Few days in the last 10 years could be considered slow news days, but as the calendar passes the six-month mark on Trump 2.0, it is also true that few news days merit fresh analysis of political and policy choices. All we know regarding government actors and actions here in mid-2025 can be broken down into three categories: a new battle being waged or an in-progress battle being lost or won. Lives are being played with or lost for no good or changing reasons.

Twenty-five countries today issued a joint statement calling for the immediate end to the war in Gaza. “The suffering of civilians in Gaza has reached new depths,” it said. Historically-strong U.S. allies, like Britain, Canada, Australia and Japan, were among the nations issuing the statement that described Israel’s delivery of aid to Palestinians as “drip feeding” and civilian killings as “inhumane” and “horrifying.” The nations called on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law.

U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the statement “disgusting.” He and the Israeli foreign ministry blame Hamas for talks dragging on. It is worth noting that both sides have rejected proposed peace plans multiple times, as each has had a non-negotiable term unacceptable to the other side. For instance, Hamas wants to remain in power; Israel wanted to leave troops in Gaza, now it wants to move Palestinians into a “humanitarian city” in Gaza. Forced removal violates international law, as the 25 nations reaffirmed in the statement.

It’s all been said before: the declared cruelty of the Israeli government, the declared complicity of the American government, the outrage of the international community. Nothing has changed. Nothing is new.

In domestic news, the former Louisville, Kentucky police officer convicted of using excessive force in the shooting death of Breonna Taylor was sentenced to 33 months in prison , ignoring the request for no jail time by Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department. A judge with some common sense made sense; it’s nothing to write home about. But in upside down world, perhaps we should be grateful. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division isn’t trying to be very just these days. But many have said that before. Nothing new here.

And then there’s the latest on the Jeffrey Epstein file. I’ll leave readers to look up the new details if they haven’t heard them already. But the political maneuverings around this fiasco are all about the president, and those in Congress who are trying to stay in his good graces, doing all they can to help keep the files from the public eye. Some version of hide the ball or deny the truth has been going on in Donald Trump’s orbit since Inauguration Day of 2017. So, again, nothing new here.

And so I will take my leave from weighing in every midnight hour. There will be regular quips, but they will no longer be daily. I’ll quip when there’s a new battle waged, a new reason to make more noise or something to celebrate. Meanwhile, keep an eye out for columns and clips and an ear out for the podcast. And may we all get a few slower news days.