Israel Bombards Lebanon After Hezbollah Vowed Retaliation

Plus, a record day for stocks.

Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes across southern Lebanon today, one of the most intense bombardments in the country this year.

The strikes came hours after Hezbollah’s leader vowed that “retribution will come” to Israel for the explosions of Hezbollah members’ hand-held devices. At least 37 people were killed and more than 2,900 others injured in those explosions on Tuesday and yesterday. Here’s the latest.

In his televised speech, the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, said, “Indeed, we have endured a severe and cruel blow.” He also warned that Israel would “face just retribution and a bitter reckoning.”

Shortly after he spoke, the Israeli military carried out more than 70 airstrikes across southern Lebanon, according to three senior Lebanese security officials.

Israel has neither confirmed nor denied any role in the explosions, but a dozen current and former defense and intelligence officials who were briefed on the attack involving pagers on Tuesday said the Israelis were behind it.

An elaborate ruse: The operation was complex and long in the making, according to the officials. Israel established a shell company posing as an international pager producer which began shipping to Lebanon in the summer of 2022. These pagers contained batteries laced with an explosive. Read the full story behind the Israeli operation.

The stock market hit a record high

The S&P 500 rose 1.7 percent today after the Fed’s big cut to interest rates sparked a global market rally, crossing above its last closing record, reached in mid-July.

Stocks had been butting up against the high for the past two weeks, after recovering from a round of turmoil in late July and early August. But the Fed’s announcement yesterday that it would lower rates by half a percentage point erased uncertainty about a decision that had loomed over financial markets for months.

New polls show the race is still a tossup

Vice President Kamala Harris impressed voters in her debate with Donald Trump, but a new set of polls released today shows she has failed so far to gain a decisive advantage.

In a national poll conducted over the week after the debate, Harris and Trump were tied among likely voters at 47 percent. In a separate poll of Pennsylvania, Harris holds a four-point edge, 50 percent to 46 percent. My colleague Nate Cohn writes that the polls may also point to a declining Trump edge in the Electoral College.

On the campaign trail

The presidential election is 47 days away.

• Harris will appear with Oprah Winfrey at a campaign event in Michigan, leveraging one of her most influential supporters to reach out to voters.
• The “Uncommitted” group of Democrats that protested President Biden’s support of Israel announced that it would not endorse Harris.
• Tim Walz is preparing for a vice-presidential debate by having Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, play the role of JD Vance.
• Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson of North Carolina, the Republican nominee for governor, called himself a “black Nazi” on a porn site, CNN reported.

Do you have questions about the election?

Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

Inside Guantánamo’s secret facility for migrants

Migrants intercepted at sea as they try to reach the U.S. have for decades been sent to a facility at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and kept in a separate place from terror suspects. There has been little public information about what happens at the holding center.

Now, internal government reports obtained by The Times, along with interviews with migrants and advocacy groups, have shed light on the conditions there. Migrants said that they had been forced to wear blackout goggles during transport through the military base and denied confidential calls with attorneys. Some of the areas are unfit for habitation, with rats and overflowing toilets.

More top news

• New York: Emails suggest that Andrew Cuomo, the former governor, downplayed his role in altering a report on Covid deaths in nursing homes.
• Ukraine: A Russian-guided aerial bomb hit a nursing home in the northern city of Sumy, killing at least one person and injuring 12 others, officials said.
• Tech: The F.T.C. said it had found that several social media and streaming services had engaged in a “vast surveillance” of consumers, including of minors.
• Military: Kyiv wants long-range weapons. Here’s a look at what that actually means.
• Middle East: Saudi Arabia’s crown prince said that the kingdom would not establish diplomatic relations with Israel before the establishment of a Palestinian state.
• Britain: Multiple women have accused Mohamed al-Fayed, the former owner of Harrods, of rape and sexual assault, according to a BBC documentary.
• Venezuela: The opposition leader Edmundo González said he had been forced to sign a document recognizing Nicolás Maduro as the election winner before he could flee to Spain.
• Climate: Schools across the U.S. are adding trees, tent-like structures and water to their playgrounds as temperatures soar.
• Music: Sean Combs is being prosecuted under laws which were also used in successful cases against R. Kelly and Keith Raniere.

TIME TO UNWIND

‘The Substance’ turns the mirror back at us

“The Substance,” out today in theaters, stars Demi Moore in an absurdly gory tale of an aging actress who discovers a deadly cure for obscurity.

Her career is brought to a halt when an executive, played by Dennis Quaid, decides she’s too old to be worthy of being seen. The film touches on fame, self-hatred and the terror that accompanies an identity constructed on the backs of other people’s stares. But be warned, our critic writes: This is a very graphic and often bombastic movie.

This children’s novel is making a big splash

“Impossible Creatures,” by Katherine Rundell, tells the story of a boy who travels to an enchanted archipelago full of mythical beasts. It was an instant best seller in Britain, with reviewers comparing Rundell to J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Philip Pullman.

At 37, Rundell is a bit of an impossible creature herself. She has produced more than a dozen works — children’s books, a play, and several books for adults — picking up a dizzying constellation of awards along the way. Read more about her.

Dinner table topics

• A built-in scuba tank: A lizard is a popular snack for almost every predator in its rainforest home. Its unique diving ability helps it stay alive.
• A tangled history: In South Carolina’s Lowcountry, artists, farmers and designers are writing a new chapter for indigo, a textile crop that once relied on slavery.
• Ibrahim Mahama: The Ghanaian artist uses discarded material in installations that evoke a future possibility. African art leaders have noticed.
• A bold take on a classic: Hermès’s latest iteration of the Birkin bag is encrusted with almost 3,000 gems.

WHAT TO DO TONIGHT

Cook: A hot sauce-spiked tahini lends creaminess and heat to this cauliflower shawarma.

Watch: “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story,” out today on Netflix, chronicles the trials of two brothers who killed their parents in 1989.

Listen: The latest album by the 1980s dream-pop band Galaxie 500 features eight previously unreleased songs.

Travel: We have tips to help you enjoy 36 hours in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city.

Train: These six exercises will help you move easier.

Hunt: What apartment did a couple find in Upper Manhattan with a $700,000 budget?

Play: Today’s Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. For more, find all our games here.

ONE LAST THING

French drag is here to stay. And slay.

When drag queens performed at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, it was a sign of just how prominent the art form had become in France.

The moment turned sour, however, when some people saw the performance as a mockery of the Last Supper, or even as a satanic display. The drag queens were accused of insulting Christianity, and they suffered harassment and death threats.

But answering hatred with glitter is a time-honored drag tradition, one that “Drag Race France Live,” France’s answer to “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” is keeping alive in a new stage spectacle that premiered this week.

Have a fabulous evening, ladies.

Thanks for reading. — Justin

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