Today’s edition of quick hits.

* In the Middle East: “The United Arab Emirates suspended all trade with Iran on Wednesday after the UAE said it had come under renewed fire from the country — a move that will further isolate the Islamic Republic, which is suffering under U.S. sanctions and a blockade.”

* The bond market successfully moved the administration: “After the bond market’s alarm bells rose in volume through the summer, the Trump administration announced on Wednesday a move that could help calm it down. The U.S. Treasury Department said it will more than double the amount of U.S. government bonds that it will buy back, and the move worked in getting longer-term yields lower, for now at least.”

* Hopefully, this preliminary agreement won’t collapse: “Canada will temporarily avoid hefty taxes that were set to go into effect at midnight after last-minute talks to avoid President Donald Trump’s latest tariff threat. Trump, posting on the social media platform he owns, announced that he agreed to pause the 50% levies, which were slated to be applied to nearly $20 billion worth of Canadian goods, for now at least.”

* There’s a reason Republicans go out of their way to appear in Judge Reed O’Connor’s courtroom: “A federal judge in Texas has declared that a regulation adopted by Democratic former President ‌Joe Biden’s administration targeting largely untraceable ‘ghost guns’ is unconstitutional — a ruling issued after the U.S. Supreme Court last year upheld the measure. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth ruled on Monday that the 2022 rule violates the right to keep and bear arms under the U.S. Constitution’s Second ​Amendment and was too vague to satisfy the Fifth Amendment’s due process guarantees.”

* A more encouraging judicial development: “A federal judge in Washington on Wednesday blocked the Trump administration’s recent changes to the Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program, which hit groups around the country that teach classes on healthy relationships, abstinence and contraception.”

* The White House hates the ICC almost as much as it hates windmills: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday announced sanctions on the president of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and a trial lawyer, part of an escalating fight between the Trump administration, the court and international human rights groups.”

* Treasury turnover: “The Treasury Department has seen a dramatic exodus of President Donald Trump’s own appointees, outpacing the turnover of any other recent administration. Since the start of the second Trump administration, seven of 16 Treasury appointees confirmed by the Senate — or roughly 44% — have either quit or been pushed out of their positions, according to the Partnership for Public Service, a nonpartisan watchdog. That does not account for the turnover in Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s office; he has had at least three different chiefs of staff since the beginning of the administration.”

* Every time there’s news about a potential mRNA-based breakthrough, it’s worth remembering that the Trump administration dramatically curtailed mRNA-based research: “An experimental mRNA-based vaccine succeeded in preventing cancer from coming back or spreading in a study of high-risk melanoma patients, Moderna and its partner Merck said Wednesday, paving the way for a potentially new life-extending treatment for the thousands of people diagnosed with the deadly skin cancer each year.”

See you tomorrow.

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