Flagship

Israel launches Lebanon invasion

Israel began what it described as a “limited” ground invasion of Lebanon aimed at defenestrating Hezbollah. The offensive follows weeks of attacks that have annihilated much of the group’s leadership, at huge cost to Lebanese civilians: More than 1,600 have been killed and many thousands displaced. The incursion comes with the anniversary looming of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that triggered Israel’s war in Gaza. But while Israel appeared bogged down in the Palestinian enclave, its Lebanese onslaught has buoyed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fortunes and upended regional dynamics: “We are witnessing a substantial shift in the balance of power in the Middle East,” the former head of the UK’s MI6 intelligence agency wrote in the Financial Times.

Sheinbaum to take office

Claudia Sheinbaum today succeeds Andrés Manuel López Obrador as Mexico’s president. The former mayor of Mexico City faces a full in-tray: Under AMLO, the country’s deficit tripled to almost 6%, while the number of people without health coverage more than doubled to over 50 million. Economic growth slowed to an average of just 1% during his term, significantly below its Latin American peers, while drug gangs expanded to control as much as a third of Mexico’s territory. Experts question whether Sheinbaum will have the independence required to stray from AMLO’s agenda in order to address the country’s shortcomings. As president, she will have to navigate these obstacles “under the shadow of her political mentor,” the Financial Times reported.

Helene’s wider impact

Hurricane Helene has killed more than 130 people, and could have long-term consequences for the US and world economy. Spruce Pine, a small North Carolina town in the path of the storm, is the country’s sole source of high-purity quartz, needed for semiconductor manufacturing. Suppliers told NPR their operations had been badly disrupted. Stockpiles can last for a few days, but if Spruce Pine remains cut off it could hit manufacturing: A 2008 fire at a refinery in the town significantly affected the global market. Extreme weather is already hitting Americans in their wallets, The Wall Street Journal reported, with storms causing billions of dollars in damage over recent years, leading some municipalities to default on debt.

Trump steps up attacks

Former US President Donald Trump is amping up his rhetoric against his opponents with a series of increasingly personal attacks. Trump said Joe Biden had been “sleeping” in his response to Hurricane Helene and claimed, falsely, that Georgia’s Governor Brian Kemp had been unable to contact the president — a claim denied by Kemp and angrily dismissed as “lying” by Biden. He also called Vice President Kamala Harris “mentally disabled” in a weekend speech accusing her of “erasing our border” with Mexico, and said the Federal Reserve cut interest rates because “our economy is doing really, really badly.” Trump and Harris are neck-and-neck ahead of November’s election and both hope that tonight’s debate between their running mates can change the landscape.

Differing rate paths in EU, US

Hawkish remarks by the chair of the US Federal Reserve pointed to a slowing in the central bank’s rate-cutting cycle. Traders reduced their bets on a 0.5-percentage-point reduction at the Fed’s November meeting while the European Central Bank’s chief made clear she was more dovish on the 20-nation eurozone’s economic prospects, cementing investors’ expectations that the euro area will see rate cuts at each of the ECB’s next six meetings. Though both central banks are easing monetary policy, their differing paces — driven by their economies’ differing prospects — could drive market volatility: “The balance of risks in the very near term is probably skewed to the upside for the dollar,” analysts at the Dutch bank ING said.

Chinese people’s economic worries

Ordinary Chinese people are concerned about the state of the country’s economy, new research suggested. Recently announced stimulus measures have boosted flagging markets, but little was known about popular opinions. Two new surveys change that: One found that people were less likely to say they were better off than five years ago and less confident in the future. The other found an increase in protests, a worry for Beijing: “Stable prosperity was the carrot offered by a repressive regime that would never loosen its grip on the stick,” the BBC reported. Signs of China’s slowdown are visible in tropical Hainan, the Financial Times noted: An estimated 20 million pre-sold homes lie unfinished, as do many grander resort projects.

US nuclear plants set to reopen

A nuclear plant in Michigan will become the first reactor in US history to restart operations after being mothballed. Washington will loan $1.5 billion to help get the plant online at the end of 2025. Demand for nuclear power is growing as the US looks to boost zero-carbon energy, particularly as artificial intelligence and data centers drive electricity demand. It will likely not be the last recommissioned nuclear plant: Microsoft announced last month that it had struck a deal to reopen Three Mile Island, the site of the US’ worst nuclear accident. There aren’t many other plants that can be reopened, Nature reported, but new reactors may be built on the site of old ones.

Is alcohol really good for your health? Are smartphones destroying our brains? If you’ve ever questioned the truth behind scientific headlines, The Studies Show podcast is for you. Join Semafor’s Tom Chivers and author Stuart Ritchie as they dig into the research to reveal what the studies actually show. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Sexual violence widespread in Africa

The charity Doctors Without Borders said it treated more than 25,000 victims of sexual violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo last year, by far the highest such figure the aid group has recorded there. UN experts have also warned of the widespread use of rape in the ongoing civil war in Sudan. Sexual violence is exceedingly prevalent in Africa, where nearly one in three women has been a victim at least once in their life, according to a recent report. Most never receive any medical or psychological support. “It is time the world speaks up for African women,” a victim of sexual assault in Ethiopia wrote in The New York Times.

Happy birthday, Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter turns 100 today. He is the first former US president to reach his centenary: His one presidential term was marked by oil shocks and the Iran hostage crisis, and he lost reelection in a landslide, but his greatest impact came after his presidency, when he set up The Carter Center to combat the developing world’s greatest problems. Its most notable success has been the near-eradication of Guinea worm disease: There were 3.5 million cases in 1986 when the Center began its program. So far in 2024, there have been four, and Carter may yet achieve his stated aim of outliving the last Guinea worm. Carter was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002.

Dikembe Mutombo dies

Dikembe Mutombo — one of the first African-born professional basketball stars, and later a noted humanitarian — died, aged 58. Mutombo only took up the sport in his teenage years, but began playing intensively at Georgetown University in the US. He eventually reached the NBA, where he would have an 18-year career, retiring with the second-most blocks in league history and enshrinement in the Hall of Fame. Through his playing years, he raised money to build a 300-bed hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo, his homeland, and later developed a tuition-free school there, too. “Basketball was a vehicle,” he said in 2022. “My inspiration in life is to improve the living condition of my people.”

• Former Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte succeeds Jens Stoltenberg as NATO secretary-general.
• Hong Kong marks China’s National Day with a flag-raising ceremony.
• Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, delivers a speech at an AI event in Hanoi.

The number of hits Pete Rose recorded during his career, the most ever. Rose died yesterday, aged 83. Despite being one of the greatest players of all time, “Charlie Hustle” was never admitted into baseball’s Hall of Fame amid allegations that he bet on games, including ones he managed. In Cincinnati, where the 17-time All Star was a part of the Big Red Machine — widely regarded as one of the greatest teams in baseball history — his legacy is less complicated: “He is Cincinnati,” a fan told The Athletic. “Hard-working town. Hard-working player.”

The Substance. Coralie Fargeat’s second feature film follows a fading television celebrity who opts for an unlicensed drug to reverse aging, but at huge personal and physical cost. Fargeat won Best Screenplay at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for The Substance, which Eater said “revels in viscerally repulsive images through its two-hour-plus runtime,” while IndieWire described it as “an epic, audacious, and insanely gross body horror masterpiece.” Watch the trailer on YouTube.

• InfoWars’ victims and enemies consider buying it.
• Gulf watches Israel shape a new Middle East order.
• Harris stays quiet as California voters threaten to roll back sentencing reforms.