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Israel says attack hits Iran-backed Hezbollah’s intel unit as Lebanon puts two-week death toll over 2,000

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A fierce round of new Israeli airstrikes pummeled buildings in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital overnight, with Israel’s military saying Friday that it had targeted another headquarters of the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The strike came hours before Iran said its foreign minister had arrived in Beirut — the first visit by a senior Iranian official to Lebanon since the killing of Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah’s longtime leader, and Iran’s Oct. 1 missile attack, for which Israel has vowed to retaliate.

Lebanese media suggested the target could have been a senior Hezbollah figure considered a potential successor to Nasrallah, who was assassinated in a similar Israeli strike in Beirut exactly one week ago.

NOTE: This article includes an image of a dead child that may disturb some readers.

The Reuters news agency cited Lebanon’s health ministry as saying Friday morning that at least 37 people had been killed and 151 others wounded by Israeli strikes in the country over the preceding 24 hours.

Aftermath of Israeli strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs
A view of the damage in the aftermath of an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Oct. 4, 2024.

Ahmad Al-Kerdi/REUTERS


Five days of Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon, near Israel’s northern border, and two weeks of airstrikes in that region and in southern Beirut — both Hezbollah strongholds — had killed more than 2,000 people, the health ministry said. More than 1 million people have been driven from their homes, including tens of thousands under Israel evacuation orders in almost 100 towns and villages near the border.

The blasts in Beirut’s southern suburbs overnight sent huge fireballs and plumes of smoke rising over the city. Lebanon’s state news agency said at least 10 consecutive strikes hit buildings in the southern suburb of Dahiyeh. 

The Israel Defense Forces said it had targeted the “Hezbollah central intelligence headquarters,” but the country’s Army Radio network said the IDF was still working to determine whether any senior members of the group had been killed in the strikes.

Israel stepped up its assault on Hezbollah — long designated a terrorist organization by the U.S., Israel and many other nations — two weeks ago, vowing to push the well-entrenched group’s fighters and weapons back far enough from the border to stop a near-daily hail of rockets and drones targeting Israel. 

Hezbollah started launching those attacks in support of its ideological ally Hamas, which is also backed by Iran, the day after Hamas sparked the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7, 2023 terrorist attack on Israel. The IDF says Hezbollah militants have fired over 10,000 rockets across the border since Oct. 8, 2023. The vast majority of them have been intercepted by Israel’s advanced missile defense systems.

Ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces in Lebanon
Smoke and flames rise over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Sin El Fil, Lebanon, Oct. 3, 2024.

Amr Abdallah Dalsh/REUTERS


Among those killed in Lebanon this week was U.S. national Kamal Ahmed Jawad, from Dearborn, Michigan. His family has said he was a volunteer who was killed in an airstrike in southern Lebanon.

The White House said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened” by Jawad’s death.

The U.S. government has warned Americans not to travel to Lebanon since mid-September, and urged any citizens in the country to leave via commercial travel routes. The government has been helping to organize seats on flights out of Lebanon for American citizens, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said earlier this week, as other nations book charter flights and make plans for potential evacuations.

Another Israeli airstrike cut off a main highway connecting Lebanon and neighboring Syria, Lebanese state media said Friday. Tens of thousands of people fleeing the fighting have crossed into Syria since Israel started expanding its military operations in Lebanon.

An Israeli military spokesperson said earlier that Hezbollah had been trying to move military equipment across the border into Lebanon via the highway that was reportedly struck on Friday. Hezbollah is believed to have obtained many of its weapons from Iran via Syria, according to The Associated Press.

israel-map-middle-east.jpg
A map shows Israel and the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, and Israel’s borders with neighboring nations Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula (not labelled) to the southwest.

Getty/iStockphoto


Lebanese officials have said most of the roughly half dozen crossings between Lebanon and Syria remain open. 

The skyrocketing casualties are pushing Lebanon’s already-frail health care system to the brink. At least 40 paramedics and firefighters have been killed in the Israeli strikes over the past three days alone, according to Lebanon’s health minister. That includes about half a dozen medics killed in a strike late Wednesday night that hit a central Beirut office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated with Hezbollah.

The rapidly escalating violence in Lebanon comes weeks after Israel announced a deliberate shift of its military focus to that northern front, but the IDF has continued its operations in the Palestinian territories, too. 

An IDF airstrike overnight in Tulkarem, in the northern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, killed 18 people, according to Palestinian officials. Israel has carried out a number of significant raids in the West Bank, including in Tulkarem, over the last year, usually saying the targets are Hamas fighters or commanders.

