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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* New leadership in the U.K.: “Liz Truss took office as British prime minister Tuesday when she followed outgoing leader Boris Johnson in meeting Queen Elizabeth II for a ceremonial transfer of power showcasing centuries of tradition, but also the uncertainty and gloom hanging over the country.”
* This doesn’t exactly make Russia look good: “Russia is in the process of buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to use in Ukraine, a senior U.S. defense official said, an indication that Western sanctions are severely hampering Moscow’s military supply effort.”
* That would be a startling shift: “Gas prices are expected to continue their downward trend after Labor Day and into the fall, with some states possibly seeing a dip below $3 per gallon, Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, told CNBC in an interview published Monday.”
* Remember Richard Michetti? “A Jan. 6 rioter turned in by his ex after he called her a ‘moron’ because she didn’t believe Donald Trump’s lies about the 2020 election was sentenced to nine months in federal prison on Tuesday.”
* The result of the CHIPS and Science Act: “The Department of Commerce on Tuesday unveiled its plan for dispensing $50 billion aimed at building up the domestic semiconductor industry and countering China, in what is expected to be the biggest U.S. government effort in decades to shape a strategic industry.”
* Forever chemicals: “Virtually everyone has been exposed to ‘forever chemicals,’ human-made compounds that linger in environments — and bodies — for decades. Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl compounds, also known as PFAS, have long been associated with a range of health issues, yet have been left largely unregulated. That makes the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent proposal to classify the two most common forms of PFAS as ‘hazardous’ an important step forward.”
* Trump has seemed a bit worse lately: “[A]s his legal exposure intensifies over his handling of government documents, the former president [last] week crossed over to a more direct embrace of claims batted around the dark corners on the internet. His winks and nods to the far right became enthusiastic endorsements, and his flirtations with convoluted conspiratorial ideas became more overt.”
* On a related note, the former president argued yesterday that Fox News is “really pushing the Democrats and the Democrat [sic] agenda,” and he didn’t appear to be kidding.
* I’m guessing this was some kind of clumsy attempt at paraphrasing Lincoln? “President Joe Biden hoped to electrify Americans with remarks on Thursday condemning election-denying ‘MAGA Republicans,’ but it’s the comments by Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) that Twitter users found shocking. That’s because, in his ‘prebuttal’ to Biden’s remarks, McCarthy made a reference to the ‘electric cord of liberty,’ which many people found confusing, bizarre or just silly.”
See you tomorrow.