Today’s edition of quick hits.
Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Quite a storm: “As Hurricane Florence barrels toward the Southeast as a Category 4 storm, South Carolina’s governor has ordered evacuations along the state’s entire coastline – which could affect up to a million people.”
* North Korea: “As President Donald Trump issues a steady stream of praise for Kim Jong Un in interviews and on Twitter, a steady stream of evidence that North Korea is still making nuclear weapons has pushed his administration to take a much more aggressive stance toward Pyongyang.”
* Another deliberate diplomatic setback: “The Trump administration says it is closing the office of the Palestine Liberation Organization in Washington, D. C., effectively shuttering the Palestinian diplomatic mission to the U. S.”
* Afghanistan: “U. S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in the Afghan capital on Friday in an unannounced visit, amid upheaval in the senior ranks of American and Afghan officials waging the 17-year war against the Taliban and other Islamist militants.”
* As Trump alienates much of Latin America, the region moves toward a rival suitor: “The United States has recalled three chiefs of mission from Latin American nations that cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan in favor of recognizing China. The move comes as American officials have expressed growing unease over China’s rising influence in the region.”
* The Elliott Broidy saga: “A major Republican fundraiser allegedly demanded that his Playboy playmate mistress have an abortion. That’s according to accusations leveled by the mistress, Shera Bechard, and revealed in a document unsealed in court on Friday.”
* This isn’t OK: “Fresh off a sit-down with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Virginia state Sen. Richard H. Black turned up on an Arab TV channel last week making an extraordinary claim about one of the United States’ closest allies. Black said Britain’s MI6 intelligence service was planning a chemical weapons attack on the Syrian people, which it would then blame on Assad.”
* The end of a lawsuit that was doomed to fail: “Defeated Senate candidate Roy Moore is dropping a defamation lawsuit against a super PAC that ran a campaign ad blitz focused on sexual misconduct accusations against him.”
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
