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WASHINGTON  — The Supreme Court cleared the way Monday for President Trump to seek new limits on the use of mail ballots, but they are not likely to take effect this year.

Acting by a 6-3 vote, the court’s conservatives granted an emergency appeal from Trump’s lawyers and set aside a judge’s order that blocked new federal regulations on states and their use of mail ballots.

It’s not clear, however, what happens now, since the midterm elections are less than three months away.

About 30% of the nation’s voters — and 80% of Californians — cast their ballots by mail in 2024. Trump, however, has long maintained the voting by mail leads to fraud, including voting by noncitizens.

The court’s order stressed the new regulations do not put new requirements on the states this year.

Trump’s executive order “is internal directive from the President to his subordinates mandating that certain agencies pursue certain policies. It neither requires nor forbids anything of anyone outside the Executive Branch,” the court said.

The Department of Homeland Security will compile state-by-state lists of citizens who are over 18 and eligible to vote.

“States are not required to use the Lists,” the court said, although they could lead to future prosecutions.

The most disputed provision could have authorized the Postal Service to restrict mail ballots to those who are on the Homeland Security lists, but that is a future proposal, not a rule that will take effect this year.

The unsigned order spoke for the six Republican appointees. The three liberals, all Democratic appointees, dissented into two separate opinions.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson said Trump’s order was unlawful and should have been struck down. “It needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections,” she said.

“Today’s decision does not address whether the President’s attempts to interfere with States’ administration of the November 2026 elections are lawful,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in a dissent joined by Justice Elena Kagan. “Nor does it suggest that the Executive Branch has any constitutional or statutory authority to implement the President’s directives. Instead, today’s decision merely postpones adjudication of those challenges.”

Trump issued his executive order on March 31 with the aim of “ensuring citizenship verification” in federal elections. California and 22 other Democratic-led states sued a few days later and said Trump sought to use the Postal Service to impose new restrictions on voting by mail. They also argued the Constitution gives states and Congress the power to regulate elections, not the president.

A federal judge in Boston and 1st Circuit Court agreed with the challengers and blocked Trump’s executive order from taking effect for the November elections.

The case on appeal was Trump vs. California because California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta was a leader of the Democratic state attorneys who sued.

A POPULAR seaside town has been forced to close its cliff lift with immediate effect over safety fears.

The attraction, which cost £8,000 to build, is the oldest of its kind in the UK and first opened in the coastal resort in 1875.

Engineers assessing Scarborough Spa Cliff Lift found “a number of issues”, resulting in its closure.

The Victorian-era lift is one of the seaside town‘s most popular heritage attractions.

Last year, a host of live performances and exhibitions were held in the town to celebrate its 150th anniversary.

Carl Les, councillor with North Yorkshire Council, said “the lift is an important part of Scarborough’s history and identity”.

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He added that no decisions had been made “regarding the scope of any future works, timescales or funding arrangements”.

The findings would be assessed in detail and further updates would be shared “in due course”, the council added.

The lift was used to transport passengers between the hotels on the Esplanade and the spa and was originally powered by water and gas engines.

It was converted to run on electricity in the 1950s.

The latest report investigated the condition of the tracks, carriages and associated infrastructure, the council said.

The council added that as the lift is in a “challenging coastal environment”, this could accelerate wear and corrosion.

SACRAMENTO — A state lawmaker from San Diego has proposed fast-tracking the construction of an arena and housing project, drawing criticism from opponents who argue the site is not suitable for large-scale development because of flooding.

State Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D-La Mesa) wrote a letter last week to a powerful Assembly chair that outlines proposed amendments to Senate Bill 344 to help Midway Rising, a project backed by Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke, avoid potential lawsuits related to its environmental review.

“As amended, SB 344 would deem the Midway Rising Specific Plan Subsequent Environmental Impact Report to be in full compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA,” Weber Pierson wrote to the Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco, chair of Assembly Rules Committee.

“In order to promote the swift and deliberate development of affordable housing in the City of San Diego, an urgency clause is needed for this measure.”

Developers are seeking to replace the decades-old Pechanga Arena, and build a new 16,000-seat facility, 4,254 homes, including up to 2,000 affordable units, and commercial and outdoor space. The site is south of Mission Bay.

Parts of the development could rise to a maximum height of 25 stories, according to project’s environmental impact report.

Sports teams, including minor league hockey team the San Diego Gulls, play at the Pechanga Arena. The arena is surrounded by parking lots, which are used for weekend swap meets.

The Assembly Rules Committee on Monday approved an urgency clause to Senate Bill 344, which mean it needs a 2/3 vote of both houses to pass and would go into effect immediately upon the governor’s signature.

