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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A new day in Syria: “Jubilant Syrians waving flags clambered Monday onto a government tank abandoned in the capital city’s main square and took selfies. Others defaced or tore down the omnipresent portraits of ousted President Bashar al-Assad from government buildings. At the same time, hundreds of Syrian exiles streamed back into the country from Lebanon through unguarded border crossings.”
* Developments in Seoul, Part I: “A plan to impeach South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived declaration of martial law has failed after members of his governing party left parliament on Saturday ahead of the planned vote. Lawmakers from the People Power Party (PPP) were shouted and cursed at as they left en masse after voting on a separate motion, leaving the 192 opposition lawmakers eight votes short of the two-thirds majority needed for the impeachment motion to succeed.”
* Developments in Seoul, Part II: “The South Korean government on Monday ordered an overseas travel ban on President Yoon Suk Yeol as he faces investigation on possible rebellion charges over a short-lived martial law declaration that plunged the key U.S. ally into chaos last week.”
* It’s of interest that Donald Trump reportedly isn’t personally lobbying senators in support of his endangered personnel choices.
* Iran’s accelerating nuclear program: “The United Nations’ chief nuclear inspector said on Friday that Iran was quadrupling its production of near-bomb-grade material, a move likely to intensify the challenge it will pose to the incoming Trump administration — but one that might also open the way to a new negotiation with the West.”
* Seriously? “Mark McAfee, the California raw milk producer who has been at the center of several bird-flu-related product recalls, says a transition team for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has encouraged him to apply for a position at the Food and Drug Administration.”
* This bill won’t pass anytime soon, but its existence is notable: “Two senators have introduced a constitutional amendment that would establish term limits for Supreme Court justices, a long-shot escalation of the congressional effort to overhaul the nation’s highest court amid multiple ethics scandals and sinking public approval.”
* A weird story out of Virginia: “There are two versions of a May 3 incident at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia involving two Jordanian men, both undocumented immigrants, who pulled up to the entrance in a box truck. There’s the mundane account given by federal prosecutors about some confusion over where to check in during an Amazon delivery stop. And there’s the one that Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) has been telling for the past six months that makes it sound as if two foreigners stormed the gates at the fortified military installation.”
* I can’t be the only one concerned about the future of the Los Angeles Times: “Patrick Soon-Shiong, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, has announced plans to incorporate an artificial intelligence-powered ‘bias meter’ into the newspaper’s coverage.”
See you tomorrow.