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THE JERUSALEM POST (ISRAEL): The IDF’s invasion of southern Lebanon late Monday night was led by Division 98 and its commander, Brig. Gen. Guy Levi, who also led the commando unit, the Egoz special forces unit, the paratroopers, and Brigade 7 of the Tank Corp. Division 98 was responsible for breaking the back of Hamas in Khan Yunis, its strongest fighting brigade, from December 2023 to March 2024. Egoz Commander Lt. Col. “A” told the troops right before going in, “We have a great honor to write history in the North just like we did in Gaza. We started with lower-grade operations, but today, we are starting a more substantial invasion in order to return the northern residents to their homes. This is a substantial matter because we have not invaded Lebanon since 2006”. “I trust you and am very proud of you and know we will continue to write history”, Lt. Col. “A” continued. IDF soldiers had entered southern Lebanon as part of a ground assault on Monday night while the conflict with Hezbollah continued to escalate, Israel’s military confirmed in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

THE INDIAN EXPRESS: The Israeli military early Tuesday began “limited” and “targeted” ground raids against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in southern Lebanon. In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces said, “IDF began limited, localized, and targeted ground raids based on precise intelligence against Hezbollah terrorist targets”. The Israeli forces said that these targets are located in villages close to the border, and “pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel”. This ground incursion marks an escalation in the conflict in West Asia, which began with Palestinian militant group Hamas’ attack in Israel on October 7, 2023. In the past 24 hours, at least 95 people have been killed and 172 wounded in Israeli strikes on Lebanon’s southern regions, and Beirut.

LE FIGARO (FRANCE): Quatre scénarios d’une incursion israélienne au Liban.
Scénario n°1 : les forces spéciales conduisent des raids en territoire libanais
Scénario n°2 : Tsahal conquiert une zone tampon de 10 kilomètres
Scénario n°3 : l’armée israélienne pousse jusqu’au fleuve Litani
Scénario n°4 : Beyrouth est atteint
En deux semaines, Israël a décapité le Hezbollah. Peut-il désormais terrasser la milice libanaise qui menace ses frontières depuis quarante ans? “Nous sommes prêts et préparés si Israël veut lancer une incursion terrestre”, a déclaré, en s’essuyant le front à l’aide d’un mouchoir, Naïm Kassel, le numéro 2 du Hezbollah, dans une allocution vidéo ce lundi. Plusieurs vidéos montrent des convois de chars israéliens Merkava remontant vers la frontière nord. Déjà, mi-septembre, la 98ème division, l’une des meilleures unités de Tsahal, avait été redéployée de Gaza vers la frontière libanaise, ainsi que la 36ème division blindée. Les forces spéciales israéliennes conduiraient actuellement des raids en territoire libanais, notamment dans les tunnels du Hezbollah.

KHALEEJ TIMES (UAE): US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Monday offered support to Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for “dismantling attack infrastructure” along the border with Lebanon, after Israel launched “targeted ground raids” on Hezbollah. Austin also issued a warning to Iran of “serious consequences” should it directly attack Israel in response to their attacks on Hezbollah. “We agreed on the necessity of dismantling attack infrastructure along the border to ensure that Lebanese Hezbollah cannot conduct October 7-style attacks on Israel's northern communities”, he said in a statement posted to social network X after speaking with Gallant. Gallant had warned earlier that Israel’s military action in Lebanon was not over despite an Israeli strike killing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Friday, dealing a devastating blow to the militant group. Austin reiterated the position shared by the White House that a “diplomatic resolution is required” to ensure civilian safety “on both sides of the border”.

THE WASHINGTON POST (USA): U.S. sends more troops, warplanes to Middle East as bulwark against Iran. With Israel’s killing of Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, the Biden administration is bracing for retaliatory action from Tehran’s network of militias and militant groups. The Pentagon will deploy a few thousand additional U.S. troops and more fighter jets to the Middle East, defense officials said Monday, as part of the Biden administration’s scramble to prevent the conflict between Israel and Iran’s proxies from exploding into a regionwide war. The infusion of forces, which also include air-defense units, will add to the tens of thousands of American personnel already on high alert there, said Sabrina Singh, a Pentagon spokeswoman. The moves were ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin after Israel last week used a series of airstrikes around Beirut to kill Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah, and as U.S. officials anticipated that Israel could soon launch a limited ground incursion into Lebanon. Singh told reporters that to further boost the number of personnel in the Middle East, the Pentagon will extend some deployed units that were scheduled to rotate home and send additional forces to augment them, including squadrons that fly F-16, F-15E and F-22 fighters and A-10 attack jets. Austin also issued prepare-to-deploy orders for an unspecified number of other units that are in the United States, she said.

