Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Hit by Ship [Full News Memo]
Florida Passes Law Banning Social Media For Those Under 14, RFK JR Announces Running Mate, More Than Six in 10 US Abortions in 2023 Were Done by Medication
P.S. In this week’s memo:
Florida Passes Law Banning Social Media For Those Under 14
Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Hit by Container Ship
+ GetSmart: 🐄 The World’s Most Expensive Cow (at the bottom)
Newsbites
Attack in Moscow: An attack by armed gunmen left more than 140 people dead during a rock concert in a suburb of Moscow on Friday, Mar. 22. The perpetrators entered Crocus City Hall and opened fire into the crowd of some 6,000 people, along with setting the venue on fire (footage). The four primary suspects, citizens of Tajikistan, were arrested about 15 hours after the attack some 250 miles southwest of Moscow. A branch of ISIS claimed responsibility for the massacre. The U.S. State Department issued a security alert on March 7 through its embassy in Moscow for people to avoid large gatherings, including concerts, due to a possible extremist attack.
More: Vladimir Putin has acknowledged ISIS conducted the attack, but has accused Ukraine and its western allies, including the U.S., of helping facilitate it. Speaking at a press conference, Putin said, “We know whose hands were used to commit this atrocity [ISIS] against Russia and its people. We want to know who ordered it.” Ukraine and the U.S. have denied the claims.Abortion Pill: The Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week about restrictions for the abortion pill, mifepristone, which is used in the majority of abortions. In 2021, the FDA rolled back restrictions on mifepristone, allowing physicians to prescribe the pill over a telemedicine visit (instead of in-person) and patients to order it online and have it delivered by mail (instead of in-person at a pharmacy). The case has been in legal flux since 2021, with lower courts issuing opposing rulings on the FDA’s unwinding of restrictions. Following the Dobbs v. Jackson decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade, the case has gained relevance because abortion is now illegal in a number of states. If mifepristone is permitted to be delivered by mail, it could provide much easier abortion access for women in states that have banned it.
More: More than six in 10 US abortions in 2023 were done by medication — a significant jump since 2020.RFK JR Announces Running Mate: Robert R Kennedy has picked Nicole Shanahan to be his running mate for the 2024 presidential election. (video) Shanahan, 38, is a lawyer and philanthropist from Silicon Valley, California. She also runs the Bia-Echo Foundation, which focuses on investments in “reproductive longevity & equality, criminal justice reform and a healthy and livable planet.” Shanahan was the primary donor giving $4M to RFK JR’s $7M Super Bowl ad. She also came up with the idea and the execution of the ad.
More: For an independent candidate, RFK JR is polling surprisingly well. Both Trump and Biden are beginning to attack him more substantially as neither wants to lose voters to him which could theoretically swing the election.Boeing Whistleblower update: The attorneys for John Barnett, the Boeing whistleblower who was found dead in his car two weeks ago, say Boeing officials were spying on him leading up to the lawsuit and his sudden death. Files released from his lawyers allege that Barnett was retaliated against after complaining that quality control processes were not being adequately followed in plane production. The lawsuit claims Boeing took part in a “gaslighting campaign in which he was continually harassed, denigrated, humiliated, and treated with scorn and contempt by upper management.”
More: The CEO of Boeing, Dave Calhoun, says he will resign at the end of the year. He’s the second CEO in a row that has been ousted from the 737 Max crisis.
Main Stories
Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Hit by Ship, Sending Vehicles Into River
What happened?
At approximately 1:30 a.m on Tuesday, a container ship crashed into a supporting pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge followed by a domino-like crash of the 1.6 mile overpass. (video) Eight construction workers, filling potholes on the bridge at the time, crashed into the Patapsco River. Six of those men died, while the other two were rescued and are recovering from injuries.
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