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Israel launched dozens of new attacks in Lebanon on Sunday and vowed to continue its offensive against Hezbollah after the assassination of the militant group’s leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut.

The people of Lebanon were prepared for more attacks as the Israeli army issued new evacuation orders for civilians, including residents of southern Beirut, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed that despite the killing of the influential Hezbollah leader, Israel’s “work is still not done.” completed”.

Netanyahu said Israel would continue its fight against the Iran-backed militant group until it succeeded in “changing the balance of power” in the Middle East and until about 60,000 residents of northern Israel displaced by a year of cross-border fire disappeared were able to return to their homeland.

The Israeli military continued to target Hezbollah leaders after killing Nasrallah in a massive attack on Friday in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh Nasrallah, which the country’s defense minister called “one of the most significant assassinations in the history of the State of Israel.”

On Sunday, the Israel Defense Forces said it had killed Nabil Qaouk, a member of Hezbollah’s Central Council who was sanctioned by the United States in 2020 for his key role in the organization.

Qaouk was believed to be in the running to succeed Nasrallah following his death. The IDF said Qaouk was killed on Saturday but did not say where. It said Qaouk had “continued to be directly involved in terrorist attacks against the State of Israel and its citizens in recent days,” adding that Israel would continue to target Hezbollah’s top echelons.

According to the Lebanese Ministry of Health, Israel’s week-long intense bombardment has killed more than 1,000 people across Lebanon. They were some of the deadliest days for the country since Israel fought a 34-day war with Hezbollah in Lebanon in 2006.

At least four paramedics were killed on Sunday. The bombardment leveled more homes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley and southern provinces. Six bodies were pulled from under the rubble of a house in the village of al-Ain, according to Lebanese state news.

Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians have been displaced since large-scale Israeli airstrikes began on Monday. Many fled to the already densely populated capital and slept in schools, on beaches and on the streets.

On Saturday, the IDF claimed to have killed Hassan Khalil Yassin, describing him as a senior member of Hezbollah’s intelligence division responsible for selecting targets in Israel.

Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati declared three days of official mourning following Nasrallah’s death. He said all public and private institutions would stop working on the day of Nasrallah’s funeral.

After Nasrallah’s death, US President Joe Biden said: “The United States fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis and all other terrorist groups supported by Iran,” but added that Washington hope for a de-escalation of the conflict. through diplomatic means.”

Israel has vowed a ground offensive in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah has a network of weapons depots and bases.

Late Saturday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant issued a statement saying he was conducting “an assessment of the operational situation regarding the expansion of IDF activities in the northern area,” where Israel had previously mobilized at least two brigades. He did not say what this expansion might entail.

Hezbollah and other members of the Iran-led so-called Axis of Resistance continued firing into Israel overnight. Most of the missiles were intercepted or landed in open areas.

Sirens wailed in northern Israel as dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon and were also fired in central Israel. A rocket struck an open area near the Israeli settlement of Mitzpe Hagit in the occupied West Bank, sparking a fire.

The IDF said an Israeli warship intercepted a drone approaching Israel from the Red Sea on Saturday, triggering alarm in the southern resort and port city of Eilat. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed responsibility for the attempted attack.

Former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s Officer on Special Duty (OSD) Lokesh Sharma has blamed him for the phone tapping controversy that arose during the 2020 political crisis in the state. Sharma has demanded that Gehlot be questioned in connection with the case, which was initiated on a complaint by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat.

Sharma was questioned by Delhi Police at the Crime Branch office in Rohini on Wednesday about the phone tapping incident. Following the meeting, Sharma submitted a seven-page written statement detailing the events of July 16, 2020, when he allegedly received a USB drive containing call recordings from Gehlot with instructions to release the same to the media.

“I explained that the then prime minister had called me at the prime minister’s residence and given me a USB stick. He instructed me to leak the contents of the USB stick to newspapers. I went (to my) home and transferred the files from there. I transferred the USB stick to my laptop and from the laptop to my phone and then distributed them to media houses as instructed,” he told PTI.

