Stymied by the Supreme Court, Biden wants voters to have the final say on his agenda

After major blows to his agenda by the Supreme Court, President Joe Biden is intent on making sure voters will have the final say.When the court’s conservative majority effectively killed his plan to cancel or reduce federal student loan debts for millions of people, Biden said, “Republicans snatched away the hope that they were given.” When the justices ended race-based affirmative action in college admissions, he said, “This is not a normal court.” When they overturned Roe v. Wade and a national right to abortion last year, the president said, “Voters need to make their voices heard.”

AP News

A 45-year-old got pregnant in a state with a ban on abortions. She flew across the country to get one

“It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve had to go through, from the moment of discovering that I was pregnant at age 45 to actually having to have to take time off work, travel across the country, do a meeting with a doctor, and then take the pills and then skedaddle back home and then go to work like nothing had happened,” Victoria told CNN of her experience earlier this year.

CNN

Schumer puts insulin, prescription drug reform, Supreme Court ethics on July agenda 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) Sunday laid out Senate Democrats’ agenda for July, putting the spotlight on legislation to lower the cost of insulin, prescription drug reform and proposals to address Supreme Court ethics.  

In a “Dear Colleague” letter circulated Sunday, Schumer said Democrats will work with Republicans to “lower the cost of insulin and prescription drugs,” respond to the nation’s ongoing fentanyl crisis, reform the energy-permitting process and improve rail safety. 

He also highlighted the need to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration and the Farm Bill, bipartisan work on cannabis-banking legislation and a package to improve economic competition with China. 

Schumer took a shot at conservative Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito for failing to disclose lavish vacations they took at the invitation of wealthy conservative donors, and said Democrats will “explore every option” to address Supreme Court ethics.  

The Hill

Here’s the latest on Biden’s new student loan debt relief plan

White House officials give a timeline for when to expect more details about the president’s Plan B to cancel student debt for millions of borrowers.

thegrio

Religious right gets blindsided by angry parents in a Southern California school district

Novice school board members get a hard lesson in politics in a region that could determine control of the House.

Politico

Black farmers have lived here for generations. Now, a Ford plant is changing the landscape

In a push to build a new highway to the coming Ford plant, the Tennessee Department of Transportation is using eminent domain to seize land from a group of Black farmers and landowners in Stanton and surrounding Haywood County.The farmers, including some whose families have owned their farmland here for generations, say the state is taking their land while offering them a fraction of what it’s worth. 

The Tennessean

Opinion: China, Janet Yellen and diplomacy, step-by-step

At the end of her trip to Beijing, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen gave a positive assessment of bilateral ties between the US and China. She has every reason to do so, says Alexander Görlach.

Deutsche Welle

The Supreme Court opened a dangerous can of worms after granting the right to discriminate

If your religion gives you the right to discriminate, find a new one.

LGBTQ Nation

Judge dismisses lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre

An Oklahoma judge has thrown out a lawsuit seeking reparations for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, dashing an effort to obtain some measure of legal justice by survivors of the deadly racist rampage.Judge Caroline Wall on Friday dismissed with prejudice the lawsuit trying to force the city and others to make recompense for the destruction of the once-thriving Black district known as Greenwood.

AP News

CNN Exclusive: Biden says war with Russia must end before NATO can consider membership for Ukraine

“I don’t think there is unanimity in NATO about whether or not to bring Ukraine into the NATO family now, at this moment, in the middle of a war,” Biden said. “For example, if you did that, then, you know – and I mean what I say – we’re determined to commit every inch of territory that is NATO territory. It’s a commitment that we’ve all made no matter what. If the war is going on, then we’re all in war. We’re at war with Russia, if that were the case.”

Biden said that he’s spoken to Zelensky at length about the issue, saying that he’s told the Ukrainian president the US would keep providing security and weaponry for Ukraine like it does for Israel while the process plays out.

“I think we have to lay out a rational path for Ukraine to be able to qualify to be able to get into NATO,” Biden said, noting that he refused Russian President Vladimir Putin’s demands before the war for a commitment not to admit Ukraine because the alliance has “an open-door policy.”

