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Canada trade fight could cost the GOP

It feeds into Democratic arguments that Trump is destabilizing the economy

BY GREGORY S. SCHNEIDER AND PRAVEENA SOMASUNDARAM

The collapse of a trade deal between the United States and Canada over the weekend, followed by President Donald Trump's announcement Monday that he would impose even more tariffs on Canadian goods, added a new shock to midterm elections already dominated by price concerns.

States that depend on international trade, including Maine, Michigan and Iowa, are among those at the forefront of the midterm battleground map.

Some Republicans in those states have urged Trump to pull back, including Sen. Susan Collins (Maine), who is locked in a tight reelection battle. "Imposing new tariffs on Canada is a mistake," Collins said on C-SPAN on Monday. "I want us to go back to the very friendly economically beneficial relationship that we have with our Canadian neigh-SEE TRADE ON A14

Trade war: Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on U.S. A14

2 deaths tied to measles reported in Pennsylvania

BY LENA H. SUN AND RACHEL ROUBEIN

Two Pennsylvania residents have died after contracting measles, the first such deaths in the state in 35 years and the first reported in the United States this year. The deaths prompted Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) to sharply confront the nation's health secretary over federal vaccine messaging that he said is confusing and harmful.

Both the people who died were residents of Lancaster County. https://images.mobilism.org/?dm=DRXUIHZJ The Pennsylvania Health Department declined to release their ages or other information, citing the privacy of the people and their families.

Pennsylvania has confirmed 393 measles cases in 28 counties this year, including 86 in the past week. Nearly half of the cases are in Lancaster County, authorities said. Seventy people, nearly 20 percent of those infected, have been hospitalized, Shapiro said, and every confirmed case has occurred in someone who was not fully vaccinated.

DOLLY PARTON 1946-2026

Country music legend and cultural icon

Dolly Parton performs at the House of Blues in California in 2002.
ROBERT MORA/GETTY IMAGES

With her rhinestones and blond bouffant, she carved out a singular place in American life as a musician, movie star, philanthropist and unexpected feminist heroine

BY EMILY LANGER

In a life described as taking her from “rags to rhinestones,” Dolly Parton and her blond bouffant — that mountain of hair even taller, it sometimes seemed, than the Tennessee foothills where she first strummed a guitar — carved out a singular place in American life.

Like almost everything about Dol-

ly, as she was universally known, that place was big — big enough to contain her devotees in the country music world, the Appalachian poor who saw their lives reflected in the lyrics of her thousands of original songs, the working women she cheered on in the 1980 Hollywood comedy “9 to 5” and the children she reached through her Imagination Library literacy program. A centerpiece of her wide-ranging philanthropy, the initiative has provided more than 300 million free books to young readers around the world.

Ms. Parton, 80, died Tuesday in Nashville. A statement from Parton's publicist said she "died peacefully," though a cause of death was not given.

When she died, Ms. Parton was SEE PARTON ON A8

"We hope and we pray that SEE MEASLES ON A6

Colleges are scaling back Black studies departments, majors and classes

BY TODD WALLACK

U.S. colleges are increasingly slashing their African American studies and related programs, citing low enrollment and limited funding, at a time when the federal government is exerting intense pressure to end racial diversity efforts.

Some academics blame politics, pointing out that Republicans and the Trump admin-

Schools cite low enrollment, budget issues and state laws

istration have taken aim at scholarships, admissions policies and other efforts to boost diversity. At least a dozen schools, including private colleges and public flagship universities, have scaled back Black, African or African American studies programs since Trump signed an executive order targeting diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a Washington Post review found.

“Politics is the engine, not a factor,” said Jafari Sinclair Allen, director of the Institute for Research in African American Studies at Columbia University.

Allen, whose institute has surveyed colleagues around the country, says the cuts are so deep that they could damage the pipeline for important research and training for new scholars for years to come.

“They are not cutting at the fringe,” said Allen, who is also a professor of African American and African diaspora studies at Columbia. “They are striking the foundations.”

Universities that have closed or merged African American studies units over the past two years include the University of Iowa, the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Kansas.

Others have eliminated or begun phasing out majors and degrees, including Kennesaw State University, the University of Toledo and Indiana University at Bloomington. Several colleges SEE COLLEGES ON A7

Beijing bristles at new Iran sanctions

U.S. CAMPAIGN AIMS TO ISOLATE TEHRAN

But China is top trading partner, risking a flare-up

BY CATE CADELL

China sharply condemned the sweeping new sanctions campaign against Iran and its trading partners announced by the United States, vowing retaliation against measures that would target countries doing business with Tehran.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Monday that President Donald Trump is contacting unspecified world leaders as part of an effort to “economically asphyxiate” Iran’s economy and force an “endgame” to the drawn-out conflict in the Middle East.

China is Iran's top trading partner, and the newly announced U.S. economic pressure campaign risks a flare-up in relations just as Trump has sought to ease tensions and secure a broader economic deal with Beijing.

A Treasury list released Mon- day includes more than a dozen small Chinese and Hong Kong firms, most linked to shipping and supply chains, suggesting Washington's opening salvo in- cludes targeting illicit shipments to Iran without directly hitting major Chinese refineries or banks.

Still, the move rankled Beijing, which in recent months has sent envoys to Washington to lay the groundwork for a meeting be-SEE CHINA ON A11

Kennedy Center's finances fell off cliff

Ticket revenue and fundraising plummeted after Trump name change

BY JONATHAN EDWARDS

Ticket sales and fundraising collapsed after President Donald Trump's name was added to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, even as the center's leaders publicly touted a financial turnaround, according to confidential documents obtained by The Washington Post.

Ticket sales had already dropped in the 10 months following Trump's takeover, but both ticket sales and donations plunged after the Trump-led board of trustees voted in December to rename the center after him and put his name on the front of the building, according to the records.

The documents show that leaders knew both were cratering even as they publicly portrayed Trump's takeover as a financial rescue. In a failed June request to keep Trump's name on the building, for instance, a Justice Department lawyer wrote that renaming the center after Trump "represented a saving of The

SEE KENNEDY CENTER ON A2

IN THE NEWS

Farmers face new crisis President Donald Trump's tariffs and his war with Iran have driven up the cost of fertilizer, fuel and machinery. A3

Primary runoffs For coverage of Tuesday's contests in Oklahoma and South Carolina, go to washingtonpost.com.

THE NATION Federal officials plan to revoke certain visas for people who have since sought asylum. A4 A FEMA crew broke the law by skipping homes with Trump signs, watchdog says. A4

THE WORLD China is angling for a geopolitical advantage from Trump's trade war with Canada. A10 CIA Director John Ratcliffe made a rare, unannounced visit to Moscow on Tuesday. A11

THE ECONOMY Target has apologized for a Halloween costume likened to minstrel imagery. The kid looked like a miniature Sambo-style caricature, Michelle Singletary writes. A13 Oil prices fell again, easing worries in the markets. A13

STYLE

A YouTube series with the transportation secretary is well-made, but it's about the Duffys, not the nation. B1

SPORTS

SPORTS At least 1 in 4 former NFL players who died in recent years suffered from chronic traumatic encephalopathy. B7

THE REGION A rare blue tree frog has drawn dozens of naturalists and hobby photographers to a Virginia park. B13

FOOD The Tomatini cocktail captures the essence of summer with its intensely flavorful taste and bright color.

BUSINESS NEWS....A13 COMICS....B4 OBITUARIES....B17 OPINION PAGES....A15 TELEVISION....B6 WORLD NEWS....A10

CONTENT © 2026 The Washington Post Year 149, No. 54685

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Venue's revenue plummeted even as leaders touted a turnaround

President Donald Trump stands in the presidential box at the Kennedy Center in 2025.
Trump speaks to reporters alongside Richard Grenell, then president of the Kennedy Center, in 2025.
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES
JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

KENNEDY CENTER FROM A1

Kennedy Center which, if this doesn't happen, would go into financial and structural collapse" — even suggesting in a new filing Monday that without Trump's name and renovation plan, the building "will be required to be taken down."

Just the week before the June filing, the center's own financial projections showed ticket revenue and fundraising had plummeted after the name change, putting it on track to fall nearly \$100 million short of its revenue target.

The records — internal budgets, management forecasts, board minutes and financial presentations — provide the first comprehensive accounting of the center's financial deterioration in the year and a half since Trump replaced dozens of board members with allies and installed himself as chairman. Even after slashing expenses, center officials projected earned revenue this fiscal year to miss its budget target by 70 percent and contributed revenue to fall 25 percent short. The revenue miss was projected to leave the center with a \$23 million deficit.

"The center took a huge hit when the takeover happened," and then appeared to stabilize, according to an official familiar with the center's financial situation. But after the name change, "it was just an absolute fiscal cliff. Donors disappeared, ticket sales disappeared, artists disappeared — like it was doomsday."

Andrew Taylor, director of American University's arts management program, who reviewed the documents at The Post's request, described the declines as “a nosedive.”

Trump's takeover "had a consequence," Taylor said, "and the consequence was a catastrophic drop in revenue."

In response to detailed questions from The Post, a Kennedy Center spokesperson blamed the center's financial problems on its previous leadership, saying it inherited years of financial mismanagement. Putting Trump's name on the building attracted new donors and helped raise money for renovations, the spokesperson said, adding that a proposed fiscal 2027 budget is balanced. The center did not dispute The Post's account of its internal fiscal 2026 projections.

The center is months late to releasing its independently audited financial statements for its first fiscal year under Trump's leadership, which should include definitive data about its financial condition through the first months of the takeover.

Promising a turnaround

Upon taking control of the Kennedy Center, Trump and his allies said they had inherited a troubled institution.

They accused the previous leadership of spending too much on unpopular programming, running persistent deficits and obscuring its financial condition, which past leaders denied. Trump promised to remake the institution, while Richard Grenell, the ally he installed to lead the center, repeatedly argued that the new administration was imposing fiscal discipline.

Grenell defended deep staff cuts as prudent and said the center had raised \$117 million from donors. He told the Washington Examiner in November that every department had been instructed that its shows needed to break even: "If you can't sell enough seats, you find a donor." Corporations, he said, were "writing checks because they trust us not to turn every show into a political statement."

The White House on Monday defended Trump's stewardship of the center by citing his renovation plans but did not directly address questions about this year's drop in revenue.

“President Trump did what Democrats wouldn’t by finally committing the resources and the leadership needed to restore the Kennedy Center and make it the finest performing arts facility in the world,” spokeswoman Liz Huston said in an email.

Leaders also credited Trump with securing \$257 million from Congress for repairs last year, an enormous amount relative to the center's usual federal appropriation.

The center's board has gone further. In a resolution this month supporting another effort to install Trump's name on the building, trustees argued that the Kennedy Center "would be in financial ruin" without the president's "unique stature as both an unparalleled fundraiser and world-class developer."

But the internal projections told a different story.

The center had budgeted about \$220 million in revenue for fiscal 2026, which began in October and ends Sept. 30. By late May, officials projected it would bring in only about \$124 million.

Officials cut projected expenses by roughly a third, but even that was not enough: The center still projected a \$23 million deficit.

The cuts involved slashing staff and programs, which the center has described in court filings as a logical part of the board's decision to close for repairs.

Industry experts described a chicken-or-the-egg dynamic, saying cuts can be a reasonable response to falling revenue but can also hollow out the staff and programming an organization depends on to generate future income.

Karen Gahl-Mills, director of the Indiana University arts administration program who reviewed the financial records for The Post, said the documents showed that some of the decline in spending simply reflected a smaller institution.

“They’re smaller than they were,” she said.

Taylor said the financial problems were striking in light of what the center's board appeared to be focused on. During their March board meeting, Trump and the other trustees talked almost entirely about the building, renovations and aesthetic details without addressing the artistic performances that happen inside before voting to close the center for two years, according to minutes of the meeting.

"The conversation is really about real estate development," Taylor said, adding: "It's almost nothing about programming in that meeting, except for how we're going to wind down programming when we shut down."

The center defended the planned renovation as a way to improve its finances, saying it would produce a projected \$3.4 million surplus. An alternative, involving rolling closures throughout the building over four years, would produce a projected deficit of about \$78 million, the spokesperson said.

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio), one of the few trustees not appointed by Trump, has challenged the board's actions in federal court, arguing that in voting to close for two years, its majority has put the president's interests ahead of its responsibility to the center's duty to bring performing arts programming to the public.

Ticket buyers and donors retreat

Audiences began retreating soon after Trump took control of the center, but the confidential documents show revenue troubles became far more severe in fiscal 2026, which covers the bulk of the first programming season under new leadership, the name change and the attempted closure.

The Post previously reported that ticket sales dropped by half in the week after Trump announced his takeover in February 2025. By that fall, ticket buyers were spending less at the center than during any comparable period since 2018 except the pandemic, and subscriptions were down sharply. At the time, current and former employees attributed the decline to an audience boycott over the politicization of the center.

By June, officials were reviewing an annotated line chart that showed quarterly ticket sales over several years: a recovery from the pandemic, a drop after the board overhaul and a precipitous fall after the name change.

At the same time, the center had downsized its fundraising operation as donations faltered. One internal report said fundraising at the beginning of this year contrasted sharply with the months before the name change. Pledges fell by more than 100 percent because of “adjustments and write-offs,” according to the report — an unusual figure that Taylor said may reflect older pledges that donors withdrew or that the center determined it was unlikely to collect.

The simultaneous decline in audiences and philanthropy can be particularly damaging for performing arts organizations because the two sources of revenue are closely connected: Many ticket buyers are also donors.

Together, the losses in audiences and donors helped leave the center projecting nearly \$100 million less in total revenue than it had anticipated — a decline experts said went far beyond the broader financial pressures facing cultural institutions.

An outlier

Preliminary fiscal 2025 data compiled by SMU DataArts, an arts research center at Southern Methodist University, shows a far different picture across the cultural sector. Large cultural organizations generally remained financially stable, ending the year with modest surpluses even as some experienced declines in ticket sales and philanthropy.

Jennifer Benoit-Bryan, executive director of SMU DataArts, said the Kennedy Center's trajectory was “remarkably different” from the broader pattern, with severe reductions in both earned and contributed income and a sizable deficit.

“That’s a huge hole for an organization to recover from, even one as significant and sizable as the Kennedy Center,” Benoit-Bryan said.

The center has traditionally been unusual among cultural institutions because it makes more money selling tickets than collecting donations, Benoit-Bryan said. Most arts nonprofits lean more heavily on philanthropy, which makes up about 60 percent of revenue on average.

That reliance on ticket sales and other earned income makes the board's vote to close for two years of renovations particularly consequential, she said, calling it “a questionable choice.”

Beatty argued in her lawsuit that the decision was worse than misguided. Her lawyers characterized the closure as a betrayal of the center's mission to bring the performing arts to the public — and an attempt to hide the “embarrassing fact” that renaming the center after Trump had sparked a financial collapse.

“Such a self-interested gambit, sacrificing the Kennedy Center to save face, represents a quintessential breach of fiduciary duty,” they wrote.

The center in February, after Trump's name was added to the building.
JABIN BOTSFORD/THE WASHINGTON POST

SCOTT OLSON/GETTY IMAGES

THE NATION

Squeezed by tariffs and war, farmers face a new crisis

Alan Montag is shown in May planting soybeans on farmland he leases near West Bend, Iowa. Farmers are facing big spikes in fuel and fertilizer costs.

A campaign to deliver emergency aid has stalled on Capitol Hill

BY JARRELL DILLARD

For nearly 16 years, Wendy Johnson has tried to build an Iowa farm that could survive the kinds of economic shocks that drove farmers out of business when she was growing up in the 1980s.

She diversified her operations, growing corn, small grains and soybeans while also raising sheep, cattle, pigs and chickens. She opted to sell directly to consumers and transitioned a portion of her 1,200 acres to organic production. She avoided debt and even planted trees to protect her soil and livestock.

But the latest crisis has defied her careful planning: President Donald Trump's tariffs and his war with Iran have driven up the cost of fertilizer, fuel and machinery just as weak crop prices have made it harder to cover those rising expenses.

"I am afraid that we're looking into the barrel of another farm crisis," said Johnson, a fourth-generation farmer, who estimates her profits are down by as much as 50 percent. "And we all know historically what that did to our ... rural communities."

Johnson is among American farmers who say they are desperate for relief from Washington as Trump administration policies raise costs and slash profits. Just last week, Trump slapped 50 percent tariffs on Canada, a critical source of fertilizer and farm equipment. And he wrote in a Truth Social post that he would pause tariffs on some imported ground beef in an effort to lower grocery prices, infuriating U.S. cattle ranchers who say the move would undermine domestic herders.

Meanwhile, the federal farm bill — the traditional source of agricultural subsidies, crop insurance and other support for farmers — is hopelessly out of date, and a divided Congress is far from agreement on how to replace it. To tide over rural America, Republican leaders are trying to pass \$12 billion in emergency aid. But their plan would pair that money with billions of dollars for the war with Iran, the very conflict that has helped drive up fuel costs and added to the squeeze on farmers in the first place.

That combination gets mixed reviews in farm country. While some industry groups, such as the American Farm Bureau Federation, have backed it, others have argued that it is counterproductive to tie the money to funding for the Iran war.

"While we support providing immediate relief to farmers ... we are troubled by funding that perpetuates a costly military conflict that risks further disrupting global markets, increasing input costs, and contributing to the economic pressures already weighing on farm operations," the National Farmers Union wrote in a July letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York).

Aaron Lehman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, echoed that sentiment.

"I'm glad lawmakers are trying to find a way to help farmers," Lehman said. "But this approach is not the right one."

When the House returns to Washington later this month, passing a farm aid package remains near the top of the legislative to-do list. Iowa is particularly critical heading into the Nov. 3 midterm elections, with three competitive House seats and a competitive Senate race. In a state that has not had a Democratic governor in nearly two decades, even that race in Iowa is competitive, according to the Cook Political Report.

Nationally, roughly a dozen competitive House seats have a significant concentration of agricultural areas, as well as multiple competitive Senate races. Republican leaders, trying to hang on to narrow majorities in both chambers, are especially eager to demonstrate their ability to deliver for a key constituency.

"Right now, if you're growing something in the ground, you're losing money. And it's not just a crop, it's virtually every crop, and it's virtually every region of the country," said Senate Agriculture Committee Chair John Boozman (R-Arkansas).

"I am afraid that we're looking into the barrel of another farm crisis," said Wendy Johnson of Iowa.
FAMILY PHOTO

While farmers say getting the emergency aid is crucial, many called it a “Band-Aid” at best. Agriculture industry groups said the funding must be accompanied by long-term policy that addresses the structural problems threatening their livelihood.

Russell Boening, a Texas farmer who runs his family's operation with his brother, is facing a similar squeeze to Johnson in Iowa. The farm grows corn, grain sorghum and wheat, as well as raising cattle. But crop revenue has fallen below the cost of their production as fertilizer and other inputs have become more expensive. Boening estimates the farm's bottom line has taken as much as a 40 percent hit in some areas.

The emergency aid is “needed,” he said, adding that farmers in South Texas are already seeking operating loans for 2027 so they can begin planting in January. But Boening urged Congress to get to work on longer-term policies because “farmers don’t want to come there every six months for a bridge payment for farmer assistance.”

Ben LaCross, president of the Michigan Farm Bureau, also supports the emergency assistance, noting that farmers have been struggling with rising costs and weak commodity prices for more than a decade. He praised the Trump administration's efforts to expand market opportunities for agricultural commodities, and said farmers need a new farm bill that further expands markets and helps reduce the cost of fertilizer and other inputs.

The current farm bill — a multiyear law that sets national policy for agriculture and nutrition

— is nearly eight years old. With the law originally designed to be renewed every five years, Congress has temporarily extended the legislation three times as lawmakers have failed to reach an agreement on updated policies. The latest extension will expire at the end of September.

But Congress is nowhere near an agreement on a new policy framework. Republicans want to increase funding for commodity farmers to help offset rising production costs, while reducing federal funding for food stamps. Democrats, who oppose altering the food aid benefits, blocked Republicans from advancing the bill out of the Senate Agriculture Committee in early August. The committee will continue work when senators return from recess in mid-September.

Boozman and Sen. John Ho-even (R-North Dakota) played key roles in advocating for emergency farm aid. The money was included in a party-line package Republicans are rushing to pass before the midterms. Along with funding for farmers, that package includes two other GOP priorities: Iran war funding and stricter rules for voting.

GOP lawmakers aim to use the complex reconciliation process to pass the package through both chambers with a simple majority, forgoing the need for Democratic support. But for that plan to work, it would require near-unanimous support from Republicans — which it does not have.

GOP senators had hoped to vote on a framework for the package before they left town for the August recess, but those plans were scrapped amid lingering concerns from multiple lawmakers within the conference.

Between those concerns and a tight legislative calendar, the path to passing help for farmers before Nov. 3 is looking increasingly difficult.

STATE DEPARTMENT Agency looking into selling ‘woke’ painting

The State Department is exploring options to sell a painting by celebrated artist Kehinde Wiley that has been labeled “woke” by Trump administration officials and removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic.

The painting, “Young Artists After Siamesas 1960,” features four models in front of a floral backdrop.

Wiley shot to fame in 2018 as the artist behind the portrait of former president Barack Obama which hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

The State Department's Art in Embassies website describes him as a painter of “visually sumptuous” art that “reframes a genre historically reserved for elite, White subjects.”

On Tuesday the State Department said it is in discussions with “legal representatives to

ascertain whether the art can be sold," adding that it would be the "goal to do so."

Earlier this month, the painting was removed from the U.S. Embassy in the Dominican Republic. Ambassador Leah Campos shared a video of the painting being removed and said she wanted to move away from “woke” ideologies.

Erin Scavino, who was appointed the executive director of Art in Embassies last year, said in an interview her team had worked very hard to get the painting taken down, describing the work as “very woke” and “aesthetically terrifying.”

— Victoria Craw

FEDERAL COURTS Plan to auction items from Titanic is delayed

A controversial plan to auction off artifacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic must be put on hold, a federal judge ruled Monday, after the U.S.

government and preservation- ists raised concerns about the sale and the company's care of the artifacts.

RMS Titanic, which holds exclusive salvage rights to the iconic shipwreck, earlier this year proposed auctioning more than 100 items — including gem-studded jewelry, tableware and a bronze cherub that once adorned the vessel's grand staircase — recovered in a deep-sea expedition decades ago. The company argued that the artifacts it planned to sell were not subject to the court's jurisdiction.

U.S. District Judge Rebecca Beach Smith in Norfolk rejected the company's argument, writing any sale would be subject to the court's approval. She also raised concerns about the condition of RMS Titanic's collection, citing the company's "financial difficulties," and ordered that an inventory of the artifacts and their condition be filed with the court.

The National Oceanic and

DIGEST

Atmospheric Administration opposed the sale, and the proposal drew protests from historians, archaeologists and the French government, which participated in the expedition that recovered some of the artifacts.

NOAA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A lawyer for RMS Titanic said in an email that the company would review the ruling and decide its next steps.

— Liam Bowman

CALIFORNIA

French tourist dies in Death Valley park

A French visitor died in California's Death Valley National Park last week after he and a travel companion abandoned their disabled car to seek help.

According to a statement from the National Park Service, Pierre Michel Formosa, 68, and his travel partner, who is also French, were driving on rugged

West Side Road on Aug. 17 when their vehicle became lodged in mud. The pair left their vehicle to find assistance, traversing salt flats toward Badwater Road, a two-lane highway encircled by mountains.

Formosa hiked for about 1.3 miles before he could go no further. The friend continued onward, attracting the attention of a motorist who reported the incident to the Furnace Creek Visitor Center a little after 2 p.m.

Less than 15 minutes later, park rangers and an Inyo County deputy mobilized a search-and-rescue operation. A California Highway Patrol helicopter, which had joined the mission, eventually found Formosa about 1.5 miles from Badwater Road. Officials pronounced Formosa dead at the scene. The Inyo County coroner will determine the cause of death.

In a condolence message to the victim's family, Mike Reynolds, the park's superintendent, reminded visitors of the hazards

of Death Valley.

“Death Valley National Park is an extraordinary place,” he said, “but its heat, distances and remoteness can be dangerous, regardless of experience.”

Spring, with its cooler temperatures and wildflower blooms, is the most popular time to visit, but summer can attract travelers curious about the triple-digit temperatures.

In July 1913, Furnace Creek set the world record for the highest air temperature, at 134 degrees. In 2024, the park logged the hottest meteorological summer (June to August) on record, with an average 24-hour temperature of 104.5 degrees. On the day of Formosa's death, the park said the temperature reached 116 degrees.

On dangerously hot days, rangers advise visitors to stay within a 10-minute walk of their vehicle. A car, even an immobilized one, can offer protection from the punishing Death Valley sun.

— Andrea Sachs

REBECCA BLACKWELL/AP

A tattered American flag is outside an Anna Maria Island, Florida, home on Oct. 8, 2024.

Deanne Criswell, who headed FEMA during the Hurricane Milton response, in a Signal message

The report “validates the actions we took at FEMA when this incident was brought to our attention. Politics should never play a role in disaster response, and even one home skipped is unacceptable.”

Watchdog: FEMA crew broke law by bypassing homes

Residences with Trump signs were skipped after 2024's Hurricane Milton

BY BRIANNA SACKS

A crew of Federal Emergency Management Agency staffers working on the response to Hurricane Milton in 2024 violated the law and agency policy by skipping nearly a dozen homes displaying signs supporting then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, a federal watchdog said Tuesday.

The new report by the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General found that the decision by a crew with the agency's Disaster Survivor Assistance program "eroded public trust in FEMA's ability to treat everyone impartially, offer unbiased and consistent assistance, and ensure equal access to resources and tools."

Back-to-back hurricanes hit Florida within two weeks of each other in late September and early October 2024, prompting emergency declarations and federal assistance. FEMA Disaster Survivor Assistance crews canvassed 744,288 homes and other sites in response, according the report, and did not contact “555,374 locations for reasons such as private property signs or safety concerns.”

During FEMA's hurricane response, which was unfolding during the last few weeks of the pivotal election, a FEMA crew lead instructed team members to avoid homes with Trump signs due to safety concerns. The same crew bypassed those 11 homes in Florida, according to survey notes obtained by the inspector general's office.

At the time, the crew leader did not feel safe given the heightened tension and “was looking for ways to define safety. People were not getting good guidance, so she made her own way,” said a former senior FEMA official with direct knowledge of the situation.

After several FEMA workers filed a complaint, the agency started its own investigation and officials referred the complaint to the Office of Special Counsel and DHS's inspector general office. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) blamed the Biden administration, writing online that it represented a “blatant weaponization of government by partisan activists in the federal bureaucracy.” FEMA quickly fired the crew leader and several other staffers involved in the incident.

The watchdog found that the incident highlighted weaknesses in “FEMA’s training, documentation, and oversight.” Those Disaster Survivor Assistance crews did “not receive ethics and Hatch Act training before deploying to disasters,” the report said, nor was there a policy that required “crews to explain why they skipped homes.”

Deanne Criswell, who headed FEMA during the Hurricane Milton response, said in a Signal message Tuesday that the report "validates the actions we took at

FEMA when this incident was brought to our attention. Politics should never play a role in disaster response, and even one home skipped is unacceptable."

