Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Ongoing talks: “The truce between Israel and Hamas is due to end today, but talks are ongoing to extend the pause in fighting to allow for the release of more Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners. The expectation is for an extension of at least two additional days, a senior Arab diplomat directly involved in the negotiations told NBC News.”
* Quite a speech: “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., warned in a major address Wednesday about repercussions if Americans don’t condemn antisemitism, which has increased since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel. Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history, in a 45-minute speech laid out how Jews have felt isolated in the last month, called out recent examples of antisemitism in the U.S., and spoke about how trauma Jews have experienced for millennia is affecting how they feel today.”
* DOJ: “Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced charges against a man they said was ‘recruited’ by an Indian government employee to assassinate a Sikh activist in New York City. Nikhil Gupta, 52, an Indian national, was arrested in the Czech Republic on June 30 on murder-for-hire charges, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said in a news release. Gupta is accused of trying to hire a hit man to kill an attorney and political activist who is a U.S. citizen of Indian origin.”
* SCOTUS: “The Supreme Court’s conservative majority seemed receptive on Wednesday to an attack on one of the primary ways the Securities and Exchange Commission enforces laws against securities fraud.”
* In Canada: “Canada’s standoff with the technology giants Google and Meta over their use of domestic news content eased on one front, as the federal government announced Wednesday that it had reached a deal with Google to compensate publishers in Canada. The agreement comes just weeks before a national law is set to take effect that will require tech companies to pay news outlets for using their content online.”
* UAW’s next move: “The United Automobile Workers union announced Wednesday that it was undertaking an ambitious drive to organize plants owned by more than a dozen nonunion automakers, including Tesla and several foreign companies — a goal that has long eluded it.”
* The Senate can be such a disappointing place: “One of President Joe Biden’s top Labor Department nominees went down on the Senate floor on Tuesday after two Democrats voted with Republicans to block the nomination. Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Bob Menendez of New Jersey both voted against advancing the nomination of Jose Javier Rodriguez to be the assistant secretary of Labor. Nominees need just a simple majority in the Senate. But Democrats’ 51-vote majority means two defections can spell doom for any nominee.”
See you tomorrow.