O GLOBO (BRASIL): Elite política do Irã está dividida, fragilizada e levou xeque-mate de Israel. Entre guerra total ou cautela para se preservar após morte do aliado do Hezbollah, o aiatolá Ali Khamenei, líder supremo do Irã, parece ter escolhido a segunda opção, ao menos por hora. No turbulento cenário do Oriente Médio, o idoso líder supremo do Irã, aiatolá Ali Khamenei, de 85 anos, sempre pôde contar com a aliança estreita, a lealdade inabalável e a amizade profunda de Hassan Nasrallah, líder da milícia libanesa Hezbollah. Não mais. Quando Israel matou Nasrallah no ataque aéreo massivo da noite de sexta-feira, eliminou de forma abrupta uma força singular na hierarquia de sócios de Khamenei. Durante 40 anos, o Irã sustentou o Hezbollah, braço principal de sua rede de milícias por procuração, como principal defesa avançada contra Israel. Mas nas últimas duas semanas a capacidade do Hezbollah começou a desmoronar após incessantes e duros ataques de Israel contra sua cúpula, arsenal e rede de comunicações. Pois fissuras também foram abertas dentro do governo iraniano, que precisa decidir como irá responder ao assassinato de Nasrallah. Enquanto a linha-dura defende uma resposta enérgica, os moderados, liderados pelo recém empossado presidente do país, Masoud Pezeshkian, apelam por cautela. Divergência que deixou o Irã, e seu líder supremo, em posição especialmente vulnerável neste momento.

THE GUARDIAN (GB): Iran’s reformist-led government has said it has no plans to send troops to reinforce Hezbollah in Lebanon, but it is coming under domestic pressure from hardliners seeking to exploit what they regard as a failure to stand up to Israel – and also hoping to block any discussion with the west over future oversight of Iran’s nuclear programme. Calls for a tougher Iranian response redoubled when it emerged that Brig Gen Abbas Nilforushan, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) deputy commander for Lebanon and Syria, had been killed in Beirut alongside the Hezbollah chief, Hassan Nasrallah. Such is the tension in Iran that some conservatives have been accused of sowing a poisonous atmosphere on social media by distorting remarks made by the president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and his spokesperson to make them appear unsupportive of the “axis of resistance”. The dominant line in government circles remains that a direct war between Israel and Iran should be avoided as it would play into Benjamin Netanyahu’s hands and draw in the US – but that Hezbollah should not be left to fight alone. This was the position Pezeshkian rehearsed in New York last week before Nasrallah’s killing.

THE TIMES (GB): Hashem Safieddine: potential next Hezbollah leader “even more hardline”. When Israel assassinated Abbas al-Musawi in 1992, there were celebrations at the demise of the Hezbollah leader whose militants had harried Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. His successor, Hassan Nasrallah, propelled the group to new and more dangerous heights. With Nasrallah now dead, his possible replacement, Hashem Safieddine, may hope to do the same. Born in 1964 in southern Lebanon, Safieddine, with his black turban and grey beard, bears a resemblance to Nasrallah, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Friday. He is said to hold even more hardline views than Nasrallah. Safieddine is also designated as a terrorist by the United States, which blacklisted him in 2017. Some weeks ago, Safieddine had issued a stark warning to Israel: “Prepare to cry and wail.”