Criswell said that after they learned that the crew had bypassed those homes, officials ensured the “neighborhoods were recanvassed.”

The agency did not have a formal system for reporting potential safety threats at the time, said the senior official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the internal investigation. The inspector general report also identified this as a hole in the agency's operations.

Criswell and the other former official noted that FEMA's internal review found that the

Hurricane Milton incident was isolated to that crew.

“FEMA personnel conducted more than 744,000 canvassing visits following Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and the Inspector General identified 11 homes skipped for political reasons by the same crew — findings that reinforce my confidence this was an isolated incident and not a systemic practice within FEMA," Criswell said.

However, safety concerns during disaster response are common, the former senior official said, with most of the encounters that FEMA canvassers faced involving guns.

The inspector general report said that after FEMA learned of the crew skipping homes, it provided mandatory training to all disaster survivor teams, including those deployed in the field.

FEMA concurred with all of the inspector general recommendations. In a letter from July, the agency said that “when concerns were raised regarding adherence to law and policy in performance of this work — FEMA leadership acted swiftly to investigate, remediate, and strengthen training and oversight. As a result, FEMA increased mission readiness training and no longer conducts FEMA-led door-to-door outreach efforts. Staff now provide support to survivors from fixed locations determined by state and local officials through a data-informed approach.”

State Dept. to revoke tourist, business visas for those who claimed asylum

Secretary of State Marco Rubio attends a Cabinet meeting at Camp David last month.
JACQUELYN MARTIN/AP

Plan marks the latest tactic by White House to curb immigration

BY VICTORIA CRAW

The State Department plans to revoke the business and tourism visas of those who have claimed asylum after arriving in the country, the agency said in a statement Tuesday, marking the latest effort by the Trump administration to curb migration to the United States.

The move is expected to apply to those granted B1 and B2 visas — typically issued for tourism and business travel — between 2016 and 2026, who have sought asylum or are now seeking asylum.

State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said the agency is coordinating with the Department of Homeland Security to “identify and revoke the nonimmigrant visas of foreigners who have come to the United States claiming to be short-term visitors but then file for asylum to stay here permanently.”

The department did not confirm the number of visas that could be revoked, saying it would be done on a “rolling basis.” It did not say whether those who have visas revoked will be deported or what will happen to any pending asylum claims.

The plan marks the latest tactic by President Donald Trump's administration to curb immi-

gration.

The controversial efforts have included attempts to limit birth-right citizenship, impose higher fees for skilled visas and refuse visas to applicants who say they fear returning home to their countries.

Many of the moves have been struck down by courts or face legal challenges.

Some of the immigration enforcement efforts have been linked to violence.

There have been at least 17 shootings of motorists by federal immigration officers recorded since the beginning of Trump's second term, a Washington Post analysis shows. Six people, including two U.S. citizens, have died in the shootings.

B1 and B2 visas are issued for short stays for reasons including business ventures and travel. Nearly 6.5 million B1 and B2 visas were issued in fiscal 2024, according to State Department figures.

A B-1 temporary business visa allows the holder to stay up to six months in the country for commercial activities, while B2 tourism visas can be used for holidays or medical treatment.

More than 230,000 people in the U.S. filed affirmative asylum cases — applications from those not facing removal proceedings — in 2022, according to a Department of Homeland Security report. A little more than a third of those who claimed affirmative asylum in the last decade had entered on a B1 or B2 visa, the 2022 report added, out of the applicants who had disclosed how they arrived in the United States.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a post on X on Monday that “people in the U.S. and all over the world are fed up with bogus asylum claims.”

"Asylum isn't supposed to be a loophole to circumvent immigration laws; rather, it's supposed to provide a narrow safe harbor for persons persecuted because of their 'race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion," Landau said.

Under federal law, foreign nationals can seek asylum once in the U.S. if they face “persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution” back home.

They can do so regardless of their immigration status as long as they apply within one year of their arrival, according to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The State Department said this month that it had revoked more than 175,000 visas since Trump took office, including stripping travel documents from foreigners charged with crimes.

Human rights groups have described some of the revocations as politically motivated, such as the case of a Tufts University student who was detained and had her visa revoked in 2025 after the administration accused her of supporting the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Where things stand in Trump's legal fight to limit voting by mail

BY PATRICK MARLEY AND JUSTIN JOUVENAL

SECURE BALLOT INTAKE STATION

An election worker in Doral, Florida, places a ballot into a secure bin this month at the Miami-Dade County Supervisor of Elections Office.

The Supreme Court gave President Donald Trump a preliminary victory this week when it lifted some legal hurdles to his plan to limit who can vote by mail.

The decision was narrow, and Trump's proposal remains blocked by a lower-court order. But the Supreme Court win gave the president momentum as he seeks to change voting rules less than a month before election officials start mailing ballots to voters.

Overlapping litigation continues in lower courts and soon could wind up before the Supreme Court again. Here's a look at where things stand.

Why has voting by mail become such a flash point?

Trump has often voted by mail — including in last week's primary in Florida — but has long railed against mail ballots and questioned their validity. In a social media post last year, he said he would “lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS.”

Seven months later, Trump signed an executive order aimed at imposing new federal requirements on who can get mail ballots. Election officials from across the country have said mail voting is safe, and states and voting rights groups have sued to block the executive order.

Will I be able to vote by mail?

For now, yes.

Nothing in Monday's ruling changed voters' current options. A separate lower-court order still blocks the mail-ballot provisions of Trump's executive order for the 2026 elections, and the Supreme Court has not ruled on whether those provisions are legal.

What's behind Trump's attempts to change voting rules?

For years, Trump without evidence has insisted that voting by noncitizens is rampant, and he has pushed Congress to adopt legislation that would require people to provide proof of citizenship to register to vote. That legislation remains stalled, and Trump has tried to get at the issue with his executive order, which he says would ensure that noncitizens don't receive mail ballots.

Noncitizens are not allowed to vote in federal elections. Court records and independent studies show that noncitizens rarely vote, but it does happen in uncommon instances. New Jersey officials recently disclosed that, because of a software glitch, they had registered thousands of noncitizens, including about 340 who cast ballots.

What did Trump's executive order say?

Trump's order directed the Department of Homeland Security to compile and send each state a list of citizens drawn from federal records. Those lists, along with information from the states, could be used to determine who can receive mail ballots. Critics say the federal records can be incomplete or outdated, potentially omitting eligible voters, including some naturalized citizens.

The executive order also directed the U.S. Postal Service to review ballot envelopes to ensure they are secure and are using unique barcodes for processing. And it told the Justice Department to prioritize investigations of officials who give ballots to ineligible voters.

What's going on with the legal

cases?

LYNNE SLADKY/AP

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts has handled two sets of cases over the executive order — one brought by Democratic-led states and one brought by voting rights groups. She blocked major provisions of the executive order in both cases.

The case brought by the states made its way to the Supreme Court on the narrow question of whether the states had the right to sue at this stage. Over the dissent of the court's three liberals, the conservative majority ruled for Trump, saying the states couldn't sue until the administration had finalized its plans.

The Supreme Court ruling did not address Talwani's injunction in the other case, so the Postal Service is still barred from implementing the mail-ballot section of Trump's order.

The case that the Supreme Court ruled on this week now returns to lower courts.

And either or both sets of cases could quickly go back to the Supreme Court. Many on both sides of the issue are pressing for final decisions as soon as possible because election officials are required to start sending mail ballots in mid-September.

What's the status of the new postal rule?

The Postal Service took the unusual step of issuing its new rule at 9 p.m. Friday — before the Supreme Court released its ruling. The agency acknowledged the injunctions and said it would not implement the requirements for the 2026 elections unless the courts lifted them.

Voting rights groups then asked Talwani to enforce her injunction, arguing that by finalizing the rule, the Postal Service had violated her order.

Talwani on Tuesday ruled that the administration had defied her injunction but said she was taking no action “other than identifying the violation.”

What would the new mail rule do?

Under the postal rule, election officials would have to use barcodes to track mail ballot envelopes and would have to get approval from the Postal Service for the design of the envelopes.

That would create challenges for the midterm elections because postal officials would need to review envelope designs for thousands of voting jurisdictions across the country. If they rejected any designs, election officials would be in a bind because they would have little time to design, order and receive new envelopes. Many jurisdictions buy their envelopes months in advance.

U.S. could rename Lake Ontario as Lake America in trade flap, Trump says

TODD F. MICHALEK/FOR THE WASHINGTON POST

A view of Lake Ontario from Oswego, New York. Over the weekend, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from trade talks.

BY SAMMY WESTFALL

President Donald Trump said he is considering changing the name of Lake Ontario, the easternmost of the Great Lakes spanning the U.S.-Canada border, to Lake America, as the U.S.-Canada trade fight escalates.

The threat adds to a long list of things — bodies of water, mountains, cultural centers, battleships, transit hubs, federal agencies — the Trump administration has renamed or proposed to rebrand.

"The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don't expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer," he wrote on Truth Social on Tuesday morning.

Over the weekend, Canada and the United States were thrown into a heated trade war after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney walked away from negotiations over tariffs — a rare example of a foreign leader telling Trump “enough,” after the U.S. demanded what Carney said was a mounting list of concessions.

The Trump administration announced 50 percent tariffs on \$20 billion worth of Canadian goods.

Canada on Tuesday issued retaliatory tariffs of up to 50 percent on U.S. imports.

“An attitude at the negotiation table that Canada is a subsidiary of the United States ... that's not something we're going to accept,” Carney said in a statement posted Tuesday.

In his proposal on Lake Ontario, which borders Toronto on its northern shore, Trump continues a pattern of using his power to rename major geographical

features: In a January 2025 executive order, “Restoring Names That Honor American Greatness,” he said he would rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and North America’s tallest peak, Denali in Alaska, as Mount McKinley.

The month after Trump's executive order, Google Maps announced that U.S. users would see the body of water named the “Gulf of America” and Mexican users would see “Gulf of Mexico.” In the rest of the world, people see both: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America).”

In speeches, Trump tied the renaming of the gulf to long-held grievances over Mexico's handling of immigration and drug trafficking.

In renaming the Alaskan peak, Trump said he intended to honor the former president, whom he admired as a “natural businessman,” and who made the country “rich through tariffs and through talent.” The peak had gone by McKinley in the past, but the Obama administration formally changed it to Denali in 2015 to reflect local and Native American usage. The surrounding national park retains the Denali name.

Trump has pushed for his names to stick, declaring Feb. 9, 2025, “Gulf of America Day.” His executive order carries authority within the United States, and federal agencies have used the Trump-assigned names in official statements and websites.

“Interior Advances American Energy Dominance with Third Gulf of America Lease Sale,” a Department of Interior press release this month states.

The Department of War — also a rebrand under the Trump administration — wrote in its 2026 national defense strategy: “We have seen adversaries’ influence grow from Greenland in the Arctic to the Gulf of America.”

But the over 400-year-old name “Gulf of Mexico” has stuck for many, even as some state officials, including in Texas and Florida, took action to try to formalize the move, despite concerns over costs associated with making the official change.

The Associated Press, which is widely cited for style guidance among newsrooms and corporations, continues to use the name Gulf of Mexico, while acknowledging the new name chosen by Trump.

"The AP regularly reviews its style guidance regarding name changes, in part to ensure its guidance reflects common usage. We'll continue to apply that approach to this guidance and make updates as needed," it said.

Footage linked to IRGC claims \$10 million bounty placed on Barron Trump

BY AOIFE WALSH

The Secret Service has said it is aware of a video broadcast by Iranian state media appearing to threaten Barron Trump, President Donald Trump's son.

The footage, reportedly released by media linked to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, claimed a \$10 million bounty had been placed on him.

The video opens with the title:

Secret Service says it is aware of the purported threat, spokesman says

"Where to kill Barron Trump?" It depicts a man resembling him and suggests general locations where he might be found.

"The U.S. Secret Service is aware of the video and investigates anything that can be perceived as a threat toward our protectees," Nate Herring, a Secret Service spokesperson, said in an emailed statement. "Out of concern for operational security, we do not discuss matters of protective intelligence."

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

Trump, who was 10 years old when his father was first elected president and is now 20, has kept a much lower profile than others in his family.

He has appeared at some high-profile events with his father, such as at his Inauguration Day ceremony in 2025.

Concerns about Iranian plots against U.S. officials, including the president, have existed for decades. Those fears have escalated in recent years because of the U.S. role in the killing of Iranian military and political leaders, including the U.S. airstrike that killed Gen. Qasem Soleimani in January 2020.

The president has cited Iran's efforts in 2024 to assassinate him as a factor in ordering the joint U.S.-Israeli operation that killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In July, an Iranian assassination threat against the president prompted a clandestine operation in which he flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft while the White House said he was aboard Air Force One.

The operation was first reported by The Washington Post a month later.

The threat was relayed by the Israeli government to the CIA. U.S. intelligence officials were skeptical and conveyed that view to the Trump administration.

Two measles-related deaths reported in Pennsylvania, state's first in 35 years

MEASLES FROM A1

Pennsylvania has confirmed 393 measles cases in 28 counties this year, including 86 in the past week. Nearly half of the cases are in Lancaster County, authorities said.
BSIP/UNIVERSAL IMAGES GROUP/GETTY IMAGES

JOE RAEDLE/GETTY IMAGES
Since an unvaccinated child in West Texas developed measles early last year, successive outbreaks have sickened thousands of people, with repeated new infections igniting sustained outbreaks in multiple states rather than staying concentrated in a few communities.

those deaths will be the last," Shapiro said at a news conference Tuesday.

Shapiro, widely seen as a presidential contender, said he was late to the news conference because he had been speaking by phone with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

“I was very, very blunt with him,” the governor said. “I told him that his actions and the rhetoric that is coming from this administration are having a negative impact on communities across America and right here in Pennsylvania.”

Shapiro said Kennedy's statements were confusing parents and making it harder for them to know whom to trust. "There are real-life consequences to spreading misinformation, real-life consequences to scaring people and not relying on real-life doctors," he said.

The federal government's public health decisions are not driven by facts and science, Shapiro said. That makes it even more confusing for parents. "All we want to do as parents is what is right for our kids," he said.

A spokesperson for the Health and Human Services Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kennedy has acknowledged that “the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine” and that parents should get their kids vaccinated for measles. But he had also falsely stated that vaccines were not safety-tested.

Pennsylvania Health Secretary Debra Bogen said the deaths underscore how unfamiliar many people have become with a disease that had been largely eliminated from the state for more than three decades.

"People are not familiar with this disease and don't fully understand the potential severity of the illness," she said. People have forgotten how serious measles can be for the very young, pregnant women, the very old, and people with compromised immune systems, health officials have said.

Bogen added, referring to the combined measles, mumps and rubella vaccine: “As a physician, I want to make sure that people understand that the MMR vaccine is safe and provides the best protection we have against measles.”

The U.S. has reported the most measles cases in any year since 1991, surpassing all of last year's total and reaching the highest level in 35 years with months of the year left to go.

Measles is a contagious, vaccine-preventable disease. Most children recover after several days of fever, cough, congestion and pink eye, but measles can also cause pneumonia, brain swelling, deafness, intellectual disability and death.

Since an unvaccinated child in West Texas developed measles early last year, successive outbreaks have sickened thousands of people, with repeated new infections igniting sustained outbreaks in multiple states rather than staying concentrated in a few undervaccinated communities.

Deaths from measles had become extraordinarily rare in the U.S. The first death in the 2025 outbreaks — that of an unvaccinated school-age child in Texas — was the nation's first reported measles death since 2015. By the end of last year, three people had died: two unvaccinated school-age children in Texas and an unvaccinated adult in New Mexico. The Pennsylvania deaths bring the number reported since the beginning of 2025 to five.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on Earth, with the virus spreading through the air. About 1 in 5 unvaccinated people in the U.S. who get measles is hospitalized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A measles infection can damage the immune cells that help the body protect against other viruses and bacteria it has encountered before, putting a person at higher risk of getting sick from other infections even after they have recovered.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends routine immunization against measles starting at age 1 and early vaccination for children as young as 6 months old who are living in or traveling to a community where there is an outbreak.

"In 2026, decades after measles was eliminated in the United States, it is heartbreaking to witness deaths from a disease that is preventable with a vaccine that has been widely used since the 1970s," AAP President Andrew Racine said in a statement.

“It’s just extraordinarily sad to have a loved one die of essentially a preventable disease in the United States in 2026,” Racine said in an interview. The U.S. eliminated measles in 2000, he said, “and now we find ourselves back in a situation in which we’re having not only thousands of cases throughout the United States, but, inevitably, we’re having people die of it.”

Lancaster County is home to the largest population of Amish in the U.S., and the MMR vaccination rate among the county's Amish community was estimated to be around 25 percent, according to data from the state health department from the 2023-2024 school year.

Communities generally need vaccination rates of about 95 percent to prevent outbreaks and protect the vulnerable.

Shapiro warned against treating the outbreak as a problem confined to Lancaster County's Amish or Mennonite communities, saying measles “does not respect county lines or religious lines.” Cases have been found in communities with different religious, political and demographic makeups across the state, he said.

Earlier this month, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping executive order that amounted to his most significant attempt to reshape how Americans vaccinate their children. It included directives for cutting the number of recommended childhood vaccines, spacing out those shots and other major changes. Trump's asks are not in effect, but they have sparked swift and fierce pushback from major medical associations, which fear a resurgence of preventable diseases.

The executive order keeps measles, mumps and rubella among the diseases for which vaccination is universally recommended. But it calls for administering them as three separate shots, currently unavailable in the U.S.

The potential changes would diverge from long-standing federal guidance around immunizations, which medical experts credit with halting the spread of deadly preventable diseases in the country. In addition, state and local authorities, not the federal government, generally set vaccination requirements for school attendance.

Medical experts say there is no evidence that children benefit from separating the MMR vaccine, which has been extensively studied and found to be safe and effective. Those pushing back against Trump's order say requiring three injections and potentially additional medical appointments could cause children to receive shots late or miss them entirely, leaving them vulnerable to measles and other diseases for longer.

The proposal comes as children return to classrooms, where measles can spread rapidly among those who are not protected. Two doses of the MMR vaccine are 97 percent effective against measles.

That protection has continued to erode. During the 2025-2026 school year, a record 4.2 percent of kindergartners — about 155,000 children — had an exemption from at least one required vaccine, up from 3.6 percent the year before, according to federal data. Exemptions increased in 41 states and the District of Columbia, and 24 states reported exemption rates above 5 percent. Nationwide, MMR coverage among kindergartners fell to 92.4 percent, with about 280,000 attending school without documentation that they had completed the vaccine series.

In Pennsylvania, Shapiro said, the number of families seeking vaccine exemptions for philosophical and religious reasons has tripled in the past 10 years, leading to lower vaccination rates and dramatically reduced protection for others in the community.

Trump was pressed on his claim earlier this month that the MMR vaccine, taken together, could be “quite lethal.” He did not cite scientific evidence, saying there are “some people that say it is that way.”

On CBS News's “Face the Nation” on Sunday, Mehmet Oz, the Medicare and Medicaid chief, said in response to repeated questioning that the MMR vaccine is “not a lethal vaccine.”

Trump has long questioned whether the number of childhood vaccines can cause autism, despite decades of research finding no link. But his musings have become more vocal during his second term amid the selection of Kennedy as the nation's top health official. Kennedy is the founder of a prominent anti-vaccine group and has a lengthy history of disparaging vaccines.

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Judge issues a setback to White House plans to restrict mail-in ballots

The ruling is not the final word in legal fight to change rules before fall

BY JUSTIN JOUVENAL

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Tuesday issued a setback to the Trump administration's plans to issue sweeping new restrictions on mail-in balloting for November's crucial midterm elections.

The ruling is not the final word in a complex and rapidly escalating legal fight over the president's executive order that would bar the U.S. Postal Service from sending mail-in ballots to voters not on lists of citizens created by federal agencies.

A separate case challenging the order has already reached the Supreme Court, which for now cleared one legal hurdle that has blocked its implementation.

U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani, an Obama administration nominee, found the Trump administration violated her earlier preliminary injunction blocking the executive order when it issued rules on how the Postal Service should implement it.

The rules were set to take effect Wednesday.

In June, Talwani sided with the League of Women Voters and other voting rights groups challenging the order, finding the president did not have the constitutional authority to alter how states administer elections.

After the new Postal Service rules were announced late Friday, the voting groups asked Talwani to intervene.

The Trump administration argued in court filings that it had not violated Talwani's injunction because it stipulated it would not take any action to implement the rules for November's election unless Talwani's order was lifted.

"These arguments ignore the court's explicit directive not to ‘initiat[e] or complet[e]’ rulemaking," Talwani wrote Tuesday. "And Defendants cannot contend that they misunderstood the scope of the court's order."

Talwani's order did not sanction the Trump administration for the violation, noting it would not change the legal posture of the case. She said her preliminary injunction had already blocked the implementation of the Postal Service rules.

The ruling comes the day after a divided Supreme Court decided 23 states and the District of Columbia had not met the legal bar to challenge the executive order in separate litigation.

In an unsigned order, the court's conservatives agreed with administration arguments that it was too soon to take legal action because the Postal Service had yet to finalize the rules for implementing the order. The majority acknowledged additional legal wrangling is ahead.

"The Court's disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful," the majority wrote. "On that score, time will tell."

The court's three liberals objected.

"This ruling violates well-established precedents concerning this Court's equitable discretion and needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections," Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a dissent.

Despite the adverse ruling, the states say they would continue the legal fight against

Trump's executive order. Ultimately, the legality of the order in one or both cases could end up before the Supreme Court again soon.

The legal action is playing out weeks before many states are set to begin sending out mail-in ballots for the November election that will determine control of the House and Senate.

Some state election officials have said it would be exceedingly difficult to implement major changes to mail-in balloting so close to the election and could cause voter confusion. Others have expressed concerns about qualified voters mistakenly being barred from casting ballots.

Trump issued the executive order in March, saying he was trying to prevent noncitizens from voting in elections. Trump has blamed his loss in the 2020 presidential election in part on unfounded claims that noncitizens cast large numbers of bal-

lots.

Noncitizens have voted in some elections, but studies have found it to be rare.

The order requires states and the federal government to create lists showing who is eligible to receive mail ballots by relying on a federal database of citizenship.

Critics have questioned the use of the database, saying it is incomplete and outdated in some cases, which could create errors that remove eligible voters from the rolls.

Under the new rule, the Postal Service would also need to review and approve the designs of ballot envelopes for thousands of voting jurisdictions. The changes would include adding barcodes to envelopes to help thwart fraud.

The executive order is just one of a number of measures Trump has taken to restrict voting ahead of the midterms.

GETTY IMAGES
The University of Iowa is one of several colleges that have closed or merged African American studies units. Some institutions are citing low enrollment and limited funding as cause for the cut in programs.

U.S. colleges are cutting back African American studies, related programs

COLLEGES FROM A1

have also trimmed classes, removed them from the core curriculum or cut staff.

Enrollment in the programs has been falling in recent years, data shows.

For three straight years, students received fewer than 700 degrees in African American studies nationally, the lowest level in the last two decades, according to an analysis of federal data through 2025 by a researcher at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. That's despite the fact that the number of schools offering degree programs has gradually risen during the same span.

"It is quite puzzling," said Robert Townsend, director of humanities, arts and culture programs at the academy, an honorary society and policy research center.

Low enrollment has made the programs a target for cuts at some schools.

Take the University of North Texas (UNT), which projected a \$45 million shortfall for the fiscal year ending this month. The university blamed falling enrollment, especially among international graduate students, and cuts in state funding for in-

Fewer degrees in African

American studies

U.S. colleges awarded fewer than 700 African American studies degrees in each of the past three years, the lowest levels in two decades.

Source: American Academy of Arts and Sciences analysis of federal data.

struction and operations.

“UNT is facing a significant budget challenge,” the school said on its website.

To help balance the budget, the school said it would close or consolidate a long list of programs, including undergraduate minors in Africana studies, Asian studies, Mexican American studies, LGBTQ studies, women's and gender studies, and degrees related to linguistics.

Some states have passed laws requiring schools to review and cull programs that yield few degrees. For instance, the University of Toledo cited such a law in Ohio when it suspended admissions to its bachelor's program in Africana studies last year.

And the University of Iowa noted that there were only nine students in the bachelor's program for African American studies when it decided to eliminate the major. It also closed its African American studies program.

But department chairs point out that the cuts are coming at a time when some states have also passed laws restricting courses focused on race or ethnicity.

For instance, a Florida law enacted in 2023 bars core general education classes — select courses required for graduation — from teaching “identity politics.” A North Carolina law passed this year generally bars public universities from requiring courses “related to divisive concepts” involving race or gender. And Texas A&M canceled eight courses, citing new policies governing race and gender instruction. The canceled courses included “Introduction to Race and Ethnicity” and several courses focused on diversity.

On the federal level, the Trump administration has attacked diversity, equity and inclusion programs, arguing that they amount to race discrimination that violates civil rights laws. As part of the anti-DEI effort, the administration blocked many research grants related to race.

The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment on the cuts to African American studies programs.

Erica R. Edwards, chair of Black studies at Yale University, said such programs have become a target because “the field is unapologetic in its critiques of fascism, antiblackness, sexism and antitransness, and antiimmigration.”

“Given the concerted attempts of our current administration and its allies to suppress history and silence truth, it comes as no surprise that Black Studies programs are facing challenges from the inside — cuts, intense scrutiny, censorship, and consolidation

— as well as attacks from the outside," Edwards wrote in an email to The Post.

Some say the cuts are part of a broader ideological attack on the humanities.

“Although conservative attacks on the humanities have recurred periodically over the past several decades, the present moment is markedly different in scale and coordination," said the executive committee for the American Studies Association, a scholarly organization, in a recent public statement.

Neetu Arnold, a policy analyst for the conservative Manhattan Institute, said the cuts are probably driven by low enrollment rather than politics. Still, Arnold said she believes that Black and African American studies departments have blurred the line between scholarship and advocacy.

“It’s hypocritical for department chairs to deride the cuts as political when they’re the ones who have allowed their departments to become highly politicized hotbeds of scholar-activism,” Arnold said.

To be sure, some cuts may be temporary. The University of Louisville in Kentucky paused admissions to three graduate programs, including its Pan-African studies PhD, because of tight funding. But a spokesman said it is likely that admissions will reopen when more funding is available.

And some universities said they are continuing to offer classes and fund research in the field, despite consolidation and other administrative cuts.

Consider Northwestern University in Illinois. The school recently decided to move its African studies program from its research office to its provost's office and eliminate two positions that supported the program. The move received national attention in part because the university says the program, founded in 1948, is the oldest of its kind in the United States.

Despite the changes, a Northwestern spokesman said the program will continue to conduct research, offer a certificate for graduate students, and sponsor both a major and minor for undergraduates.

“None of that is changing — it will all continue,” said spokesman Jon Yates. “To be clear: The program is not being downgraded.”

Still, more cuts could be coming to African or African American studies programs across the country.

For instance, the University of Georgia said it is evaluating whether to drop low-enrollment programs as part of a regular review.

That includes its African American studies major.

