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Today's edition of quick hits:
* Climate: "The U.S. aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030 as part of its new commitment to the Paris climate agreement, President Joe Biden announced Thursday. Biden made the pledge, called the 'nationally determined contribution,' while speaking at a two-day virtual climate summit attended by dozens of world leaders Thursday morning."
* Ma'Khia Bryant: "Police in Columbus, Ohio, released more body-camera video Wednesday showing an officer's point of view as he pulled his weapon, opened fire and killed a 16-year-old girl while responding to a 911 call."
* D.C. statehood: "A decades-long movement to reshape the American political map took a further step Thursday as the House of Representatives approved a bill to make the nation's capital the 51st state. Voting along party lines with minority Republicans in opposition, the House approved the bill 216-208."
* I plan to have more on this tomorrow: "The Senate passed legislation Thursday targeting anti-Asian hate crimes after an uptick of incidents during the Covid-19 pandemic. Lawmakers approved the measure in a 94-1 vote. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., was the only member to oppose the bill."
* SCOTUS: "The Supreme Court declined Thursday to impose new restrictions on sentencing juvenile offenders to life in prison without the possibility of parole. By a 6-3 vote, the court upheld a life sentence for a Mississippi man, Brett Jones, who was 15 when he used a knife to kill his grandfather during an argument."
* Lowering the temperature: "Russia has ordered its troops to withdraw from the border with Ukraine after a massive military buildup that raised alarm from Western Europe to Washington. Moscow said Thursday that forces should begin returning to their permanent bases, signaling a potential end to the standoff that sparked fears of a fresh military conflict."
* She'll require Senate confirmation: "President Biden on Wednesday nominated Stacey A. Dixon, an expert in intelligence technology, to serve as the nation's No. 2 intelligence official. The nomination of Dr. Dixon, the former head of the intelligence community's advanced research project agency, to be the office's principal deputy director reflects the Biden administration's interest in making technological innovation in intelligence gathering a priority."
* Kahl deserves better than this: "Vice President Harris cast her fourth tiebreaking vote in the Senate and her first on a nomination Wednesday night to advance Colin Kahl to be the Pentagon's undersecretary for policy. The Senate split 50-50 along party lines on a vote to discharge Kahl's stalled nomination from the Armed Services Committee, which was deadlocked last month on moving him to the Senate floor for confirmation."
* It's not your imagination that we're still learning more about Trump-era controversies: "The Trump administration put up bureaucratic obstacles that stalled approximately $20 billion in hurricane relief for Puerto Rico and then obstructed an investigation into the holdup, according to an inspector general report obtained by The Washington Post."
* The intra-party debate over earmarks continues to be quite odd: "Senate Republicans on Wednesday afternoon stuck with their conference's internal earmark ban, but that won't prevent those who want funding for home-state projects from requesting it."
See you tomorrow.