Reuters World News - Israel bombs Beirut, Iran's Hezbollah infiltration warning, UN head barred and Helene water shortage

Starting point is 00:00:01 Today, Israel strikes the heart of Beirut, and our exclusive reporting shows how Iran warned Nasrallah before his death. The UN Secretary General is persona non grata in Israel. What does that mean for international efforts to de-escalate the region? And in North Carolina, residents may be without clean water for weeks in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. It's Thursday, October 3rd. This is Reuters World News.

Starting point is 00:00:34 bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Tara Oaksin, Liverpool. And I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. A massive blast as Israel strikes the heart of Beirut. Thick blooms of smoke hanging over the horizon after what Israel describes as a precise air strike on the Lebanese capital. And these six people were killed and seven wounded, Lebanese health officials have said. Israel says its escalated attacks to degrade Hezbollah's capabilities

Starting point is 00:01:18 and make it safe for tens of thousands of displaced Israelis to return to their homes near the Lebanon border, which they fled when Hezbollah began firing rockets on October 8th last year. The assassination of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah last month is a major blow to the movement and removes Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East. exclusive Reuters reporting shows that Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned Nasrallah to flee Lebanon days before he was killed. Khamenei sent a message with an envoy calling on the Hezbollah leader to leave for Iran.

Starting point is 00:01:58 The message cited intelligence reports suggesting Israel had operatives within Hezbollah and was planning to kill him. Iran's foreign ministry, Hezbollah's media office and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, which oversees the country's foreign intelligence agency, Mossad, did not reply to requests for comment. United Nations Secretary General Antonio Gutierrez has been declared persona non-grata in Israel and is barred from entering the country. In an announcement on X, Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz says it's because Gutierrez failed to unequivocally condemn Iran's missile attacks on Israel. Hours later, outside the UN Security Council meeting, Israel's ambassador, Danny Danone, speaks with reporters about the announcement. But to your question, we are very disappointed from the Secretary General's approach.

Starting point is 00:02:56 So where does Gutierrez stand? He says he already made it clear that he condemns the Iranian attack. I again strongly condemned yesterday's massive missile attacks by Iran on Israel. Michelle Nichols is following the situation at the UN. Michelle, has a Secretary General ever been made persona non grata before by a member state? The UN traditionally, they don't recognize the concept of persona non grata as applying to UN diplomats. But obviously, senior UN officials around the world have been PNGed. One that springs to mind is the Sudan envoy who was made PNG last year.

Starting point is 00:03:39 So the UN spokesperson made a point of all. also saying they viewed the statement by the Israeli foreign minister as a political statement. It wasn't a formal kind of legal statement. Could this spat actually impact the international community's ability to de-escalate the situation in the Middle East? So the UN deals more with sort of aid deliveries in Gaza and also now in Lebanon because Israel doesn't view the UN as a kind of credible player, so to speak. They see them as biased, so there's not a lot they can do when it comes to actually mediating between Israel and Hezbollah and Iran and Hamas.

Starting point is 00:04:22 You can read more on our exclusive reporting on Hezbollah's infiltration and follow live updates from the Middle East on Reuters.com and the Reuters app. In the U.S., dockworkers continues striking at East Coast and Gulf ports, with no negotiations currently scheduled. The lack of progress is raising concerns that the disruption could be prolonged. Shipments of automobiles, Guatemalan bananas, and Italian wine are just a few of the goods stuck in containers. A Russian-guided bomb struck an apartment block in Ukraine's Kharkiv, injuring at least 10.

Starting point is 00:05:05 Ukrainian President Volodymy Zelenskyy says the attack underscores the need for more help from Kiev's Western backers and point to allies helping Israel, fend off Iran's attack as an example of cooperation. It comes on the heels of Russian troops reaching the center of Wulidah, a bastion on strategic high ground in Ukraine's industrial Dombas region. A judge unseals a court filing that prosecutors say show Donald Trump was acting outside the scope of his duties as president when he pressured state officials and then Vice President Mike Pence to try and overturn his 2020 election defeat.

Starting point is 00:05:44 The 165-page filing is likely the last chance for prosecutors to lay out their case against Trump before the November 5th election. Trump has pleaded not guilty, and his campaign blasts the filing as an unconstitutional witch hunt. Matthew Perry's doctor has pleaded guilty to a legally distributing ketamine. Dr. Mark Chavez is one of two California doctors charged in the overdose death of a friend star. Over on markets, OpenAI has completed a new funding round that is turbocharged as valuation. Common Crimmons has more. Open AI has raised $6.6 billion from investors, and that gives the artificial intelligence company a $157 billion valuation.

Starting point is 00:06:43 To give you a sense of the buzz around this company, it was valued at just, and I say just, 14 billion back in 2021. What's interesting about the timing of this funding right now is it's coming as the company is restructuring and it's seen a shake-up in its top ranks. But investors are clearly anticipating significant growth. It's projecting revenues to jump to nearly $12 billion next year from an estimated $3.6 billion this year. And if big numbers are your thing, and I'm talking trillions here, not billions, do check out this week's episode of my podcast, Reuters Econ World. We're looking at the tax and spending plans of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris and what it all might mean for the U.S. economy. You can catch it on roiders.com, the Reuters app, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tens of thousands of people in Western North Carolina are still without running water

Starting point is 00:07:36 after Hurricane Helene flooded the region, overwhelming water systems. Our reporter Carl Plum is in Asheville, North Carolina and is talking to people about how they're managing the situation. I stopped in at a water distribution site right downtown. There was a steady stream of people wandering in with every kind of container you can imagine. Hey, all you guys looking for water? Yes. So you're going to come right this way.

Starting point is 00:08:05 Buckets, empty jugs, things like that to fill up with drinking water. The city has set up a tanker truck and a bunch of volunteers pouring water for everyone that comes in. and the same site they're distributing MREs, those military meals ready to eat. So why do city officials think it will take so long to get running water back online? Well, my understanding is that there's a water treatment site which was damaged so severely that it's going to take probably weeks. People have told me that hundreds of feet of pipes that bring the water in and out of that site were completely destroyed. So that would have to be replaced. Also, the access road to the plant has been completely washed away.

Starting point is 00:08:56 So this process is going to take a while. How are the people handling this realization? It seems like everyone is just coming to terms with that this is going to be a long-term recovery. I met a man named Jordan Lance, owner of Buxton Chicken Palace. He's there with a couple of his chefs. They're working out of a food hall to cook hot. meals for people three times a day. So we're getting water right here. We're going to be doing big batches of jambalaya coming up, steaming some rice, getting some hot food out for folks.

Starting point is 00:09:39 Today's recommended read is another Reuters exclusive, this one about Elon Musk and how he funded a conservative political group for years to the tune of millions of dollars. The story delves into his support for right-wing causes even before the billionaire endorsed Donald Trump's bid for re-election back in July. We'll drop a link to the story in today's pod description. And for more on any of the stories from today, check out reuters.com or the Reuters app. To never miss an episode,

Starting point is 00:10:09 subscribe on your favorite podcast player. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.

Reuters World News - Israel bombs Beirut, Iran's Hezbollah infiltration warning, UN head barred and Helene water shortage

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