Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A rapidly changing insulin market: “Sanofi will cap the out-of-pocket cost of its most popular insulin, Lantus, at $35 per month for people with private insurance, the French drugmaker said Thursday. The change will take effect Jan. 1, 2024. Sanofi is the last of three major insulin makers in the United States to cut or cap the price of the drug.”
* In Ukraine: “Poland’s president said Thursday that his country plans to give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes. President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes ‘within the next few days.’”
* In Israel: “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday swiftly rejected a compromise proposal aimed at resolving a standoff over his plans to overhaul the country’s legal system, deepening the crisis over a program that has roiled the country and drawn international criticism.”
* The latest in a series of ICBM tests from Kim Jong Un: “North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in a display of military might Thursday just hours before the leaders of South Korea and Japan were to meet at a Tokyo summit expected to be overshadowed by North Korean nuclear threats.”
* At the U.S./Mexico border: “A sharp drop in illegal border crossings along the Southwest border that started in January after the Biden administration announced stricter immigration measures continued into February, the administration announced Wednesday.”
* Overdue NATO expansion: “Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Wednesday that his country may soon ratify Finland’s application to join NATO, allowing for the possibility of the country joining the military alliance separately from Sweden.”
* Russia is short on friends, but it clearly has Syria in its corner: “Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad said on Thursday that he would welcome any Russian proposals to set up new military bases and boost troop numbers in the Middle Eastern country, suggesting Russia’s military presence there should become permanent.” * Grassley was third in line for the presidency at the time: “Newly released video of the Capitol attack shows just how close rioters came to a senior GOP senator who was third in line for the presidency on Jan. 6, 2021. The footage, released after media requests to access videos used in connection with a Jan. 6 criminal case, shows the apparent evacuation of Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) from the Senate chamber as a uniformed officer separates him and his security detail from the first wave of rioters who had breached the building.” * Trump continues to say the plot was a “hoax,” even as plotters continue to plead guilty: ‘A Wisconsin man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a reduced charge for his role in a foiled plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, handing another victory to prosecutors who have viewed the scheme as domestic terrorism.” See you tomorrow.
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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