Weber Pierson told the Times Monday that the amendments intended to help Midway Rising “haven’t crossed” the desk, meaning that the language hasn’t been inserted into Senate Bill 344. If the amendments go into the bill, “then at that point, I think we can have a conversation,” she said.

Brad Termini, the chief executive of Zephyr, one of Midway Rising’s development partners, said the proposed legislation “will help prevent frivolous lawsuits from causing unnecessary delays and keep the project on track to break ground next year, accelerating the delivery of much-needed housing in San Diego.”

The Kroenke Group didn’t immediately provide comment. Kroenke, the owner of the Rams, was announced as the major investor in Midway Rising in 2023.

Former San Diego Assemblymember Lori Saldaña, a longtime critic of the proposal, called the proposed amendments “reckless and rushed.”

“It removes the opportunity for the public and organizations to weigh in,” said Saldaña.

State lawmakers routinely carve out environmental exemptions for proposed sports stadiums, sometime in the closing days of the legislative session. The legislature has until the end of August to pass or reject scores of bills.

Former Senate Leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) led his colleagues in passing a bill in 2013 that helped the Sacramento Kings arena by limiting environmental lawsuits. The new arena for the Golden State Warriors basketball team in San Francisco also benefited from CEQA reforms passed by state lawmakers in 2011.

The landmark 1970 legislation is credited with helping to protect the state’s environment, but it is also criticized for blocking development.

Since it passed, the CEQA has been a consideration in how most major projects get approved in California. The law requires the disclosure of any effects a development might have on the environment, an evaluation of alternatives and, in many cases, proposed changes that would reduce those environmental effects to a level of insignificance.

Weber Pierson also previously authored Senate Bill 958, another bill that will help the arena, that is awaiting a vote in the Assembly.

That bill states that the environmental impacts of a project that are associated with increased building height, including noise, shadows, or the potential to attract wildlife, shall not be considered significant impacts on the environment.

The bill only applies to specific developments, including those that are proposed on an graded infill site and those that pay construction workers a prevailing wage.

Weber Pierson said that SB 958 “is not special-interest legislation” during a Aug. 9 public forum about the project, describing it a broad-based housing tool, according to the Peninsula Beacon.

The publication reported that the forum “got testy at several points, with some audience members openly booing” the speakers.

Eric Law, chairman of the Penisula Community Planning Board, criticized the state senator’s proposed amendments in an interview Monday.

“The continued efforts to push legislation specific to Midway is misguided and unneeded,” said Law, whose group provides input to the city on planning issues.

Law said his group isn’t opposed to development, but wants the city to stick to the current three-story limit for the area.

“We absolutely endorse the idea of redevelopment — that place is kind of an armpit,” Law said of Pechanga Arena. “They need affordable housing and better housing — you just don’t need to do it over 30 feet.”

The San Diego City Council still needs to approve the project.

Saldaña said the developers are ignoring the growing sea-level rise that is causing nearby street flooding.

Saldaña said she was out Tuesday night in the area with volunteers from community planning groups, including Law, and witnessed groundwater “literally coming up and flooding the streets.”

“Not a drop of rain had fallen,” she said. “It’s just the higher sea level pushing the groundwater to the surface.”

Weber Pierson told the Times that Saldaña should bring her concerns about flooding to the developer and city officials.

WASHINGTON — President Trump’s administration has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to allow the White House to resume construction on its $400 million ballroom project while it appeals a lower court’s order to halt the work.

Trump’s solicitor general on Friday petitioned the high court to suspend last week’s decision by a three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The divided panel ruled last week Trump must stop the White House ballroom’s construction because Congress has not approved the project. The panel’s majority said Trump doesn’t have the unilateral authority to build a 90,000-square-foot ballroom where the White House’s East Wing stood before he ordered its demolition last fall.

The lower court suspended its own ruling for two weeks to give Trump’s Republican administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court. The solicitor general asked the Supreme Court to rule on its stay petition before the appeals court panel’s decision takes effect on Aug. 21.

“This case involves an extraordinary and unlawful injunction that will halt the ongoing construction of the integrated military complex, including a totally secure ballroom space, at the East Wing of the White House, which is vitally required by national security,” the solicitor general wrote.

The lower court’s 2-1 decision sided with historic preservationists who sued to stop construction of the ballroom.

The administration argues that the president, not Congress or the courts, has unimpeded authority to renovate the White House. The current state of the project, essentially an open construction site, makes it harder to protect the White House, the Justice Department contends.

The administration also says the National Trust for Historic Preservation does not have the legal right, or standing, to sue over the ballroom.

During an appeals court hearing in early June, an administration lawyer defended a broad view of presidential control over iconic public facilities.

The government could bulldoze the Statue of Liberty and the White House, Justice Department lawyer Yaakov Roth said in response to a hypothetical question, and the descendants of immigrants who came through Ellis Island and the enslaved people who built the White House would not have standing to sue.

