Good morning! It’s a busy week out there. Kids in Des Moines, Iowa will trick-or-treat on Halloween night for the first time since 1938, the new Rockefeller Center Christmas tree weighs 11 tons, and a classic Moscow plumbing mishap led to a fountain of sewage blasting 180 feet into the air.

With six days until Election Day, let’s dive in.

WORLD

🇮🇱 Israel vs. John McCain’s widow

Israel’s parliament — that’s called the Knesset, by the way — passed a few bills this week banning a humanitarian aid agency of the United Nations. It’s going over about as well as you’d expect, but Israel says it’s in the right on this.

The agency in question is called the (*deep breath*) United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, aka UNRWA. It was created to provide relief to Palestinian refugees in the aftermath of the 1948 war that resulted in the creation of the modern nation of Israel.

• Aid provided includes food, healthcare, education, and more. It even employs thousands of Palestinians.

The laws don’t take effect for about 90 days. Until then, it’s business as usual for UNRWA. But the agency’s work in Gaza relies on coordination with Israel. And that clock is ticking.

So what’s Israel’s problem? Discontent with UNRWA has been growing for decades. Many Israelis believe its work perpetuates the Israel-Palestine conflict by keeping old wounds open. What kicked this into high gear, however, was Hamas’s deadly October 7, 2023 attack. Israel believes up to 10% of UNRWA employees have Hamas ties and that many of them took part in the invasion.

• One proponent of the ban called it a “crucial measure in the global fight against terror.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying, “UNRWA workers involved in terrorist activities… must be held accountable.” He also claimed Israel would continue “to facilitate humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza in a way that does not threaten Israel’s security.”

The United States isn’t a fan of the ban plan. The State Department’s spokesperson said Gazans will “not be able to get access to food and water and medicine that they need to live. We find that unacceptable.”

• The U.S. previously provided a ton of the agency’s funding. That was cut off in January after the allegations of UNRWA-Hamas ties.

Former future First Lady Cindy McCain (the widow of 2008 Republican nominee John McCain) slammed Israel’s UNRWA ban in her capacity as executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP). She called the group “indispensable in providing lifesaving aid and social services in Gaza.”

• McCain’s led the WFP, the U.N.’s specific food assistance arm, since 2023.

Elsewhere in Israel’s three-front war, Lebanon-based terror group Hezbollah announced Naim Gassem as its new leader (not exactly a popular job considering what’s happened to the rest of the group’s leadership).

• There’s some disagreement over whether the victims of an Israeli airstrike in Gaza were civilians or terrorists.

GOVERNMENT

💻️ The Google Alphabet Workers Union filed a complaint against Google with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The union claims Google was “overly broad” in requesting employees not talk about the federal government’s ongoing antitrust case against Google Search. The NLRB enforces laws on unfair labor practices. The union believes employee discussions on the court case are protected because they’re relevant to working conditions.

🧼 Like all of us, the government sometimes treats itself to something nice. Other times it just overpays for average items. In this case, the Air Force paid nearly 80 times too much for aircraft soap dispensers. A report from the Defense Department’s Office of the Inspector General confirmed the goof and said the Air Force needs “more effective internal controls.” The vendor in this case, Boeing (because of course), said it’s reviewing the allegations.

💰️ The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) finalized a $2.26 billion loan to help build the huge Thacker Pass lithium mine in Nevada. Producing more lithium, a key component in rechargeable batteries, in the U.S. is a big part of the Biden administration’s plan to become less reliant on China for critical tech supplies.

POLITICS

🚚 Falling off the ballot truck

Pro tip to anyone driving around a box truck full of mail-in ballots: be sure to close the back doors. A Florida Man learned that lesson the hard way and paid for it with his job. Thankfully, the box of ballots was quickly discovered by another driver unharmed (and its votes had already been counted).

• Accidents happen. But so does arson. Hundreds of ballots in Washington burned when someone set fire to the dropbox they were stored in and the box’s built-in fire suppression system failed.

If you’re looking for a story that’s the exact opposite of what we’re experiencing right now, look no further. The woman who was just elected prime minister of Lithuania on Sunday thinks she might just prefer to go ahead and… turn it down. Now, back to reality.