DOLLY PARTON 1946-2026

From ‘rags to rhinestones’ and topping charts, it was Dolly’s world

Dolly Parton performs the song “Hello God” with the help of a church choir at the Country Music Association Awards in 2002 in Nashville.
M. SPENCER GREEN/AP

STEVE SCHAPIRO/GETTY IMAGES

Jane Fonda, left, Ms. Parton, middle, and Lily Tomlin from a scene in the 1980 comedy "9 to 5."

PARTON FROM A1

an international superstar and an unlikely feminist heroine, instantly recognizable for her profusion of sequins and the dramatic proportions of her bust, often accentuated by her skintight clothes. She took no offense, she said, when people made note of her figure. Dolly, the cloned sheep who made global headlines in the 1990s, was so named because her DNA came from a mammary cell.

“I don’t look real,” Ms. Parton conceded. But her taste for glitter and gilt “came from a very serious place,” she told The Washington Post — “just a poor country girl’s idea of glamour.”

One of 12 children whose father supported them, in part, by selling moonshine, Ms. Parton was 5 or 6 years old when she wrote her first song. By the end of her career, she had written more than 3,000 — sometimes scribbling lyrics on dry cleaning receipts and other scraps of paper in her incessant creative drive — and sold more than 100 million records with hits such as “Jolene,” “My Tennessee Mountain Home,” “Coat of Many Colors” and “I Will Always Love You.”

She won 11 Grammy Awards, as well as one for lifetime achievement in 2011, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1999, received a Living Legend medal from the Library of Congress in 2004 and was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006. In 2022, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Ms. Parton parlayed her musical success into a movie career, starring with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in “9 to 5” as overworked office employees who seek vengeance — and fair pay — from their sexist boss. Ms. Parton later played a brothel owner in the musical comedy “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” (1982) and a Southern beautician, a.k.a. “glamour technician,” in the three-hanky film “Steel Magnolias” (1989).

In a manner that evoked the entrepreneurial spirit of Walt Disney, Ms. Parton conjured a place where fans could escape into her world, opening the Dollywood theme park in 1986. Located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, it became one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state and a boon to the beleaguered local economy. Dollywood drew millions of visitors with rides and attractions, including a replica of the two-room cabin where Ms. Parton grew up in a holler of the Great Smoky Mountains.

Along with her music royalties, proceeds from the theme park helped make Ms. Parton one of the richest self-made women in the United States, with a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine last year at \$450 million.

Described at times as a “secular saint,” Ms. Parton engendered admiration verging on veneration with philanthropic efforts including the Imagination Library, a program launched in her native Sevier County, Tennessee, in 1995. She undertook the project, she said, to spare others the struggles that illiteracy visited

upon her father.

In 2016, when wildfires ravaged her region of Tennessee, Ms. Parton announced that she would provide monthly stipends of \$1,000 to families left homeless by the disaster. The initiative grew to support 900 families for six months, according to Blue Ridge Public Radio, and delivered a total of \$12.5 million to the people of Sevier County.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic, Ms. Parton donated \$1 million to Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, which helped develop the Moderna vaccine.

When she received the Moderna jab in March 2021, she did so on camera, telling viewers that, at 75, she was “old enough” and “smart enough” to get it. For the occasion, she penned and sang new lyrics to the tune of “Jolene”: “Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaacine. I’m begging of you, please don’t hesitate ...”

In 2022, the parent company of Dollywood announced that it would pay for the tuition, fees and books for any employee who sought higher education. The same year, Ms. Parton received the Courage and Civility Award from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and his then-partner and now wife, Lauren Sánchez, a recognition that included \$100 million for Ms. Parton to distribute to charity in whatever manner she chose. (Bezos is the owner of The Washington Post.)

Ms. Parton's phenomenal popularity extended across the political spectrum and grew over the years to include feminists who once would have disdained Ms. Parton for her distinctly not women's liberationist outward appearance. She was the rare celebrity treated as royalty both at the Grand Ole Opry and among drag queens, some of whom "look more like me than I do," she joked.

Ms. Parton insisted that she didn't “do politics,” telling Jad Abumrad, host of the 2019 podcast series “Dolly Parton's America,” that “I have too many fans on both sides of the fence.” It sometimes seemed, Abumrad said in the podcast, that Ms. Parton offered Americans a rare point of consensus: Who doesn’t love Dolly?

The recognition, journalist Sarah Smarsh argued in her 2020 book, “She Come By It Natural: Dolly Parton and the Women Who Lived Her Songs,” was in many ways long overdue.

"Many of her twenty-first-century fans are ... 'discovering' what was there all along, in plain sight but for the blinders of patriarchy: Parton's artistry, intellectual depth, and self-fashioned paradoxes that slyly comment on our country's long-denied caste system (looking 'cheap,' say, while by all accounts acting with pure class)."

“Parton projected a sweetly defiant self-possession throughout her career in a man's world,” Smarsh continued. “One doesn't get the impression that she expected or cared whether such validation would come. But it's a magnificent thing to witness — an atonement countless women have deserved but never received, flowering while the woman is alive to see it.”

'Town tramp'

Dolly Rebecca Parton was born near Sevierville, Tennessee, on Jan. 19, 1946. Her father, Robert Lee Parton, was a sharecropper who later owned a parcel of land. Her mother, Avie Lee Owens, was the daughter of a Pentecostal preacher and married at 15.

The Parton family's cabin had no indoor plumbing or electricity. The children had no toys. But they did have fiddles and guitars. They also had love, Ms. Parton often recounted. Onstage decades later, she would enter into reveries recalling her parents and the contentment they provided amid deprivation and tragedy including the death of her baby brother.

Ms. Parton grew up wearing dresses fashioned from feed sacks and, in the colder months, a garment that inspired her hit 1971 song “Coat of Many Colors,” about a child who proudly wears

SEE PARTON ON A9

TRISTAR PICTURES/EVERETT COLLECTION

Ms. Parton, left, and Olympia Dukakis in 1989. Ms. Parton played a Southern beautician, a.k.a. "glamour technician," in the three-hanky film "Steel Magnolias."

ED BAILEY/AP

Ms. Parton with her “Steel Magnolias” co-stars at the movie’s New York premiere in 1989. From left, Ms. Parton, Sally Field, Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine, Julia Roberts and Daryl Hannah.

Ms. Parton was awarded the Kennedy Center Honors in 2006, joining, from left, Zubin Mehta, Steven Spielberg, Smokey Robinson and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
LESLIE E. KOSSOFF/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

ANDREW HARNIK/AP
Ms. Parton's Imagination Library has provided more than 300 million free books to young readers.

PARTON FROM A8

to school a coat her mother had sewn from rags. The song went:

My mama made for me

Ridiculing her for her attire, Ms. Parton's classmates locked her in a coat closet, an experience that she said scarred her but later fed her compassion as a songwriter.

She traced her appearance as a performer — the peroxide-blond hair, the heavy makeup and a body-hugging wardrobe that she said invited whippings from her father — to a woman from her childhood she described as a “town tramp.”

The woman had “yellow hair piled on top of her head, red lipstick, her eyes all painted up, and her clothes all tight and flashy,” Ms. Parton told the magazine Southern Living. “I just thought she was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen. And then when everybody said, ‘Oh, she’s just trash,’ I thought, ‘That’s what I’m going to be when I grow up! Trash!’”

Musically inclined from a young age, Ms. Parton began playing what she described as a “busted-up mandolin” when she was 6. Two years later, an uncle, Bill Owens, provided her first real guitar. He was a band musician and worked with Ms. Parton on her first recording, “Puppy Love,” released in 1959.

He also helped arrange for his niece to appear on a local radio program, which put her on the path to her debut at the Grand Ole Opry when she was 13. Even before then, Ms. Parton said, she had fallen in love with the public.

"This was what I had always wanted — no, needed," she wrote in the memoir "Dolly: My Life and Other Unfinished Business" (1994). "It was the attention I had longed for. I knew what they were giving me. Now I had confidence in what I had to give them."

Ms. Parton was the first member of her family to receive a high school diploma. The day after graduation, she left for Nashville on a Greyhound bus with all of her belongings loaded in grocery bags.

She “was soon so broke she fed herself by stealing food from grocery stores or roaming hotel hallways in search of room-service trays left outside doors for pickup,” Smarsh wrote. But in 1965, Ms. Parton signed a contract with Monument Records. One of her first hits was a song that she did not write but that accurately reflected her worldview. The song was called “Dumb Blonde,” and it went:

Just because I'm blond,

Don't think I'm dumb

'Cause this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool

In 1966, Ms. Parton was married to Carl Dean, the owner of a Tennessee asphalt business; they had met on her first day in Nashville outside the Wishy Washy Laundromat. Dean, described by Ms. Parton as a “loner” who preferred rock to her style of music, rarely appeared with his wife in public and continued running his company well after she was an established star.

Ms. Parton and her husband, who died in 2025, had no children. A complete list of survivors was not immediately available. Her brother Floyd Parton, who died in 2018, wrote several songs with Ms. Parton. Her sister Stella Parton became a singer, as did her brother Randy Parton. Her sister Rachel Parton George became an actress, appearing in a TV version of “9 to 5” (as Rachel Dennison).

'Hello, I'm Dolly'

Ms. Parton developed her signature appearance, bewigged and bespangled, early in her career. Even some of her instruments — she played guitar, dulcimer and flute, among others — sported rhinestones.

"You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap," Ms. Parton quipped, referring not only to her glitzy accoutrements but also to her numerous cosmetic surgeries "to fix whatever's saggin', baggin' or draggin."

“Her voice is an amazement,” journalist Chris Chase wrote in the New York Times in 1976. “In ‘Love Is Like a Butterfly,’ Dolly’s work is itself as sheer and delicate as a butterfly’s wings ... while in ‘Travelin’ Man,’ she hoots and hollers and drives and mocks. Sometimes she hits a high note and it breaks into pieces, and a little shower of crystally sounds comes down; sometimes she hits low notes soft and furry and filled with loneliness. Her voice can quiver ... twang ... throb ... lift. ... It is

Ms. Parton's debut solo album, "Hello, I'm Dolly," was released in 1967. Months later, she joined the pompadoured, Nudie suit-sporting country music singer Porter Wagoner on "The Porter Wagoner Show." At first, many TV viewers resented the absence of her predecessor, Norma Jean. But they soon came around to Ms. Parton, and the show's wide syndication catapulted her and her songs to national renown.

almost always true and sweet."

During their seven-year professional partnership, Ms. Parton and Wagoner became one of the best known duos in country music, with hits including “The Last Thing on My Mind,” which appeared on their 1968 duet album “Just Between You and Me,” and “Please Don’t Stop Loving Me.” Three times they were named vocal group or duo of the year by the Country Music Association.

In the meantime, Ms. Parton continued pursuing a solo career. Having left Monument Records for RCA, she released the single “Just Because I’m a Woman” in 1968, a lament about double standards (“My mistakes are no worse than yours / Just because I’m a woman”) that Ms. Parton said was inspired by her husband’s dejection when he learned that she had been with other men before their marriage. In 1971, she had her first No. 1 hit with the yodeling “Joshua.” In 1975 and again in 1976, she was the CMA’s female vocalist of the year.

As Ms. Parton became increasingly successful on her own, her partnership with Wagoner degenerated into an arrangement that she likened to indentured servitude. Despite what by many accounts was Wagoner's controlling behavior, she outstayed her five-year contract with him by two years — and then, in 1974, decided she was done. “I Will Always Love You,” with its lines about “bittersweet memories,” was her goodbye to him.

"The song came straight from the bottom of my heart," Ms. Parton later reflected in the book "Dolly Parton, Songteller: My Life in Lyrics" (written with Robert K. Oermann). "All of those feelings, all of those thoughts, all of those things we had been through, all the things we had been to each other, all of the things we had done to each other, all of that was in one song. I was so emotional I was crying when I was writing it."

Ms. Parton's partnership with Wagoner was long fodder for tabloids, but neither ever confirmed a romantic element to their relationship. After Ms. Parton left his show, Wagoner sued her, essentially claiming that she owed her career to his tutelage. Rather than fight the suit, Ms. Parton settled for \$1 million, which she paid off over years. She and Wagoner were said to have reconciled, although she said the lawsuit “broke both our hearts.”

"I Will Always Love You" went on to become a megahit covered by dozens of musicians, most notably Whitney Houston for the soundtrack of the 1992 movie "The Bodyguard." Elvis Presley asked to record it but demanded half the publishing rights. In one of her most consequential business moves, Ms. Parton refused to relinquish her copyright — a decision, she noted years later, that eventually made her enough money to buy Graceland, Presley's Memphis estate, if she had wanted to buy it.

Ms. Parton wrote another of her most famous songs, the No. 1 hit “Jolene” (1973) around the time that she penned “I Will Always Love You” — possibly on the same day, she later speculated, reviewing records from the time.

Loosely inspired by her husband's flirtatious encounter with a bank employee, the song features a memorable chorus: "Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, I'm begging of you, please don't take my man." It was recorded hundreds of times and, along with "Coat of Many Colors" and "I Will Always Love You," was entered into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

'The way of the mountains'

In 1976, Ms. Parton began appearing in a syndicated television show, "Dolly." The next year, she released her first self-produced album, "New Harvest ... First Gathering," which included the hit song "Light of a Clear Blue Morning." She described it as her "song of deliverance":

It's been a long dark night,

And I've been a waitin' for the morning.

It's been a long hard fight,

But I see a brand new day a-dawning.

In 1978, “Here You Come Again” (the song appeared on an album by the same name) brought Ms. Parton her first Grammy Award, for best country vocal performance by a woman.

Many of Ms. Parton's songs were ballads that she self-deprecatingly described as “sad-ass songs.” “The Bridge” (1968) tells the story of a pregnant woman, unmarried and abandoned by her lover, who returns to the bridge where they first kissed and contemplates ending her life.

In a similar vein, “Down From Dover” (1969) recounts the anguish of a young woman — rejected by her family because she has become pregnant out of wedlock — who gives birth to a still-born baby girl. Dying before she was born, the song says, was the child’s way of telling her mother that the absent father was not “comin’ down from Dover.” The song, Ms. Parton recalled, was so controversial that many disc jockeys refused to play it.

One of many songs inspired by real life, "Daddy Come and

Get Me" (1970), written with Ms. Parton's aunt, Dorothy Jo Hope, was based, in part, on the story of a woman whose cheating husband, tired of her despair, had her committed to a mental institution.

“That’s just the way of the mountains,” Ms. Parton told the Times, reflecting on the bleakness in some of her music. “You grow up singing those old sad songs. You don’t even think they’re sad.”

She continued: “I was born with a joyful heart, but I’m extremely sensitive. I hurt deep, and I’ve hurt a lot in my life. I feel deep for everything I see.”

With her 40-20-36 hourglass frame, her acrylic nails, her rhinestones and her wigs (“It’s human hair,” she said, “but not this human’s”), Ms. Parton was not a traditional avatar of the feminist cause. She resisted overt identification with women’s liberation, once joking that if she had set fire to her bra it “would have burned for four days.” But in the final analysis, she agreed that she had lived the movement’s principles.

“I suppose I am a feminist if I believe that women should be able to do anything they want to,” Ms. Parton told Time magazine in 2020. She went on: “I just really feel I can live my femininity and actually show that you can be a woman and you can still do whatever you want to do.”

Ms. Parton lifted up poor and working women in her music and in her films, especially “9 to 5,” whose anthem-like title song won Ms. Parton two Grammy Awards and an Oscar nomination for best original song. (Decades later, she was nominated for a Tony Award for the score of “9 to 5: The Musical.”)

Ms. Parton's next Hollywood outing was as Mona Stangley in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," opposite Burt Reynolds as the local sheriff. During the film's production, Ms. Parton suffered from severe health problems, including endometriosis that required surgery and depression that she said led her to consider suicide.

Amid her struggles, Ms. Parton would lose herself in songwriting, a process that she likened to entering into a trance, during which she would pen as many as 20 songs in two or three days.

"I just kinda get into a place where nothing else exists," she told The Post. "I try to relax and once it starts to come it stirs up my creative juices and then, of course, I'm in that place for as long as I want to write and then I don't quit till I just about fall out. I don't hardly eat anything. I don't sleep. That's called writing binges. That's like my time with God."

Ms. Parton was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1986.

Her other films from that era included “Rhinestone” (1984) with Sylvester Stallone — a flop — and “Straight Talk” (1992), a star vehicle featuring Ms. Parton as a call-in radio show host.

She recorded with Columbia Records and her own labels, Blue Eye and Dolly Records. She collaborated with musicians including Kenny Rogers (they had a major hit with the duet “Islands in the Stream”) and won a Grammy in 1987 with Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt for the album “Trio.”

In her solo work, Ms. Parton increasingly explored bluegrass, the music of her youth, winning a 2000 Grammy for her album "The Grass Is Blue." Another bluegrass collection, "Little Sparrow," was nominated for a Grammy the following year.

She was nominated for a second Oscar for her song “Travelin’ Thru,” written for the 2005 film “Transamerica,” with Felicity Huffman as a trans woman seeking to form a relationship with her son (played by Kevin Zegers).

In the later years of her career, Ms. Parton won two Grammy Awards, in 2019 and 2020, for the contemporary Christian songs “God Only Knows” and “There Was Jesus.” Her first rock album, “Rockstar,” was released in 2023.

Ever the entrepreneur, Ms. Parton announced plans in 2021 to release a signature fragrance, called Scent From Above. Around that time, she told the Wall Street Journal that she wore makeup while sleeping on the chance that she would have to hurry out of bed because of a tornado. She said she touched up her Maybelline and Max Factor over the course of the day — at least part of which she would spend, as ever, writing songs.

"This isn't all I am," she remarked to the Times years earlier about her appearance. "It's not even most of what I am. Hopefully people can see beneath the hair to know there's a brain, beneath the boobs to know there's a heart, and behind all the other stuff to know there's some talent."

Ms. Parton opened Dollywood in 1986 in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, where it became one of the state's top tourist destinations.
AMY HARRIS/AP

THE WORLD

努力把连云港港建设成为区域性滚装

CN-STR/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Chinese-made vehicles wait to be exported in eastern China earlier this month. Chinese state media praised Canada's decision to walk away from trade talks with the United States and impose retaliatory tariffs.

As the U.S. and Canada clash, China casts itself as a champion of free trade

VINCENT THIAN/AP
In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, above, struck a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping on agricultural products and cars, looking to reduce his nation's dependence on the U.S. Now the deal appears prescient.

“China seeks to cast itself as a steadying counterweight to an erratic superpower that targets its allies and partners with whipsaw tariffs.”

Ali Wyne, a senior U.S.-China researcher with the International Crisis Group

Beijing tries to appear as stable market against backdrop of chaotic world

BY JOSHUA YANG

As President Donald Trump imposes tariffs on goods from around the world, China is casting itself in a role once claimed by the United States: champion of free trade and stable market in a chaotic world.

Canada's decision to walk away from trade talks and impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products, becoming the second nation to do so, drew praise from the first.

A “Chinese-styled counterattack,” state media claimed Sunday. “Canada’s response offers the world a glimpse of what China has long stood for.”

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said as much last week. Retaliatory tariffs, he said, are “like the kind of things that China would do.”

Ottawa and Beijing prepared for this moment. In January, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, looking to reduce his nation's dependence on the United States, struck a deal with Chinese President Xi Jinping on agricultural products and cars.

Carney's visit to Beijing, the first by a Canadian prime minister since 2017, was a signal that the sides were mending a relationship strained by Canada's 2018 arrest of a top Chinese technology executive wanted by the United States and China's subsequent detention of two Canadians.

Now the deal, in which Ottawa agreed to admit 49,000 Chinese electric vehicles at most-favored-nation tariff rates in exchange for improved access for Canadian canola seed, canola meal, lobsters, crabs and peas, appears prescient.

China signed a free trade agreement with Switzerland last week and waived tariffs on goods from all but one African nation in May.

“China seeks to cast itself as a steadying counterweight to an erratic superpower that targets its allies and partners with whipsaw tariffs,” said Ali Wyne, a senior U.S.-China researcher with the International Crisis Group.

"The Chinese government is always willing to take advantage of a situation that would weaken the Trump administration's position," said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. Beijing has invested heavily invested in foreign development projects and alternative international payment systems to ensure it holds a central position in the global financial system.

Still, Liu said, policymakers will have to walk a delicate balance between challenging U.S. financial dominance and avoiding responsibilities they're not prepared to assume.

As a net exporter — China produces more goods than its own people can buy — the country relies on the rest of the world to buy its products. But it has much to lose from dethroning the U.S. outright.

The U.S. dollar is the global financial system's dominant currency. While the role confers significant advantages, including lower interest rates to the ability to impose effective sanctions, it also requires constant attention: payments infrastructure, bailouts and military power.

Beijing might not want — or be able — to bend the system toward the renminbi. Policymakers “would want the dollar system to work because they themselves can hardly build an alternative system that works as smoothly,” Liu said. “China can basically free-ride.”

As the trade war deepens, Chinese is already winning.

“We are literally abandoning leadership on our own,” Liu said. “China doesn’t even need to do anything.”

FRANCE

Dozens in small village are injured in tornado

A tornado ripped through a small village in southern France, damaging about 300 homes, destroying several cars and injuring dozens of people, authorities said Tuesday.

The tornado struck Pomas, a village of about 1,000 people, on Monday and rescue teams continued their search through ruins Tuesday, though no people were immediately reported missing.

Authorities said that 39 people were injured.

Alain Bucquet, the head of the local government office, later said 20 of them were hospitalized, with none of them in critical condition as of Tuesday evening. Authorities

opened emergency accommodation centers to house displaced residents.

Bucquet said the Pomas school was partially destroyed, but assured residents that the town's children would be able to attend classes in surrounding municipalities starting on the first day of the school year in September.

In the broader Aude department, about 1,400 households were still without electricity Tuesday morning, officials said.

The region was under a thunderstorm alert at the time of the tornado, with wind gusts exceeding 60 mph recorded at a nearby meteorological station. The third stage of the Vuelta a Espana bike race, which was held in southern France on Monday, was halted because of hail.

— Associated Press

INDIA

Sailors still missing one week after wreck

Rescuers searching for 22 missing sailors have found no trace of their Panama-flagged cargo ship after the vessel sank in the Bay of Bengal last week, the Indian Coast Guard said Tuesday.

Search aircraft and ships were scouring the area where the cargo ship MV Ocean Winner reportedly sunk Saturday about 276 miles from the Paradip coast of India's eastern Odisha state.

The joint search by the Indian Coast Guard and Indian Navy has been complicated by the area's exceptionally deep waters and found only an oil slick and two life rafts near the vessel's last known position, officials said.

DIGEST

The lack of wreckage has hampered efforts to determine the cause of the sinking and where to focus search operations, authorities said.

The vessel transporting iron ore to China was carrying 24 crew members, including 20 Chinese nationals, three Myanmar nationals and one Bangladeshi, according to the coast guard. Two Chinese crew members were rescued Saturday following a distress call from the ship, the coast guard said.

— Associated Press

LIBYA

Bodies of at least 6 migrants found

Libya's security authorities recovered the bodies of at least six migrants in the southeast of the country after their vehicle broke down in the desert, the Alwahat Security Directorate said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Directorate said the bodies were recovered in a desert area about 124 miles northwest of the town of Jalu.

Libya has become a transit route for migrants fleeing conflict and poverty to Europe via dangerous routes across the desert and over the Mediterranean since the toppling of former leader Moammar Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising in 2011.

Two bodies were found inside the broken-down vehicle, three more were found about 2½ miles from the vehicle, and one body was found about six miles away, after tracking their footprints, the Directorate said.

According to the vehicle documents, its owner was from Chad, the Directorate said.

— Reuters

Tens of thousands of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in dozens of camps in Bangladesh held a rally Tuesday to demand their safe return to their home state, nine years after they fled a government crackdown. The demonstrators urged the international community to ensure security in Rakhine state.

Former Armenian President Robert Kocharyan and his eldest son were detained after law enforcement officers raided businesses linked to the family, the country's Anti-Corruption Committee said. A case was opened against Kocharyan, 71, who leads parliament's second-largest opposition bloc, on charges of abuse of authority, bribery and large-scale money laundering, according to Armenia's Prosecutor General's Office.

— From news services

CIA director makes rare, unannounced visit to Moscow

The purpose of the trip taken by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, seen above at the White House in April, was not immediately clear.
ANDREW HARNIK/GETTY IMAGES

A screenshot from a social media video shows a U.S. plane approaching Moscow on Tuesday.
SOCIAL MEDIA/REUTERS

Trip comes as Ukraine has stepped up attacks deep inside Russia

BY ALEX HORTON, MICHAEL BIRNBAUM, WARREN P. STROBEL AND JOYCE SOHYUN LEE

CIA Director John Ratcliffe was in Moscow on Tuesday, people familiar with the matter said, for a rare visit by a U.S. spy agency chief as Russia slogs through its fifth year of war in Ukraine.

U.S. officials had not announced Ratcliffe's trip, but publicly available flight tracking data captured the movement of a U.S. government transport plane from Joint Base Andrews on the outskirts of Washington to the Russian capital. The aircraft departed Moscow about eight and a half hours later, tracking data from Flightradar24 shows.

Spokespeople for the CIA, the Pentagon and the U.S. Air Force declined to comment. The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Those familiar with Ratcliffe's trip to Russia spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the visit.

It was not immediately clear what the trip's purpose was or whether any other senior U.S. officials were part of the U.S. delegation.

Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow coincided with a fraught period in U.S.-Russia relations. Russia and Ukraine have stepped-up long-range strikes on each other's territory with no end to the war in sight. Some analysts have warned that Russian President Vladimir Putin might escalate with military probes against Europe's Baltic countries or other NATO members, which could precipitate a new crisis.

The two superpowers are on opposite sides of the Iran conflict. Iran is Moscow's most important ally in the Middle East, and Russia has provided Tehran targeting intelligence on the location of U.S. military assets in the region. The U.S. Treasury on Monday unveiled a sweeping campaign of sanctions and diplomatic pressure meant to asphyxiate Iran's economy.

The Kremlin was mum about the visit. Spokesman Dmitry Peskov initially said the Kremlin had no information about

the U.S. military aircraft that arrived at Moscow's Vnukovo International Airport. The Russian side has no plans to meet with representatives of the U.S. administration this week, he said.

Peskov did not immediately respond to a request for further comment after news broke that Ratcliffe was aboard the plane.

Ratcliffe's visit to Russia was reported earlier by CBS News.

The last known visit by a CIA director to Moscow was in November 2021, when William J. Burns, who led the agency under President Joe Biden, warned Putin and his top aides not to attack Ukraine and spelled out what the consequences would be. Moscow launched its full-scale invasion within weeks.

Ratcliffe's visit to Moscow came as Ukrainian long-range strikes into Russia, including the capital, have targeted energy infrastructure and online retail facilities, unnerving the population. Russia also has stepped up drone and missile strikes on Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, and elsewhere, exploiting shortfalls of air-defense resources.

President Donald Trump, at a NATO summit in Turkey in July, appeared to grant Ukraine's long-standing request that it be able to produce U.S.-designed Patriot air-defense missiles on its soil. He later backed away from that promise.

The U.S. aircraft that arrived in Moscow, a C-17A Globemaster III, is the Defense Department's workhorse heavy transport plane. The airframe is especially valuable for sensitive diplomatic visits, allowing leaders to bring a tailored suite of specialized vehicles, electronic equipment and support personnel.