Kunzelman writes for the Associated Press.

Memphis Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke died in May from “the effects of heroin and cocaine,” the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner announced Friday.

The manner of death was determined to be accidental, the department said.

Clarke died May 11 in a San Fernando Valley home, multiple media outlets reported at the time, and drug paraphernalia was found at the scene. The department said Clarke was found unresponsive around 5 p.m. that day and was pronounced dead by paramedics 15 minutes later. He was 29.

“On May 12, a deputy medical examiner conducted an examination of Mr. Clarke at the DME’s Forensic Science Center,” the department said in a statement. “The cause and manner of death were certified Aug. 7.”

Clarke was born in Vancouver, B.C., and played basketball at Desert Vista High in Phoenix, San Jose State and Gonzaga. Selected at No. 21 overall by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the 2021 NBA draft, Clarke was traded weeks later to Memphis, where he played his entire career.

He played in 309 games but only two last season because of injuries. Clarke averaged 10.2 points and 5.5 rebounds during his career.

“Everyone loved BC because he was always there as the most supportive friend you could ever imagine,” his agency, Priority Sports, said in a statement after his death. “He was so unique in the joy he brought to all of those in his life. It’s just impossible to put into words how much he’ll be missed. We love you, BC.”

Newcastle spent in the region of £240m on new players 12 months ago, but Howe was left frustrated by the departure of striker Alexander Isak to Liverpool.

Howe has lost two key players this summer – Sandro Tonali to Tottenham and Anthony Gordon to Barcelona, while Arsenal are chasing captain Bruno Guimaraes.

Howe replaced Steve Bruce as manager in November 2021, and ended Newcastle‘s 70-year wait for a major domestic trophy by winning the 2025 Carabao Cup.

He led the Magpies to Champions League qualification in 2023 and 2025.

Last season, Newcastle reached the last-16 of the Champions League before losing 8-3 on aggregate to Barcelona.

Their EFL Cup defence ended in the semi-finals, but their league performance was severely underwhelming after finishing fifth in 2024-25.

Newcastle won 84 of their 179 Premier League games under Howe, drawing 38 and losing 57.

He oversaw more Premier League wins than any other Newcastle manager. His Premier League win percentage of 46.9% at the club is bettered only by Kevin Keegan.

June 30 (Asia Today) — Major Washington lobbying firms are ending their relationships with Alibaba, Tencent and other Chinese companies as a new U.S. defense-contracting restriction takes effect Tuesday.

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Mercury Public Affairs and MO Strategies were among the influential firms that recently terminated contracts with the Chinese technology companies, Bloomberg reported Monday.

Public lobbying disclosures showed Alibaba had lost five lobbying firms and Tencent had lost four over the past week. MO Strategies said it would comply fully with the new Defense Department requirements.

The shift follows the implementation of Section 851 of the fiscal 2025 National Defense Authorization Act.

The provision prohibits the Defense Department from awarding contracts to a company, including its parent companies and subsidiaries, if that company retains a covered lobbyist who also lobbies for a Chinese business on the Pentagon’s Section 1260H list.

The law does not directly prohibit lobbying firms from representing Chinese companies. In practice, however, it forces firms to choose between Chinese clients on the list and U.S. companies seeking Defense Department business.

The Pentagon established the Section 1260H list under the fiscal 2021 defense authorization act to identify companies it considers affiliated with China’s military or contributors to Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy.

The Defense Department added Alibaba and dozens of other companies to an updated list published June 8. The latest version includes 188 entities operating directly or indirectly in the United States, according to the department.

Tencent appeared on an earlier version of the list and remained designated in the June update.

A company’s inclusion on the list does not by itself impose comprehensive economic sanctions. Other U.S. laws, however, increasingly connect the designation to federal contracting, procurement and funding restrictions.

Alibaba filed a federal lawsuit last Tuesday seeking removal from the list. The Chinese e-commerce company said the Pentagon lacked sufficient evidence to classify it as a Chinese military company and failed to adequately consider evidence disputing the alleged ties.

Alibaba has denied that it works with the Chinese military or participates in China’s military-civil fusion strategy. Tencent has also denied military links.

Alibaba said in its lawsuit that the new lobbying restriction had already prompted several firms and individual lobbyists to indicate that they would end their relationships with the company.

The Pentagon’s expanded list and the new contracting rule are likely to increase compliance reviews among Washington lobbying firms, law firms, consultants and defense contractors.

Companies seeking Pentagon contracts may need to determine whether outside advisers represent any listed Chinese entities, even when those advisers’ work for the U.S. company is unrelated to national defense.

The development also narrows Chinese companies’ access to experienced lobbyists as they seek to challenge expanding trade, investment and national security restrictions in Washington.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260630010010558