memeorandum: ‘Where Is the Money?’ Military Graft Becomes a Headache for Ukraine (Andrew E. Kramer/New York Times)

3:55 PM ET, September 4, 2023

Top Items:

Biden's Age, Economic Worries Endanger Re-Election in 2024, WSJ Poll Finds — Nearly three-quarters of voters say the president is too old to run again — Voters overwhelmingly think President Biden is too old to run for re-election and give him low marks for handling the economy …

Kevin Breuninger / CNBC:

Biden gets low marks on economy and major concerns about his age as he looks to Trump rematch, new poll shows — Most respondents in a new poll said they think Joe Biden is too old to run for president, while a smaller majority said the same about former President Donald Trump, a new poll showed.

Discussion: HuffPost, Fox News, New York Post, The Hill, The Daily Caller, NBC News and Washington Examiner

Sahil Kapur / NBC News:
From ‘Sleepy Joe’ to ‘Crooked Joe’: Trump tries to redraw his portrait of Biden

Discussion: Vanity Fair, The Hill, Raw Story, The Daily Caller, Bloomberg, IJR and CNN

New York Times:

Kim Jong-un and Putin Plan to Meet in Russia to Discuss Weapons — Russia seeks more weaponry for its war in Ukraine, and a North Korean delegation recently traveled to Russia by train to plan for Mr. Kim's visit this month, officials say. — Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea …

Wall Street Journal:

Chinese Gate-Crashers at U.S. Bases Spark Espionage Concerns — Washington has tracked about 100 incidents involving Chinese nationals trying to access American military and other installations — WASHINGTON—Chinese nationals, sometimes posing as tourists, have accessed military bases …

Discussion: Fox News, PJ Media, HotAir, The Hill, Breitbart, The Messenger, Financial Times, The Daily Caller, Raw Story, New York Post and Reuters

Politico:

Why the White House thinks impeachment may prove risky for Republicans — And that's not the only political hot spot Biden aides are gearing up to confront. — The White House has been gradually preparing for a GOP impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden and increasingly feels …

Discussion: Breitbart

Eric He / Politico:

An effort to ban caste discrimination in California has touched a nerve — California would be the first state to explicitly ban the practice, but the process has been divisive. — SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Caste discrimination wasn't on the radar of many lawmakers in California.

Stephanie Kirchgaessner / The Guardian:

Twitter accused of helping Saudi Arabia commit human rights abuses — Lawsuit says network discloses user data at request of Saudi authorities at much higher rate than for US, UK and Canada — The social media company formerly known as Twitter has been accused in a revised civil US lawsuit …

Breccan F. Thies / Washington Examiner:

Mother of trafficked Virginia girl sues school district over secret gender transition — EXCLUSIVE — A Virginia mother is suing her local school district in federal court, saying staff there secretly transitioned her daughter, putting her in such dangerous situations that she ran away only to be kidnapped and sex-trafficked.

Discussion: IJR

The Daily Beast:

The California Megachurch Pushing Public Schools to the Far Right — From fights over LGBT rights to prayer at school board meetings, Chino Valley public schools have become ground zero for the culture wars. — Outside the California State Capitol last month, a fitness trainer turned …

Discussion: Raw Story and Digby's Hullabaloo

Eric Bradner / CNN:

Wisconsin GOP weighs moves to sideline elections chief and liberal Supreme Court majority — Wisconsin Republicans, after a string of losses in hotly contested statewide races, are taking steps toward sidelining the state's nonpartisan elections chief and undercutting the new liberal majority on the state Supreme Court.

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money, Associated Press and The Messenger

Luke Roberts / Kern County Fire Department:

Sheep's Trail Incident - Technical Rescue — INCIDENT NUMBER INCIDENT TYPE — LOCATION: COMMANCHE POINT ROAD BETWEEN EAST ARVIN AND STALLION SPRINGS — CLOSEST COMMUNITY: COMMANCHE POINT ROAD BETWEEN EAST ARVIN AND STALLION SPRINGS — INCIDENT NARRATIVE

Discussion: CBS News and The Daily Caller

Stephanie Liechtenstein / Associated Press:

UN nuclear watchdog report seen by AP says Iran slows its enrichment of near-weapons-grade uranium — Iran has slowed the pace at which it is enriching uranium to nearly weapons-grade levels, according to a report by the United Nations' nuclear watchdog seen by The Associated Press on Monday.

Discussion: Radio Free Europe/Radio …, Washington Examiner, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press

Francois Murphy / Reuters:
Iran expands stock of near-weapons grade uranium, IAEA reports no progress

Discussion: CBS News, The Daily Caller, Agence France-Presse and Bloomberg

Andrew E. Kramer / New York Times:

‘Where Is the Money?’ Military Graft Becomes a Headache for Ukraine — The removal of the defense minister highlights the enduring challenge of corruption in Ukraine, which has emerged as a rare area of criticism of President Volodymyr Zelensky's leadership.

Discussion: Human Events, Washington Post, Breitbart, RedState, World News, UPI and Bloomberg

Politico:

Chris Christie is actually gaining support for president. From Democrats. — They can't get enough of his new Trump-bashing persona. — SALEM, N.H. — Chris Christie is running away with support from at least one major voting bloc in his presidential bid.

Discussion: New Jersey Globe

Noah Berlatsky / Public Notice:

Why Illinois eliminating cash bail is a big deal — While red states restrict rights, the Land of Lincoln blazes a more hopeful trail. — ∙ Paid … The GOP have turned the states into laboratories of tyranny, innovating a slew of bold, brutal assaults on voting rights …