Happy Thursday! Evidently scrambling for content during the ongoing writers strike, ABC has announced it will debut a version of The Bachelor featuring contestants over the age of 65: The Golden Bachelor.

Proposed tagline: It’s never too late to get dumped on national TV!

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• An estimated 109,680 Americans died from drug overdoses last year, according to a provisional count released Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—the second year in a row such deaths topped 100,000 as fentanyl overdoses continue to climb. The number will likely tick down slightly in the final report as the CDC weeds out non-U.S. residents and unverified overdoses, but 2021’s tally dropped only about 2,500 from estimate to final count. 
• Encounters between U.S. officials and migrants at the southwestern border have dropped about 56 percent since Title 42 ended last week and are now averaging about 4,400 people per day, according to Blas Nuñez-Neto, chief operating officer at U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Meanwhile, CBP officials said an eight-year-old migrant girl died in federal custody Wednesday after crossing the border with her family and experiencing a “medical emergency” inside a border patrol station in Harlingen, Texas.
• U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Rachael Rollins leaked Department of Justice memos to boost an ally’s district attorney campaign—and lied about it to investigators—according to reports released Tuesday by the DOJ inspector general and Office of Special Counsel. Rollins—who also faced scrutiny for attending a Democratic National Committee fundraiser with Jill Biden last year—was part of a crop of progressive DAs pledging to ease some criminal enforcement before being narrowly confirmed to her latest post in 2021. She promised Tuesday—hours before the reports’ release—to resign.
• Democrat Donna Keegan on Tuesday won the race for mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, a rare victory in the Republican-dominated state. The former news anchor narrowly defeated Republican Daniel Davis, who was endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Sen. Rick Scott. 
• President Joe Biden vetoed a bipartisan resolution on Tuesday that would have restored tariffs on solar panels made by Chinese companies in Southeast Asia, suggesting that reimposing the trade barriers would have threatened the supply of solar panels. The original resolution was passed last month under the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to overturn rules made by federal agencies—in this case, the Commerce Department—with a simple majority.
• Colin Kahl, the Department of Defense’s undersecretary for policy, plans to resign this summer and return to Stanford University after extending a two-year leave from his tenured professorship to help officials prepare for a July NATO summit. Republicans opposed Kahl’s 2021 confirmation over his involvement in the Obama administration’s Iran nuclear deal and his social media criticisms of Republican officials while working in the private sector. His replacement could be delayed by Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s hold on top Pentagon promotions over the department’s abortion policy.
• Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed on Tuesday to allow leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee to view a partially redacted July 2021 dissent cable—written by State Department officials reportedly concerned about the impending withdrawal from Afghanistan—after Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas threatened to hold Blinken in contempt of Congress if he continued withholding access to the classified documents. 
• A federal judge on Wednesday formally sentenced Sayfullo Saipov, an Islamic state-inspired attacker convicted in January on murder and terrorism charges, to eight consecutive life sentences and 260 additional years without the possibility of parole. Saipov drove a truck into a crowded Manhattan bike path in 2017, killing eight people in the hopes of gaining membership in the terrorist organization.
• Ecuadorian President Guillermo Lasso dissolved the country’s National Assembly Wednesday to avoid an impeachment vote after lawmakers accused him of embezzlement on oil shipping contracts before he took office in 2021. Political instability has fueled a surge of Ecuadorian migrants to the U.S., and anti-government protesters have promised mass demonstrations over the legislature’s dissolution.
• Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte on Wednesday signed a bill banning TikTok in the state. Other states have restricted TikTok on official devices amid growing concerns about the Chinese Communist Party’s power over the Chinese-owned app, but Montana is the first to pass an outright ban. The law—which will likely face legal challenges—will fine app stores offering TikTok in the state starting in January 2024.

Zelensky Takes to Europe

For most of us mere mortals, a trip to Europe is a good way to drain the coffers, not fill them. Not so for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who managed to pull in several billion dollars in promises of military aid in just a short three-day tour of Italy, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom.