18 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike on Tulkarem refugee camp in West Bank
 A Palestinian man mourns next to the body of his child, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, at the Sabit State Hospital morgue, in Tulkarem, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, Oct. 4, 2024.

Stringer/Anadolu/Getty


The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said at least 678 Palestinians were killed by Israeli military operations in the West Bank between Oct. 7, 2023 and the end of September 2024, while 12 others were killed by Israeli settlers.

President Biden has backed Israel’s right to respond “in proportion” to Iran’s recent missile attack, but he’s also said more must be done to prevent the close ally’s fight with Iran’s so-called proxy groups from spreading into a wider war in the Middle East. Despite repeated U.S. calls for cease-fires, however, neither Israel, nor Hezbollah or Hamas, have shown any inclination to back down yet.





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Missing Utah soldier’s wife tells informant she shot husband in his sleep and buried his body, police say

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A Utah woman has been arrested for investigation of murder after she told a confidential informant that she shot her estranged husband in his sleep and buried him in a shallow grave but did not disclose the location, police said.

Jennifer Gledhill, 41 of Cottonwood Heights, was arrested Wednesday and is jailed in Salt Lake County without bond, according to court records.

The body of Matthew Johnson, 51, had not been found as of Thursday, police said. The Utah National Guard member was reportedly shot late Sept. 20 or early Sept. 21, the informant told police Sept. 28 – six days after Gledhill “openly admitted” to killing Johnson, police records said.

Gledhill said she shot Johnson on the bed, buried his body and removed items from the house and destroyed them to cover up the crime, the informant said.

A search of the house found a bloodstain on the carpet under the bed and blood on the bed frame. 

According to CBS affiliate KUTV, the reporting officer added: “Evidence also supports that significant clean up had taken place after this crime had occurred, including bleaching walls, and using carpet cleaning supplies.”

Johnson has had no contact with anyone since Sept. 20, and he did not report to work Sept. 23, officials said. Investigators believe he is dead.

Other court records indicate the couple was going through a contentious divorce and a custody dispute involving their three children. Gledhill had obtained a temporary protective order against Johnson in late August, but a permanent order was denied Sept. 16 – just days before the shooting – after the court commissioner watched videos that Gledhill had taken of arguments and reviewed text message exchanges between the two.

One such video apparently showed Johnson “rather calmly” cleaning up glass from a broken family photo, KUTV reported.

“(Gledhill) presents as eager to record the incident, demonstrating no fear of (Johnson) whatsoever,” Commissioner Russell Minas wrote.

Minas determined that no abuse had occurred. Glehill was equally confrontational, Minas said, and seeking a restraining order appeared to be “a litigation tactic” in their pending divorce, which had been filed in July.

“The conduct of the parties over the past several months is representative of a highly dysfunctional marriage bringing out the worst in the parties – clearly suggestive that an action for divorce should have been filed long before reaching the current state of affairs,” Minas wrote.

Gledhill’s attorneys in the restraining order and divorce cases declined to comment Thursday. No attorney is listed for her in court records.

Johnson and Gledhill had been scheduled to appear in court for divorce proceedings at the end of this month, KUTV reported.





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Woman who accused Corey Lewandowski of assault speaks out: “I don’t want this to happen to anyone else”

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The political class barely shrugged in August when Corey Lewandowski announced he was back at former President Donald Trump’s side. But when Trashelle Odom learned that Lewandowski had joined Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign as a senior adviser, it was a gut punch. That’s because a little over three years ago, in 2021, Odom, then the wife of a wealthy Republican donor, had reported Lewandowski to the police for allegedly assaulting and stalking her at a Las Vegas charity event. Later, she said his lawyers offered her payment to keep quiet. 

Lewandowski, who was Trump’s first campaign manager, was charged with misdemeanor battery and reached an agreement with prosecutors to dismiss the charges in exchange for community service, a $1,000 fine, enrollment in an impulse control class and an apology in court to Odom for “any discomfort he may have caused her.” Lewandowski was ousted from Trump’s orbit, where he’d been running a super PAC supporting the former president. A Trump spokesman vowed at the time that Lewandowski “would no longer be associated with Trump world.”  

In response to a request for comment, lawyers for Lewandowski, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, stated, “Lewandowski was not charged with assault or stalking in Clark County, Nevada. In fact, the case against Mr. Lewandowski was dismissed.”