The C-17A departed from Joint Base Andrews on Sunday evening, bound for Riga, Latvia, according to tracking data from Flightradar24. The plane appeared to stay in Latvia for a 24-hour layover before departing for Moscow on Tuesday morning, landing shortly after 9 a.m.

A second U.S. Air Force plane, a C-40B, also took off from Joint Base Andrews and landed in Riga several hours after the C-17A's arrival in the country.

Publicly available flight tracking data does not show the C-40B on the next flight to Moscow. The aircraft is a modified business jet used to transport senior government officials.

A video shared on social media Tuesday and geolocated by The Washington Post showed a motorcade of cars, some with red diplomatic plates, driving east on New Arbat Avenue in central Moscow near a Russian armed forces building.

The C-17A took off from Moscow shortly after 5:30 p.m. local time and landed in Riga a little more than an hour later, data from Flightradar24 shows.

Natalia Abbakumova contributed to this report.

China pushes back on Trump's plan to ‘economically asphyxiate’ Tehran

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Monday announced wide-ranging sanctions against Iran.
CHIP SOMODEVILLA/GETTY IMAGES

CHINA FROM A1

tween Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the White House in late September.

“China will do everything necessary to firmly safeguard its rights and interests,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Tuesday, criticizing what he described as “illicit unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law.”

Analysts say the rebuke is a warning sign that further actions could derail the fragile truce built between Washington and Beijing.

“Washington has a difficult needle to thread: isolating Iran economically while trying to keep U.S.-China relations stable,” said Wendy Cutler, a former U.S. trade negotiator and now senior vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

“Depending on how far the U.S. goes, it's not out of the question that Beijing would threaten to cancel or postpone Xi's planned U.S. visit next month,” she said.

China is the primary buyer of Iran's oil, importing an estimated 1.4 million barrels a day before the war, largely through an unreported shadow network of hundreds of tankers operating outside normal legal channels.

Economically isolating Iran from that support would be difficult, requiring far-reaching sanctions on Chinese banks and refineries, and perhaps including military and investigative resources to disrupt an ever-shifting network of hundreds of Chinese-linked shipping firms and shell companies spread across Asia and the Middle East.

Bessent on Monday said the “economic D-Day” sanctions will be “the single greatest financial offensive ever” against Iran and will target countries that support Iran’s economy to sever the “economic lifeline that sustains Tehran.”

He suggested that China would not be exempt from the penalties.

"If they facilitate transactions and are part of the ecosystem that turns Iranian oil into money, into repression, they will be targeted. ... We want to make clear here today that no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions."

tor.

Without naming Beijing, Bessent said the U.S. Treasury is prepared to engage in “frank discussions” with relevant countries to shut down Iran’s oil sec-

Lin, the Foreign Ministry spokesman, defended China's cooperation with Tehran on Tuesday, saying it is “conducted within the framework of international law” and “should not be disrupted.”

Chinese banks play a key role in the Iranian oil trade, including financing smaller refineries that purchase and process Iranian oil.

Asked directly on Monday whether the U.S. would target Chinese banks, Bessent warned that no group was out of reach but offered that “the best way to engage with countries is through quiet diplomacy.”

In an earlier action in April, Bessent said he had sent letters to two unnamed “larger” Chinese banks warning they could face secondary sanctions if Iranian money was found flowing through their accounts. Days later, the Treasury Department placed sanctions on Hengli Petrochemical, one of China’s largest independent refineries, for buying Iranian oil.

Beijing's Commerce Ministry responded aggressively, taking the unprecedented step in May of ordering Chinese banks and companies not to comply with U.S. sanctions on five refiners, calling them “unjustified extraterritorial” laws that “shall not be recognized, implemented or complied with.”

Beijing has long sought to build a parallel financial system that reduces its exposure to the dollar and U.S. sanctions. But its arsenal of countermeasures — including the blocking measure from May — has limits. China's government can shield companies from penalties at home but cannot insulate them from losing access to the dollar, global insurance or U.S. markets.

“China’s appetite for risk in opposing American [sanctions] will depend on how confident they are that collateral damage to the Chinese economy can be contained and U.S.-China relations kept from dangerous escalatory spirals," said Isaac Kardon, adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Beyond banks and refineries, Washington has already attempted this year to crack down on the shadow maritime network trading in oil and chemicals between China and Iran, imposing sanctions on dozens of vessels and shipping entities, and seizing sanctioned ships carrying Iranian oil. But analysts say those efforts represent a game of maritime whack-a-mole, as targeted networks adapt quickly.

In one such raid in April, when U.S. forces commandeered the Tehran-bound ship Touska, which had docked at a Chinese port known as a loading point for chemicals used as rocket-fuel precursors, Trump said U.S. authorities found “a gift from China” on the ship, “which wasn’t very nice.”

That seizure temporarily spiked oil prices but did little to upset relations between Beijing and Washington, as the two leaders met with friendly fanfare the following month.

But Bessent's new maximum pressure sanctions campaign could have deeper impacts, analysts say, beyond just a canceled summit.

“In light of the retaliatory toolbox Beijing has been building in recent years, it has many levers to pull to harm U.S. interests, including export restrictions, sanctions on U.S. companies, and slowing down or even halting U.S. agricultural purchases,” said Cutler, the former U.S. trade negotiator.

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The U.S. is escalating its economic war on Iran. Here's what that means.

A banner depicting the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on Aug. 4. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced expanded sanctions against Iran on Monday.
MAJID ASGARIPOUR/REUTERS

An excavator works on rebuilding the Gachin Bridge in Bandar Khamir, Iran, on Aug. 11. Even before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February, economic frustrations worsened by international isolation drove mass protests late last year.
ATTA KENARE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

Tehran's top trade partners include China, Iraq, Turkey and the UAE

BY SAMMY WESTFALL AND JOSHUA YANG

After 10 weeks of stalled efforts to build President Donald Trump's initial agreement with Iran into a broader deal to end the war, open the Strait of Hormuz and come to a nuclear settlement, the United States this week unveiled “Operation Economic Outcast.” The campaign of expanded sanctions and diplomatic pressure is aimed at further isolating Tehran, in part by imposing penalties on its remaining trade partners.

Nearly half a year after the U.S. and Israel launched the war, which has killed scores of senior Iranian leaders, cut off nearly all oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and sent the global economy reeling, Washington has reached again for one of its favorite tools in its arsenal.

Announcing the campaign Monday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent used forceful language, but declined to specify which countries would be targeted or when new penalties on Iran's trading partners would take effect.

Here's what to know about how the sanction could work, and what impact they could have.

What is the stated goal of the sanctions?

Using the analogy of the D-Day invasion from World War II, Bessent said the U.S. “in that same spirit,” would launch an “economic onslaught” against Iran’s economy and “sever every economic lifeline” that sustains its regime.

The U.S. used to be “managing the Iranian threat,” he said. Now, “we are ending it.”

Iran is already under extensive sanctions that have isolated it from much of the global financial system.

To impose still more pressure, the department said it mapped the networks, facilitators and channels Iran uses to evade sanctions and smuggle oil — and is expanding the categories of conduct that may be subject to future secondary sanctions. It also said it was privately “engaging” partners around the world to stop any Iran-related activity, before imposing broader secondary sanctions, without providing a deadline Monday. He said the U.S. would enforce a “zero-leakage” approach.

Iran's top trading partners include China, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Iraq.

The goal is to give Iran a clear choice: “complete global isolation and a subsistence economy, or a path back to normalcy,” Bessent said.

When would the sanctions take effect?

Analysts said the announcement serves as little more than a stern warning until it comes into force, and its details are fully expounded.

The U.S. already had a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, said Richard Nephew, a senior research scholar at Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.

"If you've not already been" doing that, then what has the U.S. government "been doing for the last 19 months?" he asked.

In response to a question over why the sanctions were not taking immediate effect, Bessent said he is “giving everyone the opportunity to remedy bad behavior. Why would I want to blow up the global financial system?”

Bessent said Trump is privately contacting world leaders to demand that they support the U.S. in choking off Iran economically. However, he would not identify the leaders contacted or provide a deadline for action, only saying that the U.S. did not have “infinite patience.”

Bessent's answer was one of the most “telling” things about the announcement, Nephew said. “Does that mean in six months he is prepared to blow up your international financial systems?”

"We are lacking any degree of seriousness from these guys," Nephew added. He said he thinks that when the officials "sat down and thought about what it would be to impose" the sanctions they had in mind, they "got really scared. And said, 'let's just make this a warning and go from there.'"

What do the sanctions target?

The Treasury Department said it is adding five sectors of Iran's economy to its target list: cryptocurrency used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and regime insiders, weapons-related technologies, gold used to stabilize Iranian currency, Iran's airlines and national shipping that carries weapons components and oil.

In addition, it announced sanctions on 60 entities, individuals and vessels that enable Iran to procure nuclear or missile technology, conduct cyber operations and sell oil.

Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior director of the Iran programs at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank that advocates for intensive Iran sanctions, said he believes Bessent's announcement is a "shot across the bow" and a "promissory note" with the potential to have major impact on Iran.

The emphasis is on eroding “facilitators from companies and illicit networks” and new, more “granular” determinations across sectors that have proved “more resilient” in the face of past sanctions, he said.

“If Washington goes through with this,” including enforcement against countries that deal with Iran, “it will be a measure of seriousness,” he said.

How would they work?

The Iranians have learned how to operate under a maximal U.S. sanctions effort, with banks, companies and entire industrial sectors considered off-limits to vast swaths of the international financial system.

“Everyone that they're doing business with has accepted for years that this is a risk of doing business, and they're okay with that, because they make a lot of money,” Nephew said. “It is not apparent to me, based on what happened today, that any of those counterparties now believes the Trump administration.”

“All those financial institutions that are thus far prepared to do business with a heavily sanctioned jurisdiction are going to continue seeing the value of doing so,” he said.

Even before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran in February, economic frustrations worsened by international isolation drove mass protests late last year, in which millions of Iranians took to the streets, sparking a violent government crackdown. In recent months, the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, appeared to be “taking it up a significant notch,” and the threatened sanctions would only add to that pressure, said Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst for the International Crisis Group.

"The Iranian government may sound bullish on their capacity to absorb the pain," Rafati said. "But the pain is already there ... And it is going to increase across the board."

The United Arab Emirates announced last week that it would suspend all trade and financial transactions with Iran — a trade decision that came after the UAE accused Iran of firing ballistic missiles at the Emirates, and after a call between Trump and his Emirati counterpart, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, earlier that day.

Nephew said the UAE's announcement is “material and significant,” but that “the devil's in the details” on whether or not the country will execute.

How could the sanctions affect China?

Bessent did not directly address the question of whether the U.S. will cross new lines with China — the largest importer of Iranian oil — before President Xi Jinping is due for a state visit to Washington in September.

Asked whether Chinese entities that facilitate Beijing's purchases of Iranian oil would be among those targeted, Bessent said: "no one is above the reach of U.S. sanctions."

Monday's sanctions are set to target a handful of firms based in Hong Kong and mainland China, but do not include large oil refineries or financial institutions.

Operation Economic Blackout is “fairly consistent” with previous sanctions on small Chinese firms, said Zongyuan Zoe Liu, a senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “I wouldn’t interpret this as a major escalation.”

Washington's limited approach comes in part from a reluctance to open a new front in the U.S.-China trade war, said Ali Wyne, a senior U.S.-China researcher and advocacy advisor for International Crisis Group. "Given how keen Trump has been to maintain both a trade truce between the United States and China and his personal rapport with Xi, he seems unlikely to empower Bessent to target major Chinese financial institutions."

But Operation Economic Blackout is also unlikely to deter China's relations with Iran, given that most major Chinese institutions already refrain from violating sanctions on Iran. "I wouldn't blame Treasury for not identifying any bigger fish, because the bigger fish ... already excluded themselves from Iranian-related trade," Liu said.

“China has made clear on many occasions its firm opposition to illicit unilateral sanctions that have no basis in international law,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said in a news conference Tuesday, adding that Beijing would take “everything necessary” to safeguard its interests.

Rachel Chason, Riley Beggin, David J. Lynch and Aoife Walsh contributed to this report.

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ECONOMY & BUSINESS

Why Target's now-pulled Halloween clown costume caused such an uproar

A Target store in Emeryville, California. Target quickly removed the contents of a webpage featuring a Black boy in a clown costume resembling a minstrel caricature.
BLOOMBERG

As a parent who has purchased my share of scary Halloween costumes, I was particularly disturbed by the controversy now engulfing Target.

Michelle Singletary

THE COLOR OF MONEY

The retailer is being berated on social media for a

gaffe (if we are to believe it was a gross misjudgment) that many feel harks back to blackface.

Target quickly removed the contents of a webpage featuring a Black boy in a Halloween clown costume resembling a minstrel caricature.

The item was listed under Target's in-house Hyde & EEK! Boutique brand as the “Kids’ Glows Under Blacklight Circus Clown Halloween Costume.”

In the photo, the boy is wearing a matching top and pants with orange-and-black zigzag stripes (think jack-o'-lantern pattern), black gloves and a hood attachment with a tiny top hat. Instead of a traditional painted clown's face, the costume featured a mask with shockingly oversize teeth and a grinning smile.

The kid looked like a miniature Sambo-style caricature, a trope that still makes me mad. It was part of a degrading history that should stay in the past, one where Black people were depicted as baboonish clowns. To understand today's outrage, you have to know how these characters were used to justify treating Black Americans as second-class citizens.

Blackface imagery was prominent during the Jim Crow era and featured on postcards, cookie jars and other retail items that showed exaggerated dark faces with bright red or white grinning lips. There were “pickaninny” characters showing Black children with unkempt clothes and hair.

Who in the world would have approved that costume? How did it ever make it into the retailer's offerings?

"As a company, we know we got this wrong, and we are deeply sorry," Target said in a statement in response to my inquiry. "The costume is offensive and should never have been part of our assortment. It is no longer available for sale. We know this is especially hurtful for our Black guests, team members, and partners. Removing the costume is an important first step, and the company is looking closely at how this happened and what needs to change to

ensure this won't happen again."

Despite the mea culpa, the backlash has been stinging, as it should be.

Many people have pointed out that the child model is positioned with his body and hands in a way similar to the cover illustration of an early 19th-century piece of sheet music titled "Mr. T. Rice as the Original Jim Crow." Rice was Thomas D. Rice, a White man who performed in blackface.

These blackface acts — performed first by White actors and later by Black ones — were supposed to be comic relief, but there was nothing humorous about entertainment used to mock millions of disenfranchised Black Americans being denied their civil and economic rights.

I do need to note that the Black actors who ended up performing such roles faced a painful paradox. To get work, they had to play the “step-and-fetch-it” characters. For many, the choice was a matter of economic survival.

"Target put a Black child in a snaggletooth grin and a min-strel mask, priced it at \$25, and called it a Halloween costume," one user wrote on Threads. "Now here's the apology: 'we got this wrong.' Nah yo, you didn't get it wrong. Blackface has been American entertainment for 150 years, and this passed every desk on the way to the shelf. That's not a slip or a mistake, that's a reflex."

The Instagram account for the Afrocentric Films Collaborative, which says it promotes positive stories and images about Black culture and the African Diaspora, asked: "We still shopping at Target?"

For context, it always comes down to the money — or more specifically, the systemic, institutionalized racial discrimination that Black Americans have experienced.

As I wrote in my award-winning series on race and money, "Sincerely, Michelle," Jim Crow was never a laughing matter.

When the institution of slavery ended, it was replaced by officially sanctioned economic oppression. What came next were local and federal laws that kept Black Americans from equal access to jobs that could have elevated their income enough to allow them to build generational wealth.

"The legacies of slavery, Jim Crow, and the New Deal — as well as the limited funding and scope of anti-discrimination agencies — are some of the biggest contributors to inequality in America," says a 2019 report by the Center for American Progress. "Together, these policy decisions concentrated workers of color in chronically undervalued occupations, institutionalized racial disparities in wages and benefits, and perpetuated employment discrimination. As a result, stark and persistent racial disparities exist in jobs, wages, benefits, and almost every other measure of economic well-being."

Folks are wondering whether this costume debacle slipped through because of Target's pullback on its diversity, equity and inclusion policies. The retailer pointed out in its 10-K SEC filing for the fiscal year that ended in January 2026 that such changes carried a business risk.

"In 2025, we announced that we modified and concluded certain of our initiatives related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, which resulted in adverse reactions from some of our shareholders, guests, team members, and others, as well as consumer boycotts organized throughout 2025," according to the filing.

The company added that being more inclusive could “result in negative reactions” from “governmental entities.” At the same time, Target also said it was concerned that moving away from DEI policies could lead to negative publicity.

I get it. Target is trying to insulate itself from an administration that has attacked DEI policies, while serving a diverse customer base crucial to its bottom line.

But this misstep was wholly avoidable.

You can't find the costume image on Target's site. Search, and you find this: "We're sorry! This page is currently unavailable. Please try again later."

That last line says far more than the retailer realized.

Yes, try again. Do better.

Markets rise as a drop in oil prices reins in concerns about high inflation

BY STAN CHOE Associated Press

NEW YORK — Oil prices fell again Tuesday, which helped ease worries in the bond market and support stock prices.

The S&P 500 rose 0.3 percent and edged a bit closer to its all-time high set earlier this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 160 points, or 0.3 percent, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 0.7 percent.

Some of the strongest action was in the oil market, where the price for a barrel of Brent crude fell 3.6 percent to \$87.27 for a second decline following 13 gains in 14 days. The drop came even though tensions between the United States and Iran seemed to ratchet higher after the Trump administration announced new sanctions to further hurt Iran's economy.

Brent's price zigzagged between \$72 and \$102 last month as hopes rose and fell that the U.S. and Iran could reach a deal that would allow oil tankers to freely exit the Persian Gulf again.

A delegation from Pakistan left Iran on Tuesday after talks with Iran's president on reopening the Strait of Hormuz and reviving negotiations to end the Iran-U.S. conflict, the Pakistani military said. Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi said a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian had been “very positive and productive.”

Tuesday's drop in oil prices reined in worries about high inflation, which had helped drive Treasury yields higher in the bond market through the summer. Yields had gotten so high that the Treasury Department announced a surprise move last week to increase its repurchases of longer-term Treasury notes and bonds.

High yields make borrowing more expensive for everyone and can slow the economy's growth while undercutting prices for stocks, cryptocurrencies and other investments.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.63 percent from 4.70 percent late Monday and from 4.74 percent at the end of last week. That's a significant move for the bond market, though the 10-year yield remains firmly above its 3.97 percent level from before the war with Iran sent oil prices and worries about inflation much higher.

On Wall Street, Nvidia and other winners of the boom in artificial-intelligence technology helped lead the way. Nvidia rose 2.2 percent a day after its drop of 2.9 percent was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500.

AI stocks have veered up and down through the summer on worries that their prices shot too high and that the AI boom may not be sustainable if it doesn't produce enough profits for companies. Nvidia will report its latest quarterly results on Wednesday, which could help steer the next move for AI-related stocks.

The gains for chip stocks helped offset a 30.7 percent plunge for Dick's Sporting Goods, its worst drop on record, after the retailer reported weaker results for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Executive Chairman Ed Stack said the retailer cut prices on some of its footwear and apparel to remain competitive, while launches for some footwear during the quarter ended up being weaker than it expected.

The company also cut its forecast for an underlying measure of profit in 2026 for both its Dick's and Foot Locker businesses. Dick's spent \$2.4 billion last year to acquire Foot Locker.

All told, the S&P 500 rose 24.42 points to 7,677.28. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 160.24 to 53,577.40, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 171.11 to 26,151.30.

TECHNOLOGY

SpaceX to build \$100B spaceport in Louisiana

Elon Musk's space company plans to spend \$100 billion to build a massive spaceport in Louisiana to launch rockets, state officials and the company announced Tuesday.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry (R) said the deal was a big win for the state and country, likening the impact of the new launch site to the 1803 Louisiana Purchase.

Musk was not there, but he appeared with Landry in a promotional video that played before the governor's speech. SpaceX President and Chief Operating Officer Gwynne Shotwell also spoke at the event.

The spaceport would be located on 125,000 acres of land formerly owned by Exxon along Louisiana's southern coast about 200 miles west of New

Orleans in Vermilion Parish. The location provides key advantages, state officials said, including access to abundant natural gas and the ability to launch to a wide range of trajectories.

It would be the company's fourth and largest launch site, playing a key role in ramping up missions of its reusable Starship launch system, according to a news release from Louisiana Economic Development. SpaceX wants to dramatically increase rocket launches as it aims to put more satellites in orbit. The Louisiana site could support thousands of launches each year, the news release said.

State lawmakers had approved sizable tax incentives for the project.

Anne Rolfes, director of the environmental advocacy group, the Louisiana Bucket Brigade, said she was worried the state was moving too fast with a project that would “irrevocably alter” the state’s fragile coast-

line. Construction is expected to begin in 2027, with the first launch targeted for as early as 2029, according to state officials. — Associated Press

PHARMACEUTICALS Bristol Meyers Squibb ends partnership

Bristol Myers Squibb has ended its partnership with cell therapy start-up Cellares to expand the manufacturing of its personalized blood cancer therapy, a company spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

Bristol Myers determined that Cellares's cell therapy manufacturing platform, Cell Shuttle, could not meet the requirements to make its CAR-T therapy, Breyanzi, at commercial scale, the spokesperson said. Cellares did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The development underscores

DIGEST

the challenges of manufacturing CAR-T therapies, a personalized form of cancer treatment that has transformed care for some blood cancer patients but remains difficult and expensive to produce.

Breyanzi, first approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2021, is used to treat lymphoma and other blood cancers. It generated \$1.36 billion in sales in 2025.

Endpoints News first reported the development.

Cellares CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus had disclosed the loss of a “large pharmaceutical customer” in a LinkedIn post over the weekend, adding that this will force the company to “resize” its workforce.

The start-up did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the layoffs.

The companies signed a deal in 2024 worth up to \$380 million under which Bristol Myers reserved manufacturing capacity across the U.S., the European Union and Japan for CAR-T therapies.

Bristol Myers's decision applies only to Breyanzi and its approved manufacturing process.

CAR-T therapies work by removing a patient's immune cells, reprogramming them in a lab to fight cancer, and infusing them back into the body.

— Reuters

ROBOTICS

Humanoid robot sets 100m sprint record

A Chinese humanoid robot set a 100-meter sprint record of 8.86 seconds in Beijing on Tuesday, beating its robot competitors — and the fastest recorded human time.

The race was part of China's World Humanoid Robot Games, an Olympic-style competition in its second year in Beijing. The event is also a showcase for China's rapid advances in robotics amid an intensifying technology rivalry with the U.S.

The previous robot record of 9.39 seconds had been set just three days earlier, on Saturday.

For comparison, the men's 100-meter world record is 9.58 seconds, set by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt in 2009.

The record-breaking robot fell after crossing the finish line and crashed into a padded barrier. — Associated Press

Self-driving technology company Waymo said Tuesday that it would begin testing its autonomous vehicles in Munich in the coming weeks, laying the groundwork for a commercial ride-hailing service in Germany that it aims to launch toward the end of 2027. Waymo said its vehicles would initially drive manually across Munich to map local roads and test with trained specialists behind the wheel.

— From news services

Canada announces retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products as trade war deepens

BY RILEY BEGGIN

Canada struck back at the United States on Tuesday, announcing new tariffs of up to 50 percent on hundreds of American goods and deepening a trade war between the two longtime allies that has been simmering since President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year.

Beginning Sept. 8, Canada will double its tariffs on American steel and aluminum from 25 percent to 50 percent. And it will impose tariffs ranging from 15 percent to 50 percent on about 700 other products, including fish, milk and food products, plywood, plastics, aluminum foil, appliances, agricultural equipment, motorcycles and electronics.

The move — promised Saturday by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney — came in response to the imposition last week of 50 percent U.S. tariffs on about \$20 billion in Canadian goods, including whisky, dairy products, toys, clothing and hockey sticks. After talks in Washington to avert those levies unexpectedly collapsed, Carney promised that Canada would retaliate “dollar for dollar.”

“You're at war when you're attacked, and we got attacked,” he told Canadians on Saturday. “We're going to hit back.”

On Tuesday, Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne provided the details, saying the new "countertariffs are designed primarily to provide protection for Canadian industry impacted by U.S. tariffs and allow them to compete against U.S. products in the Canadian market."

With two weeks until the tariffs take effect, the two sides have time to prevent a further escalation in economic hostilities. But it was unclear Tuesday whether any further meetings had been set.

In fact, Trump spent Tuesday morning targeting Canada in a series of social media posts. He complained that “Canada has been ‘Ripping Off’ the U.S.A. for decades.” He wrote that “I deal with many countries, and Canada is easily the most difficult and unreasonable. They feel entitled, but they are not a State, and will be entitled no longer!”

And he wrote that he is “giving serious consideration” to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America “in that we don’t expect to be doing much business with Ontario any longer.”

Trump was also posting about Canada on Monday, when he threatened a new round of higher tariffs on Canadian cars, trucks, auto parts and steel to take effect Jan. 1.

The U.S. tariffs had applied to just 5 percent of the \$382 billion in Canadian goods that the U.S. imported last year, and Canada's retaliatory tariffs impact around 6 percent of the \$333 billion in U.S. goods exported to Canada. But the two economies remain top trading partners.

"It's going to be felt," said Mary Lovely, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, especially in the targeted industries and states, which will likely put pressure on the Trump administration to strike a deal. "Canada is a good market for U.S. producers."

The new trade war between the U.S. and Canada is a marked change from the long-standing close relationship between the North American allies, which annually exchange more than \$700 billion in goods. Tensions between the Trump administration and Canadian officials have been simmering since Trump upended the country's traditional trade relationships in an effort to reduce U.S. reliance on global imports and increase exports.

Trump officials have repeatedly expressed frustration that Canada has been the only nation besides China to retaliate for Trump's tariffs. Carney has presented himself as one of the few world leaders willing to stand up to Trump's demands, unlike other longtime U.S. partners. The European Union and Britain have both cut deals with the administration in the face of Trump's tariff threats.

Last week, Carney told reporters that he would end trade negotiations with the Trump administration rather than accept a list of concessions. "We cannot accept what they offered, and we will not give what they've asked," Carney said.

U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said in a call with reporters Friday that Canada rejected a deal that would have offered “the best treatment of any major exporter to our market.”

While the U.S. tariffs that took effect early Saturday were not expected to have a significant effect on American consumers, U.S. farmers rely on Canadian suppliers for nearly 80 percent of the potash fertilizer they use each year. Northern border states such as New York, Michigan and Maine run on electricity produced by Canadian hydropower. And Midwestern refineries are optimized to process heavy sour crude oil from Canadian wells, which keeps U.S. gas prices lower than they otherwise would be.

Ellen Francis and David Lynch contributed to this report.

Threat of higher prices over tariffs gives fresh life to Democratic arguments

TRADE FROM A1

bors."

COLE BURSTON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

A coil of steel is transported at an Ontario facility. Trade negotiations between Washington and Ottawa broke down over the weekend.
GABE SOUZA/AP
Attendees listen as Vice President JD Vance speaks during a visit to Maine on Monday.

