the region, has fired 8,000-plus rockets and missiles into Israel's northern parts since October 7. Israel has predictably defended itself, repeatedly, and last week assassinated Ibrahim Akil, a top Hezbollah commander, as well as 10 other militants.
It now looks like the region is headed into deeper conflict. Israel's campaign in Gaza shows no signs of abating; the hostages have not all been released, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to dig his heels in and continue directing the military to essentially raze Gaza in an attempt to eradicate Hamas presence entirely—a campaign many Israelis at this point oppose. (Roughly two-thirds of Israelis believe the "total victory" offered up as the goal by Netanyahu is unattainable.) Now add to that a war in northern Israel/southern Lebanon.
"Please get out of harm's way now," Netanyahu told residents of southern Lebanon. "Once our operation is finished, you can come back safely to your homes." Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesman for the Israeli military, said they have not ruled out a ground invasion.
"We are not looking for wars. We are looking to take down the threats," Hagari added. "We will do whatever is necessary to do to achieve this mission." Unfortunately, taking out threats—of Hamas, of Hezbollah, of any other Iran-proxy terrorist groups in the region—ends up looking an awful lot like war, killing many civilians in the process.
Scenes from New York: "Federal prosecutors investigating whether Mayor Eric Adams conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations into his campaign have recently sought information about interactions with five other countries, people with knowledge of the matter said," reports The New York Times. "The demand for information related to the other countries—Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan—was made in expansive grand jury subpoenas issued in July to City Hall, the mayor and his campaign, the people said. The prosecutors' focus on the other five countries has not been previously reported." Truly impressive work, Mayor Adams!
QUICK HITS
- Telegram drastically changed its policy to now provide telephone numbers and IP addresses to law enforcement if ordered to do so, if a user is a suspect in a criminal case. The old policy—refusal to cooperate with authorities—was part of what led to CEO Pavel Durov's arrest in France last month.
- Argentina's libertarian president, Javier Milei, did away with the country's terrible rent-control laws following his ascendance. The results have been magnificent, per The Wall Street Journal: "Landlords are rushing to put their properties back on the market, with Buenos Aires rental supplies increasing by over 170%. While rents are still up in nominal terms, many renters are getting better deals than ever, with a 40% decline in the real price of rental properties when adjusted for inflation since last October, said Federico González Rouco, an economist at Buenos Aires-based Empiria Consultores."
- "China's central bank unveiled a broad package of monetary stimulus measures to revive the world's second-largest economy, underscoring mounting alarm within Xi Jinping's government over slowing growth and depressed investor confidence," reports Bloomberg.
- Though 280 citizens have been granted the ability to immigrate to Australia annually (for an island of 11,000), the island nation of Tuvalu is now trying to lobby the United Nations to recognize it as a sovereign state even as parts of its land mass disappear, and to grant natives fishing rights and other legal controls over the maritime zone.
- Democratic nominee Kamala Harris will visit the border during a campaign stop in Arizona, trying to score some positive press coverage of her immigration policy.
- RFK Jr. scandal follow-up:
Is no one else a little relieved the affair was with a person
— broti gupta (@BrotiGupta) September 20, 2024
- These cartoons are quite nasty (also: protected speech) but the fact that University of Pennsylvania is sensitive to one type of conduct—but not others—is telling:
UPenn declined to sanction Dwayne Booth, a lecturer at the school, for his cartoons depicting "Zionists" as Nazis who drink the blood of Palestinians.
But it is sanctioning Amy Wax, a tenured law professor, for "unprofessional conduct" and "targeted disparagement." https://t.co/NOdfR1wneD pic.twitter.com/BoQKoe5krk
— Aaron Sibarium (@aaronsibarium) September 23, 2024
