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Hezbollah-Israel skirmish, Telegram CEO arrest and RFK's Trump alliance

 
Today's MIDEAST story

Israel, Hezbollah trade rocket fire, avert war

What happened
Israel and Hezbollah exchanged their heaviest fire in years early Sunday as Israeli fighter jets struck thousands of missile launchers in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah send hundreds of rockets and drones into Israel. The intense cross-border skirmish was a "dramatic but contained escalation that stopped short of all-out war," The Washington Post said.

Who said what
Hezbollah's attack was a "preliminary response" to Israel's July 30 assassination of top commander Fuad Shukr, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said Sunday in a televised address. The group could strike Israel again if it determines the damage "was not satisfactory," but "for now we consider the response over." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the preemptive airstrikes were "not the final word," though an Israeli military spokesperson said almost all Hezbollah rockets and drones were shot down and the attack did "very little damage."

Three Hezbollah-aligned fighters were killed in Lebanon during Israel's attack and one Israeli Navy officer died. But the "heavy firepower and lack of civilian casualties might allow both sides to claim a sort of victory and step back" from a "long-feared war," The Associated Press said. Hezbollah wants "to say that we've registered a response," Mohanad Hage Ali, a Beirut-based fellow at the Carnegie Middle East Center, told The New York Times, "and now move on from this phase of anticipation of a wider escalation."

What next?
Hezbollah "has said it will halt its attacks along the border if there is a cease-fire in Gaza," the AP said. But Israel and Hamas left another round of Gaza peace talks in Cairo on Sunday with no agreement.

 
 
Today's international story

France detains CEO of Telegram

What happened
French authorities confirmed Sunday that Pavel Durov, the billionaire founder and CEO of the messaging app Telegram, was in police custody after reportedly being detained Saturday when his private jet landed near Paris. Durov, a dual citizen of France and the United Arab Emirates, left his native Russia in 2014 amid a Kremlin crackdown on his previous company, the Facebook-like Vkontakte.

Who said what
Durov, 39, was detained as part of a preliminary investigation into criminal activity — from child pornography to cyberscams and organized crime — allegedly enabled by Telegram's minimal content moderation, Le Monde said. Telegram said in a statement that "Durov has nothing to hide," and it's "absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform."

Durov's detention also drew strong criticism from Russia, free-speech advocates and far-right figures. "Telegram's light oversight" of content has "helped people living under authoritarian governments communicate and organize," The New York Times said. "But it has also made the app a haven for disinformation, far-right extremism," drug trafficking, "terrorist propaganda" and other "harmful content."

What next?
Durov's detention has been extended to as long as 96 hours, French media said late Sunday.

 
 
Today's POLITICS Story

RFK Jr. says Trump alliance not about revenge

What happened
Robert Kennedy Jr., who suspended his presidential campaign on Friday and endorsed Donald Trump, said Sunday that Trump made "no commitment" to give him a position in a second Trump administration. Kennedy also told "Fox News Sunday" he did not throw his support to Trump out of revenge for what he calls his mistreatment by the Democratic Party or a reported snub by the Kamala Harris campaign.

Who said what
Kennedy told Fox News that Trump invited him to "form a unity government" and he will be "campaigning actively."

Kennedy's Trump endorsement drew sharp criticism from his siblings and his former environmental allies. It's probably "best understood as a double-edged political sword" for Trump, too, The Wall Street Journal said in an editorial. It may help Trump in "battleground states," but Kennedy "lives in the fever swamps with his anti-vaccination views, his support for an extreme climate agenda," and his blame of big business for "American health ills" — not to mention he "admitted recently to dumping a dead bear in New York's Central Park."

What next?
Kennedy's withdrawal should have a "minimal impact on the race," likely giving Trump a net 0.2 percentage point gain nationally, FiveThirtyEight said. Trump and Harris are traveling to swing states this week. Trump suggested Sunday he might pull out of his one scheduled debate with Harris on Sept. 10.

 
 

It's not all bad

During the Euro 2024 Championships this summer, 38,000 soccer fans from 24 countries received CPR certification through the "Get Trained, Save Lives" campaign, a partnership between the tournament and the European Resuscitation Council. Fans practiced on mannequins at CPR booths, with soccer legends like Clarence Seedorf and Ruud Gullit participating. The initiative, inspired by the cardiac arrest of Danish player Christian Erikson during Euro 2020, has extended life-saving training not just to fans but also players, staff and volunteers.

 
 
Under the radar

The Arctic is covered in permafrost, a large icy expanse that, as the name suggests, remains permanently frozen. At least that was the case until recently. Climate change has caused record-warm temperatures that are slowly thawing the permafrost. And within the icy reserves lies an abundance of mercury ready to be released. That release could have negative health and environmental effects, according to a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters. There could be a "giant mercury bomb in the Arctic waiting to explode," study co-author Josh Wes said in a statement.

Mercury has been trapped in the Arctic for thousands of years. Natural air currents pick up atmospheric mercury and push it toward the Arctic, where it's "absorbed by plants, which then deposit the toxin in the soil," said Yale Environment 360. The toxic metal poses a threat to both humans and other wildlife. "Mercury builds up in the food chain over time, and continued exposure, even at low levels, can have serious health consequences," said The Independent. 

The good news is that mercury poisoning is not necessarily an immediate threat. Mercury takes time to accumulate in the food chain, and the risk from drinking water is minimal. 

Still, "for millennia," the Arctic has been "locking away toxic metals and keeping the planet healthy and happy," said Popular Mechanics. "But after two centuries of an unyielding fossil fuel addiction, this particular environmental bill might soon be coming due."

 
 
On this day

August 26, 1920

The 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, giving women the right to vote. The amendment was passed on the shoulders of the women's suffrage movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Less than 100 years after ratification, Hillary Clinton became the first woman to be nominated for president by a major political party in 2016, followed by Kamala Harris last week.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

"Israel exchanges heavy airstrikes with Hezbollah," The New York Times says on Monday's front page. After the "barrage of missiles" came "an uneasy silence," The Boston Globe says. "The strikes increase Mideast tension," The Washington Post says. But both sides "claim victory in intense attack," the Los Angeles Times says. "Antitrust trial set to begin in grocery megadeal" between Kroger and Albertsons, The Wall Street Journal says. In politics, environmental crusader "RFK Jr. backs 'drill, baby, drill' ticket," The Minnesota Star Tribune notes. "Latino voter enthusiasm surges for Harris," USA Today says, "but gender gap remains."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Snail mail

A mailbox in North Northumberland, England, has been temporarily closed due to an infestation of snails. The Royal Mail sealed the box off in July after the interlopers kept eating the letters being dropped inside. Snails have a varied diet that includes paper, which "contains cellulose from the wood pulp" that the mollusks can "digest and use for energy," Duncan Hutt, of the Northumberland Wildlife Trust, said to the BBC. They also get calcium, which helps them build their shells.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Jalaa Marey / AFP via Getty Images; AOP.Press / Corbis via Getty Images; Rebecca Noble / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images