More than 550 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon. California alleges ExxonMobil lied to consumers about plastics recycling. And an asteroid will temporarily join Earth’s orbit as a “mini-moon.”
Here’s what to know today.
More than 550 killed in Lebanon as Israel ramps up broader military campaign
Israel said it doesn’t plan to let up attacks on Lebanon any time soon after dramatically expanded airstrikes killed at least 558 people and injured more than 1,600. Yesterday’s strikes yielded not only the highest death toll since tit-for-tat strikes began between Hezbollah and Israel after Oct. 7, but the deadliest day of conflict for Lebanon since Israel’s 34-day war with Hezbollah in 2006.
The airstrikes marked the start of an intensified campaign, which is continuing this morning as Israel launched further strikes and Hezbollah unleashed a new barrage of cross-border fire. Israel’s military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate certain areas, spurring tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.
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About 60,000 people have been evacuated from the Israel side of the border, the government says. In Lebanon, over 100,000 are displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. The U.S. State Department issued a warning for Americans to leave Lebanon “while commercial options still remain available.”
More coverage:
- President Joe Biden will address the U.N. General Assembly this morning for the first time since Hamas’ terror attack in Israel last year.
- In northern Israel, many are bracing for all-out war just across the border with Lebanon. Residents in the city Kiryat Bialik expressed fear of intensifying attacks, and in the major city of Haifa, some of a hospital’s operations were moved underground.
- The Pentagon plans to send a few dozen U.S. troops to the Middle East to be ready to help if Americans need to be evacuated from Lebanon.
- Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country doesn’t want a wider war with Israel.
- Who are the American hostages still held by Hamas? Seven people with American citizenship remain in captivity.
ExxonMobil sued, accused of decades of ‘deception’ over plastics recycling
California has sued ExxonMobil in what the attorney general’s office bills a first-of-its-kind lawsuit that will put the potential harms of microplastics at center stage. The lawsuit alleges ExxonMobil misled consumers for decades, encouraging Americans to pursue a “throw-away lifestyle” and downplaying concerns about plastics’ ecological risks. In fact, “ExxonMobil knew that 95% of the plastic in the blue bin was going to be incinerated, go into the environment or go into a landfill,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in an interview with NBC News. “They knew and they lied.”
Previous lawsuits have targeted individual plastic products or companies that sell them, but “this is the first to go upstream” and target production companies, one expert said. The lawsuit seeks to make ExxonMobil hand over some of its profits, along with other civil penalties. Read more about the lawsuit.
Effort to change Nebraska’s electoral vote system blocked
A Republican state senator’s opposition to a law changing how Nebraska allocates its electoral votes drew anger from former President Donald Trump.
State Sen. Mike McDonnell wrote in a letter that he is opposed to changing Nebraska’s system — which awards electoral votes by congressional district — to a winner-take-all approach so close to Election Day. McDonnell represents an Omaha-area district and switched parties in April after state Democrats censured him.
Trump took to Truth Social to call McDonnell a “Grandstander” who got “in the way of a great, Republican, common sense, victory.” Under a winner-take-all model, Trump would be all but certain to win all of Nebraska’s electoral votes. There’s a plausible scenario in which those votes determine who becomes the next president.
Politics in Brief
Drug prices hearing: Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the chief executive of drugmaker Novo Nordisk, is set to face tough questions today in a Senate hearing about the high costs of the company’s widely popular weight loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy.
Assassination attempt aftermath: The Secret Service said it is “taking a heightened posture” in its protection of former President Donald Trump after a second apparent attempt on his life this month in Florida. Yesterday, a new court filing showed that the man charged in the incident at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago golf course, Ryan Wesley Routh, wrote a letter that declared, “This is an assassination attempt.” Meanwhile, Trump accused the Justice Department of “downplaying” the incident. Also yesterday, sources said the former president plans to rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, the city where the first assassination attempt took place, next month.
Trump investigations: Lawyers for Trump are seeking to derail an effort by federal prosecutors in his 2020 election interference case to streamline arguments and potential appeals about whether certain Trump actions were official or unofficial acts.
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Read All About It
- Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams is set to be executed today in the 1998 stabbing death of Felicia “Lisha” Gayle. His lawyers have raised doubts about the evidence presented at his murder trial and the actions of a trial lawyer in the case.
- A disturbance in the Caribbean Sea is expected to strengthen into a hurricane and make landfall in Florida later this week, the National Hurricane Center said.
- A Colorado man was sentenced to life in prison after he was found guilty of murdering 10 people in a 2021 shooting at King Soopers supermarket in Boulder.
- A Gettysburg College student accused of carving a racial slur on his swim teammate’s chest is no longer enrolled there, the Pennsylvania school said.
Staff Pick: Coming soon to Earth’s orbit: a mini-moon
This weekend, Earth will get a temporary companion in the form of a “mini-moon,” a cute label for a 33-foot asteroid that is more practically named 2024 PT5. The asteroid will enter Earth’s orbit on Sunday, get caught by its gravity, orbit the planet for about two months and then keep heading on its path toward the sun, according to two astronomers in Spain who reported the discovery. While this celestial event is noteworthy, I was surprised to learn that mini-moons actually aren’t that uncommon. — Elizabeth Robinson, newsletter editor
NBC Select: Online Shopping, Simplified
Walmart has officially announced the dates for its Walmart Holiday Deals event. And guess what: Walmart+ members get early access. Or if you’re too impatient to wait a few more weeks and are itching to shop some good deals now, NBC Select’s shopping editors rounded up all the best sales on the internet this week.
Sign up to The Selection newsletter for hands-on product reviews, expert shopping tips and a look at the best deals and sales each week.
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