Elon's Out  —  Programming note: Ugh, here we are again, huh?  —  Oh Elon  —  I think it is helpful to start with the big picture.  Elon Musk is the richest person in the world, and, like many other rich people, he has some unusual and expensive hobbies.

Retired three-star general suspended from Army contract after tweet that appeared to mock Jill Biden … WASHINGTON - A retired three-star general has been suspended from a $92-an-hour contract consulting the Army and is under investigation after posting a tweet that appeared to mock …

Hubris and Mismanagement Led Sri Lanka Into Economic Collapse  —  The request came as protesters entered his residence and office, and thousands more descended on the capital to register their fury over his government's inability to address a crippling economic crisis.

Covid learning loss has been a global disaster  —  Millions of children are still out of school.  The costs are stacking up  —  MANILA, MUMBAI AND TUXTLA  —  King norvic tarroyo lives with his parents and five siblings in a slum near the sea wall in Manila, the capital of the Philippines.

POLITICO Playbook: Leibo book off embargo, Morton's gets grilled  —  With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross  —  DRIVING THE DAY  —  OFF EMBARGO — Our copy of MARK LEIBOVICH's “Thank You for Your Servitude” arrived from Penguin Press on Friday, and we've been devouring it ever since.

Trump Lawyer Says He Will Be Reinstated as President if GOP Win Midterms  —  Christina Bobb, an attorney who has supported Donald Trump's legal challenge to overturn the 2020 election, has suggested a scenario in which the former president could be reinstated after the midterm elections in November.

Boris Johnson pushed for woman to get City Hall job during ‘abuse of power’ relationship … Boris Johnson lobbied for a job for a young woman who claims he abused his power to have a sexual relationship with her.  —  The then London mayor and MP for Henley advocated for her to get a job …

Jan. 6 panel didn't specifically ask Cipollone about Hutchinson's testimony on legal consequences of going to Capitol during riot, sources say  —  Two people familiar with former Trump White House counsel Pat Cipollone's testimony Friday told CNN that the House select committee investigating January 6 …

Shinzo Abe's Death Highlights Fringe Japan Political Party That Criticized Him  —  The assassination of Shinzo Abe has drawn attention to a fringe political party that had criticized him ahead of Sunday's upper house election for alleged connections to religious groups.

Will No One Defend the American Republic?  —  In a previous newsletter, I frankly discussed my view that the United States is careening towards a right-wing dictatorship that is highly likely to be either deranged or unstable or both over the medium term, thus threatening a chaotic collapse …

Pregnant woman says her fetus should count as a passenger in HOV lanes.  She got a ticket  —  The overturning of the Roe v. Wade ruling has one driver questioning HOV lane laws requiring two passengers in a car.  —  In economics, they call it the law of unintended consequences.

Ukraine Foreign Ministry blasts Rep. Victoria Spartz's ‘cynical’ allegations  —  Ukraine's Foreign Ministry released a blistering statement Saturday accusing the first and only Ukraine-born U.S. lawmaker of playing politics over Russia's war.  —  The extraordinary statement comes after Rep. Victoria Spartz …

The nation that laughed itself stupid  —  Boris Johnson has exposed the costs of Britain's addiction to humour  —  To the silk looms and chamber pots of Dennis Severs' House in Spitalfields.  Severs was a Californian whose gripes with the 20th century drove him to turn a London address into a portal to the 18th and 19th.

Political Violence Is The New American Normal  —  Hours after Roe's demise, a truck driver rammed a group of women protesting in Iowa and highlighted an urgent national crisis: Violence is now a feature of American civic life.  —  On June 24, mere hours after the Supreme Court reversed Roe v. Wade …

Liz Cheney's Latest Fans: Democratic Donors  —  Despite policy disagreements, donors like Jeffrey Katzenberg are backing the Wyoming Republican because of her role on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.  — Give this article- - - Read in app

A one-source story about a 10-year-old and an abortion goes viral  —  Listen  —  Gift Article … — President Biden, remarks during signing of executive order on abortion access, July 8  —  This is the account of a one-source story that quickly went viral around the world — and into the talking points of the president.

Abrams' leadership committee attracts big donors from West Coast, unions  —  Democratic megadonor George Soros wasn't the only big name to contribute to Stacey Abrams' leadership committee in recent months.  —  Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor facing off against Gov. Brian Kemp …