Axios PM

March 12, 2026
Hello, Thursday readers. Today's newsletter, edited by Alex Fitzpatrick, is 599 words, a 2½-min. read. Thanks to Sheryl Miller for copy editing.
1 big thing: 🚔 Suspect dead after synagogue attack

A man armed with a rifle was fatally shot by security after ramming his vehicle into a suburban Detroit synagogue today, AP reports.
- One security guard was hurt at the scene: Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township, Michigan.
- Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said that "no kids or no staff were injured whatsoever."
Investigators are still working to identify the man and his motives.
- Local news footage this afternoon showed smoke rising from the building, which was surrounded by law enforcement vehicles.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), in a statement: "This is heartbreaking. Michigan's Jewish community should be able to live and practice their faith in peace."
- "Antisemitism and violence have no place in Michigan. I am hoping for everyone's safety."
Temple Israel calls itself the nation's largest Reform synagogue, with 12,000 members.
- About a dozen parents sprinted to get their children from an early childhood learning center inside the building this afternoon after getting approval from police to do so.
2. 🇮🇷 Iran vows revenge

Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader, vowed today to take revenge for the ongoing U.S. and Israeli attacks, Axios' Barak Ravid reports.
- Khamenei, in his first public message as supreme leader: "We will not forgo avenging the blood of the martyrs. Every citizen killed by the enemy is a case for vengeance in itself."
Khamenei's warning: Attacks on U.S. military bases in the region will continue if they aren't shut down — and Iran will keep the vital Strait of Hormuz closed.
- 📺 His message, read on Iranian state TV without an accompanying video or photo, is the regime's attempt to project control as it remains under constant bombardment.
Khamenei also said Iran is looking at opening new fronts in the war "where the enemy has little experience and is highly vulnerable."
- He thanked Iran's regional proxies — Hezbollah in Lebanon, pro-Iranian militias in Iraq and the Houthis in Yemen — for their support, foreshadowing the possibility of the Houthis joining the war.
🇺🇸🇮🇱 What's next: After the war, Iran will demand that the U.S. and Israel pay compensation, Khamenei said.
- If they refuse, "Iran will seize property from them or destroy property of equivalent value."
3. ⚡️ Catch me up

- 🚢 The Trump administration may suspend a rule that only U.S. ships can carry cargo between domestic ports, as officials look to control rising gas prices. Go deeper.
- 🏛️ Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), 85, will seek another term — bucking a trend of generational change that has led other older House Democrats to retire. Go deeper.
- 📺 White House officials are outraged over CBS News' hiring of Jeremy Adler for its communications team, Alex Isenstadt and Sara Fischer report. Adler previously worked for former Rep. Liz Cheney, once one of President Trump's biggest foils. Go deeper.
- 🎓 Ohio State University named provost Ravi V. Bellamkonda its 18th president, just days after predecessor Ted Carter Jr.'s abrupt resignation over an "inappropriate relationship." More from Axios Columbus.
4. 👾 1 for the road: Nintendo gets Pokémon bump

Nintendo is getting extra life, thanks to surprisingly hot sales for the latest Pokémon game, Alex Fitzpatrick writes.
- The company's stock is up over 15% this week on the runaway success of Pokémon Pokopia — a "life simulation" game about rebuilding a post-apocalyptic world in the Pokémon universe.
🕹️ Nintendo sold a whopping 2.2 million copies of the hit Switch 2 game in its first four days alone.
- The stock bump is super for Nintendo, which faces skyrocketing prices for computer memory fueled by the AI rush.
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