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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest from Spain: “Devastating floods have killed at least 155 people in eastern and southern Spain, local officials announced Thursday, after torrential rain fueled the worst natural disaster in the country’s modern history.”
* In Lebanon: “Nearly a quarter of all buildings in 25 Lebanese municipalities near the Israeli border had been damaged or destroyed as of Saturday, according to an analysis of satellite data by The Washington Post — illustrating the far-reaching toll of Israel’s land and air war against Hezbollah.”
* In Iran: “Two top Iranian officials on Thursday said Iran planned to respond to Israel’s recent attacks, according to Iranian media, threatening to continue a cycle of retaliation between the countries.”
* In Russia: “Some 8,000 North Korean soldiers are now in Russia near Ukraine’s border and are preparing to help the Kremlin fight against Ukrainian troops in the coming days, the Biden administration said Thursday. The new figure is a dramatic increase from a day earlier, when Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin would only say some of the troops had moved toward Ukraine’s border in the Kursk region, where Moscow’s forces have struggled to push back a Ukrainian incursion.”
* In related news: “Russian forces have escalated indiscriminate drone attacks against civilians in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, killing and maiming scores of people in what locals have described as a ‘human safari.’”
* The fake electors guy pays a price: “Kenneth Chesebro, an architect of Donald Trump’s bid to subvert the 2020 election, has had his law license suspended in New York. A five-judge panel from a state appeals court ruled Thursday that Chesebro’s guilty plea in Georgia last year merited the indefinite punishment. In the Georgia plea, Chesebro admitted to filing false documents during Trump’s bid to overturn his loss in that state.”
* I’ll be keeping a close eye on this one: “Mississippi’s Republican legislative leaders said Thursday that they plan to push for Medicaid expansion to cover working people who earn too little to afford private insurance — a position that business groups have advocated but that Republican Gov. Tate Reeves opposes.”
See you tomorrow.