The trip—ahead of an expected Ukrainian offensive that will likely increase demand for weapons and ammunition—could be a sign of the shifting dynamics of aid to the war-torn country. Amid fears U.S. aid supply could falter in the coming months, Zelensky is shifting his focus toward shoring up support in Europe.

The trip kicked off Saturday in Rome, where Zelensky met with Pope Francis and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “We’re betting on Ukraine’s victory,” the prime minister said after her 70-minute sit-down with Zelensky, promising Italy would continue to provide support for Ukraine’s fight. Meloni, who leads the right-wing Brothers of Italy party, has previously made clear she will support Ukraine because “it is right to do so in terms of national values and interest,” despite pro-Russian coalition partners and the growing ambivalence of the Italian electorate. 

Worth Your Time

• In 1968, nine men raced to circle the planet in sailboats. Only one finished—and one of the nine committed suicide. The Golden Globe Race returned in 2018, and competitors still use technology that was available in 1968, stop only four times, and are prohibited from taking on supplies mid-race. Kirsten Neuschafer just won, and tells the Washington Post about filling her days with maintenance, language study, swims—and a detour to rescue a shipwrecked competitor. “She fell into what she called her ‘routine,’ rising early to watch the sunrise and set her direction with the position of the morning sun,” writes Les Carpenter. “She walked the boat looking for signs of scuffing, she adjusted her sails, she napped in the afternoons and kept watch for cargo ships in the evenings. She never felt alone. She knew her friends were tracking her progress on the race’s website. That gave her peace.”
• Gregory Hillis passionately opposed introducing pitch clocks to baseball on aesthetic—even religious—grounds. Now he admits in Commonweal Magazine: I was wrong. “Does it manifest the contemplative dimension and beauty of baseball if you have a pitcher wandering aimlessly around the mound between pitches, a batter stepping out repeatedly to adjust the velcro on his batting gloves, players standing in place on the field as they wait for a pitch to be thrown, and spectators staring around at everything except the field where there exists little in the way of rhythm and, because of that, little ability to see the deep patterns and rhythms of the game?” Hillis asks. The pitch clock helped restore those rhythms so they again invite fans’ attention, he argues. “For that, I am grateful.”

Presented Without Comment  

Wall Street Journal: Accused [Pentagon] Leaker Received Repeated Warnings Over Handling of Classified Information, Prosecutors Say

Also Presented Without Comment  

Politico: 9 Ways Vivek Ramaswamy Can Beat Donald Trump, According to Andrew Yang

Also Also Presented Without Comment  

Yahoo Sports: Diamondbacks Pitcher Zac Gallen Hits and Kills Bird in Echo of Randy Johnson History

Toeing the Company Line

• In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics team explains the abortion flashpoint building between top Republican presidential candidates, Jonah points out (🔒) that “woke” has become a synonym for “things that make us mad,” Nick wonders (🔒) if Russia’s war machine is breaking down, and Scott argues (🔒) that actually, America’s economy is still pretty dang dominant.
• On the podcasts: Chris Stirewalt rejoins The Remnant with his signature pop culture nerdery and rank punditry to talk Durham report, Republican primaries, and what the size of Congress and The Dispatch’s profit margin have in common. On Advisory Opinions, David Lat is back at it to help Sarah catch up on the latest Supreme Court decisions, Puerto Rico’s sovereign immunity, penmanship, and more.
• On the site: Andy Smarick puts forth practical proposals for reforming higher education, and Hussain Abdul-Hussain and Matthew Zweig of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies argue that the Arab League is making a bad bet with its readmission of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Let Us Know

Ahead of a long-awaited Ukrainian counteroffensive, do you buy the Biden administration’s argument that F-16s aren’t immediately necessary for Kyiv’s war effort? Do you expect the U.S. to relent to mounting pressure to provide the fighter planes, as it has with other advanced weapons in the past?