AP News Digest 7:05 a.m.

Here are the AP’s latest coverage plans, top stories and promotable content. All times EDT. Find the AP’s top photos of the day in Today’s Photo Collection. For up-to-the-minute information on AP’s coverage, visit Coverage Plan in AP Newsroom.

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TOP STORIES

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MIDEAST-TENSIONS — Israel’s air force carried out dozens of airstrikes in southern Lebanon, killing at least 50 people, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate places where it claimed the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons. Separately, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed eight Palestinians, including five children, according to Palestinian medical officials. SENT: 1,480 words, photos. With MIDEAST-TENSIONS-THE-LATEST; and ISRAEL-LEBANON-WHAT-TO-KNOW — SENT.

LEBANON-EXPLODING DEVICES-SAVING EYES — For almost a week, ophthalmologist Elias Jaradeh has worked around the clock, trying to keep up with the flood of patients whose eyes were injured when pagers and walkie-talkies exploded en masse across Lebanon. He has lost track of how many eye operations he has performed in multiple hospitals, surviving on two hours of sleep before starting on the next operation. He has managed to save some patients’ sight, but many will never see again. By Bassem Mroue. SENT: 510 words, photos, video.

ELECTION 2024-HARRIS-TRUMP — One presidential candidate is talking up gun ownership and promising tough border security measures. The other vows to cap credit card interest rates and force insurance companies to cover in vitro fertilization. Which one is the Democrat and the Republican? The lines that have long defined each party’s policy priorities are blurring as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump seek to expand their coalition in the final weeks of a fiercely competitive election. By Steve Peoples. SENT: 1,200 words, photos, video. With ELECTION-2024-HARRIS — Harris raises $27 million in New York fundraiser, promises economic speech this week; ELECTION-2024-TRUMP — Trump says, if he loses, 2024 run will be his last; and ELECTION 2024-TRUMP-DEPORTATIONS — Trump’s goal of mass deportations fell short. But he has new plans for a second term — SENT.

SRI-LANKA-ELECTION — Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake was sworn in as Sri Lanka’s president after an election that saw voters reject an old guard accused of leading the country into economic crisis. Dissanayake, 55, who ran as head of the Marxist-leaning National People’s Power coalition, defeated opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and 36 other candidates in Saturday’s election. SENT: 260 words, photo.

FATAL-SHOOTING-BIRMINGHAM — A search is underway for the shooters who killed four people and injured 17 others in a weekend shooting at a popular nightspot in Birmingham, Alabama. Police say victims were caught in the crossfire during the shooting. Authorities say they believe the shooting was a paid hit on one of the victims. By Kim Chandler. SENT: 580 words, photos, video, audio.

UN-GENERAL-ASSEMBLY-PACT-FOR-THE-FUTURE — The U.N. General Assembly adopted a “Pact for the Future” to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Now comes the hard part: uniting the world’s divided nations to move quickly to implement its 56 actions. The 42-page pact was adopted at Sunday’s opening of a two-day “Summit of the Future.” Among leaders slated to address the summit are Iran’s Masoud Pezeshkian, Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. By Edith M. Lederer. SENT: 860 words, photos, video. With UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY-TROUBLED WORLD — World leaders are gathering for the UN General Assembly. The outlook is gloomy — SENT.

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SPOTLIGHTING VOICES

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HAITI-US-DELAYED ADOPTIONS — Esai Reed, at only 6 years old, has endured three emergency evacuations from orphanages across Haiti as gangs pillage and plunder their way through once peaceful communities. He is one of 70 children that dozens of families in the U.S. from Tennessee to California are trying to bring home as Haiti crumbles under gang violence. By Dánica Coto. SENT: 1,330 words, photo. With HAITI-UN-SOLUTION-HOPELESS — As UN meets, Haitians express hopelessness at finding an international solution to gang crisis — SENT.

DC-GRAFFITI — This eye-of-the-beholder dynamic between vandalism and urban art form has been a reality since the earliest days of urban graffiti. One person’s artistic expression is another person’s problematic eyesore. In the U.S. capital, both sides of that perspective are on full display. By Ashraf Khalil. SENT: 990 words, photos.

