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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* There’s a reason Ukraine is furious with Elon Musk: “Elon Musk foiled an attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet last year by refusing to let Ukraine use his satellite network to guide its drones, Mr. Musk has acknowledged, provoking a furious response from a top official in Kyiv and renewing questions about the global power wielded by a multibillionaire businessman.”
* A case worth watching: “Attorneys for former President Donald Trump moved a lawsuit seeking to bar him from running again for the White House from state to federal court in the first step of what promises to be a tangled legal battle that seems ultimately destined for the U.S. Supreme Court.”
* The White House’s interest in strengthening ties with India is obvious: “President Joe Biden opened his visit to India on Friday by meeting privately with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indian leader’s home in a session the White House said was marked by ‘undeniable warmth and confidence’ in one another going into the annual Group of 20 summit where climate, economic security and more will dominate the weekend’s talks.”
* The White House’s interest in strengthening ties with Vietnam is also obvious: “When President Biden arrives in Vietnam on Sunday, he is set to celebrate a new phase in the Washington-Hanoi relationship that would bring two historical foes closer than they’ve ever been, drawn together by China’s mounting ambitions.”
* Mifepristone: “The Supreme Court is being asked to reverse an appellate ruling that would cut off mail-order access to a drug used in the most common method of abortion in the United States.”
* Alito’s latest: “Conservative Justice Samuel Alito on Friday refused to step aside from an upcoming tax case being argued at the Supreme Court, rejecting a request from Senate Democrats.”
* An update on a story I flagged yesterday: “A U.S. appeals court issued an order on Thursday temporarily ensuring that a barrier of floating buoys in the Rio Grande that was placed by Texas to discourage illegal crossings could stay in place while the court considered a full decision.”
* The demise of the Roe precedent did not slow the domestic abortion rate: “Legal abortions most likely increased in the United States in the first six months of the year compared with 2020, an analysis of new estimates shows, as states with more permissive abortion laws absorbed patients traveling from those with bans and access to abortion pills via telemedicine continued to expand.”
Have a safe weekend.