MIDDLE EAST - Nine people were killed, including a child, and 2,800 were wounded when pager devices belonging to Hezbollah members exploded across Lebanon and parts of Syria on Tuesday, Lebanon's minister of health said on Tuesday. No group has claimed responsibility for the explosions, but suspicion immediately fell on Israel's intelligence services. Hezbollah accused Israel of being responsible for the explosions and said in a statement that it was going to respond. The group said that after an investigation, it places full responsibility on Israel "for this criminal aggression that also harmed civilians and caused deaths and injuries." Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had previously urged members of the group to stop using cellphones for security reasons. On Monday, US envoy Amos Hochstein visited Israel and warned Netanyahu that initiating a war against Hezbollah in Lebanon could have disastrous consequences.

ISRAEL - Hamas’s 24 battalions have been almost completely “shattered,” and the terror organization has been reduced to a “guerrilla” force, according to Israeli government spokesman David Mencer in a media briefing on Thursday. Mencer was commenting on the report Wednesday by Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant that Israeli soldiers had recovered a memorandum from a dead senior Hamas commander to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar in which he said that the terrorist group had been reduced to 25% of its former capacity, that it was running out of rockets, and that it was losing support from the Palestinian civilian population, whose morale had been shattered by the war over time.

ISRAEL - More than 11 months into the war, Netanyahu chairs a discussion about the situation in the North and decides it can no longer continue; Israeli officials believe the American diplomatic effort is futile and war is a matter of time. "The situation in the north cannot continue. We need to change the balance and must return the residents home. This will not be done without changing the balance vis-à-vis Hezbollah. The IDF must prepare for a broad campaign in Lebanon," Netanyahu told his Security Cabinet. Netanyahu's words at the cabinet' meeting on Thursday night, more than 11 months after Hezbollah joined Hamas in attacking Israel, were said even before Hezbollah launched dozens of rockets into Israel over the weekend. On Saturday night, the IDF attacked Hezbollah's ammunition depots both in southern Lebanon and in the north, more than 150 kilometers from Israel's borders.

YEMEN - Yemeni terror organization takes responsibility for ballistic missile launch and threatens further retaliations as October 7 anniversary approaches; missile traveled 2,040 km (1,267 miles) in 11.5 minutes. The Houthis claimed responsibility on Sunday for launching a ballistic missile toward central Israel, asserting that it was a new hypersonic missile. "We carried out a high-quality military operation targeting a military target in the Tel Aviv area," Saree said. "The operation was carried out using a new hypersonic ballistic missile that successfully reached its target. The enemy’s defense systems failed to intercept it. The missile caused fear among the Zionists. More than two million Zionists fled to shelters for the first time in history. A hypersonic missile travels at speeds five times or more than the speed of sound," Saree added.

ISRAEL - Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Yemeni Houthi rebels will pay a "heavy price" after a ballistic missile struck central Israel for the first time on Sunday. A Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the "hypersonic ballistic missile" traveled 1,270 miles in just over 11 minutes. He said the rebel group was targeting a "military target" in the Tel Aviv area. The Houthi missile strikes come amid rising tensions between Israel and Iran, as Tehran continues to expand its influence through proxy forces across the region. The rebel group has long been involved in a protracted civil war, but has recently ramped up its rhetoric and actions against Israel, claiming solidarity with Palestinian factions.

ISRAEL - After months of waiting, it appears that an all-out war in the Middle East is now very close. It is being reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu believes that an “all-out confrontation with Hezbollah” has become inevitable, and he has instructed the IDF to prepare for a “broad campaign” in Lebanon. There are approximately 100,000 Israelis that have been unable to return to their homes in northern Israel for months, and Netanyahu has become convinced that the only way that they can be safely returned to their homes is to force Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon. But of course Hezbollah will not go willingly. In fact, Hezbollah has warned that there will be “all-out war” if IDF forces attempt to enter southern Lebanon. The truth is that Israel isn’t just going to be fighting Hezbollah. Israel will be fighting an alliance of Islamic nations and terror groups, and more fighters are pouring into the region with each passing day.

USA - Millions of residents in the Los Angeles area were rattled by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that hit early on Thursday morning and came as the region continues to battle multiple wildfires that have yet to be brought under control. The quake’s epicenter was 4 miles north of Malibu, according to the US Geological Survey. The tremor unleashed boulders onto a Malibu road, visibly shook Santa Monica’s historic 1909 wooden pier and jolted people from bed. No injuries or damages were immediately reported. The shaking was felt as far as 45 miles (72km) away in Orange county, where people reported items moving in their homes, and was followed by several smaller aftershocks. A live camera at the 115-year-old Santa Monica pier, about 10 miles away from Malibu, showed several seconds of intense shaking. Bruce Silverstein, a Malibu councilmember, said he had lived in the community for 13 years and this was the hardest quake he’d felt yet. There have now been 14 earthquakes with a magnitude of 4.0 or higher in southern California this year.

UK - The transgender population in Britain could be smaller than previously thought, a watchdog report has found. The Office for Statistical Regulation (OSR) said there was “sufficient evidence” that the gender identity question in the 2021 Census for England and Wales was “more likely than others” to be misunderstood by certain groups. The Census reported there were 262,000 trans people, equivalent to 0.5 per cent of the population, or one in 200 people. It was the first time the survey had asked whether people identified as a gender that was different from their registered birth sex. People whose first language was not English were four times more likely to say they were trans than those with English as their main language. Dr Michael Biggs, a sociologist at Oxford University and a trustee of Sex Matters, a campaign group, said: “It’s disgraceful that the Office for National Statistics took 18 months to admit that the Census question on gender identity was fundamentally flawed."

USA - A Washington pastor scored a major victory last week after being arrested at least twice for preaching the Gospel in public. Pastor Matthew Meinecke’s battle against officials in Seattle, Washington, recently came to a close, according to Nate Kellum, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute. The lawyer told CBN News how the situation began June 24, 2022, how it was resolved, and why it matters. Since these occurrences, Meinecke has been challenging what unfolded, and recently scored what First Liberty is calling a “complete victory for the pastor.” “Judge Barabara J Rothstein granted him permanent injunctive relief from the unconstitutional police policy, compensatory damages for the wrongful arrests, and nominal damages for the constitutional violations, along with reasonable attorney fees and expenses,” a press release reads. “SPD has enough resources to send 10 police officers to arrest a preacher reading his Bible in a public park,” Meinecke tweeted June 27. “Because it’s such a horrible crime now!”

AUSTRIA - A party with Nazi roots is expected to triumph in a general election in a major European nation later this month. Austrians will go to the polls on September 29 and the Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) appears set to win the vote, according to the latest data. As it stands, the FPÖ sits on 27 points, ahead of the centre-right Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) on 23 percent and the centre-left Social Democratic Party of Austria (SPÖ) on 21 points. Although it's leading, Herbert Kickl's party is highly unlikely to claim the overall majority it would need to form a government alone. As such, if it has designs on governing it will need to form a coalition. However, as Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) recently found out in Thuringia and Saxony, claiming victory at the ballot box is one thing, cajoling opposition parties into bed is a different task altogether.