Monday’s Mini-Report, 9.23.24

Today's edition of quick hits.

* In the Middle East : "Israel dramatically expanded its aerial assaults on Lebanon with airstrikes Monday that killed at least 356 people, wounded almost 1,030 more, and appeared to signal the start of a broader military campaign. Israeli officials said their forces struck 1,300 'terrorist targets' inside Lebanon that were linked to Hezbollah, the militant group that has been trading rocket fire with Israel for nearly a year."

* In Germany : "The embattled center-left party of Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany scored a hard-fought and narrow victory over the far-right ethnonationalist party, Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, in an election in an eastern state of the country, potentially energizing Mr. Scholz's government in Berlin."

* A lawsuit worth watching : "The state of California sued ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the oil giant of misleading the public about the effectiveness of plastics recycling and contributing to the flood of bottles, bags and wrappers polluting waterways in the state and worldwide."

* Biden's final Quad summit : "President Joe Biden told Indo-Pacific allies on Saturday that he believes China's increasing military assertiveness is an effort to test the region at a turbulent moment for Beijing. Biden's comments were caught by a hot mic after he and fellow leaders of the so-called Quad delivered opening remarks before the press at a summit he's hosting near his hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. He said his administration sees Beijing's actions as a 'change in tactic, not a change in strategy.'"

* Alabama's latest mass shooting : "A manhunt is underway for 'multiple shooters' who killed four people and injured 17 when they 'fired upon a large group of people' in Birmingham, Alabama, police said Sunday."

* In Texas : "The number of women in Texas who died while pregnant, during labor or soon after childbirth skyrocketed following the state's 2021 ban on abortion care — far outpacing a slower rise in maternal mortality across the nation, a new investigation of federal public health data finds."

* Musk's team appears to have done the one thing Musk said he wouldn't do: "Elon Musk suddenly appears to be giving up. After defying court orders in Brazil for three weeks, Mr. Musk's social network, X, has capitulated. In a court filing on Friday night, the company's lawyers said that X had complied with orders from Brazil's Supreme Court in the hopes that the court would lift a block on its site."

See you tomorrow.