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  • Phillies place Brad Keller on injured list; Kyle Schwarber started at first base

    Phillies place Brad Keller on injured list; Kyle Schwarber started at first base

    Phillies reliever Brad Keller was placed on the injured list with right forearm tendinitis, the team announced Tuesday.

    The move is retroactive to Sunday. Keller has a 4.15 ERA in 31 appearances for the Phillies and is 3-for-4 in save opportunities. Interim manager Don Mattingly has used the right-hander in a high-leverage role this season, often as a setup for closer Jhoan Duran. The bulk of Keller’s appearances have come in the eighth inning.

    In his last outing in Milwaukee on Saturday, Keller allowed three runs to score in the eighth on three singles, two walks, and a wild pitch.

    Brandon Marsh stars in leadoff role for Phillies in 8-2 win over the Marlins

    “He’d been having little stuff going on, and it kind of continued, and it was something that we felt like we’re better off knocking it out right now, and not letting it get too far,” Mattingly said. “We feel good about him and we’re looking more long game with him, make sure that he’s going to be available as we go forward.”

    Mattingly added that Keller will get imaging done, since that is a usual part of the process, but the Phillies do not expect it to reveal a major injury.

    “Just probably inflammation and stuff like that,” Mattingly said. “But it is something that we know has been nagging. … We don’t need any heroes right now. Into September or something, and guys want to push through, you’ll allow it, but right now we don’t want that.”

    In a corresponding move, Max Lazar was recalled from triple-A Lehigh Valley to join the Phillies bullpen. Lazar started the season on the injured list after suffering an oblique injury during the World Baseball Classic. He has a 3.86 ERA in 11 appearances for the IronPigs this year.

    Kyle Schwarber played first base on Tuesday to allow Bryce Harper to be the designated hitter.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Marsh leading off; Schwarber at first

    The Phillies lineup for Tuesday’s game against the Marlins had a few twists.

    Brandon Marsh was leading off against former Phillie Tyler Phillips, his first time starting a game atop the order since 2022.

    Kyle Schwarber, hitting second in the order, started a game at first base for the first time since 2021. He had previously played an inning at first late in a blowout loss to the A’s in May, after Mattingly emptied the bench.

    Trea Turner, who was hit by a pitch in the sixth inning Monday and later exited, was out of the lineup but is feeling better, according to Mattingly.

    The Phillies’ Brandon Marsh is third among NL outfielders in first All-Star vote update

    Schwarber started at first base on Tuesday to allow Bryce Harper to move to designated hitter and take a day off from defense, Mattingly said.

    “Him being on the field like 10, 12 times a year has been in the works. He does work there occasionally,” Mattingly said. “We’re not going to kill him anywhere, but he handles himself all right out there. But we have to be able to do it some to be able to get Harp off his feet. This is kind of the week that we’re a little dinged up in the infield. … Just trying to give everybody a day, the guys that are kind of in there every day, before the extra off day coming.”

    Mattingly, a nine-time Gold Glove winner at first base, is confident in Schwarber’s ability to adjust to the position.

    “These guys have played their whole life, and I know we’re putting them in positions that aren’t really what they do, and you don’t want to do that all the time, but these guys are baseball players,” Mattingly said.

    “They’ve been the best athletes on their teams from the time they were 8 years old, probably. So, him going out there, he’s probably going to have fun out there.”

    The Marsh-Schwarber-Harper configuration stacks three lefties at the top of the Phillies order, which Mattingly felt comfortable doing because of their production against left-handed pitchers this season.

    “Harp handles lefties, Schwarb handles them, Brandon’s been good with them,” Mattingly said. “They’re playing every day anyway. So this was one of those things that, today, felt OK.”

    Trea Turner took a pitch off his right wrist on Monday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Turner expected to return Wednesday

    Turner’s bruised right wrist felt better Tuesday, Mattingly said, though he was still sore and stiff.

    The Phillies shortstop was in the midst of a deep slump before he was hit by a fastball in the sixth inning on Monday.

    Over his last seven games, Turner is 3-for-29 with 10 strikeouts and just one walk. His batting average has dropped to .216. In addition to helping him rest his wrist, Mattingly hopes a day off could help Turner reset at the plate.

    “I think obviously getting off your feet, when you play every day, getting off your feet always helps a little bit,” Mattingly said. “I mean, I don’t know if we’re talking like he’s going to get hot or anything like that, but days off are good now and then.”

    Extra bases

    Right-handed pitcher Jackson Rutledge, who was designated for assignment by the Phillies on June 11, was released. … Andrew Painter (1-7, 6.43 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday’s series finale against Marlins right-hander Sandy Alcantara (6-4, 4.25).

  • France striker Kylian Mbappé scores 13th and 14th World Cup goals, moving into tie for 3rd all time

    EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Kylian Mbappé scored the 13th and 14th World Cup goals of his career Tuesday, moving the France forward past Pelé, Lionel Messi and countryman Just Fontaine and into a tie for third most in tournament history.

    He also set a scoring record for France’s national team.

    Mbappé first scored in the 66th minute of France’s 3-1 victory over Senegal after having several good scoring chances denied earlier by goalkeeper Édouard Mendy, including in the second half. He scored again from long range in stoppage time, giving him two in the game and 58 in international play to break a tie with Oliver Giroud for the national team record.

