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  • Trump administration backs off plan to end ocean monitoring

    Trump administration backs off plan to end ocean monitoring

    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is abandoning its plan to dismantle a $368 million ocean monitoring system critical to understanding climate change and marine ecosystems, bowing to a bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill.

    The National Science Foundation had said in May that it would begin this month to remove hundreds of underwater instruments that collect data on coastal flooding, marine heat waves, and other climate and weather events.

    But the agency announced Thursday that it will pause efforts to take apart the system, known as the Ocean Observatories Initiative, while convening an expert panel to determine its future.

    “Effective immediately, NSF will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment,” the agency said in a statement.

    The Senate passed a measure Wednesday that would block the government from dismantling the system, with lawmakers in both parties warning that the action would be illegal and would threaten the safety of coastal communities. The Trump administration had also tried to cut the program’s funds the last two years, but Congress restored the money both times.

    In May, the science foundation had said it would send ships to start pulling up instruments anchored to the seafloor off the coasts of Oregon, Washington state, Alaska, North Carolina, and an area between Greenland and Iceland known as the Irminger Sea.

    For the past decade, scientists have used data from these instruments to understand how the ocean is absorbing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, how marine heat waves could affect fisheries, and how soon a vital ocean current could collapse.

    Fishermen have also checked the real-time, publicly available data on wind and wave conditions before heading to sea. And meteorologists have used these observations to improve forecasts of disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis.

    The National Science Foundation said Thursday that it already had pulled some buoys, sensors, and other instruments from the water off the coasts of Oregon and Washington state, but it was “developing plans to redeploy the equipment after servicing.”

    Edward Dever, a professor of oceanography at Oregon State University who helps manage the instruments off Oregon and Washington, said the agency had removed six of the area’s seven moorings, or deep-sea platforms equipped with sensors. He said finding boats to replace the moorings could take several months.

    “I believe we could have one mooring ready to go before the end of the summer and 1-2 others ready by fall,” Dever said in an email, adding, “Ships are generally scheduled about a year in advance. Scheduling cruises on short notice can sometimes be done, but it is a challenge.”

    The Senate on Wednesday passed the measure to preserve the system by unanimous consent, essentially an agreement by all senators to bypass debate. Though the measure faced an uncertain fate in the House, it was the latest moment when Congress flexed its power of the purse to thwart the Trump administration’s attempts to cut climate and environmental programs.

    The measure was sponsored by Sens. Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.) and Lisa Murkowski (R., Alaska). In an interview Thursday, Murkowski criticized the Trump administration for failing to consult Congress before beginning to remove some monitoring equipment.

    “NSF moved forward on their own, not only unilaterally, but really with no warning, no heads-up,” she said. “They didn’t even bother to check in,” she added, “and that’s where the real foul was.”

    Murkowski said fisheries in Alaska relied on the ocean data to determine how increasing temperatures were threatening certain species. She said other data was crucial to understanding El Niño, the powerful weather pattern that formed this month in the tropical Pacific and could supercharge extreme weather events around the globe.

    The National Science Foundation had said in May that dismantling the monitoring system would save $48 million in operating costs each year. But lawmakers had accused the administration of wasting the $368 million in taxpayer dollars that had funded the installation of the instruments in 2016. And the operating costs represent a tiny fraction of overall government spending.

    “Dismantling the OOI was supreme stupidity,” Merkley said in a statement Thursday.

    Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California, the top Democrat on the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, welcomed the administration’s reversal but said she would continue fighting to save the system.

    “This pathetic scheme was illegal,” Lofgren said in a statement Thursday, adding: “My oversight team and I will be following closely what NSF does next. NSF’s next steps must be nothing short of replacing any of the instruments that have already been removed and ceasing all activities to descale until legitimate expert advice has been sought.”

    Backlash had also come from overseas. After the Trump administration announced the plan to dismantle the system, the European Union said it would bolster its own observation of the world’s oceans with an investment of 92 million euros ($107 million).

    Though that move had been planned long before the U.S. retreat, officials in Brussels emphasized the contrast.

    “Extremely worrying signals are coming from the other side of the Atlantic,” Costas Kadis, the EU’s commissioner for fisheries and oceans, said at the time.

    A spokesperson for Kadis did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Times.

  • Mangione withdraws emotional disturbance defense in New York case

    NEW YORK — In an abrupt reversal, Luigi Mangione’s lawyers said Thursday that they had withdrawn their intent to argue that he was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance” at the time he was accused of killing a UnitedHealthcare executive in midtown Manhattan in 2024.

    The withdrawal came one day after the New York state judge overseeing the case, Justice Gregory Carro, revealed at a pretrial hearing that Mangione’s legal team had filed a motion in September notifying the court that it was considering the defense.

    In a one-sentence letter, Mangione’s lawyers wrote, “The defense respectfully withdraws CPL [Section] 250.10 notice at this time,” referring to psychiatric evidence.

    Because of the withdrawal, Carro put the documents and transcript that exposed the defense strategy back under seal.

    Mangione, 28, is accused of killing Brian Thompson, the executive, on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024. Surveillance footage showed a man in a hooded sweatshirt emerge from between parked cars, point a handgun affixed with a silencer, and fire at Thompson as he walked toward the entrance of a Hilton Hotel in midtown to prepare for an investor conference.

    Mangione faces federal charges of stalking and multiple state charges, including second-degree murder. In New York state, if defense lawyers can convince a jury that strong emotions resulted in a “profound loss of self-control,” leading to a homicide, the highest charge their clients can be convicted of is manslaughter, which has a maximum sentence of 25 years. The murder charge carries 25 years to life.

