Bullshit charge......

Former Olympian pleads not guilty in reflecting pool vandalism charges

Jaclyn Diaz

Former U.S. Olympic canoeist David Hearn pleaded not guilty to damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in D.C. Superior Court Thursday morning.

Federal prosecutors charged Hearn with a single count of destruction of property causing more than $1,000 in damage to the pool.

Hearn has previously claimed, which his attorneys repeated during a short press conference outside the court, that he simply touched the water in the pool out of curiosity.

The Trump Administration had just completed a $14 million renovation of the pool.

But shortly after the work finished, peeling paint and algae gathered in the water. The remodel has been largely criticized as a massive failure and waste of taxpayer dollars.

Superior Court Judge Carmen McLean released Hearn on his own recognizance. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 5.

Norm Eisen, one of Hearn's attorneys, spoke to reporters outside of court following the hearing. He said the administration is using Hearn as a "scapegoat … for their own failures."

"It is not a crime to touch the reflecting pool, to touch water in the United States of America," he said.

Prosecutors say there is a host of evidence against Hearn.

WEEE!!!!!!!! Let's keep fucking up the world!

The U.S. launches new airstrikes on Iran and Tehran fires back at Gulf Arab states

By The Associated Press

The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting U.S.-allied Mideast countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday's appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar.

Sirens sounded Thursday afternoon in Jordan as well, where the U.S. has stationed troops and aircraft.

An Iranian official accused the U.S. of launching an airstrike later Thursday targeting the area around Iran's sole nuclear power plant, and other explosions were reported elsewhere in the country during the afternoon.

The strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of a fragile ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop. That raised concerns that the region could tip back into a war that would engulf several countries and could halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial for the global economy.

In Iran, the two days of American airstrikes have killed at least 14 people and wounded another 78, Iran's Health Ministry said Thursday — most of those reportedly members of the armed forces.

In Kuwait, the military said falling debris wounded one person as it shot down three ballistic missiles, a cruise missile and 10 drones. Bahrain said it shot down incoming fire, without elaborating. There was no immediate word of damage in Qatar, while Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad al-Momani said all incoming fire from Iran had been intercepted.

U.S. strikes hit more targets

The U.S. military's Central Command said it hit some 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers.

The U.S. said the strikes were intended to "further degrade" Iran's ability "to threaten freedom of navigation" in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.

Attacks on ships — and the threat of them — virtually halted traffic in the waterway during the conflict, causing the price of oil to skyrocket and raising prices on many basic goods, including food, far beyond the region.

Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran's nuclear power plant complex, and southern port cities.

In Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, at least three people were killed Thursday, state media reported. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike killed a firefighter at an airport. Those fatalities followed the deaths of at least nine members of Iran's armed forces in Wednesday's strikes, according to state media. It wasn't clear when the other death happened and who was killed.

For the first time since April, U.S. strikes also appeared to target Iranian bridges. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran's northeastern Golestan province, and the Revolutionary Guard said two bridges were attacked on the route to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday.

Meanwhile Thursday, the state-run IRNA news agency quoted Ehsan Jahanian, a local official in Bushehr, as accusing the U.S. of striking near Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant. He said the strike came around noon, hours after the U.S. military's Central Command said it had ended its strikes on Iran. Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

During the Iran war, several strikes hit in the area around the plant, which is managed by Russian technicians, but caused no damage to the plant itself.

Trump warns "it will get much worse" if attacks on shipping happen again

After leaving a NATO summit in Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic.

"This is in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" Trump wrote.

Trump said earlier in the day that the latest back-and-forth fighting would not result in "long-term" military action.

"Anything that happens is going to happen very fast," Trump said.

Trump also renewed his past threats to hit Iran's civilian infrastructure, including electric and desalination plants, and to seize Kharg Island, through which some 90% of Iranian oil exports pass.

The exchange of fire began after Iran attacked three tankers in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

The new attacks, despite the ceasefire, could reflect a divide among Iran's leadership. Hard-liners want to ensure lasting control over the waterway, which is a globally important conduit for fuel shipments and has become a critical lever in confronting the West. Pragmatists want a permanent peace deal to lift international sanctions and provide desperately needed economic relief.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks seeking a permanent end to the war, was defiant in a post on X on Thursday morning: "America still hasn't learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: If you strike, you'll get hit."

