The New York Times morning Briefing - October 17, 2024 - by Natasha Frost - covering the latest from the U.S. election and Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

 

October 17, 2024

	By Natasha Frost

Good morning. We’re covering the latest from the U.S. election and Israeli strikes in Lebanon.

Plus: Liam Payne, a former member of One Direction, has died in Buenos Aires.

Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Philadelphia on Wednesday. Ruth Fremson/The New York Times

Kamala Harris’s heated interview with Fox News

With 20 days to the election, Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are seeking to peel away support from each other’s political bases: Harris with Republicans, and Trump with Latino voters.

Harris sat for a contentious interview on Fox News last night, in which the host pressed her on key Republican issues, including immigration, the threat from Iran and her ties to President Biden. “My presidency will not be a continuation of Joe Biden’s presidency,” she responded. Read why she participated in the interview.

In a recorded town-hall event that aired on Univision, Trump minimized the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, often skirted questions and avoided mentioning his promise to undertake the largest deportation operation in American history.

Your questions: We asked Adam Liptak, who covers the Supreme Court, this question from a reader. (Send us your questions here.)

What scenario could lead to the presidential race being contested where the Supreme Court of the United States would get involved? — Stephanie, Calabasas, Calif.

Adam: There are countless ways in which the outcome of the election could effectively be decided by the Supreme Court, but almost all of them hinge on three factors in combination: a very tight race in one or more battleground states that could determine the national result where voting procedures are open to plausible legal challenge.

All those factors were present in Bush v. Gore, the 2000 decision that delivered the presidency to George W. Bush. They may recur this year, but that is hardly certain, as the 2020 election demonstrated. That year, in a brisk and dismissive order, the Supreme Court refused to throw out the results in four battleground states that Trump had lost. There is little reason to think the court is eager to get involved this year, either.

Indeed, some justices may be reminded of the election administrator’s prayer: “Lord, let this election not be close.”

More on the U.S. election Americans head to the polls in less than three weeks. Republicans who have questioned the 2020 election results are running for Congress. If they win, they’ll play a role in certifying this year’s presidential election. Donald Trump has made courting younger voters, particularly men, a public pillar of his 2024 campaign. But he is conspicuously absent from Snapchat, a platform of choice for many. Both candidates are trying to address the gender gap — specifically, that men favor Trump while women prefer Harris. Their approaches could not be more different. Former President Jimmy Carter, 100, voted by mail in Georgia. He had told his family that he wanted to vote for Harris before he died. From Opinion: The estimated 4.4 million Americans who live overseas are an overlooked constituency that could pack a surprising political punch. Do you have questions about the election? Send them to us, and we’ll find the answers.

Rescue workers with a body bag on Wednesday at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Qana, southern Lebanon. Mohammad Zaatari/Associated Press

Israel struck near Beirut for the first time in days

Israel’s military carried out airstrikes yesterday in Hezbollah-dominated areas in southern Lebanon and outside Beirut. At least 16 people were killed and more than 50 were injured, Lebanese officials said. The Israeli military said that it had struck Hezbollah targets in and around Nabatieh, which many residents have fled after recent Israeli evacuation warnings.

It comes a day after the U.S. said that it had expressed concerns about the scale of Israel’s weekslong bombardment. “When it comes to the scope and nature of the bombing campaign that we saw in Beirut over the past few weeks, it’s something that we made clear to the government of Israel we had concerns with and we are opposed to,” Matthew Miller, a State Department spokesman, said on Tuesday.

In other news from the war:

Israel has made no official response to a public warning from the U.S. of consequences if it does not allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza. Fifty aid trucks reportedly entered northern Gaza yesterday, a fraction of what aid agencies say is needed. The U.N. human rights office called for an investigation into an Israeli airstrike that killed at least 21 people in a village in northern Lebanon. The Israeli Supreme Court ordered the Israeli government to explain why there appeared to be no comprehensive system to evacuate sick civilians in Gaza to other countries for treatment.

A pro-surrogacy news conference in Rome on Tuesday. Alessandra Tarantino/Associated Press

Italy criminalized surrogacy from abroad

In a blow to gay fathers and couples facing infertility, Italy passed a law that puts those seeking surrogacy abroad at risk of prison sentences and large fines. The conservative government said the move would protect women’s dignity; critics see it as yet another crackdown on L.G.B.T. families.

Surrogacy is already illegal in Italy. But under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the government has vowed to broaden the ban to punish Italians who seek it in countries where it is legal. Still, the law is so far-reaching that it was unclear if it could withstand legal challenges.

