Today’s edition of quick hits.
* At the U.N.: “The United Nations Security Council passed a U.S.-drafted cease-fire deal aimed at halting eight months of bloody fighting between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. The draft of the resolution, which President Joe Biden approved, was finalized Sunday after almost a week of negotiations among members of the 15-member council.”
* In related news: “New details emerged Monday about the rescue of four hostages — a high-risk operation that proved to be Israel’s most successful of the eight-month war, but that brought death and horror to the central Gaza refugee camp where they had been held by Hamas.”
* In France: “President Emmanuel Macron dissolved the lower house of France’s parliament in a surprise announcement sending voters back to the polls in the coming weeks to choose lawmakers, after his party was handed a humbling defeat by the far-right in the European elections Sunday. The legislative elections will take place in two rounds on June 30 and July 7.”
* In Saint Petersburg: “President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said on Friday that even the combined arsenals of Europe and the United States would be no match for Russia’s in a nuclear confrontation, but that ‘I hope this is never going to happen.’ He reasoned that Moscow’s supremacy in the Ukraine war has made that grim scenario unlikely.”
* The latest on Alex Jones: “The Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is seeking permission from a bankruptcy court to liquidate his personal assets and deliver the proceeds to the Sandy Hook families who are owed more than $1.4 billion in damages for his lies about the 2012 school shooting.”
* Huh? “Former President Trump escalated his claims about rampant crime during a campaign stop Friday, alleging without proof that mobs of crowds are stealing large appliances from department stores en masse without action from law enforcement.”
* Fingers crossed: “Moderna said on Monday its combination vaccine to protect against both Covid and influenza generated a stronger immune response in adults aged 50 and over when compared to separate shots against the viruses in a late-stage trial.”
See you tomorrow.
