Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Hurricane Laura: “Packing wind speeds of 150 mph and bringing a life-threatening storm surge, Laura on Thursday became one of the strongest hurricanes in U.S. history to make landfall as it struck Louisiana near the Texas border.”
* On a related note: “Laura was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday afternoon, after making landfall in Louisiana near the Texas border overnight as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.”
* Kenosha: “The 17-year-old Illinois resident arrested in connection with the fatal shooting at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, is to have an extradition hearing Friday. That same day, Blake’s parents are to attend a march in Washington, D.C. against police brutality.”
* The crisis in Belarus: “Belarusian police detained around 20 journalists preparing to cover a protest in central Minsk on Thursday and confiscated their telephones and identity documents, a Reuters witness said. The Interior Ministry later said the journalists had been driven to a police station for officers to check they had valid accreditation allowing them to work as journalists.”
* In Syria: “Four U.S. service members were injured in a collision between their vehicle and a Russian military police patrol in northeast Syria earlier this week, U.S. officials said. The incident highlights the tension surrounding the countries operating in close proximity in one of the world’s most complex war zones — and one that some analysts say risks a potential escalation between Washington and Moscow.”
* Speaking of Russia: “The suspected poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny has drawn global condemnation. In the week since the Russian opposition leader fell violently ill on a flight from Siberia, world leaders have issued statements demanding a fair and impartial investigation into the case while pledging support for Navalny and his family. But so far, the leader of the United States has not added his condemnation to the list.”
* Adam Schiff: “The FBI’s counterintelligence division does not appear to have investigated national security risks connected to President Donald Trump’s foreign financial ties, the House Intelligence Committee said Wednesday in a newly released legal analysis.” * At the border: “Fifteen days before the 2018 midterm elections, as President Trump sought to motivate Republicans with dark warnings about caravans heading to the U.S. border, he gathered his homeland security secretary and White House staff to deliver a message: ‘extreme action’ was needed to stop the migrants. That afternoon, at a separate meeting with top leaders of the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection officials suggested deploying a microwave weapon — a ‘heat ray’ designed by the military to make people’s skin feel as if it is burning when they get within range of its invisible beams.” * Noted without comment: “The Confederate statue bore the words ‘The South’s Defenders.’ But when Hurricane Laura walloped Lake Charles, La., Thursday, the controversial statue was toppled by one of the strongest storms ever to hit Louisiana.” 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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