Today’s earlier-than-usual edition of quick hits.
* Difficult diplomacy: “European leaders began meeting on Tuesday in Paris for the latest round of talks on peace for Ukraine, focusing on security commitments for the country in a potential cease-fire with Russia. National leaders and representatives of more than 30 countries gathered at the Élysée Palace for the meeting of the so-called Coalition of the Willing to also discuss how a potential cease-fire would be monitored, and what steps they would commit to take if Russia breached it.”
* In the Middle East: “Israel’s air force struck areas in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and early Tuesday, including in the country’s third-largest city.”
* A key victory for reproductive rights: “Abortion will remain legal in Wyoming after the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that two laws barring the procedure, including the country’s first explicit ban on abortion pills, violate the state constitution.”
* A case worth watching: “One of Texas’ largest teacher unions wants a federal court to block Education Commissioner Mike Morath and the state education agency from investigating teachers accused of making inappropriate remarks about conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination on social media, saying the act violates legally protected speech.”
* The demise of CPB: “The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which funded NPR, PBS and hundreds of local radio and TV stations across the United States for more than a half-century, said on Monday that its board of directors had voted to dissolve the organization because Congress cut off its federal money.”
* Make insider trading great again: “Less than five hours before nighttime explosions rocked the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, an unknown trader doubled down on bets that Nicolás Maduro would soon be out as the country’s leader. The wagers on Polymarket, a popular crypto-based betting platform, netted the trader more than $400,000, a 12-fold return on investment—and fueled suspicions that someone used inside knowledge of the closely held U.S. operation to make a quick profit.” * Musk’s operation didn’t need another scandal, but it has one anyway: “Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company is facing international condemnation after it debuted a ‘spicy mode’ last week for its AI chatbot, Grok. The feature allows users to digitally remove clothing from images and has been deployed to produce what amounts to child pornography — along with other disturbing behavior, such as sexualizing the deputy prime minister of Sweden.” * The latest in a series of troubles for the NRA: “The National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit Monday against its charitable arm, the NRA Foundation, claiming trademark infringement and unfair competition. The NRA alleged that about $160 million the foundation raised alongside the NRA was misused in violation of ‘the law of charitable trusts.’” 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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