What happened
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said yesterday that Israel's detonation of thousands of sabotaged pagers and walkie-talkies this week "crossed all boundaries and red lines" and the country would "face a severe and fair punishment." As Nasrallah's speech was broadcast from an undisclosed location, Israeli fighter jets flew low over Beirut. Last night, Israeli jets carried out more than 70 airstrikes in Lebanon, purportedly targeting about 100 Hezbollah rocket launchers.

Who said what
The exploding handheld devices, which killed at least 37 people and wounded thousands, were a "huge and severe blow" to Hezbollah, Nasrallah said. But the attack, which could be considered "war crimes or a declaration of war," won't stop the militant group's rockets into northern Israel. He reiterated the attacks would stop when Israel ceased attacking Gaza.

The pager bombs "humiliated" Hezbollah, "piercing its reputation as one of Israel's most sophisticated foes," The New York Times said. But a forceful retaliation could "ignite a wider escalation" as many of the group's fighters lost hands and eyesight in the explosions. In this "new phase of the war," military action will ensure Israelis can return to their homes near the Lebanon border, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said. "As time goes by, Hezbollah will pay an increasing price."

What next?
The escalating attacks were a "blow to President Joe Biden's beleaguered efforts" to get a Gaza ceasefire, The Washington Post said. As the U.S. and its European allies urged Israel and Hezbollah to cool their fight, "Washington's grip on the crisis appears more tenuous than ever."

What happened
New York magazine said last night it has placed star political reporter Olivia Nuzzi on leave after she acknowledged engaging in a "personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign" while reporting on the campaign, a "violation of the magazine's standards." Media reporter Oliver Darcy said, and The New York Times and CNN confirmed, that the relationship was with Robert Kennedy Jr.

Who said what
The relationship started early this year, after Nuzzi's November 2023 profile of Kennedy, Darcy said. In the article, she said Kennedy's third-party bid could "turn the presidential race upside down." 

Nuzzi, 31, said in a statement that "some communication between myself and a former reporting subject turned personal" earlier this year, "the relationship was never physical" and she "did not directly report on the subject nor use them as a source" during that time. In March, Nuzzi told Frank Bruni at the Times that the 2024 election was a "three-man race" and RFK Jr. was "polling competitively" and "steadily gaining ballot access across the country," blaming the "establishment press" for declining to "cover Kennedy like a serious contender" because he's "'an anti-vaxxer.'"

A representative for Kennedy, 70, said RFJ Jr. "only met Olivia Nuzzi once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece." CNN's Brian Stelter, citing a person with direct knowledge, called the relationship "emotional and digital in nature."

What next?
New York said an "internal review of her published work" found "no inaccuracies nor evidence of bias," and it's "conducting a more thorough third-party review." Nuzzi's most recent feature was a September interview with Donald Trump, whom Kennedy endorsed after ending his presidential bid in August.