‘Limited’ Israel ground incursion in Lebanon is imminent, senior US official says
Israel will launch a “limited” ground invasion into southern Lebanon in the “imminent” future, a senior U.S. official told Fox News on Monday.
While set details on the invasion remain unclear, the official confirmed this campaign will be smaller in scale than the 2006 operation Israel conducted in its war with Hezbollah, and it is expected to last a shorter period of time.
The news comes as Israel’s top commander on Monday once again hinted that Jerusalem is readying its troops for such a campaign in southern Lebanon.
“In order to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities, we will employ all of our capabilities, and this includes you,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told soldiers in the Israel Defense Force positioned on the border with Lebanon.
Gallant told the troops that the Friday killing of Hezbollah’s top leader Hassan Nasrallah, who led the terrorist organization for more than 30 years, was “an important step, but it is not the final one.”
“We trust you to accomplish every mission at hand,” Gallant added.
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The world first braced for an Israeli invasion into Lebanon last week when Israeli security officials moved reservist forces to the north and advised troops there to be “prepared.”
Though no official order for a ground invasion has been given by Jerusalem, Israel has over the last week carried out a significant aerial campaign against Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon, as well as targeted strikes in Beirut.
Special forces have also allegedly been carrying out small raids in southern Lebanon over the “past months” using tunnels constructed by Hezbollah but seized by Israel during Operation Northern Shield, which began in 2018.
The tunnels, which were made with the backing of Iran and assistance from North Korea, connect southern Lebanon to northern Israel.
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According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Monday, unnamed sources said these “targeted” raids have been carried out in order to collect intelligence on Hezbollah as well as to damage the group’s ability to attack Israel.
Israeli officials have said the intended goal of these increased attacks against the terrorist group, is to ensure the safe return of some 60,000 residents who have fled the northern border out of concern that an Oct. 7-style attack could be repeated.
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As fighting in the area has increased and the ambiguity surrounding what Hezbollah and Iran’s response could be to the killing of Nasrallah, it remains unclear when Jerusalem believes these residents will be able to actually return to their homes.
“Our goal is to ensure the [safe] return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes,” Gallant told Israeli troops on Monday, according to a statement provided to Fox News Digital by the Israeli Ministry of Defense. “We are prepared to make every effort necessary to accomplish this mission.
“We will use all the means that may be required – your forces, other forces, from the air, from the sea, and on land,” he added. “Good luck.”
Vice President Kamala Harris is fond of saying that Donald Trump is only in it for himself, not the American people. Well, this weekend we saw, in a picture-perfect example of psychological projection, Harris throwing a small business under the bus for her own supposed political gain.
On Saturday, GOP vice presidential nominee JD Vance tried to drop in on Pittsburgh’s famed Primanti Bros. sandwich shop, only to be barred entry. This came much to the disappointment of waiting voters, some of whom angrily recorded the events on their phones.
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Ire was raised on the right, threats of boycotts abounded, and Vance had cause to be a little miffed.
But Trump’s running mate graciously forgave the snub, while greeting fans in the parking lot, paying for the crowd’s meals with a generous tip. The store released a statement saying he was welcome and that their employee had just been surprised by the cameras.
As the Bard once pointed out, all’s well that ends well, until Kamala Harris gets involved, and it’s very telling.
On Sunday, Harris’ campaign posted a video on X showing Harris being welcomed as a hero in Primanti Bros. back in August. The message was as clear as it was ugly – unlike Republicans, Democrats are welcome in polite society.
Let’s set to one side the fact that Harris’ appearance at the Steel City staple this summer was met by widespread mockery when it was discovered her campaign had kicked out actual diners and bused in supporters to set the fraudulent scene. That’s bad enough.
But what Harris has wrought here isn’t just the disingenuous papering of the house at a political event. She is doing real harm to Primanti Bros.’ effort to walk this situation back and make clear that everyone, of every political stripe, is welcome there.
That was the point Vance was trying to make when he spoke after being denied entry, saying of the manager, “Don’t hold it against her, she just got a little nervous, but it’s a great local business.”
That is the classy way to handle such a thing. It is what generations of Americans have expected from our leaders.
Primanti Bros. confirmed that was what happened and that really should have been the end of it. But no, not for Kamala Harris, the ‘me’ girl, around whom all things must revolve.
