project

The federal government agreed to temporarily hold off on construction of a planned Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Northern California.

The voluntary pause until Sept. 9 comes after the California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta and Santa Clara County officials sued the Trump administration last month to block the facility from being developed near Gilroy. The lawsuit remains ongoing.

“This pause in the construction, demolition, and development at the site of the challenged ICE facility is a significant step towards protecting our people, our communities, and our environment while the case remains ongoing,” Bonta said in a statement Monday night.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.

State and local officials believe the facility will be used for short-term detention of up to 150 people at a time, though ICE denied that it would be a detention center.

Community members and advocates for immigrants swiftly opposed the project. ICE has consistently looked to increase its detention capacity in California, where eight detention centers can now hold a combined 9,000 people, though the state has long been a thorn in the agency’s side.

The halt is part of a compromise between both sides involved in the legal action. After the state and county submitted a request for the court to temporarily halt the project, a hearing was set for Oct. 7.

Now, state and federal officials jointly requested that the court move up the hearing by at least a month. The agreement also extends how much time the federal government has to respond.

A federal judge signed off on the agreement Monday night.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San José, alleges that the leased land is zoned exclusively for agricultural use and that the federal government violated laws requiring state and county notification, as well as procedural steps before beginning construction.

The European Central Bank (ECB) took the digital euro project into its next operational stage on Tuesday by naming 36 payment service providers to help test the future currency in a large-scale pilot programme beginning in the second half of 2027.

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According to the ECB, the participants were selected from more than 50 applicants across the euro area and will work alongside the ECB and 19 of the euro area’s national central banks, excluding Bulgaria and Malta, during a 12-month testing exercise.

The pilot is intended to assess the digital euro’s technical infrastructure, operational processes and user experience, allowing person-to-person and person-to-business payments to be tested in both online and offline environments, before any decision is taken on issuing the currency.

The announcement moves the digital euro closer to practical testing with consumers, merchants and payment providers, making it one of the project’s most significant milestones since the ECB launched its preparation phase in late 2023.

The selected providers include traditional banks, digital banks and payment companies, with several of Europe’s largest financial institutions among those taking part, including Deutsche Bank, UniCredit, Revolut, Adyen and Stripe.

ECB Executive Board member Piero Cipollone said the level of interest demonstrated that the payments industry was ready to help shape the project’s next phase.

“The strong market interest in the pilot shows the private sector’s readiness to engage actively and quickly advance with the digital euro project to strengthen the European payments landscape,” Cipollone stated.

“We look forward to deeper engagement as we work with and learn alongside European payment service providers in developing a secure, efficient and inclusive digital euro,” Cipollone concluded.

Legislative approval remains the decisive milestone

The pilot comes as negotiations continue between the European Parliament, the Council and the European Commission on legislation that would establish the legal basis for a digital euro.

The ECB has consistently maintained that it cannot issue the currency unless the legislation is adopted by EU lawmakers.

Current planning foresees formal approval in 2027, followed by completion of the pilot and a possible public launch in 2029, although those timelines remain dependent on the legislative process.

The digital euro would be available free of charge to consumers through supervised payment providers and the ECB has repeatedly sought to counter concerns that it could lead to the disappearance of physical money or weaken privacy protections.

In the current plan for the launch, the digital euro would not pay interest and holdings would likely be capped to avoid significant outflows from commercial bank deposits.

Speaking to Euronews exclusively last week, ECB President Christine Lagarde welcomed the European Parliament’s decision to begin negotiations on the legislation and reiterated that the digital is intended to complement, rather than replace, cash.

“Cash and the digital euro will both be legal tender, which means that nowhere in Europe can someone say, ‘Sorry, I’m not taking your banknotes’,” Lagarde told The Europe Conversation with Maria Tadeo, reaffirming that cash would remain a permanent feature of Europe’s monetary system.

The digital euro is also designed to reduce Europe’s dependence on international payment providers and strengthen the bloc’s strategic autonomy in payments.

Lagarde also told Euronews that the project is about reinforcing Europe’s economic sovereignty as much as modernising payments, pointing to the bloc’s continued reliance on foreign-owned payment networks.

“We depend predominantly on US, but also sometimes Chinese, networks to organise payments. We need to have a European solution because we want to be sovereign at home,” Lagarde stated.

July 10 (Asia Today) — Qcells is accelerating its push into the North American renewable energy market as investment in power infrastructure grows rapidly amid the expansion of artificial intelligence data centers in the United States.

The Hanwha unit said Friday it will handle engineering, procurement and construction for Atlas Energy Park, one of the largest solar and energy storage complexes in the United States. The project will be built in La Paz County, Ariz.

Atlas Energy Park will include 2.8 gigawatts of solar generation capacity and 5.7 gigawatt-hours of energy storage capacity by 2028. The complex will consist of 14 solar and energy storage projects and cover an area about 22 times the size of Yeouido, Seoul’s main financial district.

