Hezbollah Pagers Explode Across Middle East After Israeli Secret Sabotage
Plus, Instagram beefs up privacy for minors; And Diddy faces sex trafficking charges that could put him in prison for life
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Good morning,
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You know, the baby hippo look! Have a good one!
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🇱🇧 ISRAEL’S LATEST ATTACK ON HEZBOLLAH: EXPLODING PAGERS
An attack on Monday targeting pagers used by Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon and Syria wounded 2,750 and killed at least nine people, including several members of the terror group.
Israel, while not openly accepting responsibility or commenting on the attack, is believed to have hacked the communication devices, and then remotely detonated them.
THE TARGETS
The attack came a day after Israeli leaders had warned that they were considering stepping up their military campaign against the Iran-backed terror group.
Why Pagers? Hezbollah was worried about Israel tracking their cell phones to target strikes, so members were recently told by their leader, Hassan Nasrallah, to use pagers to communicate instead. The pagers that exploded were part of a shipment of 3,000 new devices purchased from a Taiwanese company in the last few months.
Social media video and witness accounts show smoke coming from people’s pockets, followed by a small blast.
Beginning at 3:30 pm local time, the pagers received a message that appeared to come from Hezbollah leadership. The devices were programmed to beep for several seconds before exploding. Blasts lasted for about an hour across the region.
Injuries included burns to the face, hands and groin. Chaotic scenes unfolded at hospitals and hundreds sought treatment.
Iran’s ambassador in Lebanon, Mojtaba Amani, was one of the people reportedly injured. Iran helps fund and arm the Hezbollah terror group. State media said he had a superficial injury and is under observation at a hospital.
HOW ISRAEL APPARENTLY DID IT:
Israeli intelligence was somehow able to gain access to the pagers, and implant one to two ounces of explosive material next to the battery in each device, according to intelligence officials who spoke with the NY Times. A switch was embedded that could be triggered remotely to detonate the explosives.
WHAT’S NEXT
The massive security breach comes nearly a year into the wars Israel is fighting against Hezbollah to their north in southern Lebanon and Hamas to their southwest in Gaza. Israel has recently taken out top leaders of Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon, Syria and Iran, as it looks to reestablish deterrence following last fall’s terror attack.
Following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, Hezbollah started firing missiles into Israel in solidarity with their fellow terror group.
Tens of thousands of people on both sides of the border have had to evacuate their homes.
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the time for diplomacy is running short and military action is the only alternative.
The Israeli government is under pressure from residents to do something to end the low-grade war and allow citizens to return home. Ongoing ceasefire talks haven’t gone anywhere for months.
Israel’s security Cabinet voted Tuesday to add a new objective to its ongoing war: Halt Hezbollah’s attacks in the country’s north to allow Israeli residents to return to their homes.
📲 INSTAGRAM IS RESTRICTING TEEN ACCOUNTS AS IT TRIES TO BOLSTER SOCIAL MEDIA PRIVACY, SAFETY
Instagram on Tuesday unveiled a round of changes that will make more than 100 million accounts belonging to teens around the world private, enhance parental supervision and set messaging restrictions as the default. And, for teens trying to lie about their age, the social media giant is also blocking sneaky workarounds.
It is all part of the tech giant’s effort to shield kids from harm as it comes under fire from parents, mental health professionals and governments.
THE UPDATES
Beginning this week, all Instagram accounts of users 18 and under in the US, UK, Canada and Australia will be notified that Instagram plans to automatically place their accounts under new, protective settings. Teens 16 and under are required to get parental approval to move to less restrictive settings.
For teens, restrictions will impact who they can message—only people they follow— and when they can use the app. A prompt will encourage them to close the app after 60 minutes and it will be automatically placed in "sleep mode" between 10pm and 7am, and what content they see— reducing adult-oriented posts.
To prevent teens from lying about their age to circumvent the new settings, Instagram will now require users to verify their age in new ways, such as via a government-issued ID or facial scans.
Parents will be able to view who their child has been messaging, but not the messages themselves, and also the topics their teen has been exploring.
An adult will also need to mutually agree to supervisory relationships for a parent to access control over a teen's account for those under 16.
Going forward, teens who sign up for Instagram will automatically have the new settings and private accounts. For accounts already made, the changes will start in the coming 60 days.
LARGER IMPLICATIONS
A Pew survey last year found that Instagram is the fourth most used app by American teens (59%), behind YouTube (93%), TikTok (63%), and Snapchat (60%). And of the 42 million adolescents in the US, millions use Instagram alone “almost constantly.”
From the US Surgeon General to this summer’s bestselling author (and Mo News The Interview podcast guest) Jonathan Haidt of ‘The Anxious Generation,’ research bears out that prolonged exposure to social media negatively impacted teens’ mental health.
