Good Morning! Today’s edition is 1,009 words, a 4-minute read.

What’s on tap: 

• Same-sex marriage challenge

• China tariffs extended again

• 30-foot sunflower

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Big Stories

Trump Takes Over D.C.

• President Donald Trump announced Monday that he is taking direct federal control of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department and deploying about 800 National Guard members to the capitol, invoking Section 740 of the 1973 D.C. Home Rule Act. The move, framed as a “crime emergency,” will last up to 30 days unless Congress votes to end or extend it.

• Trump’s action is unprecedented in modern D.C. history and overrides the city’s home rule authority. It comes despite official data showing violent crime in Washington has fallen sharply over the past year, with 2024 marking the city’s lowest level in more than three decades. The president has disputed those statistics, citing high-profile violent incidents and homelessness as justification. He also threatened to expand federal control to other cities, including Chicago and Los Angeles.

• Attorney General Pam Bondi is assuming control of the police force during the federalization period, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth oversees the Guard deployment. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she will comply but called the move “unsettling” and defended the city’s crime-fighting record. Critics, including Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, called the takeover a political overreach. The White House says the federal presence will continue until Trump declares “law and order” restored.

Same-sex Marriage Challenge

• The Supreme Court will decide this fall whether to hear the first case explicitly asking them to overturn their landmark 2015 decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed in 2015 for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples, is using her $360,000 jury verdict appeal to argue that Obergefell v. Hodges was 'egregiously wrong' and should be reversed.

• The petition follows the court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and it now has a 6-justice conservative supermajority that didn't exist when the original decision was made. At least nine states have introduced legislation aimed at blocking new same-sex marriage licenses in 2025, while the Southern Baptist Convention has made overturning Obergefell a top priority.

• Legal experts consider the challenge a long shot. Analysts say conservative justices appear uninterested, and lower courts have consistently rejected Davis's arguments. However, if the court were to eventually overturn Obergefell, states could again ban new same-sex marriages, though the 2022 Respect for Marriage Act would protect existing unions of 823,000 same-sex couples.

U.S. Steel Plant Explosion

• Explosions at a U.S. Steel plant near Pittsburgh killed one person and left two missing Monday morning as emergency crews work to rescue trapped victims. The blasts at the Clairton facility around 10:51 a.m. injured dozens of workers and sent black smoke spiraling into the sky. Officials warned residents within one mile to shelter indoors due to air quality concerns.

• The explosions occurred at North America's largest coking operation, where coal is baked at extreme temperatures to produce a key ingredient in steel-making. This process creates dangerous gases, including methane and carbon monoxide, that can cause explosions.

• Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro visited the scene and said the state is providing resources for the rescue operation at the facility that employs nearly 1,300 workers. U.S. Steel said the explosions involved coke oven batteries 13 and 14, but hasn't revealed the cause.

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Quick Stories

US News

• POTUS nominated Heritage Foundation economist E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics after firing the previous commissioner over weak jobs data. (More)

• President Trump said he'll decide within weeks whether to reclassify marijuana from highly dangerous Schedule I to Schedule III, allowing medical prescriptions. (More)

• A federal judge denied the Justice Department's request to unseal Ghislaine Maxwell grand jury materials, saying they contain no meaningful new information about Epstein's crimes. (More)

World

• Colombian Senator and 2026 presidential hopeful Miguel Uribe, 39, died Monday from gunshot wounds sustained at a June 7 campaign event in Bogota while seeking his party’s nomination. (More)

• India's Supreme Court ordered New Delhi to remove all stray dogs from streets after nearly 2,000 daily bite incidents, starting with 5,000 relocations. (More)

• Israel killed five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza, including Anas al-Sharif, claiming he led a Hamas cell that Al Jazeera calls baseless. (More) | Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country will recognize Palestine as a state in September. (More)

Business & Economy

• US stock markets closed lower on Monday (S&P -0.25%, Nasdaq -0.30%, Dow -0.45%). Stocks dropped as the markets anticipate key US inflation reports due later this week. (More)

• President Trump signed an executive order extending a 90-day pause on high China tariffs for another 90 days, just hours before they were set to resume. (More)

• Ford will invest $2 billion in a Kentucky plant to build a $30,000 electric pickup truck starting in 2027. The new plant, combined with a Michigan battery center, will create 4,000 jobs. (More)

Sports & Entertainment

• Netflix extended Harry and Meghan's deal despite reports it would drop the couple after their shows failed to crack the top 300. (More)

• Paramount will pay $1.1 billion annually for UFC fights starting in 2026, doubling ESPN's current deal and ending pay-per-view fees for fans. (More)

• Texas claimed its first college football preseason No. 1 ranking ever, edging Penn State by just five points in the closest AP vote since 1998. (More)

Science, Health, & Tech

• A one-size-fits-all vaccine showed promise in preventing pancreatic cancer recurrence by targeting KRAS mutations found in 90% of these deadly tumors. (More)

• AOL announced it will shut down its dial-up internet service on September 30, ending the era of slow connections and distinctive chirping sounds. (More)

• The Perseid meteor shower peaks Wednesday with Venus and Jupiter appearing as one bright star, but moon glare means better viewing comes next week. (More)

Extra Credit

Scarlett Johansson and AC/DC are being used by farmers to scare off wolves.

Petunia is crowned world’s ugliest dog.

Where not to travel in 2025 to avoid overtourism.

Indiana man grows a record sunflower over 30 feet.