Qcells will handle engineering, procurement and construction for all projects in the complex and supply all solar modules.

The company completed the sale in May of two solar power plants with a combined capacity of 357 megawatts after carrying out their early-stage development and construction. The deal is seen as evidence that Qcells has expanded beyond equipment supply into project development, construction and asset sales.

The company’s competitiveness is backed by its U.S. supply chain. Qcells operates Solar Hub, a solar manufacturing complex in Georgia, giving it module supply capacity. It has also built a supply chain for energy storage equipment.

Industry analysts say companies with U.S. production bases are gaining a stronger advantage as Washington expands policies favoring domestically made equipment.

Analysts also expect Qcells’ expansion in North America to help improve earnings. Hana Securities projected Hanwha Solutions’ second-quarter operating profit this year at 230.7 billion won, about $153 million, roughly 29% above market consensus.

“The oversupply of solar modules in the United States is easing, and prices are continuing to rise, while the expansion of local production capacity in the United States will drive earnings improvement,” said Yoon Jae-sung, an analyst at Hana Securities.

Analysts say AI will further accelerate growth in renewable energy demand.

“Power demand is structurally increasing because of AI data centers, electrification and manufacturing reshoring, making solar power and energy storage key pillars of global power infrastructure,” said Han Byung-hwa, an analyst at Eugene Investment & Securities. “In particular, rising power consumption by AI data centers will continue to increase demand for large-scale projects combining solar power and energy storage.”

Qcells has completed or is pursuing more than 11 gigawatts of solar and more than 6 gigawatt-hours of energy storage projects in North America, expanding its local business base.

“Atlas Energy Park is a symbolic project that once again demonstrates Qcells’ EPC capability, U.S. supply chain and comprehensive business capacity from development to construction and asset sales,” said Chris Hodrick, head of Qcells’ EPC business division.

“We will lead the growth of the North American renewable energy market by increasing customer value and business competitiveness through integrated solutions that combine solar power and energy storage,” Hodrick said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260710010003926

The Trump administration has signed off on a company’s plan to convert an oil and gas pipeline to pump groundwater from the Mojave Desert to thirsty California cities for the first time, a lucrative venture that critics say threatens natural springs and wildlife.

The federal Bureau of Land Management released documents Thursday saying that Cadiz Inc.’s plan to repurpose 162 miles of the pipeline to transport water “will not significantly affect” the environment.

“We’re excited to achieve this pivotal milestone. After many years of planning and environmental review, the project has now reached the construction stage,” said Susan Kennedy, chair and chief executive of Cadiz.

Environmental advocates and leaders of Native tribes, who have been fighting the project, criticized the decision.

“This groundwater mining proposal would drain the desert and rob the Mojave of its rare springs and wildlife habitat,” said Chance Wilcox, California desert associate director of the National Parks Conservation Assn. “It’s indefensible that the Trump administration would once again try to revive the pointless Cadiz project, by defying decades of scientific warnings and refusing to conduct an environmental review of the groundwater mining.”

The application for the federal authorization was filed by the Fenner Gap Mutual Water Co. The documents say the company plans to build seven pump stations, three of them located on federal land managed by the agency.

The 30-inch steel pipeline runs underground from Cadiz’s desert property, near the town of Amboy, northward to the town of Mojave.

The BLM said in its authorization that repurposing the pipeline for water “would comply with all applicable statutes and regulations.” The agency said it has “reasonably determined that the impacts of groundwater withdrawal associated with Cadiz’s groundwater extraction project are outside the scope of analysis.”

Cadiz’s attempts to export water from its property 200 miles east of Los Angeles have drawn controversy for decades.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation that requires the project to undergo scientific study and gain approval from the State Lands Commission before it can take water from the Mojave and sell it to California cities.

Activists opposing the company’s plans include civil rights leader Dolores Huerta.

“Cadiz spells destruction for water, sacred lands, and the desert economy,” Huerta said in a statement. “It is exactly this type of greed and injustice that I have dedicated my life to oppose.”

Leaders of nearby tribes have also objected to Cadiz’s plans to pump from the desert aquifer near the Mojave Trails National Monument and Mojave National Preserve.

“It is the living heart of the desert,” said Daniel Leivas, chairman of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe. “To drain it would be to drain the life out of the entire desert. No profit is worth such desecration.”

Chairman Timothy Williams of the Fort Mojave Indian Tribe said the company’s plan “to pump and sell 25 times more groundwater each year than the aquifer can replenish would desecrate our traditional territories.”

“Pumping more groundwater than is sustainably replenished is not only negligent, but dangerous to the American Desert Southwest,” he said in the joint statement with other opponents of the project.

For years, while pursuing its plan to sell water far away, the company has been using wells on its property to irrigate nearly 2,000 acres of farmland growing lemons, grapes and other crops. It has drilled more wells in anticipation of being able to export water once the government approved its pipeline.

