Today’s edition of quick hits:
* Events in northern Mali have unfolded quickly, as an Islamist leader in Mali said France had “opened the gates of hell” for all its citizens by intervening militarily.
* This will be covered in depth on tonight’s show: “Several parents whose children were killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting joined the national debate on gun violence on Monday, gathering here to begin sketching their response to the massacre by helping start a nonprofit organization intended to help prevent the kind of bloodshed that turned this quaint New England community into a national symbol of grief.”
* Syria: “The Syrian government continued an intensifying campaign of airstrikes against rebels in the suburbs of Damascus on Monday, with sharply contrasting accounts of the effects: the government reported progress against ‘armed terrorists,’ while anti-government activists said that 15 children were among more than 30 people killed in the past two days.”
* Pakistan: “A powerful roadside bomb in the militant hub of North Waziristan killed at least 14 Pakistani soldiers and wounded at least 25 on Sunday, a senior military official and local tribesmen said.”
* That’s quite a statistic: “[A] gun kept in the home was 43 times more likely to be involved in the death of a member of the household than to be used in self-defense.”
* Headed home: “Former President George H.W. Bush was released Monday from a Houston hospital after seven weeks of treatment for bronchitis, a bacterial infection and a persistent cough, the Bush family spokesman said.”
* A rare sight: “Around 11:45 on Monday morning, Justice Clarence Thomas broke almost seven years of silence during Supreme Court arguments. But it was not entirely clear what he said.”
* Great choice: “The boards of directors of NARAL Pro-Choice America and the NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation announced today that Ilyse Hogue has been chosen to succeed Nancy Keenan as president of the organization.” * As much as I love “The Daily Show,” last week’s segment on the debt was off the mark. * Tragic: “Aaron Swartz, a wizardly programmer who as a teenager helped develop code that delivered ever-changing Web content to users and who later became a steadfast crusader to make that information freely available, was found dead on Friday in his New York apartment.” Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.
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