QUICK HITS

Nuclear treaty deadline nears:

The Kremlin on Friday welcomed U.S. President Joe Biden’s proposal to extend the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries, which is set to expire in less than two weeks. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Russia stands for extending the pact and is waiting to see the details of the U.S. proposal. The White House said Biden has proposed to Russia a five-year extension of the New START treaty.

Deportation pause lawsuit:

Texas on Friday moved to stop President Joe Biden from allowing a 100-day moratorium on deportations. The federal lawsuit seeks a halt to the deportation moratorium“for certain noncitizens” that was to begin Friday. Biden has already signed a raft of executive orders, including one revoking Trump’s mandate that made anyone in the U.S. illegally a priority for deportation.

Segregationist statue:

A panel of Virginia legislators advanced a bill Friday to remove a statue of Harry F. Byrd Sr., a staunch segregationist, from the state Capitol grounds. Byrd, a Democrat, served as governor and U.S. senator. He was considered the architect of the state’s racist “massive resistance” policy to public school integration. The bill still must pass both chambers of the General Assembly.

Iraq bombing:

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for a rare suicide attack that rocked central Baghdad, killing 32 people and wounding dozens. The bombing targeted “apostate Shiites,” the group said in a statement on an Isis-affiliated website late Thursday. The attack was the first in nearly three years to hit the capital. Elsewhere, in northern Iraq and the western desert, attacks continue and almost exclusively target Iraqi security forces.