    Thursday was the deadline set by Carro for Mangione’s legal team to provide prosecutors with documents related to the psychiatric defense and to explain “what malady it is that this defendant suffers from.”

    The team responded with the withdrawal, and Mangione’s defense strategy now remains publicly unclear. The state trial is scheduled for September, and his federal trial will follow.

    At the pretrial hearing Wednesday, where the potential defense was disclosed, his lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, made several arguments to keep the psychiatric evidence under seal. She said concealment was essential because “this defense is not available federally.”

    “Mr. Mangione is being prosecuted federally, and this is prejudicial to his federal case about the exact same facts,” she said.

    Joel Seidemann, a prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said at the hearing that his office would “vigorously” fight any request for postponement of the trial’s start date if Mangione’s lawyers continue to explore the extreme emotional disturbance defense.

    Friedman Agnifilo said Seidemann’s statements were “completely unnecessary” because she had not requested a delay.

    As the two lawyers argued, Mangione appeared incredulous throughout the exchange, shaking his head.

    This article originally appeared in the New York Times.

  • FDA panel backs first-of-its-kind flu vaccine using mRNA technology

    WASHINGTON — A new kind of flu vaccine moved a step closer to the U.S. market Thursday as federal health advisers recommended approval of the first made with the same mRNA technology that was key to ending the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The Food and Drug Administration is evaluating Moderna’s new shot, dubbed mFlusiva, for older Americans ahead of the winter flu season. Moderna is seeking full approval for the vaccine’s use in people ages 50 to 64 — along with authorization for use in those 65 and older while it conducts additional testing.

    The FDA’s independent advisory committee evaluated Moderna’s studies of the vaccine and voted unanimously that its benefits appear to outweigh any risks for both age groups. The FDA will consider that recommendation in making a final decision by early August.

    Tens of thousands of Americans die from influenza every year, and older adults are among the most vulnerable. There are various types of flu vaccines already available in the U.S., including three specifically recommended for people 65 and older. But vaccines made with the Nobel Prize-winning mRNA technology are faster to manufacture than other types — something experts say might help if the shape-shifting flu virus mutates in a way that requires suddenly brewing new doses to match.

    “Having this technology available puts us in a better position to be prepared for emerging strains in the future,” said Flor Munoz-Rivas of Texas Children’s Hospital, one of FDA’s advisers.

    In a study of 40,000 people age 50 and older, Moderna’s mRNA vaccine reduced flu cases by about 27% compared with those given another routinely used vaccine brand. In a smaller study of people 65 and older, Moderna’s shot also generated a strong protective immune response compared with a high-dose flu vaccine already recommended for that age group.

    Data showing strong immune reactions “were very compelling,” said FDA adviser Anna Durbin of Johns Hopkins University, adding that “the vaccine looks very promising.”

    Moderna’s Rituparna Das told panelists that the company’s ability to quickly manufacture mRNA vaccines that closely match the latest flu strains could prevent thousands of hospitalizations in older Americans.

    Severe flu cases in the U.S. generally rise in years when the flu shot doesn’t closely match the circulating virus. Moderna officials noted that flu strains for each fall’s vaccines now are chosen several months earlier than the yearly recipe update for COVID-19 shots that mostly are mRNA-based — and there can be a mismatch if the flu virus mutates after the recipe is made.

    At the meeting, FDA vaccine reviewer Timothy Brennan suggested the agency was open to approving the vaccine for older adults ahead of the coming flu season, despite the need for more information about its use in frail seniors or people with weak immune systems.

    If it’s approved, Moderna is planning its required next-step study to include 400,000 people 65 and older, half given the mRNA vaccine and the rest given one of today’s special-for-seniors shots. It’s supposed to repeat that study for two flu seasons.

    Moderna’s data showed no major safety issues, although the shot did cause some temporary reactions including injection-site pain, fever, headache, tiredness, and aches. The latter reactions are common in a variety of vaccines, but occurred somewhat more often than with today’s flu shots. The FDA said that’s typical of mRNA vaccines.

    Those temporary reactions can be a signal that “your immune system is responding,” said Hayley Gans, a Stanford Medicine pediatrician and FDA adviser who stressed it will be important to explain that to vaccine recipients.

    Earlier this year, Moderna’s data was at the center of a highly unusual public dispute as a then-top FDA official blocked the company’s application for its first-of-its-kind shot.

    The embattled vaccine chief at the time, Vinay Prasad, said the company should have compared its shot to a high-dose flu vaccine recommended for seniors rather than a standard-dose brand. It was a sign of FDA’s heightened vaccine scrutiny under Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

    Moderna challenged that decision, noting that FDA staff had approved that main study’s design and citing a separate, smaller study comparing the mRNA shot with a high-dose vaccine for seniors. Days after the spat, the FDA accepted Moderna’s application.

    Moderna also is studying the vaccine in younger adults and plans a separate study in 9- to 17-year-olds this fall.

  • Shining the spotlight on America’s Black Revolutionary Era icons | Shackamaxon

    This Juneteenth edition of Shackamaxon looks at the housing debate in Harrisburg, the recent state Supreme Court decision on skill games, and some Revolutionary Era stories you might not have heard before.

    Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir exits a Santa Monica, Calif., accessory dwelling unit in 2022. Carolyn Cole / MCT

    Preemption the key

    It is increasingly clear that legislators in Harrisburg want to do something about housing affordability in Pennsylvania. What’s less clear is whether they’re willing to take the most necessary step: preempting local governments.

