Today’s edition of quick hits.
* It’s quite a fit Beijing is throwing: “China said Friday it would halt cooperation with the United States on areas including military relations and climate change while imposing sanctions against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, as Beijing stepped up its retaliation to her Taiwan visit.”
* Every departing ship is encouraging: “Three more ships with grain have left Ukrainian ports and are headed to Turkey for inspection, Turkey’s defense ministry said Friday, evidence that a U.N.-backed deal is working to export Ukrainian grain that has been trapped by Russia’s invasion.”
* Speaking of Moscow: “Russia said Friday it was ready to discuss a prisoner swap with the United States, a day after WNBA star Brittney Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison by a Russian court for a drug offense.”
* Let this be a lesson to other rioters: “An Ohio man who was seen kicking in a window at the Capitol on Jan. 6, while wearing a jacket displaying his last name, the name of his business and its phone number, pleaded guilty Friday to destroying government property. Troy Faulkner admitted to damaging the window during the deadly riot and agreed to pay $10,560 in restitution. He pleaded guilty in federal court in Washington, D.C.”
* The latest on Israeli violence: “Israel unleashed a wave of airstrikes on Gaza, killing at least 10 people, including a senior militant and a 5-year-old girl, and leaving dozens wounded, Israeli and Palestinian officials said Friday.”
* International interest in Earth’s moon: “South Korea joined the stampede to the moon Thursday with the launch of a lunar orbiter that will scout out future landing spots. The satellite launched by SpaceX is taking a long, roundabout path to conserve fuel and will arrive in December. If successful, it will join spacecraft from the U.S. and India already operating around the moon, and a Chinese rover exploring the moon’s far side.” * I wish these findings were more surprising: “The current Supreme Court is the most pro-business of all time. That’s the clear message from an important new paper looking at court decisions between 1921 and 2020.” * As someone who remembers Huelskamp’s dreadful career on Capitol Hill, this sounds about right: “Former Kansas Congressman Tim Huelskamp abruptly hung up Wednesday when asked to comment on deceptive text messages that went out to voters around the state the day before a pivotal vote on abortion rights.” Have a safe weekend.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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