Today’s edition of quick hits.
* If this report is accurate, the conditions will likely have a major impact on the war: “A confidential CIA analysis delivered to administration policymakers this week concludes that Iran can survive the U.S. naval blockade for at least three to four months before facing more severe economic hardship, four people familiar with the document said, a finding that appears to raise new questions about President Donald Trump’s optimism on ending the war.”
* Difficult diplomacy: “Israeli and Lebanese officials will meet in Washington next Thursday and Friday for another round of peace talks, a State Department official and Israeli official told MS NOW.”
* In related news: “Lebanon has been struck by hundreds of projectiles this week, the United Nations said today, despite a ceasefire with Israel that went into effect last month.”
* Before you ask, I’ll go ahead and note that the judge in this case was a Trump appointee: “A federal judge in Georgia ruled Wednesday that the federal government did not have to return 2020 election records seized by the F.B.I., rejecting a request from Fulton County that the materials be returned.”
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* What to know about the hantavirus outbreak: “An outbreak aboard a cruise ship of a rare rodent-borne illness called hantavirus has left three passengers dead and sickened others, but global health officials say the risk to the general public remains low because the germ does not easily spread between people. ‘This is not the next COVID, but it is a serious infectious disease,’ said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic preparedness at the World Health Organization. ‘Most people will never be exposed to this.’”
* An investigation worth watching: “The Department of Justice is investigating a series of suspiciously timed trades in the oil market just ahead of major announcements by President Donald Trump and a top Iranian official about the war in Iran, sources told ABC News. The DOJ, along with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is probing at least four of these trades where traders made a total of more than $2.6 billion betting that oil prices would drop right before they did.”
* The adverse economic effects of the war continue: “Whirlpool shares tumbled Thursday after the iconic appliance maker warned that the Iran war triggered a severe downturn, underscoring how sharply higher fuel prices and collapsing consumer confidence are beginning to weigh on big-ticket purchases.”
* As someone who actually took AP history in Florida, I can’t help but be disappointed by developments like these: “Florida has created a new American history course that advances a more conservative interpretation of the nation’s story. It focuses on the Protestant faith of the founders, argues that the U.S. Constitution is an antislavery document and recommends a textbook written explicitly to build patriotism.”
See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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