The threat of higher prices on consumer goods including gasoline, automobiles and hockey sticks gave fresh life to Democratic arguments that Trump is destabilizing the economy.

"It is a big, heavy gut punch," said Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), co-chair of a bipartisan Great Lakes congressional task force and one of the most endangered House Democrats running for reelection in a district that voted for Trump. "For the Great Lakes economy, they best review what they just did because it's extremely damaging."

With control of Congress at stake in this fall's elections, Vice President JD Vance defended the mounting Canadian trade war Monday during a visit to Maine, which shares a border and economic ties with the northern nation.

"They apply ridiculous tariffs and other non-tariff duties on Maine products coming into Canada, and they don't expect Maine or anybody else to fight back," Vance said in response to a reporter's question, after speaking at a Brewer manufacturing plant. "We're sick of that."

Some who watched Vance said they didn't realize that trade talks between the U.S. and Canada had collapsed Friday, which triggered a tit-for-tat of U.S. tariffs and retaliatory actions from Canada on Saturday. On Monday, Trump took it further and said he would impose stiff tariffs on Canadian goods such as cars and steel as of Jan. 1.

Several attendees at the Vance event said they believed the president was looking out for broader U.S. interests.

“You can’t just roll over,” said Susan Potvin, a 68-year-old retiree from Newport and registered independent voter. “Fighting for equity and fairness for people in Maine, as well as the rest of the border states, as he talked about, is important.”

Trump campaigned heavily in 2024 on fighting rampant inflation and improving the economy, but since taking office last year has taken a series of actions widely seen as making things worse.

His cuts to federal spending and the federal work force hurt states where government is a major part of the economy such as Virginia, Maryland and California. The war in Iran has driven up oil prices, while tariffs have been blamed for increased costs on a vast array of consumer goods and for hurting U.S. farmers.

News of the escalating tiff with Canada hit especially hard in Michigan, where the auto industry has operated freely across the border for more than a century.

John Sellek, who represents a coalition of 17 Michigan business groups in the automotive, tourism and agriculture sectors that all oppose Trump's tariffs on Canada, predicted the trade war would affect elections.

“Most all of our members voted for President Trump, they're not opposed to President Trump,” Sellek said. But Canada is their biggest trading partner and the tariffs are hurting their businesses and increasing costs, he said.

Shawn Fain, president of the United Auto Workers union, a key mobilizing force for the Democratic Party in Michigan, condemned any escalation “on Canada, a country with strong unions and labor standards” in a statement on Monday.

But Fain said levies can work to protect U.S. jobs in specific contexts. "If we're going to increase tariffs anywhere, it should be on countries where automakers continue to offshore jobs because they can pay workers \$3 an hour, force them to work in unsafe conditions, and crack down on independent unions," Fain said.

Charles Wade, a United Auto Workers representative at a Ford factory in Wayne, Michigan, said the members he speaks to are split on auto-industry tariffs but he worries that any new trade levies on the sector will impact

union jobs.

“Those Canadian auto workers are union [members] as well,” Wade said. “An attack on one is an attack on all.”

Asked via text whether she believes Trump's trade war is protecting jobs, Ford auto worker Misti Robinette wrote "500% I do!!" She said she is a Democrat-turned-MAGA Republican who believes Trump is the "Best President I think I will ever see in my lifetime!!!!"

In Nevada, where Canadians are the top international tourists, Rep. Dina Titus (D) said visitation is already down 25 percent and she's worried the escalating trade conflict "will make it even worse." Titus said she hears concerns every day in her Las Vegas-based district about economic pressures on tourism, particularly tariff-driven cost increases on items including lobsters and fresh flowers.

"My constituents won't forget this," Titus said.

Republicans dismissed warnings from Democrats that the GOP would pay a political cost for Trump's trade policies.

“House Democrats have nothing to offer voters but distractions from their failures and the radical socialists taking over their party,” Mike Marinella, a spokesman for the campaign arm of House Republicans. “Meanwhile, President Trump and Republicans are delivering lower costs, putting Americans first, and making sure the rest of the world can no longer take advantage of our country."

Trump recently tried to address prices recently in another way by allowing more foreign imports of beef without heavier tariffs, but that created different kind of blowback from Republicans in cattle states who thought it would hurt their farmer constituents.

“I want to lower prices but this is a bad idea,” Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), who is running in one of the most competitive Senate races, said on X. “Iowa cattle producers raise the highest quality beef in the world. They’ve faced tough market conditions for years, and increasing beef imports would lead to more uncertainty and instability for our farmers.”

The issue of affordability helped Democrats run up wins in off-year elections in 2025, and this year they are campaigning heavily on the theme in congressional midterms.

Polling hints at the potential political consequences. In May, a Marquette Law School national poll found 67 percent disapproved of Trump's handling of tariffs, with a similar share who disapproved of his handling of the economy overall.

An April poll by the University of Calgary and Ipsos found more than twice as many Americans opposed tariffs on Canadian goods as supported them.

A Washington Post-Ipsos poll in July found 43 percent of voters saying they were “not as well off” as when Trump returned to office last year, which is among the highest saying this about any recent president and similar to the share who said this about President Joe Biden in 2023-24.

WEDNESDAY OPINION

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE KONDRICH/THE WASHINGTON POST; ISTOCK

My team fed chatbots election lies. Here's what happened.

BY LAWRENCE NORDEN

In 2024, one-third of Americans said they had used a chatbot at least once, and a tiny fraction turned to them for election information. Two years later, roughly half of Americans report using chatbots, with almost one-quarter using them daily. Many users are asking about politics. The 2026 midterms could be called the first chatbot election.

In the past few years, artificial intelligence models have developed rapidly, but they remain prone to error, raising concerns about their potential to spread election misinformation. So my colleagues and I decided to study popular chatbots to see if they would push back on election conspiracy theories or rebuff attempts to generate deceiving images, videos and audio. We have good and bad news.

When we supplied chatbots — including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Grok — with election falsehoods often peddled on social media, they were mostly truth-tellers. Though the bots frequently mixed up facts, they resisted election misinformation in general. This was true even though we prompted the models from the perspective of election deniers, drawing language from real social media posts. It was also true when we repeatedly pushed back against responses that denied election misinformation. The bots' ability to play the sympathetic listener suggests that, for now, they can serve as an important counterbalance to falsehoods shared on social media.

“I just don’t think that we can ever count on having an honest voting system from this point,” one of our election deniers told a chatbot. After praising the user’s patriotism, it responded, “There *is* a lot that isn’t right in our political landscape today, even if it isn’t massive ballot fraud.”

This is encouraging. But the positive news comes with major caveats, particularly when it comes to election-related deepfakes. When prompted, the chatbots fabricated photorealistic imagery of election fraud that in some cases included fake or falsified government documents. One platform even wrote the prompts to create such images for us.

When we tested them in March and July, the chatbots also could not reliably identify imagery as AI-generated — even when the photo contained unrealistic elements, such as misspelled and nonsensical text, and sometimes when the chatbot had created the deepfake itself.

We tested again in early August, after a California law went into effect requiring AI companies to embed difficult-to-remove identifying data, such as an image's origin, into AI-generated images and offer tools for users to view that data. In theory, those changes should have made it easier for chatbots to identify deepfake content. But our results were largely the same. Only Gemini referred to data embedded in the images when asked whether they were real.

These flaws are fixable, and no doubt some developers are already on the case. In time, perhaps some of these platforms will perform better. But self-policing alone is unlikely to be enough, and so far, there has been little regulation of AI in the United States.

First, courts and policymakers must figure out how and under what circumstances to hold AI companies accountable for harms their products cause. Social media platforms are largely shielded from liability for content their users post under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. Critics have argued that the breadth of Section 230's immunity protections has exacerbated social media disinformation. Though courts have not yet fully settled the question, AI companies are unlikely to receive the same kind of liability protections — and those standards will have a significant impact on what kind of gatekeepers chatbots become.

Second, though some AI companies appear to have complied with laws requiring watermarks for AI-generated content, there is no explicit requirement in the U.S. that chatbots be able to read those watermarks regardless of which tool created them. That should change so that any bot can identify AI-generated images or writing.

Third, AI companies must allow third-party researchers to perform rigorous independent studies of AI tools. This is critical to assessing risks posed by these models and understanding how users interact with them. Many companies make that difficult, with terms of service left ambiguous as to whether researchers can test harmful prompts on their models. That can create unacceptable legal risk for good-faith research. Policymakers at the local, state and federal levels can provide a legal safe harbor, especially for "red team" research, in which researchers test AI models to reveal vulnerabilities and flaws.

Finally, academics, journalists and election officials have a role, too. The chatbots we tested resisted election misinformation because accurate, well-sourced information was easy to find online. As merchants of disinformation learn to manipulate the bots, it will be increasingly important for chatbots to reliably access information from quality sources.

For more than 15 years, social media has roiled democratic institutions around the world. AI may be able to combat some of social media's most pernicious effects, but only with sensible regulation and a commitment from legislators and AI companies to ensure that chatbots benefit society. This year's election marks the next front in the battle to determine AI's impact on American democracy. Lawmakers must make sure it does more good than harm.

Lawrence Norden is the vice president of the elections and government program at the Brennan Center for Justice.

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I'm so glad I gave up my Saturdays for this class

BY JACK LIEBLEIN

As a 2026 college graduate, I have some advice for the students heading to class this fall. Whether you are an incoming freshman or a fifth-year senior, find a course or program that teaches debate and discourse. It may end up being the most meaningful part of your college experience. And it will help you succeed in whatever career you pursue.

I speak from experience. Two years ago, as a junior at Bucknell University, I signed up for a noncredit course known as a leadership seminar, sponsored by an independent organization called the Open Discourse Coalition and recommended by an alumnus I respect. The seminar met for eight hours every Saturday in September: The immersion approach aimed to provide a semester's worth of learning in a shorter time frame. I was wary of giving up so much freedom, but the alumnus told me I would not regret it.

He was right. Each Saturday, I and 20 other students gathered to talk about leadership — its nature, its meaning, its application. We were divided into four groups and assigned historical leaders to analyze. Each team evaluated its figure, then presented its findings and facilitated a 90-minute class discussion. The professor and our peers challenged my group's conclusions, forcing us to defend our claims with textual evidence. At times, we had to acknowledge that we were wrong.

The experience was often uncomfortable, but it was also eye-opening. Whether I was leading or participating in the discussion, I found myself asking: How do I convince my peers to agree with me? How do I show respect to the guy who keeps pushing my buttons? Am I man enough to admit my own mistakes? Is trying to win the debate worth getting angry or overheated — or do I want to get a beer with everyone afterward?

Before the first Saturday session was over, I was hooked. I was learning so much more than I could from a textbook. And I was shocked that my education to that point had not encouraged me to engage in meaningful debate. Everyone needs to learn how to argue well, disagree respectfully, reach consensus and preserve friendship in the face of differences. No one should think that they are always right, that the best arguments are flame wars on X, that their interlocutors are lesser creatures. Yet most of my education either sent such messages or did not dispute them. My classmates all told me they felt the same way. That is no preparation for a life well lived.

Nor is it preparation for career success. If you are going to be a doctor, you need a good bedside manner. If you plan to work in wealth management, you need to know how to woo clients. Nearly every job — even virtual ones — involves regular human contact. You are going to disagree with people. You are going to have difficult discussions. If you are ill-equipped to handle them, your work is going to be a lot harder and your path upward a lot steeper.

Hence my advice to students heading to class this fall. A growing number of schools offer debate- and discourse-focused programs. Find them, take them, demand more of them. Dartmouth, for instance, now trains every freshman in how to have productive dialogue. Lucky them. But most students will have to work harder to find programs that teach them how — and how not — to disagree.

Students need this — and so does society. Recent polling has found that 9 in 10 undergraduate students think “words can be violence.” That view risks encouraging actual violence when students encounter tough discussions and opposing views, as they inevitably will. But lowering the cultural temperature is not necessarily a goal that will attract 18-year-olds heading to college. Their biggest concern is likely how to get ahead in life. If that describes you, the best thing you can do is spend your time in college learning how to engage with people with opposing views. You will not regret it — but you will wonder why you never learned it before.

Jack Lieblein is an advisory board member at the Open Discourse Coalition.

RAMESH PONNURU

JD Vance vs. King Dollar, revisited

Three stories about the United States economy converged in mid-August. In decreasing order of importance: The official federal debt hit \$40 trillion. Primary voters chose - “debt hit \$40 trillion. Primary voters chose candidates for a slew of political contests that look sure to center on questions of “affordability.” And fans and critics of Vice President JD Vance debated his views about the global status of the dollar. These developments, usually considered in isolation, illustrate that voters and politicians alike want things that are fundamentally incompatible but refuse to acknowledge the trade-offs.

The dollar controversy began when a Vance critic circulated a 2023 clip of the then-senator. The dollar is the world's reserve currency, used by governments and firms to conduct transactions, settle accounts and hold as savings. Vance has repeatedly expressed the concern that this foreign demand for dollars distorts the U.S. economy. It reduces borrowing costs and encourages an unhealthy level of debt. It strengthens the currency relative to others, making imports to the U.S. cheaper for American consumers and exports from the U.S. more expensive for foreign consumers. The dollar's dominance, the thinking goes, thus contributes to larger trade deficits and suppresses manufacturing output and employment.

Most economists don't see it this way. Maurice Obstfeld, a professor of economics emeritus at the University of California at Berkeley, points out that the trade deficit expanded even as the dollar weakened between 2002 and 2006, and that Britain ran trade surpluses in the era of pound supremacy. He concludes that the U.S. trade deficit is mostly homegrown, a consequence of an economy with less savings than investment. Others have noted that manufacturing employment has been shrinking around the world in countries with trade deficits and countries with trade surpluses.

President Donald Trump has sometimes said he wants a weaker dollar, in line with Vance's comments, but he's emphatically defended its reserve status, too. "You know, if we lost that, that would be like losing a world war," he said in July 2025. But even a somewhat weaker dollar comes with costs. To favor one is to want Americans' paychecks to be able to purchase fewer foreign goods than they can now. Americans would produce more for the rest of the world and get less in return. Whatever other benefits that would bring, it would mean less affordability.

Viewing the dollar's high status as a “curse,” as Vance has suggested, raises an additional question: How should the U.S. get rid of it? The dollar became the reserve currency less because of policies deliberately designed to achieve that than because of America's prosperity and military power, the attractiveness of its capital markets, and confidence in its adherence to the rule of law.

Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, recently remarked that “if we’re not the strongest military in 25 years and the strongest economy, we won’t be the reserve currency either.” That’s presumably not the way most Americans would want to escape the disadvantages of King Dollar.

Some Trump administration officials, such as former economic adviser Stephen Miran, have suggested that the U.S. “impose a user fee on foreign official holders of Treasury securities.” That might drive the dollar down. But since U.S. citizens would need to buy more Treasurys, they would lend less to the private sector. Investment would suffer.

ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE KONDRICH/THE WASHINGTON POST; ISTOCK

Federal borrowing costs would also increase. That's a good thing, if you believe dollar dominance is a curse: The theory goes that the federal government has gone so deeply into debt because it has been easy. Make it more expensive for the government to borrow, and Washington will have to do less of it.

Yet interest costs, now the third-largest item in the federal budget, have been mounting for years without inducing greater fiscal discipline. Dethroning the dollar is more likely to lead to bigger deficits by raising interest payments than it is to cause a nationwide outbreak of responsibility.

Many economists think that the currency-curse theory gets the link between budget and trade deficits backward: Cut the budget deficit, and the dollar will depreciate and the trade deficit shrink. Yet the options for reducing the deficit remain as unattractive as ever. The tax increases that would raise the most revenue are unpopular. So are cuts to Medicare and Social Security, the biggest items in the federal budget. Downsizing the fourth-biggest item, the Pentagon, would endanger national security. That's why the deficit persists.

Lower budget and trade deficits, lower taxes, more manufacturing jobs, cheaper goods and services: These are all appealing but can't be had simultaneously. That won't stop us from continuing to try, though, which is why our policies are frequently incoherent and our debates often inane.

CRAIG BAILEY

The Washington Post

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off on Tuesday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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EDITORIALS

China and Russia are nipping at America's heels in the new space race

THE UNITED STATES has dominated the commercial space industry for so long that many Americans take it for granted. But that technological edge is starting to dull, with unnerving national security implications.

Two recent developments underscore what's at stake. A Chinese aerospace company managed to land a rocket booster this month for the first time, an engineering feat that only two American companies have previously managed to pull off: SpaceX and Blue Origin, founded by Post owner Jeff Bezos. This allows for rockets to be reused, dramatically reducing the cost of space launches.

Meanwhile, Russia is quickly deploying low-orbit satellites that can beam internet services to Earth. That system, called Rassvet, will help Russian forces regain the communications and targeting abilities over Ukraine that they lost when SpaceX founder Elon Musk cut them off from his Starlink service.

Ramping up commercial launch capacity is essential to deter future conflict in the final frontier.

Moscow has already launched two satellite packages this year — sooner than anticipated.

With near-peer competitors determined to emulate American success, staying ahead will help ward off future conflict in the final frontier.

To his credit, President Donald Trump signed a memorandum last week seeking to secure America's lead. He directed federal agencies to prepare U.S. space infrastructure to sustain a goal of more than 1,000 launches and reentries each year by 2030. But that highly ambitious target only underscores the challenge ahead: The Federal Aviation Administration authorized just 205 commercial space operations last fiscal year.

The greatest limiting factor right now is America's aging launch facilities, which face declining maintenance budgets, as a recent assessment from NASA's inspector general found. Addressing those constraints can't be accomplished simply through executive action. Investments from Congress will be required.

Also important is reducing the lengthy

— and often duplicative — regulatory reviews that stymie space missions. Fortunately, the FAA proposed such reforms just last month to ease the licensing of commercial space technology.

Competition is part of America's comparative advantage. The heart of the U.S. space industry has always been the promise that big bets could reap big rewards. SpaceX's record-setting initial public offering underscored as much. That's something totalitarian technocrats in Beijing and Moscow could never replicate.

Target is a store, not a political party

MICHAEL M. SANTIAGO/GETTY IMAGES
Women go back-to-school shopping at a Target in Brooklyn on Aug. 13.

THE AMERICAN FEDERATION of Teachers is leading a coalition of labor unions and activist groups to boycott Target over the

retailer's stance — or lack of a stance — on Immigration and Customs Enforcement. This isn't the first time Target has been boycotted for political reasons, but it's usually conservatives threatening to take their business elsewhere.

The Minneapolis-based Fortune 500 company has often loudly expressed its progressive values. Democrat Mark Dayton, an heir of the family that founded the parent company in the early 1900s, served as a senator and governor in Minnesota.

In the early 2000s, Target was part of what some conservatives called the “War on Christmas” for not using the word “Christmas” in holiday season promotions. In 2014, the chain announced a no-gun policy in all stores, even in places where carrying is allowed by law. In 2015, Target stopped separating some of its products into boys’ and girls’ sections in an effort to counteract gender stereotypes.

Conservative Christian groups said they were boycotting Target in 2016 after the retailer announced a pro-transgender bathroom policy in its stores. The company's CEO likened it to Target's 1960s efforts to include African American models in its advertising.

In 2020 and 2021, Target was at the forefront of corporate pledges around diversity, equity and inclusion after George Floyd was killed. The chain promised to increase Black representation in its workforce by 20 percent and spend over \$2 billion with Black-owned businesses.

In 2023, conservatives boycotted again over Target's Pride Month merchandise. The company pulled back in response and seems to have subsequently become decidedly less interested in staking out political positions.

Part of the explanation is that Target faces much bigger challenges to its business model. Its stock price peaked in 2021 and was trading at about one-third of its all-time high in late 2025. Michael Fiddelke, the CEO since February, is leading a turnaround effort that has pushed shares upward, but there's still a ways to go.

The AFT and AFL-CIO are telling their members not to buy school supplies from Target because it has “stayed silent on ICE’s occupation of its own hometown.”

The company said it shared guidance with store employees about protocols for dealing with ICE and resources related to their personal safety. Fiddelke also recorded an internal video message for staff, saying that “the violence and loss of life in our community is incredibly painful.”

It's understandable that the CEO wants to focus on executing his plan to “elevate the guest experience” with a “trend-forward assortment” of products, but people have become accustomed to Target taking political stances due to his predecessors’ outspokenness.

The left has had grievances with

Target in the past, as well. In 2010, the company donated to a pro-business group that supported a Republican for governor who opposed same-sex marriage. Target has also attracted ire for backtracking on some DEI plans.

Perhaps relevant to the current boycott is that Target is a nonunion company. That's hardly unusual in a country where 94 percent of private sector workers aren't union members, but the AFL-CIO's involvement might be intended as a subtle reminder that a nationwide drive to unionize stores could make the situation for management much worse.

People of all political persuasions shop at Target, and there's no pleasing everyone. The retailer appears to have learned that lesson from past combat in the culture wars. Rather than caving to activists, Target executives would be wise to stick to their turnaround strategy. Resisting union bullying would set a promising new precedent of selling goods based on the needs of customers, not the demands of whoever yells at the company the loudest.

No cuts for Social Security

Marc Goldwein's Aug. 20 online op-ed, "The best way toward a Social Security fix? This one is tried and true." which called for a fast-tracked Social Security commission, gets one thing right: AARP is strongly opposed to cutting the Social Security Americans have earned over a lifetime of hard work. And more than 80 percent of people across the country agree that Social Security should not be cut to "save" it, according to a survey AARP conducted.

The group calling for a commission has also released multiple recent proposals that would cut Social Security benefits. A fast-tracked commission would likely make irresponsible and devastating cuts to Social Security that the public would never approve.

There are many ways Congress can shore up Social Security without cutting the payments Americans have earned. These are the options that the vast majority of people support. Congress should listen to the voters, the hardworking people who built this country, and vote out in the open on a proposal that they and future generations can be proud of.

Nancy LeaMond, Washington

The writer is the executive vice president and chief advocacy and engagement officer at AARP.

Protect AI whistleblowers

The Aug. 11 front-page article “Businesses scramble to contain hacks by AI” discussed recent examples of artificial intelligence companies losing control of their systems. Those AI systems secretly engaged in destructive behavior without human instruction or authorization.

Before these disclosures, few understood how close tech companies appear to be to creating uncontrollable autonomous AI systems. Now officials are scrambling to understand the risks and are looking for ways to hold these companies accountable. The article listed some of the actions being proposed, including congressional investigations or lawsuits by state attorneys general, but it omitted one of the most powerful tools we have to bring this information to light: whistleblowers working inside AI companies.

Two years before the present disclosures, whistleblowers from OpenAI published a letter warning of the safety risks of AI and asked for protections for employees who disclose critical information about developing threats. Those protections, unfortunately, are still missing, making it perilous for more whistleblowers to come forward. Both the House and Senate took the first step of introducing bipartisan legislation called the AI Whistleblower Protection Act, but it remains in committee.

It has been two years since the OpenAI whistleblowers came forward. In terms of AI evolution, two years is an eternity, and we cannot afford to wait longer to fully mobilize every tool we have to understand AI threats. Established programs and statutory protections have shown for years that whistleblowers are critical for ensuring transparency. Congress should pass the AI Whistleblower Protection Act to allow whistleblowers to speak up without fear of retaliation.

Sam Brown, Frederick

The secret to longevity

The Aug. 22 Metro article “For two 109-year-olds, a friendship for the ages” said that when Velma Long and Dorothy Boggess were asked about the secret to their longevity, they replied that it was “being social.” But there is ample evidence suggesting that the secret to making it to 100 is just having good genes. Why can't people who are blessed to reach that age admit their good fortune? I would rather hear that acknowledgment than hear them attribute their extreme longevity to virtues, when many people who don't get anywhere near 100 are no less virtuous — just less lucky.

Felicia Nimue Ackerman, Providence, Rhode Island

Aging has its perks

Richard Sima's Aug. 3 column, "This skill can help protect your brain against aging," missed the real perks of being old. He should have asked me — a nonagenarian.

I don't need a 10-year warranty for anything. I don't have to worry about the tire around my middle. I have earned that extra piece of chocolate cake. I don't worry about being in an accident, as I know I will have to die of something. I don't worry about having an accident, as I know to look for the restroom in any place I go. I can put my wooden spoons and sharp knives in the dishwasher without fear of them wearing out before I do. I don't have to wash my clothes as often because I can't see the ketchup on my shirt, and neither can my friends. If I don't like what I'm hearing, I can put my hearing aids on mute. And I no longer feel the need to defend myself, because I know exactly who I am.

Janet Clement, Fairfax

How to dine with kids

The Aug. 19 Food article, “The definitive rules of dining out with kids,” had some good suggestions, but I think more attention should have been given to parental behavior. In a restaurant, parents’ behavior matters just as much as children’s.

Parents should set the example of “no phones at the table” by keeping theirs out of sight and shut off, as they would while attending a live performance. Use the outing as a time to connect with your kids. One fun activity I recommend is drawing a funny face on a piece of paper (while shielding your work from curious eyes), folding the paper at the neck and asking the child to draw the body, or vice versa. And if the food order is delayed, tour the restaurant with the young one while describing the artwork and other objects.

The main point is to make sure children know they have your attention — so they don't have to act up to get it.

Robert F. Benson, Silver Spring

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Dolly Parton: Gifted in song and storytelling, she got the rainbow

Dolly Parton performing in 1976.
DAVID REDFERN/REDFERNS

The doctor who ushered the infant Dolly Rebecca Parton into the world in 1946 was paid with a sack of cornmeal. Such was the transactional

I meal. Such was the transactional nature of health care for some around the Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee. Her father and mother had been 17 and 15, respectively, when they married, and could not have imagined how the world would be their daughter's oyster.

But not immediately. In “Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton,” Martha Ackmann writes that once a year, Parton’s father would measure his children’s feet with sticks that he took to town to buy shoes that did not fit. And Ackmann says that for country kids running barefoot most of the time, calamities were inescapable:

“Once Dolly climbed over a fence and came down hard on something poking through the dirt: the sharp cutting blade of a plow. She nearly severed her toes.” Was she taken to a nearby hospital? No, there wasn’t one. “As Dolly’s older brothers and father held her down, her mother poured kerosene into the wound, packed it in cornmeal, and sewed up the wound with a quilting needle.”

Her family knew the old story of a cheerful preacher saying to a hardscrabble farmer, "This is a right nice place you and Lord have here," and the farmer replying, "You should have seen the som'bitch when the Lord had it hisself." Young Dolly was steeped in the ethic of self-reliance.

She was a savvy businesswoman even when getting started in Nashville's music industry, which was not a lagoon of advanced thinking about the emancipation of women. In 1974, she was 28 and starstruck when Elvis Presley expressed interest in meeting her and recording "I Will Always Love You," which she had written. But when Presley's management insisted on at least half the rights to the song, she refused, the meeting was off, and she never met — never again wanted to meet — Elvis. But Ackmann reports that Parton said keeping the copyright to that one song made her enough money — perhaps \$10 million — she could have bought Graceland, Elvis's Memphis home.

Cinched into tight sequined gowns, wearing mountainous wigs and makeup seemingly applied with a trowel, she said people had no idea how expensive it was to make her look so cheap. A born aphorist, she also said: "The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain." And: "I'm not offended by all of the dumb blond jokes because I know I'm not dumb ... and I also know that I'm not blond." What she became was a genre-blending storyteller.

Saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker (1920-1955) was a genius who played on Manhattan’s West 52nd Street when it was the epicenter of jazz in the 1940s and 1950s. In “Country Music,” the companion book to Ken Burns’s documentary on this subject, writer Dayton Duncan tells this story: Some fellow musicians saw Parker feeding nickels into a jukebox to play country songs. One said, “Bird, how can you play that music?” He replied, “Listen to the stories.”

Parton's stories of humble origins and hard times disguised — usually — her steely pride. In 1977, she was interviewed by Barbara Walters, who asked her if “people like me” — meaning Manhattan sophisticates — would call Parton a hillbilly. Parton replied, “We were very proud people. People with a lot of class. It was country class, but it was a great deal of class.”

Americans have long since outgrown the sentimental insistence that theirs is a classless society. Indeed, perhaps more than ever before, American politics is about class distinctions. The most predictive fact about today's politics is the "diploma divide": Those with and those without college degrees vote — and think and feel — differently. American resentments are less about the distribution of material wealth than about the allocation of status and respect.

Ackmann says that, as a child, Parton heard, early and often, this phrase: "Don't get above your raisin." Meaning, don't get too big for your britches. Most of all, don't forget where you came from.

In 1995, this daughter of an illiterate father started Imagination Library, which in participating states mails free books — more than 318 million so far — to children when they are born. And every month thereafter, until they are 5, when they receive “Look Out Kindergarten, Here I Come!” The words “Here I come!” could have been the overture for the well-lived life that began 80 years ago.

ANDREJ IVANOV/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Hockey sticks in a Montreal store on Aug. 23.

JIM GERAGHTY

Trump says he's ‘the affordability president.’ That's rich.

Don't worry, America. As you lament the high cost of living, the president is here to protect you from the menace of ... imported goods from Canada that he has decided are too cheap.

After U.S. trade talks with Canada broke down on Friday, a new tariff of 50 percent is going into effect on Crown Royal whisky, Canadian milk, ice hockey equipment, cement, furniture, lighting fixtures, various tools, fence components, lumber, wood moldings, and a variety of plywood, fiberboard and veneered panels, among other goods. This is separate from the existing U.S. tariffs on steel, lumber and automobiles.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney says his country will initiate retaliatory tariffs against U.S. imports starting Sept. 8. Hey, Canada is only the United States' second-largest trading partner, so no big deal.

(Remember when the North American Free Trade Agreement was replaced by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement in 2020? The president who signed the USMCA gushed that it was “the fairest, most balanced, and beneficial trade agreement we have ever signed into law. It’s the best agreement we’ve ever made.” That president, of course, was Donald Trump.)

Back in July 2024, vice-presidential nominee JD Vance declared, “We believe that a million cheap knockoff toasters aren’t worth the price of a single American manufacturing job.”

Now, you may want to check the math on that, because that sounds like it's denying a lot of toasters to a lot of people — some of whom wouldn't be able to afford more expensive domestically produced toasters — just to save one job. I guess lots of Americans will have to accept room-temperature bread to avoid there ever being a layoff of anyone from coast to coast.

If you've spent years emphasizing that you prioritize protecting domestic jobs over the availability of less expensive goods for consumers, it gets hard to believe that affordability and the cost of living are your top concerns, or that, as Trump put it in a Truth Social post last November, "I AM THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT." You've already come out and made your primary objective clear: Americans should not have access to cheaper imported goods if that could threaten existing U.S. manufacturing jobs — even a single one, as Vance put it.

Unsurprisingly, congressional Republicans are increasingly uncomfortable with Trump's itchy trigger finger when it comes to trade wars. (In 2018, the president succinctly summarized his philosophy: "Trade wars are good, and easy to win.")

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, who appears to be in another tough reelection race, this time against Democrat Troy Jackson, warned Saturday, "If the Administration proceeds with these tariffs, they will increase costs for Maine families, as most businesses will have no choice but to pass on the tariffs to their customers through higher prices. Maine imports approximately \$2 billion in non-petroleum products from Canada each year. Ever since the tariffs were first announced, I have heard from many businesses, farmers, and lobstermen concerned about the cost of navigating the tariffs, the lack of domestic supply chains, and the likely imposition of retaliatory tariffs by Canada."

In July, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (South Dakota) sounded as if he had no appetite for another trade war right before the midterm elections. “I’m not a huge fan of tariffs as a general rule, unless there’s a specific purpose behind it — in most cases, creating a more level playing field for America’s businesses and our economy,” he told reporters. “But I haven’t heard the rationale for this.”

The good news for Republicans is that the full economic impact of a trade war with Canada won't be felt before Americans vote in the midterms. In 2022, nearly half of all voters cast their ballots before Election Day. In Minnesota, South Dakota and Virginia, early voting for the midterm elections starts Sept. 18. (As Yogi Berra said, “It gets late early out there.”)

The bad news is that this is really not the economic environment you want to run in if you're a Republican; about one-third of Americans approve of the job Trump is doing on the economy, while two-thirds say groceries are unaffordable.

The self-described “affordability president” keeps coming up with new ways to make goods more expensive. But hey, at least U.S. hockey stick manufacturers will be happy.

LEANA S. WEN

8 tips for eating healthier while increasing your appreciation for food

Recently, I wrote about how ultra-processed foods came to dominate the American diet and how their addictive properties have fueled overconsumption and

the obesity epidemic. Many readers followed up seeking practical advice: What should they do differently when deciding what to eat?

To explore that question, I spoke with Dalia Perelman, a dietitian and health educator at Stanford University. She offered eight small, practical changes in eating habits that can improve health while deepening our appreciation of food.

1. Cut out sugary drinks and deli meats.

These two categories are among the easiest to identify and have clear evidence of adverse health outcomes. Sugary beverages such as sodas and fruit-flavored drinks pack a lot of calories and are strongly associated with obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Packaged ham, bologna, salami, hot dogs, sausages and bacon often contain preservatives such as nitrates and nitrites, which have been linked to higher risks of some cancers.

2. Look at the back of the package, not the front.

"The front of the package is not very helpful at all," Perelman said, because that is where companies place marketing claims. "All-natural" does not mean a product is healthy, and "low sugar" may just mean artificial sweeteners are used instead.

She advises clients to focus on the nutrition label and ingredient list. Pay attention to how much added sugar, saturated fat and sodium the product contains. Also, look for beneficial nutrients such as fiber. "It adds a little more time at the store, but eventually you get pretty savvy and learn how to find good foods," she said.

3. Be clear about why you are buying a food.

If nutrition is the priority, do your research first. Apps such as Yuka can help by scanning a product's barcode and quickly comparing its nutritional profile with other options.

At the same time, not every food choice has to be about nutrition. When eating something mainly for pleasure, Perelman suggests slowing down. "If you are having an ice cream, savor it and enjoy it," she said. Paying attention to the experience can help people increase awareness of what and how much they are eating, and recognize when they feel satisfied.

4. Pair less-healthy foods with healthier ones.

If you are craving something like processed ham, Perelman advises building a more balanced meal around it. Use whole-grain bread to make a sandwich, add tomatoes and lettuce, and have a bowl of vegetable or lentil soup on the side. That way, the overall meal is nutritious.

You can also think about balance over the course of a day. If lunch was a hot dog, skip the cookies and chips later. An occasional indulgence is fine; the problem is when it becomes the default.

5. Retrain your taste buds.

Studies have shown that taste buds generate new receptors roughly every 10 days and that the palate can be retrained.

If you usually drink coffee with three spoonfuls of sugar, try using half a spoonful less one week and then reduce it more the next. Over time, the lower level begins to taste normal. "Pretty soon, you're eating half the sugar, and you are not feeling deprived because you don't need more," she said. The same strategy can work for salty or fatty foods.

6. Enjoy foods in their simplest forms.

This is one way to cut back on ultra-processed foods, which by definition have been substantially altered from their original ingredients.

Instead of buying a flavored yogurt with many additives, choose plain yogurt and add fresh fruit. If it needs more sweetness, add some maple syrup, honey or jam. This way, you control how much sugar goes in and enjoy ingredients closer to how they naturally occur.

7. Rethink the link between taste and health.

"I get very sad when I hear people equate healthy foods with not tasty, and the opposite, that if it's delicious, it's unhealthy," Perelman said.

Part of her work involves introducing patients to nutritious foods that are also flavorful. She also encourages them to reconsider foods they previously thought were appealing.

For example, if someone says they love Hershey's Kisses, she asks them to eat one very slowly and pay close attention to the taste and texture. Many people then realize it is not as enjoyable as they thought. "They go, 'Oh, it's actually waxy and super sweet, and I can barely taste the chocolate,' she said. Some begin to choose darker chocolates with richer flavor.

8. Be mindful, not paranoid.

Much of what Perelman teaches centers on awareness and attention rather than strict avoidance. Excessive restriction can backfire and make cravings stronger.

Instead, she encourages people to understand what they are eating and how it affects their bodies. Food sends powerful biological signals that influence digestion, hormone levels and metabolism. Choosing healthier options more often can help people feel better in the short term and, over time, support longer and healthier lives.

SPENCER PLATT
A New York City grocery store on Aug. 13.

Meta is proud to donate Ray-Ban Meta glasses to every blind veteran in America.

Don Overton lost his sight defending our freedom. Today, he uses Ray-Ban Meta glasses to navigate the world and “get my independence back.”

The future is for everyone - especially those who risked their lives for America.

Explore our commitment to America's veterans: bva.org/glasses

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 26, 2026

NATHAN HOWARD/REUTERS

APPRECIATION

Fabares's acting was shaped by intention

BY ROBERT LLOYD Los Angeles Times

Hypothetically speaking, were you of an age when television — broadcast television — regularly reran “The Donna Reed Show” and mid-'60s Elvis Presley movies, Shelley Fabares, who starred in both and died Sunday at the age of 82, might well have made a lasting impression on your impressionable youth. As you went through life together, a little jolt of happiness would accompany every new encounter; across the years there were many opportunities for such meetings, in which one found her older, unavoidably, but never aged. Petite, with delicate features and a soft voice, she nevertheless held a screen with authority.

Of course, you might have gotten on the Fabares train with "Coach," where she played the TV anchor girlfriend (then wife) of star Craig T. Nelson across nine seasons (with two Emmy nominations), or "One Day at a Time," where she provided Bonnie Franklin a competitive foil and sometimes appeared with her aunt, the great Nanette Fabray, as Franklin's mother. You might have absorbed her cumulative presence across decades of guest roles from "The Twilight Zone" to "The Rockford Files" to "Newhart." There are a lot of doors into this house.

Fabares would say that she had worked since the age of 3, first as a child model. She acted from age 10; her early television appearances included episodes of "Fury" and "Captain Midnight," the "Mickey Mouse Club" serial "Annette," and as Paul Newman's kid sister in a celebrated 1955 TV production of "Our Town," along with Eva Marie Saint and Frank Sinatra. She was 14 in 1958 when she was cast in "The Donna Reed

SEE APPRECIATION ON B2

SCREEN

A focus on the Duffys, not on America

Transportation secretary's YouTube series tells us more about family than nation

BY MONICA HESSE

Apologies for being so late on this, guys, but Sean Duffy's reality show travelogue debuted last week when I was experiencing my own American holiday in its purest form, i.e. learning about the War of 1812 while eating fudge on a horse, so it took me a few days to get around to watching "The Great American Road Trip."

But finally, here we are in a new YouTube series, celebrating the unique wonder of the United States

with our secretary of transportation, his television-host wife, his nine children, and his product placements. "Road Trip" is marketed as a highways-and-byways celebration of America's 250th, but it was controversially corporate-sponsored, which might explain why the Duffys visit that iconic American vacation destination, a Boeing factory, and why Sean later finds himself cheerfully asking a random executive in a hard hat, "What makes a great asphalt company?" And, "Did you grow up in the asphalt business?" And, "Do you fill up all the drums with asphalt?" Alexis de Tocqueville we are not.

Alexis de Rocqueville we are not. We are ... what, exactly? In six episodes, we are the Duffys piled into a series of rental cars, sprinting up the Rocky steps in Philadelphia, skiing in Jackson Hole, sorting cattle in Texas, inching down the Grand Canyon on world-weary mules. We are taking our daughter Paloma on a college tour of Harvard, but we are making it clear we don't want her to actually go there because "they have professionalized figuring out how they can take good SEE SCREENS ON B2

Above, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and his family in the Philadelphia episode of “The Great American Road Trip.” At top, Duffy and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, wave the checkered flags at the end of the Freedom 250 Grand Prix IndyCar Series race on Sunday in downtown Washington.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

The big impression of Scott's small films

BY JOSH ROTTENBERG Los Angeles Times

There are, broadly speaking, two Ridley Scotts.

There's Big Ridley, the visionary filmmaker of large-scale epics who has spent nearly 50 years creating some of the most indelible worlds in modern movies. He's the Ridley who unleashed a xenomorph aboard the Nostromo in "Alien" (1979), conjured the dystopian Los Angeles of "Blade Runner" (1982), resurrected ancient Rome in "Gladiator" (2000) and plunged American soldiers into the chaos of Mogadishu in "Black Hawk Down" (2001). Big Ridley commands armies of extras, builds enormous sets and deploys cutting-edge visual effects to create places that no longer exist — or never did. His movies have grossed roughly \$5 billion worldwide.

Then there's Small Ridley.

Small Ridley is the director who brings the volume down and puts the people front and center. Sometimes that means a genuinely smaller movie. Other times the canvas can still be enormous; what's small is the intimate story Scott chooses to tell within it.

That often-less-heralded side of Scott has been there from his first feature, 1977's "The Duelists," which sets an obsessive two-man feud against the sweep of the Napoleonic Wars. Scott's latest film, "The Dog Stars," in theaters Aug. 28, is set after a pandemic has wiped out most of humanity. That might sound like Big Ridley territory but the movie, adapted from Peter Heller's 2012 novel, keeps its focus on a small band of survivors, including a pilot (Jacob Elordi) living at an abandoned airport with a heavily armed survivalist (Josh Brolin). With almost everyone else gone, the story comes down to people trying to figure out how to live with one another at the SEE SCOTT ON B3

In ‘Road Trip’ series, the Duffys are in the driver’s seat

Sean Duffy and family after he was sworn in as transportation secretary by Vice President JD Vance in 2025.

ROD LAMKEY/AP
Duffy and his wife, Rachel Campos-Duffy, watch Sunday's Freedom 250 Grand Prix in downtown Washington.
ERIC LEE/GETTY IMAGES

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young girls like you and, I think, corrupt their minds."

Two episodes in it becomes clear that this is not a show about America. It's a show about the Duffy family, whose patriarch and matriarch (weekend "Fox & Friends" host Rachel Campos-Duffy) were both 1990s cast members of "The Real World" and who, on multiple occasions, seem like they're trying to reboot that reality TV career. In the Texas episode they speak of how their next chapter might involve buying a ranch there, and you can feel the hopeful sidelong glances emanating through your screen: Would you watch if we did that? It would be like "Yellowstone," if "Yellowstone" starred Candace Cameron Bure. My boots cost \$7,000.

Either that, or this is a soft launch of a 2028 presidential run. Politicians used to write books to signal their interest in the top job, but this format is perhaps more effective at introducing you to all the people you'd see on the White House Christmas card, if only the Transportation Department's official YouTube page can become must-see TV.

Paloma's college decision stretches through multiple episodes. Eldest daughter Evita shares that she is pregnant and hires a sonographer in Wyoming to reveal the gender on air. Her husband, Michael, is running for his father-in-law's old congressional seat in Wisconsin. Sean Duffy is a terrible dancer, we are informed, but frankly, when he learns the grapevine at a honkytonk, he looks leagues better than Pete Hegseth did when the defense secretary performed the same move in a calisthenics session with troops and resembled a dog trying to escape rain booties.

The whole family is telegenic, let me tell you. Every last one of them, from Rachel's elderly father, who pops in to teach the family to make piñatas, to 6-year-old Valentina, the family's youngest child. In the Trump administration we have become accustomed to representatives whose presentation is just a mess. Their press releases have typos. The fireworks are four hours late. Someone always looks like Uncle Fester. Their moves are waxen or wooden or herky-jerky or honestly just weird: Footage went viral of JD Vance jogging in Southern California because viewers wondered if it was possibly the vice president's first time running, ever.

And then you have “The Great American Road Trip,” which is slick, well-packaged, and featuring a dozen compelling personalities, including more than enough children for those of you who might enjoy playing the guessing game “Which of these polite youths is secretly a liberal?” When we joke about having a reality-show presidential administration, the best-case scenario is someone who learned how to string out a storyline on MTV, not someone who whips off his shirt to ride exercise bikes with Kid Rock.

Sean and Rachel, now married for 27 years, seem like great parents and a good hang. While it is their Catholic faith that guides all of their decisions — “My job is to get you into heaven, not to get you into Harvard,” Rachel explains at one point — the Duffys also seem deeply relatable to anyone of any creed who has reared a child. When son Patrick collapses with stomach pain at the Wyoming ski resort, Sean rushes him to the hospital as the rest of the family waits anxiously at the hotel. Patrick is prepped for surgery, but it turns out he doesn't have appendicitis, he has constipation. Rachel sighs and tells Sean, "S---happens."

It turns out, also, that “The Great American Road Trip” is about America after all. But it’s about something more than you can learn on a tour of Independence Hall or visiting an ivy-covered university. It’s about us, the country’s citizens: what the characters on our screens choose to reveal to us, and what they don't, and how we relate to them as a result. It's about the feeling of meeting people you absolutely enjoy as people, but whom you know might disagree with many of your politics. This is an experience folks of every political stripe these days can identify with. Would you like to go on a road trip with this family? Sure. Would you like this family to run the executive branch of the United States government? Uhh.

When Sean waxes on about patriotic revolutions at the Liberty Bell, are we talking about the Revolutionary War, or are we dog-whistling J6? The Duffys hope to keep Paloma away from Harvard because they want her to remain a “traditional” girl – but the show is careful to never quite spell out what “traditional” means to them. It can’t mean stay-at-home wife: Rachel is an accomplished career woman herself. Are we talking about LGTBQ stuff, then? Climate stuff? Birth control?

Paloma replies that, if her parents want her to have a well-rounded education and come into her own mind — as they say they do — then shouldn't she go to a liberal-leaning college? She already attended a very conservative high school and was raised in a very conservative family, she points out, so it seems to her that intellectual balance would come from the Ivy League rather than the small Catholic university her mother is rooting for.

Her parents tell her, no. No, unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Harvard and its ilk are so skilled and insidious that Paloma is going to walk in there with her head on her shoulders and leave with, I don't know, a bag of gender pronouns and a tattoo of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's egg retrieval. It's too dangerous for Paloma to risk associating with these people.

But if that's the case, then is it equally risky for liberals to spend too much time with the Duffy family? If I spend too long in this minivan am I going to start writing for the Federalist? Opposing bike lanes? Maybe that's the whole point.

From what I can tell after skimming some headlines, other critics — the dutiful ones who weren't eating fudge in Michigan and thus filed their essays on time — have lambasted “The Great American Road Trip” as either embarrassing dad cringe or alarming grift.

Those weren't my takeaways, though. Rather, "The Great American Road Trip" seemed like an example of a nice family taking the kind of nice trips that any of us would probably love to take our nice families on, if gas wasn't \$4.15 a gallon and we had the paid vacation available to get away six different times in one year. The Duffys, who bicker, make inside jokes and roll their eyes at their parents, are just like us.

Let's all of us, the entire country, hop in a corporate-sponsored Toyota. We'll visit the Philadelphia Museum of Art and a Boeing factory. We'll marvel at a bald eagle in a South Carolina wildlife refuge, and then we'll have a strangely planted conversation explaining how all of your travels can be paid for with credit card points, if you're crafty enough. Go to Harvard. Go to Texas. The scenery is beautiful and we've got nothing to do but drive, or drive each other crazy, or run out of gas, or swerve into a ditch and wait for AAA and the midterms. Whichever comes first.

Besides her starring roles, Fabares had an array of guest appearances on TV

APPRECIATION FROM B1

Show," a comparatively unsentimental family comedy in which she provided teenage female energy of an unusually reflective sort as Mary Stone. She's the serious child, with younger brother Paul Petersen the impulsive scamp.

There's a gravity, even a melancholy to her Mary Stone, which drew on Fabares' ability to project a genuine inner life into the least promising scenarios. She is a genius at looking and listening. In a show that inevitably can seem dated — Lorelai and Rory watch it, ironically, in an episode of "Gilmore Girls" — Fabares reads as unusually modern. She never does too much but draws you in by doing just the right amount of little. (Indeed, there's more than a touch of Mary Stone in Rory Gilmore.) Mary's plotlines tend to revolve around her interest in boys, which may be considered both indicative of the times and of being, you know, adolescent, though one feels somehow that she'd actually be too much for any of the boys she's interested in.

It's impossible not to mention the song “Johnny Angel,” which Fabares had been elbowed into recording for the show and which, despite her claims of having no singing ability, became a No. 1 single in 1962; two albums, “Shelley!” and “The Things We

Did Last Summer," followed. But this is a mere blip on her career.

She was 20 when she left “Donna Reed” after its fifth season (returning for an occasional appearance). “It really was like the girl or the boy making the decision to move away from home to go to college,” she later told an interviewer. After a grown-up role in 1963’s Hawaii-set drama “Ride the Wild Surf” (a trailer describes her character as “old enough to fall in love, too young to know any better”), she entered her Presley period, playing opposite him in three pictures “Girl Happy” (1965), “Spinout” (1966) and “Clambake” (1967) — as many as Doris Day and Rock Hudson made together, around the same time — not the worst of the singer’s screen canon, and if you are in the mood, or the right age when you first encounter them, quite delightful. This is especially true if you overlook the sillier production numbers and hacky plots and focus on the stars’ scenes together. They are compatibly beautiful; her softness brings out his, and she grounds him in a way that, say, Ann-Margret, Presley’s more aggressive co-star in “Viva Las Vegas,” did not.

Fabares's post-Elvis years were devoted almost exclusively to television, with "Coach," where she generally played the adult in the room, in the final season, with an adopted baby, became a TV mom herself; and 23 episodes of "One Day at a Time," in which she progressed from guest to recurring to regular; her well-remembered Francine Webster is ambitious and manipulative in a strangely innocent way, there is a sort of purity to her self-centeredness — an eccentric character played without mannerisms.

In and around them, to fill out the century, were various guest spots (“Ironside,” “McCloud,” “Mannix,” et al., and multiple episodes of “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island”), and a few more or less successful series (more less than more). These included 1972’s “The Brian Keith Show,” a single-camera, location-rich sitcom with Keith and Fabares as father and daughter pediatricians in Hawaii; “The Practice,” a 1976 Danny Thomas sitcom, with Fabares as his daughter-in-law; the gothic comedy “Highcliffe Manor,” which aired four of six episodes in 1979; and the 1977 “Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman” sequel “Forever Fernwood.” There were TV movies, including the 1971 biopic “Brian’s Song” (seen by 55 million people and later released in theaters) with Fabares as the wife of dying halfback Brian Piccolo, and a 1993 thriller, “Deadly Relations,” also starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Robert Urich and Matthew Perry. In this century, she has been essentially retired, for whatever combination of reasons actors can't, or don't care to, work. Still, one would call it a decision.

I recommend watching Fabares anywhere you can; it's always

rewarding, whatever the context. It's worth looking at her the way she looks at Elvis, or Donna Reed, or Craig Nelson or any scene partner, with attention and intention. Happily, you can find her without much trouble in the deep streaming library, where she springs, for the foreseeable digital future, eternal.

MIKE WINDLE/GETTY IMAGES
Shelley Fabares at a Screen Actors Guild event in 2016. In “The Donna Reed Show,” her movies with Elvis and the sitcom “Coach,” Fabares is definitely worth another look.

A toddler's car sickness prompts an unintended detour to a private driveway

Miss Manners

JUDITH MARTIN, JACOBINA MARTIN AND NICHOLAS IVOR MARTIN

Dear Miss Manners: We were driving in a rural area with two grandkids in the back seat. One of them vomited. We deemed the narrow shoulders of the state

highway unsafe for a stop, so we made a right turn into the first available road. That road had no shoulder at all, so we turned again. What we thought was another rural road turned out to be someone's long driveway. We stopped about halfway between the road and the house.

A person was sitting on the porch. We debated whether to walk over and explain what brought us there, as we were too far to talk (shouting would definitely be impolite). In the end, we just cleaned up the poor toddler, turned around and drove away. Of course we did not leave any trash.

Should we have done anything differently?

Homeowners who would be enraged by a brief pullover on their property unaccompanied by any attendant debris or damage used to be confined to the comic relief scenes in movies.

Now they apparently inhabit a substantial portion of the land, both urban and rural.

Nevertheless, you did nothing unmannerly. Had you wished to stop and explain, Miss Manners believes it would, paradoxically, be easier to do so while asking for something trivial. Simply apologizing for stopping does seem like expanding on the original intrusion.

It is easier to say you are sorry to bother them while explaining that you have a sick toddler and asking if they could please spare a wet paper towel so you can clean up the back seat.

This has the added benefit of minimizing the chances of being invited to stay for lunch even by the unexpectedly friendly.

Dear Miss Manners: One of the women in my church group got married, and only one person from our group was invited.

The invited guest came back with pictures, and everyone remarked about how beautiful the bride was. She explained that it was a small wedding, and that was why we were not invited.

Our group leader suggested that we take a collection for the bride and her new husband. I reluctantly donated despite the fact that we were not invited to the ceremony. Our group is small and tight-knit, and honestly I felt that if we were not asked to attend, why should we send a gift? Am I wrong for feeling this way?

How you feel about it is between you and — whomever you and your church group address such things to.

But if you are asking Miss Manners if you have to contribute to a present, the answer is that you do not. Say thank you, but that you are thinking of doing something yourself.

Mind you, you are not off the hook yet: You do not have to send a gift, but if you do not at least send a handwritten letter of congratulations, it is going to be noticed — this being, as you said, a small, tight-knit group.

New Miss Manners columns are posted Monday through Saturday on washingtonpost.com/advice. You can send questions to Miss Manners at her website, missmanners.com. You can also follow her @RealMissManners.

© 2025 Judith Martin

With Ridley Scott movies, bigger isn't necessarily better

SCOTT FROM B1

Jacob Elordi, left, and Josh Brolin in "The Dog Stars," a postapocalyptic film directed by Ridley Scott that opens in theaters on Friday.
FABIO LOVINO/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

SCOTT A GARFITT/INVISION/AP
Director Ridley Scott in 2024. His résumé includes epic films such as “Blade Runner” and “Gladiator,” but many of his smaller movies with intimate storylines are equally compelling.

end of the world.

At 88, Scott is still cranking out movies with little apparent interest in slowing down. This fall, the academy will give him an honorary Oscar and he's got plenty of Big Ridley on deck, including a pirate movie starring Hugh Jackman and, hopefully, his long-awaited take on the Bee Gees.