Strikes raise fears that war could resume

Trump fueled concerns that the war could restart by saying Wednesday that the interim agreement to pause the fighting was "over." He added that he would allow negotiations to continue, though he cast doubt on the outcome.

"They can talk, but I think they're wasting their time," he said.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, also a top negotiator, retorted on X that Trump's remarks "are not a sign of power but an admission of the failure" of U.S. policy toward Iran.

Negotiations to reach a final deal were due to start after the funeral for Khamenei, who was killed in the war's first moments. The funeral, which ends Thursday, was supposed to be a period of lower tensions.

The talks are meant to focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear program.

Pushed some countries

The Iran war has pushed some countries away from oil and toward clean energy

Julia Simon

A new round of bombing has begun in the Middle East. More than four months after the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, one thing is clear: Some countries are not going back to fossil fuel imports in the same way they relied on them in the past.

Instead, countries across Asia and Africa are speeding up the adoption of solar, batteries and electric vehicles in a deliberate strategy to decrease their dependence on imported natural gas and oil.

The war has underscored the precarity of oil and natural gas supplies and prices. The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off more than a fifth of liquified natural gas, or LNG supplies, and prices haven't been the same since. European and Asian prices for natural gas, which is mainly used for electricity and heating, are up more than 50% from when the war began. Oil prices climbed Wednesday after President Trump said the ceasefire was over.

Countries are forging a new energy path with renewable and electric vehicle technologies sourced from China. In March, Chinese exports of solar panels were up more than 80% compared to last year, according to energy think tank Ember. China exported more than 2 million electric passenger vehicles between January and May, with nearly half of those exports occurring in April and May, according to a recent analysis note from SIA Energy, an oil and gas consultancy.

"If China's car industry were handing out a salesman of the year award for 2026, President Trump would be a leading contender," the SIA Energy note says.

Last year, the global use of electric vehicles meant the world avoided consuming around 1.7 million barrels of oil per day, according to the International Energy Agency. That's more than the daily crude oil production of Nigeria. Burning fossil fuels is the primary driver of global warming, so climate scientists see these energy transition technologies that cut into fossil fuel demand as key climate solutions.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has been "an accelerator for the transition," says Jan Rosenow, climate and energy professor at Oxford University. In an uncertain world, he says, many countries have found that investing in renewables and EVs give them energy security — and makes economic sense.

"And that's not gonna go away," Rosenow says.

Speeding up the transition

The fossil fuel industry has long framed natural gas as a "transition fuel" away from coal and oil. But the Iran war has underscored the riskiness of natural gas.

"The Gulf seemed like a safe space [for sourcing natural gas], and then this happened," says Fareed Mohamedi, managing director at SIA Energy.

Asian natural gas prices shot up over 100% from pre-war levels at their peak in March, and in recent months countries like the Philippines and Tuvalu have faced war-triggered energy crises. Governments have been forced to close schools and offices, and ration fossil fuel supplies.

But imports of solar, batteries and EVs have been cushioning the blow. Pakistan's investments in solar and batteries have allowed it to reduce oil and natural gas imports, saving the country billions of dollars, according to the nonprofit Centre for Energy and Clean Air.

Other countries, such as the Philippines, are following in Pakistan's footsteps. The Philippines imported more than $400 million in solar panels from February to May, according to Chinese export data. That's a 139% increase from a year ago, according to Ember.

Chinese solar and battery imports have changed the calculus for investments in global renewable projects, says Dele Kuti, global head of energy and infrastructure for Standard Bank, the largest bank in Africa. In 2025, Standard Bank's financing for renewable energy power projects outpaced that for nonrenewable power projects by a ratio of 8 to 1.

"The Chinese crashed the market!" Kuti says. "We started looking at, when it comes to solar projects, it's actually not bad from a cost perspective." 

