Happy Friday! We’ve seen a number of headlines trying to evoke sympathy for the poor Washington state woman who called the police after 100 “aggressive” raccoons showed up at her house.
We’re frankly more interested to know what she thought would happen after 35 years of feeding trash pandas. “The normal raccoons that she feeds are nice,” the local sheriff’s department said, “but the new ones showing up scare her.”
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
- The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Thursday that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.2 percent month-over-month—matching the monthly increases recorded in the last two CPI reports—and 2.4 percent annually in September. Annual CPI, which fell by 0.1 percent from last month’s report, is at its lowest since February 2021, though both the annual and month-over-month figures were slightly higher than forecasters’ projections. Core CPI, stripped of the more volatile food and energy prices, rose 0.3 percent month-over-month and 3.3 percent since September 2023.
- The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Thursday that two U.N. employees were injured after an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) tank allegedly attacked a UNIFIL observation tower in southern Lebanon. At a nearby UNIFIL site, the agency claimed that Israeli soldiers had fired on a bunker sheltering U.N. employees, also damaging vehicles and communication systems equipment. The IDF confirmed its forces operated near a UNIFIL site in the region and had told U.N. employees to stay in “protected areas” prior to opening fire. “Hezbollah operates from within and near civilian areas in southern Lebanon, including areas near UNIFIL posts,” the IDF added.
- Swedish law enforcement officials on Thursday reported a shooting at an “Israeli object,” identified by Swedish national broadcasting as an office of Elbit Systems, an Israel-based defense firm, in Gothenburg, Sweden. No injuries were reported, and local police added they detained a “young” suspect—potentially a teenager or younger—in connection to the attack.
- The Israeli government’s security cabinet met Thursday to plan the country’s response to Iran’s missile assault against Israel earlier this month, though multiple outlets reported that the cabinet gave Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant the authorization to decide the ultimate counterattack at their discretion. The meeting comes one day after Netanyahu spoke on the phone with President Joe Biden—potentially for the first time in more than a month. Though little is publicly known about U.S. support for Israel’s planned retaliation against Iran, Biden reaffirmed Israel’s right to defend itself against Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed terrorist group in Lebanon, according to a White House statement.
- The Swedish Academy on Thursday awarded South Korean author Han Kang the Nobel Prize in Literature. Kang—the first South Korean recipient of the prestigious literary award—is best known for her novel The Vegetarian and was honored for her “intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life.”
- Ethel Kennedy, widow of Democratic attorney general and New York Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, passed away Thursday morning at the age of 96. She died of complications from a stroke, her grandson, former Rep. Joe Kennedy III of Massachusetts, announced on social media. Ethel Kennedy, a 2014 Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, founded the non-profit RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights following her husband’s assassination in 1968.
- Spanish pro tennis superstar Rafael Nadal announced Thursday he would retire from the sport after 23 years, following the Davis Cup team tournament in November. The 38-year-old was the Association of Tennis Professionals’ top player of the year five times and won 22 Grand Slam singles titles but has struggled with injuries in recent years. “I think it’s the appropriate time to put an end to a career that has been long and much more successful than I could have ever imagined,” Nadal said in a video message.
Florida Avoids the ‘Worst-Case Scenario’
As Miami meteorologist John Morales described on air how Hurricane Milton had exploded from a tropical storm to a Category 5 hurricane—the strongest on the scale—he suddenly got choked up.
“I apologize,” he said, trying to regain his composure. “This is just horrific.”
Milton’s wind speeds had more than doubled in just 48 hours by Tuesday morning as it churned off the northern coast of the Yucatán Peninsula, gathering steam in the extremely hot water of the Gulf of Mexico as it headed straight for Florida’s western Gulf Coast. The threshold to become a Category 5 storm is sustained wind speeds of 175 miles per hour—which Milton was far exceeding at points.