The company intends to pipe water to communities in San Bernardino County and says it’s “expected to provide one of the lowest-cost sources of new water in the drought-plagued Southwest.” It says the federal permit “marks a key milestone as we finalize project financing with prospective investors.”

Cadiz bought the 220-mile pipeline from El Paso Natural Gas in 2020. Once construction is completed, the company says the pipeline will be able to transport up to 25,000 acre-feet of water per year — about 5% of what Los Angeles uses each year.

The Los Angeles-based corporation is also seeking to build a new pipeline along a railroad right-of-way to transport water to the south.

Environmental groups have repeatedly filed lawsuits challenging the project.

Ileene Anderson, a senior scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, called the Trump administration’s decision “a green light for environmental destruction.”

She said six of the proposed pumping stations slated to be built are in the habitat of desert tortoises, a species in decline.

“We’ve successfully fended off this project before and we’ll continue to fight to stop this zombie from coming back,” Anderson said.

In 2021, the Biden administration reversed a Trump administration decision that had cleared the way for Cadiz to pipe water across public land. In 2022, a federal judge scrapped the pipeline permit that the Trump administration had issued.

But during President Trump’s second term, the company has again made headway on its plans. In February, Cadiz announced that the federal Environmental Protection Agency had invited it to submit an application for a $194-million low-interest loan for the northern pipeline project.

The company said in May that it reached an agreement with the federal Bureau of Reclamation to provide funding for a review of its potential role in “augmenting water supplies” along the shrinking Colorado River.

The company has also been lobbying the Trump administration. The group Public Citizen said in a recent report that Cadiz, through its nonprofit Fenner Gap Mutual Water Co., enlisted former Interior Secretary David Bernhardt’s new lobbying firm, the Bernhardt Group, and has spent at least $330,000 on lobbying in 2025 and 2026.

Records show lobbyist Luke Johnson has repeatedly accompanied Kennedy at meetings with Interior Department officials.

“The extensive influence of David Bernhardt’s boutique lobbying firm on the agency he formerly led highlights how insider firms staffed with former Trump officials have grown in recent years,” said Alan Zibel, a research director with Public Citizen. He said Bernhardt and his lobbyists “have learned how to master influence-peddling in the anything-goes era of Trump 2.0.”

Earlier this month, an Arizona water agency announced it signed an initial “memorandum of understanding” agreement to buy up to 10,000 acre-feet of water per year from Cadiz’s Mojave Groundwater Bank. The Central Arizona Irrigation and Drainage District provides water to farmlands in Pinal County, where growers are dealing with water cutbacks.

The company said that for this to happen, it would need to build pipelines and reach deals to exchange water across state lines.

Members of California’s congressional delegation have raised concerns. In a recent letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, California Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla called for a thorough environmental review, saying that federal agencies and peer-reviewed scientific analyses have “warned of the significant and irreversible impacts that Cadiz’s project could have on federal lands and surrounding communities.”

Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Indio) said in a letter to Burgum that he is concerned about the company’s long-standing effort to extract and export groundwater.

“The area I represent cannot afford to absorb the long-term costs of a commercially driven groundwater export scheme,” Ruiz said.

This pier is undergoing restorations after being closed for decades

A long-neglected pier is currently in the midst of a multi-million-pound restoration project, with the aim of welcoming visitors back through its gates within the next few years. The Grade-II listed Birnbeck Pier first opened its doors in 1867, remaining in operation for 127 years before being shut down in 1994 owing to serious safety concerns.

Situated in Weston-super-Mare, the pier held the unique distinction of being the only one in the entire country to connect the mainland to an island — a small, rugged outcrop known as Birnbeck Island. In the years following its closure, the island continued to serve as a base for the RNLI to launch lifeboats; however, this too came to an end in 2014 when the pier was declared too hazardous.

Before that, the island had been requisitioned by the Admiralty during World War 2, serving as a top-secret facility for weapons testing.

Once the pier reopened after the war, it never truly recaptured its former glory, and changed hands numerous times amongst various private owners.

A lack of upkeep eventually rendered the pier unsafe, leading to its closure to the public in 1994. Since 1998, it has featured on the National Heritage at Risk Register.

Restoration plans were initially drawn up back in 2006, but were repeatedly shelved following successive changes in ownership.

The pier has since been acquired by North Somerset Council, and with the help of £5.5million in National Lottery funding, restoration work has now got underway.

Earlier this year, it was revealed that an extra £62,120 had been secured from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Heritage at Risk Capital Fund, administered by Historic England.

Following the announcement of this additional funding, Councillor Mark Canniford, North Somerset Council’s cabinet member overseeing the Birnbeck Pier project, said: “It’s great that Historic England has been able to top up our initial grant application.

“This additional money has allowed us to instruct specialist contractors to restore the entrance gates and turnstiles and install important design features on the southern Toll House to honour Eugenius Birch’s original design.