    Playing in his third World Cup, the 27-year-old Mbappé is now tied with Germany’s Gerd Müller and one behind Brazil’s Ronaldo. Germany’s Miroslav Klose has the record with 16 World Cup goals.

    Mbappé helped France win the World Cup title in 2018 and reach the final in 2022, when he was awarded the Silver Ball as the second-best player. Joined up front by Désiré Doué and reigning Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé, France went into this year’s tournament as the co-favorite along with Spain.

    Mbappé had little trouble finding room between Senegal defenders several times in the first 14 or so minutes. But he was sloppy with the ball for much of the rest of the first half before he and his teammates started to mesh.

    Mbappé scored 25 goals this past season with Real Madrid.

  • Parents of CHOP physician killed riding her bike in Center City sue the drunk driver who hit her

    Parents of CHOP physician killed riding her bike in Center City sue the drunk driver who hit her

    A white bicycle marks the spot on Spruce Street where a drunk driver struck and killed Barbara Friedes in July 2024. The 30-year-old doctor’s death led to an outpouring of grief from her loved ones, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia colleagues, and the cyclist community.

    Two years later, the driver is in prison but the pediatric resident’s parents are still seeking justice.

    John and Mary Dietrick have sued Michael Vahey, who was driving his Volkswagen intoxicated at roughly 60 mph in a 25-mph zone when he hit Friedes as she was riding her bike near Rittenhouse Square. His blood alcohol limit exceeded the legal threshold for intoxication.

    Mary Dietrick (right) is embraced by her husband, John Dietrick, as she speaks about her daughter Barbara Friedes at a vigil in 2024.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer

    Vahey, 70, pleaded guilty to third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle while driving under the influence, and related charges. He was sentenced last year to six to 20 years in prison.

    The lawsuit seeks “the full measure of damages available under Pennsylvania law for Vahey’s negligent, reckless, and outrageous conduct causing her death and the immeasurable loss to Barbara’s family,” according to the complaint, which was filed Monday in Common Pleas Court.

    Friedes was riding her bicycle on the 1800 block of Spruce Street in the designated bike lane on the evening of July 17, 2024. Intoxicated, Vahey sped through Center City at an “outrageous speed,” the suit says.

    “His foot never left the accelerator of his car as he struck Barbara,” according to the complaint.

    Amato Sanita, an attorney who represented Vahey in his criminal case, said in a statement that his heart goes out to all parties involved in the tragedy.

    Friedes was a chief resident physician at CHOP and applied for fellowship training in pediatric oncology. She was remembered by her colleagues for her kindness and compassion.

    Barbara Friedes was killed when a man driving a Volkswagen hit her from behind while she was riding her bike in the bike lane on the 1800 block of Spruce Street.Courtesy Cole Friedes

    Her husband, Cole Friedes, said his wife of three years loved children, devoted her career to them, and longed to be a mother.

    “She was the kindest person I’ve ever met in my entire life,” he told The Inquirer after her death. “She taught me the true meaning of kindness.”

    Friedes’ killing sparked protest and public discourse over traffic safety. Hundreds of cyclists filled the streets of Center City following the incident, calling for infrastructure improvements to protect bike lanes.

    Mayor Cherelle L. Parker joined a symbolic ride of unity later that summer with activists who criticized her administration for not taking action to make bike lanes safer.

    City transportation officials in fall 2024 recommended $4.8 million in safety upgrades to bike lanes along Pine and Spruce Streets that would include concrete barriers. And in December 2024, Parker signed a law that prohibits motor vehicles from stopping in city-designated bicycle lanes.

    Some residents of Pine and Spruce Streets filed a lawsuit over the planned upgrades. The case is ongoing.

    The parents’ lawsuit does not name any defendants except Vahey and stays away from the debate over bike lane infrastructure.

    “The primary purpose of this lawsuit is to establish full accountability under the civil justice system,” said Tom Kline, a Kline & Specter attorney representing the Dietricks. “It is the second half of the equation.”

  • Death of woman released by ICE on a winter day is now ruled a homicide

    Death of woman released by ICE on a winter day is now ruled a homicide

    The grainy security footage from the Pittsburgh transit authority shows Daphy Michel seated on a steel bench. She had been released hours earlier from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, and temperatures that night would dip to freezing. The 31-year-old asylum seeker wore a hooded sweatshirt to keep herself warm.

    Over the course of three days, Michel appears to have never left that bench, said her family’s attorney, who viewed the security footage and shared stills with the Washington Post. She had a history of untreated mental health issues and sat staring as people passed by, a plastic bag with her belongings, including a cellphone, placed beside her.

    By March 2, the Haitian woman was no longer sitting. The last image captured in the footage, according to the attorney, shows her lying on the ground. Emergency responders arrived at the scene and transferred Michel to a hospital, where she died that day.

    It was at least the second death this year involving an individual who was released by federal immigration authorities and died days later of complications related to hypothermia. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office ruled Michel’s death a homicide on Friday. That conclusion means officials determined her death was the result of someone else’s actions, but it does not necessarily imply criminal wrongdoing.

    “The opinion of the forensic pathologist in this case is that Ms. Michel was a vulnerable adult, suffering from untreated severe mental health issues and a significant language barrier when she was released from federal custody on February 27,” Jim Madalinsky, the county’s public information officer, said in a statement. “Based on all available information during the investigation, the pathologist ruled Ms. Michel’s death a homicide.”

