Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A late-breaking story out of Iraq: “Two Katyusha rockets on Monday were fired at Iraq’s Ain al-Asad air base which hosts U.S. and other international forces in western Iraq, security sources said. It was not clear if the attack caused any casualties or damage inside the base, the sources said.”
* Hurricane news: “Debby made landfall today on Florida’s Big Bend at 7 a.m. ET as a Category 1 hurricane with 80 mph winds, the National Hurricane Center said. It was downgraded at 11 a.m. to a tropical storm. … At least four deaths have been confirmed as a result of Debby.”
* Don’t panic: “Stocks saw a dramatic pullback — their third in as many trading days — as a confluence of factors including ongoing fears of an economic slowdown and repositioning on Wall Street sent shares tumbling.”
* The first big anti-monopoly decision against a tech company in decades: “A federal U.S. judge ruled Monday that Google has illegally held a monopoly in two market areas: search and text advertising. The landmark case from the government, filed in 2020, alleged that Google has kept its share of the general search market by creating strong barriers to entry and a feedback loop that sustained its dominance. The court found that Google violated Section 2 of the Sherman Act, which outlaws monopolies.”
* This was a weird case: “The Supreme Court on Monday declined to intervene in a long-shot lawsuit brought by Missouri attempting to block legal proceedings in former President Donald Trump’s hush money case in New York. The court rejected Missouri’s bid to sue the state of New York, meaning the justices will not lift the gag order or delay sentencing in the unusual claim brought by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican who is running for a full term this fall.”
* Crisis in Dhaka: “Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and left the country Monday, the army chief said, a day after almost 100 people were killed in clashes with the police as student-led protesters demanded she step down. In an address to the nation, army chief Gen. Waker-Uz-Zaman said that an interim government would be formed and that every death would be investigated.”
* This case isn’t dead: “The judge overseeing the election interference case against former President Donald Trump denied Trump’s motion to dismiss the indictment, though she added that he could ‘file a renewed motion once all issues of immunity have been resolved.’ In the Saturday filing, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan also scheduled an August conference with the defense and prosecution to teams to determine a schedule for pretrial proceedings on Aug. 16.” * Keep an eye on this one: “Two special prosecutors said Monday that they plan to file a criminal obstruction of justice charge against a former central Kansas police chief over his conduct following a raid last year on his town’s newspaper.” * Following up on a story from last week: “Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday withdrew the controversial plea deal for the three men accused of planning the 9/11 attacks.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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