    The recent push to legalize accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, is a classic example of this tension. For the wide coalition of supporters, ADUs — think a backyard apartment — represent an obvious fix to the housing crisis. They allow families to live close to one another without the awkwardness of sharing a kitchen, while empty nesters can monetize their homes without moving and typically rent at affordable rates. There’s also significant demand for them.

    Mario Mascioli, from Acorn Built Homes, says his company gets between 200 and 300 inquiries a month. A recently passed bill in the state House would allow property owners to build one unit per lot and restricts the ability of local authorities to regulate them out of existence.

    It is now up to the state Senate to pass the bill. The Senate’s housing committee has met just twice so far this year. Some Republicans have been reluctant to embrace housing reform, citing a desire to avoid infringing on local control of zoning.

    While the input of local communities will always be part of development politics, housing affordability is a regional issue. Acting as a commonwealth ensures that all of our cities, townships, and boroughs do their share when it comes to new housing — and that no municipality can sabotage ADU construction.

    Additionally, some conservative organizations like Americans for Prosperity have backed the bill. For these groups, property rights and economic opportunity make embracing preemption worthwhile.

    In fact, the coalition to reform housing rules is refreshingly broad. From right-leaning groups like Americans for Prosperity to self-described socialists like State Sen. Nikil Saval, there is a growing understanding that change is essential. This need is underlined by the rapidly increasing costs to purchase a home. In Villanova, even the most affordable options now cost $1 million.

    Unregulated gaming devices known as “skill games” in a barber shop in Hazelton in August.Tom Gralish / Staff Photographer

    Same old slots

    For the entirety of Josh Shapiro’s first term as governor, one question has dominated the revenue side of state budget proceedings. Will Pennsylvania regulate and tax so-called games of skill, and at what rate, and under what authority?

    Proponents of the games argued they are distinct from slot machines and should pay a lower rate. They also want the devices to avoid being placed under the state Gambling Control Board. Critics say otherwise. Some want the machines to be gone altogether, citing their negative impact on communities. Others want them restricted and taxed like slot machines, which can only operate at licensed casinos and hand over most of their revenue to the commonwealth. Efforts by local governments, like Philadelphia’s, to ban the machines have been stymied by the courts.

    At least until this week.

    After years of debate, the state Supreme Court ruled that the devices are actually slots after all, reversing an earlier Commonwealth Court ruling that had maintained there is a difference. This new ruling aligns with my own experience testing the machines. You put in cash, press a button, and hope the symbols align.

    Given this fact, which is now the legal opinion of Pennsylvania, it doesn’t make much sense to tax the machines at a different rate than existing slots. Neither does allowing them to proliferate in every gas station, corner store, and bar that wants them. Like slots, skill games should be limited to operating in designated areas, and access must be controlled by age. They should also be controlled by the same regulators as other gaming devices. While the commonwealth absolutely could use the revenue boost legalizing the machines will bring, the priority should be on mitigating their impact.

    The historian Michael Idriss dressed as Cyrus Bustill, an 18th-century baker who supplied George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge.Jessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

    Remembering revolutionaries

    Philadelphia has been known as the home of Ben Franklin and Betsy Ross for centuries and boasts several professional reenactors who bring these Revolutionary Era leaders to life. While both Franklin and Ross have earned their public profiles, they are far from the only local figures worth memorializing.

    Michael Idriss, a former classmate of mine at Temple University who now manages the Museum of the American Revolution’s African American Interpretive Program, has brought another name to light: Cyrus Bustill, an enslaved baker who freed himself, supplied George Washington’s troops at Valley Forge, and helped found the Free African Society of Philadelphia.

    Idriss also helped set up the museum’s Black Founders exhibit, which focused on James Forten, a Black patriot and business owner who funded abolitionist causes.

    Idriss refers to himself as an interpreter rather than a re-enactor and has brought to light a pivotal but until now under-appreciated Founding Father. Bustill’s work has even qualified his descendants, like Joyce Mosley, for membership in the Daughters of the American Revolution, an elite service organization.

    An elder statesman to figures like Forten, Absalom Jones, and Richard Allen, Bustill represents the lesser-known stories of the Free Philadelphians of African descent before, during, and after the revolution. By 1838, there were 20,000 free Black Philadelphians.

    In many ways, their story should sound familiar. After the revolution, many felt that America should live up to its lofty ideals. Pennsylvania passed a law ensuring gradual emancipation, and many people of all races became abolitionists. Then came the backlash. A populist and crass president had come to power and Black stories were buried. It sounds sadly familiar, doesn’t it?

  • More than a championship: Inside La Salle’s ‘super special’ boys’ lacrosse season

    More than a championship: Inside La Salle’s ‘super special’ boys’ lacrosse season

    Two years ago, La Salle College High School fell to Radnor in the PIAA 3A boys’ lacrosse championship. On June 13, the Explorers flipped the script.

    La Salle earned its first state crown since 2019 and sixth overall title after defeating Radnor, 16—9. Radnor was making their sixth consecutive championship appearance. La Salle’s victory was the culmination of a season that hardly began according to plan.

    La Salle opened the year 1—2 after losses to St John’s College High School in Washington, D.C, and Malvern Prep. While head coach Jack Forster understood that his team was up against tough competition, he knew they were leaving a ton on the table, especially with a roster consisting of seven seniors who are committed to Division I schools.

    “I remember Coach Forster in the locker room before the [next] game was like, ‘I’m sick of telling people that we almost had them. Let’s go out there and win, and put all those little things together,’” said senior long-stick midfielder Johnny Wachs, who will play at Jacksonville University.