The fact that the Iran war happened just four years after the energy crisis spurred by Russia's invasion of Ukraine has laid bare the risks of relying on imported fossil fuels, says Kaushik Deb, who leads the India Team at the University of Chicago's Energy Policy Institute. "What this crisis is doing is kind of creating the need for this energy transition to happen much faster," Deb says.

"This is where the transformation to electric on the transportation side," he says, "or increasing the share of renewables in the electricity grid is so, so, so central."

More EVs equal less oil demand long term

In recent months, electric vehicle sales have risen around the world, driven largely by Chinese exports. Those new electric vehicles mean fewer people filling up with gasoline. That affects global oil demand, says Kingsmill Bond, analyst at Ember. Forty-five percent of global oil is used for road transportation, such as cars, motorcycles and trucks, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Before the war in Iran, the IEA was expecting global oil demand to rise this year. But the disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz led them to downgrade expectations to a decline in oil demand for this year.

The Trump administration continues to double down on fossil fuels. While new EV sales are up in the rest of the world, they have slumped in the U.S. compared to last year, according to Cox Automotive. The abrupt removal of federal tax credits for EV buyers, a policy change Trump pushed for, is a major factor.

For the foreseeable future, the world will still need oil and natural gas for things such as fertilizer, plastics and jet fuel, Mohamedi says. "But demand for oil and diesel is falling like a brick," he says.

Because of renewables and EVs, Mohamedi says, "Countries can say, 'I don't need this insecurity.'"

Traffic slows.... Stops......

Hormuz traffic slows after renewed US-Iran clashes

By Tim Lister

International shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has dropped after renewed US strikes against Iranian coastal installations over the past two nights, according to marine tracking data.

But some vessels continue to transit the strait without active transponders, making an accurate assessment difficult.

Fresh US strikes were triggered Wednesday and Thursday after drone attacks on three ships passing through Hormuz without Iranian consent.

On Thursday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that “foreigners have no stake whatsoever in this land or the Strait of Hormuz,” and that “interference in determining the shipping route will not only be met with our crushing response, but will also seriously disrupt the gradual reopening process” that had begun with the signing of a memorandum between the US and Iran last month.

Ships must “obtain authorization from the IRGC Navy by disciplined compliance with security protocols,” it added in its statement.

Iran has used the recent lull in the conflict to accelerate exports from Kharg Island, its main export hub, according to shipping analysts.

“Anticipating a possible imminent resumption of the US Navy blockade, Tehran shipped out no less than 10 million barrels of crude oil and fuel oil overnight,” TankerTrackers reported Thursday.

“All three of Kharg Island’s export terminals stayed fully occupied” despite the latest US strikes, according to analysts at Windward, a maritime intelligence service.

“Approximately 63 million barrels of Iranian crude are now at sea,” Windward said. After the US this week revoked a waiver that had allowed Iranian crude exports, “operators, insurers, and buyers [are] fully exposed to U.S. secondary sanctions on any cargo they handle,” Windward noted.

Data from tracking service MarineTraffic showed just a handful of vessels in the Strait on Thursday, including two empty Iranian tankers entering the Gulf. A laden liquid petroleum gas carrier operated by ADNOC, the United Arab Emirates’ state energy company, was leaving the Gulf by a route close to the Omani coast.

10 missiles

Iran says it fired 10 missiles at US base in Jordan

By Aida Karimi and Tim Lister

Ten ballistic missiles were fired at a US base in Jordan Thursday, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The IRGC said the target was the Azraq military base in north Jordan, which is also known as Muwaffaq Salti Air Base. The US military has built up a significant presence there during the conflict with Iran.

“If the U.S. military repeats its aggression, other American bases in the region will not be spared from heavy fire,” the IRGC said.

There are no reports of damage or casualties.

All the missiles were “intercepted and dealt with,” Jordanian government spokesman Mohammad Al-Momani said on X.

China oil.....

Iranian oil tankers are rushing out of the Strait of Hormuz

By David Goldman

Intensifying attacks in the Persian Gulf over the past two days and President Donald Trump’s threat to reimpose a US-led naval blockade are motivating Iran to get its oil tankers out of the Strait of Hormuz – quickly.