ASHARQ AL-AWSAT (GB): Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati stressed on Monday that his country is committed to a reaching a ceasefire and launching indirect negotiations that would end the fierce Israeli war on Lebanon and its people. Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat after meeting with visiting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and later holding talks with parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, he said: “Lebanon vows to send the army to the South after a ceasefire and the launch of negotiations”. “We have no other substitute to this call that was issued by ten influential countries, led by the United States and France”, he added. “It is now on the international community. The credibility of these countries, especially the US, is now on the line, because if they can’t stop this barbaric war, then I don’t believe anyone can”, Mikati said.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES (USA): The U.S. military’s decade-long mission to fight the Islamic State group in Iraq will wind down over the next year and transition from an international coalition to a bilateral defense partnership between Washington and Baghdad, Biden administration officials confirmed. The move comes a decade after the U.S. assembled the joint task force, saying it was still needed to defeat the remnants of the Islamic State terror group that once held sway over nearly 8 million people living in 40,000 square miles of territory in Iraq and Syria. However, the presence of U.S. troops has proved a headache for Iraq’s government and an occasional target of Shiite militias in Iraq that have strong ties to neighboring Iran. Iraqi government officials said earlier this month that the U.S. military mission would be significantly reduced by 2026, with perhaps a small force expected to remain in Iraq’s Kurdistan region. Pentagon officials insisted the new arrangement does not mean a full withdrawal of the U.S. military presence in the country. The U.S. has about 2,500 troops in Iraq advising and assisting Iraqi security forces in their campaign against Islamic State. Biden administration officials said it makes sense to reassess the coalition’s mission in Iraq after 10 years.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (HONG KONG, CHINA): China’s Xi Jinping lobs warning to “separatists” across Taiwan Strait in National Day speech. Chinese leader also renews pledge on pursuing further economic opening up and reform. President Xi Jinping used his annual National Day address on Monday to call for all-out effort to counter mounting uncertainty and to send a strong warning to “separatists” on Taiwan. “Be prepared for the future and resolutely overcome all uncertainties,” Xi said at an official event in Beijing to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic on Tuesday.

RENMIN RIBAO (CHINA): President Xi Jinping on Monday said the Chinese people will score more remarkable achievements and make greater contributions to the noble cause of peace and development of humanity. Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks while addressing a reception held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). China’s National Day falls on Oct. 1. On the new journey in the new era, the central task of the Party and the country is building China into a strong country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts by pursuing Chinese modernization, said Xi.

NEZAVISIMAYA GAZETA (RUSSIA): Пока Китай празднует, Тайвань готовится к войне. Оказав помощь острову, США омрачили торжества в честь 75-летия КНР. Китайская Народная Республика готовится к знаменательной дате – 75-летию ее образования. КНР образовалась 1 октября 1949 года. По-своему ведут подготовку и на Тайване. Там обсудили перспективу вторжения со стороны КНР и договорились об увеличении численности вооруженных сил. В обострение обстановки вокруг острова внесли лепту США. Они заявили, что быстро окажут военную помощь Тайбэю на сумму 570 млн долл.

THE MAINICHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): Shigeru Ishiba, leader of Japan’s ruling party, was elected prime minister in the House of Representatives on Tuesday to succeed Fumio Kishida, at a time of low public confidence in politics, a shaky economy and mounting security threats. Long seen as a maverick, the 67-year-old Ishiba is likely to face a challenging start to his premiership as he seeks to restore voter trust in the scandal-hit ruling party and mend intraparty divisions that have deepened since the LDP leadership election. Ishiba’s decision to call a snap election also drew a backlash from opposition parties, which described his making of the announcement Monday even before his election as premier as “disrespectful” and “unconstitutional”. The extraordinary Diet session will run through Oct. 9, the day when Ishiba is expected to dissolve the lower house.

NIKKEI (JAPAN): Shigeru Ishiba, president of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party and presumptive new prime minister, said on Monday that he will dissolve the lower house and hold a general election on Oct. 27. The election will test the public’s confidence in the LDP under Ishiba who faces the challenge of addressing the issue of a political funds scandal in the party. The lower house has 465 members, of whom 289 are elected in first-past-the-post constituencies and 176 are elected via proportional representation. The term of office is four years unless the prime minister dissolves the house sooner.

