TV News LIES

At least eight people were killed and more than 2,700 injured, many of them Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters, when the handheld pagers they use to communicate exploded, Lebanon's health minister said Tuesday.

Firass Abiad said in a news conference that the blasts took place in several suburbs of Beirut, according to Lebanon's National News Agency. He said many of the victims had injuries to their faces, hands and stomachs.

He said one of those killed was an 8-year-old girl.

The direct cause of the explosions, which appeared to take place simultaneously at 3:30 p.m., was not immediately clear, though Hezbollah quickly blamed Israel for what it called its "sinful aggression."

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An intense storm system drenched parts of North Carolina in "historic rainfall," inundating highways and stranding drivers as flash-flood watches continued Tuesday in the southeastern part of the state.

The storm, which did not get organized enough to be given a name, dissipated Tuesday but still brought heavy rain to parts of southeastern Virginia, also triggering flash-flood watches.

The low pressure system dropped levels of rain seen once every 1,000 years on some areas of southeastern North Carolina. Carolina Beach, a coastal town around 10 miles south of Wilmington, saw more than 18 inches within 12 hours, according to the National Weather Service. Other nearby towns received more than 12 inches of rain in that period, flooding dozens of roads in the area. Wind gusts of up to 77 mph also battered the state's coastline, according to Weather.com.

Carolina Beach and the town of Oak Island, around 30 miles south of Wilmington, both declared an emergency in response to Monday's flooding, which forced road closures, damaged buildings and stranded.

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Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes killed 16 people in the Gaza Strip on Monday, including five women and four children.

A strike flattened a home in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least 10 people there, including four women and two children. The Awda Hospital, which received the bodies, confirmed the toll and also said 13 people were wounded. Hospital records show that the dead included a mother, her child and her five siblings.

Another strike on a home in Gaza City killed six people, including a woman and two children, according to the Civil Defense, first responders who operate under the Hamas-run government.

Israel says it only targets militants and accuses Hamas and other armed groups of endangering civilians by operating in residential areas. The military rarely comments on individual strikes, which often kill women and children.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the country’s military to increase its number of troops by 180,000, the third time he has expanded its ranks since launching his invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The increase would take the overall number of Russian military personnel to nearly 2.4 million, including 1.5 million troops, according to the decree published by the Kremlin Monday. The new staffing will come into effect in December, it said.

An American pastor jailed in China for more than 18 years has been released this week, according to the State Department on Monday.

68-year-old David Lin, a naturalized US citizen, had gone back to the country of his birth in 2006, after applying for permission from the Chinese government to open a Christian church building there.

But he was detained shortly afterwards and was handed a life sentence in 2009 for contract fraud, a charge Lin and his family deny.

Tito Jackson, who alongside four of his brothers formed the beloved and hugely popular band the Jackson 5, has died at age 70.

His sons — Taj, Taryll and TJ — announced his death early Monday on the Instagram page belonging to their R&B band, 3T. They did not specify how, where or when Jackson died.

“Our father was an incredible man who cared about everyone and their well-being,” they wrote. “Some of you may know him as Tito Jackson from the legendary Jackson 5, some may know him as ‘Coach Tito’ or some know him as ‘Poppa T.’ Nevertheless, he will be missed tremendously.”

Born in Gary, Ind. on October 15, 1953, Toriano Adaryll Jackson grew up the third of nine siblings, all of whom eventually started careers in music or other entertainment.

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Election officials in at least five states were sent suspicious packages Monday, according to officials from each state.

There were no reports that the packages contained hazardous material, and the FBI and U.S. Postal Service confirmed they are investigating the incident, The Associated Press (AP) reported.

The Hill has reached out to both agencies for comment.

Packages with powder-like substances were sent to secretaries of states and election offices in Nebraska, Tennessee, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Iowa, the AP said.

Robert F Kennedy Jr’s name will remain on the ballot in the swing state of Wisconsin, a judge ruled on Monday.

Dane county circuit judge Stephen Ehlke ruled that Wisconsin law clearly states presidential candidates who have submitted nomination papers can’t be removed from the ballot unless they die. Kennedy’s campaign submitted nomination papers before the state’s 6 August deadline.

“The statute is plain on its face,” Ehlke said, adding later: “Mr Kennedy has no one to blame but himself if he didn’t want to be on the ballot.”

Time is running out for Kennedy to get his name off the Wisconsin ballot. County clerks face a Wednesday deadline to print ballots and distribute them to more than 1,800 local officials in cities, towns and villages who run elections.

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