Today's edition of quick hits:
* Fascinating protests have broken out in China this week over freedom of the press and censorship by Chinese government officials.
* Afghanistan: "Administration officials said publicly for the first time Tuesday that the U.S. might leave no American troops in Afghanistan after the end of combat in December 2014, an option that defies the view of Pentagon officials who say thousands of U.S. troops could be needed there to keep a lid on al-Qaida and to strengthen the Afghan army and police."
* Guantanamo: "The Obama administration legal team is divided over whether to drop two terrorism cases originally prosecuted in a military commission at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a decision that could have far-reaching consequences by significantly reducing the number of other prisoners who can receive tribunal trials."
* Syria: "New signs of misery plaguing Syria's war-ravaged civilians emerged on Tuesday, with the United Nations saying it is unable to feed a million hungry residents in combat zones and aid agencies reporting an outbreak of violence in a large refugee camp in Jordan."
* Keep expectations low: "Obama administration officials will meet with the National Rifle Association Thursday, 'one of the many' gun-rights advocacy groups that will attend a series of events at the White House, according to White House officials."
* Exactly two years after the deadly shooting in Tucson, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.) and her husband, Mark Kelly, are launching a new group, Americans for Responsible Solutions, which hopes to "raise the funds necessary to balance the influence of the gun lobby, and will line up squarely behind leaders who will stand up for what's right."
* Manning trial: "A military judge on Tuesday reduced the potential sentence for an Army private accused of sending reams of classified documents to the WikiLeaks website. Col. Denise Lind made the ruling during a pretrial hearing at Fort Meade for Pfc. Bradley Manning."
* Congressional Democrats are not at all pleased with AIG threatening to sue the government over the way in which the government rescued AIG from collapse.
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.