Today’s edition of quick hits:
* A gut-wrenching scene: “The funeral of a slain Palestinian American journalist descended into chaos Friday after Israeli security forces stormed and beat the crowd carrying her coffin, which was at one point dropped by the pallbearers.”
* I’ll take signs of progress where I can find them: “U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for an immediate ceasefire in Ukraine when he spoke by telephone to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu on Friday for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Pentagon said.”
* Formula news, Part I: “Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote on an emergency supplemental spending bill next week to address the shortage, as well as hold hearings on the issue. ‘While it is essential that we ensure that this issue never happens again, right now the babies are crying and the babies are hungry — so we must take urgent action to protect their health and well-being,’ she said in a statement.”
* Formula news, Part II: “Senior Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote to four companies comprising 90 percent of the market seeking information on how they’ll address the shortage.”
* It’s important to do this now: “Four high-ranking congressional Democrats sent formal requests to the CEOs of YouTube, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, on Thursday, asking them to archive content that could be used as evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine.”
* It’s the latter half of this that matters most: “Texas’ child welfare agency remains blocked from investigating the family of a transgender teen that sued the state in March, but can once again investigate other families that provide gender-affirming care after the Supreme Court of Texas struck down a statewide injunction Friday.”
* This seems likely to generate some conversation: “The Lancet, one of the world’s most prestigious medical journals, issued a dire warning on the front page of its latest edition: ‘If the US Supreme Court confirms its draft decision, women will die,’ the journal’s editorial board wrote.”
* Fingers crossed? “There’s another twist in the Twitter deal. Elon Musk said early Friday that his plan to buy the social media company was ‘temporarily on hold’ over a report of fake accounts on the platform, later adding that he was ‘still committed’ to the deal. * The industry is facing tough questions that deserve answers: “The country’s largest meatpackers successfully lobbied the Trump administration in the early months of the coronavirus pandemic to keep processing plants open despite knowing the health risks to their workers, according to a congressional report released on Thursday.” * Updating a story we discussed earlier in the week: “A Louisiana legislator who introduced a bill that would classify abortion as homicide withdrew the proposal from debate Thursday after colleagues voted to amend the legislation.” * Today is Jen Psaki’s last day as White House press secretary, and she’s held 224 briefings during her tenure. That’s more briefings than all of Donald Trump’s press secretaries combined. Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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