No. 21 Clemson, N.C. State open ACC play at Death Valley

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No. 21 Clemson, N.C. State open ACC play at Death Valley

2024-09-19 18:10 Last Updated At：18:21

N.C. State (2-1) at No. 21 Clemson (1-1), Saturday, noon ET (ABC)

BetMGM College Football Odds: Clemson by 20.5 points.

Series record: Clemson leads 60-30-1.

WHAT’S AT STAKE?

Clemson, which moved up a spot in the rankings during a bye week, can make a statement it can contend for an Atlantic Coast Conference crown and College Football Playoff spot with a league win against the Wolfpack. N.C. tate lost its first measuring-stick game badly against Tennessee and now gets another, though this time it would play a role in whether the Wolfpack can compete for an ACC title.

KEY MATCHUP

Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik vs. N.C. State's defense. Klubnick struggled in a season-opening, 34-3 loss to Georgia, then had the game of his life in a 66-20 win over Appalachian State. He accounted for seven TDs (five passing, two rushing) and threw for a career-high 378 yard s against the Mountaineers. It will be up to the Wolfpack to see if they can rein in Klubnik and the potent attack the Tigers showed two weeks ago.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

N.C. State: QB CJ Bailey, a January enrollee, is set to make his first career start at Death Valley after an injury to starter Grayson McCall in last week’s win against Louisiana Tech. Bailey threw for 156 yards and an interception while also running for a score.

Clemson: LB Barrett Carter, known as “Agent Zero” for his 0 uniform number, is a preseason All-American who has yet to fully assert himself this season. He's played 88 snaps with just four tackles, one pass breakup and a quarterback pressure.

FACTS & FIGURES

Clemson is a win away from its 800th victory in school history. It would be the 14th FBS program, but first in the ACC. ... The Tigers had won eight straight meetings from 2012-19, but N.C. State has taken two of the last three. … Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is two victories away from tying the late Florida State great, Bobby Bowden, for most wins leading an ACC program. ... N.C. State hasn’t won at Clemson since 2002 when Philip Rivers was the team's star quarterback. … This is just the third time in the last 13 years Clemson has opened ACC play at home. The Tigers have won eight of their last nine conference openers since 2015. ... The Wolfpack won 34 games in the past four seasons combined. ... The series called the Textile Bowl for the two states' importance in that industry goes on hiatus after this until 2027, when the teams next play in Raleigh.

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Israel-Hamas war latest: Israel turns its focus north toward Lebanon and Hezbollah

2024-09-19 18:19 Last Updated At：18:21

Israel’s defense minister has declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as Israel turns its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

Two waves of explosive attacks hit Syria and Lebanon: an apparent Israeli attack targeting pagers used by Hezbollah that killed at least 12 and wounded nearly 3,000 on Tuesday, and exploding walkie-talkies and other electronics Wednesday across Lebanon that killed at least 20 people and injured 450 others.

“We are at the start of a new phase in the war — it requires courage, determination and perseverance,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant told troops on Wednesday.

The head of Hezbollah’s Executive Council promised the group would respond to Tuesday’s pager explosion attack with “special punishment.”

Hezbollah began striking Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Since then, Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged fire daily, coming close to a full-blown war on several occasions and forcing tens of thousands on both sides of the border to evacuate their homes.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. The ministry does not differentiate between fighters and civilians in its count but says a little over half of those killed were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Here's the latest:

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza Strip — Israeli strikes have killed at least 10 people in the Gaza Strip, including three women and three children.

They were laid to rest Thursday after the overnight strikes in the southern cities of Rafah and Khan Younis. Records at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis confirmed the toll and an Associated Press reporter counted the bodies.

Mohammed Abu Huweij said his wife and three children were killed while he was out getting food.

“The eldest, Mira, was 8 years old and the youngest was 9 months. What did they do?” he said. “I left, and when I came back my entire family had been martyred.”

Israel says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians in its nearly yearlong campaign against Hamas, which operates in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

The war began after Hamas launched a surprise attack into Israel on Oct. 7 in which Palestinian militants killed some 1,200 people and took around 250 hostage.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 41,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It does not say how many were fighters, but says a little over half were women and children. Israel says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s civil aviation authorities have banned pagers and walkie-talkies on all airplanes departing from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport.

The measure announced Thursday comes after such devices, mainly used by members of the militant Hezbollah group, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing dozens and wounding 3,000 people over the past two days.