Meta, along with other social media giants, have faced growing regulatory pressure around privacy and safety for younger users as well as lawsuits from several states and parents. Instagram’s new tools were announced a day before a US House committee is scheduled to meet today to weigh amendments to the Kids Online Safety Act and other child privacy legislation, passed by the Senate in July.
📌 DIDDY ACCUSED OF USING BUSINESS TO FUEL SEX TRAFFICKING OPERATION
Music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was charged on Tuesday with three federal counts related to running a sex crimes ring. Due to the nature of the accusations, which “happens behind closed doors,” a judge on Tuesday denied his bail request and will keep him behind bars.
The unsealed indictment outlined nearly two decades of Combs coercing, abusing, and blackmailing his victims.
THE CASE
Federal prosecutors in New York charged Combs with racketeering, sex trafficking, and transportation to engage in prostitution. He is accused of engaging in everything from kidnapping to arson to bribery to obstruction of justice.
What they mean: He is alleged to have created and run a “criminal enterprise” that was made to appear legitimate through his business empire, which included record labels, alcohol brands and clothing lines.
Combs is estimated to be worth nearly a billion dollars.
That included abusing, threatening, and coercing women for years “to fulfill his sexual desires, protect his reputation, and conceal his conduct,” the indictment reads.
Horrific details: Dating back to 2008, the indictment accuses Combs of inducing female victims and male sex workers into drugged, sometimes days-long sexual performances dubbed “Freak Offs” that he would record.
These episodes could cost tens of thousands of dollars— one was $46,000 alone— and were orchestrated by his employees and his associates.
LONG TIME COMING
Back in November, the cascade of allegations against Combs began to appear following his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, filing a civil suit against him for alleged sexual and physical abuse. The parties settled the case the next day, but six months later a video from 2016 was leaked showing Combs physically abusing her in a hotel hallway.
In March, federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his homes in LA and Miami.
Tuesday’s indictment says they “seized various Freak Off supplies, including narcotics and more than 1,000 bottles of baby oil and lubricant.”
They also found three AR-15s in his home with defaced serial numbers— two were broken down into parts in his bedroom closet in Miami along with magazines with ammunition loaded in them.
Up next: He faces a mandatory minimum 15-year prison sentence and up to life behind bars if convicted of the three felony counts. He pleaded not guilty. His lawyer said Combs is “not a perfect person,” but maintains his innocence related to these crimes.
⏳ SPEED READ
🚨NATION
📌 House Republicans to vote on doomed bill as government shutdown nears (NBC NEWS)
📌Trump says only “consequential” presidents get shot at (FOX NEWS)
📌 Florida will launch criminal probe into apparent assassination attempt of Trump, governor says (AP)
📌 Appeals court upholds sex crimes conviction of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell (ABC NEWS)
📌 Harris says Trump and abortion ban to blame for death of Georgia woman (REUTERS)
🌎 AROUND THE WORLD
📌 Trudeau under pressure to step aside after Liberals loses crucial Montreal election (POLITICO)
📌 Disaster averted in Red Sea as burning tanker saved (BBC)
📌 Entire city evacuated after floods, 7 die in wildfires as extreme weather sweeps Europe (CNN)
📌 Zimbabwe to cull 200 elephants to feed people left hungry by drought (NBC NEWS)
📱BUSINESS, SCIENCE & TECH
📌 Alaska-Hawaiian merger clears DOT review, but airlines must preserve miles, routes (CNBC)
📌 GLP-1 pills are coming, and they could revolutionize weight-loss treatment (CNN)
📌 Boeing strike emotions flare as security guard flashes gun in picket line altercation (CBS NEWS)
📌 Study shows how a woman's brain reorganizes during pregnancy (REUTERS)
🎬 SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT
📌 David Beckham says he “hated” every minute of making recent documentary (FOX NEWS)
📌 Miley Cyrus sued over allegedly copying Bruno Mars song on Flowers (GUARDIAN)
📌 Jordan Chiles takes bronze medal fight to Swiss federal court in search of 'justice' (FOX NEWS)
📌 Ina Garten gets candid on near-divorce from husband Jeffrey: He ‘expected a wife that would make dinner’ (NY POST)
📌 Wendy Williams' guardian slams A&E Networks in new complaint, claims TV star only received $82K from Lifetime Doc (PEOPLE)
🗓 ON THIS DAY: SEPTEMBER 18
1793: US President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the US Capitol. The building would take nearly a century to complete, as architects came and went, the British set fire to it and it was called into use during the Civil War.
1964: The Addams Family premiered, airing for two seasons on ABC.
1968: ‘Funny Girl’ the movie, starring Barbra Streisand, opens. It was Streisand's first premiere as a movie star.
2020: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the second woman to serve on the Court, died at age 87. She would be replaced on the bench by Amy Coney Barrett.