    How a goldfish mentality fueled West Chester Henderson to its first girls’ lacrosse state title

    The Explorers went on to go undefeated in Catholic League play and won 21 of 22 games en route to a state final victory.

    “I think we kind of just took [the losses] as learning opportunities,” said senior attacker Will Trymbiski, who scored five goals in the championship game. “We saw the cracks in the sidewalk and knew how to fill them.”

    Forster also believes that his team’s transformation occurred during their spring break trip to Bradenton, Fla. While there, the Explorers picked up a decisive 9-5 win over IMG Academy, but lacrosse was secondary to the relationships developed across the team.

    “Just being around each other all week — and guys getting to know everybody and not just their class, and [upperclassmen] bringing the freshmen and sophomores along. … [The trip] was a big turning point for our team,” Wachs said.

    “Some of the kids I talk to most are underclassmen. I feel like that made us a better team, because there was no separation between classes.”

    This year’s senior class made sure to savor their last season playing together. Trymbiski and midfielder Dylan Malone, who’s heading to Duke in the fall, had played together since second grade when the two were on the same club team.

    Neshaminy High wrote its own story — and ended it with its first state baseball title

    “It was super special to finish off the season with him and finish off the season in that way with him,” Trymbiski said.

    This year’s seniors are most proud of the legacy they’ll leave behind.

    La Salle has been a dominant program and hasn’t dropped a Catholic League game in four years.

    Before last weekend, the Explorers had not won a state title since 2019, marking their longest drought since winning their first in 2004. After going the distance this season, the seniors believe that they’ve left behind a structure that will return La Salle to the championship, even without their presence.

    “Leaving a blueprint behind for underclassmen to follow, having leadership where you’re not too strict and not too lenient is where we had a great balance, and we found equilibrium between the two,” said Malone.

    Trymbiski added, “I’m most proud of how the senior leaders handled this team, and hopefully for years to come, we can have a huge [winning] streak for La Salle.”

  • Flu sickens some 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas

    Flu sickens some 160 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas

    More than 150 troops at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas have been infected with influenza over the past three weeks — a major outbreak less than two months after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said American troops would no longer be required to be vaccinated against the flu.

    The Air Force said in a statement Thursday that the 37th Training Wing, which is at Lackland, “has been managing a localized influenza outbreak among trainees at Basic Military Training.”

    About 160 people have become ill, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. More than 36,000 military recruits come through the 37th Training Wing each year.

    The Air Force did not immediately respond to a question about whether the troops who contracted the flu had been vaccinated. The outbreak was first reported by the New York Times.

    People showing symptoms are being isolated and treated, and medical personnel are also monitoring those who were in close contact with sick individuals, according to the Air Force statement. Recruits will return to training once they’re cleared by medical staff.

    The Air Force also said in a news release earlier this week that Keon McDaniel, who was in his sixth week of basic military training, died after experiencing a medical emergency and being transported to nearby Brooke Army Medical Center. The Air Force is investigating whether his death is related to the outbreak, but that review is still underway, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

    In April, Hegseth announced he would be rolling back a decades-old mandate requiring U.S. troops to receive the annual flu vaccine. The defense secretary called the requirement “overly broad” and said that soldiers would be able to take the vaccine if they believed it was in their best interest, describing it as an effort to “restore freedom and strength to our joint force.”

    Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said Thursday in a statement that the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, National Security Agency, and Defense Health Agency had been granted permission to require the vaccines in certain circumstances.

    “The decisions were based upon thorough risk assessments and are designed to maximize operational readiness, lethality, and force generation, while safeguarding at-risk populations,” Parnell said, adding that the military components requesting the exceptions are responsible for their implementation.

    Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata told members of Congress last month that the Pentagon was reviewing exceptions for service members in environments such as basic training, submarines, ships, and Army Ranger School.

    The Times reported Thursday that in the midst of the recent outbreak, the Air Force was granted an exception to the new voluntary vaccine policy, requiring that recruits at Lackland get flu shots. The Air Force did not immediately respond to questions from the Washington Post about whether that exception had been put in place.

    Influenza rates are considered low right now nationally and in Texas, according to tracking by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas state health department. But living in close quarters could exacerbate an outbreak, as flu is spread mainly when people cough, sneeze, or talk.

    The flu vaccine is not a cure-all; it is much less effective in preventing infections than vaccines such as the one for measles, mumps, and rubella, which the CDC says prevents measles in about 97% of cases when patients have received two doses. But multiple studies have shown the flu vaccine reduces the disease’s severity and averts hospitalizations and deaths.

    However, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has a long history of disparaging vaccines. As health secretary, he stopped a flu awareness campaign and downgraded the recommendation for childhood shots.

    The U.S. military first mandated the flu vaccine in 1945, at the end of World War II — in part to hedge against the threat of biological warfare and because the influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1920 had hindered American troop readiness during World War I, killing more than 26,000 American soldiers. The mandate was briefly withdrawn in 1949 but reinstated in the 1950s.

    Military vaccine mandates were a campaign issue for President Donald Trump, who promised during his 2024 campaign to rehire individuals who had lost their jobs over the military’s requirement that service members be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

    “I will rehire every patriot who was fired from the military with an apology and with backpay,” Trump said at the time, which he went on to do in an executive order in January last year.

  • The blue paint is peeling off the Reflecting Pool

    The blue paint is peeling off the Reflecting Pool

    For days, workers have been trying to rid the Reflecting Pool of algae after a more than $14 million renovation that President Donald Trump said was “done properly” and “could last for 100 years.”

    But now workers have another problem to contend with: peeling paint. On Thursday, a sheet of the pool’s surface — painted in American Flag Blue, a color selected by the president — was seen floating on the north side of the pool. It undulated in the water as curious tourists gathered, some of whom had come to see the green algae.

