Today’s edition of quick hits.
* Complex diplomacy: “U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Monday with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said they agreed to ‘stabilize’ badly deteriorated U.S.-China ties, but America’s top diplomat left Beijing with his biggest ask rebuffed: better communications between their militaries.”
* And speaking of complex diplomacy: “Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is, on many counts, a curious choice for President Joe Biden to honor with a state visit. … But Biden, who will welcome Modi to the White House on Thursday for a state visit, has made clear he sees U.S. ties to India — the world’s biggest democracy and one of its fastest growing economies — as a defining relationship. New Delhi, as Biden sees it, will be essential to addressing some of the most difficult global challenges in coming years, including climate change, disruptions related to artificial intelligence, and China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific.”
* This start date might be delayed by defense counsel’s motions: “Former President Donald Trump’s trial in the special counsel’s classified documents case will begin in mid-August, Judge Aileen Cannon said in a court order unsealed Tuesday morning. The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 14 and run for two weeks, the order says. Cannon will preside over the trial at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce, Florida.”
* A process we’re keeping an eye on: “John Eastman, the Trump-allied lawyer who created a memo arguing that then-Vice President Mike Pence could overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, is set to face disciplinary hearings starting Tuesday in Los Angeles.”
* A notable new Senate probe: “Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced an investigation Tuesday into what he called Amazon’s “abysmal safety record” amid broader scrutiny of the company’s labor practices. … Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, alerted Amazon’s CEO Andy Jassy to the investigation in a 10-page letter, which called the conditions at the company’s warehouses ‘dangerous and illegal.’”
* He’s right: “President Biden on Monday called Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s (R-Ala.) hold on military nominees over the Department of Defense’s abortion policy ‘bizarre.’”
* In Mississippi: “State offices remained open in Mississippi during the Juneteenth federal holiday, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved Black Americans, almost two months after officials closed state offices to celebrate the Confederate Memorial Day state holiday on April 24.”
* There’s no defense for tactics like these: “In most of the country, state and local laws require public announcements — about town meetings, elections, land sales and dozens of other routine occurrences — to be published in old-fashioned, print-and-ink newspapers, as well as online, so that citizens are aware of matters of public note. The payments for publishing these notices are among the steadiest sources of revenue left for local papers. Sometimes, though, public officials revoke the contracts in an effort to punish their hometown newspapers for aggressive coverage of local politics.”
* Could anyone really blame so many scientists for giving up on Twitter? “While Twitter was a key source for information during the pandemic — and some scientists have argued the importance of remaining there as a counterbalance to growing misinformation and anti-science rhetoric — others say it’s time to head for the doors.”
See you tomorrow.
