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Friday's Mini-Report, 5.21.21

Today's edition of quick hits.

Today's edition of quick hits:

* Diplomacy: "President Joe Biden hosted South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House on Friday afternoon, Biden's second in-person meeting with a foreign leader since taking office.... The two leaders are expected to discuss the pandemic, climate change, technology and semiconductor shortages, but North Korea is likely to be a top priority."

* Middle East: "Fresh clashes broke out at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday, just hours after a cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas took effect.... It was the first sign of fragility in the truce that brought the latest Gaza conflict to a halt Thursday after nearly two weeks of fighting that left hundreds dead."

* ICE: "The Biden administration has decided to close Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centers in Georgia and Massachusetts amid allegations of abusive treatment of immigrants, officials said Thursday."

* That's a hefty bill: "Former president Donald Trump charged the Secret Service more than $40,000 this spring for rooms that Trump's own protective detail used while guarding him at his Mar-a-Lago Club, according to federal spending records."

* Quite a story: "President Joe Biden awarded the Medal of Honor, the country's highest military recognition, to retired Army Colonel Ralph Puckett for acts of 'gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty' during the Korean War. The honor was given 70 years after Puckett, 94, repeatedly put his life at risk to protect his men and defeat the enemy while fighting in what is now North Korea."

* I wouldn't mind hearing more about this: "Then-President Donald Trump sought to oust FBI Director Christopher Wray last spring and replace him with counterintelligence head William Evanina, according to three former Trump officials familiar with the episode. Under the plan, the former officials said, Kash Patel — a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and a fierce critic of the Russia probe — would have become the bureau's deputy director."

* Florida state Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R) apparently thought it'd be a good idea to argue that if Socrates were alive today, "he would be canceled real quick" in contemporary society. I have a strong hunch the Republican legislator doesn't know how Socrates died.

Have a safe weekend.