But with “The Dog Stars” as our excuse, we decided to spend some time with Small Ridley. The seven movies below aren’t a ranking of Scott’s best and they aren’t necessarily his smallest. You could make a case for “Black Rain” (1989), “White Squall” (1996) or plenty of others. But these seven are a good place to start. Some rank among Scott’s most acclaimed films; others are still being argued over. Together, they reveal a vital side of his filmmaking that can easily get overshadowed in a career this big.

'The Duellists' (1977)

With “Alien” and “Blade Runner” just around the corner, it’s easy to overlook Scott’s astonishingly assured feature debut, which won him the prize for best first film at Cannes. Based on a Joseph Conrad story, the period drama follows two officers in Napoleon’s army (Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel) whose minor quarrel condemns them to 15 years of repeatedly trying to kill each other. Scott was already unmistakably a visual stylist — these misty landscapes and candlelit interiors often look like paintings come to life — but he also seems keenly aware of the absurdity of it all. Keitel’s Feraud keeps provoking the feud; Carradine’s D’Hubert recognizes its madness but remains too bound by the same code of honor to walk away. Wars come and go, Napoleon rises and falls and these two men remain prisoners of a duty neither seems capable of escaping.

'Someone to Watch Over Me' (1987)

A box-office flop that divided critics, this sleek, sexually charged romantic thriller remains an intriguing detour in Scott's career, playing more like an Adrian Lyne movie — think "9½ Weeks" or "Fatal Attraction" — than the kind of film he was known for making. Tom Berenger plays a married Queens cop assigned to protect wealthy Manhattan murder witness Mimi Rogers, while a pre-"Sopranos" Lorraine Bracco portrays the wife he leaves waiting at home. As Berenger and Rogers are drawn into an affair, Scott plays up the contrast between her wealthy Upper East Side world and his working-class life in an outer borough. But it's Bracco who keeps the movie honest, making the wronged wife more than a stock character and giving the affair consequences the movie can't romanticize away.

'Thelma & Louise' (1991)

Scott originally intended only to produce this one, a film built around a female friendship that hardly seemed an obvious fit for him as a director. Callie Khouri's screenplay takes the traditionally male mythology of the American road movie and hands the keys to two women: Thelma (Geena Davis), a timid Arkansas housewife, and Louise (Susan Sarandon), a more worldly waitress. Their weekend getaway takes a violent turn, sending them into the wilderness in Louise's Thunderbird. Both Oscar-nominated, Davis and Sarandon play beautifully off each other, funny and loose in one moment, frightened or furious the next. Scott makes glorious use of the open road and the Western landscape, even as Thelma and Louise find themselves running out of places to go.

'Matchstick Men' (2003)

This offbeat con-man comedy pairs the director with Nicolas Cage, an actor who turns out to be an unexpectedly good fit for him. Cage plays Roy, a gifted con

artist with obsessive-compulsive disorder whose tics, phobias and elaborate rituals have turned his immaculate home into a fortress against the world. Sam Rockwell plays Frank, his slicker, more easygoing partner — he gives Cage's tightly wound performance someone to ricochet off. Then Roy learns he has a teenage daughter, Angela (Alison Lohman), who throws his carefully ordered life into chaos. The con supplies the plot, but the movie is really about what happens when people who lie for a living start trusting one another.

'American Gangster' (2007)

At close to two-and-a-half hours with a story that stretches from Harlem to Southeast Asia, "American Gangster" hardly seems like Small Ridley at first glance. But beneath the sprawl, the movie is essentially a two-man character study. Steven Zaillian's script unfolds along parallel tracks: Fastidious Harlem drug lord Frank Lucas (Denzel

Washington) builds his empire while Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe), the rumpled, dogged cop trying to catch him, builds his case. For a long stretch, it's like watching two heavyweight fighters circle each other round after round without throwing a punch. Only in the final act does Scott bring Washington and Crowe together and the confrontation we've waited for turns out to be two formidable men sitting across a table, sizing each other up.

'The Counselor' (2013)

Pairing Ridley Scott with Cormac McCarthy for the acclaimed novelist's first original screenplay sounded like a can't-miss proposition, especially with a stacked cast that included Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz and Cameron Diaz. What resulted was a chilly, moody crime thriller that critics largely savaged (The Los Angeles Times's Kenneth Turan called it an "extremely unpleasant piece of business"), though the movie has since found its share of defenders. Fassbender plays a wealthy Texas lawyer whose decision to get involved in a drug deal puts him in the path of a powerful cartel. Much of the movie consists of Fassbender sitting with Pitt and Bardem as they talk ominously about the dangerous world he's gotten himself into. The bursts of violence are brief. Most of the menace comes from simply listening to these people philosophize about death, fate and the consequences of bad decisions.

'All the Money in the World' (2017)

Scott had already finished shooting his thriller about the 1973 kidnapping of teenage J. Paul Getty III when sexual misconduct allegations surfaced against Kevin Spacey, whom he'd cast as oil billionaire J. Paul Getty. Rather than shelve the movie, Scott — ever the problem solver — replaced him with Christopher Plummer and reshot 22 scenes just weeks before it was due in theaters. Plummer's Getty is imperious and withholding, refusing to pay the ransom for his kidnapped grandson and seemingly puzzled that anyone would expect him to. Despite its globe-trotting kidnapping plot, much of the movie's tension comes down to people in rooms trying to persuade an old man to part with his money. Plummer, then 88, earned an Oscar nomination for a performance shot in just nine days.

Scott was 80 when he pulled the whole thing off. Somehow he made it look easy.

Music industry in Australia bans AI-created tracks from official charts

AURELIEN MORISSARD/AP
Madonna in 2026. An AI-generated variation of her song “Like a Prayer” has been on the singles chart in Australia for 16 weeks.

BY Rod McGuirk Associated Press

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA — Australia's recorded music industry will bar tracks wholly generated by artificial intelligence from official charts as burgeoning generative technologies threaten artists' livelihoods, a representative said on Tuesday.

The crackdown comes as a variation of Madonna's pop hit "Like a Prayer" created by an Australian producer using AI-generated vocals and drums has spent 16 weeks in the Australian top 20, stoking debate about generative AI's place in music. It peaked at number two on the Australian Record Industry Association's top 20 Australian singles chart in May and remained in fourth place on Tuesday.

Wholly AI-generated tracks will be banned from the ARIA charts from Monday next week, but some AI-assisted music will remain eligible, an ARIA statement said.

Tracks can be eligible only if “humans wrote the song and performed the lead vocal and the primary instruments,” among other requirements, the statement said.

AI-generated music would also be ineligible for the Australian industry's prestigious ARIA awards.

ARIA chief executive Annabelle Herd said: “These changes reflect our intent to remain dynamic and promote the human nature of artistry in what is — to say the least — a rapidly developing space.”

"The ARIA Charts will always remain a transparent measurement of the music Australia consumes, but a chart that rewards unlicensed AI output would undercut the very basis of the recorded music we exist to represent," Herd added.

Eligible music must also be produced using legal AI services. Music was appearing on streaming services that had apparently been developed with AI tools trained on artists' music without authorization.

The Australian rules are in step with new principles released in July by the London-based International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The federation represents the recording industry worldwide.

The international guidelines state that to qualify for official music charts, a track must be “substantially human made.”

Sydney Conservatorium of

Music composer and lecturer Alexis Weaver told Australian Broadcasting Corp. the debate around AI in music was “exceptionally fraught and very emotional for a lot of musicians and so everyone will have a different opinion.”

Weaver applauded ARIA's move as a “wonderful step forward” that sent a message ARIA wanted to “prioritize and value human creativity.”

“It can be quite hard to avoid AI tools in the current landscape,” Weaver said. “There is a way to use it while you’re still steering the ship and making the main creative choices.”

Parents fall deep into debt while trying to help divorced daughter stay afloat

Asking Eric R. ERIC THOMAS

Dear Eric: Our youngest child has worked only part time for the past two years, despite being a single mother to

two children. At the same time her job situation deteriorated, my husband and I moved away from the city where we all had lived. Our daughter felt abandoned when we left, especially since my husband and I were babysitters, money givers, homework doers, food suppliers, etc.

Our daughter was invited to move with us but could not because of the father. Courts would not allow it.

We have been helping our daughter with many expenses: car insurance for two cars, cellphone for her and her kids, internet, Netflix, cable, laundry, incidentals, and food. Plus, we have helped with the rent on and off and helped with summer classes for the kids, legal fees, special ed teachers, et cetera. Her ex contributes what the courts told him to and not a penny more.

These expenses have been very hard on my husband and me financially. We dipped into our savings three times and once took money out of our house. Now, once again, we are in credit card debt up to our necks (more than \$30,000), and none of the expenses are ours.

When I tried to explain this problem to our daughter, she flipped out, as she occasionally does. Most of the time she is nice to us. Sometimes, she yells the house down at us and calls us names.

I discussed this problem with my sister, and she said I was being manipulated, that our daughter needed therapy, and that we should cut her off and set boundaries. But how can we cut off our adored grandchildren from food and clean clothes and shoes and school supplies?

We are drowning. She has two of my credit cards and all the charges are hers. The rest of her expenses come directly out of my checking account. Can you help?

-Afraid of My Own Daughter's Temper

Afraid: Listen to your sister. It won't serve you, your daughter or your grandchildren for you to sink into financial ruin. Write a budget for yourself and be very up-front with your daughter about what the limits of that budget are. Set up external boundaries — if you choose to keep paying her credit cards, lower the limits so that the credit card companies won't approve charges that exceed them, for instance.

She may argue that you have the money and should give it but, without putting too fine a point on it, it seems clear that you don't have the money. You are borrowing against your house and in a lot of debt. This isn't simply a matter of you choosing to let your grandchildren go without; the money isn't there. Her anger is misdirected; indeed, it does seem manipulative. Regardless, it's not solving any problems. If she can't engage with you civilly, you have to set a boundary there, too.

If reducing your support means that your grandchildren would go without clean clothes, there's a larger issue in the system here that you can't solve on your own. But there are many steps before that. Netflix is not a requirement, for instance. The second car may not be necessary. A financial adviser or a free budgeting program can help you identify some places to cut.

Dear Eric: I'm 40 years old; I have three teenage daughters and have been married to my new husband for almost a year. I was recently prescribed a pair of glasses just for reading. My husband thinks that I look fantastic in them and has asked a few times if I would consider wearing them all the time.

I did order blended bifocals so I could keep them on at the office so I really could comfortably just leave them on. Personally, I feel I'm more attractive without them and that they make me look older.

I can't decide what to do. Should I continue wearing them only when I really need to? Or should I give them a try for a couple of weeks as my husband has suggested?

- Glasses Half Full

Glasses: It's lovely that your husband is being supportive and is free with his compliments and requests, but what's most important with regard to your appearance is that you feel comfortable. So, if you want to wear the glasses only when you need them, don't give it a second thought. He can learn to see it as a special treat. It's great that he thinks you look fantastic — and I'm sure you do — but if you start wearing them for him and you don't feel great about it, too, it might sour the experience. Better to let the glasses do what they're intended to do: help you read. Anything else is just an added benefit.

Send questions to R. Eric Thomas at eric@askingeric.com or P.O. Box 22474, Philadelphia, PA 19110. Follow him on Instagram and sign up for his weekly newsletter at rericthomas.com.

© 2025 by R. Eric Thomas. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.

CLASSIC DOONESBURY

RED AND ROVER
PMT. BY ANDREWS MHEELSYNDICATION

FRANK AND ERNEST
BRIAN BASSET

GARRY TRUDEAU

TOM THAVES

CLASSIC PEANUTS
CHARLES SCHULZ

RHYMES WITH ORANGE
HILARY PRICE

LIO
HAGAR THE HORRIBLE

BLONDIE

BREWSTER ROCKIT: SPACE GUY!
MARK TATULLI
©2026 by King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved.

CHRIS BROWNE

DEAN YOUNG & JOHN MARSHALL
PEARLS BEFORE SWINE

TIM RICKARD

STEPHAN PASTIS

PICKLES

AGNES

WUMO

TONY COCHRAN

MIKAEL WULFF & ANDERS MORGENTHALER

CRABGRASS

MARK TRAIL

CRICKET BRO HERE. WE ARE EMBARKING ON THE MOST DANGEROUS CAVE DIVE EVER ATTEMPTED IN THE FAMOUS PELIGROSO CAVE.
MOTHER GOOSE & GRIMM

BALDO

SALLY FORTH

TAUHID BONDIA

JULES RIVERA

SHERMAN'S LAGOON
MIKE PETERS
MY FELLOW CRUSTACEANS! TODAY WE CHARGE QUIGLEY'S RESTAURANT!

HECTOR CANTU & CARLOS CASTELLANOS

FRANCESCO MARCIULIANO & JIM KEEFE

CURTIS

JIM TOOMEY

RAY BILLINGSLEY

BIL KEANE REPLY ALL LITE

@GOCOMICS.COM/HPARTOFTHECITY

S-2G ©2005 Steve Kelley & Jeff Parker, Dist. by King Features Syndicatn, Inc.

8/26 PRICKLYCITY@GMAIL.COM

MUTTS

HEART OF THE CITY

FRAZZ

HEART OF THE CITY © 2026 ANDREWS MCHEEL

DUSTIN

Distributed by Andrews McKeel Syndication

PRICKLY CITY

NON SEQUITUR

JIM DAVIS

STEENZ

STEVE KELLEY & JEFF PARKER
WILEY ©2026 Wiley Ink, Ltd. 8-26
Dist. by Andrews McNeel Syndication
MARSHALL RAMSEY
JEF MALLETT

WALLACE THE BRAVE

BEETLE BAILEY

WILEY

ON THE FASTRACK
©2026 King Features Syndicate, Inc. World rights reserved

wileyink@earthlink.net

YEAH, HOW'S THIS? "ACHIEVED GOALS IN SUSTAINING EQUIPMENT BEYOND EXPECTED REPLACEMENT TIMEFRAME."

WILL HENRY

comicskingdom.com/on-the-fastrack
LOOSE PARTS
BILL HOLBROOK

BARNEY AND CLYDE
JUDGE PARKER
E-mail: bholbrook1@gmail.com
GREG, BRIAN & NEAL WALKER

© 2006 NORTH AMERICA SYNDICATE, INC. WORLD RIGHTS RESERVED

SIX CHIX
FLASH GORDON

FRANCESCO MARCIULIANO & MIKE MANLEY

UNFORTUNATELY, I CAN'T HELP YOU- I HAD MY WISDOM TEETH REMOVED.

BANNERMAN, XUNISE, KONAR, LAWTON, PATRINOS & PIRO

BABY BLUES

"MAYBE A SMALL WAY TO MAKE THINGS RIGHT."
WEINGARTENS & CLARK
SPEED BUMP

DAN SCHKADE

DAVE BLAZEK

FAMILY CIRCUS

DAVE COVERLY DENNIS THE MENACE

RICK KIRKMAN & JERRY SCOTT
"Your plant in the bottle looked thirsty, Mommy, so I gave it a good drink."

H. KETCHAM

"THAT'S HOW HE WORKS UP AN APPETITE."

DONNA A. LEWIS

© 2026 dlewis Dist. by Tribune Content Agency www-replyallcomic.com 8-26

TELEVISION

BIRTHDAY | AUGUST 26: You're

independent, imaginative and innovative. You're also ambitious and filled with

intellectual curiosity. This year you reap the benefits of all your hard work. Expect power, leadership and recognition. You might get a promotion. You might become self-employed. You might win kudos, awards and the spotlight. Seize business opportunities.

Moon Alert: After 5:30 p.m. EDT today, avoid shopping (except for food and gas) and important decisions for the rest of the day. The Moon is in Aquarius.

ARIES

(March 21-April 19)

his is an excellent day for a practical discussion with someone older or more experienced. This might happen by talking to a partner, close friend or a member of the general public. It's a positive day to schmooze. Check the Moon Alert if spending money.

TAURUS

(April 20-May 20)

You're high-viz today, which means people notice you more than usual. This will probably benefit those of you at work, because relations with co-workers are mutually supportive today. You also might benefit from behind-the-scenes research.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20)

This is the perfect day to explore avenues in publishing, the media, medicine and the law, but do so before the Moon Alert. Romance with someone different might begin. You also might welcome the advice of someone who is older or more experienced. (You don't have to reinvent the wheel.)

N-S VULNERABLE NORTH ♠ A 3 ♥ 10 7 ♦ A J 9 8 ♣ Q J 10 9 7

WEST EAST ♠ Q 10 7 6 2 ♠ J 4 ♥ J 3 ♥ Q 8 6 5 4 2 ♦ 7 5 4 ♦ 6 3 2 ♣ AK 2 ♣ 6 3

SOUTH (D) ♠ K985 ♥ AK9 ♦ KQ10 ♣ 854

The bidding:

SOUTH WEST NORTH EAST 1 NT Pass 3 NT All Pass Opening lead — ♠ 6

HOROSCOPE

CANCER

(June 21-July 22)

It's fortunate that you have some strong energy now with fiery Mars in your sign. In fact, it will stay there for another month! Meanwhile, discussions about shared property and banking could benefit home and family for you today. Someone has your back

LEO

(July 23-Aug. 22)

This is a great day to schmooze with others! It's curious, because even though you will be charming and diplomatic with everyone, it's in your best interests to go more than halfway when dealing with others. Be accommodating and cooperative.

VIRGO

(Aug, 23-Sept, 22)

(Aug. 25 Sept. 22) You might be interested in buying beautiful things – clothing, dishware, jewelry, artwork, whatever strikes your fancy. If so, be aware of the limitations of the Moon Alert today. Meanwhile, financial discussions will likely benefit you. Keep your pockets open!

LIBRA

(Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

(Sept. 23 Oct. 22) You'll enjoy socializing with others today. Romantic connections will be particularly appealing. If shopping for wardrobe goodies, do be aware of the limitations of today's Moon Alert. You have a soft spot in your heart for someone today.

SCORPIO

(Oct. 28 Nov. 21) A practical discussion with someone older, perhaps a family member, might introduce improvements at home or within the family. You also might be prepared to confide in someone about a secret flirtation or love affair. Continue to enjoy the company of others.

BRIDGE

"Esther was cleaning out her purse last night," Unlucky Louie told me glumly.

"Was it sort of like the Augean stables?" I asked.

“No,” Louie sighed, “but the credit-card receipts made a neat stack six inches high. They amounted to a teeny-tiny book about why I’m so broke.”

Between Esther's spending and his losses in the penny game, it's a wonder Louie remains afloat. When he played at today's 3NT, West led the six of spades, and Louie played low from dummy and let East's jack win.

Louie won the spade return with the ace and led the queen of clubs, but West took the king, led the queen of spades to force out Louie's king, got back in with the ace of clubs and cashed two spades.

Louie is at risk only if West has five spades, but East must have one honor: With Q-J-10-x-x, West would have led the queen. If Louie takes

SAGITTARIUS

(Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

Conversations with neighbors, siblings and relatives will please you today. In fact, someone older might have advice for you, especially related to a vacation, your kids, sports or the arts. Be reasonable if you face a dispute with someone about shared expenses. Meanwhile, a casual friendship might turn flirtatious.

CAPRICORN

(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Financial discussions will go well today if you keep an eye on the restrictions of the Moon Alert. Bosses and authority figures will favor you. As a result, you might be able to benefit home and family in a practical way. Naturally, this will please you.

AQUARIUS

(Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

You're in the driver's seat today because the Moon is in your sign dancing beautifully with both Saturn and Venus. It's a great day to make travel plans. An attraction to someone "different" might occur. Meanwhile, everyday discussions will be down to earth and practical.

PISCES

(Feb. 19-March 20)

Work going on behind the scenes will benefit you today. In fact, it could trigger money coming your way. If spending today, you'll be careful and frugal. Keep an eye on the Moon Alert and its financial restrictions. Nevertheless, this is also a fun day to socialize and explore sports events and playful activities with kids.

— Georgia Nicols © 2026, KING FEATURES SYNDICATE, INC.

the ace of spades at Trick One, he blocks the suit. When West wins the first club and leads another spade, Louie ducks East's jack and is safe. DAILY QUESTION

You hold:

♠ Q 10 7 6 2 ♥ J 3

◆ 754 ♣ AK2

Your partner opens one heart, you bid one spade and he rebids two hearts. What do you say?

ANSWER: Partner has six or more hearts. If he held J 5, A K 10 6 5, K 10 6, Q 10 6, his second bid would have been 1NT. With J 5, A K 10 6 5, K 9, Q 10 6 5, he would have bid two clubs. With K J 5, A K 10 6 5, 3 2, Q 10 6, he would have raised to two spades. If vulnerable, you might try three hearts. If not, pass. You would raise with A 10 7 6 2, J 3, 7 5 4, A Q 2.

— Frank Stewart ©2026, TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.

SUDOKU

Complete the grid so that every row, column and 3x3 box contains every digit from 1 to 9 inclusively.

DIFFICULTY RATING: ★★★☆☆

DIRECTIONS: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. "Blanks" used as any letter have no point value. All the words are in the Official SCRABBLE® Players Dictionary, 5th Edition. SOLUTION TOMORROW For more information on tournaments and clubs, email NASPA - North American SCRABBLE Players Association info@scrabbleplayers.org. Visit our website • www.scrabbleplayers.org. For puzzle inquiries contact scrgrams@gmail.com

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JUMBLE CROSSWORDS $^{TM}$

ACROSS

By Zachary Gallardo

10-Date 2D-Rating 3D-Plan 4D-Disney-Kindonesia ANSWER: 1A-Design 5A-Note 6A-Label 7A-Agency © 2028 Tribune Content Agency, LLC & Hoyt Designs. All Rights Reserved Send comments to DLHoyt@HoytInteractiveMedia.com

How to play Complete the crossword puzzle by looking at the clues and unscrambling the answers. When the puzzle is complete, unscramble the circled letters to solve the BONUS.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65

1 Emerged 6 Korean-American grocery store 11 Dim sum brew 14 Little solo break 15 Camel's watering hole 16 "That'll leave a mark!" 17 Programming problem 19 Scand. country 20 Proboscis 21 Feature of Canada's flag 22 Nove minus uno 23 Suspicious 25 Enclosed rhyme scheme in Petrarchan sonnets 27 Turkish peak 30 Clinton secretary of state 34 Olympic gymnast with five moves named for her 35 2025 Best Picture Oscar winner 36 Letters of liability? 37 Dongle, e.g. 39 Synagogue singers 41 "Exactly right!" 42 __Sports Bureau: stats giant 44 "Punch—Love": Paul Thomas Anderson film 45 Bible Belt state 47 Shelters 48 Altar site 49 Change 51 Prometheus' gift 53 "See ..." 54 Yellow brick road terrier 58 Aussie hopper 59 "Everyone in the water," or when parsed differently, what can be found in each set of circled words 62 Nocturnal bird of prey 63 __Gras 64 Unlike the rest 65 Young lady 66 Clique 67 Vociferous

DOWN 1 "Exactly right!" 2 City north of Carson City 3 Probabilities 4 Service promoter 5 Cyclone center 6 Swindled 7 _bear: Southeast Asian forest dweller 8 Since 9 Animated film about Spix's macaws 10 Baker's shortening? 11 Like laughter, sometimes 12 62-Across call 13 Curly hairstyle 18 Bed frame board 22 Japanese sash 24 Picks up the pace 25 Pokémon that ultimately evolves into Alakazam 26 Jason's "Beverly Hills, 90210" role 27 Modest Muslim robe

© 2026 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

28 Bus passenger 29 Sushi bite topped with salmon 31 Hairstyle that may begin with comb coils 32 "Stormy Weather" singer Lena 33 Elephant pair 35 Operatic solo

38 If-then-_ statement 40 Leaves in the care of 43 Climbs 46 Big galoot 47 Big Island county seat 50 Throwback hit 51 Amphibious hopper

8/26/26

52 Corn Belt state
53 Major conflicts
55 "Didn't see you there!"
56 Knots
57 The Grand Ole __
59 Metal box?
60 Dim sum bun
61 Persona __ grata

TUESDAY'S LA TIMES SOLUTION

U.S. OPEN

Carlos Alcaraz and Serena Williams, who have a combined eight U.S. Open singles championships, dropped a first-set tiebreaker before falling in the quarterfinals.
SARAH STIER/GETTY IMAGES

The ‘queen’ bows out

S. Williams and Alcaraz win their opener but fall in the mixed doubles quarterfinals

BY STEPHEN WHYNO AND BRIAN MAHONEY Associated Press

NEW YORK — Serena Williams getting back on the court at the U.S. Open after a four-year absence and Carlos Alcaraz returning to competitive tennis after being out the past four months with injury brought cheers and nostalgia to the Grand Slam tournament.

The celebration was short-lived.

After winning their debut playing together, Williams and Alcaraz got knocked out in the mixed doubles quarterfinals by Belinda Bencic and Flavio Cobolli, 5-4 (7-4), 4-1, on Tuesday. Cobolli before the match called their opponents “the queen of tennis and the king of now."

The star-studded duo with a combined eight U.S. Open singles championships certainly earned that praise. Williams and Alcaraz bounced back from a slow start in the first round to defeat Erin Routliffe and Lloyd Glasspool, 5-3, 4-1 — much to the delight of fans inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, who were clearly on their side.

“I never expected to be back on this court,” Williams said after her first match at Flushing Meadows since 2022. “I never thought this would happen.”

Now the question is whether she will seek an encore performance in women's doubles alongside older sister Venus. They won the U.S. Open twice among their 14 Grand Slam doubles titles together.

Serena, who is back playing tennis at age 44, does not plan to play singles.

Williams, in her latest mixed doubles cameo — she won the U.S. Open with Max Mirnyi in 1998 — hit some vintage shots that looked straight out of her prime. Early on, she carried Alcaraz, the 23-year-old defending champion who is ranked third in the world in men's singles and was clearly rusty in his first competitive action since April 14.

"I think everybody could see: I double-faulted on the first point," said Alcaraz, who missed the French Open and Wimbledon because of a right wrist injury and SEE U.S. OPEN ON B11

Red-hot Lile can't spur Nats' offense into action

feeling at the plate again.

ROCKIES 3, NATIONALS 1

BY DANIELLE ALLENTUCK

About this time last year, Washington Nationals outfielder Daylen Lile started taking fewer pre-game reps. He was just a few months into his rookie season, and he learned from teammates James Wood and CJ Abrams that sometimes less is more. He hit .391 with a 1.212 OPS in September, earning National League player of the month honors to wrap up his first major league season.

Earlier this season, Lile drifted away from that pregame approach. Now, he's going back to what worked for him a year ago. And in doing so, he's getting that

He and the Nationals wish, of course, that it came earlier, when the team was playing above .500 and still dreaming of an October run. But it's better late than never, and his confidence, he said, has never been higher. He's 9 for 20 in his past four games.

On Tuesday, he hit a home run for the second night in a row. The rest of the offense, though, couldn't get anything going as the Nationals fell, 3-1, to the Colorado Rockies at Nationals Park, going 0 for 6 with runners in scoring position.

"It's hard for me to do less," Lile said. "Because I love hitting. It's late in the season, so I'm just trying to do the things that are SEE NATIONALS ON B11

Daylen Lile homered for the second straight game Tuesday and is hitting .450 over his past four games.
GEOFF BURKE/IMAGN IMAGES

Top two college leagues ban pros

Big Ten targets football while SEC goes wider; legal challenges expected

BY EDDIE PELLS AND ERIC OLSON Associated Press

The SEC passed a rule Tuesday banning players who have been drafted by NFL, NBA or WNBA teams or listed on rosters in those leagues from joining the Big Ten in taking a strong stand against an unexpected surge of professional players trying to return to college with the NCAA mired in a sprawling legal fight over eligibility.

