…And the World:

We begin today in Brazil where the drama involving the government there took another abrupt turn as the acting Speaker of the Legislature’s lower house annulled the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff. Waldir Maranhão, the acting Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies selected to replace the man who led the charge against Rousseff (he faces his own corruption probe), upended the decision that was overwhelmingly approved by the chamber only weeks ago and days before the Senate was to decide whether to pursue the matter. Both the Chamber of Deputies and the Supreme Court are expected to get involved.

A key leader of Daesh, also called ISIS/ISIL, has been killed.

Fires have leveled a one-time Canadian boom town.

Israeli Education Minister and head of the right-wing Jewish Home party, Naftali Bennett, has put forward a new civics education book that marginalizes both Araba and secular Jews in the tiny Middle Eastern democracy. Among the components of the book are the role of God in erecting Israel and tangential references to Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination.

Following the first place finish of a far-right candidate for the country’s president, Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann has stepped aside. The junior party in the country’s coalition government does not believe the occasion will require new elections, likely assuring Faymann’s successor will be chosen without going back to voters. Given Norbert Hofer’s success last month in the first round of presidential voting, there are fears Hofer’s Freedom Party could make substantial gains in Parliament. Deputy Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehrner has become acting chancellor.

Though reveling in the success of Sadiq Khan’s resounding victory in last week’s London mayoral contest, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn nevertheless acknowledged the considerable work his party has ahead of it. London was good news and results in local English councils and in Wales were good, but not good for an opposition party. In Scotland, however, the party became the third largest party in the Scottish parliament behind the Conservatives. The Scottish National Party remained the largest party, but lost its absolute majority.

Meanwhile, Kahn, the first Muslim mayor of a Western capital, needled presumptive Republican presidential nominee by promising to visit the US before Trump appears on the ballot in November elections, due to Trump’s proposed Muslim ban. Here’s The Guardian‘s video profile of Khan.

The Philippines are holding elections including for president today.

The development of the BBC’s new charter (it expires in December) raises concerns among its defenders (more in Fourth Estatements).

The Feds:

The battle over North Carolina’s “bathroom bill” that restricts transgendered individuals to the bathroom listed on their birth certificate, has ratcheted up after the state and US sue each other over the law. The US Department of Justice had said the law violated civil rights law while North Carolina found fault with the DOJ ultimatum on rescinding the law.

With the primary contests all but over—though technically still ongoing on the Democratic side—both real estate tycoon and provocateur Donald Trump and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are pivoting toward the general election. Trump’s pivot includes appointing New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to head his would-be transition—and lashing out at everyone—while Clinton tries to appeal to broader swath of voters. She’s starting by reaching out to suburban women who often vote Republican.

However, after House Speaker Paul Ryan all but rejected Trump—for now—last week, the likely Republican nominee has softened his tone. Not all are on board. Television personality, former Alaska governor and 2008 vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin promised to campaign for Ryan’s primary opponent in Wisconsin. For his part, Ryan, who as Speaker Chairs the Republican convention, has offered to step aside from that role if Trump asks.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts Senate Elizabeth Warren has taken the lead on lashing Trump, who called our senior senator, “goofy,” in reply. Six more months of this folks.

More seriously, David Bernstein writes in Politico Magazine about the possibility of de facto Warren-led Senate should the clutch of Democratic Senate candidates she’s backing help Dems take back Congress’s Upper Chamber. Trump’s nomination only raises those stakes. Case in point, Missouri Secertary of State Jason Kander’s increasingly strong challenge to Republican incumbent senator Roy Blunt.

Connecticut budget agreement between the governor and legislature leaders remains under wraps nearly a week after it was announced.

Power Post says criminal justice reform could still have a chance in Congress.

The State of Things:

Massachusetts politicos are in thall to a Boston Globe/Suffolk University Poll that shows, among other things, commanding support for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump, still heady poll numbers for Charlie Baker and soft support for legalizing marijuana.

It’s election day tomorrow on the South Shore with a competitive state senate special election in the district once held by now-Weymouth Mayor Bob Hedlund.

Some sturm und drang did precede this weekend’s Democratic State Committee vote on Clinton’s at-large delegates to the convention, but not by that much, The Boston Globe claims.

Our Editor-in-chief Matt Szafranski joined Afro-American Point of View Publish Rick Hurst on last week’s edition of The Short list from NEPR. Carrie Healy hosted.

ICYMI: Our analysis of how the Holyoke City Council got to Diosdado Lopez to fill a vacancy. The vote last Tuesday capped a months long drama in Holyoke politics, but, according to The Republican’s Mike Plaisance, not before a few scabs were ripped off in chambers during last week’s meeting.

A scaled back Green Line extension was approved by the MBTA’s overseers today.

In Northampton potpourri: what is keeping downtown down with all the empty storefronts? Meanwhile, the city lurches toward a special election after former at-large councilor Jesse Adams resigned to focus on his law practice. Ward 3 Councilor Ryan O’Donnell has announced he would run for the seat. Should he win, O’Donnell seat would also have a special election per the city charter.

The Fourth Estatements:

The New York Times also considers the future of the BBC in the digital era, which has transformed media, including those the broadcaster once dominated. The Guardian‘s Archie Bland ponders whether the opposition of well-known media figures will reverse the British government’s march on the BBC.

Politico considers the crummy treatment foreign press have gotten from the Trump campaign.

In a post on Medium, Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes has responded to criticism that erupted after a less than flattering profile of the White House aide The New York Times Magazine.

A former Facebook employee accuses the social media giant of suppressing conservative news on its trending feature.

City Slickers:

Hockey seems poised to remain in Springfield after local investors’ purchase of Portland, Maine’s team.

Amtrak official tour Union Station with Cong. Richard Neal.

Hampden Sheriff candidates are set to debate tonight at 7pm on Focus Springfield, the city’s public access channel. You can watch it live here.

The Springfield School Committee has approved the city’s school budget, which is nearly 2/3 of the city’s $616.8 million spending plan.

Twitter Chatter:

Two verbs come to mind when describing the Republican party’s response to Donald Trump’s clinching of the nomination: tearing and contorting. Much has been written about the former, which shows the party at war with itself. The Trump candidacy was unique in this way too because of the degree of reversal many had to undergo. Today we award the Tweet prize to former Obama White House aide Jon Lovett, who tweeted word grabs of three different headlines describe former Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s progression from Trump opponent to supporter. Jindal backed the real estate mogul last week, but he had to overcome his own words in doing so—he didn’t have to back Clinton to continue opposing Trump after all. Lovett’s stringing the stages together, which is probably not unique among one-time Trump-bashers, only underscores how fraught things are in the GOP these days.