CNN

‘Democracy is at risk’: inside the fight for supreme court reform

As the court concludes another term that upended lives, conservative justices are attracting criticism for their rulings and their behavior away from the bench

The Guardian

Biden won’t commit to inviting Netanyahu to White House

President Biden would not commit to inviting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the White House, a split from previous president’s who have long welcomed the country’s longest serving prime minister. Biden, who has split with Netanyahu due to the extreme right-wing nature of his new cabinet as well as settlement expansions, instead noted Israeli President Isaac Herzog will be visiting Washington later this month.

The Hill

US drone strike kills an Islamic State group leader in Syria, the Defense Department says

A U.S. drone strike killed an Islamic State group leader in Syria hours after the same MQ-9 Reaper drones were harassed by Russian military jets over the western part of the country, according to the Defense Department.

AP News

Supreme Court dissents and rejoinders, with respect and disrespect

…Feelings seem raw, certainly for the court’s three liberal justices, who were on the losing end of some–but not all–of the court’s biggest cases this term. But just as upset from time to time are the conservatives, whose dissenting opinions, and even some concurring ones, betray long-held grievances.

NPR

DeSantis steps up pace of executions in Florida, chasing Trump

After overseeing only two executions during his first four years in office, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to carry out his fifth in six months, with Brevard County murderer James Barnes set to die Aug. 3. 

Some death penalty experts say DeSantis’ sudden drive is powered by politics, part of a grim chase of Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump. 

USA Today

On LGBTQ issues, my fellow Muslims should balance faith with solidarity

As the Muslim American community grows in size and political activity, we can expect to see members of that community fall along a wide spectrum of political views.

MSNBC

Glenn Youngkin Strips LGBTQ+ Young People of Resources in Virginia

As governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin has targeted the progressive policies of the two Democratic administrations in the state before him since he was elected after a campaign that falsely claimed that teachers secretly taught critical race theory to kids. Recently, Virginia’s Department of Health removed resources for LGBTQ+ kids seeking help after a right-wing media outlet, the Daily Wire, inquired about two websites listed on the department’s webpage that offered LGBTQ+ youth support.

Advocate

Threads, Meta’s Twitter Competitor, Has Already Hit Moderation and Nudity Snags

The platform’s ban on sexual content and some early moderation decisions are raising eyebrows.

them

Nonbinary genders beyond ‘male’ and ‘female’ would have been no surprise to ancient rabbis, who acknowledged tumtums, androgynos and aylonot

“Genderqueer” and “nonbinary” are contemporary terms for people who don’t fit neatly into male or female categories. But acknowledging that not everyone fits neatly into those two groups has a much longer history than you might suspect.

As a scholar of Judaism and gender, I find that people across the political spectrum often assume religion must be inherently conservative and unchanging when it comes to sex and gender. They imagine that religions have always embraced a world in which there are only men and women.

But for Judaism – and for manyother religious traditions, too – history shows that’s just not true.

The Conversation

Trans People’s Mental Health Is Being Weaponized Against Them

A proposed “emergency rule” in Missouri directly attacked the medical autonomy of trans adults.

Wired

‘What are we willing to sacrifice?’ A journey down America’s most endangered river

The serene beauty of the Colorado River belies an ecosystem that is forever changed. I met the scientists fighting for its future

The Guardian

Kansas attorney general sues to prevent transgender people from changing driver’s licenses

The Republican attorney general of Kansas sued Friday to force the state to be among a few that prohibit transgender people from changing their sex on their driver’s licenses and to repudiate the Democratic governor, who continues to allow such changes despite a new anti-trans law.

AP News

State bans on transgender care are unconstitutional. Even a Trump-appointed judge agrees.

But leaders in the Republican-dominated Tennessee General Assembly are pushing back, saying they support appealing the ruling and continuing to claim that they are acting in the interest of children.

USA Today

Black Farmers Have Faced Decades of Discrimination, But Now There’s Help

On Friday, the USDA began accepting applications from farmers who’ve faced discrimination.

