UNITED NATIONS (AP) — World leaders will open their annual meeting at the U.N. General Assembly under the shadow of increasing global divisions, major wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, and the threat of an even larger conflict in the wider Middle East. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres previewed his opening “State of the World” speech to presidents, prime ministers, monarchs and ministers at Sunday’s “Summit of the Future,” saying “our world is heading off the rails — and we need tough decisions to get back on track.” One notable moment at Tuesday’s opening assembly meeting: U.S. President Joe Biden’s likely final major appearance on the world stage, a platform he has tread upon and reveled in for decades.

Lebanese health authorities have raised the death toll from two days of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hezbollah militants in Lebanon to 558. Palestinian officials in Gaza, meanwhile, said new Israeli strikes on Tuesday killed at least seven people in the southern city of Khan Younis. 

PUERTO ESCONDIDO, Mexico (AP) — Tropical Storm John has struck Mexico’s southern Pacific coast with life-threatening flood potential. John rapidly grew from a tropical storm to a major hurricane before coming ashore near Punta Maldonado late Monday night. It has since weakened back to tropical storm status and is expected to weaken rapidly.

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas man with a history of mental illness who has repeatedly sought to waive his right to appeal his death sentence is facing execution for killing his 3-month-old son. Travis Mullis is scheduled to receive a lethal injection Tuesday evening at the state penitentiary in Huntsville. 

MUNICH (AP) — Alcohol-free beer has been gaining popularity in recent years as beer consumption shrinks. At Weihenstephan, the world's oldest brewery in Germany, non-alcoholic wheat beer and lager now make up 10% of volume. The increase over the last few years, since they started making alcohol-free drinks in the 1990s, mirrors the statistics for the rest of Germany’s beer industry. At Oktoberfest this year, all but two of the 18 large tents at the festival offer the drink.

The lines that have long defined each party’s policy priorities are blurring as Kamala Harris and Donald Trump seek to expand their coalitions in the final weeks of a fiercely competitive presidential election. The contest may well hinge on how many disaffected suburban Republicans vote for Harris and how much of Democrats’ traditional base — African Americans, Latinos, young people and labor union members — migrates to Trump. 

In other news:

—The Associated Press

About this program

Host Terry Lipshetz is managing editor of the national newsroom for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the former producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate.