Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A major diplomatic shift: “The United Kingdom, Canada and Australia officially recognized Palestine as a state Sunday, a significant shift in foreign policy and a step away from their alignment with the United States, with several other European nations and U.S. allies set to follow suit this week.”
* On a related note: “Declaring that ‘the time has come,’ President Emmanuel Macron announced that France was formally recognizing Palestine as a state at the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said that such recognition was the only path to a peaceful future for Israel.”
* Sometimes, pressure works: “‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ will return to the air Tuesday night after ABC pre-empted it due to comments that the show’s host made in a monologue following the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.”
* Measles outbreak: “One of the largest measles outbreaks in the U.S. is now centered in bordering areas of southwestern Utah and Arizona. In Southwest Utah, all but one of the 23 confirmed cases are among unvaccinated, school-age kids, the Southwest Utah Public Health Department reported. In Mohave County, Arizona, which health officials believe is connected to the Utah outbreak, there have been 42 confirmed cases of the highly contagious virus.”
* Tough on crime, this is not: “The Securities and Exchange Commission this week dropped civil enforcement cases that could have led to penalties totaling hundreds of millions of dollars against three men who were previously granted clemency by President Trump.”
* Seems reasonable: “California became the first state to ban most law enforcement officers, including federal immigration agents, from covering their faces while conducting official business under a bill that was signed Saturday by Gov. Gavin Newsom and swiftly denounced by Trump administration officials.”
* I wish Duffy pushed fewer of these threats: “The Department of Transportation threatened on Friday to potentially withhold funding from Chicago and Boston if their transit authorities could not improve safety for passengers and workers. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy issued the warning in a pair of letters sent to the heads of the Chicago Transit Authority and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.”
See you tomorrow.