He said the crime branch should now summon Gehlot for questioning to know the remaining details. “The next investigation should involve Ashok Gehlot,” he said, adding that he was not involved in the intercepted calls. “It happened on the instructions of the then Prime Minister. Now he can disclose more details, whether the wiretapping was carried out, whether it was legal or illegal,” he said.

Sharma claimed that Gehlot could share details of how the call tappings were carried out and whether they were legal. This represents a departure from Sharma’s previous position when he claimed to have obtained three audio clips from social media, which he then forwarded to media outlets.

According to Sharma, the phone tappings targeted several Congress legislators from both the Gehlot and Sachin Pilot camps during the political unrest. He claimed that senior state officials, including the then chief secretary, the director general of police, the home minister and the principal secretary to the prime minister, were all aware of the wiretapping activities.

After voting for the two-stage Lok Sabha elections in Rajasthan ended in April this year, Sharma had accused Gehlot of hatching a conspiracy to tarnish the image of Sachin Pilot and Shekhawat by hacking the phones of Pilot and others Congressional leaders monitored.

The phone-tapping controversy first erupted in July 2020 when audio clips of alleged conversations between Shekhawat and Congress leaders discussing efforts to topple the Gehlot government were leaked. At that time, Gehlot accused Shekhawat of orchestrating the conspiracy.

Sharma has now asked the crime branch to summon Gehlot for questioning, saying, “The next series of investigations should involve Ashok Gehlot.” He claimed that he was not involved in the actual phone tappings and claimed that it was done on Gehlot’s orders.

The political crisis in 2020 began when then deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot and 18 other Congress MLAs rebelled against Gehlot, leading to a period of instability for the Congress government in Rajasthan.

(With inputs from PTI)

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If recent history is anything to go by, Samsung will release its upcoming Galaxy S25 smartphones in the early months of next year, with the final four models launching in January or February.

There are already plenty of leaks and rumors about the Samsung Galaxy S25, but a new report sheds some interesting insight on the successor. Phone Arena cites a subscriber-only post from a leaker in China that claims the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset that’s set to power 2026 flagship smartphones compared to what’s on the table now a significant performance boost will be obtained.

Before we get into the details, a quick health warning about smartphone leaks on social media. Although they have often been proven correct in the past, the accuracy of individual leaks cannot be relied upon – even more so if the author in question does not have a convincing track record. The leaker in question here – The Undead on Weibo – has an “unknown” track record, admits Phone Arena, so take the following with a grain of salt.

Aside from that, the post explains that the efficiency cores of the 3nm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 will reach 4GHz, while the performance cores will reach up to 5GHz.

While we have yet to see what speeds Qualcomm will reveal in this year’s chip (we’re reportedly expecting around 4GHz), we do know that the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy, which powers the Samsung Galaxy S24, will have core speeds between 2.2 and 2.2 GHz has GHz and 3.39 GHz, so that would be a huge jump in just two years.

Again, it’s probably best to view this with some skepticism for now. Even if the (still theoretical) chipset is capable of these speeds, it may not be practical when built into smartphones. Despite the efficiency improvements that the 3nm manufacturing process should bring, space for cooling is limited.

The elephant in the room is that smartphones are already more than fast enough for many people, and a speed increase of almost 50% might seem like extreme overkill. However, there are two areas where more speed is always welcome: high-end mobile gaming and on-device AI. With all smartphone manufacturers betting heavily on the latter, more speed will certainly be welcome for those driving innovative generative AI capabilities in the next few years.

Before the Samsung Galaxy S26, we can of course look forward to the Galaxy S25. Leaked benchmarks suggest a speed improvement of around 25-30%, with more RAM and big improvements to the camera on the S25 Ultra model.

Six wickets from Nishan Peiris led Sri Lanka to a 154-run innings victory in the second Test in Galle.

Sri Lanka beat New Zealand by an innings and 154 runs in the second Test match and completed a 2-0 series win in Galle despite a late fightback from the tourists.

Debut off-spinner Nishan Peiris took six wickets to secure the home team’s first series win against New Zealand in 15 years.

New Zealand were all out for 360 in their second innings before tea on Sunday, the fourth day of the Test, after being asked to play on.

