The Evening: Israel killed a senior Hezbollah leader

Plus, a baseball game for the ages

View in browser|nytimes.com September 20, 2024 By Justin Porter Good evening. Here's the latest at the end of Friday. A major escalation in Lebanon Hand-counting of ballots in Georgia Plus, Shohei Ohtani's greatness The Israeli strike flattened a residential building in suburban Beirut. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Israel killed a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon The Israeli military said today that it had bombed an apartment building in Beirut's southern suburbs and killed a major figure in Hezbollah's military command. The strike stoked fears that Israel is driving toward a full-blown war against Hezbollah. Lebanese officials said that two apartment buildings had collapsed, killing at least 14 people and injuring at least 66 others, including children. Here's the latest. A spokesman for the Israeli military said that Ibrahim Aqeel had been killed while meeting with other commanders, and that they were all underneath the building. Hezbollah confirmed Aqeel's death. Aqeel was wanted by the U.S. in connection with two bombing attacks in 1983 that killed more than 350 people at the U.S. Embassy in Beirut and the U.S. Marine Corps barracks. The strike on the Hezbollah commanders was the latest in a series of humiliating blows to the group, coming just days after coordinated attacks blew up its pagers and walkie-talkies. Related news: Videos have emerged of Israeli soldiers throwing three Palestinians off the roof of a building during a raid in the West Bank town of Qabatiya. Elijah Nouvelage/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images Georgia will count ballots by hand Georgia's election board today voted to force counties to hand-count all ballots cast on Election Day. Critics say this could significantly delay the reporting of results in the battleground state and inject chaos into the post-election period. The measure is the latest in a stream of right-wing election policies passed by the State Election Board, which critics believe has been rewriting the rules to favor Donald Trump. Last month, the board granted local officials new power over certifying the election, which opponents say could potentially disrupt the process if Trump loses in November. On the campaign trail The presidential election is 46 days away. CNN's bombshell report about Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson's comments on porn sites has scrambled the G.O.P.'s plan to win North Carolina. Trump is trying to ignore it and power through. Jewish leaders expressed outrage over Trump's assertions that "the Jewish people would have a lot to do with" his loss if Harris prevailed on Election Day. Harris has a polling edge in Wisconsin, but Democrats, Republicans and even the state's pollsters don't trust the numbers. About 18 percent of voters nationwide are undecided. This is who they are and why they're still weighing "the lesser of two evils." Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we'll find the answers. Lina Khan, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission. Tom Brenner for The New York Times Drug middlemen are being sued over high insulin prices The Federal Trade Commission said today that it had taken legal action against CVS Health's Caremark, Cigna's Express Scripts and UnitedHealth's Optum Rx and their subsidiaries. These pharmacy benefit managers have been accused of inflating insulin prices and steering patients toward higher-cost insulin products to increase their profits. P.B.M.s are responsible for negotiating prices with drug makers, paying pharmacies and helping decide which drugs are available and at what cost to patients. A Times investigation in June found that the benefit managers often act in their own interests, at the expense of patients, employers and taxpayers. The FluMist vaccine is administered through your nose. AstraZeneca A nasal flu vaccine was approved for at-home use The F.D.A. today authorized at-home use of FluMist, a first easy alternative to the annual flu shot for needle-shy people. AstraZeneca, which makes the treatment, said it would start a FluMist Home website, where people can fill out a questionnaire that will be reviewed by a pharmacist before the treatment is shipped to a person's home. More top news Kentucky: A judge and a sheriff were seen getting ready to go to lunch together, just hours before the sheriff shot and killed the judge in his chambers in Whitesburg. Ukraine: Ursula von der Leyen, the E.U.'s top official, said that Europe would offer Ukraine a loan of 35 billion euros, about $39 billion. Britain: Dozens of women plan to sue Harrods, the luxury department store, over the rape and sexual assault they say Mohamed al-Fayed, its former owner, committed. Education: The University of Maryland is conducting a review of claims that its president plagiarized significant portions of a 2002 scholarly paper. New York: The official in charge of the city's