Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Russia’s war in Ukraine: “President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine said he planned to go Turkey on Wednesday to try to revive peace talks with Russia that have been stalled since the summer. Ukrainian and Russian officials have not held direct negotiations for months, and efforts to end the war have reached a stalemate since the last round of talks between President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia in August.”
* The ruling Facebook’s parent company was hoping for: “Meta did not break the law when it bought its nascent rivals Instagram and WhatsApp, a federal judge said on Tuesday, handing a major win to the $1.51 trillion company and dealing a blow to the government’s efforts to rein in the power of tech giants.”
* A ruling the White House wasn’t hoping for: “A Tennessee judge on Monday temporarily blocked the deployment of the National Guard in Memphis, siding with state and local lawmakers who argued that Gov. Bill Lee had overstepped his constitutional authority in sending troops to the city.”
* In related news: “Hundreds of federalized National Guard members sent to Illinois and Oregon will return to their home states as early as this week, a defense official told NBC News on Monday.”
* In Ecuador: “President Daniel Noboa of Ecuador has spent months courting Washington. He has met with President Trump at Mar-a-Lago; formed an alliance with the Blackwater founder Erik Prince, a Trump supporter; and pressed to allow U.S. military bases in Ecuador. But voters at home delivered Mr. Noboa a sharp rebuke. They soundly rejected a national referendum on Sunday that he had backed, aimed at authorizing a foreign miliary presence in Ecuador.”
* A case worth watching: “The Justice Department is suing California over legislation that bans federal agents from wearing masks and requires them to identify themselves, claiming the laws threaten the safety of federal officers as they conduct anti-immigrant operations in the state.”
* Eradicated diseases can make comebacks: “Health officials on Monday linked for the first time the measles outbreak that began in Texas with another in Utah and Arizona, a finding that could end America’s status as a nation that has eliminated measles. The news came in a phone call, a recording of which was obtained by The New York Times, among officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health departments.” * ProPublica’s report on the White House intervening on behalf of accused sex trafficker Andrew Tate during a federal investigation is stunning. * Now comes the hard part: “The UN Security Council on Monday voted to adopt a U.S.-drafted resolution endorsing President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war in Gaza and authorizing an international stabilization force for the Palestinian enclave.” 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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