Today’s edition of quick hits.

* Late this afternoon, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an opinion allowing construction of the White House ballroom to continue while legal challenges play out. The opinion was issued over the dissent of four justices: Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Elena Kagan, Sonia Sotomayor and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

* The war with Iran turns hot again: “President Donald Trump said the United States will ‘hit’ Iran ‘hard’ after Tehran launched strikes on U.S. forces in Jordan and the United Arab Emirates overnight in retaliation to renewed U.S. strikes in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday.”

* The fallout continues from the Nepal-Tibet border: “The tally of people missing after catastrophic Himalayan floods jumped on Monday as the disaster authorities said that nearly 4,000 people were unaccounted for in Nepal, along with more than 500 in Tibet.”

* There’s no reason whatsoever for Google to go along with the White House’s nonsense: “Google has renamed Lake Ontario to Lake America on its maps following President Donald Trump’s executive order on Thursday amid an escalating trade war between the two longtime allies.”

* On a related note, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Trump “reached out to Apple directly” about changing the name of Lake Ontario on Apple Maps.

* The ongoing mystery surrounding the Freedom Fuel Network: “A lawsuit filed this month alleges that there’s a simple reason some stations in the Freedom Fuel Network — the chain of discount gas stations promoted by the White House — have been able to sell gas so cheaply: Some $4 million worth of the gas is stolen. KRSM, the business named in the suit, denies this accusation.”

* Ongoing questions about the Kennedy Center’s future: “What’s stopping President Donald Trump from tearing down the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is ongoing litigation, according to Rep. Joyce Beatty, an ex officio board member who brought the lawsuit.”

* I’m going to go out on a limb and say the White House’s claims about this being the “most transparent administration ever” aren’t true: “When leaders from the world’s most powerful countries gather next week for the Group of 20 finance meeting in Asheville, N.C., they will be joined by throngs of journalists from newsrooms around the globe. Missing from among them, though, will be several reporters from three of the largest newsrooms in the United States.”

See you tomorrow.

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