    The finding comes as ICE is eliminating its requirement to report deaths that occur within 30 days of people being released from its custody, and as the Trump administration continues to detain large numbers of migrants. Michel entered the country through the southern border in 2022 and was granted humanitarian parole, said her family’s attorney, Joseph Patrick Murphy. She died before the first hearing in her immigration case.

    A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not say what time agents released Michel on Feb. 27 but stated that she had all her possessions and a fully charged phone. That day, temperatures in Pittsburgh reached a high of about 55 degrees, though they dropped nearly 30 degrees at night before a cold front brought flurries later that weekend, according to airport weather data.

    “ICE had NOTHING to do with this woman’s death,” DHS spokesperson Lauren Bis said. “She passed away THREE days after ICE encountered her.”

    The circumstances of Michel’s death echo those of the death of a visually impaired refugee in Buffalo in February. Immigration agents left Nurul Amin Shah Alam, 56, a Rohingya refugee from Myanmar who spoke little English, outside a closed coffee shop on a cold winter night. His body was found days later and his death also was ruled a homicide.

    The investigation of Alam’s death is ongoing.

    It’s unclear whether Pennsylvania officials will open an investigation of what happened to Michel days before her death. The Allegheny County district attorney’s office said in a statement that it is still gathering records and declined to comment on any possible investigation.

    “We do express our heartfelt sympathy to the family of Ms. Michel,” officials with the prosecutor’s office said.

    Guerline Jozef of the Haitian Bridge Alliance, an immigrant advocacy organization, said Michel came to the country at a time of massive domestic upheaval in the Caribbean nation following the assassination of its president. Armed groups violently took control of the nation’s capital while Haiti experienced a series of natural disasters that displaced thousands.

    Thousands of Haitians fled to South America and, eventually, the United States. Many, like Michel, were allowed to enter during the Biden administration while pursuing asylum claims but were targeted for removal once President Donald Trump took office.

    Jozef said that given Michel’s mental health struggles, ICE could have ensured she was in contact with a relative before her release.

    “We know that, allegedly, ICE is saying that they are not responsible. But we beg to differ,” she said. “There are certain protocols they could’ve taken to make sure she was released into her family and community safely,” Jozef said. “None of that happened.”

    ICE detention standards require agents to prioritize safety and consider “any special vulnerabilities” when deciding when, where, and how to release someone. Agents are instructed to provide detainees with a free phone call to make arrangements and are permitted to leave people near public transportation during operating hours.

    The guidelines also say ICE “must provide transportation” to detainees who “are not reasonably able to walk” because of issues such as age and mental health, or any conditions that endanger health and safety.

    In September, local authorities arrested Michel on charges of making terroristic threats and harassment, court records show. Charleroi regional police alleged she had been yelling in the street at “imaginary people,” according to Murphy. He said Michel struggled with undiagnosed and untreated mental illness. She remained in jail for six months. Then a judge dismissed her case, Murphy said, because she could not be prosecuted for making threats against people who did not exist.

    A day later, ICE agents took her into custody, affixed a tracking monitor to her ankle, and released her.

    “She was released with all of her belongings, including a fully charged phone, in sunny weather in the middle of Pittsburgh, where public transport is readily available,” said Bis, the DHS spokesperson.

    Murphy said Michel lived with her brother, who never received a phone call from ICE or his sister alerting him of her release. It wasn’t until the morgue contacted him three days later that Michel’s brother learned what had happened. He declined to comment through the attorney.

    Michel underwent repeated psychiatric examinations while at the county jail, Murphy said. When the judge ordered her release, Washington County authorities contacted ICE. It was unclear whether county officials communicated what they knew about Michel’s mental state to immigration agents. The county jail did not respond to requests for comment.

    Murphy believes it was “outrageous” and grossly negligent for ICE to have released Michel by herself on a winter day.

    “Even a 10-year-old could do more to help themselves,” he said. “She couldn’t speak English and she was effectively unable to care for herself.”

    An obituary for Michel shared on the website for Hogan-Melenyzer Funeral Home & Cremation Services says that she was born in Aquin, a port city on Haiti’s southern coast. After arriving in the United States, she settled in Charleroi, a community where about 1,200 Haitians had come to live in recent years. Now, according to local media reports, only a few hundred remain, driven away by fear over the immigration crackdown and the closure of several businesses.

    “Daphy was a person with a kind heart, who loved her family very much,” the obituary says. “… She was always ready to help those who needed her help and her presence brought joy and happiness and light into the lives of all who knew her.”

  • He’s studied procrastination for 40 years. Here’s what he’s learned.

    He’s studied procrastination for 40 years. Here’s what he’s learned.

    Joseph Ferrari has a nickname for procrastinators — procs — and he’s been studying them for 40 years. He became fascinated with procrastination when he was working on a Ph.D. in experimental psychology and realized that no one had studied the psychology of why some people put off completing tasks. Because he is not a proc, he immediately got to work, exploring what causes procrastination across various cultures and demographics.

