Transcript

8.25.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Good morning and happy Monday everybody, and welcome to the
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reading of the Washington Post for this Monday, August twenty fifth.
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As a reminder, Radio I is a reading service intended
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for people who are blind or have other disabilities that
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make it difficult to read printed material. Your reader for
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today is Rod Brotherton, and as usual on Monday, by
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listener request, we generally start off reading the article by
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Paul Praether from yesterday's Hair Leader, but Paul had the
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week off, so we'll just jump right into the news
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with the Washington Post Today's lead story, Could Syria unravel
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Fearful minorities resist new leader's bid for control. A wall
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of fear is rising around this scenic town and the footholds.
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Foothills of Mount Hermann, which is called Arna, aren't as
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many Druze residents say they're wary of straying beyond its
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borders because of violence or crimination targeting their religious minority
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in parts of Syria. The townspeople are just as reluctant
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to let some outsiders in the closest Government troops remain
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at a checkpoint in the next town. In Arna and
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several other areas home to religious and ethnic minorities, Syria's
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Sunni Islamist led government is increasingly seen as a threat.
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The alienation represents a perilous turn for the country's leaders,
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who took power late last year after ousting the dictatorship
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of Bashar Ala Sad and pledged to unify the country. Instead,
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Syria is showing cracks and the mountainous Drew's redoubts in
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Syria's south and west, along the Mediterranean coast, where the
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Alawhite religious minority is concentrated, and in the Kurdish regions
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of the northeast. They have been called for autonomy, the centralization,
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or simply just to be left alone. Residents who say
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they still cherish their Syrian identity fret about their future
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in the country. Some community leaders are seizing on current
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fears to press loudly for long time dreams of independence.
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Four months after Asad's dramatic fall, there was a lot
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of hope in the new Syria, said Nabib Kabul, a
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Druze resident of Arna. Unfortunately, this period is worse than
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the one we were in. The disaffection poses a dire
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challenge President Ahmed al Shahra's drive to consolidate his young
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government's authority his plans for national recovery after the long
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civil war. Sharrah has advocated for a centralized state led
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by Damascus, similar in structure to the one before Syria
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was fractured by its long civil war. His vision, which
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he says focuses on development, the construction and the unity
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of Syrian lands, does remain popular with many Syrians. It
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has also been embraced by influential foreign supporters, including Persian
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Gulf allies that have all pledged Sharah aid and support
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during Syria's transition from the Assad years. The government wants
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a strong, centralized structure that would allow them to make
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decisions quickly, said Haid. Haid, a fellow in the Middle
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East and North African Program at Chatham House, But recent
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episodes of staggering violence are threatening and even overtaking such plans.
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Every week. Things are becoming more alarming rather than better,
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Haid said. The government has frequently blamed Syria's troubles on
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remnants of the deposed Assad regime or foreign powers, particularly Israel,
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because of its military interventions in the country and outreach
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to the DRUS. Such accusations are fuelling a political polarization
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that has left some minorities and government forces viewing each
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other with mounting mistrust. The fear is from both sides,
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said di I Cherubiek, the mayor of Jebel on the
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Serious Coast, who is trying to calm tensions between government
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forces stationed there and all white residents who are still
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reeling from a massacre of their relatives and neighbors in
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March by government forces or fighters aligned with them. Syria
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was shaken by another wave of killings last month in Sweda,
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a Druze majority city south of the capital Damascus. More
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than one thousand people died in unrest that was marked
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by atrocities, including some carried out against Dru's civilians by
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fighters aligned with the state. Weeks later, Sweda remains restive
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and isolated. Its entrance is sealed by government forces, while
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its residents struggle for food and water and hold occasional demonstrations.
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During the latest protest on August sixteenth, residents provocatively demanded
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self determination and protection from Israel, which carried out airstrikes
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against Syrian troops during the fighting in the city. The
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Trump Administration's Syria envoy Thomas Barrick, who has been a
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strong backer of Sharrah in his efforts to reunite the country,
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acknowledged after the bloodshed in Sweden that Syria might need
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to consider alternatives to a highly centralized state, not a federation,
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but something short of that, in which you allow everybody
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to keep their own integrity, their own culture, their own language,
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and no threat of Islamism. He told a group of
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reporters last month. I think everyone is saying we need
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to figure out a way to be more reasonable, he said,
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who has dismissed the possibility of serious partition. There are
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desires among some people to divide Syria and try to
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create local cantons internally, but logically, politically, and rationally, this
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is impossible, he said. In a speech carried by state
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media on Sunday, he condemned Israel's interventions in Swedi, saying
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they were aimed at weakening the state, but he also
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acknowledged his own government's role in alienating the city, saying
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that perpetrators of abuses during the fighting would be punished.
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Since taking power in December, after leading the rebel charts
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at toppled a Sad Sharrah has struggled to convince skeptics
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that his vows to protect minorities are sincere. His own
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history as a former militant who led al Qaeda's Syrian
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branch has been a liability. So has the conduct of
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extremist fighters nominally under his command and linked to to
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a growing catalog of atrocities. Efforts by Shira's government to
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attract foreign investment, ease Syria's diplomatic isolation, and rid itself
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of international sanctions imposed on SOD have been more successful.
