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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The details about the latest school shooting are still coming into focus: “At least three people were killed and six others injured in a shooting at a Christian school in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, police said. The suspected shooter, a juvenile student at the school, was found dead at the scene, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said during a news conference.”
* Devastation roughly 500 miles off the southeast coast of Africa: “Thousands were feared dead on Monday, after Cyclone Chido tore through Mayotte, a French Indian Ocean territory, leaving swaths of the population cut off.”
* Political uncertainty in Berlin: “German Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a vote of no confidence Monday, paving the way for early elections in February and ending a turbulent year at the polls for several of Europe’s leaders and governing parties.”
* Political uncertainty in Seoul: “South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol has not responded to a summons for questioning over his failed attempt to declare martial law. Yoon had been asked to appear for questioning on Sunday as part of an investigation by the prosecutors’ office, but said he was still forming his legal defense team, the prosecutors’ office told reporters. Prosecutors planned to issue another summons on Monday.”
* Political uncertainty in Ottawa: “Chrystia Freeland, the deputy prime minister who led Canada’s response to the first Trump administration, resigned abruptly on Monday from the cabinet in a stinging rebuke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, marking the first open dissent from any cabinet member and raising questions about his hold on power.”
* Difficult diplomacy: “The United States and China renewed but narrowed a long-running science and technology agreement on Friday, marking continuity in their ties while also accounting for bilateral tensions that are likely to only grow under the incoming Trump administration.”
* I’ve followed this case relatively closely, and this settlement isn’t the outcome I was expecting: “ABC has agreed to contribute $15 million to Donald Trump’s future presidential library and to issue a public apology as part of a settlement in the defamation lawsuit brought by the president-elect over anchor George Stephanopoulos’ on-air remarks about the E. Jean Carroll lawsuit.”
* For the record, the deadline for a government shutdown is Friday: “Congressional leaders were still trading offers Sunday afternoon on a government funding patch attached to a disaster aid package and a slew of other priorities leaders hope to clear before year’s end.”
I’m going to be off until Thursday — for book-related reasons — but I’m planning to return to the usual publishing schedule then.