“I’m very much looking forward to seeing the flag flying at the entrance to the pier in celebration of work once it’s complete next summer.”

It is set to become the world’s largest airport after a £23.5billion expansion and refurbishment project is completed

Dubai is preparing to unveil the world’s largest and most cutting-edge airport, complete with robot staff and ‘no queues’ for passengers. Al Maktoum International Airport will become the biggest in the world once its £23.5billion expansion and refurbishment is finished.

It is anticipated to handle 260 million passengers annually and boasts features specifically designed to make travelling as seamless as possible. The airport claims it will eliminate queuing altogether, as bags can be dropped off before travellers even reach the terminal.

This means passengers will not need to repeat the security and customs processes.

Dubai Airports CEO Paul Griffiths described this as a “no red lights” concept while speaking to Khaleej Times.

Another way the passenger experience will be improved is through an ‘integrated underground Automated People Mover system’ that removes the need to walk from one end of the vast airport to the other.

This will feature a multi-track train, with 14 stations to shuttle passengers between terminals and concourses.

Collecting baggage is also set to be a far quicker process, as the new system will be capable of handling tens of thousands of bags in under 60 minutes.

Luggage is also expected to be available within minutes of landing, meaning the dreaded wait at the baggage carousel will become a thing of the past.

All of these impressive features will be made possible through automated travel systems, AI security checks and robot staff. These robots will be responsible for tasks such as baggage handling and may even tackle customer service queries.

According to details published by Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects (DAEP), the infrastructure developer for Dubai’s aviation sector, plans for DWC include “a new era of smart airport systems and passenger-centric facilities, taking travellers to worldwide destinations in the most awe-inspiring and comfortable way possible”.

The expansion also features five parallel runways and up to 400 aircraft gates.

Once construction at Al Maktoum International Airport is complete, the neighbouring Dubai International Airport will shut down permanently.

Dubai International Airport (DXB) is set to close its doors for good in 2035, according to reports.

All operations currently running through the bustling travel hub will be relocated to Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC).

California Forever, the tech billionaire-backed group that hopes to build a city from scratch on farmland in the outer San Francisco Bay Area, is lobbying state leaders to fast-track a massive shipbuilding deal that would kick-start its development after years of local opposition.

The billionaires behind the project are seeking a deal to expedite environmental reviews of the development and, if necessary, bypass county restrictions on building by being absorbed into Suisun City boundaries. They’ve hired former Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and former Senate Majority Leader Bob Hertzberg — Democratic architects of landmark environmental laws — to make their case, and are using the prospect of luring a major shipbuilder to California to accelerate the dealmaking.

California Forever has pursued its project for nearly a decade, though the vision has shifted: At first pitched as a walkable city with cottages, bike lanes and even a water park, the plan then added a major shipbuilding operation and, last summer, a significant manufacturing hub.
California Forever’s proponents, led by the state’s powerful building trades union along with Realtors, peace officers and pro-housing groups, argue the latest proposal would boost the state’s economy and bring an estimated half a million jobs to California. And now, a prospective tenant has emerged: Defense company Saronic Technologies Inc., which builds autonomous vessels for use in national security, is deciding between California and Texas for its next factory. The state must fast-track the development or lose the deal, supporters argue.

The developers are seeking the state’s permission to use an 18-year-old environmental impact report for the shipyard development, limit any legal challenges to the project to 270 days, and allow Suisun City to annex their land if needed, according to Steinberg and Hertzberg.

“In short, if legislation is not approved, California will lose billions of dollars in investments and tens of thousands of jobs this summer to Texas and other states,” proponents wrote in a joint letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders this week.

But some locals and lawmakers are skeptical, arguing that details about the project remain scarce. The proposed development would convert vast farmlands into factories and risk harming the surrounding ecosystem, they said, which deserves rigorous environmental review under the landmark California Environmental Quality Act that proponents are seeking to expedite.

State Sen. Christopher Cabaldon (D-West Sacramento) is shown during a Senate floor session at the state Capitol in Sacramento on Feb. 20, 2025.

(Fred Greaves / CalMatters)

“For a project this scale in this location, it is what the [law] was designed for,” said Sen. Christopher Cabaldon (D-West Sacramento), who represents the area. “A central question for the people of Solano County is: Is this going to be for the community or is this a conversion project that leaves them behind?”

Opponents also slammed California Forever for pursuing relief behind closed doors with state leaders and circumventing local opposition. Since 2018, the group has secretly bought up agricultural land, shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars to court local residents and spent at least $330,000 lobbying the governor and legislative leaders for favorable legislation.

“I think they know that the only way this actually happens is under cover of darkness, by trying to essentially get the governor to work this plan for them,” said Jordan Grimes, legislative director at Greenbelt Alliance, which has advocated for streamlined environmental reviews for housing projects.