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While that might help, Syria's most intractable problems are political,
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Hayd said the government's zeal to a certain control over
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the entirety of Syria, including through force of arms, was
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not working. He said. Instead, he advocated a national dialogue
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among the country's different communities. Only time, major engagement and
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effort build that trust and understanding, he said, But given
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the government's current approach, things will most likely continue to
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get worse. Syria's most destabilizing rift may be the dispute
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between the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, a Kurdish
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led militia that gained control of large swath of territory
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in northeast Assyria in recent years. During the fighting against
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the Islamic State. Militant group the SDF, which is supported
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by the United States, struck an agreement with the Syrian
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government in March that in part stipulated the integration of
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all civil and military institutions into the Syrian state. The
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deal has yet to be implemented, though, amid disagreements over
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how much autonomy the region now controlled by the SDF
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will have. Further complicating the situation is continuing violence between
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the SDF and militias backed by Turkey and karav views
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the SDF as an adversary because of its links to
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the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, which fought a long
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insurgency against the Turkish state. And SDF sponsored conference of
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minority communities in the eastern city of Haskada this month
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drew the Syrian government's ire by calling, among other things,
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for a decentralized state. The gathering did not represent the
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Syrian people, Syria's foreign minister said a few days later,
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accusing the participants of trying to exploit the events in Sweden.
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Anti government sentiment also pools in the villages, towns, and
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cities of Syria's coastal region. This is the heartland of
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Syria's Alowite religious minority, a historically marginalized community that has
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faced resentment because of its association with Assad and Alawite,
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who drew heavily on the sect to fill senior government
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and military posts. The coastal killings in March, triggered by
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a tax by ASAD loyalists on government security forces, claimed
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at least fourteen hundred lies and further fueled Alowite disaffection.
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More than two hundred government soldiers were killed in the violence,
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but much of the slaughter targeted civilians on the basis
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of their sect. The victim's gunned down after being asked
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if they were Alloyites by government forces or fighters aligned
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with them. According to residents and a United Nations report
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on the violence, the coast's shaken residents say they are
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now filled with doubts as to whether the government will
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bring the perpetrators to justice, and more fundamentally, whether their
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region will be welcomed as part of Syria and not
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seen as a disloyal appendage pining for a fallen regime. Keerbek,
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the mayor of hay Alermeli in the Jebela district, said
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more than fifty five people in his area had been
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killed during the unrest. Shops he owned below his apartment,
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including a barber shop, were burned and destroyed. Still, Cabriac
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has persevered as an interlocutor between the government security forces,
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which continue to maintain a heavy presence in Alloyhite areas,
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and local residents. His work is far from easy. People
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in the neighborhood, still scared to go out after nightfall,
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had tarred him as a trader. He said. The government
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had ignored his pleas to post locals at security checkpoints,
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preferring to be staffed by soldiers from Idlib, the Syrian
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province that Shirah had ruled before he came to Damascus.
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The division of Syria will not solve our problems, Kerbiek said.
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We need the wheat of Hasaka. He added, referring to
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the province in Syria's east on the Iraqi border, They
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need the fish of the coast. We need each other.
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After Arna, Dru's residents continue to emphasize the community's historic
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connections to Syria and the importance of the Drus in
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the country's social fabric. We are all Syrians, We are
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all here together, said Riem Abu kas a student. She
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called accusations that Drus are trying to divide the country misinformation.
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Other local residents grew defensive when discussing the role of Israel,
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which portrays itself as the protector of the Syrian DRUS.
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A day before Washington Post journalists visited Arnah, and Israeli
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military spokesman posted a video of himself at a small
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asad Era military outpost on the outskirts of the town,
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containing some emptied huts and a few destroyed trucks. Israel's
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mission there was defensive, spokesman wrote, Israeli incursion into Syrian
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territory and Israel's demand that Syria demilitarize a swath of
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the country south of Damascus have angered the government and
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stoked popular anger, some of it directed toward the Drus.
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They call us traders. One resident said, the Israelis do
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not ask our permission before they come here. Another added
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they remained deeply suspicious of Shira's government, holding it responsible
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for the violence in Sweda, which began with clashes between
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local Drus and Beduin fighters in the city. Among those
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implicated in the orgy of executions, mutilations and house burnings
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were government troops as well as tribal fighters who joined
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them in support, but the grievances and Arnah go beyond Sweden.
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Residents say they have been harassed at checkpoints as they
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tried to leave town. They complained that fellow drus had
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faced discrimination at state institutions like universities and hospitals. We
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are anxious, said Hussain Masoud, another resident, and worried about
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the future. The next story, Trump threatens to send National
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Guard troops to Baltimore. President Trump threatened to send troops
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to Baltimore as he and Maryland Governor Wes Moore, a Democrat,
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traded blows on social media over the president's characterization of
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crime in the city. In his deployment of the National
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Guard in Washington, who are carrying weapons as of Sunday night,
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Trump said Baltimore is out of control, crime ridden a
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Sunday Morning Truth social post in response to an invitation
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by Moore to join city officials to walk the streets
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and discuss public safety in September. Moore responded by touting
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progress and reducing crime in Baltimore, which is experiencing its
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lowest homicide right in fifty years. The two leaders have
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dueled over Maryland's largest city in recent days, as Trump's
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intervention in d C escalates and he threatens to pursue
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similar crackdowns by deploying the National Guard in other cities.
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The Pentagon is planning a potential military deployment in Chicago
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for as soon as September, the Washington Post reported Sunday,
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after Trump criticized state and city officials there. In DC,
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Guard members will carry their service issued weapons, which may
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include IN four carbine rifles M seventeen pistols. A spokesman
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for the Joint Task Force d C, the military mission
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that includes the Guard members from d C and six
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states that are involved in the deployment, said in a statement,
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Trump said More needs to clean up this crime disaster
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before he would consider joining the governor on a walk
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through Baltimore, Trump alluded to his decisions this summer to
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deploy Guard soldiers to Los Angeles in d C, saying,
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if More needs help keeping Baltimore safe, I'll send in
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the troops. Trump also threatened to reconsider federal funding to
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rebuild the Francis Scott Key Bridge, a landmark and major
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transportation artery that collapsed last year after a cargo ship
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lost power and crashed into a support pillar. Trump and
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Moore also hurtle personal insults. Trump brought up a controversy
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that hounded Moore last year for The New York Times
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reported that he falsely claimed to have received a Bronze
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Star and a White House Fellowship application. Moore said it
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was an honest mistake. After he was recommended for the
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medal and was awarded the Bronze Star in December. Moore,
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who has made his military service a key part of
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his political brand, shot back by calling Trump president bone spurs,
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alluding to the diagnosis that prevented Trump from being drafted
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to serve in Vietnam. The White House declined to comment.
