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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Tropical Storm Debby: “The storm is moving northeast over Georgia, bringing a major threat of flooding and storm surges for the southeastern United States for the next few days. At least six deaths have been confirmed, five in Florida and one in Georgia, including a 13-year-old boy from Gainesville, Florida, and a 19-year-old from southern Georgia.”
* In the U.K.: “British Prime Minister Keir Starmer convened an emergency security meeting Monday after far-right riots fueled by misinformation spread over the weekend and residents across the country awakened to scenes of buildings set on fire and hotels housing asylum-seekers stormed by angry mobs. Two hotels were targeted Sunday night in what has turned into the worst disorder the United Kingdom has seen in years.”
* In the Middle East: “The Biden administration is racing to avert an explosion of violence across the Middle East, a high-stakes moment that threatens to derail a long-awaited cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip and underscores the limits of American influence over Israel, its closest ally in the region.”
* Wall Street: “Stock indexes saw a mild rebound following a significant sell-off Monday that resulted in the market’s worst day in almost two years. The S&P 500 and the tech-focused Nasdaq Composite both closed up 1% higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.7%, or about 300 points.”
* A big ruling from the 4th Circuit: "A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld Maryland’s decade-old ban on military-style firearms commonly referred to as assault weapons. A majority of 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges rejected gun rights groups’ arguments that Maryland’s 2013 law is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment."
* A prosecution worth watching: “The Justice Department said on Tuesday that it had charged a Pakistani man who had recently spent two weeks in Iran with trying to hire a hit man to assassinate political figures in the U.S. Investigators believe that potential targets likely included former President Donald J. Trump, according to a senior law enforcement official.”
* Let the world be forewarned: “Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday called for the government to develop a program for overseas promotion of ‘traditional Russian spiritual and moral values,’ a theme that the Kremlin has increasingly sounded in recent years.”
* The EPA matters: “In a move not seen for almost 40 years, the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday issued an emergency order suspending all uses of a weedkiller linked to serious health risks for unborn babies. The herbicide dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate, also known as DCPA or Dacthal, is used on crops such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage and onions. Fetuses exposed to it could suffer from low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased I.Q., and impaired motor skills later in life, the E.P.A. said.”
* Energy policy: “The Department of Energy on Tuesday announced $2.2 billion in funding for eight projects across 18 states to strengthen the electrical grid against increasing extreme weather, advance the transition to cleaner electricity and meet a growing demand for power. The money will help build more than 600 miles of new transmission lines and upgrade about 400 miles of existing lines so that they can carry more current.”
See you tomorrow.