Secretive beginnings foment distrust

For residents of Solano County, an agricultural community on the outskirts of the Bay Area that includes coastal areas next to a deep-water shipping lane, the suspicion around California Forever has been hard to shake.

The group’s subsidiary, Flannery Associates, started buying up farmland in 2018, eventually acquiring 62,000 acres while routinely refusing to answer questions about its backers. Some farmers later alleged the company used strong-arm tactics to get them to sell.

In 2023, Flannery’s backers were unmasked as a group of wealthy venture capitalists, including the founders of LinkedIn and Netscape, all led by former Goldman Sachs trader and real estate developer Jan Sramek. Marc Andreessen, co-founder of venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, holds investments in both California Forever and Saronic, the defense company eyeing California. Andreessen’s firm did not immediately return a CalMatters inquiry for comment.

Despite rocky beginnings, California Forever needed the majority of Solano County voters on its side due to a 1984 “orderly growth” law that requires voters to approve development on unincorporated land.

In 2024, the company debuted the East Solano Plan to rezone 17,500 acres of agricultural land for a dense, 400,000-person city. The proposal was set to go before voters that year, but its backers pulled it following powerful grassroots opposition, poor polling and a county assessment that found holes in the plan. Sramek acknowledged the group likely moved too fast and said the initiative would go back before voters in 2026.

Instead, the group has pivoted. The East Solano Plan has become the Suisun Expansion Plan and the Solano Shipyard. In January 2025, Suisun City’s city council directed its manager to explore expanding the city’s limits through annexation, which is now underway, although it could take years.

State Route 113 runs through land where California Forever plans to put its new city in Solano County.

(Loren Elliott / CalMatters)

“The annexation and the shipbuilding have been a clear way to work around the need for voter support in Solano County,” said Nate Huntington, a member of the grassroots group Solano Together, which formed in response to the secretive land purchases. Huntington pointed out that California Forever hasn’t even submitted a proposal for a shipbuilding facility to the county.

“All of this has been happening in backrooms of Sacramento, and it’s not been publicly available.”

Seeking state environmental relief

California Forever is now selling the development to the state as a major incentive to lure manufacturers and shipbuilders to California — and the subsequent need for housing to accommodate the promised jobs.

The company wants the governor and state lawmakers to cut red tape for the development and require enough housing for the new jobs. Steinberg and Hertzberg told CalMatters they are contemplating legislation to that end, but only after California Forever signs a lease with a manufacturer or shipbuilder.

Their plan would allow the governor to designate construction on company land as “environmental leadership development projects,” which would effectively require any litigation to be resolved within 270 days. Steinberg authored the state law streamlining that process in 2013.

State law requires government agencies to prepare a report for any project that might have a significant impact on the environment. Instead of assessing the impact of the proposed shipyard, Steinberg and Hertzberg’s proposal would use a 2008 report, which designated the area where the shipyard would go as “water-dependent industrial usage.” Most of California Forever’s 7,500-acre planned footprint does not have that designation.

Steinberg told CalMatters the report is sufficient since the site has changed little.

“The state and county need the ability to say yes now to these numerous opportunities,” he said in a text. A new report, he said, “would require years of additional delay and lost opportunities.”

But the report is outdated, Cabaldon argues.

“This is completely different,” he said. “Just the notion that you would just say, ‘We are not going to do any assessments at all and we’ll just rely on this old one’ — that is not consistent with what the public interest is.”

Steinberg and Hertzberg also want the state to require enough housing in the area, but to allow surrounding cities and Solano County to permit local housing developers to build first.

But if local governments aren’t willing to or cannot build enough housing within the timeline the manufacturer or the shipbuilder wants, Steinberg and Hertzberg’s proposal would allow Suisun City to annex adjacent California Forever-owned county land into its city boundaries — a controversial idea that has drawn fierce local opposition. The move would be a “last resort,” Steinberg and Hertzberg stressed repeatedly.

The annexation would effectively bypass the county’s orderly growth initiative, which requires voters to have a say in development.

“The shipbuilders and manufacturers need certainty on a much faster timeline,” Steinberg said.

Cabaldon said the pitch to build new housing to accommodate theoretical jobs is “fantastical,” noting that Saronic, the proposed shipbuilder, is a leader in automation.

“There’s no indication that this is going to generate on an ongoing basis that many jobs, and certainly not more jobs than we have housing for even today without building a single additional unit,” he said.

Historic union agreement prompts support

In January, California Forever announced it had signed a 40-year deal with the Napa/Solano Building Trades Council and Northern California Carpenters Union to use union labor to build its development. The agreement was an important political alliance for Chief Executive Sramek, bringing more influential advocates to the table.

According to Digital Democracy, both the Building Trades Council and the Carpenters Union have given roughly $10 million in direct donations to legislative candidates since 2000.

Those advocates made themselves heard over the last few weeks, following a Texas county court approving significant tax incentives to lure Saronic to Brownsville. In a statement, Saronic said its nationwide search is still “active and ongoing.”

