Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A major breakthrough: “Turkey has agreed to support Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance after a year of opposition, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday. He called the moment a ‘historic step.’ Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to send the accession protocol to the Turkish parliament for approval as soon as possible, the NATO chief said, noting that Erdogan would ‘ensure ratification.’”
* Brutal flooding: “As many as 11 million people in New England were still under flood watches today after a summer’s worth of rain fell in parts of New York, forecasters said. Flash flood warnings also remained in place for much of Vermont.”
* Shooting in Cleveland: “Police are searching for a gunman who opened fire at a group of people in downtown Cleveland, injuring nine people, before he fled. The shooting occurred at 2:30 a.m. Sunday in the city’s warehouse district, police said in a news release. No one was killed, but all nine victims did have gunshot wounds.”
* Terry Doughty is a Trump-appointed judge: “The Justice Department asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit on Monday to stay a preliminary injunction that puts extraordinary limits on government communications with social media companies, arguing that the sweeping order could chill law enforcement activity to protect national security interests. The 22-page request came just hours after U.S. District Judge Terry A. Doughty denied the Justice Department’s request for a stay.”
* Speaking of Trump-appointed judges: “A federal judge nominated by former President Donald Trump gave a ‘break’ Friday to a man who used bear spray during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, saying he did not deserve the prison sentence requested by prosecutors.”
* In Amsterdam: “The Dutch government collapsed on Friday after failing to reach a deal on restricting immigration, which will trigger new elections in the fall. The crisis was triggered by a push by Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s conservative VVD party to limit the flow of asylum seekers to the Netherlands, which two of his four-party government coalition refused to support.”
* A big elections-have-consequences moment in Arizona: “Adults in Arizona can now obtain contraceptive medications over the counter at a pharmacy without a doctor’s prescription under a governor’s order announced Thursday. Gov. Katie Hobbs said the rule will go into effect immediately.”
* I probably shouldn’t be too surprised by GOP officials’ interest in the “Barbie” movie: “In a Barbie world, who controls the South China Sea? That’s the question a handful of Republican lawmakers — not to mention much of Southeast Asia — is asking thanks to a background detail in the upcoming ‘Barbie’ movie due out later this month.” * Watching Twitter deteriorate incrementally: ‘False and misleading posts about the Ukraine conflict continue to go viral on major social media platforms, as Russia’s invasion of the country extends beyond 500 days. Some of the most widely shared examples can be found on Twitter, posted by subscribers with a blue tick, who pay for their content to be promoted to other users.” * On a related note: “User traffic on Twitter has slowed since the launch of Meta’s text-based platform Threads, which has already surpassed 100 million sign-ups since its debut last week.” * In case anyone saw the bogus report about Tom Price from Friday: “Fox News has retracted an article concerning statements it claimed former Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price made regarding former President Trump.” 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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