Interesting.

“The number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access.

“A major reason for the increase is that some Democratic-controlled states enacted laws to protect doctors who use telemedicine to see patients in places that have abortion bans, according to the quarterly #WeCount report for the Society of Family Planning, which supports abortion access.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/abortion-survey-pills-roe-election-2024-7179dda48eae0a764be89c2e0aafd80a

The BBC has a weekly newsletter focusing on the U.S. elections and how they are perceived and affected by the rest of the world.

“Each week, they’ll send you takeaways of what you really need to know from the election race and help you see the bigger global picture.

“They will also suggest articles for essential further reading to help you feel well-informed.

“As you probably know, American politics can be serious, amusing and downright absurd, and sometimes all three at once, so they’ll try to cover the lighter aspects too.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-68093155

It’s always a mixed bag when we agree to prisoner exchanges. Especially when we know that Russia (why is it always Russia?) made up accusations of espionage that were unfounded and untrue.

Well, at least these Americans (and Germans) are home again.

“The 24 people — some prominent, some not — included a collection of journalists and political dissidents, suspected spies, a computer hacker and a fraudster. Even a man convicted of murder.

“Russia released 16 people, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Paul Whelan, a corporate security executive from Michigan. Both were facing long prison sentences after being convicted in Russia’s heavily politicized legal system of espionage charges that the U.S. government called baseless.

“Also freed by Moscow was Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, a dual U.S.-Russian citizen convicted in July of spreading false information about the Russian military — accusations her family and employer have rejected.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/russia-gershkovich-whelan-prisoner-swap-354df585ad321ecdbea4c0f2c557f0aa

There are many true believers working as county election officials who have denied that Biden won in 2020 and are poised to refrain from certifying the elections this fall.

“At least 70 pro–Donald Trump election denialists are working as election officials in key swing states, according to a report published Monday from Rolling Stone and the right-wing extremism research newsletter American Doom.

“Officials who had promoted election conspiracy theories were identified in at least 16 counties in six swing states: Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania.

“These individuals were identified through scouring coverage of refusals to certify 2020 election results and other denialist behavior, as well as sifting through the social media profiles of election officials in these states.

“Across these swing states, Trump loyalists stand ready to disrupt the results of democratically held elections—at least 22 of them have already refused or delayed certification in recent years, indicating likely chaos in November.”

Source: https://newrepublic.com/post/184340/trump-election-deniers-power-swing-states

Interview with the author: https://youtu.be/cojKYPWoUyE?si=ApUDdMHsGu9M6KvN