Context: Meloni’s conservative political base disproportionately opposes surrogacy and adoption by gay couples. Italy, within which the Vatican lies, already ranks low in Europe on civil liberties.

MORE TOP NEWS

Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

Pop music: Liam Payne, 31, who came to fame as a member of the best-selling British boy band One Direction, died after a fall at a hotel in Buenos Aires, the police said. Hunger: Amid water shortages, the world’s food supply is under threat, according to new research. Ukraine: President Volodymyr Zelensky pitched a “victory plan,” which he said could end the war by next year, to Parliament. The U.S. announced $425 million in military aid. Nigeria: A fuel tanker overturned and exploded, killing more than 150 people, many of whom had gathered to scoop up spilled gasoline. North Korea: Pyongyang has been sending military engineers and soldiers to fight alongside Russian troops in Ukraine, according to Ukrainian officials. Taiwan: Military exercises this week showed how China is honing its ability to choke off the island’s access to food and fuel. Health: A study from Denmark found that women using certain hormonal IUDs are at increased risk of breast cancer. Canada: Facing internal revolt, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attacked both the Conservative opposition and India’s government.

What Else Is Happening

Andrzej Iwanczuk/NurPhoto, via Shutterstock

Chess: A top player was expelled from an event after being accused of cheating by using a phone during bathroom breaks.

Tech: Companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon are increasingly looking to nuclear energy to power artificial intelligence and other businesses. Luxury goods: Shares in LVMH dropped after the conglomerate warned about an “uncertain economic and geopolitical environment.” Crime: Paul Lowe, an award-winning British photojournalist, was fatally stabbed in Los Angeles. His 19-year-old son has been charged with murder. Wine fraud: A criminal network in Europe is accused of selling counterfeit bottles of Grand Cru vintages at eye-watering prices. Fashion: When NASA sends a group of astronauts to the moon on the Artemis III mission in 2026, they will be wearing Prada.

SPORTS NEWS

Tennis: Saudi Arabia’s coveted Masters 1000 tennis tournament has stalled as Six Kings arrives in Riyadh. Formula 1: Why the ill-fated Dallas Grand Prix left a searing impression. Mountain biking: Historically, only men were invited to the Red Bull Rampage, the sport’s most lucrative competition. This year, women shared in the adrenaline and the prizes.

MORNING READ

Kristian Thacker for The New York Times

A colossal sugar maple on Daryln Brewer Hoffstot’s farm in western Pennsylvania had for well over a century offered a majestic canopy for birds and children. But as it slowly succumbed to disease, the time came to cut it down.

Instead of burning the remnants of the tree, Hoffstot decided it should live on in a different form. So she had bowls made from the maple wood. “Now, instead of gazing up at the tree, I can hold her in my hands,” she wrote.

Lives lived: The Finnish composer and conductor Leif Segerstam, whose hundreds of symphonies were as mysterious as his pronouncements about them, died last week at 80.

CONVERSATION STARTERS

Uncomfortable encounters: The Norwegian journalist Kjersti Flaa’s awkward old interviews with Blake Lively and Anne Hathaway have blown up online. Brutalist reality: Paul Rudolph was an architectural star. Now he’s a cautionary tale. Victoria’s Secret: The lingerie brand’s superstar-studded fashion show is back. It feels like a relic, our chief fashion critic writes. Social Q’s: A reader’s male partner cheated on her with her gay best friend. What should she do?

ARTS AND IDEAS

Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

When populism and national soccer collide

England’s soccer team has a new coach. Thomas Tuchel will lead the team until the end of the 2026 World Cup, the Football Association announced yesterday.

The sporting logic behind the appointment, which has been described as Britain’s second-most-important job, is impeccable: Tuchel has coached several of the world’s most prominent clubs. But some Britons and a few tabloids are outraged at the hiring of not just a foreigner, but a citizen of Germany, one of England’s great rivals in sports and otherwise.

“It’s the biggest job in world football,” Tuchel, above center, told reporters. “I am sorry that I have a German passport, but I give the greatest respect to the country.”

RECOMMENDATIONS

Linda Xiao for The New York Times

Cook: We gave cheesy beans a fiery glow-up.

Listen: Amelia Dimoldenberg, the host of “Chicken Shop Date,” has tips on flirting on our Modern Love podcast.

Read: These are the books about nonmonogamy that therapists recommend.

Watch: A new Netflix documentary, “Sweet Bobby,” tells a sinister tale of a decade-long online romance scam.

Cope: Fear of flying affects millions of people. Read tips for relieving the stress.

Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today’s Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here.

That’s it for today’s briefing. See you tomorrow. — Natasha