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Monday's Mini-Report

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:
 
* A quiet success story: "Even as the international effort to destroy Syria's vast chemical weapons stockpile lags behind schedule, a similar American-backed campaign carried out under a cloak of secrecy ended successfully last week in another strife-torn country, Libya."
 
* Ukraine: "Working to salvage a failed effort to bring Ukraine closer to the European Union, and to counter Russian pressure, the United States and Europe are pushing to defuse the crisis there, trying to assemble a new financial package intended to ease the way for formation of a new government, American and European officials say."
 
* Faced with a crisis, China is starting to release striking data: "The country's appalling air is blamed for more than a million premature deaths a year, for producing acid rain that damages the nation's agriculture, for driving away tourists and even for encouraging the brightest students to study abroad. Perhaps just as important, Beijing's bad air has been making its Communist leaders lose face."
 
* This strikes me as a fascinating move in Middle East peace talks: "Six months into peace talks dominated by discussion about security, President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority has proposed to Secretary of State John Kerry that an American-led NATO force patrol a future Palestinian state indefinitely, with troops positioned throughout the territory, at all crossings, and within Jerusalem."
 
* The House GOP's one-track mind: "The House Ways and Means Committee will meet Tuesday morning to mark up two ObamaCare bills that could be heading to the House floor in the coming weeks."
 
* Wall Street: "Stocks were battered on Monday, with benchmark indexes falling through key support levels after a disappointing factory activity report, heightening concern about the economy before Friday's monthly jobs report."
 
* A good problem to have: "In a year when three dozen governors are up for election, unexpectedly robust revenues from taxes and other sources are filling most state coffers, creating surpluses not seen in years and prompting statehouse battles over what to do with the money."
 
* At the intersection of infrastructure, mass transit, and the Super Bowl: "There were hassles getting to and from MetLife Stadium that had nothing to do with the weather, however. There were long delays at the Secaucus train station on the way to the game and jammed platforms at the stadium station after it was over as New Jersey Transit struggled to get thousands of people moving in a black eye for what was touted as the first mass transit Super Bowl."
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.