What happened
Two drugmakers on Saturday asked the Supreme Court to pause a federal appellate court’s decision to ban mail-order access to the abortion medication mifepristone nationwide. A panel of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals late Friday had ruled that women seeking mifepristone had to get it in person from a doctor.

Who said what
The Fifth Circuit panel ruled 3-0 that Louisiana showed it is “irreparably harmed without a stay,” because out-of-state mifepristone shipments circumvent its near-total ban on abortions. Mifepristone makers Danco Laboratories and GenBioPro separately asked the Supreme Court to step in, arguing that overriding an FDA decision on a drug long proved safe and effective was unprecedented, chaos-inducing and upended the established drug-approval framework.  

The ruling “puts the Trump administration in a politically difficult spot, especially ahead of the midterms,” The New York Times said. The White House “does not want to take a high-profile anti-abortion action” that “might antagonize some voters who support abortion rights.” But antiabortion groups are already furious with President Donald Trump over the continued “ubiquity of abortion pills,” The Wall Street Journal said, and they plan to pressure congressional candidates to pledge national abortion bans.

What next?
Mifepristone and its less-regulated partner drug misoprostol are used in about two-thirds of all U.S. abortions. If the mifepristone ruling stands, the Times said, “many abortion providers are prepared to prescribe only misoprostol, which can be used on its own for abortions.”

What happened
Pioneering no-frills budget carrier Spirit Airlines ceased operations on Saturday, citing sharply higher fuel prices and the collapse of a $500 million Trump administration bailout. “This is tremendously disappointing and not the outcome any of us wanted.” Spirit CEO Dave Davis said in a statement. 

Who said what
The “proudly penny-pinching” airline had capped its “final, mad-dash scramble to save money” with tentative deals to emerge from bankruptcy, unveiled four days before the Iran war started, The Associated Press said. In the end, Axios said, the “spike in jet fuel prices from the war was the last straw.” 

Spirit was “often skewered for its bare-bones service,” but its “corresponding dirt-cheap fares opened up air travel” to thousands and “helped shape how other airlines competed,” The Washington Post said. Even if “you never flew Spirit, you benefited” from its low prices, Dawn Gilbertson said in The Wall Street Journal. “Competing airlines vigorously matched its fares,” and “one big reason major airlines” were “rooting against a government bailout” is that “one less pesky discounter gives them more pricing power.”

What next?
Spirit said customers who booked flights with credit or debit cards would automatically get refunded. Most other U.S. airlines offered discounted or “rescue fares” to Spirit passengers facing canceled flights. 

The popularity of mahjong “spans continents and centuries,” said Vanity Fair. And these days, it’s moving firmly from “amusing pastime” to a “lifestyle” for many young people. 

A combination of “ritual and mystery,” the game, which dates back to the mid-1800s, requires “skill and intelligence” and can feel “nearly impenetrable” to observers, said the outlet. But Gen Zers are increasingly entranced by the “hypnotic and persistent clicking of tiles” and “silent swapping of pieces.”

Mahjong’s current boom in popularity is driven largely by social media and popular culture. In manga and anime, it’s often used as a “narrative device” to “ramp up tension,” and in the 2018 hit movie “Crazy Rich Asians,” there’s a “pivotal” game, said The Economist. Over the past year, TikTok has seen a “70% surge in mahjong content,” with many videos “extolling the pleasures of playing with friends.” The game provides a “sensory experience” and feeling of “community” far more “enriching” than doomscrolling the evening away. 

Mahjong requires pattern recognition and memory skills, both of which help to keep cognitive function in top gear. And you can “learn a lot about someone’s true nature by how they play,” including their impulsivity and attentiveness, said Angie Lin, the founder of the mahjong community East Never Loses in Los Angeles, to Dazed.

At a time of digital fatigue and social isolation, the game is a “perfect vehicle for building connections,” Lin said. Everyone can have a seat at the mahjong table, as long as they have “respect” for its cultural past.