Iran shipped out 10 million barrels of crude and fuel overnight, according to TankerTrackers, a maritime shipping tracker. That’s a significant ramp-up: Before Thursday, Iran managed to get a total of 60 million barrels of oil out over the past three weeks, according to Windward Intelligence.

On Wednesday, tanker operators got cold feet entering and leaving the strait as the uncertainty about the military situation led many ships to drop anchor. Crossings through the Strait of Hormuz Wednesday fell to 25, down from 49 the previous day, according to MarineTraffic.

Part of the reason for Wednesday’s decline in strait crossings was the fear that vessels entering the region would get stuck there. Most of the crossings Wednesday were west to east (exiting the Persian Gulf).

Other than the United Arab Emirates, which has shipped as much as 65 million barrels of oil after the strait reopened, Iranian exports have surpassed all other oil producers. The regime makes 50% of its revenue off of oil sales, which are crucial to the country’s post-war revitalization.

The reimposition of US sanctions on Iranian oil Tuesday does not appear to be deterring China from buying: Though a shadow fleet of tankers, 32.3 million barrels of Iranian oil are currently headed toward China, according to Windward Intelligence.

The ceasefire was over, never was one, just another lie....

Trump Strikes Iran and Threatens War Crimes—Again

The president said Wednesday the ceasefire was over, raising the possibility of relaunching the war in Iran.

Alex Nguyen

President Donald Trump said Wednesday that the US would continue strikes on Iran for a second night, and—if it had to—seize much of the country’s oil and target electric and desalination plants. 

The desalination plants are part of Iran’s vital civilian infrastructure, and, as I wrote in April, international law experts consider hitting these facilities to be war crimes because of the disproportionate harm targeting them would cause to civilians. 

On Wednesday, Trump also said that the US-Iran ceasefire agreement was over and that he would allow US officials to continue current negotiations to end the war, but they would be “wasting their time.”

Trump’s threats come amid multiple American strikes against Iran since it signed an interim deal with Iran on June 17. The US strikes came in response to Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, a passageway that carried about 20 percent of the world’s crude oil and natural gas before the 2026 war began.

In late June, during the first major US strikes on Iran since the interim deal, Trump posted on Truth Social that if Iran continued its strikes, “we will be forced to military complete the job…if that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!”

As part of the US and Iran’s June agreement, Iran would allow ships to pass through without paying tolls for 60 days. But the country’s leadership has stated that oil tankers passing through the strait must use approved routes. According to a Wednesday report by the Associated Press, the ships Iran struck on Tuesday appeared to deviate from the designated route.

These recent maneuvers put more lives at risk. As of June 10, multiple Iranian government ministries reported that about 3,500 people have been killed in Iran since the war began in February.

Nate Swanson, President Joe Biden’s director for Iran at the National Security Council, told me two weeks ago what he considered the strategy at play here. The US doesn’t seem to be interested in making complex concessions to Iran, Swanson said, and Iran may be unwilling to agree to a deal with Trump specifically, given his support of the Gaza war and his strikes on the country in June 2025.

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters that Iran’s leaders were “scum” and “sick people.” “Based on their actions over the last week or two, they’re not doing a service to the people,” he said. “I’m not sure I want to make a deal with them.”

The Trump administration’s efforts to end the war appear to be going backward. Republican lawmakers criticized the June ceasefire deal with Iran as “the worst foreign policy blunder in decades.” While many publicly blamed JD Vance, whom Trump said was responsible for Iran negotiations, the war is extremely unpopular with his base, which could hurt the GOP’s chances in the upcoming midterms.

LDN 43

This Cosmic Bat wishes you a happy Summerween! This mid-year celebration of Halloween transcends hemispheres, even though summer in the Northern hemisphere is winter in the South. Contrary to its eery aura, the Cosmic Bat Nebula (LDN 43), not to be confused with the Bat Nebula (NGC 6995), is a vibrant birthplace for stars. A bit of young starlight peeks through the dense clouds of gas and dust that make up the Cosmic Bat’s 12 lightyear wingspan. The ultraviolet light from the young stars energizes the nebula’s hydrogen gas, causing it to glow an ominous red. The jet of glowing hydrogen gas emerging from the bat’s head hints at the star formation hidden within.