It didn’t matter to Harris that the matter had been settled, that calls to boycott the restaurant were dying down, or that people were ready to move on to more serious matters.
No, the vice president of the United States had to spike the football on X over her astroturf event at the greasy spoon, even if it meant hurting the business. You see, Harris winning is more important than any individual small business.
And it was done in such an obnoxious way. Does Harris really want all of our businesses segregated by the politics of the customers? How ghastly.
It brought me back to a conversation I had with a woman in San Francisco recently. She was a lifelong resident who had followed Harris’ rise.
“She doesn’t seem to believe in much, and the word is she isn’t very nice,” she told me.
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This echoes similar voices in Pennsylvania who told me they “just don’t know who she is,” or, commonly, “I think she’ll say anything to get elected.”
Harris keeps insisting that she is the candidate who is selflessly in the race for the sake of the American people, while Trump only cares about Trump, but when has Harris ever done anything selflessly, or not on the public dime?
When in her career has she taken a back seat for the good of the people?
She certainly isn’t doing so by extending the controversy and misery surrounding Primanti Bros., which wants nothing more than for this whole story to go away.
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The brutal fact is that the only moral compass Harris and her campaign have is set squarely on a north star of victory, not helping actual people, even if they think they might get around to that part eventually.
In the meantime, much like the bused-in participants at her event at Primanti Bros., we are all just extras in Kamala’s Excellent Adventure.
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Disgraced NBC News anchor negotiating first hosting gig in years
Former NBC News and MSNBC anchor Brian Williams, whose career was upended by an embarrassing reporting scandal in 2015, is negotiating his first hosting gig in years with a live Amazon Prime election night event.
Variety reported Saturday that five people “familiar with the matter” have said Williams and Amazon are in “late-stage discussions” for Williams to host the platform’s first live news-related program. The report claimed the aim of the event “is to have a non-partisan discussion of that evening’s events.”
“Amazon’s Election Night special would likely have Williams relying heavily on the Associated Press to determine how candidates were faring state by state. The show would stream from a studio in the Los Angeles area, one of the people said, and could start as early as 5 p.m. eastern,” Variety reported.
The report continued, “Williams would be prepared to stay at the desk for as many as seven to eight hours — and potentially more. In the case of a close election in which results are too close to call, this person says, Williams would broadcast for as long as it might be sustainable.”
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Variety added the deal does not necessarily mean the platform will produce more news programming events.
“The show is aimed more toward explaining the news, this person says, rather than breaking individual pieces of it. Producers have lined up well-known names, this person adds, and was aided by the fact that many traditional TV-news competitors have trimmed the ranks of their contributors as economic pressures have weighed on them. The show, this person says, would aim to be big and accessible and offer a lot of famous guests,” Variety reported.
Fox News Digital reached out to Amazon for comment.
In addition to its foray into politics, Amazon won exclusive rights last year to the NFL’s primetime Thursday Night Football broadcast.
Williams has not been on the air since formally leaving NBC in 2021, although he previously hinted at joining other networks.
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Williams anchored “NBC Nightly News” from 2004 until 2015, when his career was upended after he was suspended for six months for misrepresenting events he claimed occurred while covering the Iraq War.
Williams falsely claimed he was aboard a helicopter that was hit with a rocket-propelled grenade while in Iraq, but it turned out his aircraft was following the one that came under fire. Reports emerged in 2015 that an NBC News internal investigation had turned up several other instances where he fabricated or embellished his accounts.
The scandal tarnished his credibility and was a deep embarrassment to NBC News, which demoted him from the prestigious network anchor job. Lester Holt has held the position ever since.
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Williams was reassigned to MSNBC, NBC’s liberal cable arm, as a breaking news anchor, and he began hosting the nightly program “The 11th Hour” in 2016 until his departure in 2021.
New poll shows Trump narrowing VP Harris’ lead in key battleground states
Former President Trump has narrowed Vice President Kamala Harris’ small lead in the battleground states of Michigan and Wisconsin, new polling by the New York Times/Siena College finds.
Among likely voters in Michigan, Harris received 48% support, while Trump garnered 47%, locking the Democratic and Republican presidential nominees in an essential tie well within the poll’s margin of error. Harris polled at 49% among likely voters in Wisconsin, while Trump received 47% support in the same state where polls usually overestimate backing for Democrats, according to the Times.
