Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Russia continues to kill people in Ukraine: “Russia launched a blistering ballistic missile attack on Kyiv and its suburbs before dawn on Wednesday, killing at least 17 people and wounding dozens more, Ukrainian officials said, as Moscow takes advantage of Kyiv’s depleted air defenses.”

* In the Middle East: “The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had started conducting strikes in southern Lebanon after accusing Hezbollah, the Lebanese militant group, of a cease-fire violation. The military said it could not provide further details at the moment. Both sides have accused each other of violating the cease-fire for weeks.”

* The CDC has a new director: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s new director: “The Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Dr. Erica Schwartz, a physician who has repeatedly affirmed the safety and efficacy of childhood vaccines, as director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the agency’s first full-time leader in nearly a year. The 51-to-44 vote fell mostly along partisan lines. Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia was the lone Democrat to vote in her favor.”

* The judge in this case used the phrase “unearned grace,” which seemed entirely appropriate: “Sometimes a person’s reluctance can only be inferred. But U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told the nation in the black-and-white of his opinion Tuesday that he had ‘reluctantly’ agreed to dismiss the last eight remaining Jan. 6 cases against some of that day’s most culpable actors.”

* An escalating diplomatic mess: “The Trump administration on Tuesday said it was revoking the visa of Brazil’s ambassador amid an escalating diplomatic fight over alleged U.S. interference ahead of the country’s presidential election in October. The action is meant as a reciprocal measure, a senior State Department official said, after Brazil delayed the formal approval of President Trump’s pick to be U.S. ambassador and denied visas to several U.S. officials.”

* Aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln: “Moldy showers. Food shortages. Sailors running out of toothpaste, deodorant and soap. Families of the sailors and Marines aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln are sounding the alarm that their loved ones are so exhausted they fear it could lead to deadly mistakes, as the carrier enters its ninth month at sea and its fifth consecutive month of combat operations against Iran.”

* Threats against judges are an underappreciated societal scourge: “President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly blasted individual federal judges as rogue actors and political activists whose rulings are illegitimate, including in a post last month by the top lawyer at the Department of Homeland Security. Some judges have found the rhetoric so troubling that they are increasingly speaking out about the danger it poses to the rule of law, an unusual move for members of the judiciary, who prefer to avoid the limelight.”

See you tomorrow.

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