Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A big move from the White House: “President Biden has signed a classified policy limiting counterterrorism drone strikes outside conventional war zones, tightening rules that President Donald J. Trump had loosened for a 21st-century method of warfare, according to officials.”
* Hints of turmoil in Moscow: “A member of Vladimir Putin’s inner circle has voiced disagreement directly to the Russian president in recent weeks over his handling of the war in Ukraine, according to information obtained by U.S. intelligence.”
* Nobel peace prizes: “Human rights campaigners in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday. Jailed human rights advocate Ales Bialiatski from Belarus, the Russian human rights organization Memorial, and the Ukrainian human rights organization Center for Civil Liberties were announced as the 2022 winners at a ceremony in Oslo.”
* Counter-terrorism: “The U.S. military on Wednesday killed a senior fighter with the Islamic State terrorist group and a fellow combatant in a ‘very rare’ operation inside a part of Syria controlled by the government, and killed two top ISIS officials Thursday in an airstrike, according to two U.S. military officials.”
* In Uvalde: “The police department for the Uvalde, Texas, school district has been suspended ‘for a period of time’ amid fallout from the response to the May 24 Robb Elementary shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead.”
* A rare guilty plea in a seditious conspiracy case: “A senior member of the Proud Boys, a far-right extremist group, pleaded guilty Thursday to seditious conspiracy, the most serious charge that has been leveled against individuals tied to the Jan. 6 riot. Jeremy Bertino, of North Carolina, is the first Proud Boy to plead guilty to the charge in connection with last year’s attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
* In related news: “The founder of the Oath Keepers indicated in the months before the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol that he was in contact with a member of the Secret Service, a former member of the far-right organization testified during a seditious conspiracy trial Thursday.”
* This ruling came by way of a George W. Bush nominee: “A federal judge on Thursday blocked large portions of a new New York gun law, jeopardizing a measure that was passed just three months earlier and underscoring the difficulty that states may face in restricting the public carrying of firearms after a major Supreme Court ruling in June.”
* Interesting report out of Alaska: “Two Russians who arrived on St. Lawrence Island by boat were flown off the Bering Sea island by federal government officials this week, setting off a scramble by multiple agencies. Few details about the situation were publicly known as of Wednesday, with federal and state officials saying very little.”
* There’s increasing chatter along these lines: “Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the Senate’s No. 2 Democrat and the chair of the Judiciary Committee, said Thursday that it is time that U.S. foreign policymakers start imagining a future without an alliance with Saudi Arabia.” * From the DOJ’s Election Threats Task Force: “The Justice Department announced on Thursday night the arrest of an Iowa man who prosecutors allege had sent death threats to an election official in Maricopa County, Arizona. According to the indictment, 64-year-old Mark A. Rissi of Hiawatha, Iowa, allegedly sent two voicemails to Maricopa County Supervisor Clint Hickman calling for him to be hanged.” * Update your calendars: “The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol announced Thursday it’s holding its next hearing next Thursday.” * The Secret Service didn’t need another unfortunate story: “A motorcade taking Vice President Harris to work was in a one-car accident on a closed roadway in D.C. on Monday morning, an incident that concerned both the Secret Service director and the vice president and revived worries about the agency’s history of concealing its mistakes, according to two people familiar with the incident.” Have a safe weekend.
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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