Crypto News: Russian mutiny fallout, key Supreme Court rulings: Weekend Reads

Vladimir Putin's efforts to reassert his control a week after an abortive uprising by a mercenary chief shook his authority are showing strains, with infighting spreading in the security establishment as the Russian president moves on senior players thought to have supported the mutiny.

The 6-3 conservative majority on the US Supreme Court flexed its muscles this week with three rulings that outlawed the use of race in college admissions, struck down President Joe Biden's student-loan relief plan and crafted a First Amendment exception to anti-discrimination laws.

China passed a sweeping foreign policy law that combines a slew of existing tools to counter Western powers, and extends President Xi Jinping's combative stance on asserting Beijing on the world stage.

Delve into these and other top stories in this edition of Weekend Reads. — Karl Maier

Mutiny leader Yevgeny Prigozhin departs Rostov-on-Don, Russia, on June 24. Source: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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Putin Claims He's Back in Control. Russia's Elite Isn't Sure
Among the Kremlin and business elite, there's skepticism about Putin's efforts to reassert his control after the 24-hour mutiny led by Wagner chief Prigozhin. For many insiders — including more than a dozen current and former senior officials and business leaders — the dramatic events shredded what remained of the Russian president's carefully crafted image as the guarantor of "stability."

Read about Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the Putin ally and hunting buddy who was the focus of Prigozhin's rebellion.

WATCH: What the Wagner Mutiny Means for Putin and the World Source: Bloomberg

Wagner's Exit From Ukraine Won't Radically Alter Course of War
Officials in Kyiv could barely conceal their joy at the prospect of disarray in Moscow when troops from Wagner group left Ukraine's battlefields for the uprising. But as Marc Champion explains, their withdrawal hasn't so far made it easier for Ukraine's counteroffensive, and it's not clear whether it will.

Wagner's Mutiny Creates New Questions About Its Business Empire
The paramilitary organization has committed a wide range of alleged human rights abuses, from murders of civilians in Ukraine, to the rape and execution of villagers in the Central African Republic and Mali. Simon Marks and Stephanie Baker report on how for more than half a decade, it has been the leading actor in the Kremlin's efforts to increase its influence in Africa, gaining friends in half a dozen countries on the continent.

African nations where Wagner operates should decide themselves on whether to continue their cooperation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Xi's Bet on Putin Looks Even More Risky After Russian Mutiny
Xi's gamble on a "no limits" friendship with Putin has looked like it could backfire ever since Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Lucille Liu, Rebecca Choong Wilkins and Kari Lindberg explain why the brief uprising against Moscow again underscored the risks facing the Chinese leader.

The US must lift sanctions against China if Washington wants high-level communication between the Chinese and American armed forces, a Chinese diplomat said on Wednesday.

High Court Harvard Ruling Caps Roberts's Long-held Views on Race
Chief Justice John Roberts has at times tried to blunt the US Supreme Court's conservative shift, but he firmly backed the ruling abolishing racial preferences in college admissions, Greg Stohr writes. "Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it," he wrote in his 40-page opinion for the court.

"This is not a normal court," Biden said Thursday at the White House, when asked if the court had gone "rogue."
Harvard University was defiant after the ruling, arguing the role of diversity and difference in education is essential to academic excellence.

Roberts during the State of the Union address in Washington on Feb. 7. Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg

Biden Pitches Bidenomics as Reversal From 'Failed' Trickle-Down
Contrasting his more interventionist economic agenda with the Republicans' small-government philosophy, Biden sought to persuade skeptical voters the economy is thriving and bolster his reelection prospects. Jordan Fabian and Reade Pickert write that his speech was the clearest sign yet that Biden, 80, plans to put the economy at the center of his campaign for a second term.

Billionaires and Bureaucrats Mobilize China for AI Race With US
China's tech sector has a new obsession: competing with US titans like Google and Microsoft in the artificial intelligence race. Jane Zhang and Sarah Zheng explain how billionaire entrepreneurs, mid-level engineers and veterans of foreign firms are working to outdo Beijing's rival in a technology that may determine the global power stakes.

Big Tech Wants AI Regulation — So Long as Users Bear the Brunt
Google, Microsoft, IBM and OpenAI have asked US lawmakers to oversee artificial intelligence to guarantee safety and competitiveness with China, Jillian Deutsch reports. But in the European Union, where politicians have approved draft legislation to put guardrails on generative AI, lobbyists for those same companies are fighting measures they say would needlessly constrict their activity.

France Aims to Restore Order After Clashes Over Teen's Death
President Emmanuel Macron urged parents and social media platforms to help bring an end to violence that has swept France since the police killing of a 17-year-old. As Jenny Che reports, Macron said Snapchat, TikTok and others have been used to organize the unrest.

Firefighters tackle a blaze at a hotel during protests in Roubaix on Friday. Photographer: Kenzo Tribouillard/Getty Images

India's New Parliament Is Symbol of Modi's Nationalist Vision
As India increasingly asserts itself as a global power, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is planning a controversial $2 billion project to modernize the capital, replace the British-designed Sansad Bhavan parliament building and soften the influence of foreign aesthetics. Kai Schultz, Sreeja Biswas and Satviki Sanjay explain that the reimagining of central Delhi comes at a time of dramatic transformation in India.

Bolsonaro's Political Ban Turns Him Into a Right-Wing Kingmaker
The decision by Brazil's electoral court to ban Jair Bolsonaro from office for eight years for making false claims about last year's election could effectively end the right-wing former president's political career. But as Andrew Rosati explains, he's poised to retain influence over the radical version of conservativism his rise unleashed in Latin America's largest nation.

Poachers Are Trying to Kill Every Last Rhino in Africa
With the black market price for a rhino horn topping $40,000, there's no shortage of poachers willing to risk a 25-year jail sentence to hack off one of the animal kingdom's most sought after commodities. But, after an estimated three-quarters of the wild rhinos in South Africa were killed in less than a decade, Jonathan Franklin reports that teams are fighting back by getting there first to remove the horns without hurting the beasts.

And finally … India's sweltering June temperatures, with reports of a spike in deaths among the most vulnerable, may be just a foretaste of what is to come. Scientists estimate climate change has made extreme heat 30 times more likely in the country and the World Bank has flagged it as likely to be one of the first places in the world where heat waves breach the human survivability threshold.