Odom said his dismissal put her on a path to healing. She divorced, moved to another state, left the world of politics and started a small business while raising her young children.  

So when a friend called her last month to tell her Lewandowski was back in the Trump fold, she told CBS News she was stunned.  

“I just broke down,” she said in her first television interview since Lewandowski’s return. “I was very, very upset.” Odom said she wanted others to hear her story. “He has his power back,” she said. 

Lewandowski’s aggressive style and penchant for personal peccadilloes made for a turbulent tenure in Trump’s orbit. But Trump has stayed loyal to Lewandowksi, bringing him back into his inner circle after he was fired twice, once by the campaign and once by the super PAC Make America Great Again Action. 

The longtime political strategist, who once served as a New Hampshire state trooper, rose to prominence for his role in catapulting Trump — a longshot candidate — all the way to the White House. Since the 2016 election, he’s been described as a kind of comfort pillow for Trump. He is someone who encourages the former president’s more extreme instincts, even when other aides are looking to rein him in. 

“Let Trump be Trump” is Lewandowski’s mantra — and the name of a book he co-wrote in 2017 with Dave Bossie, Trump’s former deputy campaign manager.   

“I just like him,” Trump recently told New York magazine. “Corey’s a character.” Lewandowski faced scrutiny for his treatment of women almost from the start. During the 2016 campaign, CCTV footage showed him grabbing a journalist’s arm following a press conference. Images from the video showed she had bruises on her arm. Lewandowski was charged with simple battery, but prosecutors ultimately dropped the charges. 

Lewandowski’s lawyers said in response to the allegation that the matter “was concluded long ago with Florida authorities electing not to pursue charges after completing their investigation.”

In 2017, a woman told police that Lewandowski slapped her behind during a holiday party at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. She objected, according to the police report, but Lewandowski ignored her disapproval and did it again.  

“It was completely demeaning and shocking,” she told Politico, but in the end, she declined to press charges.  

Odom said she’d hoped to never have to publicly revisit the memories. But after learning that Lewandowski had returned to Trump’s side, she told CBS News she felt compelled to come forward and tell her story. She said she wanted to “give a voice” to women who may have had similar experiences but can’t speak up. 

“I want them to feel safe, and I don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” she said. 

She described what happened to her that evening as terrifying and at times during the interview fought back tears. Lewandowski, Odom said, made her feel uncomfortable from the moment she sat down next to him.  

“He was targeting just me. His eyes were just on me,” she said.  He quickly turned the conversation to his workout routines and bragged about his sexual prowess. “He said that I should go work out with him in his bedroom …and he was saying how large his privates were and saying how long he lasts in bed because of how much he works out.”

Soon, according to Odom, Lewandwowski began touching her.  “He was … putting his hands, like on my lap,” and he attempted to “just caress my leg and like going up my side and like, trying to touch my butt.” She said when she left the dinner, Lewandowski followed her through the hotel.  

“I felt like I was his prey,” she said. “He was very persistent, aggressive.” At one point, she said Lewandowski threw his drink at her. When she confronted him about it, “he started laughing,” Odom recalled.  

Odom, now 35, was exposed to the political world through her now ex-husband, John Odom, a Boise, Idaho, construction executive who gave generously to Trump’s reelection effort. But she said she doesn’t want her story to be caught up in the political maelstrom. 

“I don’t want it to be about Trump. I don’t want it to be about politics,” she said.

And yet, she is speaking out just a month before the presidential election, at a time when Trump is facing a historic gender gap with his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. According to CBS News’ most recent polling, Harris leads Trump among women, 55% to 44%. Well aware of the deficit, Trump has been courting women voters. He recently took to social media to make the case that women would be far better off if he were to win the presidency, rather than Harris.  

“I will protect women at a level never seen before,” he boasted on Truth Social. “They will finally be healthy, hopeful, safe, and secure.” 

But Trump, of course, has his own baggage when it comes to the treatment of women. Trump has been accused of sexual misconduct by no fewer than 20 women over the years, allegations that he has denied. And last year he was held liable for sexual abuse in a civil case brought by magazine journalist E. Jean Carroll (Trump is appealing the verdict). 

Meanwhile, evidence has emerged that the Trump campaign has paid money to women to bury their accusations. A July filing in a gender discrimination case against the 2016 Trump campaign included text messages from former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis alleging that the campaign settled multiple sexual harassment cases. For her part, Odom revealed in her CBS News interview that Lewandowski’s lawyers had offered her more than $30,000 to keep the episode confidential. She rejected the offer. 

