Liz Cheney says she’s ‘thinking’ about running for president in 2024
Rep. Liz Cheney said early Wednesday that she was “thinking” about running for president in 2024, a prospect that would test the national viability of a conservative, anti-Trump platform that failed resoundingly in Wyoming. Cheney — who lost her House primary by more than 35 percentage points Tuesday to a challenger, Harriet Hageman, endorsed by former President Donald Trump — also announced the formation of a political action committee, the Great Task, that would educate Americans about threats to democracy and oppose any effort by Trump to return to the White House. The committee filed a statement of organization with the Federal Election Commission on Wednesday.
CVS, Walgreens and Walmart must pay $650.5M in Ohio opioids case
A federal judge on Wednesday ordered three of the nation’s largest pharmacy chains — CVS, Walgreens and Walmart — to pay $650.5 million to two Ohio counties, ruling that the companies must be held accountable for their part in fueling the opioid epidemic. The decision is a companion piece to a November jury verdict that found the companies had continued to dispense mass quantities of prescription painkillers over the years while ignoring flagrant signs that the pills were being abused. The ruling is the first by a federal judge that assigns a firm money figure against the pharmacy chains for their roles in the opioid crisis.
Jan. 6 grand jury has subpoenaed White House documents
Federal prosecutors investigating the role that former President Donald Trump and his allies played in the events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol have issued a grand jury subpoena to the National Archives for the documents the agency provided to a parallel House select committee inquiry, according to a copy of the subpoena obtained by The New York Times. The subpoena, issued in May, was signed by Thomas Windom, the federal prosecutor leading the Justice Department’s inquiry into what part Trump and his allies may have played in various schemes to maintain power after the former president’s defeat in the 2020 election.
Giuliani appears before Atlanta grand jury investigating Trump
Rudy Giuliani, former lawyer for Donald Trump and a target in the criminal investigation into Trump’s efforts to overturn Georgia’s results in the 2020 presidential election, spent hours behind closed doors Wednesday taking questions as part of a special grand jury proceeding. But a lawyer for Giuliani declined to say whether he answered any of them. It is unclear what crimes Giuliani could be charged with in the sprawling investigation of Trump and his allies being led by Fani T. Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia. Legal experts said Giuliani might have declined to answer many or most of the questions posed to him Wednesday.
North Korea launches two missiles in first test since June
North Korea launched two cruise missiles early Wednesday in its first weapons test in more than two months as South Korea and the United States geared up for joint military exercises that had been pared down or canceled in recent years. The two missiles were fired off the west coast of North Korea, according to the South Korean Defense Ministry. It was the North’s first test since June 5. Preliminary drills began this week for the first major exercise under President Yoon Suk-yeol of South Korea and President Joe Biden, an 11-day run set to begin Monday.
Israel and Turkey to restore full diplomatic ties
Israel and Turkey announced Wednesday that they were restoring full diplomatic ties and would be exchanging ambassadors again after not doing so for four years. Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, was received in March with pomp and ceremony by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey during a state visit that was described by both sides as an effort to reset the broken relations between the onetime regional allies. Once Israel’s closest friend in the Muslim world and a significant trading partner, Turkey cut diplomatic ties after a deadly confrontation in 2010 between Israeli commandos and Turkish activists on a passenger vessel.
Bombing at Kabul mosque kills 10, including prominent cleric
An Afghan resident and police say that a bombing at a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers killed at least 10 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 27. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, the latest to strike the country in the year since the Taliban seized power. A resident of the city’s Kher Khanna neighborhood said the mosque explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber. He added that more than 30 other people were wounded. The Italian Emergency hospital in Kabul said that at least 27 wounded civilians, including five children, were brought there from the bombing site.
Blasts in Crimea underscore Russian forces’ vulnerability
A spate of explosions and fires has turned Russian-occupied Crimea from a secure rear base into a new battleground in the war, demonstrating both the Russians’ vulnerability and the Ukrainians’ capacity to strike deep behind enemy lines. Nine Russian warplanes were reported destroyed at an air base in Crimea last week, and an ammunition depot on the peninsula blew up Tuesday. Ukrainian authorities have stopped short of publicly claiming responsibility, but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy alluded to Ukrainian attacks behind enemy lines after the latest blasts, which Russia blamed on “sabotage.” Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and has used it to stage attack on the country in the war that began Feb. 24.
By wire sources