The Headlines - Israel and Hezbollah Trade Airstrikes, and U.S. Border Crossings Drop

Episode Date: August 26, 2024

Plus, an ambitious, risky private space mission.   Tune in every weekday morning. To get our full audio journalism and storytelling experience, download the New York Times Audio app — available to Times news subscribers on iOS — and sign up for our weekly newsletter.Tell us what you think at: [e-mail]. On Today’s Episode:After Attacks, Israel and Hezbollah Swiftly Move to Talk of Containment, by Isabel KershnerIsrael’s Hunt for the Elusive Leader of Hamas, by Mark Mazzetti, Ronen Bergman, Julian E. Barnes and Adam GoldmanBiden’s Asylum Restrictions Are Working as Predicted, and as Warned, by Hamed AleazizTelegram Becomes Free Speech Flashpoint After Founder’s Arrest, by Adam Satariano, Paul Mozur and Aurelien BreedenFor His Second Trip to Space, Billionaire Has Grander, Riskier Aspirations, by Kenneth Chang

From The New York Times, it's The Headlines. I'm Tracey Mumford. Today's Monday, August 26th. Here's what we're covering. Israel and Hezbollah fired back and forth over the Israel-Lebanon border this weekend, in one of the biggest barrages in months. It was an exchange that many in the region have been holding their breath for. Israel and Hezbollah have been locked in a waiting game since last month, when Israel killed one of the militant group's top commanders in Beirut, and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate. For now, the exchange has not risen to the level of major escalation that many had feared. Lebanon reported three deaths. Israel

won. Both sides called their operations a success. Israel says it struck preemptively to thwart a bigger attack, and Hezbollah says it followed through on its promise of retaliation. The attacks underscore how tensions over the war in Gaza continue to consume the wider region. Hezbollah's been firing on Israel since October in solidarity with Hamas. And Israel's still braced for retaliation from Iran for the assassination of a Hamas leader in the country's capital. The strikes on Sunday also raised the stakes for the ceasefire negotiators currently gathered in Cairo, trying to broker a deal to end the war in Gaza. The hope is that a deal there could bring down temperatures across the region.

Meanwhile, diplomats involved in the ceasefire negotiations say Hamas insists they need the input of their political leader before they can make any major decisions in the talks. That leader is Yahya Sinwar, who has been commanding the group from inside Gaza. He's both a crucial figure in their decision-making and a top military target for Israel. It's not an exaggeration that Sinwar is one of the most wanted men on earth right now. Times reporter Mark Mazzetti has been covering Israel's hunt for Sinwar, which the U.S. has been closely involved with. For the Israelis and the United States, it's frustrating because there are sort of episodic cases of getting close. In the early

months after October 7th, Sinwar was using electric communications that they were able to monitor at some points. For example, there was a raid on January 31st where Israeli commandos went into a bunker that they believed Sinwar was in. It turns out he had been there, but he had left days earlier, possibly because he had been tipped that the Israelis knew of his location. But in more recent months, he's basically gone totally off the grid. He doesn't use electronic communications, and he relies on this network of human couriers to receive messages and to send messages. Officials said that the best guess is that he is still somewhere underneath Gaza in this network of tunnels. And they assume and believe that he does surround himself with hostages as a sort of way of protecting himself. And at least for the

Israelis, him being out there has deprived the Israeli government of this sort of potential signature military victory of sorts if they were to catch him. This summer at the U.S.-Mexico border, the number of crossings has plummeted. July had the lowest number of illegal crossings of President Biden's entire term. There's a lot of factors at play, including that Mexico has ramped up enforcement and stopped more migrants en route to the border. But an executive order that Biden signed earlier this summer that restricts asylum, also appears to be driving the drop. Specifically, one procedural change from that order. U.S. border agents no longer have to ask migrants whether they fear for their lives if they return home. Times immigration reporter Hamid Ali Aziz says this is a major shift.

Before, when migrants would cross illegally, they would be asked whether or not they fear return to their home country, whether they wanted asylum in the United States. Migrants often would answer yes. And this would kickstart a process that could ultimately allow migrants to stay in the country for years, waiting for their immigration court hearings, waiting for the chance to seek asylum in immigration courts. Some officials believed that these questions were leading and that they were leading to affirmative answers and that now migrants, you know, they'll still have the chance to seek asylum and protection in the United States, but they'll have to voice it. They'll have to make an affirmative request. They'll have to go to the border agent and say they want asylum, that they're fearful of return. Ultimately, it's going to be on the migrant themselves to know when and how to seek asylum and how to kickstart the process. Since June, asylum claims have dropped by half,

and the majority of migrants are now quickly turned back from the border. The Biden administration says that's easing the pressure on the country's overburdened immigration system. But migrant advocates say the policy change is weeding out too many people, including those who should be allowed to have their asylum cases heard. They say the new policy is unfair to people in desperate situations who don't know how to ask for help when they cross. The founder of one of the biggest messaging apps in the world, Telegram, was arrested in France over the weekend. Pavel Durov, a Russian entrepreneur, is facing charges related to

the spread of illicit material on the app, according to French media. Telegram has over 900 million users worldwide, and Durov has portrayed himself as a free speech crusader. He designed the app to be a secretive and uncensored way to communicate. That's allowed people living under authoritarian regimes, for example, to connect and organize. But it's also made Telegram a haven for disinformation and terrorist propaganda. And it's long been on the radar of law enforcement because the app's been used for selling weapons and recruiting members of extremist groups. French authorities haven't gone into detail about what Durov is charged with, but the arrest comes as governments, particularly in Europe, have intensified pressure on social media companies to address extremism and the spread of illicit material. In a statement, Telegram says it abides by EU laws and that Durov has nothing to hide. Fans of the app and Durov's allies have denounced

his arrest. His former press secretary said it was a, quote, monstrous attack on freedom of speech worldwide. And finally, in less than 24 hours at the Kennedy Space Center, the Polaris Dawn mission is scheduled to lift off. A spacecraft carrying four crew members is set to travel farther from Earth than anyone has gone since the Apollo moon missions more than 50 years ago. Notably, everyone on board is a private astronaut. There's no one from a national space agency. The billionaire Jared Isaacman is leading the Polaris Dawn team.

He partnered with SpaceX for the mission, which will carry out dozens of scientific experiments in orbit. Isaacman's been in space before. Three years ago, he was on board the first spacecraft to orbit the Earth without a professional astronaut. This mission will be longer and riskier. The ship will be vulnerable to space rocks and debris that could puncture the craft, and it will pass through areas of intense radiation, getting as much exposure in a few hours as the International Space Station does in three months. The entire mission is scheduled to last five days, but trips to space can get complicated.

NASA just officially confirmed this weekend that the astronauts it sent up in June as a test of the Boeing Starliner plans that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris are pitching to voters. You can listen on The Times audio app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracey Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.