A few days after Odom accused Lewandowski of sexually harassing her, she got a call from Trump, who himself has been found guilty in a “hush money” case. 

During their conversation, Trump alleged that Lewandowski had been drunk. Odom said she appreciated the call. Donald Trump Jr. called, as well, expressing his regret over what had happened to her.  

“He was very kind and said things to make me feel like Corey would not be there anymore,” Odom said.

The Trump campaign has not responded to a request for comment.

Since Lewandowki has been back, he’s been given a public-facing role, defending Trump and driving the campaign’s message in multiple TV interviews. He has not been asked about Odom’s accusation. Odom, for her part, never wanted to go on television to talk about what happened to her that night in Las Vegas, but she said she felt she had no choice. She believes Lewandowski has not changed. 

“If I can give just a little bit to one person, me speaking up is worth it,” she said through tears.



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Are trending “cortisol cocktails” really helpful for stress and weight loss?

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The internet’s current obsession with cortisol has prompted a new trending concoction dubbed the “cortisol cocktail” that users claim can reduce stress and even help with weight loss.

Also referred to as an “adrenal cocktail,” the drink has some variations across social media but mainly consists of orange or lemon juice, coconut water and a bit of sea salt. 

Experts say there’s no evidence this drink can significantly reduce stress or weight by lowering cortisol levels, but the ingredients do offer some nutritional benefits that may give drinkers a boost.

“As soon as I saw the ingredients, I was like, this looks remarkably similar to a sports drink you would mix up,” Lindsay Malone, an integrative and functional medicine dietitian and nutrition instructor at Case Western Reserve University, told CBS News. “Juice, sodium, some potassium, so a little bit of sugar, some electrolytes in a fluid… I just wonder, if some of the benefits are just that, generally, people are dehydrated, and so maybe they get a little blood sugar boost, and then also some electrolytes to rehydrate them. Maybe that’s part of the pull for this.”

What is cortisol? 

“Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress and plays a key role in regulating metabolism, inflammation, blood sugar levels and even sleep-wake cycles,” said Avery Zenker, a registered dietitian . 

Cortisol often gets a bad reputation, she said, but it’s essential for survival. 

“The key is balancing it effectively rather than attempting to eliminate it. Cortisol levels should naturally change and cycle through the day, ideally with a spike in the morning to help us feel awake and ready to go, and lower in the evening when it’s time for sleep,” Zender said. 

Since hormone levels are constantly changing, the idea of a “hormone imbalance” is kind of misleading, said Christine Byrne, dietitian and owner of Ruby Oak Nutrition.

“If you think there’s something wrong with your hormone levels, it’s so, so important to seek the help of an endocrinologist instead of trying to do your own research to diagnose and treat yourself,” Byrne said. “Lots of influencers and wellness companies prey off people with difficult-to-diagnose symptoms by blaming these symptoms on vague problems like hormone imbalance or adrenal fatigue, then selling a supposed solution. But most of this stuff isn’t evidence-based or thoroughly tested.”

Does the adrenal cocktail recipe lower cortisol levels? 

“The cortisol cocktail is one of these wellness trends that might sound appealing to people who are looking for a solution to a difficult health problem like stress, but there’s just no backing behind it,” Byrne said. 

So while people shouldn’t look at the mixture as a miracle cure for stress or weight loss, Malone said the drink is harmless to try and contains ingredients that do have some nutritional benefits. 

For example, orange juice contains vitamin C which help support the immune system, coconut water is hydrating and contains potassium (as does cream of tartar, another often featured ingredient of the mix) and sea salt can replenish sodium levels when electrolytes are low.

But, you can get these benefits from other avenues like whole foods, which can have additional benefts. Fruit juice and coconut water, for example, are high in sugar and lack fiber compared with whole fruit, Zenker said.

Most people get enough sodium, Malone said, but potassium can be found in fruits and vegetables and magnesium, another electrolyte, is found in whole grains and legumes.

How to lower stress, lose weight

While stress can influence weight and body composition, it’s important to remember there are multiple factors at play when it comes to lowering stress or losing weight — not something achieved solely through a daily dose of a “cortisol cocktail” or other trendy cure-all.

“For most people, the bottom line is not moving enough and eating too many calories,” Malone said of weight loss.

And the best way to support healthy cortisol levels? A balanced approach, Zenker said, including a nutritious diet, regular exercise, staying hydrated, quality sleep and managing stress. 

“For most people, focusing on these things is more significant than making a specific beverage,” she said. 



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