Milton made landfall in Florida south of Tampa on Wednesday night as a still-deadly Category 3 hurricane, battering the state with hurricane-force wind and rain—plus powerful tornadoes before it had even made it ashore. Though Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday his state had avoided the “worst-case scenario,” Florida now shifts into recovery mode after the second hurricane in as many weeks as political back-and-forth and misinformation continue to swirl.
With the devastation of Helene across lower Appalachia dominating the headlines, the days before Milton made landfall were charged. The storm seemed poised to hit Tampa, the first time ...
As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our 1,454-word item on Hurricane Milton’s landfall is available in the members-only version of TMD.
Worth Your Time
- For the New York Times, W.J. Hennigan explored how the U.S. is upgrading its nuclear arsenal. “The industry is struggling to find the tens of thousands of new workers it needs,” Hennigan wrote. “For the past 18 months, the company has traveled to elementary schools across New England to educate children in the basics of submarine manufacturing and perhaps inspire a student or two to consider one day joining its shipyards. The coursework—on this particular day, welding crackers together with Easy Cheese to create mini-submarines—is one small facet of the much bigger preparations America is making for a historic struggle with its nuclear rivals. … The portrait that emerged is a country that is being transformed — physically, financially and philosophically — by an unprecedented wave of nuclear revitalization. The effort is as flush with cash as it is rife with problems and delays: At least 20 major projects are already years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.”
- On his podcast “Question Everything,” Brian Reed spoke to a married couple divided by the news they consumed. “There was no give and take,” Emily said of her marriage with Dick following the 2020 election. “We can argue about, you know, what we’re going to spend our money on and we can argue about our kids, you know, we can argue about the neighborhood, but we usually come to some sort of resolution. This whole thing about Trump[‘s 2020 false election claims], there is no resolution.” But then the couple was introduced to Isaac Saul’s daily political newsletter, Tangle. “He was very clear about what his biases were—that made him extremely trustworthy,” she said. And that trust proved to be key: “They started realizing that they actually agreed with each other on a lot of things, and were able to talk about it,” Reed observed. “And eventually, something pretty remarkable happened. … [Tangle proved] to [Dick] that the 2020 election had not been stolen.” When asked why, Dick answered, “It’s only because I trust Isaac Saul so much.”
Presented Without Comment
Axios: Scoop: Some Top Dems Won’t Commit to Certifying a Trump Win
Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), a senior chief deputy whip who voted to object to George W. Bush electors in 2005, said of Trump, “I don’t know what kind of shenanigans he is planning,” adding: “We would have to, in any election ... make sure that all the rules have been followed.”
Schakowsky later said in a statement that she was “proud to ... join all my Democratic colleagues in certifying the 2020 election” and looks forward to “doing the same in January 2025.”
Also Presented Without Comment
Writer Ta-Nehisi Coates on what he would do in a hypothetical October 7 scenario:
One of the things I’ve really tried to maintain both personally, and in my public presentation, is obviously my great horror at—maybe not obviously—at October 7. The fact that I don’t say that perfunctorily, but I say it because at the core of my politics is human life. … Were I 20 years old, born into Gaza, which is a giant, open-air jail … and I grow up under that oppression and that poverty, and the wall comes down: Am I also strong enough or even constructed in such a way where I say, “this is too far”? I don’t know that I am.
In the Zeitgeist
The album cover on the new Dawes album out today looks a little bit like a page in one of those old I Spy books, and it … kind of sounds like it too: A very pleasant jumble.
Toeing the Company Line
- In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics team covered Trump’s about-face on early voting, Scott used (🔒) the Buc-ee’s gas station chain to explain why longshoremen’s fear of automation is misplaced, and Nick explained (🔒) why he’s bearish on the “Republicans for Harris” vote.
- On the podcasts: Sarah is joined by Kevin and Steve on The Dispatch Podcast roundtable to discuss hurricanes, the politics of the response to natural disasters, and whether CBS is worth your time.
- On the site: Kevin argues Harris and Trump are both misguided in their goals for U.S. manufacturing, and Stacy Willett explains FEMA’s response to natural disasters.
