Newsletter: Today: Channeling JFK. Debate Stage Set.

I'm Davan Maharaj, editor of the Los Angeles Times. Look for Obama to invoke America's Cold War strategy today in his effort to sell the Iran nuclear deal; and a new Cold War may be brewing in the Arctic. Here are some story lines I don't want you to miss today.

TOP STORIES

A Cold War Echo

When President Obama pitches the Iran nuclear deal in a speech today, the setting will be telling: American University, where President John F. Kennedy announced the start of nuclear talks with the Soviets 52 years ago. Look for Obama to invoke successes of Washington's Cold War strategy and the perils of the hot war option (Iraq) as he tries to sell the deal to Americans. 

Debate Stage Set

It's not everyone's fantasy lineup for Thursday's Republican debate, but: Donald Trump, Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Mike Huckabee, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Ben Carson. Invited for an undercard: Rick Perry, Rick Santorum, Bobby Jindal, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Jim Gilmore and George Pataki. Both should be must-see TV.  Here's columnist Doyle McManus' viewer guide.

Arctic Anxiety

In tussles between Russia and the West, one of the most important may be getting the least attention: control of newly thawing regions of the Arctic and its vast mineral and oil deposits. Russia's first claim to 460,000 square miles was rebuffed at the U.N., but now Moscow is back. More ominously, it has held Arctic military exercises and plans a new Northern Fleet.

Up in Downey

It's been called the Mexican Beverly Hills, an exaggeration but a useful one. Downey, a southeast L.A. suburb, has come to symbolize "making it" for second- and third-generation Latinos whose forebears came here illegally. Despite white flight after the aerospace slump, the economy thrives and pride shows. It's a classic American story of moving up, and proving it.

'Mostly Lost' -- and Adored

If you're an old-film buff -- as in films made without color, sound or social media campaigns -- you'll enjoy Noah Bierman's visit to the "Mostly Lost" film festival at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus. Silent-movie fanatics jam in to see snippets shot on nitrate film and perhaps even touch the original camera negative of "The Great Train Robbery." It's today's Great Read. 

CALIFORNIA

-- L.A. City Council members back a proposed law that would require most handguns in homes to be locked up or secured with trigger locks.

-- A major shift in state policy could allow more felons to vote.

-- The huge Rocky fire in Northern California seems to have a mind of its own. "It's defying all odds," a Cal Fire official says. 

-- Several men ticketed at LAX while driving for Uber have convictions that would bar them from operating regular taxis in L.A., records show.

NATION-WORLD

-- More Senate Democrats, including California's Barbara Boxer, line up behind the Iran nuclear deal.

-- The family of Sandra Bland, who died in a Texas jail after a traffic stop, files a lawsuit.

-- Building islands in a disputed sea? China doesn't want to talk about it.

-- Yemen's government in exile says a base once used for U.S. drones has been retaken.

-- India rescinds a ban on Internet porn after a barrage of public outrage and ridicule.

BUSINESS

-- Blue Shield of California owes $82.8 million in Obamacare rebates.

-- Disney buys more land in Anaheim, prompting speculation about expansion.

-- L.A. aerospace firm Rocket Lab plans to build a small-satellite launch site in New Zealand. 

SPORTS

-- Floyd Mayweather Jr. is scheduled to fight Andre Berto on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas.

-- The NFL's Chargers and Raiders have spent almost $900,000 on a ballot measure aimed at fast-tracking a stadium in Carson.

-- The Coliseum could host one temporary NFL team. What if there are two?

-- The latest scores, stats and schedules.

ENTERTAINMENT

-- "Shaun the Sheep" creators don't follow the flock. The new animated film has plenty of oinks and bleats, but not a single spoken word.

-- Is love dead? Miss Piggy and Kermit break up.

Passings: Coleen Gray, 92, film noir favorite who starred in "Kiss of Death."

WHAT OUR EDITORS ARE READING

-- Marist Poll: Top 10 reasons why polls should not be used to decide which candidates get to debate.

-- Spiegel International: West Germany's secret role in ending the Iran hostage crisis.

-- The New Yorker reports from the front in the Scrabble dictionary war.

ONLY IN L.A.

When President Obama pitched his Clean Power Plan, he reached back to his Occidental College days, in 1979-81, recalling that it could be hard to breathe when he went for a jog. He may have exaggerated, but not by much. L.A. smog was a huge story. The Times even had an air quality beat. Here's a look back at some of the coverage.

Please send comments and ideas to Davan Maharaj.