NTD News Today

President Joe Biden underscored the importance of alliances and U.S. support for Ukraine in its war with Russia in his final address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. Biden said the United States must not retreat from the world, as Israel and the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon edge toward all-out war and the conflict with Hamas terrorists in Gaza nears the one-year mark.

GOP presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump is holding a campaign event in Savannah, Georgia, on Tuesday, where he intends to discuss the tax code and U.S. manufacturing. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris's husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, will speak at campaign events in Austin, Texas. Harris is scheduled to visit Pittsburgh on Wednesday.

Tropical Storm Helene is forming in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. Residents of Florida are bracing for what could become the strongest hurricane to hit the United States so far this season.

The man accused of hiding out with a gun near Donald Trump's Florida golf course in an apparent bid to kill the former president wrote a letter months earlier describing an "assassination attempt" and offering a bounty on Trump's life, U.S. prosecutors said on Monday (September 23). Ryan Routh appeared at a hearing on Monday in which prosecutors will ask a judge to keep him in jail until his trial. In a court filing released before the hearing, prosecutors said that several months prior to the incident, Routh dropped off a handwritten letter addressed to "the world" that offered a bounty on Trump. Routh has been charged with two gun crimes. He has not yet entered a plea.

Trump said that he will not make a fourth consecutive run for the U.S. presidency if he loses the Nov. 5 election, saying "that will be it" in an interview released on Sunday. Asked if he saw himself running again in four years if he is not successful in his third consecutive bid for the White House, the former president told Sharyl Attkisson's "Full Measure" program: "No I don't. I think that will be — that will be it. I don't see that at all. Hopefully, we will be successful."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel faced "complicated days" as the armed forces shift their focus to the country's northern frontier, from where Hezbollah has been firing rockets into Israel in support of its ally Hamas. Netanyahu appealed for unity as Israel increases air strikes in southern Lebanon saying the operations were aimed at changing "the security balance, the balance of power in the north" after talking with commanders at military headquarters in Tel Aviv.

The House voted unanimously on Friday in favor of a bipartisan bill to boost security for presidential nominees. It required a two-thirds majority to pass due to an expedited process. The bill requires the Secret Service to use consistent standards to determine the number of agents needed to protect presidents, vice presidents, and major candidates.

Georgia’s election board has voted to approve a new rule that requires millions of ballots to be manually counted on election day. Critics warn it could cause delays and errors, while supporters say it will ensure ballot-scanning machines are accurate.

The Israeli military says it killed senior Hezbollah military commander Ibrahim Aqil in an airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs. Lebanon’s health ministry said the strike killed 9 people and wounded 59 others. The strike inflicted another blow on Hezbollah after the terrorist group suffered an unprecedented attack earlier this week in which pagers and walkie-talkies used by its members exploded.

The Israeli military said on Thursday that it hit Hezbollah infrastructure and a weapons storage facility in southern Lebanon overnight. Israel’s defense minister declared the start of a “new phase” of the war as the country redirects its focus toward the northern front against Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon.

Heightened security measures were in place as former President Donald Trump held a rally in New York on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris addressed a Hispanic leadership conference in Washington.

The Senate will prepare temporary spending legislation to prevent a partial government shutdown at the end of the month, said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer. He said lawmakers will spend the next few days trying to find a deal that both Republicans and Democrats can support.

Explosions went off in Beirut and several other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices used by the Hezbollah terrorist group. The country's Health Ministry said at least 9 people were killed and more than 300 wounded.

The House is scheduled to vote on Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown before Oct. 1. The bill would link with a mandate that requires proof of citizenship when people register to vote.

The Federal Reserve is poised to cut its benchmark interest rate for the first time in more than four years. The move is expected to lower borrowing costs for consumers and businesses just weeks before the presidential election.

Hundreds of handheld pagers exploded near simultaneously across Lebanon on Tuesday, killing at least eight people, including members of the terrorist group Hezbollah. More than 2,700 people, including the Iranian ambassador, were wounded in what appeared to be a sophisticated, remote attack.

According to a federal indictment unsealed in New York, music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with racketeering conspiracy and sex trafficking. The Justice Department said that for decades, Combs abused, threatened, and coerced women and others around him to fulfill his sexual desires.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said the House plans to vote on a 6-month stopgap funding bill Wednesday to avert a government shutdown before Oct. 1. The bill is linked to legislation requiring proof of citizenship for voting.

A man suspected of attempting to assassinate former President Donald Trump appeared in federal court on Monday, where he was charged with two gun-related offenses. Officials have identified the suspected would-be assassin as Ryan Wesley Routh, 58. He was spotted by a Secret Service agent on Sunday holding a rifle as he hid in the bushes at the former president's golf course in Florida. President Joe Biden said that the Secret Service needs more personnel.

TikTok and its Chinese parent company ByteDance are facing a crucial court hearing on Monday in their legal challenge to a law that could lead to the social media app’s being banned in the United States as early as January 2025.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis defied a subpoena on Friday asking her to testify before the Georgia Senate Special Committee on Investigations, which is probing allegations that Willis misused taxpayer funds. The chairman said his committee plans to force her to attend through a judicial order.

The Biden administration hiked tariffs on Chinese imports on Friday, including tariffs of 100 percent on electric vehicles, 50 percent on solar cells, and 25 percent on steel, aluminum, EV batteries, and critical minerals. The White House said the tariffs will strengthen protections for strategic domestic industries from Chinese overproduction. The tariffs are expected to go into effect on Sept. 27.

Justin Timberlake has pleaded guilty to a non-criminal traffic violation of driving while impaired. As part of a deal with the court, he will pay a fine and complete 25 to 40 hours of community service. The Grammy winner was arrested in the Hamptons in June after running a stop sign in a BMW.

🇺🇸 More Breaking News, Special Reports, and Live Coverage on NTD: https://ept.ms/NTD_LIVE

Disgraced movie mogul Harvey Weinstein has been indicted on additional sex crimes charges ahead of his retrial in New York, Manhattan prosecutors said at a hearing Thursday. The indictment will remain under seal until Weinstein’s arraignment on the new charges, scheduled for Sept. 18.

The New York appeals court dismissed former President Donald Trump's request to drop the gag order in his New York criminal case. In a brief order, the court wrote that "no substantial constitutional question is directly involved."

Attorney General Merrick Garland denounced what he called “conspiracy theories” and “dangerous falsehoods" targeting the Justice Department during a speech to employees. It's Garland's latest broadside against claims that his department has been politically weaponized under the Biden administration to go after Trump.

President Joe Biden, former President Donald Trump, and Vice President Kamala Harris stood together at Ground Zero in New York City on Wednesday to mark the 23rd anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks. Biden and Trump shook hands, while former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appeared to facilitate a handshake between Harris and Trump.

Trump has said the Tuesday night debate with Harris was his best presidential debate yet. Harris campaign officials are now calling for a second debate, but Trump cast doubt on future faceoffs.

Hurricane Francine is barreling toward Louisiana and is expected to make landfall in the late afternoon. Forecasters are warning of potentially deadly storm surges, widespread flooding, and destructive winds along the Northern Gulf Coast.