The Root

Anti-LGBTQ+ Laws Are Being Blocked in Federal Courts Across the Country

Federal and county judges are rejecting bans on gender-affirming care and public drag performances from taking effect.

Teen Vogue

Luis Sánchez: Mexico finds murdered journalist’s body in Nayarit

The body of a correspondent for one of Mexico’s leading newspapers has been found in the western state of Nayarit, days after he was reported missing.

BBC

Ukraine pessimistic about joining Nato ahead of Vilnius summit

The US and Germany are unwilling to support Ukraine’s membership while the conflict with Russia is ongoing

The Guardian

Gunmen have killed 24 villagers in latest attack in Nigeria’s hard-hit north

Gunmen killed 24 villagers in a remote part of north-central Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday, raising further concerns about the West African nation’s ongoing security challenges.

AP News

Rule of law: EU reprimands Poland and Hungary

The European Commission will withhold funds from Poland and Hungary as punishment for breaches cited in its annual rule of law report this week.

Deutsche Welle

German president calls surge in right-wing popularity ‘alarming’

The AfD has traditionally been on the fringes of German politics. Recently, however, an intense political debate has sprung up in Germany about the rise of the far-right.

DPA

Zelenskyy honors victims of World War II massacres of tens of thousands of Poles carried out by Ukrainian nationalists

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended a memorial service on Sunday which honored the Polish victims of massacres carried out by Ukrainian extremists.

Insider

Georgia Pride festival in Tbilisi stormed by right-wing protesters

The right-wing protesters, who included Orthodox Christian clergy, scuffled with police, rushed the stage and burned rainbow flags.

BBC

Sunak needs all his persuasive powers to sway Biden on Ukraine’s Nato membership

But it is self-evident that the two countries lean towards different positions on the war in Ukraine, and its aftermath. At issue are the conditions set for the path for Ukraine’s future membership of Nato, and the security guarantees that Volodymyr Zelenskiy should be provided by an ad hoc alliance of states in the interim.

The Guardian

US airstrikes kill 10 al-Shabaab members in Somalia

“At the request of the Federal Government of Somalia, U.S. Africa Command conducted three collective self-defense airstrikes overnight in a remote area near Afmadow, approximately 105 kilometers north of Kismayo, against al-Shabaab terrorists,” US Africa Command said in a statement Sunday.

CNN

Should Soviet monuments be dismantled or preserved?

The debate on how to deal with Soviet memorials has once again flared up in Eastern Europe. Here’s a closer look at a monument in the center of Sofia, Bulgaria.

Deutsche Welle

Gabon President Ali Bongo Says Will Run For Third Term

The Bongo family has ruled the country for 55 years already and is branded a “dynastic power” by the opposition after Bongo, 64, took over from his father, Omar Bongo Ondimba in 2009.

IBT

Russians could blow up nuclear plant to halt Ukraine’s forces, Zelenskyy warns

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed concern that Russia is planning to destroy the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant because its war with Ukraine is going so poorly.

Politico

Israel’s Knesset to vote on controversial judicial reform bill Monday

Passage of the controversial “reasonableness standard bill” will spark “Day of Resistance” protests throughout Israel, protests leaders warned.

Jerusalem Post

Hundreds gather in Sarajevo to pay their respects to Srebrenica massacre victims

Hundreds lined the Bosnian capital’s main street Sunday as a truck carrying 30 coffins passed on its way to Srebrenica, where newly identified victims of Europe’s only acknowledged genocide since World War II will be buried on the 28th anniversary of the massacre.

AP News

Seine to open for public swimming after Paris Olympics, mayor says

A quarter of a century after the late president Jacques Chirac promised Parisians they would be able to swim in the Seine within three years, the French capital’s mayor has confirmed three river bathing areas are to open in the city in 2025.

The Guardian

Migrants trapped in Libya: ‘I’m determined to try again’

There are close to 700,000 foreigners living in Libya, many of them migrants who’d like to make their way to Europe. Some of those who were turned back want to try again.

Deutsche Welle