Latest swing state polls; Babe Ruth jersey sold : NPR

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Today’s top stories

Yesterday, Hezbollah and Israel exchanged some of the fiercest fire since the beginning of the war in Gaza — heightening fears of a wider regional conflict in the Middle East. Israel says its major attack in southern Lebanon was preemptive after it got intelligence that Hezbollah was going to strike first. Hezbollah responded with rockets and drones and said by late morning that it was done with operations for the day. Israel also de-escalated.

• 🎧 Hezbollah and Iran have been keeping the region on edge this month, NPR’s Hadeel Al-Shalchi tells Up First. They both promised to avenge the Israeli killings of a top Hezbollah leader in Beirut and Hamas’ leader in Tehran. This comes as Egypt hosted a new round of talks aimed at getting Israel and Hamas close to a cease-fire deal in Gaza. No deal was reached and it’s unknown how much progress was made. A 29-year-old Palestinian who has been forced to evacuate again tells NPR Gaza producer Anas Baba that he doesn’t have an ounce of hope and thinks the war will drag on for at least another year.

The presidential race has changed significantly since President Biden dropped out and Vice President Harris took his spot, according to NPR’s latest map of swing states. Harris has taken narrow leads in three critical states — Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania — that would put her at just enough electoral votes to win the White House, according to polling averages. NPR’s analysis now has all seven of the most closely watched swing states as toss-ups, moving all of the Sun Belt states from Lean Republican previously.

• 🎧 “The race is extremely close, which we’ve been expecting all along,” NPR’s Domenico Montanaro says. Harris has closed the gap completely in the Sun Belt states of Arizona, Nevada and North Carolina, while Trump holds on to a slight lead in Georgia. Harris and her running mate Tim Walz will be in Georgia later this week. Despite Harris’ momentum, Montanaro says Democrats are warning activists and voters to not get complacent. Though the polls have improved for her, he says the bottom line is it’s unknown who will show up to vote and these polls are estimates.

Eric Garcetti, former Mayor of Los Angeles and current U.S. Ambassador to India, has been accused of lying under oath to cover up harassment allegations against one of his friends and top advisers, Rick Jacobs. People who worked with Jacobs at Los Angeles City Hall testified that he touched them, including forcible kisses on the lips, massages, and hugs without their consent. He’s also accused of making crude sexual and sometimes racist comments and overall creating a “hostile work environment.” Jacobs has denied all wrongdoing and declined to answer NPR’s questions. Garcetti also declined an interview request but said in an email that he fully stands by his testimony.

• 🎧 NPR’s Tom Dreisbach talked with six employees of the Courage Campaign, a liberal group that Jacobs led before working at LA City Hall. They echoed the same issues going back to the mid-2000s. Garcetti denied ever seeing any inappropriate behaviors by Jacobs at any time. The allegations against Jacobs came to light in 2020, when an LAPD officer sued the city, alleging Jacobs harassed him for years and Garcetti witnessed the behavior and did nothing. The lawsuit included a photo of Jacobs posing with his hand on a lobbyist’s crotch next to Garcetti and some lobbyists at the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The city paid the officer $1.8 million without admitting wrongdoing.

Life advice

Photographs Unsplash; Collage by Kaz Fantone/NPR

Photographs Unsplash; Collage by Kaz Fantone/NPR

Grocery prices have increased by 1.1% over the past year, on top of a 3.6% increase the previous year and 13.1% the year before that. Food prices are still high, but your grocery bill doesn’t have to be. Beth Moncel, founder of the cooking blog Budget Bytes, shares smart tips on how to save money at the supermarket.

• 💸 Download Flipp, a free application that aggregates sales flyers from stores in your area.
• 💸 Compare prices of different brands online before shopping.
• 💸 Don’t assume bulk deals are better. Sometimes different packaging has drastically different prices. Pay attention to unit prices.
• 💸 Cut back on pricier items such as meats and cheeses. Remember, reducing doesn’t mean going without.
• 💸 Load up on inexpensive and filling produce including potatoes, onions, carrots and broccoli.

Click here for more of Moncel’s tips that could help with your next grocery run.

Picture show

The ‘Voting by Mail’ exhibit opens on Aug., 24 at the National Postal Museum in Washington D.C.. The museum hopes visitors learn that voting by mail has a deep history in the United States and expand the exhibit with more artifacts.

Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR

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Zayrha Rodriguez/NPR

Millions of U.S. voters became familiar with voting by mail four years ago. The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum’s new exhibition reminds us that the practice dates back more than 160 years before the COVID-19 pandemic. Mail-in ballots, election mailers, photographs and other artifacts are on display in the museum’s stamp salon. The exhibit lays out a timeline that begins with the Civil War election of 1864, which is considered the start of mail-in voting’s large-scale use in the U.S.

3 things to know before you go

Babe Ruth’s New York Yankees jersey, that he’s said to have worn in a memorable Game 3 of the 1932 World Series, is displayed at Heritage Auction in Irving, Texas, days before its record sale.

LM Otero/AP

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LM Otero/AP

1. A New York Yankees jersey worn by Babe Ruth has sold for $24.12 million, shattering the record for the most expensive sports collectible sold at auction. Ruth wore the jersey when he “called his shot” in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series against the Chicago Cubs.
2. At the end of September, Americans can order up to four free at-home COVID-19 tests delivered to their mailbox. The tests can detect newer variants of the virus.
3. The two astronauts who were stranded after taking a Boeing Starliner test flight into orbit will return in a capsule built by competing company SpaceX in February, NASA announced.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.