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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Quite a report: “A senior Russian general had advance knowledge of Yevgeny Prigozhin’s plans to rebel against Russia’s military leadership, according to U.S. officials briefed on American intelligence on the matter, which has prompted questions about what support the mercenary leader had inside the top ranks.”
* In related news: “Wagner mercenary group chief Yevgeny Prigozhin trafficked in fury to cultivate his status as a public champion of the legions of hard-line pro-war voices who were disillusioned with Russia’s military leadership. But now the explosion of his bitter feud into a fast-aborted rebellion has fueled fury of its own. Some who backed the mutiny were dismayed at Prigozhin’s decision to turn back before his fighters reached Moscow, while others were outraged at the apparent deal the Kremlin reached to end the crisis.”
* In Ukraine: “A Russian missile attack that hit a crowded pizza restaurant in an eastern Ukrainian city killed at least nine people, including three children, authorities said Wednesday, as rescue workers continued searching in the destroyed building’s rubble.”
* I’m planning to have more on this in the morning: “Rudy Giuliani, a prominent promoter of Donald Trump’s lies about a stolen election, has been interviewed by federal investigators as part of special counsel Jack Smith’s probe into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, a spokesman for Giuliani confirmed Wednesday.”
* There have been a lot of injunctions like these lately: “A federal judge is temporarily blocking some of Kentucky’s ban on gender-affirming health care for trans youth. U.S. District Judge David Hale sided with the ACLU of Kentucky on Wednesday in issuing the temporary injunction, keeping puberty blockers and hormone therapy legal and accessible to those under 18 in Kentucky while a larger lawsuit plays out.”
* Well played: “President Joe Biden trolled Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., on Wednesday for touting the arrival of federal funds to his state from a bill he voted against. ‘See you at the groundbreaking,’ Biden tweeted at Tuberville after the senator praised the news that Alabama was set to receive $1.4 billion to improve broadband access in the state.”
* Don’t tell Rachel, but I’m reasonably certain I’ll be retired when I'm in my 80s: “Growing numbers of 80-somethings are deciding that if days are finite, they are better spent on the job than in retirement.”
* I got to know Lowell Weicker many years ago, and I extend my best wishes to his family: “Lowell P. Weicker Jr., who swaggered through three terms as Connecticut’s last Republican senator, challenging Richard Nixon over Watergate and the GOP’s rightward shift under Ronald Reagan, then willed the state’s income tax into existence in a second act as a third-party governor, died Wednesday. He was 92. His death at Middlesex Hospital was announced by his family.”
See you tomorrow.