Israeli attacks on Hezbollah and Helene devastation in Southeast: Morning Rundown

Israel’s recent attacks on Hezbollah expose weaknesses in Iran’s proxy strategy. Communities from Florida to North Carolina are grappling with Helene’s devastation. And Derrick Henry of the Baltimore Ravens is putting on a standout performance in Week 4 of the NFL season.

Here’s what you need to know today.

Israel’s attacks on Hezbollah expose weaknesses in Iran’s ‘axis of resistance’

Within weeks, Israel has dealt devastating blows to Iran’s main ally, Hezbollah. Air raids continued over the weekend, destroying several weapons depots. And on Saturday, Israel announced that its forces had killed Hezbollah’s powerful and longtime leader, Hassan Nasrallah.

Earlier this month, Israel also sabotaged the group’s communications and took out several senior figures.

For Iran, Hezbollah would be the cornerstone of its strategy to encircle superior opponents, such as Israel, with armed proxies. In addition to Hezbollah, Iran equipped groups in Gaza, Iraq, Syria and Yemen with an arsenal of missiles in the hope of steadily weakening Israel and the US

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But Iran’s strategy, sometimes called the “axis of resistance,” underestimated how Israel would respond to Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attack and Hezbollah’s subsequent cross-border rocket fire. Tehran also overestimated the strength of its proxy network, former intelligence officers and counterterrorism analysts said.

“In fact, their entire calculation is torn to shreds,” said terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman. “For Israel, this is a stunning turnaround from the events of almost a year ago.”

Not only have Israel’s recent attacks exposed weaknesses in Iran’s proxy strategy; it has also presented Tehran and Hezbollah with a difficult question. How – and when – should they take revenge, as they promised, without suffering more setbacks?

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More coverage of the conflict in the Middle East:

Helene leaves a trail of destruction in the southeast

Helene’s devastation became more visible this weekend, with residents in the southeast reeling from the storm’s effects. Flooding, road closures and power outages continue in hard-hit areas.

In North Carolina, minimum 30 people died in Buncombe County, Sheriff Quentin Miller said. Many Asheville residents were without water, power and gas and said they expect it to remain that way for weeks. Efforts are underway in Tennessee to find people who have remained missing due to cell phone and other communications disruptions. More than 150 people were missing, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Sunday. In Florida, minimum 190 people was rescued in the aftermath of the hurricane, according to a Sunday update from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office. Former President Donald Trump is expected to visit hard-hit Valdosta, Georgia, today, where at least 17 people were killed in the storm.

NBC News reporters are on the ground talking to officials and residents about what comes next. Follow our live blog for updates.

NFL Week 4 Highlights

Baltimore running back Derrick Henry set the tone for the Ravens’ Sunday Night Football game against the Buffalo Bills, capping off an exciting day of nail-biters and standout performances. The NBC News sports team reviews highlights from week 4 of the 2024 season.

The previously undefeated Buffalo Bills never led to a prime-time loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Now only the Kansas City Chiefs, Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks remain undefeated a month into the NFL season. Kansas City moved to 4-0 by rallying from a 10-point deficit to defeat Los Angeles. Minnesota (4-0) jumped out to a 28-0 lead and then narrowly outlasted Green Bay, 31-29. Seattle (3-0) will fight to remain undefeated in tonight’s game against the Detroit Lions.

🙌 Kansas City won its fourth straight game to start the season in a fourth consecutive nail-biter, beating the Charges 17-10 in Los Angeles. All four of the Chiefs’ wins came within seven points or less. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes completed 19 passes to seven different receivers for 345 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Tight end Travis Kelce caught seven passes for 89 meters. All this without wide receiver Rashee Rice, who left the match in the first half with a leg injury.

👑 The Washington Commanders are a surprising division leader in the NFC East at 3-1 after Sunday’s 42-14 win against the Arizona Cardinals. All credit goes to rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, who continued a record-breaking start to his pro career.

⚡ Derrick Henry ran 87 yards untouched on the first play for the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night. Henry set a new franchise record for longest run and set the tone for the entire game as the Ravens were in complete control against the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills.

Politics in short

On the campaign trail: After a slow start this summer, former President Donald Trump is “double timing” his campaign schedule. At a meeting yesterday in Pennsylvania, he said personal attacks lobbied at Vice President Kamala Harris, who called her “mentally retarded” and suggested she should be “prosecuted” for her actions regarding the southern border. Harris, speaking in Las Vegas hours after Trump falsely claimed she wanted to legalize fentanyl: said she would “double” the Justice Department’s resources. to tackle cartels and cut off the flow of drugs into the country.

Reparations: California Governor Gavin Newsom last week signed a handful of bills related to efforts to provide race-based reparations to the state’s Black residents and their descendants. Advocates hope for a more substantial investment were very disappointed.

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Personnel choice: At the age of eleven, she dreamed of a career in politics. Now she is ready to make history in Congress.

Senator Sarah McBride of Delaware is, in a word, a nerd. She spouts random trivia. Within the first 60 seconds of meeting her, she told me that the ballroom of the downtown Wilmington hotel where I was staying, Hotel Du Pont, was the site of Joe Biden’s election night celebration when he won his first Senate race in 1972. has a poster of Lizzie McGuire’s cartoon alter ego in her campaign headquarters because the film’s theme song, “What Dreams Are Made Of,” has been “persistently stuck in my head for 20 years.”

She is heavily favored to win Delaware’s lone House seat in November, and if she does, she will become the nation’s first openly transgender member of Congress. McBride, however, doesn’t talk much about her potential historic scoop. Instead, she wants to create real change in a “dysfunctional” Congress. Those closest to her think she can. — Jo YurcabaNBC OUT reporter

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Not all common household messes are easy to clean, but it’s certainly not impossible. Here it is how to remove pet stainsaccording to cleaning company owners. And this is it the best way to clean (and season) a cast iron skillet.according to culinary professionals.

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This article was originally published on NBCNews.com