Today’s edition of quick hits.
* The gap between the White House’s position and Netanyahu’s government’s position: “President Biden’s national security adviser advised Israel on Thursday to end its large-scale ground campaign in the Gaza Strip and transition to a more targeted phase in its war against Hamas, American officials said.”
* A big announcement from Charles Michel, the president of the European Council: “European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to officially open accession negotiations for Ukraine to join the bloc, an important breakthrough for Kyiv as it tries to bolster support from its allies. … The European Union also approved accession talks for Moldova, the impoverished neighbor to Ukraine’s south that is also threatened by Russia.”
* The NDAA easily passed the House after clearing the Senate a day earlier: “More than two-thirds of the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of a defense policy bill on Thursday that includes a record $886 billion in annual military spending and authorizes policies such as aid for Ukraine and push back against China in the Indo-Pacific.”
* Speaking of Capitol Hill: “As the House adjourned Thursday for Christmas recess with plans to return in the new year, the Senate decided to delay its holiday break and return next week to hammer out a deal on immigration and aid to Ukraine and Israel.”
* Gag order: “A New York appeals court has again upheld a gag order that bars Donald Trump from commenting about court personnel in his civil fraud trial, ruling Thursday that the former president’s lawyers used the wrong legal mechanism to fight the restriction.”
* At the White House: “President Biden spent nearly two hours Wednesday with family members of Americans being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza, his first in-person meeting with the group since militant group attacked Israel on Oct. 7.”
* The latest good news for consumers: “Hundreds of thousands of older Americans could pay less for some of their outpatient drug treatments beginning early next year, the Biden administration announced Thursday. The White House unveiled a list of 48 drugs — from chemotherapy treatments to growth hormones used to treat endocrine disorders — whose prices increased faster than the rate of inflation this year.”
* Speaking of medication, this sounds very promising: “Moderna and Merck’s experimental cancer vaccine, when used in combination with Merck’s blockbuster therapy Keytruda, reduced the risk of death or relapse in patients with the most deadly form of skin cancer by half after roughly three years, according to midstage trial data released Thursday.”
See you tomorrow.
