Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Just hours after Donald Trump accused Iran of striking a cargo ship crossing the Strait of Hormuz, calling the attack a “foolish violation” of the countries’ ceasefire agreement, U.S. Central Command issued a public statement saying it had conducted a fresh round of strikes against Iran, hitting “Iranian missile and drone storage locations and coastal radar sites.”
* Crisis conditions in Venezuela: “As Venezuela seeks to recover from twin earthquakes Wednesday — with magnitudes of 7.2. and 7.5, respectively — that killed at least 920 people, injured thousands and have caused extensive damage, the fallout from another natural disaster, and the U.S. response to it back then, is instructive for what happens next today.”
* Let’s hope these signs of progress continue: “Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed a framework toward peace on Friday, capping four marathon days of talks in Washington and pulling the fate of the conflict in Lebanon away from the Iranian regime.”
* Bolton pleads guilty: “John Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser turned sharp critic, returned to a federal courtroom today to plead guilty on a national security-related charge, marking the latest chapter in Trump’s apparent retribution tour against his political foes. … U.S. District Judge Theodore Chuang set a sentencing hearing for October 28.”
* Court case on the Epstein files: “The Justice Department has effectively conceded it is violating the law Congress passed last November requiring the public release of the vast majority of records relating to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a federal judge declared Thursday.”