You need to know Tuesday

1. U.S. launches airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Syria
The U.S. military, along with Arab allies, launched the first airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Syria late Monday, as the war ordered by President Obama against the militant organization took on an urgent new phase. Aircraft from several Arab states took part in the attack. They were: Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

An image from a French military video shows the destruction of a munitions and fuel depot captured by Islamic State militants on Sept. 19 in Iraq. An airstrike by French fighter jets destroyed the logistics depot that was overrun and captured by the militants. (Photo: ECPAD via AP)

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2. World leaders, huge companies talk climate change

For the first time in five years, world leaders will gather to discuss climate change. The U.N. Climate Summit on Tuesday aims to get leaders to pledge emission cuts that could become part of a global agreement to be approved at U.N. climate talks next year in Paris. It's as much politics as it is business. Big Oil and dozens of well-known companies will commit to green initiatives alongside President Obama and representatives from 125 nations.

Protesters sit at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street in New York. The protesters, many who were affiliated with Occupy Wall Street, were trying to draw attention to the connection between capitalism and environmental destruction. Eventually more than 50 protesters who would not move from the intersection were taken into custody. (Photo: Seth Wenig, AP)

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3. WHO: 21,000 Ebola cases by November if no changes
New estimates from the World Health Organization warn the number of Ebola cases could hit 21,000 in six weeks unless efforts to curb the outbreak are ramped up. The new analysis was published online Tuesday by the New England Journal of Medicine— six months after the first infections were reported on March 23. WHO is just one of the groups that have attempted to calculate the epidemic's future toll. On Tuesday, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to release its own predictions for only Liberia and Sierra Leone — the two West African countries that recently have shown the steadiest and most alarming spread of cases.

A health worker volunteer talks with residents on how to prevent and identify the Ebola virus in others, and distributes bars of soap in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on Sept. 20. (Photo: Michael Duff, AP)

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4. Bloomberg group launches midterm campaign for gun control
The gun-control group started this year by former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is making its first significant political investments of the midterms — announcing endorsements in more than 100 federal and state contests and launching television commercials in two states. Everytown for Gun Safety's endorsements and the new ads in Illinois and Oregon airing on Tuesday are part of an effort by Bloomberg to make curbing gun violence a pivotal issue in midterm elections that will determine which political party controls the Senate and the agenda on Capitol Hill.

5. Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett release duet album

Who knew? One of pop music's most outrageous superstars grew up singing jazz. And she sings it very well, according to Tony Bennett: "She's got it," he says. The unlikely pair release an 11-track jazz album Tuesday singing American classics by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern. Cheek to Cheek is traditional jazz mixed with a "steamy, spicy new sound," Gaga says.