The California Alliance for Jobs, an alliance of influential construction companies and workers, drafted two letters in quick succession calling for legislative leaders to streamline the California Forever expansion and shipyard.

“We champed at the bit to go all in to get this project moving, and to get legislation through Sacramento this session,” said Joshua Arce, executive director of the alliance.

Suisun City Councilmember Princess Washington, who has consistently been the sole vote on the council against the annexation plan, said she feels organized labor is being used as “political pressure” to win approval.

“Processes are slow, but they’re done that way through government to ensure that it’s being done correctly, that all parties of interest are being treated fairly, and there’s checks and balances,” Washington said.

“It’s unheard of for a project to be done as quickly as they want it to be done.”

In a statement, California Forever spokesperson Jim Wunderman said any shipyard project will comply with all California environmental and land-use laws. He said county supervisors already approved using the 2008 impact report, and that legislation would allow the group to “meet prospective employers’ timelines.”

He said by pursuing expansion within Suisun City, California Forever is following the community’s preferences by channeling new growth into existing cities.

An ongoing presence in the Capitol

Since 2024, California Forever has spent at least $330,000 lobbying the Legislature and governor’s office on bills and other actions, according to campaign finance records.

Steinberg and Hertzberg told CalMatters they were hired in April as “special counsel,” not lobbyists, meaning they are spending less than a third of their time talking with public officials.

Grimes, who said he respects Steinberg for leading landmark environmental land-use reforms in the Legislature, said he’s disappointed in his advocacy for California Forever, “a project that is antithetical to all of this.”

Sheep graze on land where California Forever plans to build its new city in Solano County.

(Loren Elliott / CalMatters)

California Forever reported spending $90,000 lobbying the governor’s office and the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, called GO-Biz, last year on “federal shipbuilding activities and California business attraction and retention activities.”

“GO-Biz has discussed relevant state incentive programs with Saronic and explained how they operate,” said GO-Biz spokesperson Willie Rudman. He said the agency does not offer incentive packages to specific companies.

Last fall though, GO-Biz helped organize a bid for Saronic to settle in Solano County. County staff reported during a board meeting that GO-Biz supported a legislative effort to override the county’s “orderly growth” law.

County supervisors rushed through a proposal to change the boundaries of the Solano Shipyard to comply, but with just days remaining before the end of the legislative session, Assemblymember Lori D. Wilson, a Democrat from Suisun City, said there wasn’t time to introduce legislation.

Since then, Wilson said, the proposal has been on the table, but “nothing’s been requested” of her office by California Forever.

The company also urged lawmakers to act fast or risk losing the shipbuilder to Texas last year — a negotiating tactic common in economic development, Cabaldon said.

But Cabaldon argued that Saronic will decide where to place its shipyard based on “defense needs of the United States of America” instead of state incentives.

“We have to negotiate with our eyes open,” he said.

Wolffe and Yu write for CalMatters.

Netflix show, Building the Band, was Liam Payne’s last completed project before his heartbreaking death in October 2024 aged 31 when he fell from a hotel balcony

Netflix has decided not to renew Liam Payne’s final TV project according to reports. The tragic singer’s series, Building the Band – which was filmed four four months before his death – is said not to have been recommissioned, despite the music competition launching the careers of four new groups.

Liam, who tragically died in 2024 aged 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, served as judge on the series alongside Nicole Scherzinger and Kelly Rowland, while AJ McLean hosted the contest.

The winning act, 3quency, received a global platform through Netflix, while several contestants have since secured recording contracts following the show’s release. However, there a reportedly no plans for a second series.

A source told The Sun: “Although there are currently no plans for a second season of Building The Band, bosses at Netflix are really proud of what they achieved. That’s because the show led to the creation of four amazing groups and all of them have since signed record deals.”

The source added: “The finalist groups – 3quency, SZN4, Soulidified and Midnight Til Morning – have all released original music, toured internationally – and attract hundreds of thousands of listeners each month. And Midnight Til Morning are performing at BST Hyde Park at the end of this month.”

Building the Band challenged 50 singers unknown to each other to form new groups, relying on vocal chemistry before progressing through a series of performances.

The winning act received a global platform through Netflix, while several contestants have since secured recording contracts following the show’s release.

The programme had been completed and ready for release before Liam’s death, leaving Netflix to decide whether it should proceed with the series.

After consulting the star’s grieving family, the streaming service chose to air the competition and dedicated it to the late singer.

Liam, who rose to stratospheric fame as a member of One Direction after the group was formed on The X Factor in 2010, appeared on the show mentoring aspiring singers hoping to recreate the success enjoyed by his own chart-topping band.

Since his death, tributes from his former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik have continued to resonate with fans, while discussion around Liam’s legacy has remained a recurring topic across the music industry.

However, although Building the Band attracted significant attention because it featured the star’s final on-screen appearance, it failed to make a major impact with UK audiences, which Netflix will be aware of.

