Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Much of Puerto Rico was still without power today, as temperatures neared 100 degrees: “Hurricane Fiona moved toward Bermuda on Thursday after leaving a devastating path of destruction in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, authorities said. The Category 4 storm, traveling north, was expected to deliver a glancing blow to the western edge of Bermuda on Thursday night or Friday morning.”
* On a related note: “President Joe Biden has approved a major disaster declaration for Puerto Rico as it reels from Hurricane Fiona, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi said Wednesday. The declaration will grant access to emergency individual and public assistance for residents affected by the storm.”
* Vladimir Putin’s declaration of a “partial mobilization” has not been well received in Russia: “By the time Putin’s recorded announcement was done playing on TV on Wednesday, Russians were scrambling to buy the last available flights out of the country and opposition groups were calling for protests as his order bred a sense of unease at home, just as his nuclear threats sought to do abroad. By late evening, more than 1,300 people had been detained at protests denouncing the move, a rights group said.”
* More proof of Putin’s strategic genius: “Speaking in English to the 193-nation United Nations General Assembly, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a pre-recorded message to a standing ovation, with the exception of the Russian delegation and a handful of other countries, in the Hall filled with world leaders and his own wife, first lady Olena Zelenska.”
* Hmm: “The air charter company Gov. Ron DeSantis’s administration hired for his controversial migrant-moving program has contributed big money to some top allies of the governor and was once legally represented by Rep. Matt Gaetz and his former partner, who is now Florida’s ‘public safety czar’ in charge of immigration policy.”
* Veterans Affairs news: “The VA medical system performed its first abortion, weeks after an interim final rule was announced that allowed it to provide the service in the case of incest, rape, or when the life of the mother was in jeopardy.”
* I was pleasantly surprised to see this pass with 69 votes: “The Senate voted on Wednesday to approve an international climate treaty for the first time in 30 years, agreeing in a rare bipartisan deal to phase out of the use of planet-warming industrial chemicals commonly found in refrigerators and air-conditioners.” * I’ll look forward to reading the transcript of this chat: “The House Jan. 6 committee has reached an agreement with Ginni Thomas to be interviewed in the coming weeks, a source close to the House panel said Wednesday.” * Remember him? “A former Donald Trump supporter, who participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol and testified before the Jan. 6 Committee, was sentenced Thursday to 24 months probation and 100 hours of community service. Stephen Ayres of Ohio pleaded guilty to one count of disorderly and disruptive conduct in a restricted building in June.” 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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