Good morning! Viewers of a popular webcam in Alaska’s Katmai National Park and Preserve were in for a treat this week. Bear #402 on the other hand, was the treat. She was killed live on camera by bear #469 in a demonstration of spectacular bear-on-bear violence. The unfortunate (for #402) incident delayed the start of the park’s annual Fat Bear Week contest by a few days. For those interested, voting for the bear that “best exemplifies fatness” now opens today at noon Eastern.

WORLD

🇮🇱 Israel shoots down nearly 200 Iranian rockets

The Iron Dome saved the day again after Iran launched nearly 200 missiles at Israel yesterday. A few hit their targets but no Israeli died as a result of the attacks after the vast majority were shot down by Israel’s various defense systems — with an assist from the U.S. Navy.

• Israel’s Iron Dome system detects incoming missiles and quickly decides where they’re going to land. If it’s a populated area, guided missiles are launched to take out incoming enemy projectiles from up to 43 miles away.

• Attacks coming in from a bit further out? No problemo. The David’s Sling system covers missiles and aircraft up to 124 miles out. Beyond that, the less coolly named Arrow systems take control.

Iran’s president called the attack a “decisive” response to Israeli aggression and protection of “Iranian interests and citizens.” Israel this week launched a "limited" ground invasion of Lebanon to take out Iranian-backed Hezbollah terrorists.

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Iran’s failed missile attack “a big mistake” and promised to make Iran “pay.”

President Biden reaffirmed his commitment to helping Israel defend itself while National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the U.S. will “work with Israel” to exact “severe consequences” on Iran for the attack.

• Some members of Congress want to cut their election season vacation short and back to Washington to pass extra military aid for Israel.

• Also on the table is much-needed relief for states hit by Hurricane Helen.

GOVERNMENT

🎓️ With pandemic-era protections now behind us, student loan payments are back on the menu. Technically payments resumed a year ago. But the U.S. Department of Education (ED — their abbreviation, not ours) gave borrowers a 12-month grace period of penalty-free missed payments. Future payments made more than 90 days late will hit where it hurts — right in the credit score. ED does, however, still offer various income-drive repayment plans for certain borrowers.

⚖️ The Department of Justice (DOJ) is launching a review of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre under a cold-case law. The Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act allows the feds to reopen deadly pre-1979 race-based criminal cases. There’s obviously no one around to prosecute for any crimes committed, but the news was welcomed as a “joyous occasion” by an attorney for the last two known survivors (ages 109 and 110).

👷 Container ports from Maine to Texas are shut down for the first time since 1977 as thousands of private International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) members go on strike. They’re currently looking for a 77% raise over six years and a ban on automation that can “kill jobs.” For his part, President Biden is pushing the “ocean carriers… to negotiate a fair wage for these essential workers.” If important items like medications become scarce, Biden could intervene to end the strike.

POLITICS

🤝 Vance and Walz cordial in policy-focused face-off

Last night’s vice presidential debate was the final major stop on the road to Election Day. The candidates have been chosen, the running mates have been announced, the conventions are long past, all scheduled debates are done, and early voting is well underway. If all goes according to plan, we’ll know who the next president will be exactly five weeks from today.

JD Vance won the debate in the eyes of most media observers and focus groups. The 40-year-old Ohio Republican senator is a Yale-educated attorney who's done well over 100 interviews since getting the VP nod. That experience showed last night. Vance smoothly redirected unfriendly topics back to Trump’s two strongest: the economy and immigration.

• He consistently tried to tie Kamala Harris to her unpopular boss by referring to the "Harris administration.” Vance emphasized Harris's time in power by claiming that she talks a lot about “day one” but that day one for her was “1,400 days ago.”

• He said he wanted the Republican Party to “earn back” voters’ trust on abortion but danced around his past support for a national ban while explaining his current support for making this a state-level decision.

• As the debate wound down, Vance did his awkward best to avoid saying Donald Trump lost in 2020 by focusing more on “the future.”

Tim Walz, the 60-year-old Democrat and Minnesota governor finished much stronger than he started. Rumors that he was nervous going into last night rang true as he paused after every third word for the first 45 minutes. Commentators suggested his relative “lack of interviews” was partly to blame.

• Walz stumbled a bit when asked about a misstatement on time he spent in China back in 1989 before admitting that he “misspoke.”

• He was forceful on gun violence, saying plainly that “It’s just the guns” after Vance mentioned the prevalence of mental health issues. In an eye-popping flub, however, Walz accidentally claimed he'd "become friends with school shooters."

In a refreshing change of pace, the two candidates practically tripped over themselves trying to agree with one another on small points in a battle to better exemplify "Midwestern nice." Walz currently boasts a 45% popularity rating to Vance’s 39%. We'll find out soon if the debate changed any minds on that front.

Back at the top of the ticket, Kamala Harris received the surely-coveted-by-someone endorsement of the New York Times. She'll visit storm-damaged Georgia today as part of her day job as VP. Walz will take their planned bus tour of Pennsylvania without her.

• Donald Trump will be in Michigan tomorrow before stopping by North Carolina on Friday. On the legal front, the federal prosecutor's report on Trump's election fraud criminal case is about to be released. His attorneys are pushing in court to redact most of it.

TRIVIA

Israel’s been in the news a lot lately. And by “lately,” we mean “constantly for its entire existence.” We won’t get into right and wrong here, but Israel was invaded by four neighboring countries literally the day after it declared independence. Today’s question is more focused on defining that “entire existence.” In what year was the modern State of Israel created?

Hint: President Harry Truman officially recognized the new nation on that very day.

BRIEFS

• Mexican troops deployed to northern state of Sinaloa as cartel war rages after U.S. drug arrests

• Claudia Sheinbaum takes office as first female and first Jewish president of Mexico

• Fed Chair Jerome Powell not "in a hurry" but expects two more rate cuts by year's end

• 81-year-old model competes in South Korean Miss Universe contest, loses to 22-year-old

• Russian fighter jet nearly clips American F-16 just outside U.S. airspace off coast of Alaska

• Starbucks near Seattle becomes 500th in chain to vote for unionization

• California bans legacy admits at private universities to push "merit" in clear admission state has no clue who your dad is

• Ex-Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte takes over as head of NATO, vows to work with Harris or Trump

• North Carolina scrambling to proceed with election after disastrous hurricane

QUOTE

ANSWER

To narrow it down, Harry Truman was the big man on campus from 1945 to 1953. The modern State of Israel was created a few years after World War 2 ended… in 1948. It joined the United Nations the following year.