    He went on to write multiple books on the topic, including Still Procrastinating? in 2010. He now teaches at DePaul University and has found that 20% of people are chronic procrastinators — meaning they habitually, intentionally, and irrationally delay a target task, often to the point that they cause discomfort for themselves and others. “That’s high,” Ferrari said. “Higher than depression, phobia, panic attacks, alcoholism, substance abuse.”

    And that’s a problem, he went on: “For 20 percent of people, they’re missing life. Life is too short. You need to get things done.”

    Here’s what decades of studying procrastination have taught Ferrari, and the five things he’d like people to know.

    Anyone can be a procrastinator, though certain jobs can be procrastination-prone

    According to Ferrari, neither gender nor age nor race makes someone more or less likely to procrastinate. Those who dwell in cities procrastinate as often as those who live in rural areas, and people who live in South Korea, India, Israel, and England are as likely to do it as Americans.

    The one difference he noticed was between blue-collar and white-collar workers. “If I’m an electrician, a plumber, a carpenter, and I don’t work, I don’t get paid,” Ferrari said. “But if I am white-collar — a corporate person — I’m going to get my paycheck every two weeks or a month anyway.”

    You can’t blame your procrastination on technology or your busy life

    Ferrari often hears people blame their procrastination on technology. Similarly, he hears people say that modern lives are just busier than they used to be.

    “Wow,” Ferrari said. “What an insult to our ancestors.” Our forebears were often farmers, for example, who “had to get up early in the morning and fix the fence, feed the animals, get the hay done, plant the seeds, get the roof done, can those goods. They had a lot to do.”

    Ultimately, though, every excuse he hears is just that — and, as Ferrari said, “procrastinators are great excuse makers.”

    Years ago, a reporter called Ferrari to ask him what he thought about the alarm clock snooze button, because, the journalist claimed, it was an example of how technology played a role in procrastination.

    Ferrari responded, “What about the automobile that came out in 1885?” At one point in history, if you wanted to visit a friend five or seven miles away, you had to have a horse that you fed and took care of and then take time to harness the animal to a carriage and travel to see your friend. “Then this thing called the automobile comes along, and you can go quickly,” he said. Suddenly, there was no preparation involved; you could wait until the last second to get up and go.

    These days, we carry our devices everywhere, which means distractions are ever-present, but so are shortcuts. We no longer need paper and pen and stamps to get in touch with people, for instance. And that’s why Ferrari isn’t buying this common excuse that technology is the reason you can’t get things done: Technology has an equal if not greater capacity to make our lives more efficient, not less, he said.

    Deadline pressure is not the solution

    Some people say procrastination is not a problem for them; they simply need the pressure of an imminent deadline to do their best work. But Ferrari’s research over the years doesn’t support that claim. In one paper, Ferrari documented the results of two experiments that compared the performances of procrastinators and non-procrastinators who were given limited time to complete tasks. Then researchers asked the participants how they thought they did. Procrastinators, as it turned out, took longer and performed worse. And yet they thought they’d done well; in fact, they thought they’d done better than other participants.

    In short, Ferrari said, “I found ‘working best under pressure’ was a myth, and they failed.”

    There are ways to kick the habit

    “Procrastination is sabotage,” Ferrari said, and there are various reasons people engage in it. One is a lack of self-confidence: If a person is not sure whether they can complete a task, Ferrari said, they may introduce obstacles, such as a lack of proper preparation time. If they fail, then, they can blame the obstacle rather than themselves. “And imagine if I succeed with the obstacle,” Ferrari said. “Then I look even better.”

    Because procrastination has emotional triggers, Ferrari doesn’t believe it’s a problem that can be solved with time management training. Instead, he recommends cognitive behavioral therapy, a goal-directed type of therapy that aims to adjust behavior to get a better result. “You have to change the way you think and the way you act,” he said.

    The solution to procrastination may be a cultural one

    “In our culture, we punish for being late,” Ferrari said. “We need to reward for being early.” He believes incentives could transform the collective tendency to put things off. What if, for example, the government gave people a discount if they filed their taxes early, or stores offered their biggest holiday sales on the day after Thanksgiving rather than Christmas Eve?

    “People laugh when I tell them this,” he said. But he does it in his own classes: He tells his students that if they turn papers in early, they’ll get extra points. Not everyone will do it, of course, but if he can get half of them to take the incentive, then he’s conditioning them to embrace positive behaviors. Plus, he said, “that’s less work for me at the end.”

  • Under Trump, Democrats draw red lines on national security

    Under Trump, Democrats draw red lines on national security

    In early June, Sen. Mark Warner was preparing to argue that despite deep distrust of the Trump administration, his fellow Senate Democrats should take a risk and help renew a controversial surveillance law that was soon due to expire.

    Then, hours before a meeting with his colleagues, the senator from Virginia learned that President Donald Trump had tapped Bill Pulte, a mortgage agency official and staunch loyalist, as his acting intelligence czar.

    “I said: ‘Holy crap, I just didn’t think Donald Trump could still surprise me,’” said Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, in an interview.

    Pulte’s appointment, which tanked the renewal of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, is a glimpse into the frustrating life for national security Democrats in the second Trump administration.

    Center-left lawmakers who built their political brands around support for the U.S. military and intelligence community are increasingly drawing red lines on Trump policies they see as dangerous or incoherent — including the war in Iran, lethal strikes against alleged drug traffickers around Latin America, and personnel moves like tapping Pulte, who has no national security experience, as the acting director of national intelligence.