The Times pointed to the economy, which remains the most important issue for voters, as Trump’s strength on economic issues helps him edge away at Harris’ slim lead in the two northern battlegrounds.
The new poll contrasts with August’s New York Times/Siena College survey, which has Harris leading Trump by four percentage points, 50% to 46% among likely voters, in the battlegrounds of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania as well. That poll was the first conducted as the race reshaped with Harris becoming the presidential nominee following President Biden’s July departure from the contest.
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Now with less than 40 days until the Nov. 5 election, New York Times/Siena College polling places Harris ahead of Trump by nine percentage points in Nebraska’s Second Congressional District, whose sole electoral vote could be critical in the Electoral College. The Times says Harris could receive exactly 270 electoral votes needed to win the White House if she picks up that district – given the vice president also wins Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Trump is victorious in the Sun Belt battleground states.
Though Ohio does not fall into the battleground state category for the presidential race, it’s home to one of the nation’s most competitive Senate contests between Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown and GOP challenger Bernie Moreno. New York Times/Siena College polling has Trump six points ahead of Harris in Ohio, whereas Brown leads Moreno by four points.
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Democrats have enjoyed an advantage for months in presidential contest polling in Wisconsin, which has been determined by less than a percentage point in four of the last six elections, including the 2020 race, the Times notes. Meanwhile, Biden carried Michigan by three points in 2020, while Trump won that Wolverine State in 2016 by three-tenths of a point.
Abortion was placed as the second most important issue among Michigan and Wisconsin voters.
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The new poll found 18% of voters in the two states listed abortion as their top issue, noting an uptick since May when 13% of voters in Michigan and Wisconsin marked it as their determining cause. On abortion, Harris leads Trump by 20 points in Michigan, but now only by 13 points in Wisconsin. Harris had a 22-point lead over Trump in August on the abortion issue in the Badger State.
NBA legend and Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo dead at 58 after health battle
Dikembe Mutombo, a Basketball Hall of Famer known for his finger wag after blocking a shot during his career, has died, the NBA announced Monday. He was 58.
The league said Mutombo died after a battle with brain cancer.
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“Dikembe Mutombo was simply larger than life,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA. Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”
Silver remembered Mutombo for his charitable acts in his native Democratic Republic of Congo and across all of Africa. He was the first global ambassador for the league.
“Dikembe’s indomitable spirit continues on in those who he helped and inspired thoughout his extraordinary life,” Silver added. “I am one of the many people whose lives were touched by Dikembe’s big heart and I will miss him dearly. On behalf of the entire NBA family, I send my deepest condolences to Dikembe’s wife, Rose, and their children; his many friends; and the global basketball community which he truly love and which loved him back.”
Mutombo was a premier defensive player at Georgetown and took over the center role when Patrick Ewing left for the NBA. He once blocked 12 shots in a single game. He was a two-time Big East Defensive Player of the Year winner and shared it with teammate Alonzo Mourning in 1991.
The Denver Nuggets selected the 7-foot-2 Mutombo with the No. 4 overall pick, and he would only get better as a defender. He would mock his opponent after blocking their shot with a finger wag. It became his signature move during his entire career.
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“In the beginning, I would shake my head and tell the people, ‘Man cannot fly in the house of Mutombo.’ I felt I was a chief, I was the boss, and nobody could come into the paint unless they knocked on the door and asked permission to come in,” he told GQ in 2009.
“I felt that way for so long, and it was not so many people who dunked on Dikembe Mutombo. I don’t remember which year, but soon I felt the finger waving would be a great signature.”
Mutombo was on the Nuggets when they became the first No. 8 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the 1994 NBA playoffs against the Seattle SuperSonics. In another iconic moment, he hit the deck after Game 5 and held the ball over his head as he let out an incredible amount of emotion.
No matter where he was, his great defensive play continued.
He played for the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, New York Knicks and Houston Rockets after the Nuggets stint. He played in the NBA through the 2008-09 season.
Tributes poured in for Mutombo on social media.
He finished his career as an eight-time All-Star, four-time Defensive Player of the Year and a three-time blocks leader. He averaged 2.8 blocks during his career. He is second in most blocks all-time with 3,289.