    At 5:35 p.m. on Thursday, a worker came to remove the sheet of pool surface, telling a Washington Post photographer not to photograph it, despite being on public land.

    The Interior Department did not immediately respond to questions about the paint and why the pool surface is separating. The agency said in a statement on Wednesday that it is treating the pool with hydrogen peroxide and “high-tech nanobubble ozone technology” to effectively cut off the algae’s food supply.

    On Thursday, the Interior Department press office posted on X that “the Reflecting Pool water is crystal clear, and our National Park Service team is now vacuuming up the bottom of some parts of the Reflecting Pool — just like the destroyed Iranian Navy resting on the bottom of the Persian Gulf.”

    Indeed, some areas of the Reflecting Pool were looking cleaner compared with earlier in the week. Workers in chest-high waders stood in the middle of the pool and vacuumed the algae. The neon green-tinted water could be seen pouring out of tubes into nearby drainage grates. The center of the pool, though, was still neon green, and residual algae remained in the cleaned portions of the pool.

    Within days of the renovation’s completion, the Reflecting Pool had more algae in it than at any recorded point in the month of June for at least five years, according to a specialized analysis of satellite data.

    The Reflecting Pool renovation, Trump has said, was prompted by a friend visiting from Germany who called the water “filthy, dirty … disgusting looking.” Algae has been a consistent problem for the pool and quickly reappeared after a $34 million renovation that was completed in 2012.

    But this time would be different, the president promised. He touted his pool-building experience and praised the workmanship of his contractor, who got the job in a no-bid contract.

    “I’m very proud of it,” Trump said in the Oval Office on June 3, saying that his six-week project had finally solved the pool’s yearslong leaking issues. “I’m very good at building things and constructing things.”

    “This was not a paint job,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on June 5. “This was highly sophisticated material, industrial strength, that could last for 100 years, applied by very talented people.”

    On Friday morning, the president reposted an artificial intelligence-generated video showing him filling the Reflecting Pool with what appeared to be critics’ tears (and blue-tinted water) on Truth Social.

    The Cultural Landscape Foundation, a local advocacy organization, sued to stop Trump’s changes to the Reflecting Pool, but the work was completed before a judge could issue a ruling.

    One of the reasons TCLF filed its lawsuit is because the National Park Service did not perform a review as per the National Historic Preservation Act, said Charles A. Birnbaum, the organization’s president and CEO.

    Under that review, they would have been required to consult subject area experts who could “identify potential problems — like algae and exfoliating paint — and, perhaps, suggest solutions,” said Birnbaum in a statement to the Post. “Instead, the Park Service granted themselves a ‘streamlined review,’ which they admitted was done under pressure from ‘White House leadership’ even though the project was ineligible.”

    He concluded: “We can see the result.”

  • Meloni slams Trump’s claim she ‘begged’ for a photo with him as Italy’s top diplomat cancels U.S. trip

    ROME — The Italian government closed ranks on Friday to slam U.S. President Donald Trump over his claim that Premier Giorgia Meloni had “begged” for a photo with him during the recent G7 summit, a pushback that suggested America’s longtime European ally had had enough of Trump’s boasting and criticism.

    Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani abruptly canceled a planned trip to the United States this weekend, calling Trump’s claims “serious and offensive” toward Meloni and all of Italy.

    Meloni for her part posted a video calling Trump’s claims “completely fabricated” and expressing astonishment that he would invent such things about an ally.

    “Italy and I do not beg,” she said pointedly.

    Trump had made the comments in an interview broadcast Friday on the La7 network. The La7 correspondent had asked Trump about Ukraine, but Trump raised Meloni and the conversation turned to their meeting during the just-concluded G7 meeting in Evian-les-Bains, France. Meloni and Trump were filmed speaking at several moments, including alone on a small sofa.

    According to La7, Trump said Meloni had “begged” him for a photo-op. Trump said he wasn’t obliged to do it but that he felt sorry for her and agreed, La7 said. The broadcaster put a dubbed version of the conversation online, not the original English audio.

    Meloni is astonished and defiant

    Trump’s posturing underscored how his alliance with Meloni — long seen as one of his closest friends in Europe — has frayed over his war in Iran, his tariffs against Europe, and his complaints when anyone disagrees with him.

    He turned on Meloni in April after she refused to support his war in Iran and stood up for Pope Leo XIV when Trump lashed out at the pontiff.

    But Meloni’s strong response on Friday suggested she no longer fears Trump’s verbal attacks — attacks that could actually play in her favor in a country where public opinion of the American president has chilled, said Lorenzo Castellani, a political scientist at Rome’s Luiss Guido Carli University.

    “In some ways this was a favor to Giorgia Meloni, in the sense that she was accused until a few months ago of being a sort of Trump’s vassal in Europe,” he said.

    In her video, Meloni said she was responding to Trump’s claims because “certain things deserve an immediate response.”

    “Donald Trump’s statements are completely fabricated. I am frankly stunned,” she said. “I don’t know why the president of the United States behaves this way toward his own allies. After all, this isn’t the first time this has happened.”

    It was an apparent reference to an interview Trump gave to Italian daily Corriere della Sera in April in which he criticized Meloni’s refusal to back the U.S.-Israel war in Iran. Meloni didn’t respond publicly at the time. By Friday, it appeared she had had enough of his boasts and broadsides.

    “I can only say that it’s a shame he doesn’t show the same resolve toward the enemies of the West, toward the enemies of the United States — toward leaders with whom he, on the other hand, is much more accommodating,” Meloni said Friday. “But there’s one thing he must remember: Italy and I do not beg.”

