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Today's edition of quick hits:
* Seems like sensible advice: "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday issued an advisory urging all travelers — vaccinated and unvaccinated — to avoid cruise ship travel amid a record-breaking Covid surge driven by the omicron variant in many states across the United States."
* Boosting testing options: "The U.S. drug regulator has granted emergency use authorization to German health technology company Siemens Healthineers’ at-home Covid-19 tests, a move that will boost availability of tests pressured by rising infection cases."
* In related news: "The Defense Department has announced a $137 million contract to make more of a key component of rapid Covid tests to boost their production."
* A story we've been following: "A federal judge ruled that Oklahoma National Guard members must get vaccinated against Covid-19, denying an attempt by the state's Republican governor to halt the Defense Department’s vaccination mandate."
* SCOTUS: "The congressional committee probing the Jan. 6 riot asked the Supreme Court Thursday to reject former President Donald Trump's request to shield his White House records from investigators."
* This call apparently wrapped up around 4:30 eastern, and it lasted about an hour: "President Joe Biden planned to hold a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday as administration officials fear the tension between Russia and Ukraine could escalate into military conflict."
* The latest on Denver's mass shooting: "Books written by the suspected shooter who killed five people and injured two others in Denver on Monday are now part of the investigation into his rampage. Lyndon James McLeod, 47, appeared to write a series of books that included details similar to the events of the killing spree."
* Given the fact that we were supposed to see Hillary Clinton's email protocols as a world-changing scandal, this should theoretically haunt the governor: "Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has long used electronic chat rooms that destroy messages in 24 hours to communicate with state employees, records show, allowing his inner circle to keep communications beyond the reach of the public, state archivists and history."
See you tomorrow.