Important Takeaways:
- China insisted on Monday it would never renounce the “use of force” to take control of Taiwan, after ending a day of military drills around the self-ruled island that Beijing said was a “stern warning” to “separatist” forces.
- Beijing, which claims Taiwan as part of its own territory, deployed fighter jets, drones, warships and coast guard vessels to encircle the island in its fourth round of large-scale war games in just over two years.
- The United States said China’s actions were “unwarranted” and risked “escalation” as it called on Beijing to act with restraint.
- China declared the drills over at around 6:00 pm (1000 GMT), about 13 hours after they had begun.
- “We sincerely strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification, but we will never promise to renounce the use of force and will not leave any space for ‘Taiwan independence'” Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Wu Qian said soon after.
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Important Takeaways:
- Netanyahu says IDF will attack Hezbollah everywhere, including Beirut
- His words followed two briefings from a senior Israeli diplomatic source that dismissed multiple media reports about a US request that Israel stop attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.
- Two Israeli tanks crossed into Syria on Monday, according to Israeli media, citing Syrian reports.
- According to the reports, the tanks positioned themselves near the border town of Kwdana/Kodna, south of Quneitra, which has been the site of several tank battles, most famously in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
- Hezbollah drone explodes near Binyamina, killing four soldiers and injuring dozens.
- According to the IDF’s tally, the death of Sgt. Bitan raises the total of soldiers killed on or since October 7 of last year to 740.
- Some 353 of this number were killed since the start of the military’s ground operations in the Strip on October 27.
- 101 hostages remain in Gaza
- 48 hostages in total have been killed in captivity, IDF says
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Important Takeaways:
- Nine total earthquakes — eight of which hit Sunday — were mainly near Coronaca with the largest being 2.5 magnitude on Sunday morning.
- Dozens of people felt the quakes and many took to social media to say they felt the rumbling Sunday in Greenwood County. But no damage was reported.
- After the group of six quakes Sunday morning, a 2.1 magnitude quake rattled 2.8 miles from Coronaca around 2:40 p.m. Sunday — making it the seventh quake on Sunday.
- Then, the eighth Sunday incident happened at 3:15 p.m. when a 1.5 magnitude quake struck 2.5 miles south-southeast of Coronaca.
- In Greenwood County, about 315 homes were damaged by Helene and about 12,000 residents have already applied for assistance from FEMA
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Important Takeaways:
- Authorities in North Carolina on Monday confirmed at least 94 storm-related fatalities from Hurricane Helene but still could not account for the number of those who remain missing or unaccounted for.
- Fatalities were reported across 20 counties, according to a morning update from the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).
- The vast majority of those fatalities were reported in Buncombe, with 42 deaths, followed by Yancey and Henderson, at 12 and 7, respectively.
- NCDHSS said there are no missing persons numbers at this time because there are different sources of where missing persons and welfare check requests were reported during the storm.
- Justin J. Graney, Chief of External Affairs and Communications for North Carolina Emergency Management, told Fox News Digital there are “wide area searches taking place since [Hurricane Helen] took place.”
- “This includes grid searches, vehicle searches, damaged structure searches, and searches around areas where debris have collected. Hundreds of responders have conducted said searches,” Graney said.
- On Thursday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper signed the state’s first relief package to address Helene’s devastation, allocating $273 million for immediate needs and giving flexibility to agencies and displaced residents.
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Important Takeaways:
- Top Pentagon officials have been baffled by a swarm of mystery drones that flew over Langley Air Force base for 17 nights in a row.
- According to the Wall Street Journal, the phalanx of drones flew in a precise pattern over more than two weeks in December 2023 over the base in east Virginia, an area with one of the largest concentrations of national security and defense facilities on American soil,
- One or two fixed-wing drones flew more than 100ft in the air as smaller quadcopters, the size of 20lb commercial drones, flew slower and below them and occasionally hovered over the 17-night period.
- They were preceded by a drone estimated to be 20-ft in length and flying at 100mph at an altitude of 3-4,000 ft. The drones were nearly impossible to catch, despite the Air Force’s vast resources, according to Gen. Mark Kelly, a decorated senior commander at the airbase.
- They flew across Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay towards the city of Norfolk, over an area that included the home of SEAL Team Six, Langley Air Force base, Fort Eustis and Naval Station Norfolk, but the Air Force could not shoot them down due to strict federal laws that prevent the military from shooting down drones in the US unless they pose an imminent threat.
- While officials at Langley, home to the Air Combat Command, called on the Navy and Coast Guard to watch out for drones, their size meant they avoided detection.
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Important Takeaways:
- Many Arab nations such as Jordan and the United Arab Emirates host U.S. bases and oil facilities vital to the world economy, and Iran’s warning about helping Israel is raising fears in the region that these sites could become targets.
- Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Tehran, and Pezeshkian has portrayed Iran as “exercising restraint” because it waited for two months after Haniyeh’s death before attacking Israel.
- In Gaza and Lebanon, people were counting the cost of Israeli strikes. At least 22 people were killed and 117 injured in overnight attacks on Beirut, the Lebanese capital, according to the country’s health ministry.
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Important Takeaways:
- The region has been tensely awaiting a promised Israeli reprisal for an October 1 massive ballistic missile attack by Iran, with Washington attempting to coordinate and temper Israel’s reaction.
- “There were no big decisions” made by ministers, an Israeli source told The Times of Israel, adding “There is a desire from the Israelis to coordinate with the Americans” over the response, and that strategic discussions continue between the sides.
- The Prime Minister’s Office also told The Times of Israel that Gallant’s trip to the US to discuss Israel’s response has yet to be approved
- Jerusalem has pledged a significant retaliation, but Biden — who directed US forces to help thwart the Iranian attack — has expressed opposition to targeting Iran’s nuclear or oil production sites.
- Tehran said to threaten West’s Arab allies if they assist Israeli strike
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Important Takeaways:
- Russian President Vladimir Putin met Iran’s president on Friday, at a time when Tehran is supplying weapons for Moscow’s war in Ukraine and concerns are growing over escalating attacks between Israel and Iran and its militant allies.
- “We have many opportunities now, and we must help each other in our relationships. Our principles, our positions in the international arena are similar to yours,” Pezeshkian said at the start of his meeting with Putin.
- Pezeshkian said that Israel’s “savage attacks,” on Lebanon are “beyond description.”
- Both countries were accused this week by Ken McCallum, the head of Britain’s domestic intelligence agency MI5, of carrying out a “staggering” rise in attempts at assassination, sabotage and other crimes on U.K. soil.
- McCallum said his agents and police have tackled 20 “potentially lethal” plots backed by Iran since 2022 and warned that it could expand its targets in the U.K. if conflicts in the Middle East deepen.
- Speaking Friday as the forum opened, Putin said he wants to create a “new world order” of Moscow’s allies to counter the West, according to video provided by the Kremlin`
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Important Takeaways:
- Hezbollah is preparing for a long war of attrition in south Lebanon, after Israel wiped out its top leadership, with a new military command directing rocket fire and the ground conflict, two sources familiar with its operations said.
- Hezbollah has been diminished by three weeks of devastating Israeli blows – most notably the killing of its leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah.
- Friends and foes alike are now watching how effectively it resists Israeli troops that have crossed into Lebanon with the stated aim of driving it away from the border.
- The Iran-backed group still has a considerable stockpile of weapons, including its most powerful precision missiles which it has yet to use, four sources familiar with its operations said, despite waves of airstrikes that Israel says has severely depleted its arsenal.
- “The fact that the chain of command has been damaged does not take away the ability to shoot Israeli communities or try to hit” Israeli forces, Levine told Reuters, describing Hezbollah as “the same powerful terror army we all know.”
- A statement this week signed by the “operations room of the Islamic Resistance” said fighters were resisting incursions and “watching and listening” to Israeli troops where they least expect it – an apparent reference to concealed Hezbollah positions.
- Israel says it aims to secure the return of tens of thousands of people who evacuated northern Israel after Hezbollah began firing rockets a year ago in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza.
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Important Takeaways:
- The rapid spending — which is likely to accelerate as aid flows to states pulverized by Hurricanes Helene and Milton — soon will force the Federal Emergency Management Agency to restrict spending unless Congress approves additional funding.
- Under the spending restrictions, FEMA would cut off funding for disaster-related rebuilding projects nationwide and reserve its money for life-saving operations during disasters.
- The cutoff often halts major repairs to roads, sewer plants and water-treatment facilities.
- FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell disclosed that as of Tuesday, FEMA had spent $9 billion of the $20 billion that Congress put in FEMA’s disaster fund Oct. 1 for the fiscal year that runs through Sept. 30, 2025.
- It was the first time FEMA has publicly stated how much money it has since Hurricane Helene hit the Southeast two weeks ago.
- Small Business Administration Administrator Isabel Casillas Guzman said that money to operate the program will run out “before the end of October.”
- If the agency’s funding lapses, it will continue accepting applications but will not process them until program funding is replenished.
- FEMA has frequently struggled to pay disaster costs and has imposed spending restrictions on 10 occasions since 2003, most recently in early August.
- Part of the reason FEMA has spent so much money this fiscal year is that it lifted the spending restriction on Oct. 1, when Congress replenished the disaster fund.
- Criswell stopped short of saying Wednesday that FEMA might have to stop performing life-saving operations such as search-and-rescue missions.
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