Under pressure to let hard-liners vote

Johnson eyes vote on bill to end ‘birth tourism’ to satisfy right flank

The speaker is under pressure to let hard-liners vote on legislation cracking down on immigration.

Meredith Lee Hill

Speaker Mike Johnson is exploring whether to put legislation on the House floor that would end the ability of pregnant women to enter the United States legally to gain citizenship for their children.

The possible vote, described by four people granted anonymity to share details of private conversations, would be a way for Johnson to appease hard-liners who are demanding a vote to end birthright citizenship after the Supreme Court ruled against Trump administration efforts to undermine it.

House passage of a measure to crack down the practice would be largely symbolic, as it stands no chance of overcoming the Senate filibuster. But Johnson’s most conservative members are also continuing to agitate for the chance to vote on legislation to crack down on legal immigration in the U.S., and Johnson needs a way to respond to those demands quickly.

“If there’s some legislative fix, we’ll advance that immediately,” Johnson said in an interview on Fox News Sunday over the weekend. While he warned that enacting a constitutional amendment would take “a little more time,” he added, “we’ve got to address this. It really is a serious, serious issue.”

A spokesperson for Johnson did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his possible plan to target what critics call “birth tourism.”

Further complicating matters, the speaker promised hard-liners last month that he would hold a vote before July 4 on legislation that would codify President Donald Trump’s border security priorities — in exchange for their support on a more narrow bill funding federal immigration enforcement activities.

Those members now say Johnson has gone back on his word and, in revolt, they ground legislative business to a halt, forcing GOP leaders to send the House home early for the holiday recess. It could still be a problem when the chamber reconvenes next week, and Johnson needs to come up with a solution quickly.

Several GOP centrists are open to Johnson’s latest idea, according to two other people with knowledge of the talks. But the dynamics are deeply tricky for Johnson, who must grapple with intraparty factions divided over the party’s approach to the immigration issue broadly.

A handful of moderate Republicans do not want to vote on immigration matters so close to the midterms, while a swath of Republicans in agriculture-heavy districts have warned Johnson he needs to address an overhaul of the visa process for seasonal immigrant farm workers as part of any immigration package that comes to the floor. But that would stoke major backlash from the far-right rank and file.

For now, Republicans are still stuck without a final agreement or way forward.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise told reporters last week that Republicans were far from reaching a compromise, and one person involved in the talks Tuesday described senior House Republicans as “still pissing around” on the discussions.

Platner replacement

Maine Democrats plan nomination convention to choose Platner replacement

The convention would include roughly 600 elected delegates.

By Jessica Piper and Andrew Howard

The Maine Democratic Party approved tentative plans for a nominating convention in the event Senate candidate Graham Platner drops out of the race, it announced Wednesday evening.

The convention would include roughly 600 people who would be selected by county-level Democratic committees, according to two people familiar with the specific plans and granted anonymity to share them. Every county committee would have to meet prior to the state nominating convention to elect 500 of those delegates, and the 100 current state committee members will also serve as delegates. State committee members voted to approve the plan Wednesday evening at the end of a lengthy emergency meeting.

It’s unclear if that plan would satisfy the Platner campaign’s demand for “the supporters and volunteers who built this movement” to have “a real role” in the process to name his successor on the ticket to take on GOP Sen. Susan Collins this fall.

Plans for a 600-person convention were reported first by the Bangor Daily News.

The party confirmed its plans to host a convention on social media and via a press release but didn’t include details, saying it would announce specifics “soon.”

Any proposed convention must take place on or before July 27, the last day the party can legally name a replacement. Platner must drop out before Monday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time in order to be replaced.

Platner’s campaign has exchanged barbs with the state party over what the process could look like to replace him. He has faced broad calls from Democratic leaders both in Maine and nationally to drop out of the race after POLITICO reported on Monday that a woman he dated accused him of sexually assaulting her in 2021. Platner denied the allegations, calling them “troubling, serious, and false” but said in a video released shortly after the article came out that he would be “taking the time to reflect” on his candidacy.