Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The latest on the deadly ambush in Idaho: “Two firefighters were shot and killed as they responded to a brush fire near Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, authorities said. One other wounded firefighter was out of surgery and stable at a Coeur d’Alene hospital late Sunday. The fire appeared to have been set as part of an ‘ambush,’ and sheriff’s deputies took active sniper fire, Kootenai County Sheriff Bob Norris said.”
* Maybe Trump shouldn’t have insisted that Putin is eager for peace? Because he clearly is not: “Russia launched its biggest aerial attack against Ukraine overnight, a Ukrainian official said Sunday, part of an escalating bombing campaign that has further dashed hopes for a breakthrough in efforts to end the 3-year-old war.”
* In the Middle East: “The Israeli Defense Forces and the Israel Securities Authority killed Hamas co-founder Hakham Muhammad Issa Al-Issa in a strike in Gaza City on Friday, a statement from the IDF said. Al-Issa was hit in the area of Sabra within the city, the statement said.”
* In defiance of Viktor Orbán: “A government ban on Hungary’s annual Pride parade backfired on Saturday when more than 100,000 people marched through the Hungarian capital, far more than have taken part in previous such events.”
* A case worth watching: “The Trump administration has sued the city of Los Angeles over its immigration policies, claiming that the city’s law discriminates against federal law enforcement by treating them differently from other law enforcement authorities.”
* The White House does not appear to have sent any representatives to the funeral: “Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were remembered at their funeral on Saturday as ‘extraordinary public servants’ who were killed in an inexplicable act of political violence. ... Former President Joe Biden and former Vice President Kamala Harris joined the mourners for the somber Catholic funeral Mass, though neither spoke during the service.”
* Ottawa responds to bullying: “Canada has walked back on its digital services tax ‘in anticipation’ of a mutually beneficial comprehensive trade arrangement with the United States, Ottawa announced Sunday night, just one day before the first tax payments were due.”
* I’m struggling to think of a defense for this: “The Trump administration has agreed to release from prison a three-time felon who drunkenly fired shots in a Texas community and spare him from deportation in exchange for his cooperation in the federal prosecution of Kilmar Abrego García, according to a review of court records and official testimony.”
See you tomorrow.