Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Estonia, for the record, is a NATO member: “Three Russian fighter jets violated Estonian airspace Friday in a move the Baltic nation called ‘unprecedentedly brazen’ and that appears to be the latest test of NATO’s defenses by the Kremlin’s forces. NATO aircraft intercepted the jets, the military alliance’s spokesperson Allison Hart said on X.”
* Fortunately, several blue states are already circumventing these guidelines: “On Friday, a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory panel unanimously recommended limiting the Covid shot to people 65 and older or those with underlying health conditions, based on an individual decision or with their doctor.”
* In related news: “A closely watched advisory panel to the CDC voted Thursday to tweak recommendations for a measles vaccine that includes protection against the varicella, or chickenpox, virus.”
* In Chicago: “Federal agents clashed with protesters and threw a congressional candidate to the ground Friday morning during a protest outside a Chicago-area Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility. The chaotic scene unfolded in Broadview, Illinois, a suburb west of Chicago. Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old Democratic candidate running for Illinois’ 9th Congressional District seat, was thrown to the ground by an armed and masked federal agent outside the ICE facility, according to video footage posted on her social media.”
* Team Trump’s multifaceted war on Harvard: “The U.S. Department of Education announced Friday that it has placed Harvard University on heightened cash monitoring as a result of ‘growing concerns’ regarding its ‘financial position,’ the latest pressure tactic against the school by the Trump administration.”
* The deadline is 11 days away: “The Senate voted Friday to block dueling Republican and Democratic proposals to keep the federal government funded on a short-term basis, raising the chances of a shutdown at the end of the month.”
* If this is correct, it’s a very big deal: “President Donald Trump declined to approve more than $400 million in military aid to Taiwan this summer, as he tries to negotiate a trade deal and potential summit with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, according to five people familiar with the matter. The decision, which may still be reversed, marks a U-turn in U.S. policy toward the self-governing island that China claims as its own territory, said the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.”
* Sometimes Trump follows Orbán’s lead, and sometimes it’s the other way around: “Hungary will replicate a policy announced Thursday by U.S. President Donald Trump and designate antifa a terrorist organization, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said on Friday.” * Acosta in the hot seat: “Alexander Acosta, the former U.S. attorney in Miami who gave Jeffrey Epstein and an untold number of his co-conspirators immunity for sex trafficking dozens of underage girls, defended his decision not to prosecute Epstein during a closed-door congressional hearing Friday.” * It sure was weird when a whole lot of people pretended left-wing political correctness on university campuses was a national scourge: “Texas A&M University’s president is stepping down after facing criticism over a classroom video that showed a student objecting to a children’s literature lesson about gender, which led to the professor’s firing.” 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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