Midday Roundup: Senior Hezbollah commander killed in Syria

Successful strike. Hezbollah confirmed that its most senior commander in Syria was killed yesterday in a bombing near Damascus. Mustafa Amine Badreddine, 55, was leading the militia’s operations on behalf of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Initial accounts of the bombing called it an Israeli airstrike, but later accounts did not mention Israel. The Israeli government refused to comment on claims it was behind the attack. Hezbollah got its start in Lebanon in the 1980s and has called for Israel’s destruction. It has accused the Jewish nation of killing several of its fighters in Syria since the civil war began there. Social media posts by Syrian rebel groups said Badreddine died in fighting around Khan Touman, in southern Aleppo. Rebels captured the area several days ago, and it has been the scene of heavy fighting since then.

Unsavory connection. Donald Trump is trying to distance himself from his former butler after the 84-year-old said on Facebook that President Barack Obama should have been shot during his first term. Anthony Senecal worked for Trump for 17 years and claims he last saw the presumptive Republican presidential nominee about a month ago. A Trump campaign spokeswoman said, “We totally and completely disavow the horrible statements” and noted Senecal hasn’t worked for Trump for years. The Secret Service, which investigates threats against the president, said it is aware of the comments and will investigate. During an interview with CNN, Senecal didn’t offer any apology or retraction. “I’d prefer he’d be hung from the portico of the White House, or as I call it, the white mosque,” Senecal said of Obama. “Does it sound like I’m nuts? Because I’m not. I’ve just gotten fed up with him.”

Not welcome here. The Obama administration is planning a series of deportation raids targeting women and children who entered the country illegally from Central America and have already been ordered to leave. The 30-day Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation also will target people who crossed the border as minors but have since turned 18. Four months ago, a similar operation scooped up 121 immigrants in Texas, Georgia, and North Carolina. According to Customs and Border Protection numbers, this year’s surge of unaccompanied minors is shaping up to be bigger than it was in 2014. In the last six months, border patrol agents have detained 27,754 unaccompanied minors crossing into the United States from Mexico, almost double the number who came last year and just shy of the record set in 2014. The number of families crossing the border has already topped 2014’s numbers, at 32,117.

Passing the torch. Susannah Mushatt Jones, the world’s oldest woman, died last night in New York. She was 116. Jones did not have leave behind any children but had 100 nieces and nephews. She was born in 1899 near Montgomery, Ala., one of 11 siblings. She graduated from high school in 1922 and went to work picking cotton. She later moved to the Northeast, where she worked as a nanny in New York and New Jersey. She became the world’s oldest woman on her 116th birthday. In an interview last year, Jones attributed her longevity to getting plenty of sleep and eating lots of bacon. Every morning she ate a traditional Southern breakfast of eggs, grits, and bacon. In her kitchen hung a sign declaring, “Bacon makes everything better.” The title of oldest woman now goes to 116-year-old Italian Emma Morano.