    In some cases, Democrats are voting to curtail the funding and authorities for these agencies — a trend that could have lasting consequences for one of Washington’s last areas of relative bipartisan consensus.

    “It is a sign of the times,” said Sen. Elissa Slotkin (D., Mich.), in an interview. “People who love this country, who have put their life on the line for the country — in uniform, in the intelligence community — are now pushing back on this president abusing it.”

    Multiple Democratic lawmakers said that their constituents were urging them to take hard-line stances against the Trump administration, including on national security issues.

    “It’s a reflection of where America is,” said Rep. Jason Crow (D., Colorado.), an Army veteran and member of the House Armed Services and Intelligence committees. “The vast majority of Americans do not want this war in Iran. The vast majority of Americans don’t think that just continuing to throw money at the [Defense Department] is the way to solve our problems.”

    In response to a request for comment, the White House listed instances where Section 702 has helped protect U.S. citizens, including by thwarting a “mass casualty terror attack” at a Taylor Swift concert in Austria and stopping North Korean cyberattacks.

    More than 60% of the information included in the president’s daily intelligence briefing contained information gathered through the program, the White House said.

    “Democrats will oppose anything to attack President Trump,” said White House spokesperson Anna Kelly in a statement, noting the president “will continue to prioritize maintaining ‘peace through strength’ and safeguarding America’s national security as Commander-in-Chief — just as he was elected to do.”

    Slotkin, a career CIA officer, is one of the few Democrats in Congress who has professionally relied on the information gathered under Section 702, which allows national security agencies to surveil the texts, emails, and calls from foreigners living abroad and suspected of posing a threat.

    But when the Republican-led Senate sought to renew the program in June, she and other Democrats united against it, demanding that Trump first backtrack on appointing Pulte.

    Joining a group of GOP civil libertarians who argued the program risked abusing Americans’ privacy rights, Democrats allowed the program to expire over the outcry of other Republicans, who argued the lapse would endanger U.S. citizens during the FIFA World Cup and conflict in Iran.

    “The consequences, to be frank, could be fatal,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.), the chairperson of the intelligence committee, in a speech last week. “Americans should not have to face that risk because of partisan game-playing.”

    Democrats have instead argued that it is the Trump administration that is endangering Americans by launching military operations without the approval of Congress and appointing unqualified people to leading national security roles.

    “To me, one of the only things more risky than letting FISA lapse is putting in a man with no experience and who is being sent to weaponize the DNI’s office against the American public,” Slotkin said.

    Hours after a last-ditch effort to renew the program failed last Friday, Trump nominated Jay Clayton, a senior Justice Department attorney, as the director of national intelligence. Democrats have signaled they will support Clayton, whose confirmation hearing is Wednesday, potentially opening a path for Congress to reauthorize Section 702.

    But the normally broad bipartisan consensus on core national security legislation is increasingly under pressure.

    In the past two weeks, an extraordinary number of Democrats on the House and Senate armed services committees opposed their panel’s version of the National Defense Authorization Act, Congress’s must-pass defense policy bill.

    Last year, only one Democratic senator voted against the bill in the committee’s markup. This year, nine did.

    In the House, that number went from two to 12 in the same period. Half of the Democrats who opposed the bill are veterans.

    The opposition came after Republicans voted down Democrat-led amendments that would have constrained the war in Iran and slashed the $1.15 trillion authorized in defense spending, a massive jump from last year’s budget.

    “I’ve usually voted for the [National Defense Authorization Act] because I support the troops, but this is just totally out of control,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D., Mass.), a Marine Corps veteran who led multiple failed amendments in the committee’s markup.

    Over the weekend, the administration announced a preliminary deal with Iran to halt the fighting and eventually reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global energy supplies that has been almost entirely closed for months.

    Some Democrats offered cautious support for the deal, while criticizing the Trump administration’s decision to launch the war without the approval of Congress in late February. Many have already signaled they will oppose any bid for supplemental funding to cover the costs incurred by the war.

    The war, which according to Pentagon estimates has cost about $30 billion, has led to a spike in global energy prices.

    Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D., Pa.), an Air Force veteran, voted for the NDAA despite reservations that the committee was doing too little to rein in Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

    Still, she argued, Democrats needed to find points of “leverage” to exert oversight of the administration. When the House voted last week on a last-minute bid to extend FISA, Houlahan, who also serves on the intelligence committee, opposed it.

    In an interview, Houlahan described her discomfort in blocking what she considers a vital intelligence tool. Ultimately, she decided that she needed to help send a signal to the administration that Pulte’s appointment was unacceptable.

    “There’s strong hope that this is going to not be the new norm,” said Sen. Andy Kim (D., N.J.), who worked in the Pentagon and State Department before being elected to Congress. “I’m somebody that’s still a deep believer that the last place that partisan politics belongs is in national security.”

  • Trade grade: Flyers take a step forward by upgrading the backup goalie spot with acquisition of Joseph Woll

    Trade grade: Flyers take a step forward by upgrading the backup goalie spot with acquisition of Joseph Woll

    Minutes before general manager Danny Brière and assistant general manager Brent Flahr were set to meet with the media, news broke of a Flyers trade.

    The team acquired goalie Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoît from the Toronto Maple Leafs for goalie Sam Ersson, defenseman Emil Andrae, and the Flyers’ third-round pick in next week’s draft.

    Grade: A-

    In his annual one-on-one with The Inquirer at the NHL scouting combine, Brière said the goal this offseason was to improve his team by adding smartly and not mortgaging the future.

    This trade checked all the boxes and gave the Flyers an upgrade at the same time.

    It always felt like Ersson and Andrae’s days in Philly were numbered.

    Sam Ersson played well late in the 2025-26 season, but it was too late. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    Ersson will be a restricted free agent on July 1, and the GM never verbally committed to giving him a qualifying offer — even as late as the first week of June in Buffalo, N.Y. — and the Maple Leafs GM, John Chayka, wouldn’t commit either in his press conference on Tuesday.

    After an up-and-down 2024-25 season where, according to MoneyPuck, he had the worst goals saved above expected (-19.9), this season Ersson again struggled with consistency. He did play great after the Olympic break, posting the third-best goals against average (1.99) and the ninth-best save percentage (.912) among goalies who played at least eight games in the NHL, but it was too late.

    It was that uncertainty that finally broke the camel’s back, with Brière stating: “We hope that we’re not coming down the stretch with a tired goalie [again].” Dan Vladař started 19 of the final 26 regular-season games and battled injuries along the way.

    Meet the new Flyers, from Joseph Woll’s musical talent to Simon Benoît’s intense love of milk and coffee

    Andrae (also set to be an RFA) is a small, puck-moving defenseman with some pop and an edge, who was never truly given a chance by former coach John Tortorella and was then in and out of the lineup under Rick Tocchet, who preferred a penalty-killing blueliner in his spot on the third pairing.

    “Never easy,” Brière said when asked about moving Andrae. “There are relationships there with the players; you get to know them. Same thing with Sam. These guys, they were drafted by this organization, they went through the development process, the minors. Both of those guys were really well-liked and loved in the locker room — and not just the locker room, but from the staff and the whole organization — so, yeah, it’s always tough.”

    Now, losing the third-round pick in the 2026 draft isn’t ideal for the Flyers, who entered the day with only five — “Danny keeps trading our picks away,” Flahr joked at their press conference — but the Flyers never looked at this draft as one to set the bar. And moving the pick shows that they believe in the guys in the system to take that next step.

    Simon Benoît (right) is not afraid to get physical. Chris Young

    Benoît, who will turn 28 right around the start of training camp, brings some snarl the Flyers lost in trading newly crowned Stanley Cup champion Nic Deslauriers — he has 12 fights in his career — and some bite, as his 194 hits would have slotted in at No. 2 on the Flyers in what was considered a down season for Benoît.

    But don’t expect the undrafted Quebec native to help the power play, as he has 36 points across his 352 NHL games. Instead, he’ll eat minutes, averaging just above 17 per game in his career, and play on the penalty kill; he skated on average 38% of the time when Toronto was on the PK. As mentioned, it’s a key aspect for anyone on the third pair for Tocchet.

    So is he the new seventh defenseman for the Flyers? A league source told The Inquirer that Noah Juulsen, who will be an unrestricted free agent, will not be re-signed.

    “He might be; maybe he’s even higher up the lineup, too. Why not?” Brière countered when asked if that would be the role for the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder. “We like the physicality that he brings, and we like the size and the skating aspect, too; he’s a really good skater.

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    “Emil, we loved his competitive edge inside, but it did make our defense a little small at times; we have Jamie [Drysdale] and [Cam York] there, so [having] the three of them wasn’t ideal. So I think it’s going to probably be a little easier for the coaches having a guy like Simon Benoît back there to use.”

    But while Benoît — a former teammate of Trevor Zegras and Drysdale in Anaheim — brings some depth to the blue line, the focus of this trade for the Flyers is the addition of Woll, with Toronto needing to make a move to clear a crowded crease.

    Across 117 games with the Leafs, Woll has a 63-43-9 record with a 2.94 GAA and .906 save percentage; by comparison, Ersson has a 3.01 GAA and .884 career save percentage. This past year wasn’t ideal, with him putting up a career-worst 3.34 GAA and .899 save percentage — but, a reminder: There is a reason why the Leafs are picking at No. 1 in the draft.

    A native of Missouri, Woll has dealt with injuries in the past and missed time early this past season due to personal issues. But the Boston College goalie has proved he can stop pucks, including in the playoffs. He should help to solidify the crease while Aleksei Kolosov and Carson Bjarnason work on their games in the American Hockey League, and comes with a nice, tidy cap hit of $3.67 million this season and next

    As Brière said: “We thought it was a chance to improve the team, help them take another step. … We felt that Woll is a step forward for us, and we’ll be able to help Vladdy in a tandem role.”

  • COVID vaccine linked to broad protections against heart conditions, study finds

    COVID vaccine linked to broad protections against heart conditions, study finds

    The coronavirus vaccine reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events linked to COVID-19 — strokes, heart attacks, and hospitalization from heart disease — by about 40%, according to a new study. The findings, the latest in a growing body of research about the vaccine’s benefits for heart health, suggest such benefits observed in earlier studies have persisted for years.