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Rachel Kleinhandler, a spokesperson for Moore, said Trump is a
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president who would rather attack his country's largest cities from
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behind a desk than walked the streets with the people
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he represents. Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott, a Democrat, said in
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the statement that Trump's takeover of Washington d C's police
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force makes two things very clear. First that he will
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do anything and sacrifice anyone to boost his own ego,
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and second that he has no real solutions to make
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our country any safer, healthier, or freer. Scot provided a
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list of demands for Trump, including a federal ban on
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ghost guns, a reinstatement of canceled federal agents and grants
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for community and violence intervention groups in Baltimore, and additional
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resources for the Baltimore field offices of federal agencies such
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as the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, provided they
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are not diverted from existing investigations. Only these commitments, not
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actions that erode our residence rights, would help our work
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to reduce violent crime, Scott said. More a potential twenty
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twenty eight presidential contender, and Scott have pushed back more
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assertively on Trump's attacks on Baltimore after cautious approach toward
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the president taken by DC Mayor Muriel E. Bowser, a Democrat,
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that did not avert federal intervention in the nation's capital.
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Trump previously classed with Maryland when he killed plans to
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move the FBI headquarters from Washington to Prince George's county,
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dashing a hard fought win for state officials. Moore and
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Scott have condemned Trump's deployment of National Guard members in
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Washington and pushed back on the president's characterizations of rampant
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crime in Baltimore. Scott has led a successful effort to
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reduce gun violence in the city by investing in violence
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interrupters and community organizations. The Post has reported as of
18:58
July one, the city saw shooting homicides drop by over
19:03
twenty percent from the first half of twenty twenty four.
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Scott last week said he would welcome more federal agents
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and grants in Baltimore to help reduce crime, but he
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rejected the idea of soldiers patrolling the streets. Moore invited
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Trump to Baltimore on Thursday after a news conference during
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which he addressed the president and said, if you're not
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willing to walk our communities, keep our name out of
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your mouth. He also criticized federal cuts to violence intervention
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and gun violence prevention programs that he said help the
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city reduce crime. Moore also said Sunday on CBS's Faced
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the Nation that he would not authorize the Maryland National
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Guard to be used as they have been in DC
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and call Trump's deployment of troops there unconstitutional. National Guard
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troops report to state governors, but in d C they
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fall under the president's control. Trump deployed California National Guard
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members to Los Angeles this summer over the objections of
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Governor Gavin Newsom, also a Democrat. Trump's threat to with
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whole funding for the Francis Scott Key Bridge appeared to
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take aim at the December spending bill passed under President
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Biden that committed the federal government to fully fund the
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rebuilding of the bridge, and it's estimated to cost about
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one point seven billion dollars. Clein handler, More spokeswoman, said
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threats to withhold funding for the bridge would cause irrevocable
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damage to the national economy into the entire state of Maryland.
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Moore continued needling Trump through the afternoon on Sunday, saying
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the president was attempting to create distractions to turn focus
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away from files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and
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next Chicago leaders denounced the Pentagon plans for military deployment
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in their city. City and state leaders pillaried the Trump
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administration for planning to home in on Chicago, the third
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most populous city in the United States, as the next
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target for a military deployment in the name of addressing crime, immigration,
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and homelessness, calling the idea unlawful and unnecessary. Illinois Governor JB. Pritzker, Democrat,
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said the state was not experiencing any emergency that would
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warrant a National Guard presence like that which the Pentagon
21:42
had been considering. Instead, Pritzker said President Trump was attempting
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to manufacture a crisis. Trump has portrayed Chicago as a
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crime ridden place for years, suggested in recent days that
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it would be the National Guard's next step. On Saturday,
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the Washington Post first reported that the Pentagon has been
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considering options to deploy the National Guard in Chicago as
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early as September. The use of thousands of active duty
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troops in Chicago has also been discussed, but is considered
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less likely at this time. If the mission is approved,
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Chicago would become the third US city to face a
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recent deployment, coming at the heels of crackdowns in Los
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Angeles and DC. Chicago, a city of roughly two point
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seven million, has seen a decrease in violent crime since
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a COVID pandemic era spike that mirrored other US cities.
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Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a Democrat, noted in the statement
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Friday that over the past year, homicides were down more
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than thirty percent, in shootings by nearly forty percent. At
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a block party on Saturday, Johnson, whose mayorality in the
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Democratic stronghold has been challenged by low approval ratings to
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cried Trump's depiction of his city. This is who Chicago
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really is, Johnson said, what's being painted by the federal
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government is false. We love one another, we support one another,
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We put our arms around one another. In a statement Friday,
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Johnson wrote that he had grave concerns about a National
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Guard deployment, describing Trump's approach as uncoordinated, uncalled for, and unsound.
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The mayor added that the Trump administration had not yet
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contacted Chicago about federal law enforcement plans. Prisker echoed that
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in his statement Sunday, saying he had not received any
23:43
outreach from federal officials nor sought their law enforcement support.
