AP-Newswatch

Lebanon sees deadliest day of conflict since 2006 as Israeli strikes kill more than 270

MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (AP) — Israeli strikes killed more than 270 Lebanese in the deadliest barrage since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war as the Israeli military warned residents in southern and eastern Lebanon to evacuate ahead of a widening air campaign against Hezbollah. Thousands of Lebanese fled the south on Monday, and the main highway out of the southern port city of Sidon was jammed with cars heading toward Beirut. It was the biggest exodus since the 2006 fighting. More than 1,000 other people were wounded in the strikes — a staggering one-day toll for a country still reeling from a deadly attack on communication devices last week.

Is this war? The Israeli-Hezbollah conflict is hard to define — or predict

Israel is bombing targets across many parts of Lebanon, striking senior militants in Beirut and apparently hiding bombs in pagers and walkie-talkies. Hezbollah is firing rockets and drones deep into northern Israel, setting buildings and cars alight. But no one is calling it a war. Not yet. Israeli officials say they are not seeking war with Hezbollah and that it can be avoided if the militant group halts its attacks and backs away from the border. Hezbollah also says it doesn’t want a war but is prepared for one. It also says it will keep up the strikes on Israel that it began in the wake of ally Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack until there is a cease-fire in Gaza.

Iran’s President accuses Israel of seeking wider Mideast war and laying ‘traps’ to lead Iran into it

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Iran’s president accused Israel of seeking a wider war in the Middle East and laying “traps” to lead his country into a wider conflict. Masoud Pezeshkian told about two dozen media representatives Monday that Iran doesn’t want to see the current war in Gaza and airstrikes across the Israeli-Lebanon border expanded. He said while Israel insists it doesn’t want a wider war, it is taking actions that show otherwise. Pezeshkian pointed to the deadly explosions of pagers, walkie-talkies and other electronic devices in Lebanon last week, which he blamed on Israel, and the assassination of Hamas’ political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran on the eve of his inauguration.

Feds: Man accused in apparent assassination attempt left note indicating he intended to kill Trump

WASHINGTON (AP) — The man accused in the apparent assassination attempt of Donald Trump wrote a note, months earlier saying that he intended to kill the former president. That’s according to the Justice Department. The note, addressed “Dear World,” was dropped off at the home of an unidentified person who contacted federal authorities following the arrest last Sunday of Ryan Wesley Routh. The box, which also contained ammunition, a metal pipe and other items, was not opened by the person until after Routh was taken into custody. The person who received the box and contacted law enforcement was not identified in the Justice Department’s detention memo Monday.

OceanGate co-founder says he hopes submersible tragedy yields renewed interest in exploration

The co-founder of the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic said he hopes the legacy is a renewed interest in exploration. Businessman Guillermo Sohnlein, who helped found OceanGate with Stockton Rush, told a Coast Guard panel on Monday that “this can’t be the end of deep ocean exploration.” Sohnlein ultimately left the company before the Titan disaster in June 2023. Rush was among the five people who died when the submersible imploded.

FBI finds violent crime declined in 2023. Here’s what to know about the report

WASHINGTON (AP) — Violent crime in the US dropped again in 2023, according to FBI statistics that show a continued trend downward after a coronavirus pandemic-era crime spike. The report released Monday shows overall violent crime ticked down an estimated 3% in 2023 from the year before. Murders and non-negligent manslaughter dropped nearly 12%. Violent crime has become a talking point on the campaign trail, with former President Donald Trump falsely claiming during the recent presidential debate that crime is “through the roof” under President Joe Biden’s administration. Even amid the 2020 surge, violent crime is down dramatically from the 1990s.

At the UN, world leaders try to lay out a vision for the future — and actually make it happen

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a “Pact for the Future” to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Now comes the hard part — uniting the world’s divided nations to move quickly to implement its 56 actions. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres thanked the 193-member world body for approving the pact. He says it unlocks the door for nations to join forces to tackle challenges ranging from climate change and artificial intelligence to escalating conflicts and increasing inequality and poverty. The pact was adopted at Sunday’s opening of a two-day “Summit of the Future.” It’s continuing with speeches Monday by leaders of countries around the world.

Who is Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Sri Lanka’s new Marxist president?

COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (AP) — Marxist politician Anura Dissanayake won Sri Lanka’s presidential election over the weekend, dealing a blow to a political old guard that has been widely blamed for the unprecedented economic crisis that hit the South Asian island nation two years ago. Dissanayake, whose pro-working class populist campaign won him youth support, secured victory over opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, the runner up; and incumbent President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took over the country two years ago after its economy hit bottom. Dissanayake is the leader of coalition headed by a Marxist political party that waged two unsuccessful armed insurrections in 1970s and 1980s to capture power through socialist revolution.

‘Short corn’ could replace the towering cornfields steamrolled by a changing climate

WYOMING, Iowa (AP) — Taking a country drive in the Midwest means venturing into the corn zone. Snaking between 12-foot-tall green, leafy walls, the corn seems to block out nearly everything other than an occasional water tower. But soon, that towering corn might become a miniature of its former self, replaced by stalks only half as tall as the current green giants. The short corn offers farmers a variety that can withstand powerful windstorms that could become more frequent due to climate change. The smaller plants also let farmers plant at greater density, so they can grow more corn on the same amount of land and increase their profits. That is especially helpful as farmers endure low prices.