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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* At the White House: “President Joe Biden said Tuesday that he has made a decision on how to respond to the drone attack that killed three U.S. soldiers and injured dozens of others at a base in northeast Jordan. As he departed the White House on Tuesday morning, Biden was asked by a reporter if he had made a decision in response to the attack by Iran-backed militants on Sunday. Biden replied, ‘Yes.’”
* UNRWA’s future: “As questions loom over allegations that a dozen United Nations Relief and Works Agency staff members were involved in the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the topic of funding the Palestinian refugee agency and its future has become into question.”
* In Ohio: “A member of the pro-Nazi group White Lives Matter was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for firebombing an Ohio church that had been planning to host two drag events. Aimeen Penny, a 20-year-old far-right extremist from Ohio, was arrested last year after he made Molotov cocktails and threw them at the Community Church of Chesterland in Chesterland, Ohio, on March 25, 2023.”
* Speaking of criminal sentencing: “A Donald Trump supporter who 'blind-side tackled' a U.S. Capitol Police officer from behind on Jan. 6 and flipped him over a ledge was sentenced to more than six years in prison Tuesday. Ralph Celentano, a New York man who thought Trump was the greatest president in American history, was sentenced to 78 months in federal prison."
* Saudis did not offer an explanation for this: “Saudi Aramco said Tuesday that it would call off plans to expand its oil output, a remarkable turnaround by one of the world’s leading petroleum producers. Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia, said the government in Riyadh had directed it to maintain its ‘maximum sustainable capacity’ of crude oil production at 12 million barrels a day, and give up a drive to increase it to 13 million barrels a day by 2027, a plan announced several years ago.”
* The fact that Habba even went down this road at all was odd: “Former President Donald Trump’s attorney Alina Habba on Tuesday backed off of a conflict of interest claim against the judge who presided over the E. Jean Carroll defamation trial after Carroll’s lawyer threatened to pursue sanctions.”
* An awful story in Maine: “The diversity, equity and inclusion coordinator of public schools in South Portland, Maine, has resigned and left the state, saying he fears for his family’s safety after receiving a threatening letter from a white supremacist. The attack on Mohammed Albehadli, who came to the U.S. a decade ago from Iraq after it became too dangerous, comes at a time when many Republicans are opposed to DEI initiatives that include recruiting and retaining faculty and students of color.”
* A crisis averted in San Diego: “A high school student and his ‘Doomsday’ preparing father were arrested after police say the teen threatened to shoot up Rancho Bernardo High School. ... Police received several reports Friday saying the suspected teen was showing concerning videos and making threatening statements against the school for Tuesday, Jan. 30, SDPD said. That same day, the student, who was not named because he was underage, was arrested and taken to juvenile hall.”
See you tomorrow.