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RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR

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UNITED-STATES-UKRAINE-ZELENSKY — Under tight security, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy visited a Pennsylvania ammunition factory to thank the workers who are producing one of the most critically needed munitions for his country’s fight to fend off Russian ground forces. SENT: 850 words, photos, videos. With RUSSIA-UKRAINE-WAR — Twenty-one wounded in Russian strikes that hit apartment buildings in Ukrainian city of Kharkiv — SENT.

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MORE NEWS

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VATICAN-POPE — Vatican confirms plans for Belgium, Luxembourg trip after pope cancels audiences due to illness. SENT: 450 words, photos.

IRAN-YOURS-TRULY-JOHNNY-DOLLAR — In Iran, the old-time U.S. radio detective “Johnny Dollar” returns to the airwaves. SENT: 920 words, photos.

GERMANY-OKTOBERFEST-ALCOHOL-FREE — Alcohol-free beer is gaining popularity, even at Oktoberfest. SENT: 490 words, photos.

WHITE-SOX-PADRES — White Sox lose 120th game to tie a post-1900 record by the 1962 expansion New York Mets. SENT: 770 words, photos.

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WASHINGTON/POLITICS

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CONGRESS-BUDGET — Congressional leaders announced an agreement on a short-term spending bill that will fund federal agencies for about three months, averting a possible partial government shutdown when the new budget year begins Oct. 1 and pushing final decisions until after the November election. SENT: 450 words, photo.

ELECTION-2024-TRUMP-NEBRASKA — A top Donald Trump ally is pressuring Nebraska Republicans to award all of their state’s Electoral College votes to the statewide winner, a late-stage rule change that could potentially help return Trump to the White House. SENT: 700 words, photos.

ELECTION 2024-GOVERNOR-NORTH CAROLINA — Several top staffers in North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson’s campaign for governor have quit their posts, marking more fallout from a CNN report outlining evidence that he made disturbing posts on a pornography website’s message board more than a decade ago. SENT: 650 words, photo.

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NATIONAL

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TITANIC-TOURIST-SUB — The co-founder of the company that owned the experimental submersible that imploded en route to the wreckage of the Titanic is scheduled to testify before the U.S. Coast Guard as part of its investigation of the maritime disaster. SENT: 480 words, photos, videos.

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INTERNATIONAL

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SUDAN-CHOLERA — Cholera is spreading in war-torn Sudan, killing at least 388 people and sickening about 13,000 others over the past two months, health authorities said, as more than 17 months of fighting between the military and a notorious paramilitary group shows no sign of abating. SENT: 500 words, photos.

TROPICAL-WEATHER — Tropical Storm John has formed in the eastern Pacific Ocean and may bring flooding to southern Mexico later in the week. The Mexican government issued a hurricane watch and a tropical storm warning for Mexico’s coast from Punta Maldonado to Bahias de Huatulco. SENT: 180 words.

MARTINIQUE-PROTESTS — France has sent a group of special anti-riot police that’s been banned for 65 years to the French Caribbean island of Martinique, where protesters have gathered despite the government barring demonstrations in parts of the island. SENT: 390 words, video.

MEXICO-MISSING-STUDENTS-EXPLAINER — All countries have crimes that resonate. In Mexico, one of the modern day ones is the disappearance of 43 students from a rural teacher’s college in 2014. Ten years later, it’s still not clear where the students from the Rural Normal School at Ayotzinapa are. SENT: 750 words, photos.

BRITAIN-LABOUR — British Treasury chief Rachel Reeves will pledge not to return to an era of public spending cuts despite the dire state of the U.K.’s national finances. SENT: 710 words, photos.

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BUSINESS/ TECH

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FEDERAL-RESERVE-INFLATION-VS.-PRICES — With its larger-than-usual half-point cut to its key interest rate last week, the Federal Reserve underscored its belief that it’s all but conquered inflation after three long years. The public at large? Not so much. SENT: 1,130 words, photos.

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ENTERTAINMENT

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CHALLENGED-BOOKS — Two new reports provide a mixed but compelling outlook on the wave of book removals and challenges as the annual Banned Books Week begins for schools, stores and libraries nationwide. SENT: 880 words, photos.

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SPORTS

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FALCONS-MISCUES — On a night when the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs struggled offensively, the Atlanta Falcons had ample opportunity to hand Kansas City its first loss. Injuries to the offensive line hurt at the end as the Falcons failed to convert on fourth-and-1, allowing the Chiefs to escape with a 22-17 win. SENT: 370 words, photos.