    The White House did not return an immediate request for comment on Meloni’s remarks.

    Meloni had initially sought to build on longstanding strong U.S.-Italian ties when Trump began his second term, and had positioned herself as a “bridge” between Washington and the European Union. She was the lone EU head of state to attend his inauguration.

    But relations have frayed over the U.S. war in Iran, which Meloni has said was illegal, and Trump’s position on Ukraine, which Italy strongly supports. Trump’s tariffs and strong U.S. support of Israel over its war in Gaza have been other points of contention.

    Italian officials close ranks around Meloni

    By Friday afternoon, solidarity for Meloni had poured in from across the government and political spectrum, and included a call from President Sergio Mattarella, Italy’s respected head of state.

    “Whoever attacks @GiorgiaMeloni attacks all of us,” posted Transport Minister Matteo Salvini.

    Justice Minister Carlo Nordio referenced the sacrifice of American troops in World War II in underlining the harm to U.S.-Italy relations caused by Trump.

    “The thousands of crosses marking the graves of American soldiers who died to free us from Nazi-Fascist dictatorship did not deserve such a painful blow to our fraternal ties,” Nordio said on X.

    Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said he didn’t believe Meloni would ever beg someone for a photo, “not even under threat.”

    Tajani had been due to travel to the U.S. on Sunday to take part in an Italy-U.S. business forum in Miami during which he was to have meet with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a U.S. State Department announcement of the meeting.

    A ‘fantastic’ friendship frays

    Meloni and Trump had gotten off to a strong start, and the two leaders are ideologically aligned on many issues. As the head of a far-right party, Meloni backs curbing migration and promoting traditional values.

    Weeks before Trump’s 2025 inauguration, Meloni met Trump at his Mar-a-Lago retreat, a visit that she said went “beyond expectations.” It was, she said at the time, “an opportunity to confirm a relationship that promises to be very solid.’’

    In the months after, Trump had praised her repeatedly, as “fantastic,” “incredible,” beautiful, and a friend.

    But stark differences emerged over Ukraine. More recently, Meloni sharply warned against U.S. threats to take Greenland by force, saying she didn’t believe Washington would go so far and that regardless Italy would never support such a move.

    Meloni also received support from an unlikely ally in Europe: Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, who was on Friday asked about the back and forth on the sidelines of a European Council meeting.

    “About Meloni, first and foremost, all my solidarity,” he told reporters. “Secondly, I not only say this publicly in a response to your question, but also in private during the European Council meeting I offered her all my solidarity against this attack that is not political or personal … I really don´t know how to qualify it.”

  • U.S. push to get Iran talks started hits an early bump due to intense fighting in Lebanon

    ZURICH — The American push to quickly begin high-stakes talks with Iran hit a snag Friday, just days after the signing of an agreement that opens a two-month window for negotiations on Tehran’s nuclear program and returning oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz to prewar levels.

    Iranian officials did not travel as planned to Switzerland, insisting that Israeli strikes on Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon must stop before the talks can take place, according to three regional officials and a person familiar with the matter. They were not authorized to publicly discuss the ongoing mediation to try to get the talks rescheduled and spoke on condition of anonymity.

    The situation was fluid as Israel and Hezbollah agreed on Friday to renew their ceasefire, according to a U.S. official and regional officials. It remains to be seen whether that could help put the U.S.-Iran talks back on track.

    In Washington, President Donald Trump lashed out once again in the midst of the intensified fighting in Lebanon and the stalled nuclear talks.

    “We didn’t meet out of desperation, Iran did,” Trump wrote in a social media post Friday. “They are FINISHED! We’ll play out the 60 days. They get no money, not ten cents!”

    Vance was ready for Swiss talks

    Trump’s vice president, JD Vance, had been prepared to make an overnight flight to meet with his Iranian counterparts at a mountainside resort in the tiny Swiss village of Obbürgen and begin the technical talks.

    Vance’s staff and a small group of journalists had gathered at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in anticipation of the trip. Dozens of White House officials, advance staffers, and more media were already in Switzerland.

    Then the trip was called off — abruptly and for the time being.

    A White House statement said Vance, tapped by Trump to lead the negotiations, decided to postpone his travel. It made no mention of the escalating violence in Lebanon.

    “The logistics of these negotiations have never been simple or predictable,” the statement said.

    But, according to officials, the Iranians made clear to the White House that they had balked at starting the talks with Vance because of the Israeli action in Lebanon.

    While Iranian officials and Vance did not make it to Switzerland Friday, a mediator from the Gulf country of Qatar found his way to the resort near Lucerne, Switzerland, where the U.S.-Iran talks are to be held. Qatar’s prime minister and foreign minister, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, met with the Swiss foreign minister, Ignazio Cassis.

    Fighting in southern Lebanon intensifies

    The fighting had intensified with at least 18 killed by Israeli airstrikes, while four Israeli soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, officials said.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel’s military would stay in a “security zone” of southern Lebanon as long as “Israel’s security needs require it.”

    Israel and Hezbollah are not parties to the U.S.-Iran agreement.

    Iran insists Israel must withdraw from the large swath of southern Lebanon it is occupying, but the wording of the interim deal does not explicitly require that and only ensures Lebanon’s “territorial integrity.”

    Hours before postponing his trip, Vance gave some indication of the state of flux when he told reporters at a White House briefing that he was uncertain if the talks were going to happen this weekend.

    “We think these technical negotiations start sometime this weekend,” Vance said. ”That’s still the plan. But that could change.”