The authorities called on all airline companies to inform passengers using the airport that carrying pagers and walkie-talkies onto jets is banned “until further notice.” It added that authorities will confiscate such devices found with passengers.

JERUSALEM — Hezbollah says it struck a military position in northern Israel as part of its ongoing attacks in support of the Palestinians in Gaza.

The militant group has vowed to continue such operations after several of its members were killed and thousands wounded when their personal devices exploded, in what appeared to be a sophisticated attack by Israel.

Israeli media reported injuries from the strike early Thursday but there was no official confirmation.

Hezbollah began striking northern Israel shortly after Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack ignited the war in Gaza. Hezbollah and Hamas are both close allies of Iran.

Israel has responded to the near-daily fire with escalating strikes of its own and in recent days has warned of a wider military operation.

The military said early Thursday that it had struck several militant sites in southern Lebanon overnight.

JERUSALEM — Israeli security officials say an Israeli citizen has been indicted for involvement in an Iranian assassination plot against top Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

A statement from the Shin Bet internal security agency on Thursday said that the citizen was recruited by Iranian intelligence to “carry out terrorist activities” on Israeli soil and “promote assassination attacks” on Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar.

It was unclear how far the alleged plot had advanced. The statement did not say whether the Israeli had obtained a weapon or developed a concrete plan.

The statement said the Israeli had traveled to Iran twice — once in August following the assassination of top Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in an explosion in Iran’s capital that was widely blamed on Israel. Israel has not said whether it was involved.

The Shin Bet said the assassination plot was an attempt by Iran to follow through on its pledge to avenge his death.

The statement said the Israeli was paid 5,000 euros ($5,575.60) but had demanded a million dollars before doing anything. The Iranians refused the demand but said they would be in touch, according to the Shin Bet.

Earlier this week, the Shin Bet said an explosion in a Tel Aviv park last September was linked to an attempt by Hezbollah to assassinate Moshe Yaalon, a former military chief of staff and defense minister.

The Lebanese militant group is closely allied with Iran.

On Tuesday, the police said they had found and dismantled a similar explosive device fitted with a camera and a mechanism that would allow it to be activated by Hezbollah.

It was unclear whether the indicted Israeli was linked to either of the alleged bomb plots.

SOFIA, Bulgaria — Bulgarian authorities rejected claims that exploding devices have been shipped through the territory of the Balkan country.

“No customs operations with communication equipment (pagers) have been carried out through the territory of Bulgaria,” the state agency for national security said in a statement on Thursday.

It came in response to media reports alleging that a company registered in Bulgaria had supplied the Lebanese organization Hezbollah with the devices, which later exploded in Lebanon and Syria.

The statement added that the agency was carrying out joint checks with the National Revenue Agency and the Ministry of Interior over the alleged involvement of a Bulgarian-registered company in the supply of communications equipment to Hezbollah.

The Sofia-based company Norta Global Ltd., owned by a Norwegian citizen, has been linked by Hungarian media to the sale of the devices that exploded in Lebanon.

Norta Global Ltd. was registered in April 2022 as a project management company, but there is no data available that they produce anything, and there are no records available about their financial operations. It is registered at the same address in downtown Sofia as 196 other companies.

TOKYO — Japanese wireless communication equipment-maker Icom says it cannot confirm whether a walkie-talkie used in the explosive attacks against Hezbollah was related to the company, noting that the production and sales of that device and its battery were discontinued about a decade ago.

The Osaka-based Icom was responding Thursday to a report that said one of the walkie-talkies used in the attacks a day earlier had a sticker with the company’s logo. Icom also noted that the device in question did not have an anti-counterfeit hologram sticker, which all authentic Icom products should be carrying.

Company executive Yoshiki Enomoto told Japanese television NTV he was “surprised” by the news. He said the company could not confirm if the unit in question was Icom-made.

“This specific device had a lot of fake copies out in the market,” he said, adding that company officials could only determine its authenticity if they see its circuits.

Icom said the wireless radio unit IC-V82 was once manufactured for export including to the Middle East from 2004 to October 2014. But the production and shipment of its main unit ended about 10 years ago and batteries for the main units have also been discontinued.

The company said its export models are only distributed through official sales representatives under rigid export control rules set by the Japanese Trade Ministry.

All Icom radio equipment is manufactured by its subsidiary, Wakayama Icom Inc., under strict security controls that only allow use of authorized parts. The products are only manufactured at the Wakayama plant in Japan, Icom said.