The SEC's rule goes beyond the one adopted earlier in the day by the Big Ten, which included only football in its decision and is expected address other sports later.

The news was the latest in a head-spinning week of court rulings, emergency rulemaking sessions and player signings, all of which point to a college sports landscape in disarray. The moves by the nation's two biggest conferences, four days before the start of football season, are intended to tamp down the latest crisis — one involving players who came back to college after being released from pro rosters.

“I feel like I took a freaking gummy,” said Sean McVay, the coach of the NFL's Los Angeles Rams, when asked about the prospect of a player he released returning to college. “I don’t even understand it.”

The rules — which seem likely to be challenged in court — came after a series of losses for the NCAA in state courts around the country, where judges are granting players who graduated high school in 2022 a fifth year of eligibility. In June, the NCAA passed a rule giving most players five years

SEE SEC ON B12

Position battles are going down to the wire

With starting spots set, backup roles remain in play for Commanders

BY TASHAN REED

The Washington Commanders' roster is largely set. There aren't any starting jobs up for grabs, and even most of the backup spots are taken.

There are a few areas, however, that remain in question. The Commanders have until 4 p.m. Sunday to make those decisions and trim the roster to 53 players.

General Manager Adam Peters and Coach Dan Quinn have a couple opportunities to help draw conclusions: a joint practice with the Ravens on Wednesday in Baltimore, followed by those teams' meeting to conclude the preseason Friday at M&T Bank Stadium.

Here are five roster battles to watch during the final week of training camp:

Backup center

Julian Good-Jones had this role locked down for most of training camp, but his play has declined sharply. In response, rookie Matt Gulbin will receive more snaps in practice and the game this week.

Starter Nick Allegretti remains sidelined with a calf strain. Given the unclear timeline for his return, the winner of this battle could be

SEE COMMANDERS ON B9

PRO BASKETBALL Kanter Freedom gets ban from Sky's arena

The Chicago Sky banned Enes Kanter Freedom from its home games after the former NBA center was ejected from Sunday's loss to the Indiana Fever.

Owner Michael Alter made the announcement in a rare news conference Tuesday. Alter told reporters that Kanter Freedom is not allowed inside Wintrust Arena for WNBA games “unless sometime in the future, he’s able to prove to us that he’s able to abide by our rules without being a potential threat.”

The 6-foot-10, 250-pound Kanter Freedom was removed from Sunday's game after he was confronted by Sky guard Natasha Cloud late in the third quarter.

Kanter Freedom was sitting along the baseline wearing a black shirt that read “WOMAN noun. adult human female.”

The Fever called for a timeout after Cloud scored inside with 1:22 left in the third. Cloud then did a chest bump with teammate Aicha Coulibaly before turning around and walking in Kanter Freedom's direction.

Cloud, 34, started yelling and pointing at Kanter Freedom, 34, as she approached him. A standing Kanter Freedom held his arms out and stepped onto the court as security and a handful of Sky players moved in between the two.

"It was pretty clear to us that his purpose of coming here was trying to be provocative and see how much attention he could get," Alter told reporters from the Chicago Sun-Times and other media outlets.

Kanter Freedom stopped near the basket to plead his case to security as he was escorted from the court area. He spun around while holding his shirt out and encouraged the crowd to respond as he walked toward the front lobby.

He had a conversation with a group of police officers before departing the arena.

"I just got kicked out of a @WNBA game for supporting WOMEN!" Kanter Freedom wrote on social media. "Let that sink in, AMERICA!"

Kanter Freedom and Royce White, another former NBA player, have declared for the WNBA draft, saying they identify as women. But a person familiar with the decision told the AP on Monday that they are not eligible. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.

The WNBA has been the subject of recent debates on whether transgender women — women assigned male at birth who transition to align with their gender identity — should be allowed to participate in the league. There has never been such a player in the WNBA.

Although the league's collective bargaining agreement says the WNBA is restricted to women, it contains no more specific language about gender identity or sex assigned at birth. ...

The Golden State Warriors are signing free agent guard Brandon Williams to a one-year, \$2.6 million contract, his agent told multiple media outlets.

Williams is the Warriors' first signing of a player outside the organization this NBA offseason. The 26-year-old played in 66 games (15 starts) for the Dallas Mavericks last season and averaged 13.0 points, 3.9 assists and 2.9 rebounds.

Golden State also signed forward Georges Niang — who was sidelined last season while recovering from a left foot injury — to a league minimum contract.

Bodo/Glimt will return to Champions League

The Champions League's feel-good story Bodo/Glimt is back for a second season, joined by two debutants: Sabah of Azerbaijan, just nine years after being formed, and — remarkably - LASK of Austria.

Bodo/Glimt eased through the second leg of its qualifying playoff against NEC Nijmegen, and Sabah denied Hapoel Beer-Sheva in extra time after a last-gasp goal in regulation time to level the aggregate score.

LASK seemed all but out after a half-hour at home in Linz, trailing 4-0 on aggregate. Still, the club had already rained scoring chances on Celtic's goal even before falling further behind, and it had cut the aggregate deficit to 4-3 when the clock passed 90 minutes.

Then Florian Flecker's close-range header forced extra time, during which the Scottish champion continued to implode.

THE DAY IN SPORTS

SPOTLIGHT: WNBA

Paige Bueckers and the Wings pulled away after halftime to secure a winning record and their first playoff berth since 2023.
SIPHIWE SIBEKO/REUTERS

With a Dallas rout, the playoff field is set

Reuters

Paige Bueckers poured in 22 points and dished 11 assists to lead the Dallas Wings to a wire-to-wire, 96-78 win over the Portland Fire on Tuesday night in Arlington, Texas, to clinch the WNBA's eighth and final playoff spot.

Dallas (23-16) earned its third straight victory to clinch a winning record and will be in the postseason for the first time since 2023. The Wings broke their record for most wins in a campaign since the franchise moved to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex from Tulsa before the 2016 campaign.

Portland (15-23) will finish below .500 and was officially eliminated from post-season contention in its first season.

Dallas was up by 13 points at halftime but blew the game open in the third quarter, when it built its lead to as many as 24 points before settling for a 71-52

WINGS 96, FIRE 78

Upstart Portland falls short in its inaugural season

edge heading to the final quarter. The Fire never made a serious run in the fourth period and dropped its third consecutive game.

Jessica Shepard added 21 points, nine boards and six assists in the win. Arike Ogunbowale scored 17, and Awak Kuier racked up 12 points and 12 rebounds to record her second double-double of the year. Alanna Smith finished with 10 points for Dallas.

Portland had six players score in double figures: Bridget Carleton and Karlie Samuelson with 14 points apiece, Megan DiLeo with 13, Carla Leite and Frieda Buhner each with 10 and Emily Engstler with 12 points and a career-best 15 rebounds.

The Wings built a 21-10 lead after Kuier's layup at the 2:15 mark of the first quarter. Dallas got a pair of free throws by Bueckers with 0.3 seconds left and held a 27-18 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

Portland clawed back within four points early in the second quarter on three free throws by Samuelson and a layup by Carleton. But Shepard had eight points in the second quarter alone and helped build Dallas's margin to 41-30 with 3:25 left in the half.

Kuier's three-pointer with 1:59 to play in the half made it a 13-point game, and Dallas carried a 50-37 lead into the break.

The Wings lit their afterburners in the middle of the third quarter, scoring 13 straight points to turn a 52-41 lead into a rout. Dallas outshot Portland 55.1 percent to 37.5 percent for the game.

— Field Level Media

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TENNIS

A fifth unanswered goal for LASK came in the 109th by Samuel Adeniran, who then had a penalty saved as the score stayed 5-1 on the night and 5-4 on aggregate. Celtic drops into the second-tier Europa League.

Dutch newcomer NEC lost, 3-0, as the latest visitor to the Arctic Circle suffering on the artificial turf inside Glimt's tiny Aspmyra Stadium. The aggregate score was 6-1.

Any hope of a comeback effectively ended after three minutes when NEC goalkeeper Gonzalo Crettaz handled the ball outside his penalty area and was sent off.

Sabah was created in 2017 and exactly nine years later will debut in the Champions League's main competition after a dramatic qualifying win, beating the Israeli champion, 5-2 in the second leg in Baku and 6-4 on aggregate.

Four more playoff second-leg games Wednesday will confirm the final entries in the 36-team main phase. The draw for those games is Thursday....

Tottenham took its summer spending to more than \$400 million by signing Brazil winger Savinho from Manchester City in a deal worth 85 million pounds (\$115 million).

The summer refresh under Roberto De Zerbi — setting out on his first full season in charge of Tottenham — now includes the 22-year-old Savinho, who joined City in 2024 for 40 million euros (\$43.6 million) from sister club Troyes but hasn't lived up to expectations....

Chelsea and Strasbourg — two clubs in the same ownership group — struck another deal for a player, with 20-year-old midfielder Omari Kellyman moving to the French team on a permanent deal.

Strasbourg was bought by BlueCo in 2023, a year after the American consortium paid 2.5 billion pounds (\$3.2 billion) to take control of Chelsea. According to the Athletic, 14 players have moved between the club under BlueCo. ...

Manchester United confirmed the signing of 22-year-old midfielder Carlos Baleba from Brighton for a reported 70 million pounds (\$95 million)....

Bruno Fernandes was voted as the men's player of the year in English soccer for last season at the Professional Footballers' Association awards, while Khadija "Bunny" Shaw got the women's accolade....

French forward Christopher Nkunku returned on a loan deal to Leipzig, where he had the most prolific seasons of his career. ...

Austin FC announced Khaled El-Ahmad as sporting director and chief soccer officer as the MLS club continues a major rebuild amid what looks to be another lost season. ...

The Seattle Sounders acquired forward Dejan Joveljic as a designated player from Sporting Kansas City in exchange for \$6 million, then promptly signed him to a four-year contract. ...

The Houston Dash announced a new contract with veteran midfielder Danny Colaprico through the 2027 NWSL

season. ..

Graham Arnold extended his contract as Iraq head coach through the 2027 Asian Cup, months after guiding the national team at its first World Cup in 40 years.

COLLEGES Vols' White unsatisfied after Carter's ban is cut

The NCAA agreed to reduce Tennessee linebacker Arion Carter's suspension from two games to one over a \$427 flight to an NFL training facility during the predraft process, Volunteers Athletic Director Danny White said.

White wrote on social media that while he strongly agrees with Coach Josh Heupel that the suspension was ridiculous, a one-game ban for the season opener Sept. 5 against Furman is better than two games — but no suspension would be better in the current environment.

Carter signed with an agent and accepted a flight worth \$427.28 while figuring out his draft status. He ultimately withdrew from the draft and returned to Tennessee because of a medical procedure for a foot injury. ...

Vanderbilt elected against starting five-star freshman quarterback Jared Curtis in Week 1, instead choosing veteran Blake Berkowitz as its starter, according to multiple reports.

Berkowitz, who is in his third season with the Commodores after starting his career at New Mexico State, will make his first career start Sept. 5 against Austin Peay. Curtis also is expected to play against the Governors, per an ESPN report, indicating the quarterback battle may not be entirely decided.

Berkowitz, entering his final season of eligibility, backed up Heisman finalist Diego Pavia last season....

Duke is turning to San José State graduate transfer Walker Eget as its starting quarterback.

The Blue Devils said Eget had won the starting job less than two weeks before the Sept. 5 opener against Tulane. He won a position battle that had redshirt freshman Dan Mahan mentioned as a top contender going into preseason camp.

Eget had spent five seasons and made 18 starts at San José State. ...

Ukrainian center Kate Koval is leaving LSU women's basketball less than two weeks after a Russian player joined the team.

Tigers Coach Kim Mulkey said the 6-foot-5 Koval was leaving for “personal reasons,” adding that the program will “respect her privacy on her decision.”

Koval began her college career at Notre Dame and transferred to LSU last season, averaging 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

LSU recently signed Anna Minaeva, a 6-5 post player who previously played professionally with MBA Moscow.

GOLF

Two-week match play will decide tour champ

The PGA Tour is reshaping its postseason for 2028 by ending the year with a Tour Championship played over two weeks at different golf courses involving match play.

PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp announced the changes before the Tour Championship, which has been 72 holes of stroke play for the top 30 players since it began in 1987. Under the current format, whoever wins the tournament is declared the FedEx Cup champion and earns \$10 million in official money from the \$40 million purse.

Starting in 2028, the BMW Championship — to be held that year at Olympia Fields near Chicago — will be for the leading 90 players on the points list. Points from the season continue, and the No. 1 player will be the season champion with bonus money paid out accordingly.

The top 32 after the BMW Championship will be broken into eight groups of four-player pools for the first week of the Tour Championship. The leading two players from each pool advance to the final week, which will be match play over four days. Even players eliminated early will play through Sunday to determine final positions.

Key details, such as where the final two weeks will be played and how much money will be at stake, have not been announced. ...

LeBron James's growing passion for golf now includes a partnership with the PGA Tour that will bring a two-day tournament to Firestone Country Club in his hometown of Akron, Ohio, next summer to connect youth with aspiring professionals.

The LeBron James Family Foundation Invitational will be played July 6-7 on the South course at Firestone, where the PGA Tour recently ended a 72-year run.

CYCLING

Pogacar storms in front on Vuelta's fourth stage

Tadej Pogacar took a big step toward winning the Spanish Vuelta for the first time by claiming the fourth stage in dominant fashion.

The defending Tour de France champion, seeking a sweep of Grand Tour titles, completed his longest solo run in Grand Tours and finished the tough mountain stage in Andorra 2 minutes 39 seconds ahead of the chasers.

Pogacar opened an overall lead of 3:21 over Primoz Roglic, with Enric Mas another 11 seconds behind in the general classification.

— From news services

Nearly 1 in 4 ex-players had CTE, research finds

BY RICK MAESE

At least 1 in 4 former NFL players who died in recent years had chronic traumatic encephalopathy, the degenerative brain disease linked to repeated head impacts, according to the largest-ever study to estimate the disease's prevalence among deceased professional football players.

The 25 percent figure represents a conservative floor, researchers said, and the true prevalence of CTE at death was probably higher. Because the disease can be diagnosed only after death, the research did not reveal how common the disease is among active players or living retirees.

The study, published Tuesday in the British Medical Journal, tracked 878 former players who appeared in at least one NFL game, debuted after 1949 and died between 2016 and 2021. Researchers examined the brains of 235 of them, and 215 — more than 91 percent of the donors — had CTE.

Because players and families concerned about brain disease are more likely to donate a brain for research, the researchers did not treat that 91 percent figure as representative of all former players. Instead, they established a range.

For the most conservative estimate, they assumed none of the 643 players whose brains were not examined had CTE. Even then, 24.5 percent of the entire group — nearly 1 in 4 — had the disease. If every unexamined player had CTE, the prevalence would have been 97.7 percent, a mathematical ceiling rather than a likely estimate.

"The true number is somewhere in that range," said Daniel Daneshvar, the study's lead author and chief of brain injury rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, said in an interview.

Daneshvar, who is also an associate professor at Harvard Medical School, said the lower estimate eliminates the usual brain-bank selection bias by making the most conservative possible assumption: that researchers identified every CTE case and that every player whose brain was not examined did not have the disease.

Still, Daneshvar cautioned against applying that number to living players.

“This isn’t looking at active players,” he said. “This is people at the end of their lives. And so we can’t directly extrapolate from this to living current players or even living retired players.”

CTE is associated with exposure to repeated head impacts and marked by an abnormal buildup of tau protein around small blood vessels deep in the folds of the brain.

Ann McKee, director of Boston University's CTE Center, co-authored the CTE study published Tuesday.

STEVEN SENNE/AP

Rachel Grashow, a neuroepidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who was not involved in the research, said the study's important contribution was its attempt to estimate the prevalence of CTE pathology rather than simply reporting the percentage found in a brain bank.

But Grashow, who studies football player health, cautioned against assuming that everyone with CTE pathology necessarily experienced the psychiatric, behavioral or cognitive symptoms commonly associated with the disease.

“What this paper doesn’t show — this thing that we’re waiting for — is a really strong connection between the symptoms that people are attributing to CTE and this neuropathologic postmortem diagnosis,” she said.

The association between the most advanced CTE and dementia is important, Grashow said, but the study still cannot predict the health or future of an individual living player. Her research on living former football players is funded in part by the NFL Players Association, which she said has no authority over the research or its publication. She does not receive NFL funding.

Most of the players in the latest study who had CTE had an advanced form of the disease. About 70 percent were diagnosed with Stage 3 or Stage 4 CTE, the two most severe of its four stages, Daneshvar said. The average age at death among the brain donors was about 66.

More than 60 percent of the players with CTE were determined to have had dementia, based on family interviews and medical records. Among the 104 players with Stage 4 CTE, more than 90 percent had dementia. After adjusting for age and other factors, researchers found that Stage 4 CTE was associated with a 44 percent higher prevalence of dementia.

The study was conducted by researchers from Mass General Brigham, Boston University and other institutions. Ann McKee, director of Boston University's CTE Center, was a co-author. Most of the examined brains came through Boston University's UNITE Brain Bank, with additional cases from Mount Sinai and the University of California at San Francisco.

The study's authors acknowledged several limitations. Brain donors tended to have played longer, achieved greater prominence in the sport and died younger than the other former players. Their families also were more likely to have observed cognitive, behavioral or mood symptoms. Clinical histories were reconstructed after death through family interviews and medical records, making them susceptible to imperfect recall.

The study also largely reflects players from earlier eras of professional football. It cannot determine whether more recent changes in equipment, practice rules, tackling instruction and concussion management have altered the risk faced by players today.

In a statement, an NFL spokesperson said the league “continuously strives to make the game of football safer, including by implementing strategies to reduce concussions and head impacts.”

"The NFL remains committed to ensuring that the NFL community has access to a robust — and expanding — set of resources to enhance their physical and mental well-being," the spokesperson said. "We encourage former players to utilize these resources to identify and seek treatment when they are concerned about their health."

Researchers say the studies add to evidence that football's neurological risks are not limited to diagnosed concussions. CTE has been linked more closely to cumulative exposure to repeated head impacts, including hits that do not produce immediate concussion symptoms.

The former NFL players did not accumulate all of that exposure in professional football, Daneshvar said.

“They got it at the collegiate level, in many cases the high school level, and oftentimes the youth level as well,” he said. “And all of those cumulative hits, the cumulative force associated with those hits, added up to increase the individual’s risk for developing the disease process later.”

Commanders' hopefuls get final shots to impress

DANIEL KUCIN JR./AP

COMMANDERS FROM B7

the starting center in Week 1.

"With both of them, I feel good [about their] knowledge of the system," Quinn said Monday. "Julian's somebody that's been here to work and put in, so I felt his strength there. I want to see really good protection in the middle of the line, especially blitz stunts, and we'll get a good look at that.

"Our defense does it. Baltimore does it. So, between Wednesday and Friday, those are two more nice chances to get some good looks. [The] good news for us [is] both of them are heady, smart players."

Final wide receiver spots

Five wide receivers should be considered locks to make the roster: Terry McLaurin, Stefon Diggs, Luke McCaffrey, Antonio Williams and Jaylin Lane. The rest of the group is where it gets interesting.

Treylon Burks and Dyami Brown have frequently gotten reps with the first-team offense while jockeying for positioning on the depth chart. Additionally, rookie Jaden Bradley has impressed with his contested catch ability and special teams play.

Who makes the cut will depend on how many wide receivers the Commanders keep. They will roster at least five and could carry as many as seven.

Third-string quarterback

Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis has been pulling ahead of Sam Hartman recently, but it's not a done deal. They have been rotating in the preseason thus far, and that will continue against the Ravens. Their performances could decide the outcome here.

Backup quarterback Marcus Mariota is out because of an MCL sprain. The team hopes he will be ready by Week 1, but that's not a guarantee. If he's not, the Commanders will have to keep a third quarterback

Defensive tackle depth

Defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw, Daron Payne and Tim Settle are locks. Jer'Zhan Newton is out for the foreseeable future after undergoing surgery for a torn pectoral last week.

Newton will probably be placed on injured reserve with a designation to return on roster cut day, which would free up a spot. Shy Tuttle, Ricky Barber, Maurice

Hurst II and Byron Cowart are in the mix to make the roster.

Linebacker special teams ace

The Commanders' top four line-backers are set: Sonny Styles,

Frankie Luvu, Leo Chenal and Jordan Magee. Magee is nursing a shoulder injury but is expected to be back by the start of the regular season.

Even with him in tow, however,

Julian Good-Jones, above, had the Commanders' backup spot at center locked down for most of camp, but a recent decline in play has opened the door for rookie Matt Gulbin.

it could make sense for Washington to keep a fifth linebacker for special teams purposes. That appears to be a two-man race between Kain Medrano and Ale Kaho.

"I'm not going to say they're interchangeable, but on special teams, they kind of play some of the same spots," Quinn said. "Defensively, we lean more to Kain guarding tight ends, using some of that length, but I'm pleased with both of them."

Roster notes

The Commanders released safety Will Harris on Tuesday. He entered last season as a starter but missed a significant chunk of the year because of injury and never quite looked the same. In training camp, he fell out of the safety rotation behind Jeremy Reaves, Nick Cross and Quan Martin. Washington also released safety Malik Spencer.

In corresponding moves, the Commanders signed safeties Joshua Bledsoe and Quindell Johnson to compete with Tyler Owens and Percy Butler for roster spots. The team also signed left tackle D.J. Humphries to provide depth behind Brandon Coleman.

Additionally, Washington placed outside linebacker Drake Jackson on season-ending injured reserve with an undisclosed issue and signed Boogie Basham at the position. Basham hasn't played much the past couple of seasons and is unlikely to make the roster, but he provides some practice depth with Odafe Oweh and K'Lavon Chaisson nursing injuries.

Settle (calf), running back Rachad White (hamstring) and defensive end Dorance Armstrong (knee) returned to practice Monday. They sat out Saturday's game against the Detroit Lions.

Mariota (MCL); running backs Jacory Croskey-Merritt (lower body) and Jeremy McNichols (quad); tight end Ben Sinnott (oblique); left tackles Laremy Tunsil (triceps) and Brandon Coleman (undisclosed); Allegretti (calf); defensive ends Jackson (undisclosed) and Deatrich Wise Jr. (quad); Payne (undisclosed) and Newton (pectoral); linebackers Oweh (calf), Chaisson (knee) and Magee (shoulder); and cornerback Trey Amos (ankle) missed practice Monday and Tuesday.

Minnesota WR Jones is banned for 3 games

NOTES

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Jeshaun Jones was issued a three-game suspension by the NFL for violating the league's substances of abuse policy.

The NFL's announcement of the punishment Tuesday did not disclose the nature of the violation. Jones spent each of the past two years on Minnesota's practice squad, before being promoted to the active roster and appearing in the final game of the 2025 season. He went undrafted out of Maryland, where he had 2,040 yards on 151 receptions with 14 touchdowns over a six-year career.

Jones remains eligible to participate in what remains of the preseason, including the final exhibition game at the Denver Broncos on Friday. His suspension will begin Sunday, and he will be eligible for reinstatement Sept. 28.

• PATRIOTS: Christian Gonzalez is back practicing with New England.

But the cornerback remains without the long-term contract extension he has been seeking throughout the offseason with the regular season two weeks away.

Gonzalez returned to practice Monday after being sidelined since Aug. 10 with a minor injury, according to Coach Mike Vrabel. He was back in uniform for the Patriots' last workout before heading to Cleveland to prepare for the team's final preseason game Thursday night.

- BENGALS: Cincinnati wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase left practice early after suffering what he called a "hyperextension" of his left knee, but he also said he was not concerned about the injury.

Chase was hurt as he fell to the turf while trying to catch a deep pass from quarterback Joe Burrow. He stayed on the ground for a few seconds before trainers came out to examine him. He left the field but stayed on the sideline for the remainder of practice, The Athletic reported.

He told Cincinnati radio station WCKY after practice that he wanted to keep going but the Bengals “pulled” him. He said he could play if the team had a game Wednesday.

• GIANTS: New York wide receiver Calvin Austin was carted off the field during a training camp practice after appearing to injure his right knee.

"I think naturally you always think the worst when something like that happens, but we don't know," offensive coordinator Matt Nagy told reporters in attendance. "I'll just say this about Calvin Austin: What an unbelievable kid, what a great person and a great talent."

- SEAHAWKS: Seattle placed safety Bud Clark and offensive lineman Mason Richman on injured reserve because of injuries they suffered in a preseason loss at the Tennessee Titans.

Clark, a second-round draft pick this year out of TCU, broke his ankle on Seattle's first defensive play Sunday and was carted off the field with his leg in an air cast.

Richman injured his right leg on Seattle's opening drive in Nashville. Following the game, Coach Mike Macdonald called it a “major injury, a long-term injury” without revealing details.

- JETS: New York waived kicker Cade York, who was in a tightly contested competition with Jason Sanders, before the team's final practice of training camp.

York was signed in March as a potential replacement for Nick Folk, who joined Atlanta in free agency after tying for the NFL lead with a 96.6 percent field goal rate.

• CARDINALS: Arizona agreed to terms with center Hjalte Froholdt on a two-year, \$20 million contract extension, NFL Network reported.

The deal will keep Froholdt, who turned 30 last week, on the roster through the 2028 season.

- JAGUARS: Wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. appeared to injure his shoulder and was held out of the remainder of Jacksonville's joint practice with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"I think he's all right, just fell on his shoulder," Jaguars Coach Liam Coen said. "Holding him out was smart. Get him ready for [Week 1]."

- SAINTS: New Orleans placed running back Ty Chandler and tight end Moliki Matavao on season-ending injured reserve with knee injuries.

PIRATES AT PADRES, 4:10
National League

x-Late game

BASEBALL

American League

Rockies 3, Nationals 1

LOB: Colorado 7, Washington 7. 2B: Norby (17), Castro (20), Young (18). HR: Goodman (35), off Alvarez; Lile (17), off Adams. RBI: Goodman (70), Norby (20), Lile (72). SB: Young (15). CS: Lile (6). ROCKIES: JR. H. DEBRSONDEPA

HOW THEY SCORED

WP: Manfredi (1-0); LP: Alvarez (2-6); S: Romano (13). Inherited runners-scored: Manfredi 1-0, Herget 1-0, Lord 1-0. WP: Alvarez. ABS Challenge Castro (Strike-Overturned to Ball) T: 2:48. A: 13,876 (41,376).
x-Late game

ROCKIES FOURTH

Hunter Goodman homers. TJ Rumfield walks. Willi Castro hits into a force out, TJ Rumfield out at second. Connor Norby doubles, tagged out at third, Willi Castro scores. Mickey Moniak grounds out.

Rockies 2, Nationals 0 NATIONALS FOURTH

Astros 9, Yankees 7

NATIONALS FOURTH

Yordan Alvarez went 3 for 5 and lined a go-ahead triple in the eighth inning off Brent Headrick as Houston beat New York.

Yainer Diaz also hit a pair of solo homers.

VINCENT CARCHIETTA/IMAGN IMAGES