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Mutombo was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2015.
Netflix saw highest day of cancellations this year after co-founder donates to VP Harris
Netflix saw a dramatic spike in cancelations after its co-founder Reed Hastings revealed he donated $7 million to Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign, according to a report.
Cancelations on the streaming platform almost tripled in the United States after Hastings made the massive donation to a super PAC supporting Harris’ presidential bid, Bloomberg reported, citing the researcher Antenna.
Supporters of former President Trump called on conservatives to cancel their subscriptions after Hastings endorsed Harris on X and revealed the large sum of his donation in July.
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That same month, Netflix customers reportedly canceled their subscriptions at a higher rate than any month since February 2024, Bloomberg reported.
The outlet attributed the increase in cancelations to the company’s latest announcement that it would phase out its lowest cost option.
“But the five-day period after Hastings’ endorsement was unusual, even for July,” the Bloomberg article states, noting that July 26 marked the single worst day for Netflix cancelations this year. News of Hastings’ hefty donation for Harris was revealed three days prior.
The longtime Democratic donor was among the notable figures to call on President Biden to step down this summer after his devastating debate performance.
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“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings wrote in an email obtained by the New York Times.
Hastings, along with his wife Patty Quillin, have been prominent donors to the Democratic Party, particularly in California. In 2021, Hastings donated approximately $3 million to a committee created to stop a recall effort against Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif.
In 2022, Quillin was one of many people who donated to a left-wing group hoping to stop liberal San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin from being recalled himself.
In 2018, Hastings reportedly donated $7 million to a charter school-related political action committee that backed Antonio Villaraigosa, one of Newsom’s primary opponents, before Newsom advanced to the general election, Deadline reported.
It is unclear if the Harris endorsement affected Netflix beyond the five-day spike in cancelations. Their next financial report will be released in October, according to Bloomberg.
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Neither Hastings nor Netflix responded to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
King Charles gets candid about why Queen Elizabeth chose to spend final days in Scotland
King Charles III is opening up about his late mother’s final days.
On Sunday, the British monarch gave a speech addressing the Scottish Parliament on its 25th anniversary when he reflected on the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
England’s longest-reigning monarch died on Sept. 8, 2022 at Scotland’s Balmoral Castle. She was 96.
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Charles shared that the queen “chose” Balmoral “to spend her final days” because of her love for the estate and the country, the BBC reported.
“My late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there, in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days,” said the 75-year-old, who was joined by his wife, Queen Camilla.
Charles noted that Scotland “always had a uniquely special place in the hearts of my family and myself.”
“My late mother especially treasured the time spent at Balmoral, and it was there, in the most beloved of places, where she chose to spend her final days.”
The queen spent much of her childhood at Balmoral. It remained a beloved retreat for the rest of her life. She traveled there at least once a year, usually at the end of the summer.
According to the outlet, she spent much of her husband Prince Philip’s last years with him at the estate during the COVID-19 lockdown. In Nov. 2020, the couple celebrated their 73rd anniversary there.
Philip died in April 2021 at age 99 in Windsor Castle.
In a BBC documentary that aired last year, Princess Anne, the couple’s only daughter, said her mother was concerned about dying in Balmoral and the issues it could have created.
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“We did try and persuade her that that shouldn’t be part of the decision-making process,” said the Princess Royal. “I hope she felt that that was right in the end, because I think we did.”
According to the outlet, Balmoral has been one of the royal family’s residences since 1852. The estate and the original castle were purchased by Prince Albert, Queen Victoria’s husband. The outlet revealed that the current Balmoral Castle was commissioned after the house at the time was considered too small.
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Last summer, the king followed his mother’s tradition of heading to Scotland during the late summer.
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On Sept. 8 – the second anniversary of the queen’s passing – Charles and Camilla, 77, were spotted heading to a church service in the village of Crathie. His eldest son, Prince William, and his wife, Kate Middleton, were also present. It marked the Princess of Wales’ first appearance since announcing she had completed chemotherapy.
Previously, the king’s younger son Prince Harry wrote about visiting Balmoral in his 2023 memoir “Spare.”
“To me, Balmoral was always simply paradise,” he wrote. “My family lived to be outdoors, especially Granny, who got cross if she didn’t breathe at least an hour of fresh air each day.”