THE STRAITS TIMES (SINGAPORE): The 67-year-old Shigeru Ishiba is hoping to capitalise on his current wave of popularity to revive a party that has seen its public ratings drop in recent months over a series of scandals that partly forced his predecessor, Mr Fumio Kishida, to resign. The LDP, which has ruled Japan for almost all of the post-war era, currently holds 258 of 465 seats in the Lower House. Although the LDP saw its popularity hit a low of 25.5% in June – the lowest since it regained power in 2012 – it remains the most popular party in a fragmented political landscape. Some 31.3% of respondents said they support the party, according to a poll by public broadcaster NHK conducted in early September. The focus is whether the LDP will win the 233 seats needed to keep a Lower House majority by itself. Winning at least 28 more seats would help put the coalition past the 261 seats of an “absolute stable majority”, a level that would ensure control over parliamentary committees, making it easier to push through Bills.

HINDUSTAN TIMES (INDIA): Business sentiment among Japan’s large manufacturers stood unchanged in the latest quarter from the previous quarter, according to a closely watched survey called “tankan” released Tuesday. The Bank of Japan survey put the benchmark index at plus-13 for the July-September quarter, the same from the previous survey conducted for April-June. A positive number means more companies said they were optimistic about business conditions than those feeling pessimistic. The index for large nonmanufacturers stood at plus-34, up from plus-33 the previous quarter. The results were in line with analyst forecasts. Japan’s economic growth is thought to be on relatively solid ground, managing to grow despite pressures from a declining workforce, a weakening currency and deflationary pressures that previously dragged on for years.

THE HILL (USA): Pollsters: Don’t be so sure Trump will outperform our surveys. Pollsters caution against assuming that the polls this cycle are susceptible to the same errors as previous ones that underestimated support for former President Trump, arguing that every election is different and that this year’s polls are an accurate reflection of the competitiveness of the race. Polls now show Vice President Harris leading Trump by about 4 points, according to the average from The Hill/Decision Desk HQ. But the race in the roughly half dozen battleground states is even closer, and a polling error like the ones in the past could mean Trump is in a stronger position to prevail than the data says. But polling analysts say it’s not that simple. Pollsters have had a rough couple of presidential cycles in the Trump era, and it’s led to widespread skepticism of just how accurate their measurements are, even as news story after news story details the latest polling findings. Pollsters acknowledge Trump’s rise has posed a new challenge for the industry trying to accurately track voters’ preferences, but they say methodologies have adjusted.

DAILY SABAH (TURKEY): Erdoğan heads to the BRICS summit, seeking membership to strengthen Türkiye’s role in a shifting global order. After returning from the United Nations Summit in New York, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has the BRICS summit in Russia on his schedule for October. “I convey my best wishes to the President of the Republic of Türkiye, Mr. Erdoğan. I am waiting for him in Russia, in Kazan. We had planned a bilateral meeting for Oct. 23”, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Numan Kurtulmuş, the speaker of the Turkish Parliament, who visited Moscow a few days ago. Erdoğan and Putin are expected to make progress on Türkiye’s application for membership in BRICS. The development is not only important for Türkiye. As a NATO member, the country has deep political, economic and legal ties with the European Union. This special position differentiates Türkiye from countries already distant from the Western bloc, such as Malaysia, Thailand and Azerbaijan, which also want to join the union.

THE NEW YORK TIMES (USA): On Tuesday Mark Rutte will take office after a long apprenticeship on the international stage: He recently ended an extraordinary 14-year run as prime minister of the Netherlands. Mr. Rutte takes office at a turbulent time, with NATO allies fighting a proxy war against Russia in Ukraine, the Middle East in turmoil and the alliance wracked by difficult questions about how it should expand in the future. A rising tide of far-right populism in countries including France, Germany and the Netherlands itself also threatens to upend decades of solidarity between allies. This would be an intimidating to-do list for any new secretary general, but also may mean that it’s the perfect moment for NATO — for the fourth time — to again be led by a plain-spoken Dutchman. In some countries, the job of a president or prime minister is a visionary one, requiring bold leadership and soaring rhetoric. Here in Holland, however, coalition governments are the norm and the role of a Dutch premier is more like that of a small-town salesman: constantly chasing doubters, negotiating compromises and persuading people to make deals they don’t want to make. As prime minister, Mr. Rutte pivoted from governing with the support of the far right to governing in coalition with the center left. But Mr. Rutte is also a political chameleon, capable of being almost all things to almost all people. And he was prime minister of the Netherlands for 14 years. In the same period there were three U.S. presidents, three French presidents and six British prime ministers. That’s at least partly down to an ability to avoid the dirt that clung to others sometimes through charm and political skill, but sometimes (at least in his opponents’ eyes) by dodging accountability. It’s a skill set that earned him the nickname “Teflon Mark”.

