Photo: Science Photo Library RF
1 Israel And Hezbollah Exchange Military Strikes
Israel launched strikes against southern Lebanon yesterday. The Israeli government said the strikes were pre-emptive after what it said were plans by Hezbollah to launch a “large-scale” attack. After the Israeli attacks, the Iran-backed militia launched its own drone attack on Israel, targeting the Glilot base near Tel Aviv. United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 calls for an end to hostilities at the Israeli-Lebanon border, and the exchange of attacks over the weekend led some world leaders to call for the two countries to abide by the resolution. Sen. Elizabeth Warren appeared on “Meet the Press” yesterday and said she was “deeply concerned about the violence and chaos spreading throughout the region.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talked about the strike at the start of a cabinet meeting, saying that “The IDF destroyed thousands of short-range rockets, and they were all intended to harm our citizens and our forces in the Galilee,” then said that the IDF intercepted “all the drones that Hezbollah launched.”
2 RFK Jr. Endorses Trump, Has Secret Service Protection Ended
On Friday, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. suspended his independent bid for president in 10 states and endorsed former President Donald Trump. Just a few hours later, he appeared with Trump at a rally in Glendale, Arizona, and was welcomed to the stage with thunderous applause. The fallout from the move continues, including Kennedy losing his Secret Service detail. Stefanie Spear, the press secretary for RFK Jr., told CBS News that “Mr. Kennedy no longer has USSS.” President Joe Biden directed the Secret Service to give protection to Kennedy after the assassination attempt on Trump in July, a meaningful move since Kennedy’s father and uncle were assassinated in the 1960s. On “Fox News Sunday,” RFK Jr. said that he made the decision to suspend his campaign and endorse Trump because he saw no clear path to victory; he also said the two men had agreed that they were still free to criticize each other.
3 Boeing's Starliner Astronauts Won't Return To Earth Until February
The length of the mission to the International Space Station has now gone from 10 to just under eight. Barry “Butch” Wilmore and Sunita “Suni” Williams were launched into space on Boeing’s Starliner capsule for a 10-day mission, but it was announced over the weekend that the pair will stay in space until February, over seven months after they launched. The plan is for the astronauts to return on a SpaceX Crew 9 capsule, and Elon Musk’s company will be providing them with special spacesuits that can interface with the SpaceX capsule. As for the Starliner, NASA says it will return to Earth without a crew once Boeing updates the capsule’s software to allow it to perform an uncrewed undocking from the space station.