Kamala Harris, in her biggest event to date, gave her big “closing argument” speech in front of the White House last night. She called America “the greatest idea humanity ever devised” and slammed her rival as a “wannabe” dictator.

• Her campaign put its massive cash advantage to good use in Nevada with a 90-second ad on the Sphere in Las Vegas. She’ll host a rally in Vegas tomorrow.

• Kamala Harris will not follow Trump onto Joe Rogan’s podcast. Rogan said the Harris campaign would only agree to a one-hour appearance instead of his typical three.

• George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara endorsed Harris and joined her team on the campaign trail in Pennsylvania. Don’t expect G-Dub himself to jump on board, though.

Donald Trump hasn’t spoken to vanquished rival Nikki Haley since June. She’s still supporting him but warned that his campaign’s “overly masculine” tone risked turning off women.

• The Supreme Court dealt Trump a small blow when it rejected an appeal to remove Trump supporter Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from the ballots in Michigan and Wisconsin.

• Much to the chagrin of some on the right, Trump is reportedly considering having ousted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy run his potential White House as chief of staff.

TRIVIA

It goes without saying that Election Day is next Tuesday, November 5. But where specifically on the calendar does it fall? We’ve got a simple true or false question for you today. True or false: Federal law places Election Day on the first Tuesday in November.

Hint: It’s 50/50. You don’t need a hint.

2024

🇵🇷 The importance of being Puerto Rican

A speaker at Donald Trump’s rally in New York City stepped in it. Comedian Tony Hinchcliffe joked on stage that Puerto Rico was “a floating island of garbage.” In other news, about 3.6% of Pennsylvania voters are Puerto Rican. By and large, they’re not thrilled with this guy’s joke.

• John Stewart thought it was hilarious but noted the obvious. “Having a roast comedian come to a political rally a week before Election Day and roasting a key demographic” was “probably not the best decision politically.”

Kamala Harris seized on the opportunity with a string of new Puerto Rican endorsements from superstars Bad Bunny and Don Omar. The island’s biggest newspaper also jumped on board.

Donald Trump went with the obvious defense: "I don't know him, someone put him up there. I don't know who he is.” His campaign did damage control at a rally yesterday in majority-Hispanic Allentown, Pennsylvania. Multiple speakers praised the beauty of Puerto Rico and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) gave his speech in Spanish.

• He also scored the endorsement of Zoraida Buxó (R), who is one of Puerto Rico’s “shadow senators.”

• Shadow senators are sometimes elected by U.S. territories to serve in unofficial roles advocating for statehood in D.C. But they aren’t recognized by Congress.

Puerto Ricans are natural-born American citizens just like anyone from the mainland. Puerto Rico itself doesn’t have any electoral votes, however, so they can’t vote for president from the island. Up to 5 million Puerto Ricans live stateside, however, and do vote. The battleground states Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Georgia, and Wisconsin all have substantial populations.

BRIEFS

● The guy who attacked Nancy Pelosi’s husband Paul with a hammer in 2022 will spend the rest of his life in prison. Federal charges gave him 30 years but a separate state trial this week decided that wasn’t quite enough.

● Three state governors are begging Boeing and the striking machinists union to come to a deal to end the seven-week strike. The governors said the work stoppage has forced Boeing suppliers in their states to begin laying off employees.

● The founder of ByteDance, TikTok’s parent, is now China’s richest person. Zhang Yiming’s net worth surged to $49.3 billion even as the U.S. looks to ban the app in January.

● Philadelphia’s district attorney sued Elon Musk this week. Larry Krasner says Musk’s ongoing $1 million daily prize to a random voter who signed his political group’s pledge amounts to an illegal “lottery.”

● The Pacific Ocean's El Niño phenomenon is warming more than just the United States this year. Japan's famed Mount Fuji is still snow-free — the latest start to its winter weather season since 1894.

QUOTE

ANSWER

This one is False. Although it usually does fall on the first Tuesday in November, that’s not Election Day’s legal date. Federal law actually puts it on the first Tuesday… after the first Monday… in November. That way it never falls on November 1 — can’t have people voting when they’re dealing with candy hangovers businesses are busy settling the previous month’s books.

Hang onto this nugget and you’ll sound really smart to your kids the next time it’s relevant in, er, 2044.