World
President Donald Trump marked the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks at an event on the Ellipse outside the White House, saying the country would never forget the victims. The ceremony, organized by the Tunnel to Towers Foundation, centered on a 21-foot, nearly 17,000-pound steel beam recovered from the World Trade Center's South Tower that spent months crossing the country. Trump awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Welles Crowther, the equities trader known as the man in the red bandanna, and honored firefighter Jeffrey Palazzo, for whom the Coast Guard will name a new cutter. The beam travels through New York on Friday, and Trump is scheduled to attend a Pentagon ceremony later in the day.
Associated Press
Politics
A federal appeals court upheld a block on the Trump administration's restrictions on mail-in voting, leaving the rules frozen while the Supreme Court considers whether to intervene before November's midterm elections. Three judges on the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with District Judge Indira Talwani, who barred the Postal Service from carrying out the executive order. The order would withhold mail ballots from states that do not provide lists of voters who should receive them. Talwani wrote there was no evidence of fraudulent mail voting to support the directive and has blocked it three times. Further appeals are expected.
The Hill
Business
China is putting 360 billion yuan, about $53.6 billion, into eight state-owned banks and insurance companies to strengthen its financial system as growth slows. The injection is led by the finance ministry and was announced by state news agency Xinhua. The Global Times said the capital will give institutions more resources to channel into credit for the real economy and strengthen their ability to withstand external shocks. The money gives the eight groups more room to absorb losses and keep lending, as banks face narrowing margins and rising bad loans tied to property and local government debt. Analysts say the funds may ease short-term pressure but will not on their own revive credit demand.
BBC News
Technology
Scientists used an artificial intelligence algorithm to design three components for photonic microchips that are as much as 500 times smaller than conventional versions. The team at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light and Harvard University set performance targets and manufacturing limits, then let the algorithm work backward to find nanostructures that met them. The mirrors, about 11 micrometers long, reflected up to 98.5% of incoming light, and the wavelength splitter is roughly the size of a single bacterium. The researchers say the free space could let engineers add more functions to a chip. The work was published in Nature Communications.
Live Science
Science
New research has traced the stones of Britain's tallest surviving prehistoric stone row to Brimham Rocks in North Yorkshire, at least 18 kilometers, or 11 miles, away. The Devil's Arrows near Boroughbridge rise as high as seven meters and weigh more than 25 tonnes each. A team from Curtin University and the University of York found that builders passed over Plumpton Rocks, a closer source that had been the leading candidate. The authors say the distant origin suggests the landscape itself held cultural, symbolic or spiritual meaning. The stones were probably raised in the Late Neolithic or Early Bronze Age, possibly around 2000 BC.
Curtin University
Sports
The Seattle Seahawks opened the NFL season with a comeback win over the New England Patriots on Thursday night, beating the team they defeated in Super Bowl LX. Seattle played without quarterback Sam Darnold and tied the game on a 45-yard touchdown catch by Jaxon Smith-Njigba on fourth down. Patriots quarterback Drake Maye then threw three interceptions in the fourth quarter, the last on a toe-tap grab by Seattle's Josh Jobe that sealed the result. New England also lost a player to an ankle injury during the game. The Seahawks won the Super Bowl in February behind six sacks and a pick-six. Both teams are expected to contend again this season.
theScore
Health
Research presented at the European Respiratory Society Congress in Barcelona found that people with asthma prescribed semaglutide, the drug sold as Ozempic and Wegovy, had almost 40% fewer asthma attacks than similar patients taking an older diabetes medicine. Researchers at Imperial College London used UK electronic medical records in four parallel analyses, each covering 20,000 to 22,000 people. Semaglutide was also linked to about 20% fewer COPD flare-ups. GLP-1 drugs are approved for type 2 diabetes and obesity, and asthma outcomes have not been measured in their clinical trials. The team says trials are needed to confirm the findings, and that the results should not change treatment decisions on their own.
European Respiratory Society
Environment
Ecuadorian scientists warn that a stronger-than-normal El Nino could cut the Galapagos Islands' vertebrate population by at least 20% this year. NOAA's latest projection puts sea surface temperatures about 2.2 degrees Celsius, or 4 degrees Fahrenheit, above normal, above the threshold for a very strong event. Warmer water causes plankton, algae and small fish to disappear, the base of the marine food chain. Species at risk include Galapagos penguins, blue-footed boobies, flightless cormorants, albatrosses and sea lions. Heavy rain also favors invasive plants that threaten the islands' remaining Scalesia forests and shoreline cacti. Conservation groups are clearing invasive plants and building seed nurseries.
Associated Press