Start your week smart: Israel and Hezbollah, campaign cash, Alabama shooting, soldier punished, Iran mine explosion

By CNN Newsource

Published September 22, 2024 7:03 AM

By Andrew Torgan and Daniel Wine, CNN

(CNN) — Welcome to the first official day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere, and a happy spring to readers residing below the equator. Today, everyone on Earth will enjoy 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night — although the equinox is not as equal as you might think. Here’s why.

And here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• Israel and Hezbollah continued trading their most intense fire since the October 7 attacks. The group fired scores of rockets and missiles overnight into Israel, striking deeper than they have in recent attacks. Most were intercepted, but some caused damage. Follow live updates.
• Kamala Harris entered September – and the closing weeks of the presidential campaign – with significantly more available campaign cash than Donald Trump, new federal filings show. Meanwhile, Harris accepted an invitation from CNN to debate Trump on October 23, but he argued it was “too late.” Follow live updates.
• At least four people were killed and multiple others injured in a mass shooting in one of the most popular entertainment areas in Birmingham, Alabama, authorities said. No suspects were in custody as of early this morning.
• Pvt. Travis King, the US soldier who ran across the border from South Korea to North Korea last year, was sentenced to one year in confinement and dishonorable discharge after pleading guilty to charges of desertion and assault.
• A methane gas explosion in a coal mine in Iran’s South Khorasan Province killed at least 51 people and injured 20, Iran’s state media said. Rescue efforts are continuing.

The week ahead

Monday
A Coast Guard hearing investigating the catastrophic implosion of the Titan submersible continues this week. All five people on board the vessel were killed in June 2023 during its final dive to the wreckage of the Titanic. Last week, the board heard testimony from several witnesses, including former employees of OceanGate, the firm that developed and operated the submersible. Among them was a former OceanGate scientific director who said the Titan suffered a malfunction just six days before its demise, as well as other concerning issues during previous dives.

Tuesday
World leaders will gather in New York City for the 79th United Nations General Assembly to discuss global issues and highlight their countries’ priorities. In the run-up to the annual gathering, UN members voted overwhelmingly last week to demand that Israel end its occupation of Palestinian territories within 12 months. The vote came after the UN’s top court, the International Court of Justice, said in July that Israel’s presence in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is illegal and called on Israel to end its decades-long occupation of territories claimed by Palestinians for a future state. President Joe Biden will be in attendance to meet with his fellow leaders and to deliver his final address as president to the General Assembly. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas also are expected to address the Assembly this week.

Also on Tuesday, a phased reopening of Apalachee High School, the scene of this year’s deadliest school shooting, is scheduled to begin. Resources including more counselors, therapy dogs and more law enforcement will be on campus – all options recommended by other principals who’ve overseen similar resumptions as school shootings have become a staple of American life. The area where the Apalachee High shooting unfolded, J Hall, will be closed for the rest of the school year after two students and two teachers were killed in the September 4 attack.

Thursday
NASA hopes to launch its SpaceX Crew-9 mission to the International Space Station. NASA astronaut Nick Hague and Roscosmos cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov are scheduled to launch no earlier than 2:05 p.m. EDT. The Crew-9 mission was originally set to carry four people to the ISS, but only two will be in the capsule — leaving two available seats for astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore to return to Earth early next year.

Friday
Tariff hikes on certain Chinese-made products that President Biden first announced in May are set to go into effect. The tariff rate will go up to 100% on electric vehicles, to 50% on solar cells and to 25% on electric vehicle batteries, critical minerals, steel, aluminum, face masks and ship-to-shore cranes beginning Friday, according to the US Trade Representative’s Office. Tariff hikes on other products, including semiconductor chips, are set to take effect over the next two years. Former President Donald Trump implemented sweeping tariffs on about $300 billion of Chinese-made products when he was in office — tariffs the Biden administration opted to keep in place and is now increasing.

Listen in

One Thing: 🎧 Migration transformation
In today’s “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s David Culver explains the controversial way El Salvador has cleaned up gang violence — and why some people who had fled the country are looking to return. Listen here.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
A reboot of the procedural drama “Matlock” starring Oscar-winning actress Kathy Bates premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and streaming on Paramount+. The original “Matlock,” which originally starred Andy Griffith as genial Atlanta attorney Ben Matlock, ran from 1986 to 1995.

And on Wednesday, “Inside Out 2” — the highest-grossing animated film of all time — will begin streaming on Disney+.

In theaters
The animated film “The Wild Robot” arrives Friday, featuring the voices of Lupita Nyong’o, Pedro Pascal, Bill Nighy and Mark Hamill, among more than a dozen other actors.

Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis,” which the director described as “a Roman epic set in modern America” in an interview with Vanity Fair, also opens Friday. The film has a large ensemble cast that includes Adam Driver, Giancarlo Esposito, Nathalie Emmanuel, Shia LaBeouf and Laurence Fishburne — just to name a few. Coppola said he financed the decades-old passion project to the tune of $120 million. Over the summer, the studio behind the film was forced to pull its trailer and issued an apology after claims that some quotes from movie critics included in the preview were fabricated.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
The WNBA Playoffs begin today with No. 8 seed Atlanta taking on No. 1 seed New York at home, followed by No. 6 Indiana at No. 3 Connecticut, No. 7 Phoenix at No. 2 Minnesota and No. 5 Seattle at No. 4 Las Vegas. Get the full playoff schedule here.

Major League Baseball’s postseason picture is coming into focus as well, with the Brewers, Dodgers, Phillies, Yankees and Guardians already securing their spots in the playoffs.

And the 2024 Presidents Cup, the biennial event that pits the US against an international team of golfers who do not qualify for the Ryder Cup, begins Thursday at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Île Bizard, Quebec, Canada.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to CNN Sports as well as Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 49% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘Sweater Weather’
The first official day of fall also makes today the official start of sweater weather. (Click here to view)

Article Topic Follows: CNN - National

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