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Today’s edition of quick hits.
* In Ukraine: “Russia fired more than 20 cruise missiles and two drones at Ukraine early on Friday, killing at least 22 people. Most of them died when two missiles slammed into an apartment building in a terrifying night-time attack, officials said. Three children were among the dead, they added.”
* Rare red-state victories for reproductive rights advocates: “South Carolina and Nebraska, two conservative states that have been pushing to ban abortion, on Thursday both failed to pass new bills prohibiting the procedure, preserving wide access to abortion in those states and handing surprise victories to abortion rights advocates.”
* Blue-state governing: “Colorado’s governor signed four gun control bills Friday, following the lead of other states struggling to confront a nationwide surge in violent crime and mass shootings, despite a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that expanded Second Amendment rights.”
* Banking regulations: “The Federal Reserve’s bank-supervision chief called for an extensive reevaluation of requirements for US financial firms as regulators said the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank exposed lapses in oversight.”
* I’ll have more on this next week: “The North Carolina Supreme Court reversed itself Friday on whether partisan gerrymandering and a strict voter ID law violate the state Constitution, in a pair rulings with implications far outside the state.”
* Judge shopping isn’t new, but it’s becoming more important all the time: “Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., is calling on a chief judge in a Texas federal court to make changes to case assignment practices in order to prevent ‘forum shopping’ by litigants who he says are able to effectively hand-pick judges to hear their civil cases.”
* As the dust settled, 102 House members ended up voting for Rep. Matt Gaetz’s resolution: “The House rejected on Thursday a resolution that would require the White House to remove hundreds of U.S. troops deployed in Somalia as part of counterterrorism efforts.”
* It’s hard to know what to say in response to a sentiment like this one, so I’ll just express my hope that this legislator’s daughter is OK: “A recent comment by a Montana state lawmaker who sponsored legislation to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors has gone viral and drawn backlash online. State Rep. Kerri Seekins-Crowe, a Republican, suggested during a floor debate that she would rather risk her daughter dying by suicide than allow her to transition.”
See you tomorrow.