Today's edition of quick hits:
* Conditions in Baghdad: "Iraqi protesters withdrew from the perimeter of the U.S. Embassy compound in Baghdad on the second day of demonstrations against deadly U.S. airstrikes last weekend, U.S. officials said."
* A deadly nightmare in Australia: "A weeklong state of emergency has been called in the Australian state of New South Wales as deadly wildfires continue to ravage communities, forcing thousands from their homes."
* Hmm: "On Wednesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo suddenly cancelled his trip to Ukraine that was scheduled for Friday."
* A ruling of note from earlier this week: "A judge on Monday dismissed a high-profile lawsuit by a former national security aide to President Trump who had asked a court to clarify whether he should obey a subpoena from Congress to testify in the impeachment inquiry, or defy it on the White House's instructions."
* Let's hope for the best: "Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., an icon of the civil rights movement, will undergo treatment for stage 4 pancreatic cancer, his office said Sunday. He learned of the diagnosis this month, after what Lewis, 79, described as a 'routine medical visit and subsequent tests.'"
* A big step from Gov. JB Pritzker (D): "Illinois' governor granted more than 11,000 pardons for low-level marijuana convictions on Tuesday, describing the step as a first wave of thousands of such expungements anticipated under the state's new marijuana legalization law."
* It's quite an operation: "Nearly a year after the Trump Organization pledged to root out undocumented workers at its properties, supervisors at the Trump Winery on Monday summoned at least seven employees and fired them because of their lack of legal immigration status, according to two of the dismissed workers."
* The obvious decision: "West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said Monday he has approved the recommendations from a report calling for the firing of all correctional officer cadets who participated in a Nazi salute during a class photo."
* A column worth reading on the attorney general: "A deeper understanding of William Barr is emerging, and it reveals something profound and disturbing about the evolution of conservatism in 21st-century America."
* Yet another setback for Jones: "A Texas judge has ordered the Infowars founder Alex Jones to pay $100,000 in legal fees in a defamation case brought against him by the father of a Sandy Hook school shooting victim, the latest court setback for the conspiracy theorist."
See you tomorrow.