The Mirror has contacted Netflix for comment.

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

June 25 (UPI) — Korea Zinc said Thursday that Chairman Yun B. Choi visited Australia this week to meet with the country’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to discuss ways to strengthen collaboration on critical minerals.

During the bilateral meeting in Canberra on Wednesday, Albanese described U.S. Project Crucible as a valuable model, which the Australian government could benchmark, according to Korea Zinc.

The $7.4 billion initiative involves the construction of an integrated smelter in Clarksville, Tenn. Groundbreaking is scheduled for next year, with commercial production expected to begin in 2029. Toward that end, Korea Zinc cooperates with the U.S. government.

Once operational, the facility will produce base metals such as zinc and lead, along with strategic minerals including germanium and gallium, which are crucial for the semiconductor, defense, and other high-tech industries.

The prime minister also said that Korea Zinc’s business model closely aligns with the Australian government’s resource and energy policy objectives, particularly its efforts to beef up critical industries.

In response, Choi stated that Korea Zinc will keep trying to build a win-win partnership with the Australian government. The world’s largest non-ferrous metals manufacturer operates an Australian affiliate, Sun Metals Corporation.

“Over the past 30 years, we have been a partner that has contributed to Australia’s industries and local communities while expanding beyond smelting into renewable energy and green hydrogen,” he said.

“The synergy between Australia’s abundant resources and our technological prowess and diverse business portfolio will continue to bear fruit in the future,” he added.

The share price of Korea Zinc rose 1.09% on the Seoul bourse on Thursday, while the benchmark KOSPI gained 5.42%.

HARRY Styles has some tricky steps to negotiate in his £30million mansion project — restoring a rotten staircase.

The former One Direction singer is paying experts to return the 300-year-old feature to its former glory as he turns three properties into one huge home.

The staircase revamp could delay the renovation project, which is slated for completion by October 2027.

A source said: “Harry doesn’t do anything by halves.

“This is a very ambitious project so there are bound to be stumbling blocks.

“The staircase is the latest snag but it’s a lovely period feature and he’s going to get the very best craftsmen to make it as good as new.

“It will take a while because it has to be taken apart piece by piece, restored and then put back in place, so it could well affect the deadline.”

In planning documents, Harry’s team say the condition of the 1734 staircase has deteriorated and it had some “poor-quality repairs” over the years.

He has appointed heritage carpentry experts to assess the best way to restore the feature.

Harry, 32, who is dating US actress Zoe Kravitz, 37, is merging the Georgian and 18th-century properties in Hampstead, North London.

The extensive renovation project includes high-end amenities such as a basement cinema, pool and gym.

The development has faced opposition previously from neighbours concerned about disruption and blocked light.

Despite the staircase issue, Harry had a spring in his step while in cut-off jeans in London after his weekend shows at Wembley.

Amazon’s Prime Day sale is underway, and members can subscribe to platforms such as Apple TV, Paramount+ and MGM+ with up to 60% off.

Amazon has slashed the price of Apple TV, Paramount+ and MGM+ by up to 60% to mark the start of its latest Prime Day sale. On Tuesday (June 23), the retail giant kicked off its latest site-wide sales event, where subscriptions for several major streaming platforms now start at £2.99.

During the sale, Amazon customers can bag an Apple TV subscription for half price at £4.99 (was £9.99) per month. Those securing the deal will lock in the lower price for two months, after which it reverts to the usual £9.99 until cancelled.

Similarly, MGM+ – the home of Project Hail Mary – is now £2.99 (was £5.99) for two months, while Paramount+ is £2.99 (was £7.99) for one month. The deals are running until July 2 and come as Amazon kicks off its Prime Day 2026 sale.

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Across June 23-26, there are discounts on thousands of items exclusively for Prime members or shoppers on a Prime 30-day free trial. Elsewhere in the sale, Prime Video is offering free trials of Lionsgate+, Studiocanal Presents and Crunchyroll.

A caveat is that both the reduced streaming subscriptions and free trials will roll on to standard paid subscriptions at the end of the promotional period. This means subscribers should make sure to cancel their subscription before the end of the discounted or free period if they want to avoid paying the standard rate.

Get Apple TV half price for two months

£9.99

£4.99

Amazon | Apple TV

Get Apple TV+ here

Amazon customers can subscribe to Apple TV through Prime Video for £4.99 per month for two months until July 2.

Elsewhere, Sky is giving away streaming subscriptions at no extra cost with its TV packages, with customers signing up for the £24 Ultimate TV bundle able to claim free access to Netflix, HBO Max and Disney+. It also comes with around 135 channels, including Sky Atlantic

For those opting for Apple TV, the streamer has released some highly acclaimed titles already this year. Including comedy horror Widow’s Bay, which holds an impressive 98% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Just launched is the sophomore season of Sugar. The neo-noir detective series led by Colin Farrell as private investigator John Sugar.

