Oct. 15, 2013, 9:02 PM UTC / Updated Oct. 15, 2013, 9:36 PM UTC

By Steve Benen

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Last night, Democratic and Republican leaders nearly reached an agreement to end the ongoing crises. House GOP leaders intended to destroy the bipartisan deal, and they succeeded: "Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has suspended talks with Senate Democrats to give House Republicans more time to work on their own play to raise the debt ceiling and end the government shutdown."

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* This now appears to be little more than a establish a precedent for more ransoms and hostages: "House Republican leaders, who had appeared stymied in their efforts earlier in the day, rushed out a new proposal Tuesday afternoon that would reopen the government through Dec. 15, extend the government’s borrowing authority until Feb. 7 and eliminate government contributions to lawmakers, White House officials and their staffs for their purchases of health insurance on the new insurance exchanges."

* Treasuries used to be considered such a safe investment: "While leaders in Washington have been chasing a deal to avert a U.S. default, investors and banks have dumped billions of dollars in government debt. In the past two weeks, investors have sold mountains of short-term debt issued by the government. Banks have also reduced their holdings, trimming such debt by more than 50% over that period, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York."

* The biggest news in the world outside Washington:"Speaking in English and using PowerPoint, Iran’s foreign minister outlined Tuesday a proposal to constrain his country’s nuclear program in return for a right to enrich uranium and an easing of the sanctions that have battered the Iranian economy."

* She's not going anywhere: "White House press secretary Jay Carney said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius had the 'full confidence' of President Obama, a day after his predecessor said people should be fired over ObamaCare glitches."

* NSA: "The National Security Agency is harvesting hundreds of millions of contact lists from personal e-mail and instant messaging accounts around the world, many of them belonging to Americans, according to senior intelligence officials and top-secret documents provided by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden."

* Again? "The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to review whether the Environmental Protection Agency has the power to require greenhouse gas permits for big stationary pollution sources such as power plants, factories and refineries."

* Off to jail: "Former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner, forced to resign in August amid allegations of sexual harassment, pleaded guilty Tuesday to a felony criminal charge for false imprisonment and two misdemeanor counts of battery" (thanks to reader R.S. for the tip).

Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.