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Senator Tammy Duckworth, Democrat from Illinois, an Army veteran who
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served in Iraq, reinforced the sentiments that a deployment in
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Chicago was unwarranted. Statement Sunday, she called the Trump administration
24:02
plans deeply disturbing and un American across the country, Democratic
24:08
leaders have become frustrated with how the President and his
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allies have cast crime, immigration, and other issues in their
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cities and states. Their fury comes as officials say Trump's
24:21
plans for Chicago could be used as a model for
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similar National Guard deployment and other major cities. In a
24:29
truth social post Sunday, Trump threatened to send federal officers
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to Baltimore. The missive was the latest in a back
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and forth between Trump and Maryland Governor Westmore, a Democrat,
24:41
who has invited Trump to join him on a public
24:43
safety walk in Baltimore to witness the city for himself.
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As president, I would much prefer that he clean up
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this crime disaster before I go there for a walk
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Trump Road and efface the nation. Interview Sunday, More call
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the federal takeover of DC police both unconstitutional and deeply disrespectful,
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and he would not authorize Maryland's National Guard to be
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deployed for the mission. Moore also defended his leadership of
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the state, saying he had helped make investments in local
25:16
law enforcement that tackle crime there. Illinois Lieutenant Governor Julianna
25:22
and Stratton, another Democrat, mirrored her colleagues, saying Chicago crime
25:28
was declining and there was absolutely no rationale for a
25:31
military deployment. Responding to the Post's reporting Saturday, Stratton wrote
25:37
on social media that the deployment plans were just another
25:42
distraction from the pain Trump is inflicting on working families
25:46
with his dangerous agenda. Riding directly to Illinoian's, Stratton said
25:52
that should the National Guard arrive in Chicago, she and
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state leaders would be there to stand for your your
26:00
freedoms and will protect you against whatever storms of hate
26:05
and fear come our way and next. Harvard's research is
26:11
shrinking amid the Trump administration's freeze. A lab at Harvard's
26:17
Medical School recently discovered something that could change the way cancer,
26:21
neuro developmental disorders, and other diseases are understood, treated, and prevented,
26:27
but the federal grants that funded the work were abruptly
26:30
terminated this spring, as the Trump administration froze more than
26:34
two billion dollars in research funding to Harvard and in
26:38
its fight to force the university to yield to its
26:40
demands for change, All the federal money for the research
26:44
is gone just because the lab, headed by Karen Edelman,
26:48
a professor of biological chemistry and molecular pharmacology, is at Harvard,
26:53
the school that brought the world breakthroughs such as organ transplants, defibrillators,
26:59
baking outer in golf tees. I think we're onto something
27:04
really big here, she said of her lap, So I'm
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desperately searching for funding to follow up on these findings.
27:10
It's incredibly frustrating and depressing. The weaponization of federal funding,
27:15
cast as a necessary step to indiscrimination and anti semitism,
27:20
is threatening life saving research and forcing agonizing choices. It's
27:25
an inflection point for Harvard, for higher education, and many
27:28
argue for the country, as the generation's long partnership between
27:32
the federal government research universities totters under the Trump administration.
27:38
Harvard sued in federal court, calling the funding cuts unconstitutional.
27:44
Both sides have asked for a ruling in the case
27:46
without a trial. Even if the specific grants frozen at
27:50
Harvard are suddenly restored, there is deep rooted uncertainty about
27:55
the future of science in the United States. One central
27:59
question researches is whether the country's support for basic science
28:04
is ending. For more than seventy five years, the federal
28:08
government has funded research at universities aimed purely at gaining knowledge,
28:13
like the questions Adelman asks about sales. Companies typically don't
28:18
fund that kind of basic science because there isn't an
28:21
immediate application that would be profitable, but the discoveries can
28:26
lead to dramatic advances in medicine and innovations such as
28:30
cell phones, GPS, and MRI machines. Harvard provided an additional
28:36
two hundred and fifty million dollars Bridge funding for its
28:39
researchers as its lawsuits challenging the Trump administration's actions and
28:43
talks play out. That money has provided stopgap In the meantime,
28:49
Scientists at Harvard say they're pushing forward under a fog
28:52
of uncertainty. They are developing a new machine learning method
28:56
to model how all twenty five thousand human genes respond
29:00
to treatments such as chemotherapy, according to court documents. They
29:05
are working on guidance for people with potential for high
29:08
levels of exposure to toxins, such as firefighters and miners.
29:13
They're developing robotics for military use and hack resistant computer networks.
29:21
But the research enterprise is already shrinking under the Trump administration. Cuts,
29:27
and the signs are all over Harvard. Earlier this summer,
29:32
lab administrator's desks stood empty, leaving faculty members to take
29:35
over those tasks. A taped up sign in the hallway
29:38
urged grad students to ask for help. I told to
29:40
leave their lab graduates early to take reduced pay. A
29:44
postdoc had been given up on applying for jobs related
29:47
to the expertise he'd just spent a decade learning because
29:50
he had to find a way to pay his rent.