    The study, published Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine, also suggested the vaccine has a broader public health benefit. The vaccine modestly reduced cardiovascular conditions, hospitalizations, and deaths of all causes, including those not linked to COVID, researchers said.

    “It tells us that these vaccines have actually brought beneficial effects even in people who don’t really know that they actually have contracted COVID-19,” said Ziyad Al-Aly, a physician-scientist and senior clinical epidemiologist at Washington University in St. Louis and co-author of the study.

    Previous studies have indicated the coronavirus vaccine reduces the incidence of heart attacks and strokes, including a study of around 46 million adults in England between 2020 and 2022.

    Researchers behind the latest findings set out to determine if those benefits persisted in the years after the onset of the pandemic.

    “Vaccine formulations have changed, and also the virus itself has changed over time,” Al-Aly said. But he said they found the more recent vaccine formulas still protected against heart conditions.

    The study, conducted among veterans who used the Department of Veterans Affairs health system, examined around 1 million veterans between 2024 and 2025. The research compared those who took the seasonal influenza vaccine and those who opted to take both the flu vaccine and the updated COVID-19 vaccine that season. The research reviewed multiple types of vaccines, including mRNA shots and Novavax.

    The researchers followed up with the cohorts after around eight months, noting whether they had a COVID-19-associated cardiovascular event, defined as a severe heart condition contracted soon after a COVID-19 infection.

    The cohort that took the COVID vaccine had a 37.7% lower risk of COVID-associated heart conditions, the study found. The benefit was most pronounced among patients over 75 and those with preexisting conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or chronic lung disease.

    “To me, this continues to emphasize that we should be encouraging vaccination, especially amongst older individuals,” said Nisha Viswanathan, a physician and director of the Long COVID program at the University of California Los Angeles, who was not involved in the study.

    Patients who took the COVID vaccine were also around 6% less likely to suffer from severe heart conditions overall, including ones not linked to a COVID-19 infection, according to the study. The vaccine was also associated with reduced deaths and hospitalizations of all causes by around 7%.

    Al-Aly said that while those percentages appeared low, it still translated to averting around 23 major cardiovascular events, 30 hospitalizations, and 16 deaths per 10,000 vaccinated individuals.

    “Extrapolating these estimates to a population of 1 million people, vaccination could plausibly be associated with averting approximately 2370 [major cardiovascular] events and 1580 deaths over an 8-month period,” the study states.

    Al-Aly and Viswanathan both noted that the study’s population was largely older, white, and male, and that the extrapolations on the vaccine’s public health benefit should be treated with caution.

    Why did the vaccine produce some protection against heart conditions not connected to a COVID diagnosis? Al-Aly suggested that the trend could suggest patients are contracting mild cases of the virus without realizing it.

    “This study actually gives us a glimpse of the hidden burden of COVID-19 that’s actually still likely circulating in the population,” Al-Aly said.

    Viswanathan said that was plausible, but that it was also possible that the COVID vaccine could have additional benefits and side effects on the body. She noted studies have shown that other vaccines can help prevent a wider host of illnesses and chronic conditions, and that research is ongoing on the potential secondary effects of mRNA vaccines such as the COVID vaccine.

    COVID vaccines have also been linked to a risk of myocarditis and pericarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle and lining, but cases are rare and generally mild, and experts have said the benefits of vaccination outweigh the risk of side effects.

    In October, researchers at the University of Florida and the University of Texas published a study that found the COVID vaccine improved cancer patients’ responses to immunotherapy.

    “MRNA vaccines are doing something else to our system that we haven’t completely understood yet, and I do think there’s probably a lot of positive that is going to come,” Viswanathan said.

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

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

    West Chester Henderson girls’ lacrosse goalie Grace Rongaus tries to think like a goldfish in the net.

    “Goldfish are supposed to be not the smartest animals, and they have no memory, so being a goalie, you’re supposed to just ignore all the bad things that happen and move on,” Rongaus said. “Fun fact: Goldfish actually are really incredibly smart, and they can remember faces. So I don’t know how true it is, but that’s what we all say.

    On Saturday, Rongaus’ mantra paid off in the PIAA Class 3A girls’ lacrosse championship at Penn State’s Panzer Stadium. Forgetting any mistakes that could have plagued her psyche, the junior goalkeeper came away with nine saves — eight of which came in the second half — to will the Warriors to a 11-6 victory over Conestoga (21-3). All three of Conestoga’s losses were to the hands of Henderson.

    The title marks the first in program history and comes a year after Henderson made the PIAA tournament for the first time. Last season, Henderson was eliminated by Springfield, 10-4, in the first round. This year, the Warriors played the Cougars in the semifinals. This time, they defeated the Cougars, 9-7.

    Four days after that semifinal win, Rongaus walked off the field as a state champion. Unlike a goldfish, she plans to hold on to that memory.

    “It still [does not feel] totally real, at the same time,” said Rongaus, who is committed to St. Joseph’s. “We work so hard as a team to get to this point. Every day, you go to practice with these girls, and then just one day after, you don’t see them at all anymore. We’re so astonished that we won.”

    Added Henderson coach Robin Keevan: “I’m incredibly proud of my girls, what they’ve accomplished this year, and all the hard work they put in. It paid off, and I think that’s a huge reward for the girls. It was definitely their goal all season.”

