Abortion Pill Fight to Be Heard by One of Nation’s Most Conservative Courts
The latest battle over a widely used abortion drug is set to play out Wednesday before a conservative appeals court in New Orleans that has become the testing ground for some of the most contentious policy fights in the nation. A three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will weigh in on the legal status of the medication, mifepristone, used in more than half of recent U.S. abortions. The court, which has jurisdiction over Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, is almost certain to be skeptical of steps the Food and Drug Administration has taken to ease access to mifepristone, part of a two-pill regimen used in medication abortion.
No Deal on Debt Limit for Biden and GOP, But Signs of Hope Arise
President Joe Biden and congressional leaders in both parties emerged from a White House meeting on Tuesday offering glimmers of hope about eventually reaching a deal to raise the nation’s borrowing limit, even as they conceded they were still far from averting a default that could come as soon as June 1. Biden said he would cut short a diplomatic trip to Asia to be on hand for a potential breakthrough. Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., said it was possible that such a deal could materialize within days now that the president had agreed to dispatch his top advisers for stepped-up negotiations.
Ally of Mitch McConnell Wins GOP Primary for Kentucky Governor
Daniel Cameron, Kentucky’s attorney general and a close ally of Sen. Mitch McConnell, clinched the state’s Republican nomination for governor Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, fending off a spirited and costly challenge by Kelly Craft, a wealthy former ambassador to the United Nations. Cameron’s double-digit victory sets up what is likely to be the most closely watched and fiercely contested statewide race remaining in 2023. Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat running for reelection, is one of the most popular governors in the country, and even Republicans believe he will be difficult to beat in November.
U.S. Tech Espionage Team Unveils First Cases Involving China and Russia
The Biden administration announced arrests and criminal charges Tuesday in five cases involving sanctions evasion and technology espionage efforts linked to Russia, China and Iran. Two Russian nationals were taken into custody last week on accusations of sending aircraft parts to Russia in violation of sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine. In another case, a former Apple engineer is accused of stealing the company’s autonomous vehicle technology to provide it to a Chinese competitor. The strike force was set up in February and brings together agents with the Commerce and Justice departments, as well as the FBI and local attorneys offices.
The Durham Report Offered Few Conclusions. The Right Drew Its Own.
“Bombshell,” screamed The Federalist in all capital letters. A “treasonous charade,” former President Donald Trump declared. A report by special counsel John Durham on the origins of the FBI’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s work with Russia recommended no further prosecutions, produced no startling revelations and declined to suggest any “wholesale changes” to FBI rules for politically sensitive investigations. But in the world where Trump and his supporters operate, the report amplifies a long-held position that the FBI’s investigation into Russia’s intervention in the 2016 election was a political vendetta concocted by Hillary Rodham Clinton and federal law enforcement.
As Ukrainian Attack Looms, Putin Faces Setbacks and Disunity in Russian Forces
Drones have exploded over the Kremlin. Russian military aircraft are crashing before they even reach Ukrainian airspace. A Russian mercenary boss is releasing one profanity-laced tirade after another about Russian generals. And Ukraine’s long-anticipated counteroffensive hasn’t even started. These would seem to be bad weeks for Russian President Vladimir Putin, a time when the problems that have plagued his 15-month war since its beginning are only worsening: stretched resources, disorganized defenses and disunity in the ranks. Those problems are now threatening to derail what just weeks ago had seemed finally to be a rare military success in Russia’s grasp: victory in the battle for Bakhmut.
Sudan’s War Sends a Fresh Wave of Refugees From Darfur to Chad
The fighting that erupted in Sudan’s capital last month has ricocheted far beyond the city’s borders, worsening instability in the restive western region of Darfur and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing to neighboring countries, including Chad in Central Africa. As villages in western Sudan empty, villages in eastern Chad are filling up. The surging conflict in Darfur is the latest ordeal for a region that has been traumatized by two decades of genocidal violence. It has also deepened a humanitarian crisis in Chad, where hundreds of thousands of people displaced from Darfur had already taken refuge.
Facing Runoff, Turkey’s Opposition Struggles to Chart Winning Path
Turkey’s political opposition is struggling to plot a course to give their candidate a fighting chance against the incumbent, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a May 28 runoff. While Erdogan, bidding for a third five-year presidential term, failed to win a simple majority in Sunday’s election, he still led the opposition by a margin of about 5 percentage points. This poses an uphill battle for the challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads a six-party coalition that came together with the goals of unseating Erdogan, restoring Turkish democracy, righting the economy and smoothing over frazzled relations with the West.
Another Setback for Guatemala’s Brittle Democracy
When the newspaper elPeriodico was founded in Guatemala in 1996, the country was emerging from a brutal civil war, and there was a feeling that a small space for free thought might be opening. That opening closed this week when elPeriodico, which made a name for itself and became a frequent target for trying to hold Guatemala’s governments to account, published its final digital edition. The closing of elPeriodico is the latest setback for Guatemala’s increasingly brittle democracy, civil liberties groups say, as President Alejandro Giammattei steers the country toward greater repression, targeting critics, including the news media, opposition politicians and the judiciary.
Executions Across Globe Are Highest in Five Years
Executions around the world rose to the highest number recorded in five years in 2022, even as more countries moved to outlaw the death penalty, according to an annual report by Amnesty International released Tuesday. At least 883 executions were recorded globally last year, a 53% increase over 579 deaths in 2021. Those numbers did not include China, which Amnesty said it could not verify the number but believed had executed and sentenced to death “thousands” of people. About 90% of the executions recorded in 2022 were carried out by three of the world’s leading executioners, Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia, the report said.
By wire sources