Nation: The strict Texas voter identification law discriminates against black and Hispanic voters in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, according to a ruling by a federal appeals court. It’s one of several state voter identification laws winding their way toward the Supreme Court.

The Texas law requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID. The plaintiffs, which included the Justice Department, argued that minorities are less likely to have a driver’s license, passport, or government-issued voter identification card. They say the law is designed to limit minority voting.

Gov. Greg Abbott didn’t say whether the state will appeal, but he vowed that “Texas will continue to fight for its voter ID requirement to ensure the integrity of elections in the Lone Star State.”

War and Peace: President Obama stridently pushed for approval of the Iran nuclear deal yesterday saying, “Let’s not mince words: The choice we face is ultimately between diplomacy and some sort of war — maybe not tomorrow, maybe not three months from now, but soon.”

Obama spoke at American University, taking on all the critics who say the deal will free billions of dollars for Iran’s military, that it will not prevent the development of nuclear weapons, and that “we should get a better deal.”

The President went on to say, “But how can we in good conscience justify war before we’ve tested a diplomatic agreement that achieves our objectives; that has been agreed to by Iran; that is supported by the rest of the world; and that preserves our options if the deal falls short? How could we justify that to our troops?  How could we justify that to the world or to future generations?”  

Nation: In another movie theater attack, a man in Antioch, Tenn. armed with a hatchet and a pellet gun sprayed theater customers with pepper spray before he was stopped by a police officer. The man identified as David Montano, 29, of Nashville, who had a history of mental illness, was killed by a SWAT team as he ran out the back door of the theater.

MH370: Aircraft parts found washed up on the shore of Réunion Island in the Indian Ocean are from the missing Malaysian airliner, according to the country’s prime minister. French investigators are not quite so affirmative yet, saying it’s likely but not absolutely confirmed.

Lost and Found: A Stradivarius violin stolen in 1980 from the violin virtuoso Roman Totenberg in Boston turned up in June when a woman took it to an appraiser. The woman said she had inherited the violin from her late ex-husband, but the appraiser immediately recognized it as the stolen Totenberg Strad. The wood grain on a violin identifies it as surely as a fingerprint.

Totenberg’s daughter Nina, the well-known NPR correspondent, told the NY Times that her father had always suspected that the thief was the man who ended up leaving the violin to his ex wife, but the police never searched the man’s home.

Fake News: With 10 Republican candidates lined up tonight on Fox News to give him fodder for ridicule, America’s most trusted fake news anchor will already have taped his final show and gone home. Jon Stewart appears as host of The Daily Show for the last time tonight. At least for a while, politicians, financial hucksters, and the entire staff of Fox News can relax because the man with America’s best bullshit detector is giving it a rest. But he’ll be lurking out there somewhere.