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Monday's Mini-Report, 6.21.21

Today's edition of quick hits.

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Today's edition of quick hits:

* Iran: "Hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi's win in Iran's presidential election last weekend was an unsurprising end to a process that had long seemed geared toward entrenching conservative rule in the Islamic Republic."

* On a related note: "The Biden administration wants to finalize a deal with Iran to return to the 2015 nuclear deal in the six weeks remaining before a new Iranian president is inaugurated, a U.S. official tells Axios."

* SCOTUS: "The Supreme Court ruled unanimously Monday that the National Collegiate Athletic Association went too far in blocking some education-related aid for student athletes, a decision that comes as college athletics struggles with the issue of how to preserve its amateur status."

* Delta Variant: "If you are fully vaccinated, you are most likely to be safe. But in parts of the US where few people have gotten COVID vaccine shots, the Delta variant could trigger renewed deadly surges."

* Keep an eye on this one: "A new pharmaceutical treatment may or may not be effective at slowing the effects of Alzheimer's disease, but it's already causing heartburn in Washington. The FDA's surprise approval of the drug, Aduhelm, despite near-unanimous opposition from an independent advisory panel, has the potential to explode the federal budget and move an already simmering debate over drug prices in Congress and the White House onto the front burner."

* Ben Carson left a mess at HUD: "During the 2020 campaign, President Biden pledged to transform the Department of Housing and Urban Development into a frontline weapon in the fight against racial and economic inequality. But when his transition team took over last fall, it found a department in crisis."

* VA: "The Department of Veterans Affairs plans to offer gender confirmation surgery to transgender veterans, Denis McDonough, the secretary of veterans affairs, announced over the weekend at a Pride event in Orlando, Fla., in a major shift in available care for former service members."

* A report from Hillsborough County's top prosecutor prepared a report that determined that Florida has "the most members of two far right extremist groups -- the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers -- arrested of any state, and that nine of the Floridians facing charges stemming from Jan. 6 are accused of assaulting law enforcement officers."

* Interesting story out of Texas: "When Donald Trump arrives in Texas for an appearance with GOP Gov. Greg Abbott to tour the state's border, he should bring a check to pay off his campaign's nearly $570,000 debt to the city of El Paso, a local judge said."

See you tomorrow.