Elon Musk’s super PAC spent around $200 million to help elect Donald Trump, according to a person familiar with the group’s spending, funding an effort that set a new standard for how billionaires can influence elections.

The billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO provided the vast majority of the money to America PAC, which focused on low-propensity and first-time voters, according to the person, who was not authorized to disclose the figure publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

America PAC’s work was aided by a March ruling from the Federal Election Commission that paved the way for super PACs to coordinate their canvassing efforts with campaigns, allowing the Trump campaign to rely on the near-unlimited money of the nation’s most high-profile billionaire to boost turnout in deep-red parts of the country. That allowed the campaign to spend the money they saved on everything from national ad campaigns to targeted outreach toward demographics Democrats once dominated.

The plan worked for both sides. Trump saw key turnout surges in battleground states, and at the end of the campaign the president-elect credited Musk’s role in the race.

Netanyahu seeks delay in his corruption trial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has requested to delay testifying at his ongoing corruption trial, fueling criticism that he is seeking to drag out the case in order to delay a verdict and, if convicted, a jail term.

A court in Jerusalem has been examining charges of bribery and fraud against Netanyahu, in a trial that began in 2020 and has been set to reach a crescendo this December with several sessions of testimony from the prime minister. He denies the accusations, which center on claims that he used his influence to help leading businesspeople in exchange for gifts and favorable media coverage.

Sunday night, Netanyahu’s legal team filed a request with the court to delay his appearance by 2½ months, according to Amit Hadad, one of the prime minister’s lawyers. The prime minister has been too consumed by running the country during wartime and needs more time to prepare his defense, Hadad said in a brief phone interview.

Evacuation warnings made in south Lebanon

The Israeli military issued new evacuation warnings for more than 20 towns and villages in southern Lebanon on Monday, and Hezbollah unleashed a large rocket barrage into northern Israel, the latest indications that the conflict showed few signs of abating.

The warnings across the country’s south, the first in nearly a month, called on civilians to immediately evacuate their homes and move north of the Awali River, farther from the Israeli border. The river effectively demarcates southern Lebanon, which Israel invaded last month in a bid to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure and stop it from firing rockets and missiles into Israel.

As that ground offensive continued Monday, Israel’s new foreign minister, Gideon Saar, signaled that renewed U.S.-brokered diplomatic efforts were now underway to stem the conflict.

Russian aerial assault kills 6 and injures 30

Russian glide bombs, drones and a ballistic missile smashed into cities in southern and eastern Ukraine on Monday, officials said, killing at least six civilians and injuring about 30 others.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russia has recently intensified strikes that have long tormented civilian areas, in an apparent effort to unnerve Ukrainians and wear down their willingness to keep up a war that is approaching its 1,000-day milestone.

“Every day, every night, Russia commits the same terror,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. “Except that an increasing number of civilian objects are becoming targets.”

Commercial airliner shot at landing in Haiti

A Spirit Airlines flight attempting to land in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, was shot at Monday and forced to divert, marking a sharp escalation in the violence that has gripped the nation.

Flight 951, which took off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince, was diverted to Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, where an inspection revealed what looked like bullet holes, according to Tommy Fletcher, a spokesperson for the airline.

The flight landed safely at 11:30 a.m. Two other flights bound for Port-au-Prince were then also diverted, the Federal Aviation Administration said. An inspection revealed evidence of damage to the aircraft consistent with gunfire,” Fletcher said in a statement. “One flight attendant on board reported minor injuries and is being evaluated by medical personnel.”

Tram burned amid Amsterdam unrest

Dozens of people armed with sticks and firecrackers set a tram on fire in Amsterdam on Monday, police said, while the city is facing tensions following violence last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club.

Police said the fire was quickly extinguished and riot officers cleared the square. Images online showed people damaging property and setting firecrackers.

Police said it was not clear who started the unrest and whether it was related to what happened last week. But they noted the tense atmosphere since five people were treated in the hospital and dozens detained Thursday following a Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match. Youths on scooters and on foot went in search of Israeli fans, punching and kicking them and then fleeing to evade police, according to Amsterdam’s mayor.

Crews make gains on coastal wildfires

Fire crews battled small wildfires across the Northeast U.S. on Monday, including a blaze in New York and New Jersey that killed a parks employee over the weekend and postponed Veterans Day plans.

A quarter-inch of rain fell overnight from Sunday into Monday in a forest area straddling the border between the two states, giving a slight respite to firefighters. The fire is one of several burning on the East Coast amid a lack of much rainfall since September. An employee of the New York State Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation Department who was assisting firefighting crews died Saturday when he was hit by a falling tree.

The East Coast fires were burning as much larger wildfires raged in California. Firefighters continued making progress against a wildfire northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County that broke out Wednesday and quickly exploded in size due to dry, warm and gusty Santa Ana winds.

Democrat wins redrawn House district in La.

Democrats have picked up a seat with victory in Louisiana’s newly drawn 6th Congressional District, according to the Associated Press.

The victory of state Sen. Cleo Fields, a longtime Democratic figure from Baton Rouge, not only guarantees Louisiana will have another Black representative in Congress, but also offers a boost to the Democratic Party as control of the U.S. House of Representatives hangs in the balance. More than a dozen House races, mostly in California, have yet to be decided.

Louisiana was one of three states in the South that faced a legal challenge to its congressional map this election cycle, with Black voters arguing that the map violated the Voting Rights Act by undercutting their voting power.

New Zealand apologizes for Indigenous abuse

New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon made a “formal and unreserved” apology in Parliament on Tuesday for the widespread abuse, torture and neglect of hundreds of thousands of children and vulnerable adults in care.

“It was horrific. It was heartbreaking. It was wrong. And it should never have happened,” Luxon said, as he spoke to lawmakers and a public gallery packed with survivors of the abuse.

An estimated 200,000 people in state, foster and faith-based care suffered “unimaginable” abuse over a period of seven decades, a blistering report released in July said at the end of the largest inquiry ever undertaken in New Zealand. They were disproportionately Maori, New Zealand’s Indigenous people.

— News service reports