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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A closely watched case in Iowa: “A Polk County judge has temporarily blocked Iowa’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ law as a court challenge plays out, meaning abortion is again legal in Iowa up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.”
* A strategically significant bridge: “Ukrainian naval drones hit a key bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula, killing a couple and seriously injuring their daughter, the Kremlin said Monday. ... Pictures from The Associated Press and others showed that part of the roadbed had fallen away, with warped metal girders hanging down toward the water.”
* Georgia’s latest mass shooting: “A man accused of killing four neighbors in the Atlanta suburb of Hampton, Georgia, was killed Sunday after a manhunt, officials said. ... Law enforcement tracked the suspect from Saturday’s bloodshed to an area near the border between Henry and Clayton counties, about 20 miles south of Atlanta, he said.”
* On a related note: “Slain at the hands of strangers or gunned down by loved ones. Massacred in small towns, in big cities, inside their own homes or outside in broad daylight. This year’s unrelenting bloodshed across the U.S. has led to the grimmest of milestones: The deadliest six months of mass killings recorded since at least 2006.”
* Blinken’s right: “Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the Senate in a letter Monday to confirm more than 60 State Department nominees who have been blocked by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., while he seeks information from the administration on the origins of Covid-19.”
* Josh Shapiro, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor, wrote a very interesting op-ed for The Washington Post: “We fixed I-95 in 12 days. Here are our lessons for U.S. infrastructure.”
* Good for him: “Former President Barack Obama on Monday denounced the spread of book bans across the country as ‘profoundly misguided.’ ... In a letter to the nation’s librarians, Obama praised them for being ‘on the front lines’ to ensure that the ‘widest possible range of viewpoints, opinions, and ideas available to everyone.’”
* All is not well at Twitter: “Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, who is also CTO and executive chairman of Twitter, said early Saturday morning that cash flow remains negative at the social media company because of a nearly 50% drop in advertising revenue coupled with ‘heavy debt.’”
See you tomorrow.