29:53
In July, Harvard's president Alan Garber acknowledged painful layoffs, confirmed
29:59
to the Camp campus that a hiring freeze for faculty
30:02
and staff would continue, explained that federal actions could leave
30:06
a whole of almost one billion dollars a year in
30:10
the university's budget. The government took action against Harvard after
30:15
the school refused to agree to Trump's demands in April,
30:18
including lodging numerous federal investigations, threats to block international scholars
30:24
from campus. Nearly one thousand grants worth more than two
30:28
billion dollars were terminated. Some canceled grants at universities across
30:33
the country funded research that touched on political issues such
30:37
as diversity, equity, and inclusion, but at Harvard, the administration
30:42
has announced it will not give any federal research funding
30:46
period for any topic. A spokesman for the White House
30:51
cushed de SI, said the United States as home to
30:54
the largest publicly and privately funded ecosystem of gold standard
30:58
research in the world, and the Trump has pledged to
31:01
cement America's dominance cutting edge technologies like AI, crypto, and
31:08
space exploration while addressing our chronic disease epidemic. This I said,
31:14
the Trump administration is strengthening this ecosystem my slashing waste,
31:19
fraud and abuse in federal research funding, including on DEI
31:23
projects that only support ideological activism, and by cracking down
31:29
on anti Semitism. Harvard has made numerous changes to address
31:34
concerns from Jewish students and others after divisive protests over
31:38
the Israel Gaza War in the twenty twenty three to
31:41
twenty four school year. Federal government is hardly the only
31:45
contributor to research at Harvard, as in twenty twenty four,
31:49
the school funded more than five hundred and twenty five
31:51
million dollars in research, and private foundations and industry contributed
31:56
more than three hundred million dollars, but is the biggest,
32:01
providing more than six hundred and eighty million dollars in
32:03
research funding in twenty twenty four. According to the university,
32:07
About eighteen hundred faculty and staff members are partially or
32:11
entirely paid by federal research funding, according to court documents,
32:16
and about fifteen hundred graduate students and postdoctoral researchers get
32:21
financial support such as stipends. In a system that accelerated
32:26
after World War II, researchers at universities like Harvard have
32:31
competed for federal grants that reflect national priorities, research powers,
32:37
the economy, and national security. Federal research funding is also
32:41
used to train scientists at universities, said Michael Gordon, dean
32:46
of the College at Princeton and a historian of science,
32:49
and a system he called magically effective, the envy of
32:53
the world. It takes about a decade to make a chemist.
32:57
That's done in universities, he said, even for those going
33:01
to work for companies. But that formula requires smart people
33:05
willing to bet their future on that career path, a
33:08
bet that feels increasingly risky. Now. I don't know where
33:13
we go from here. Gordon's ind if we don't have
33:15
that system. Across the river from Aedelman's lab on Harvard's
33:20
main campus in Cambridge, John M. Doyle leads a lab
33:25
that studies particle physics and quantum science. He and other
33:29
researchers are in the search of a new type of particle. Doyle,
33:34
a professor of physics and president of the American Physical Society,
33:38
is asking fundamental questions such as why the universe is
33:42
dominated by matter instead of antimatter. His work also is
33:48
practical implications for quantum computing, an area of intense competition
33:54
between the United States and China. Much of his funding
33:58
comes from the Army Research Office, the Air Force Office
34:01
of Scientific Research, and the National Science Foundation. Reflecting the
34:06
economic and national security implications of the work, All of
34:11
his federal grants, about a million dollars, were terminated this spring.
34:16
Two of his postdocs had to leave the lab earlier
34:19
than planned, moving to another university. Because funding is so
34:23
constrained at Harvard, he doesn't know how his lab will
34:27
maintain the expensive, highly specialized equipment they have built for
34:31
the experiments, or how they'll support students after the bridge
34:35
funding from the university ends. The much greater issue is
34:40
how to maintain America's lead in science. Without federal funding,
34:45
he said, the basic science research enterprise would collapse very quickly,
34:51
and if the most brilliant scientists from other countries are
34:55
no longer drawn to study in the United States and
34:57
to stay new research and our companies, the economy will suffer.
35:03
Cutting off funding for basic research means cutting off the
35:06
pipeline of people who will work not just in academia,
35:10
but also more often in industry, the military, and national labs.
35:17
There have been studies by economists about the importance of science,
35:20
but it's also just plain farmers common sense that if
35:24
you don't invest in the future, you're going to be
35:26
left behind, Doyle said. For now, he said, they're hobbling along.
35:32
If it goes on for much longer than a year,
35:35
there will be irreparable damage. Adelman always wanted to be
35:40
a scientist. She was a little girl growing up in Buffalo.
35:43
She made experiments and played with biology and physics and
35:47
chemistry sets her dad gave her. I knew that science,
35:51
trying to understand how the world works was my calling,
35:54
she said. The large open lab space that she shares
35:59
with other faculty, Adelman and her ten remaining trainees study
36:04
gene expression, a process that dictates how cells grow and
36:09
develop and survive. Recently, they have been working to understand
36:14
how mutations in a gene regulatory protein contribute to cancer
36:19
and developmental disorders, basic science that one day could lead
36:24
to improvements in human health. They discovered a new reason
36:28
for sell death and developing neurons. They believe the findings
36:32
are much more broadly applicable. People working on research with
36:37
a political aspect know that funding can eb and flow,
36:41
but there has always been strong bipartisan support for the
36:44
kind of work Aielman does until this year. In May,
36:50
while away at a scientific conference, she got an email
36:52
informing her that her grants were terminated. A colleague from
36:56
Harvard saw her face and asked, did you just get
36:59
the email to We just stood there in the middle
37:02
of this meeting and hugged and fought back the tiers,
37:05
she said. Harvard Medical School, with his formal marbled buildings
37:09
and long central hall, is so close to multiple hospitals
37:14
that Aedelman and her trainees can literally see from a
37:17
window in the lab doctors at work in another building.
37:22
The proximity to so many experts in so many fields
37:25
brought her to Harvard. All the proteins I've spent my
37:29
life studying are mutated in diseases that the people around
37:33
me have expertise in, she said, So when my proteins
37:38
are implicated in their disease, we would walk across the
37:41
street and have coffee together and talk. Those connections allow
37:47
her basic science research to have an outsize influence, she believes.
37:51
Now she is thinking she will need to scale back.