The 27-year-old Peiris and fellow spinner Prabath Jayasuriya shared 18 wickets in the match, with the latter taking 6-42 in the first innings and bowling out the tourists for just 88 after the hosts posted a mammoth score of 602-5 had.

New Zealand’s lower league struggled strongly after recovering to 199-5, with Tom Blundell, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner all hitting half-centuries.

Sri Lanka sealed victory when Santner’s stubborn resistance was finally broken and Kusal Mendis was bowled out for a 67 off Peiris.

Sri Lanka could have ended the game and the series in the morning session had it not been for a number of dropped catches.

The result leaves New Zealand winless in six Test appearances in Galle, with Sunday’s 360 representing their highest innings total at the venue.

Kamindu Mendis, whose unbeaten 182 helped Sri Lanka post a massive total of 602-5 in the first innings, was named player of the match.

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva said Mendis had significantly strengthened his team’s batting power in the middle range.

“I think Kamindu can play the long innings at five and I can finish the game at number six,” said de Silva.

Dinesh Chandimal, who was promoted to number three, also scored a century, confirming the team’s decision to change its batting order.

Kamindu, who scored a century in the opening Test, became the fastest Asian to reach 1,000 Test runs by reaching the milestone in his 13th innings.

“I enjoy scoring goals, especially since Galle is my hometown,” said Kamindu after receiving the player of the match award.

“It is a great pleasure to score 1,000 runs so quickly but we have to improve day by day.”

New Zealand captain Tim Southee said playing two Tests in Galle, known as a spinner’s paradise, was always going to be a challenge.

“It’s difficult for a foreign team and Sri Lanka played great cricket,” Southee said after New Zealand slipped to seventh in the World Test Championship (WTC) rankings. New Zealand travel to India for a three-match Test series starting October 16.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings let Danielle Hunter leave as a free agent this year, deciding not to pay market value for a player who had become the franchise’s youngest player in a long line of productive pass rushers.

Hunter instead joined the Houston Texans, seizing the opportunity to play for an up-and-coming team in his hometown. After two games, the undefeated Texans are the NFL leaders in sack rate per pass play (16.1%) while they have 10th-year veteran Hunter on one side and Will Anderson Jr. on the other, according to the Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year 2023, others can boast.

However, the Vikings are still going after those quarterbacks, which is the design and joy of defensive coordinator Brian Flores.

Hunter’s departure in March was stemmed by the acquisition of free agent edge rushers Andrew Van Ginkel (from Miami) and Jonathan Greenard (coincidentally from Houston). Then in April, the Vikings selected Alabama star Dallas Turner in the first round after making sure they got a quarterback, JJ McCarthy. The Vikings also added ninth-year veteran Jihad Ward in the second wave of free agency.

These four players combined have roughly the same salary cap hit as Hunter this season. The Vikings will once again put their roster-building strategy and pass-rushing skills to the test when they host Hunter and the Texans on Sunday, tasked with acquiring CJ Stroud, the 2023 Associated Press NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year. to defeat.

“We have a lot of guys that can all play and we really used those guys,” Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said.

The Vikings are undefeated themselves, which is due to the second-best sack rate in the league (14.1 percent). Their group of versatile edge rushers includes fourth-year backup Patrick Jones II, who has four of the team’s NFL-most 11 sacks.

“Flo has done a good job of recruiting smart, reliable, tough people who love football,” Van Ginkel said. If you have that, you have a recipe for success.

When Minnesota defeated defending NFC champion San Francisco last week, Minnesota forced the 49ers to a 2-for-10 performance on third-down conversions. On eight of those 10 plays, Flores called on his race car package, which gets the heaviest players off the field and puts four pass-rush specialists on the starting line.

“These five players play a big role in putting together the weekly schedule,” O’Connell said.

Not that the Vikings wouldn’t still like to have a player like Hunter, who landed in a formidable starting lineup with Anderson Jr. on the opposite side.

“It’s really special when you have two teams that play the way they know how to play,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said, adding: “They don’t talk a lot, don’t talk a lot outside, but they love football and that “That’s what connects them.” Two guys who care about playing the game the right way. They are intense, they are physical players and they love to test themselves.

