First Thing: Fresh Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon as UN chief says it cannot ‘become another Gaza’

Lebanese minister says only Washington can help end the fighting. Plus, Missouri executes Marcellus ‘Khaliifah’ Williams

Good morning.

Israel began a third day of strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, as Lebanon’s foreign minister said only Washington could help end the fighting.

Israel’s offensive since Monday morning has killed at least 569 people in Lebanon, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835, the health minister, Firass Abiad, said. Monday represented the highest death toll in a single day in Lebanon since the civil war of 1975-90.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah confirmed the senior commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, was among six people killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in Beirut on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Hezbollah said it had launched a rocket targeting the Mossad headquarters near Tel Aviv, but the Israeli military said it had intercepted the missile.

Israel’s offensive against Hezbollah has stoked fears that nearly a year of conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is escalating and could destabilise the Middle East.

The conflict is growing out of control: Up to half a million people are estimated to have been displaced by Israel’s attacks, according to Lebanese officials, as displaced families slept in makeshift shelters, cars, parks or along the seaside. Israel said attacks would continue.

World leaders are pleading for restraint: The UN secretary general, António Guterres, said: “Lebanon is at the brink. The people of Lebanon – the people of Israel – and the people of the world – cannot afford Lebanon to become another Gaza.” President Joe Biden said a diplomatic solution was still possible.

But Lebanon’s foreign minister said only the US could pressure Israel into de-escalation: Abdallah Bou Habib said the US – Israel’s strongest ally and biggest arms supplier – was the only country “that can really make a difference in the Middle East”.

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Zelenskyy appeals to global south to help ‘force Russia into peace’

In a forceful speech to the UN security council, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has called on a broad alliance of nations to “force Russia into peace”, saying that Vladimir Putin had violated the foundations of the UN.

“This war can’t be conquered by talks,” Zelenskyy said. “Action is needed … Putin has broken so many international laws and rules that he won’t stop. Russia can only be forced into peace, and that is exactly what’s needed, forcing Russia into peace as the sole aggressor in this war, the sole violator of the UN charter.”

Zelenskyy will travel to the White House this week to meet with Biden and discuss his roadmap to end the war with greater western support.

What did Antony Blinken say about the conflict? At the UN security council meeting, the US secretary of state said the body’s priority must be halting Russia’s growing cooperation with Iran and North Korea. He accused both countries of providing arms that have allowed Russia to sustain its war.

Man charged with attempting to assassinate Trump at Florida golf club

A man accused of lurking outside Donald Trump’s south Florida golf course with a gun on 15 September – and allegedly writing about his desire to kill him – was charged on Tuesday with attempted assassination.

Ryan Wesley Routh, 58, was indicted on five counts in south Florida’s federal court: attempted assassination of a major political candidate, possessing a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence, assaulting a federal officer, felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.

Authorities believe Routh staked out the golf course for a month before the alleged attempt on Trump’s life.

What did the US attorney general say? “The justice department will not tolerate violence that strikes at the heart of our democracy, and we will find and hold accountable those who perpetrate it. This must stop,” Merrick Garland said.

In other news …

Missouri executed Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned and have supported his claims of innocence.

Egypt sent a second arms shipment to Somalia’s federal government in the space of a month, drawing criticism from Ethiopia amid rising tensions in the Horn of Africa.

A leading Chinese economist at a government thinktank has reportedly disappeared, after being disciplined for criticizing President Xi Jinping in a private chat group.

Stat of the day: Rich countries could raise $5tn of climate finance a year, study says

Rich countries could raise five times the money that poor countries are demanding in climate finance, through windfall taxes on fossil fuels, ending harmful subsidies and a wealth tax on billionaires, according to research from Oil Change International. A wealth tax could generate $483bn globally, while a financial transaction tax could raise $327bn, it said.

Don’t miss this: ‘Partying was my personality – until I helped my 16-year-old sister give birth’

“I watched in awe, shock and utter incomprehension as my baby sister brought my indescribably perfect baby nephew into the world, all by herself. In the preceding months, she had taught me so much about resilience, self-reliance and strength,” Emily Usher writes, helping veer her off a path of recklessness.

Climate check: Global heating ‘doubled’ chance of extreme rain in Europe in September

Planet-heating pollution doubled the chance of the extreme levels of rain that hammered central Europe and caused deadly floods in September, a study from World Weather Attribution found. “If humans keep filling the atmosphere with fossil fuel emissions, the situation will be more severe,” one co-author said.

Last Thing: ‘Some men tend to jump straight to innuendoes’ – dating app users on why they quit

Some dating companies have faced business struggles recently, with Match Group this year announcing an 8% slump in paying Tinder users. The Guardian heard from people on why they had quit dating apps. Some men “tend to jump straight to innuendoes and try to sway the conversation in a direction I don’t want it to go,” one said.

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