37:55
She expects to tailor their work towards specific diseases that
37:59
receive foundation support. I'm just trying to survive, she said,
38:04
treading water, trying to keep my head above and trying
38:07
to find other funding sources for my group. The stand
38:12
off between Harvard and the Trump administration continues, researchers will
38:17
continue to leave, labs will be shut down, and scientists
38:21
will scale back their aspirations. I just want to figure
38:25
out how things work and how to use that information
38:29
to mitigate disease. I have worked my whole life toward
38:33
that goal and participation with the National Institute of Health,
38:36
Adelman said, and the breakdown of that partnership is really
38:41
devastating for me in my group. But I also think
38:45
it's really devastating to the future of science in this country.
38:51
The next story is South Korea promises Trump to make
38:55
American shipbuilding great again. In South Korean President Lee J
39:02
Mung meets with President Trump for the first time on Monday.
39:05
He will arrive at the White House with a gift
39:08
that's sure to please Trump. South Korea's shipbuilding prowess, Lee,
39:15
who is elected in June, will arrive for his first
39:17
summit with Trump at a rocky moment in the relationship
39:20
between the two security allies, thanks to a transactional US
39:25
president who gage's allies by their trade deficit. South Korea's
39:30
is large sixty six billion dollars last year, according to
39:35
the Office of the US Trade Representative, but shipbuilding has
39:39
emerged as a crucial opportunity for cooperation. Trump has made
39:44
revitalizing US shipbuilding a priority to try to close the
39:49
gap with a dominant China. Since his re election, he
39:53
has repeatedly raised the prospect of working with South Korea,
39:57
the world's second largest shipbuilder behind even as he rails
40:02
against South Korea for free riding on the United States
40:06
for security. There are other thorny issues the Pentagon is
40:12
considering withdrawing troops from South Korea, and Trump wants to
40:16
increase the cost of Soul stationing US troops in the country.
40:21
At the same time, Lee wants a less confrontational approach
40:25
with Beijing, while Trump wants allies to join Washington to
40:29
curtail China. This is a very challenging time with a
40:33
large number of important issues. Now. I'm just keeping my
40:37
fingers crossed that things will work out between the two presidents,
40:41
said An Hu Yang, a former South Korean ambassador to
40:44
the United States. That's why Seoul has leaned into ships
40:49
as its most potent and perhaps only leverage dealing with Trump.
40:54
Government officials have even dubbed their project Proposal to make
40:58
American Shipbuilding Again project or Masga Mudja Factory, a custom
41:06
hat maker near Seoul's Gong Day Moon Fashion District, rushed
41:11
to make an order of ten red caps and blazon
41:13
with the phrase make America ship Building Great Again, along
41:17
with an American flag in the South Korean flag before
41:20
the two sides announced a bare bones tariff deal last month.
41:25
Initially threatened with a twenty five percent blanket tariff, Soul
41:29
secured a fifteen percent levy in last month's agreement. The
41:32
same as Japan. I hope the negotiations would go well
41:36
after seeing how well they were preparing for it, down
41:39
to the minor details like creating a hat, said Shim
41:43
Ki Dai, head of the factory. The hat was just
41:47
a small thing I could do, but I am glad
41:49
to see it was used so well in a big way.
41:53
Last week, the factory was working on a new government order,
41:57
and Shim has a hunch you'll be seeing the new
41:59
hats at Monday's summit. When the two nations announced the
42:04
framework on their Terror for agreement last month, Lee said
42:07
the deal included one hundred and fifty billion dollar fund
42:10
dedicated to shipbuilding cooperation. Though the deal remains vague, experts
42:17
said this nevertheless tapped into one of South Korea's core
42:20
areas of expertise. I think Koreans are very excited because
42:25
this is the first time that the United States has
42:27
said to Korea, Hey, you guys can do something for us,
42:31
said Rie Shin Huang, a naval architect professor at Seoul
42:35
National University. It may be premature for South Koreans to
42:40
have rosy dreams about where the cooperation is headed, he warned.
42:44
I don't know if it will be the huge jackpot
42:46
opportunity that people think it is. The deal could be
42:50
mutually beneficial, allowing the nation's firms to expand into the
42:55
US defense and commercial markets and solidifying South Korea as
42:59
a critical part of the supply chain. According to Hong Jinhee,
43:04
senior economic security researcher at the government affiliated Korea Institute
43:09
for International Economic Policy, large scale projects like expanding production
43:16
of LNG carriers and warships at U S shipyards and
43:20
collaborating with the US Navy would help South Korea develop
43:24
its globally competitive track record, Hong said. Lee is betting
43:29
it will be beneficial. The South Korean president is scheduled
43:33
tour Thehnhwa Philly Shipyard in Philadelphia following the summit. Last year,
43:39
Hanwa Group became the first South Korean company to acquire
43:44
a U S shipyard, investing one hundred million dollars in
43:48
bringing high tech equipment, sophisticated designs, and manufacturing nohow to
43:53
boost production. South Korea's shipbuilding industry has flourished since the
43:58
nineteen seventies following heavy government subsidies and help shepherd the
44:04
country's industrial revolution from post War poverty. The fruits of
44:09
those investments are on full display in Ulsan, home to
44:13
HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, the world's biggest shipbuilder, which produces
44:19
both commercial vessels and military ships for the South Korean Navy.
44:24
At its shipyards, there also the world's biggest, towering orange
44:29
cranes with names like Goliath Dop the Skyline. Residents stroll
44:35
through the Hundai Art Park, go to the Hyundai clinic
44:39
when they're sick, send their kids to Hyundai Middle and
44:42
high school, drive on the HD Hyundai Construction Equipment road,
44:47
and cheer for the Hyundai soccer team. No wonder it
44:51
was once called the Republic of Hyundai. There was just
44:55
nothing much back here in that day, said Park Chang
44:58
hun fifty seven. Used to work at the industrial sector.
45:03
Then auto energy and shipyard companies burgeoned on the back
45:08
of cheap labor and governmental support. Now all Hyundai around here.
