Today’s edition of quick hits.
* In Gaza: “The Palestinian Health Ministry said 200 to 300 people were killed in what it called a ‘targeted’ bombing of the Al-Ahli Hospital in central Gaza. The Israeli military denied the hospital was one of its targets.”
* An unconfirmed report on the use of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS): “The Ukrainian military on Tuesday used U.S.-supplied longer-range missiles to strike nine Russian helicopters in eastern Ukraine, after Washington secretly shipped the weapons in recent weeks. The delivery and use on the battlefield, confirmed by two people familiar with the move, marks a major ramp up of the administration’s defense of Ukraine, for the first time providing Kyiv’s forces with the ability to strike Russian targets far behind the front lines.”
* An update on a story from yesterday: “A man accused of killing two Swedish soccer fans in a suspected terror attack is dead after being tracked down by police in Belgium on Tuesday morning.”
* Remember Ryan Kelley? “A former Republican candidate for Michigan governor was sentenced Tuesday to 60 days in prison for committing a federal crime during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
* In related news: “A Jan. 6 defendant who smashed a Capitol window with an ice axe and giant cardboard tube before using a bullhorn to instruct rioters on how to ‘take’ the building — and who recently received a personalized hat from former President Donald Trump — was sentenced to more than four years in prison on Tuesday.”
* Note, this wasn’t a ruling on the merits: “The Supreme Court reiterated on Monday what it had said just two months ago: that the Biden administration may continue to regulate ‘ghost guns’ — kits that can be bought online and assembled into untraceable homemade firearms — while appeals move forward.”
* Encouraging data on crime rates: “The number of murders in the United States dropped just over 6 percent in 2022 compared with 2021, the F.B.I. said on Monday. Experts say preliminary data for 2023 indicates that the decline has accelerated this year.”
See you tomorrow.
