Today’s edition of quick hits.
* This must’ve been quite a conversation: “President Joe Biden and Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke Thursday amid growing tensions between the two countries around Taiwan, the economy and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The call, Biden’s fifth with Xi, lasted over two hours.”
* In related news: “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leading an official congressional delegation to Asia on Friday, two sources said, though it’s unclear if the trip will include a stop in Taiwan.”
* In Ukraine: “Ukraine has been laying the groundwork for weeks, amassing forces and weaponry, and now it says it is making gains in the country’s south. Bolstered by newly acquired long-range weapons from the West, the country’s forces, which long vowed to launch a counteroffensive, have destroyed key Russian targets in the Ukrainian city of Kherson.”
* Deadly flooding: “At least three people are dead and officials fear that number will increase after rain battered the eastern part of Kentucky, flooded streets and left people stranded on roofs and hanging from trees, authorities said Thursday.”
* Hmm: “Mick Mulvaney, who served as acting chief of staff under former President Donald Trump, will sit for a virtual taped deposition with the House committee investigating Jan. 6 on Thursday, three sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.”
* Unexpected Secret Service news: “Secret Service Director James Murray is delaying his retirement as the agency deals with an inspector general’s investigation and congressional inquiries related to missing text messages around the time of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
* This was an interesting hearing: “The chief executives of two leading gun manufacturers said mass shootings are ‘local problems’ that cannot be blamed on ‘inanimate’ firearms when a House panel asked them Wednesday whether they accept responsibility for selling the assault-style rifles used in most of the recent massacres.”
* When Republicans and conservative outlets dismissed the story of a 10-year-old Ohio girl who couldn’t get an abortion, three Indianapolis Star journalists got to work to get the public the truth. The story about their work is fascinating.
* It’s so difficult to take such posturing seriously: “Former President Donald Trump said in a statement Wednesday that he had notified CNN he was intending to file a defamation lawsuit against the news outlet for its refusal to back his discredited claims that election fraud accounted for his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.”
See you tomorrow.