Axios

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security warned Friday of possible public safety threats or violence in light of the upcoming Oct. 7 anniversary of the Hamas attack.

The big picture: The announcement comes during the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah and just ahead of the one-year mark of the terrorist attacks in Israel, as American Jews are contending with a record number of antisemitic hate crimes.

Vice President Kamala Harris' campaign has launched into the final monthlong sprint to the Nov. 5 election by elevating its push to cast Donald Trump as a threat to democracy.

Why it matters: Trump's repeated false claims about the 2020 election, his actions on Jan. 6, 2021 — and signs that he won't accept this election's results unless he wins — have led Harris' allies to ramp up efforts to present the ex-president as unfit for office.

The obesity rate in the U.S. has stopped climbing — a remarkable trend shift after decades of growth, Axios' Caitlin Owens reports.

• It may even be declining, but the change is too small to say for sure. Either way, it's good news.

💡 The big picture: In the last few years a sea change has occurred in how obesity is understood, with the focus shifting away from personal willpower toward seeing obesity as a disease.

Switzerland and Italy are in the process of renegotiating their border, the BBC reports.

• 🇨🇭 Large parts of the border between the two countries are determined by glacier ridges.
• 🇮🇹 But as those glaciers melt, natural boundaries are moving. So the two nations have to figure out another way to delineate their borders.

⛷️ The redefined areas will mostly fall near the Matterhorn, Europe's tallest mountain, and the surrounding ski resorts.

1. 💪 A blowout jobs report suggests the labor market is thriving, bucking fears of a recession. Combined with the end of the brief port strike, two of the biggest pre-election economic risks are off the table, at least for now. Go deeper.
2. 🛬 Spirit Airlines is considering filing for bankruptcy in the wake of its failed merger with JetBlue, The Wall Street Journal reports (gift link).
3. 🎸 Bruce Springsteen endorsed Vice President Harris for president. He has supported every Democratic nominee for the past 20 years, and has been a vocal critic of former President Trump. See Axios' celeb endorsement tracker

Six months ago, somebody stopped into ShopRite Liquor in Neptune Township, New Jersey, bought a MegaMillions ticket, and won a jackpot worth more than $1 billion.

• But no one has stepped up to claim the money, USA Today reports.
• 📆 New Jersey gives players a year to claim their winnings. If no one has come forward by then, the money will be distributed among states that participate in MegaMillions.

President Biden on Friday signaled he would oppose an Israeli strike on Iran's oil facilities as part of the Israeli response for the massive Iranian missile attack earlier this week.

Why it matters: Biden's remarks indicate that while the U.S. supports an Israeli military response against Iran, it thinks the retaliation should be measured and not open a new front in the war.

President Biden appeared on Friday at the White House press briefing for the first time of his presidency, touting the economy hours after the Labor Department's strong jobs report was released.

The big picture: The president's surprise appearance came after Axios reported earlier Friday that he's been increasingly less visible in public since suspending his bid for re-election.

U.S. officials say the White House wants to take advantage of Israel's massive blow to Hezbollah's leadership and infrastructure to push for an election of a new Lebanese president in the coming days.

Why it matters: Lebanon hasn't had a president for almost two years, which has increased instability and exacerbated the political and economic crisis in the country.

Elon Musk will attend former President Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, the billionaire announced in a post on X late Thursday.

Why it matters: Trump's return to the scene of the first assassination attempt against his life had already raised concerns among local officials, per Axios Philadelphia's Isaac Avilucea.

The Biden administration saw a brief, temporary glimmer of hope for its new plan to provide student debt relief in the courts this week.

The big picture: In the president's waning days in office, his administration's attempts to relieve debt for millions of borrowers are facing a familiar streak of conservative legal challenges.

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris' plan to build 3 million new houses has one group very excited: the YIMBYs.

Why it matters: The "yes in my backyard" activists who bemoan the U.S. housing shortage and push for more home building say they've never seen a politician on the national level that's been as explicitly pro-housing.

L.A. prosecutors are reviewing new evidence that could reduce the prison sentences of Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers who were convicted of killing their parents in 1989.

The big picture: The review could lead prosecutors to reduce the brothers' sentences, give them new trials or simply release them.

Joe Biden's visit to the storm-ravaged states in the South this week was an event that's become increasingly rare for the president: a public appearance.

Why it matters: Biden hasn't scheduled public events in 43 of the 75 days since he dropped his re-election bid, a reflection of the 81-year-old president's unpopularity and age limitations as he approaches his last three months in office.

Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) at a campaign event with Vice President Kamala Harris on Thursday urged voters to "reject the depraved cruelty" of former President Trump and vote for the Democratic presidential nominee.

The big picture: "In this election, putting patriotism ahead of partisanship is not an aspiration," said Cheney at the event in the birthplace of the Republican Party at Ripon, Wisconsin. "It is our duty."

Boris Johnson claims that his staff found a bug in his bathroom after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used it during a visit to the British Foreign Office in 2017.

The big picture: The former U.K. prime minister was foreign secretary at the time of the incident, according to the extract from his book, "Unleashed," which was shared with the Telegraph newspaper.

Aging might not be a steady process.

• New research suggests that instead of creeping up year by year, the effects of aging hit us hard at specific points of life.

The big picture: The ages to watch are 44 and 60, The Wall Street Journal reports from a recent study published in Nature Aging.

👀 Zoom in: The study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University, included participants between the ages of 25 and 75, who were tracked over two years. Researchers studied changes in more than 100,000 microbes and molecules — from proteins to cholesterol — that dictate how our bodies function.

• In the mid-40s, people experienced a spike in changes to the way they metabolize alcohol and fats, which could explain worse hangovers or weight gain at that age.

Three former Memphis police officers were convicted Thursday on charges of witness tampering in connection to Tyre Nichols' fatal beating in January 2023, the Justice Department announced.

The big picture: All three men were acquitted of the more serious charge of violating civil rights by causing the death of Nichols, a 29-year-old Black man who died from his injuries days after he was violently beaten by officers during a traffic stop.

There is growing Democratic fear over how quickly the Wisconsin Senate race is tightening, with party insiders worried they could shockingly lose the critical contest, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: Sen. Tammy Baldwin's (D-Wis.) lead in both public and internal polls has deteriorated, and Republicans are flooding the state with cash to pull off the upset.

The House GOP's worst fears are being confirmed, after they privately sounded the alarm all summer about getting outgunned.

Why it matters: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y) and his allies are outspending Republicans in nine of the 10 most expensive House races of the cycle.