45:14
It's it. In fact, shipbuilding has thrived across East Asia. China,
45:21
South Korea and Japan together account for ninety percent of
45:25
the global commercial ship building capacity, according to rand, a
45:29
national security think tank. Meanwhile, the U s shipbuilding industry
45:34
has largely been left to rust since the nineteen eighties,
45:38
when the Reagan administration ended government subsidies. Now represents less
45:43
than one percent of the global market. The US Navy
45:47
struggles to build ships on time, on budget, and in
45:50
mass quantities, according to the Government Accountability Office, and a
45:55
law design to protect US shipbuilders from foreign competition has
45:59
contributed to the aging of the United States commercial fleet.
46:02
According to the Congressional Research Service, That means the US
46:07
should lean on allies rather than going alone, especially given
46:11
the level of support the Chinese government offers to its
46:15
state owned shipyards, said Myongo Korea, chair at RAND. Meanwhile,
46:22
China now has the world's largest navy. The scale of
46:26
China's naval expansion is alarming in its fleet size and
46:30
how quickly it can build warships. Oh said because of
46:35
by America provisions in US law and political constraints, it's
46:39
not feasible without source shipbuilding to allies anytime soon. But
46:45
the US can consider allowing limited co production with close
46:49
treaty allies while still maintaining American ownership and operations. She said.
46:55
The United States cannot compete with China alone. Oh said
47:01
coordinating with sold and Tokyo allows the US to build
47:05
servicing capacity in the region in case of conflict of
47:08
the Taiwan Strait or South China Sea, said Brian Clark,
47:13
a former US Navy officer and naval operations expert at
47:17
the Hudson's Institute, a Washington think tank. For example, the
47:22
allies can help with repair and maintenance. US naval ships
47:26
based in Japan already do almost all of their maintenance there.
47:30
He said. The US is the away team in that fight,
47:34
and it ends up having to rely a lot on
47:36
naval forces to be able to counter Chinese aggression against allies,
47:40
Clark said. On the commercial side, Clark said the US
47:44
also needs to attract investment from the allies to boost
47:48
its own domestic production capacity, especially to protect itself from
47:52
a coercive Chinese behavior like cutting off supply chain and
47:57
logistics access. Korean firms could buy or invest in more
48:02
US commercial shipyards, replicating the Philly shipyard model, he said.
48:07
South Korea shipbuilders say they stand ready. We hope to
48:12
support the rebuilding and modernization of the US shipbuilding industry
48:17
through future cooperation with the US in the commercial, marine
48:22
and defence industries, and together we can open a new
48:25
chapter in the global Shipbuilding Industry HD Hyundai Industry set
48:30
in a statement. Johna has taken notice of the state
48:34
affiliated Global Times, warning South Korea and Japan last week
48:39
that cooperating with the US would risk potentially diverting resources
48:44
from their own priorities. In Ulsan, many residents are not
48:50
sure more cooperation is necessarily good news. They wonder if
48:55
ramping up South Korean investments in US shipyards means there
48:59
will be less folks US on the plant here. They're
49:03
bringing our systems to America, so Ulsan could take a
49:07
back seat, said Jang Ji Him, thirty four, who works
49:12
as a pharmacist across from the plant. So if we
49:16
work more with the United States, I think it will
49:19
hurt our economy. The next story, Vance says US can
49:26
still broke her piece in the Ukraine Russian War. Vice
49:31
President JD. Vance said he still believes the administration can
49:35
broke her peace between Ukraine and Russia, despite the seeming
49:39
lack of progress since President Trump met with Russian President
49:43
Putin this month in Alaska in an effort to push
49:45
for an end of the war. Speaking to NBC News's
49:50
Meet the Press in an interview that was recorded Friday
49:53
and aired Sunday, Vance said the Trump administration believes we've
49:57
already seen some significant concessions for from both sides, just
50:01
in the last few weeks. On Monday, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky,
50:07
alongside European and NATO leaders, visited Trump in the White
50:11
House for a quickly scheduled meeting and an effort to
50:14
steer Trump away from some of the concessions he appeared
50:17
ready to grant the Kremlin during the war in Ukraine.
50:21
By the end of the meeting, sharp differences remained evident
50:25
between the leaders and Trump, who insisted that Putin is
50:28
ready for peace, even as he has continued his bombardment
50:32
of Ukraine. Putin has also demanded that Kiev make sweeping,
50:39
painful concessions to stop the war, including giving up significant
50:44
territory in eastern Ukraine. Those demands remained largely unchanged since
50:49
Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine in twenty
50:52
twenty two, but the European leaders appeared encouraged by Trump's
50:57
openness to security guarantees for Ukraine, which Putin might not accept. Trump, however,
51:04
was vague about what he would offer Ukraine to bolster
51:08
its defense as part of any deal. Still, no meeting
51:12
has been set up between Putin and Zelensky, Russian Foreign
51:15
Minister Sir j Laverov said in a separate interview on
51:18
Meet the Press, Putin is ready to meet with Zelensky
51:22
when the agenda is ready for a summit. This agenda
51:26
is not ready at all, Lavrov said. In an interview
51:29
taped on Friday that aired Sunday, Meet the Press, host
51:33
Kirsten Welker asked Vance if he thought the Russians were
51:37
stringing Trump along, not at all. Vance said, I think
51:41
the Russians have made significant concessions to President Trump for
51:45
the first time in three and a half years on
51:47
this conflict. They've actually been willing to be flexible on
51:51
some of their core demands. While negotiations continued, Russia struck
51:57
Ukraine with a large messile attack on Thursday, which included
52:01
hitting a US owned business. Zelensky said the attack, coming
52:05
just three days after the meeting in the Oval Office,
52:07
showed that Russia is not interested in peace. Vance said
52:12
he did not like that Russia hit the American business
52:15
and Ukraine, but dismissed it as a casualty of war. Still,
52:19
and cincent, Americans should be proud that we have a
52:22
president who is trying to stop killing. We're going to
52:26
keep on doing what we have to do to bring
52:28
this thing to a close, he said, I don't think
52:31
it's going to happen overnight. Vance also added that sanctions
52:35
on Russia are not off the table. He added that
52:38
Ukraine will ultimately make the determination whether to draw territorial
52:43
lines in the country. In February, Vance was part of
52:47
the infamous heated Oval Office meeting when Trump ripped into
52:51
Zelensky demanding respect and gratitude. I think it's disrespectful for
52:56
you to come into the Oval Office and try to
52:58
litigate this and form of the American media advance at
53:01
at the time, you should be thankful to President is
53:04
trying to bring an end to this conflict. On Sunday,
53:07
Vance reiterated his isolation's bent, noting that although the United
53:12
States wants to bring the war to a close, the
53:14
administration is not going to force anything on Ukraine because
53:18
it's not our country. In Kiev, on Sunday, Ukraine's Independence Day,
53:25
Zelensky addressed to the nation and vowed to restore its
53:28
territorial integrity. Ukraine will never again be forced in history
53:34
to endure the shame that the Russians call a compromise.
