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Tuesday's Mini-Report, 5.25.21

Today's edition of quick hits.

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Half: "The United States reached another milestone in its Covid-19 vaccination efforts, with half of adults now fully vaccinated, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday."

* Related news: "Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine is safe and highly effective in children ages 12 to 17, the company said Tuesday. It would be the second Covid-19 vaccine available for the age group if it is authorized for use, in addition to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine."

* Lukashenko faces consequences: "Belarus on Tuesday confronted a return to international pariah status. Its skies were cleared of nearly all air traffic, its businesses braced for European Union sanctions, and pro- and anti-government residents readied to be more cut off from the West after their leaders forced an airliner to land to arrest an opposition journalist."

* One year later: "President Joe Biden marked the first anniversary of George Floyd's murder Tuesday with a private Oval Office meeting with members of Floyd's family as congressional negotiators seek a deal on a bill named after Floyd aimed at reforming policing practices across the nation."

* Middle East: "Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged on a Middle East mission on Tuesday that Washington would provide new aid to help rebuild Gaza as part of efforts to bolster a ceasefire between its Islamist Hamas rulers and Israel."

* On a related note: "White House and other Biden administration officials tell NBC News that President Joe Biden has selected former Deputy Secretary of State Thomas Nides to be U.S. ambassador to Israel."

* Afghanistan: "United States troops and their NATO allies intend to be out of Afghanistan by early to mid-July, well ahead of President Biden's Sept. 11 withdrawal deadline, military officials said, in what has turned into an accelerated ending to America's longest war."

* Tehran: "Iran agreed on Monday to a one-month extension of an agreement with international inspectors that would allow them to continue monitoring the country's nuclear program, avoiding a major setback in the continuing negotiations with Tehran. Under the agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran will extend access to monitoring cameras at its nuclear facilities until June 24, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the agency's director general, told reporters in Vienna."

* A DOJ story we've been following: "A portion of a memo cited by former Attorney General William Barr as a reason not to pursue obstruction of justice charges against former President Donald Trump was released Monday night, but the Justice Department said it is appealing a judge's order to disclose the rest of it."

* In keeping with the recent trend: "Florida's unemployment agency announced Monday that it would stop jobless Floridians from receiving an additional $300 in weekly benefits next month. The Department of Economic Opportunity announced the state would stop participating in the Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program starting the week of June 27."

* FEMA: "President Joe Biden on Monday announced that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) would double the funding available to help cities and states prepare for extreme weather disasters, to $1 billion this year from $500 million in 2020."

* I'm still skeptical there will be 10 GOP votes for this, but we'll see: "Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) came out in support of the House-passed Jan. 6 commission bill investigating the attack on the Capitol, joining Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) as the second Republican senator to back the bill."

* This is an extremely impressive review of what the Tulsa Race Massacre destroyed exactly 100 years ago this month.

See you tomorrow.