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HOW TO REACH US

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The Nerve Center can be reached at 800-845-8450, ext. 1600. For photos, Donald E. King ext. 1900. For graphics and interactives, ext. 7636. Expanded AP content can be obtained from AP Newsroom. For access to AP Newsroom and other technical issues, contact apcustomersupport@ap.org or call 844-777-2006.

Mourners transport the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Atlanta Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts (8) misses the catch against Kansas City Chiefs safety Bryan Cook (6) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Japan's Miyu Matsunaga falls while fighting for the ball with North Korea's Jon Ryong Jong during the U-20 Women's World Cup final soccer match at El Campin stadium in Bogota, Colombia, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ricardo Mazalan)

A priest holding a police motorcycling helmet, blesses the helmets of faithful during the IX Pilgrimage of the Blessing of Helmets that draws tens of thousands at the Roman Catholic holy shrine of Fatima, in Fatima, Portugal, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

A Guarani Indigenous leader performs a religious ritual during a climate protest in Sao Paulo, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

A supporter of former President Evo Morales slings a rock at supporters of current President Luis Arce in El Alto, Bolivia, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Juan Karita)

A Hezbollah supporter carries a Palestinian flag near a picture of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, during Akil's funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israel's air force carried out dozens of airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Monday, killing at least 50 people, as the Israeli military called on residents to immediately evacuate places where it claimed the Hezbollah militant group stores weapons.

Separately, Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip killed eight Palestinians, including five children, on Monday morning, according to Palestinian medical officials.

Residents of different villages in southern Lebanon posted photos on social media that they said showed their towns that were being struck. The Israeli military said it was attacking targets related to Hezbollah.

The wave of airstrikes came after a tense day in which Hezbollah fired over 100 rockets into northern Israel, with some landing near the city of Haifa.

Hezbollah’s rocket attack came after an Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb on Friday killed a top Hezbollah military commander and more than a dozen Hezbollah members, along with dozens of civilians including women and children.

Last week, thousands of communications devices, used mainly by Hezbollah members, exploded in different parts of Lebanon, killing 39 people and wounding nearly 3,000. Lebanon blamed the attacks on Israel, but Israel did not confirm or deny its responsibility.

Here’s the latest:

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s Health Ministry says a wave of Israeli airstrikes on Monday has killed at least 50 and wounded more than 300 people.

The ministry said that the toll was preliminary as airstrikes intensified around noon and women and children were among the dead.

The airstrikes hit wide areas in southern and northeastern Lebanon. Israel’s military said it struck 300 targets across Lebanon linked to the militant group Hezbollah.

BEIRUT — Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister on Monday called Israel’s wave of airstrikes “a genocide in every sense of the word.”

Najib Mikati made the comments at the start of a Cabinet meeting in Beirut in which he said that Israel’s airstrikes aim to destroy Lebanon’s towns and villages.

Mikati said that the Lebanese government is calling on the United Nations, the U.N. Security Council and world nations to “deter the aggression.”

BEIRUT — Lebanon's state-run National News Agency says Israeli airstrikes on different parts of Lebanon on Monday killed at least one person and wounded others.

The airstrikes hit the heights of the central province of Byblos for the first time since exchanges along the Lebanon-Israel border began in early October, NNA said. A security official confirmed the airstrike in the village of Almat.

Also targeted by the early morning airstrikes were the northeastern Baalbek and Hermel regions where a shepherd was killed and two members of his family were wounded in the fields of the village of Bodai, NNA said. It added that four other people were also wounded in Bodai and were all taken to hospitals in the area.

NNA also said that 11 people were wounded in the southern village of Aitaroun, including 1 in serious condition.

BEIJING — China is urging its citizens in Lebanon and Israel to evacuate or move to safe areas as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah is escalating.

Chinese citizens in Lebanon should take commercial flights to return to China or otherwise leave Lebanon as soon as possible for their own safety, the Consular Department of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement posted on social media platform WeChat on Monday.

“Those who need to continue to stay in Lebanon should remain highly vigilant, effectively strengthen their security precautions and emergency preparedness and avoid going to high-risk areas and sensitive areas in the south,” the statement read.

On Sunday, the Chinese Embassy in Israel cautioned its citizens in the country to be prepared for any potential attacks including by missiles, rockets and drones. It added that Chinese people were advised against traveling to Israel and entering high-risk areas in the country’s north.