53:38
He said, we just need a peace. He listed some
53:41
of the regions occupied by Russia, including Donsk Luhansk in Crimea,
53:46
and said no temporary occupation to change the fact that
53:50
the land belongs to Ukraine. Several Western officials attended the ceremony,
53:57
including US Special Envoy Keith Kellogg Canadian Prime Minister Mark Karney,
54:02
who did not rule out putting Canadian troops on the
54:05
ground in Ukraine as part of the security guarantees. Carney
54:10
also pledged assistance package of roughly one point four billion dollars,
54:15
much of that will go toward the purchase of weapons
54:17
and equipment from the United States, NATO and Canadian suppliers.
54:23
Ukraine also carried out attacks on Russian facilities on Sunday,
54:27
including an oil refinery in western Russia and a port
54:31
on the Gulf of Finland in Kersk, just across the
54:35
border from Ukraine. A drone targeting a nuclear power plant
54:39
was shot down but detonated on impact. According to the
54:43
plant's news service, it caused of fire which was extinguished
54:47
as well as damaged to an auxiliary transformer. The International
54:52
Atomic Energy Agency set radiation level to remain normal Sunday
54:56
in the area near the plant. See how much longer
55:02
summer is in your town. Summer heat isn't just for
55:07
the summer anymore. In recent decades, sweat inducing temperatures have
55:11
been arriving earlier and ending later in the year. Analysis
55:15
of US weather data shared with The Washington Post shows
55:19
which places are experiencing notably longer summer seasons than they
55:22
were three decades ago. Temperatures are spiking the levels typically
55:26
seen in June earlier than expected and lingering longer at
55:30
the end of the season. The analysis, conducted by climatologist
55:34
Brian Brettenschneider, examined the hottest ninety days of the year
55:38
from nineteen sixty five to nineteen ninety four and compared
55:42
their frequency over nineteen ninety five to twenty twenty four.
55:46
He found that the temperatures that used to kick off
55:49
the hottest three months of the year are expanding beyond
55:52
the calendar definitions of summer in DC. For example, the
55:58
nation's northwest area used to see summer temperatures starting at
56:01
seventy three degrees begin June ninth and in September sixth.
56:06
Now the city starts to have summer temperatures around June
56:09
fifth and cools off near September eleventh. What we think
56:14
of summer isn't necessarily the same today as it was
56:17
thirty years ago, said Michael Allen, a climatologist at Towson
56:21
University who was not involved in the analytics. The southern
56:25
United States has seen the most warming, gaining an extra
56:28
two weeks overall of the hot summer temperatures. Key West Florida,
56:32
for example, is experiencing summer temperatures for thirty nine days,
56:36
longer than three decades ago. The mid Atlantic and Pacific
56:40
Northwest have seen a moderate expansion, and summer temperatures are
56:44
lasting about nine days longer in the DC area, and meanwhile,
56:48
New York City and Seattle has seen about six more
56:51
days than thirty years ago. Cities along the coast of
56:55
California have experienced more summer heat two than don't typically
57:01
see peak summer until the end of August because of
57:04
local wind n sea surface temperature patterns, but a lot
57:07
of locations expanded their season. For example, San Francisco has
57:12
turned up the heat for a whopping forty two days longer.
57:16
The Midwest has seen the least lengthening of the season,
57:20
with a few areas shrinking their summer. For instance, much
57:23
of Iowa has seen the hottest temperatures extend for about
57:26
five days longer than before, whereas summer temperatures in Great Falls,
57:31
Montana are stopping four days earlier. The rate of change
57:36
over the past thirty years is faster than anticipated, said
57:39
Upeing Gwan, a physical oceanograph at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
57:44
He was not involved in the analysis. A few years ago,
57:47
he and his team did a global survey showing that
57:49
summer temperatures have lasted a few more days each decade,
57:52
longer in the northern Hemisphere. Their study used slightly different
57:57
data sets, but he said the trends are consistent and
58:00
this analysis is more accurate for the United States. And
58:04
then this concludes the reading of the Washington Post for today, Monday,
58:08
August twenty fifth. Your reader today has been Rod Brotherton.
58:12
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning the program,
58:16
please feel free to call us at eighty five nine
58:19
four two two sixty three ninety. Thank you, as always
58:23
for listening, and now please stay tuned for more continued
58:26
programming right here on Radio I