    Soon after Vance spoke to reporters, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, endorsed direct negotiations with the United States. His terse statement, read by state media, appeared to signal to the Islamic Republic’s leadership that it could move forward with a first round of talks.

    “It is obvious that the face-to-face negotiations that will be held in the future will not mean accepting the enemy’s opinion,” Khamenei said.

    The messaging seemed to give Khamenei, who was badly wounded in the U.S. strike on Feb. 28 that killed his father, some maneuverability. Hard-liners in the Iranian government, including Khamenei’s father, long opposed direct talks with the White House, especially after Trump, during his first term, pulled out of the 2015 nuclear deal negotiated by Democratic President Barack Obama’s administration.

    Meeting was initially supposed to be a signing ceremony

    Vance was initially expected to go to Switzerland to sign the agreement at a formal ceremony. Instead, Trump signed the document Wednesday during a glitzy dinner at the Palace of Versailles with French President Emmanuel Macron. Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, separately signed the agreement.

    It says Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium, which is believed to be buried under rubble left by U.S. military strikes last year targeting Tehran’s key nuclear sites, must at minimum be diluted under international supervision.

    It also says Iran shall not procure or develop nuclear weapons — a commitment Tehran has made previously. Other commitments remain to be worked out.

    Iran believes it’s in a strong negotiating position

    Iranians would be going into the talks with a measure of confidence after effectively shutting down the strait, causing global economic reverberations, said Rosemary Kelanic, director of the Middle East Program at Defense Priorities in Washington.

    She said the U.S. is now “essentially trying to negotiate our way back to the prewar status quo.”

    Neil Quilliam, an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Program at Chatham House think tank, said the “buoyant” Iranian leadership feels it has the upper hand. The endorsement of the talks by the Iranian supreme leader “sends a very strong signal domestically: ’We’re now on an equal footing with the U.S.’”

    ”‘Trump has gone from calling for regime change on Feb. 28 to this: Now they’re going to sit down with us directly and talk about these big issues,’” Quilliam said of the Iranians’ thinking. “So it’s intended more for the domestic audience, and telling them: ‘We are firmly in control of this. There can be no protests, no revolution: We are a new regime and we’re staying put.’”

    Vance has to negotiate through political division

    For Vance, a likely 2028 presidential contender, how the negotiations play out could have enormous ramifications for his political fortunes.

    Vance’s skepticism of foreign wars was a core part of his political identity during his political rise, which included election as a U.S. senator. Now he finds himself the chief defender of negotiating an endgame to Trump’s conflict that Democrats have largely derided as a foolish gambit. Some hawkish Republicans are aghast that Trump is getting behind a settlement that could put billions of dollars into Iran’s coffers.

    U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker, chairperson of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said aspects of the deal are “completely out of step” with Trump’s goals.

    Trump fiercely criticized Obama for the 2015 nuclear agreement, which Trump argued failed to stop Tehran from advancing toward a weapon and funneled billions of dollars to the Islamic Republic. The Republican president exited the U.S. from the deal in 2018.

    Trump has pushed back against comparisons to that earlier agreement, saying he had “negotiated from strength” after a major military campaign while asserting that Obama was paying the Iranians off and not receiving acquiescence.

    Wicker (R., Miss.) was particularly concerned about the $300 billion fund for the reconstruction and economic development of Iran mentioned in the 14-point agreement. Trump and Vance have said no U.S. taxpayer money would go to such a fund and it would not come without concessions and reforms by Tehran.

  • The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    Five months later, almost to the day, Bo Bichette stepped in the batter’s box in Citizens Bank Park.

    Boooooooo!

    (No, they weren’t calling his name.)

    Depending on who you ask, Bichette was either on the verge of signing with the Phillies or deep in talks about their seven-year, $200 million offer. It was the middle of January, a pivot point in the offseason.

    Mets’ Bo Bichette says he wasn’t on the verge of signing with the Phillies in the offseason

    Here’s where the details get fuzzy. Phillies owner John Middleton says he went to sleep on Jan. 15 believing Bichette was coming to Philly; Bichette claims a deal was never that imminent.

    “I thought it was an opportunity, for sure,” he said. “But there was definitely things that needed to be worked out for that to become a possibility. So, no, I didn’t think that [it was close].”

    In any case, Bichette is in town this weekend with the rival Mets, who swooped in with a short-term (three years), high-salary ($126 million) deal with two opt-outs. And not that anyone has forgotten, the visit is a helpful reminder that the Phillies still are searching for a big right-handed bat.

    Bo Bichette, who signed with the Mets over the Phillies’ seven-year, $200 million offer in January, is in town for the first time with his new team.Frank Franklin II

    The trade deadline is six weeks away — 6 p.m. on Aug. 3, if you want to set a calendar reminder. It’s a long way from here to there. The market hasn’t taken shape and likely won’t for a while.

    Entering the weekend, 12 National League teams and 11 in the American League were no more than three games out of a playoff spot. Some are more realistic contenders than others; none is ready to wave the white flag.

    “It’s pretty quiet right now,” Phillies general manager Preston Mattingly said this week on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “You’re talking to teams and checking in, and we’re having conversations to kind of lay some groundwork. But pretty quiet right now.

    “I’m sure over the next two to three weeks to one month, things will start to pick up a little bit.”

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    The Phillies made a small trade last week to address a lack of outfield depth after losing Adolis García to a season-ending muscle tear near his right shoulder. They sent two minor leaguers to the White Sox for platoon outfielder Derek Hill.

    It’s possible they will have to make a similar trade for starting pitching depth after demoting Andrew Painter to triple A with a 7.06 ERA.

