What happened
Some 45,000 International Longshoremen's Association union members went on strike at midnight this morning, shutting down ports from Maine to Texas. The ILA's first strike since 1977 "threatens to rattle the American economy five weeks ahead of the presidential election," The Wall Street Journal said. The affected ports handle more than half of U.S. trade in cargo containers. 

Who said what
The ILA and U.S. Maritime Alliance, representing ports, have been at an impasse on a new contract for months. The union asked for a 77% raise over six years and the maritime companies said yesterday they raised their offer to 50%, with restrictions on crane, gate and transport automation intact. ILA members "make a base salary of about $81,000 per year, but some can pull in over $200,000" with overtime, The Associated Press said. The union said its members work long hours in "often harsh or dangerous conditions," The New York Times said, and their wages haven't kept up with inflation or ballooning shipping profits.

"Nothing's going to move without us — nothing," ILA President Harold Daggett told striking workers in New Jersey early this morning. President Joe Biden said Sunday he would not use his powers under the Taft-Hartley Act to force the union back to work.

What next?
The White House says it's "confident supply chains can weather the strike, at least for a while," a view "shared by independent analysts," The Washington Post said. Many importers have stockpiled holiday goods and other nonperishable items, and West Coast port workers, represented by a different union, are still working, as are oil and gas terminals.

What happened
Israel's military said this morning it had crossed the border into Lebanon for "limited, localized and targeted raids against Hezbollah" aimed at clearing "villages close to the border" that "pose an immediate threat to Israeli communities in northern Israel." Israeli fighter jets continued striking Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold where Israeli bombs days earlier had killed Hassan Nasrallah and other top Hezbollah officials.

Who said what
"We know that the battle might be long," Naim Qassem, Hezbollah's deputy secretary-general and the highest-ranking official left, said on television yesterday, but "we are ready for ground engagement with the enemy if they decide to enter."

Israel has been "emboldened by its recent battlefield gains against Hezbollah and appears intent on delivering a knockout blow to its archenemy," The Associated Press said. But "Hezbollah is a well-trained militia," and while its "capabilities remain unclear," a "ground operation marks a new and potentially risky phase of fighting" for Israel. Hezbollah fought Israel to a stalemate in their last war in 2006.

What next?
The Biden administration, worried that Israel's multi-front battle could escalate into a regional war with Iran, is sending a "few thousand" more troops to the Middle East, the Pentagon said yesterday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the U.S. "agreed on the necessity of dismantling" Hezbollah's "attack infrastructure along the border," the Pentagon said, but he also "reaffirmed that a diplomatic resolution" is needed "as soon as feasible."