Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest on the crisis in Hawaii: “The deaths of 36 people have been confirmed from fires that tore through Maui, and mass evacuations continue for visitors and residents. Six fires are burning on Maui and the Big Island. Officials say that they are still trying to get a handle on the fires and that search and rescue remains a primary concern.”
* The assassination in Ecuador: “An Ecuadorian presidential candidate known for speaking up against cartels and corruption was shot and killed Wednesday at a political rally in the capital, amid a startling wave of gang-driven violence in the South American country. President Guillermo Lasso confirmed the assassination of Fernando Villavicencio and suggested organized crime was behind his slaying, less than two weeks before the Aug. 20 presidential election.”
* Progress toward a planned prisoner swap: “Five Americans imprisoned in Iran have been placed under house arrest in the first step of a planned prisoner exchange between Tehran and Washington that will include the release of roughly $6 billion in Iranian government assets blocked under U.S. sanctions, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the matter.”
* A largely encouraging report on inflation: “The Consumer Price Index rose 3.2% in the 12 months through July and the measure that excludes energy and food prices rose 4.7%, the Labor Department said Thursday. … Despite an uptick in overall inflation, underlying details point to further signs of cooling last month as the steep price gains that plagued American consumers look to be moderating.”
* Biden has a good story to tell: “President Biden on Wednesday entered a wind tower manufacturing plant surrounded by desert boasting of declining unemployment, waning inflation and a manufacturing boom — all metrics that should make his three-state Southwest tour a victory lap. ‘Our plan is working,’ Mr. Biden said, referring to his economic agenda. ‘When I think climate, I think jobs.’”
* Beijing will not be pleased: “The U.S. will prohibit Americans from investing in some Chinese companies developing advanced semiconductors and quantum computers starting next year, escalating Washington’s efforts to prevent Beijing from producing cutting-edge technology for its military.” * Willis sets the record straight: “Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Wednesday flatly denied that she had a relationship with a former client and other rumors spread by former President Donald Trump in a new campaign ad. In an email to her colleagues, obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Willis called the information in a television spot bankrolled by the Trump campaign ‘derogatory and false.’” * Don’t throw those masks out: “‘Covid’s back on the board,’ a colleague said to me recently as he signed out at the end of his emergency room shift and I signed in at the beginning of mine.” 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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