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Walz-Vance debate, Iran escalation and Mexico's new presidenta

 
Today's POLITICS story

Vance, Walz face off in vice-presidential debate

What happened
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) faced off last night in their only scheduled vice-presidential debate. The 90-minute debate, hosted by CBS News in New York, was widely described as cordial and policy-focused, with substantive exchanges on abortion, immigration, housing, health care and democracy.

Who said what
The debate was "something that's become increasingly rare in modern American politics: normal," CNN said. Vance attacked Walz's running mate, Vice President Kamala Harris, and Walz went after Donald Trump, but the two VP nominees disagreed with each other "the way typical Americans argue about contentious issues."

Walz's performance "wasn't great," especially at first, while Vance "appeared much more comfortable in his own skin," Aaron Blake said at The Washington Post. Walz's roughest moment was his rambling acknowledgment he "misspoke" about being in Hong Kong during China's Tiananmen Square massacre — he arrived two months afterward. He was, he said, a "knucklehead at times."

But toward the end of the night, "Walz delivered the argument that Democrats wanted" on abortion rights and Vance's fealty to Trump and his lie about winning the 2020 election, David Weigel said at Semafor. "Did he lose the 2020 election?" Walz asked Vance. "Tim, I'm focused on the future," Vance said, a reply Walz called a "damning non-answer." On Jan. 6, 2021, Walz told Vance, "when Mike Pence made that decision to certify that election, that's why Mike Pence isn’t on this stage."

A CBS News-YouGov snap poll of 1,630 likely voters who watched the debate found that 42% thought Vance won while 41% said Walz did, with 17% calling it a tie.

What next?
The debate, CNN said, is "unlikely to change the trajectory of the presidential race." Trump reiterated afterward that he wouldn't debate Harris again, despite her goading, and CBS News said he backed out of a scheduled "60 Minutes" interview with Scott Pelley next Monday; Harris will still participate in the long-running election special.

 
 
Today's MIDEAST story

Israel vows revenge for Iran's thwarted attack

What happened
Iran launched more than 180 ballistic missiles at Israel yesterday, targeting several military bases and the headquarters of the Mossad intelligence service in Tel Aviv. Iran said the attack was in retaliation for Israel's killing of leaders of Iran's military and Tehran-backed militias Hezbollah and Hamas. Two people were lightly wounded in Israel and a Palestinian man was killed by falling shrapnel in the West Bank.

Who said what
Iran scored a "small number of hits" in central and southern Israel, said Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari, but the "majority of the incoming missiles were intercepted by Israel and a defensive coalition led by the United States." U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Iran's attack was a "serious escalation" that would have "severe consequences," though it "appears to have been defeated and ineffective." By midnight last night Israelis were told they could leave their bomb shelters.

"Iran made a big mistake tonight — and it will pay for it," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Tehran was "not seeking war but it will stand firmly against any threats." The missile barrage was "only a small glimpse of our powers," he added. "Do not enter into a war with Iran."

What next?
Israel will want to show it can "strike any target in Iran," but it should tread carefully, former U.S. intelligence officer Norman Roule told The Wall Street Journal. "A war with Iran would require the political, economic and military support, if not participation by the United States," and "Israel no doubt recognizes that Washington has no interest in engaging in such a conflict."

 
 
Today's INTernATIONAL Story

Mexico's first female president sworn in

What happened
Mexico's new president, Claudia Sheinbaum, took office yesterday, becoming the first woman and first Jewish person to lead the country. The a 62-year-old environmental engineer and former Mexico City mayor was sworn in for her six-year term at a ceremony in Mexico's Congress.

Who said what
"It's time for transformation, it's time for women," Sheinbaum said, flanked by female soldiers. "I'm a mother, a grandmother, a scientist and a woman of faith, and from today, by the will of the Mexican people, the president." Hundreds of people chanted "Presidenta!" — the feminine form of her new title — as she was handed the red, white and green presidential sash by Ifigenia Martinez, president of the Chamber of Deputies.

Sheinbaum, who "grew up in a Jewish intellectual family" and holds a PhD in energy engineering, is "more cerebral and less folksy than her charismatic predecessor" and mentor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, The Washington Post said. She won in June elections with the "largest margin of victory since Mexico transitioned to democracy" and an "effective supermajority" in Congress, The New York Times said, but she isn't a "transcendent political talent" like López Obrador, and there are "questions over how much influence" he will "exert over his protégé."

What next?
Sheinbaum offered 100 pledges at a celebration yesterday afternoon at Mexico's Zócalo plaza, including expanding health care and enacting reforms to battle violence against women, Reuters said. But she takes office with "the largest budget deficit since the 1980s and lagging economic growth," as well as growing cartel violence.

 
 

It's not all bad

Special viewfinders have been installed in Virginia's 43 state parks so visitors with red-green colorblindness can see the changing leaves in autumn. The lenses amplify red and green hues, making the colors appear more vibrant. "This initiative underscores Virginia's commitment to enhancing outdoor experiences for all visitors and sets a new standard for state parks nationwide," said Matt Wells, director of the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation. About 13 million people in the United States, primarily men, are colorblind.

 
 
Under the radar

A polar bear has been shot dead by police in a remote Icelandic village, the latest casualty of growing tensions between humans and the Arctic mammals. Polar bears are not native to Iceland, but they occasionally travel there via ice floes from Greenland. Even that is "relatively rare," said The Associated Press — previously, a polar bear was last seen in Iceland in 2016. 

And despite being the world's largest land carnivore, polar bears rarely assault humans — only 73 attacks were recorded between 1870 and 2014 in Canada, Greenland, Norway, Russia and the U.S. But their frequency is increasing: 15 of those attacks took place this century. The rapid loss of sea ice due to climate change has "led more hungry bears to land," the AP said, putting both them and humans at "greater risk."

Another "fatal encounter and sightings in unusual locations" in Canada "foreshadow what experts say is a looming clash between polar bears and northern communities as climate change upends the habitat and food sources of the apex predator," said The Guardian. Residents of Nunavut and Canada's Northwest Territories are taking the fight back to the bears, and killing one can be "financially lucrative," as governments spend "thousands of dollars in subsidies for pelts." 

Encounters will increase and "get a lot worse," but eventually "it's going to get better" — at least from a human perspective, said Andrew Derocher, a biology professor at the University of Alberta. "This population of bears isn't expected to persist past mid-century."

 
 
On this day

October 2, 1967

Thurgood Marshall was sworn in as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming its first Black member. Marshall, a prominent civil rights attorney, served on the Supreme Court until 1991. Two other Black justices currently sit on the court: Clarence Thomas (Marshall's replacement) and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

J.D. Vance and Tim Walz "spar at debate over abortion, immigration," The Wall Street Journal says on Wednesday's front page. Mostly they "train their attacks on top of ticket," The Washington Post says. A "Jan. 6 contrast caps face-off," The Minnesota Star Tribune said, with Vance refusing to say Donald Trump lost in 2020. That fits with the dark GOP rhetoric: "As Trump says, over and over, you're doomed," The New York Times says. The debate's most "surprising twist," The Boston Globe says, was "civility."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Questionable taste

A Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker got a taste of New York last month when he sampled water that flooded into the Queens-Midtown Tunnel. To determine whether or not the leak was from a broken water main or the East River, the employee tried some of the liquid. It was salty, meaning it came from the East River (which is actually a tidal estuary). Crews ultimately figured out the leak was caused by construction drilling, and repairs were made.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Harriet Marsden, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Michele Crowe / CBS via Getty Images; Mostafa Alkharouf / Anadolu via Getty Images; Carl De Souza / AFP via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images