The Collins connection

Texas wide receiver Nico Collins leads the NFL with 252 receiving yards, making him the only player in the league with two 100-yard games. Collins, who rushed for a career-high 1,297 yards last season, formed a unique bond with Stroud since the Texans drafted the quarterback second overall last year out of Ohio State.

“Reps after reps after reps, those are the things you accumulate over time and wait for moments like this,” said Collins, a 2021 third-round pick out of Michigan. So let’s make it look easy.

The trend is increasing

Vikings star wide receiver Justin Jefferson was forced to leave the game against San Francisco late in the third quarter because of a bruised quadriceps, but he has practiced limitedly this week and is leaning toward being suspended for Sunday. Jefferson said Thursday that he will definitely play.

Another tough test

Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold ranks fifth in the league in passer rating, marking a strong start to his reset season in a career that has taken him to four teams in seven years since he was the third overall pick in the 2018 draft .

“I definitely feel very comfortable with the offense and the system,” Darnold said. I feel like I can continue to grow.

Ka’imi’s big kicks

Houston’s Kaimi Fairbairn was the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after making all four of his field goal attempts against the Bears. He made three from more than 50 yards, including a 59-yarder that was the second-longest kick in franchise history behind his 61-yarder in 2021.

Fairbairn has a record of 7-for-7 on field goals and 3-for-3 on extra points this season, with six goals from more than 50 yards.

“He’s always cool right now,” Ryans said. It never gets too high or too low. He’s shooting 59-yard field goals and still standing on the sideline saying, ‘Hey, this is what I do.’ When you exhibit that behavior, I think it really helps you.

The eight-year-old player practiced meditation every morning.

Just try to find that inner peace every day, Fairbairn said.

——

AP NFL:

The Minecraft movie trailer did a good job setting up low expectations for the new film, and the latest clip didn’t manage to change that.

Minecraft is the latest in what could be a long line of game and toy adaptations (à la Barbie and The Super Mario Bros. Movie) and aims to bring the famous 3D world to life.

After the reaction to the first Minecraft trailer proved to be bumpy, a new clip has now been released that further increases the cynicism. The clip, released on September 28, shows the new film’s main group meeting Jack Black’s Steve, who shows them how to use the crafting table.

The clip is another look at the combination of live action and computer-generated elements that caused backlash when the trailer was released. Unfortunately, the new teaser couldn’t beat the wave of negative reactions.

The National Weather Service said Helene had cleared most of western North Carolina as of 11:21 a.m. Friday, but significant impacts, including severe flooding, were expected to continue into the weekend.

Many areas and towns along the French Broad River are experiencing flooding and the river continues to rise.

Landslides are still possible in the mountains, especially until the last rain subsides on Friday afternoon or evening.

Here is some of the damage in the area caused by local social media posts and our staff:

Asheville River Arts District:

The French Broad River reached over 16 feet at 11 a.m. on Sept. 27, flooding most of the River Arts District, seen here from the Haywood Road bridge.

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More:‘The worst storm damage I’ve ever seen’: Helene hits Fletcher and Henderson in historic flooding

Live updates:Rivers are still at flood level on Saturday

Starting Monday, American households can now request four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the U.S. government, although they may appear to have expired.

The U.S. government is once again rolling out free at-home COVID-19 testing for all Americans, offering four tests per household, delivered free by the United States Postal Service. However, consumers who receive the tests may find that they have an expired expiration date printed on them.

Government officials have noted that some of the tests introduced may appear to have expired but are still functional. Here’s what you need to know to ensure you get accurate results with your free at-home tests:

FLINT, Michigan — Larry Safford is well known in his central Michigan community.

He’s a veteran, a former crime-scene specialist and a John Wayne super-fan. The 85-year-old farmer is also nearing the end of sweet corn and raspberry season, and his 20 acres of land is full of new and old customers. He gives away pumpkins to kids in the fall and plows snow for his neighbors in the winter.

In many ways, Safford represents an American vision of the stereotypical Midwesterner: Honest, hardworking, kind. He told USA TODAY the region he calls home means bad weather and football — and no, not everyone is nice.