JERUSALEM — The Israeli military has called on people in southern Lebanon to immediately evacuate homes and other buildings where Hezbollah stores weapons and says it is carrying out “extensive strikes” against the militant group.

Monday's announcement was the first warning of its kind in nearly a year of low-level conflict along the border.

Lebanese media reported that residents received text messages urging them to move away from any building where Hezbollah stores arms until further notice.

“If you are in a building housing weapons for Hezbollah, move away from the village until further notice,” the Arabic message reads, according to Lebanese media.

It was not immediately clear how many people would be affected by the Israeli orders. Communities on both sides of the border have largely emptied out because of the near-daily exchanges of fire.

Israel has accused Hezbollah of transforming entire communities in the south into militant bases, with hidden rocket launchers and other infrastructure. That could lead it to wage an especially heavy bombing campaign, even if no ground forces move in.

Israel carried out dozens of airstrikes on southern Lebanon early Monday.

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed eight Palestinians, including five children.

A girl and her parents were killed in a strike on a school sheltering displaced people in central Gaza early Monday. The girl’s two siblings were wounded.

Israel has struck several such schools-turned-shelters, saying militants hide out in them.

Another strike hit a home near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central town of Deir al-Balah, killing a mother and her four children, aged 4 to 8.

The casualties from both strikes were described in hospital records, and an Associated Press reporter saw the bodies.

Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians but rarely comments on individual strikes.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says over 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. It does not say how many were fighters. It says a little over half were women and children.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting around 250. Around 100 of the captives are still being held in Gaza, and a third of them are believed to be dead.

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has announced it will provide an additional 10 million Australian dollars ($6.8 million) in aid to Gaza, bringing the total since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7 last year to AU$82.5 million ($56.2 million).

A government statement said on Monday the new money would focus on women and children. It would be provided through the United Nations Population Fund, a sexual and reproductive health agency, and the U.N. agency responsible for aiding children, UNICEF.

“Australia continues to push for safe, rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance to people in desperate need, and for all aid workers to be protected,” the statement said.

MUWASI, Gaza Strip — As the first rain of the cool season starts to fall in the Gaza Strip, displaced Palestinians living in the sprawling Muwasi tent camp are struggling to cope with flooding that is exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Some children are entertained by the novelty of walking barefoot in the ankle-deep water, but their parents are less amused. The adults try to save what they can from their family's tents. One mother tries to dry her temporary home with a mop.

“We woke up in the morning to find the tents with rainwater pouring on us, and water from the streets entering on us,” said Rana Goza’t, a displaced person from Gaza City. “This is the beginning of winter. What will happen in the coming days?”

Suhail Al-Barawi, a displaced person from Beit Lahiya, was helping to build sand barriers to prevent more flooding in the camp.

“People wish for rain," he said, "and we say, ‘Oh God, do not give us rain.’”

The nearly yearlong war between Israel and Hamas has displaced 90% of Palestinians in Gaza, according to the United Nations.

Israel’s defense minister says recent attacks on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon are a step toward facilitating the return of displaced Israelis to their homes in the north of the country.

Speaking Sunday evening after visiting the military’s Northern Command headquarters, Yoav Gallant described the recent air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut as “significant, important and powerful.”

He says Israel will take all necessary measures to ensure “the safe return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes.”

Israeli attacks since Friday have killed dozens in Lebanon, including a veteran Hezbollah commander. Hezbollah responded with more than 100 missile attacks in northern Israel early Sunday, sending hundreds of thousands of Israelis into air raid shelters.

Gallant says: “The past week has been the most difficult in the history of Hezbollah’s existence —especially over the past day.”

A Palestinian child wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip is treated in a hospital in Deir al-Balah, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Palestinians mourn their relatives, including kids killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, outside a morgue in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Mourners transport the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip during their funeral in Deir al-Balah, Gaza, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli army jeeps move into the West Bank city of Nablus during a raid, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024,(AP Photo/Majdi Mohammed).

An emergency worker speaks on the phone during rescue efforts at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A couple try to salvage some of their belongings from a damaged apartment at the site of Friday's Israeli strike in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

A Hezbollah supporter carries a Palestinian flag near a picture of Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Akil, during Akil's funeral procession in Beirut's southern suburb, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Khiam village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Smoke rises from an Israeli airstrike on Kfar Rouman village, as seen from Marjayoun town, south Lebanon, Monday, Sept. 23, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)