    Rongaus was far from the only star on Saturday. Along with the goalkeeper’s heroics, Henderson’s offense shined. The Warriors’ scoring effort was led by four goals from senior midfielder Mary Cate Killoran, who’s committed to Florida State. Seniors Bailey Schalleur (Notre Dame) and Rayne Harkins (James Madison) also logged two goals each.

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    “This is just a huge historic moment for the girls’ lacrosse program,” Keevan said. “We’re going to keep on doing what we did the last couple years, and I know the younger girls are already raring to go.”

    In the 2A championship, Twin Valley (25-2) beat Wyomissing Area (24-3) to win its first title. Senior Ellie Kaplan (Michigan) scored four goals and tallied two assists in the Raiders’ 11-5 win.

    ‘Screwed our heads on straight’

    Henderson was a game shy of a perfect season, ending its championship campaign at 24-1. The players say their title run would not have been possible, however, without the Warriors’ 8-7 loss to Great Valley on April 21.

    “We did not play as a team [against Great Valley]; we were arguing and bickering,” Rongaus said. “And that’s how it goes. Teams are going to fight. After losing that game, we were like, ‘OK, this is actually the real deal. Anybody can beat us. We are a beatable team.’”

    After the loss, Keevan and assistant coach Mia Ciancio told the team that they had become complacent.

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    “You could see it through our energy at practice, like we were getting cocky,” Schalleur said. “We weren’t 100% focused and we weren’t putting in all our efforts throughout every little drill.

    “The one loss to Great Valley — that completely screwed our heads on straight. We would not have won [the title] if we did not have our loss. It was at the perfect part of the season, and we needed it.”

    After falling to Great Valley, the Warriors won 12 straight games en route to the championship. However, it will be hard to replicate the team’s success next season.

    The Warriors had 13 seniors, who received their diplomas about a week before competing the title game. Schalleur has already moved to South Bend, Ind., for Notre Dame’s summer sessions.

    “We won the state championship, and then the next morning, I was on a flight,” Schalleur said, laughing.

    Even though her location has changed, her Henderson family will always be a part of her.

    “[After] the championship on Saturday, when the buzzer rang, we all just hugged each other,” Shaelleur said. “I think it’s just super sentimental the fact that I’ve been playing with those girls, a couple of them, for over a decade. Getting to experience that with them is so unreal.”

  • U.S. infant mortality rate fell to an all-time low, though it still trails other similar nations

    NEW YORK — Infant mortality in the U.S. dropped to a new all-time low in 2025, according to preliminary government data.

    There were slightly fewer than 5.4 infant deaths per 1,000 live births in 2025, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    While that appears to be a small decline from about 5.5 in 2024 and 5.6 in the two years preceding, researchers say it is statistically meaningful and translates to hundreds of fewer infant deaths per year.

    It’s difficult to pinpoint what’s driving the recent developments, but “this is an encouraging data point, and we hope that this trend will continue,” said Michael Warren, chief medical and health officer for the March of Dimes.

    Infant mortality is the measure of how many babies die before reaching their first birthday. Because the number of babies born in the U.S. varies year to year, researchers calculate rates to compare infant mortality over time.

    The overall numbers, too, have been going down. U.S. infant deaths fell to about 19,350 last year, according to provisional CDC data that may rise a little as additional analysis is completed. The final tally is still expected to be down from about 20,050 in 2024 and about 20,160 in 2023, according to the agency.

    The U.S. rate has inched down over the decades — it was at 7.5 per 1,000 three decades ago — thanks to medical advances and public health efforts.

    But it has remained worse than in other high-income countries, which experts have attributed to poverty, inadequate prenatal care, and other problems. A study published last year found the U.S. infant mortality rate in 2022 — when the rate rose — was nearly twice as high as what was seen in several other high-income democratic nations, including Italy, Japan, Spain, and Sweden.

    That was the year of the first statistically significant jump in the U.S. rate in about two decades. Experts attributed that rise to a rebound in RSV and flu infections.

    In 2023, U.S. health officials began recommending two new measures to prevent the toll on infants: One was giving a lab-made antibody shot for infants that helps the immune system fight off the virus, and the other was giving an RSV vaccine to women between 32 weeks and 36 weeks of pregnancy. A March of Dimes expert last year said the effort likely contributed to the improvement in 2024.

    Meanwhile, a decline in sudden infant death syndrome could be connected to an increase in education around safe sleeping for infants, Warren said in a statement.

    The CDC posted the 2025 provisional data in late May. On Tuesday, the agency released a more in-depth analysis of 2024 infant mortality data, offering details not yet available for 2025. Among that report’s highlights:

    — Death rates declined both for the youngest infants, less than 28 days old, and for older infants. Those declines continued last year, the 2025 provisional data indicate.

    — In 2024, infant mortality continued to differ by race, sometimes dramatically. Death rates for infants born to Black women were more than twice as high as those for the infants of Hispanic, white, and Asian American women.

    — Researchers noted a decline in the mortality rate for infants born at full term, at 39 to 40 weeks. But rates did not change significantly for other gestational age groups.

    — Mississippi had the highest infant mortality rate, at 9.65 deaths per 1,000 births, and New Hampshire had the lowest, at just under 3 per 1,000.

    “These differences are reflective of a variety of reasons related to access to care, community factors, and policies that improve health and outcomes,” Warren said.