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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* An important story on the Korean Peninsula: “A troubled U.S. soldier stationed in South Korea who was being sent home joined a group of tourists at the airport who were headed for the demilitarized zone, where he ‘bolted’ across the border into North Korea, a senior administration official told NBC News on Monday.”
* Delicate diplomacy: “President Biden met with President Isaac Herzog of Israel on Tuesday at the White House, a diplomatic overture to one of America’s key allies amid tensions between the Biden administration and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.”
* A notable Jan. 6 arrest: “A man who carried a tiki torch during the racist ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017 has now been charged in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
* A notable Jan. 6 conviction: “A Pennsylvania woman who used a bullhorn to direct rioters attacking the U.S. Capitol was convicted on Tuesday of charges that she joined the mob in an attempt to keep President Joe Biden out of the White House.”
* This isn’t normal: “Extreme heat is choking continents around the world, with record-setting temperatures expected Tuesday in the United States and several European nations. Around 63 million people in the U.S. are under heat alerts from Southern California to Miami.”
* On a related note: “The extreme heat scorching Phoenix blazed into the record books Tuesday, the 19th consecutive day temperatures hit at least 110 degrees Fahrenheit ... in a summer of suffering echoing around much of the globe.”
* The GOP’s climate plan? “As Speaker Kevin McCarthy visited a natural gas drilling site in northeast Ohio to promote House Republicans’ plan to sharply increase domestic production of energy from fossil fuels last month, the signs of rising global temperatures could not be ignored. Smoke from Canadian wildfires hung in the air. When the speaker was asked about climate change and forest fires, he was ready with a response: Plant a trillion trees.”
* Twitter isn’t the only social media platform with serious troubles: “The head of engineering for the company that operates former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Truth Social app told Reuters on Monday he had resigned, in a blow for the venture. Alex Gleason’s departure comes amid a period of prolonged uncertainty for Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG).”
See you tomorrow.