VEDOMOSTI (RUSSIA): С момента избрания Рютте в конце июня преемником действовавшего с 2014 г. генсека НАТО Йенса Столтенберга в СМИ часто обсуждаются его дипломатические и политические способности. Politico, Reuters, Le Monde, CNN и многие другие СМИ в своих материалах о Рютте перечислили несколько вызовов, с которыми придется столкнуться новому генсеку. Это поддержка Украины, укрепление восточного фланга НАТО, увеличение военных бюджетов странами-членами и подготовка к возможному второму сроку на посту президента США Дональда Трампа. По всем этим вопросам позиции Рютте практически не отличаются от тех, которых придерживался и придерживается Столтенберг. Генсек НАТО – несамостоятельная фигура и не стоит ждать, что Рютте сможет как-то принципиально изменить курс альянса. По сути, его основная функция – находить компромисс между 32 странами-членами и способствовать их консолидации. В том числе поэтому Рютте и назначили – из-за его качеств как переговорщика. С учетом полномочий генсека НАТО не стоит при Рютте ожидать и ослабления поддержки Украины: в Брюсселе уже выбран четкий антироссийский курс, который закреплен, в частности, в стратегической концепции альянса 2022 г. Но в отличие от Столтенберга, который в конце своей карьеры усилил образ “ястреба”, Рютте может попробовать разные модели поведения и, например, начать “прощупывать почву”.

INDEPENDENT (GB): South Korea has revealed its most powerful missile and other weapons targeting North Korea during a massive Armed Forces Day ceremony, as the president warned the North’s regime would collapse if it attempts to use nuclear weapons. South Korea’s weapons displays and warning against North Korea came after its northern rival recently rose regional animosities by disclosing its uranium-enrichment facility and tested missiles ahead of the U.S. presidential election in November. “If North Korea attempts to use nuclear weapons, it will face the resolute and overwhelming response of our military and the (South Korea)-U.S. alliance”, President Yoon Suk Yeol told thousands of troops gathered at a military airport near Seoul. “That day will be the end of the North Korean regime”. During the ceremony, the South Korean military displayed about 340 military equipment and weapons systems. Among them was its most powerful Hyunmoo-5 ballistic missile, which observers say is capable of carrying about 8 tons of a conventional warhead that can penetrate deep into the earth and destroy underground bunkers in North Korea. It was the first time for South Korea to disclose that missile.

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL (USA): Trial of Le Pen in France complicates far-right leader’s move to mainstream. Threat of conviction on charges of misusing European funds comes at crucial juncture for far-right leader. Marine Le Pen and dozens of other members of National Rally stand trial on Monday on charges of misusing European funds, a case that risks disrupting the French politician’s efforts to carry her far-right party into the political mainstream. French prosecutors allege Le Pen and other National Rally leaders used close to 7 million euros—or around $7.8 million earmarked for assistants working inside the Strasbourg-based European Parliament—to pay party staffers in other parts of France between 2004 and 2017. EU rules require European Parliament assistants to work at one of the body’s offices in Brussels, Strasbourg or Luxembourg and to reside near that workplace.

LA NACION (ARGENTINA): Javier Milei, en el programa de Susana Giménez: “China es un socio comercial muy interesante porque no exigen nada, solo piden que no los molesten”. El Presidente de la Nación dijo que se sorprendió “muy gratamente” con el país asiático y confirmó que viajará en enero para la cumbre de la Celac, en una entrevista que la conductora le hizo en la Casa Rosada.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN (JAPAN): About 20% of Japan’s population resides in areas that are at risk of flooding when heavy rain causes rivers to overflow, according to a recent Asahi Shimbun analysis. The number has increased by approximately 900,000 to 25.94 million people over the 20 years leading up to 2020, prompting experts to call for the relocation of residents to safer areas. This increase represents a 3% rise, despite a 1.5% decrease in Japan’s total population over the decade from 2010, when the nation’s population peaked.
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