pandemic response was caught on hidden camera boasting about attending parties during Covid. Energy: Constellation Energy said that it plans to reopen the Three Mile Island nuclear plant, the site of the worst reactor accident in U.S. history. Trump: A review of the attempted assassination of Donald Trump in July found that Secret Service agents failed to adequately discuss how warehouses at the site should be protected. Art: The Getty museum apologized for the "explosion event" by the artist Cai Guo-Qiang in Los Angeles after it left several people injured. Canada: Three years after possible mass graves were found beneath former residential schools for Indigenous children, no remains have been exhumed. TIME TO UNWIND A scene from "His Three Daughters." Sam Levy/Netflix, via Associated Press Loss and life in "His Three Daughters" In Netflix's "His Three Daughters," Natasha Lyonne, Carrie Coon and Elizabeth Olsen play sisters who are caring for their dying father. It's a hard, painful setup but also absurdly funny, intimate and human, our chief film critic, Manohla Dargis, writes. Azazel Jacobs, the director, is sensitive to life's contradictions. He knows how abruptly love seems to boil over into hate. Lyonne's performance as Rachel, the youngest daughter, is earning her Oscar talk. Our culture reporter spoke with Lyonne as she rushed to capitalize on her moment. Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting his 50th home run of the season. Marta Lavandier/Associated Press A game for the ages Awe-struck baseball fans can hardly believe the latest demonstration of greatness by Shohei Ohtani. In yesterday's game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Miami Marlins, Ohtani went six for six, slugged three home runs, drove in 10 runs and swiped two bases. As if that weren't enough, he also became the first player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the same season. No player in baseball history had hit three homers and stolen multiple bases in a game, until Ohtani did it. No player had collected more total bases, 17, in a multi-steal game. No player since at least 1901 had collected at least five hits, hit multiple home runs and stolen multiple bases in the same game. "That has to be the greatest baseball game of all time," said Gavin Lux, Ohtani's teammate. "It has to be." Dinner table topics Nathan Patrick Media for Sotheby’s International Realty A livable art installation: The artist Apryl Miller is selling her colorful, full-floor New York apartment for $8.75 million. Psychedelic chairs are sold separately. Happy Birthday: The B-52's, BeBe Winans and Angélique Kidjo performed at an Atlanta concert intended as a gift for Jimmy Carter, who will turn 100 soon. Tinned tuna: When wildfires, hurricanes or disasters hit, how much emergency food should you have on hand? WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND Romulo Yanes for The New York Times Cook: This buttermilk-brined roast chicken is adapted from Samin Nosrat's book "Salt Fat Acid Heat." Watch: Here are 11 new movies our critics are talking about. Read: The coffee-table book "Life. Hollywood" revisits celebrity glamour as seen in Life magazine. Plan: We found new adults-only hotels and resorts if you want to get away from it all. Gaze: Take a long, uninterrupted look at "Canopy," a painting by Catherine Murphy. Shift: Cynicism is a trap. Expecting the worst from others is actually bad for our health. Drive: Is it better to buy or lease a car? Our columnist weighs in. Use: This $12 kitchen tool should never leave your side. Compete: Take our weekly news quiz. Play: Today's Spelling Bee, Wordle and Mini Crossword. For more, find all our games here. ONE LAST THING Kellogg's Diner in Brooklyn. Colin Clark for The New York Times Saving an endangered species: The New York diner For my fellow New Yorkers: Kellogg's is reopening today. It's one of a few decades-old diners across the city that were spared from closing by new owners. These ventures are hiring chefs who can bring modern sensibilities to the beloved restaurants, ideally without losing too much of what made them special. Reviving Kellogg's might be a tough balance. It was a neighborhood institution, but that neighborhood has changed. My dad and I were regulars at Imperial Coffee House in Lower Manhattan until it shut down, and I lived around Kellogg's for close to 20 years. Hopefully this restoration works as intended so that more New York memories can be made. Have a revitalizing weekend. Thanks for reading. Matthew Cullen will be back on Monday. — Justin Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at evening@nytimes.com. And follow The New York Times on Instagram, Threads, Facebook and TikTok at @nytimes. Writer: Matthew Cullen Editorial Director: Adam Pasick Editors: Carole Landry, Whet Moser, Justin Porter, Jonathan Wolfe Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for The Evening from The New York Times. To stop receiving The Evening, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018