    But the deadline represents a chance to take a bigger swing. And the perception within the sport, based on conversations with league sources, is that the Phillies are prioritizing a right-handed hitter for the top half of the order to offset lefty-swinging Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh.

    Let’s take a still-too-early dive into a few players who may be available before the deadline by dividing them into categories:

    The Phillies haven’t shown any interest in moving Bryce Harper back to the outfield.YONG KIM / Staff Photographer

    Non-outfield options

    The outfield is the most obvious place for the Phillies to add a hitter.

    Unless …

    “I’ve said it multiple years before — and this year, still — for the right player, I would do it,” Harper said of moving back to right field. “I mean, that’s as real as it gets. I don’t want to do it long-term. But if the right player comes along and that’s what we need, or if that’s what we want, I’d be open to it at any point.“

    Could the right player be Willson Contreras? Or fellow first baseman Christian Walker? The free-falling Red Sox could move Contreras, who is under contract next year for $18.5 million. Astros owner Jim Crane once vowed to never be a seller. But if Houston keeps fading, Walker and third baseman Isaac Paredes could bring value.

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    Harper hasn’t played right field since April 2022, when he tore a ligament in his right elbow. He moved to first base a year later.

    “I still feel like I can throw a baseball from right field, and I can catch a fly ball,” Harper said. “It’s been a long time. But, yeah, I would do it in a heartbeat for us to win a World Series, without a doubt.”

    But the Phillies didn’t take Harper up on his previous offers, and it doesn’t sound like they’re about to start.

    “I know he’s always been very open-minded to trying to help the organization however he can, but we haven’t talked to him,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said this week. “And I really don’t contemplate it because I really like the way he goes about his business at first base. … I’m looking at him as being a first baseman.”

    With the Angels sinking to the bottom of the American League, outfielder Jo Adell could be on the move at the trade deadline.Caroline Brehman

    Midrange outfield targets

    Drafted a year apart, Marsh and Jo Adell came through the minors together with the Angels and became close friends.

    What if they were reunited with the Phillies?

    “That’d be kind of a cool reunion if they could get Jo there,” former Angels manager Joe Maddon said on a recent episode of Phillies Extra. “Because that man’s got some power.”

    Indeed, Adell broke out last season with 37 homers and a .778 OPS. The 27-year-old’s production has dipped (10 homers, .683 OPS through Thursday) and isn’t helped by a 2.9% walk rate that ranks among the lowest in the majors.

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    But Adell would fit the Phillies as a right-handed hitter who bashes lefties (.862 OPS through Thursday). His defense has improved over the years in right field, too.

    And the Angels are headed for their 11th losing season in a row. With one year left on Adell’s contract, this might be their time to cash in, especially if they won’t move Mike Trout, who went on the injured list this week with a hamstring strain.

    Taylor Ward, a former Angels outfielder, represents an option as an outfield rental. A right-handed hitter and a free agent after the season, he has been an on-base machine for the Orioles, reaching at a .394 clip through Thursday, though he hit only three homers.

    Lefty-hitting outfield options

    The Phillies had seven left-handed hitters in the lineup Wednesday against Marlins ace righty Sandy Alcantara.

    “I actually like it,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “I do. I just think hitting left-handed against righties, it’s an advantage, right? And there’s pitchers that get righties out maybe better. … It just takes certain pitches away from a righty.”

    Said general manager Preston Mattingly: “I probably would side on the side of my dad. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to run out seven, eight, nine left-handed hitters vs. a right-handed pitcher. And I think we have [lefty hitters] that are well equipped to hit lefties.”

    What if the Phillies’ most impactful addition was a resurgent Trea Turner? He’s working to make it happen.

    File that away. Because although rival evaluators are expecting the Phillies to hunt for a right-handed hitter, Dombrowski may not shy away from an appealing left-handed bat.

    Maybe someone like Jarren Duran. The Red Sox will have a surplus of outfielders when Roman Anthony returns from an injured finger. Duran, drafted by Boston when Dombrowski headed its baseball operations department, could finally be the odd man out in left field.

    Twins center fielder Byron Buxton would be among the most coveted hitters on the market if he waived his no-trade clause.Phil Long

    Pie in the sky

    At last year’s All-Star Game, Byron Buxton pledged his allegiance to the only organization he has known.

    “I’m a Minnesota Twin,” he said, “for the rest of my life.”

    Buxton actually has control over that. The 32-year-old center fielder has no-trade protection and no desire to waive it, even after the Twins traded 10 players at last year’s deadline, including star closer Jhoan Duran and center fielder Harrison Bader to the Phillies.

    Amid another stellar season (23 homers, .919 OPS through Thursday), Buxton is doubling down on his loyalty.

    “I ain’t said nothing about leaving, nor will I,” Buxton told The Athletic. “I’m a Twin.“

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    But what if the Twins sell again at the deadline? What if they move ace Joe Ryan and catcher Ryan Jeffers? Maybe that would change Buxton’s tune. Maybe not.

    The Phillies appear to lack the prospect capital to get him anyway. Justin Crawford and Gage Wood might be a start. But the farm system is in the bottom third of the sport, according to many evaluators, after the Phillies used Mick Abel, Eduardo Tait, Starlyn Caba, George Klassen, and Sam Aldegheri in deals over the last two years.

    “We feel good where our system’s at,” Preston Mattingly said. “We’re not concerned about a lack of assets in the minor leagues. A lot of times you see that top-100 [prospects] list. That’s not necessarily what teams internally talk about, and those are not the players they ask about.”

    It would be moot anyway if Buxton wants to be a Twin forever.