Also available to stream are beloved series like Ted Lasso, Severance and Slow Horses. Alternatively, Apple TV offers a seven-day free trial when signing up directly on the platform.

MGM+ also has some hit new titles streaming now, such as Ryan Gosling’s space epic Project Hail Mary. The box-office smash only hit cinemas in March but is included at no extra cost with the Amazon deal, alongside series like Outlander and the James Bond film catalogue.

On Paramount+, members can catch the latest series of Michael Fassbender’s spy thriller The Agency and new episodes of Yellowstone spin-off Dutton Ranch. These are also available on the Paramount+ platform, which is running its own £2.99 deal.

WASHINGTON — More than $350 million from President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” has been quietly directed to White House security, an allotment that Democrats warn appears to be helping fund his new ballroom project — despite the president’s insistence that no taxpayer dollars would be used.

The apportionment of funds, which the White House’s Office of Management and Budget made late Friday, comes from two accounts that were intended to provide the U.S. Secret Service with extra money for hiring and training in the aftermath of last year’s assassination attempts on the president, according to Democrats on the Senate Budget Committee. The shift was made days after Congress rejected a $1-billion request for the White House in a Homeland Security bill that Trump signed into law and as the ballroom project is tangled in legal challenges.

Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley, whose panel initially drafted the security funding, said Thursday he was unaware of the allocations.

“The president said that it was all going to be paid for with private money,” said Grassley (R-Iowa). “And that’s what the country expects.”

Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, the top Democrat on the Senate Budget Committee, charged that Trump’s actions are potentially illegal.

“After repeatedly telling the American people that zero taxpayer dollars would be spent on his gold-plated ballroom boondoggle, now Trump appears to be using a smoke and mirrors tactic,” Merkley said in a statement.

“Trump has proven that he can’t be trusted to follow the law,” Merkley said. “He only cares about wasting taxpayer money on his vanity projects.”

Ballroom project hits setbacks

Trump has faced setbacks in his attempts to build the ballroom on the White House grounds, where he ordered the demolition of the storied East Wing to make way for it.

Touring the construction site last month, Trump called the development a “gift” to the American people. He has repeatedly said that it is being paid for by donations — which has also run into ethics questions from watchdogs concerned about potential corruption and conflicts of interest.

Congress refused the Trump administration’s request for $1 billion for the ballroom last month. The administration wanted the money as part of a Homeland Security bill, but Republican and Democratic lawmakers rejected efforts to tack it on. It became politically toxic at a time when Americans are reeling from inflationary high costs of living.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that the price tag for the project has ballooned to $600 million, according to a project summary prepared by the contractor, with more than half of that funding coming from taxpayers. Roll Call first reported on the apportionment of new funds for White House security.

At its core, arguments are swirling over how much of the White House project is to bolster security underground, with bomb shelters and a medical facility, and how much of the costs are related to the president’s promised 999-seat ballroom on top.

White House says Trump and donors are paying for the ballroom

A spokesman for the White House said that Trump and donors are funding some $400 million for the ballroom development, and that the coordination with the Secret Service had been noted in the initial announcement of the project.

“The East Wing Modernization Project is inextricably tied to the security of the President, the White House grounds and the certain security infrastructure assets,” said White House spokesman Davis R. Ingle in a statement.

He said the events over the past weekend, including an alleged attack plan targeting the UFC Freedom 250 event at the White House, proves why the project is needed.

“President Trump and generous American patriots are funding the ballroom to the tune of approximately $400 million, which will be a secure and appropriate venue for Presidents for generations to come,” he said.

Government lawyers have argued that the project includes critical security features to guard against a range of threats, such as drones and missiles.

The White House has said in court documents that the East Wing project would be “heavily fortified,” including bomb shelters, military installations and a medical facility underneath the ballroom. The Secret Service told senators last month that $220 million of the White House’s $1-billion request would go to harden the ballroom addition, with bulletproof glass, drone detection technologies, chemical and other systems.

The rest of the money would go for other security improvements, according to a document provided to Senate Republicans, including $180 million for a new, “long overdue” White House visitors screening facility.

Congress holds power of the purse

The shifting funds are certain to ignite growing concerns in Congress over the separation of powers, and the president’s use of federal funds allocated by lawmakers.

The money comes from Trump’s big tax breaks and spending cuts bill that the president signed into law last summer. It provided more than $1 billion for Secret Service resources, including “personnel, training facilities, programming, and technology; and performance, retention, and signing bonuses.”

The provision was uncontested at the time, even as Democrats voted against the broader bill. Democrats said they did not challenge this section or try to strip it out from the package.

Under the Constitution, only Congress has the specific authority to allocate funds across the federal government, including the executive and judicial branch operations.

While the president holds the power to sign — or veto — those appropriation bills, once the funding becomes law, it largely must stand.

Mascaro writes for the Associated Press.

June 19 (UPI) — Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, or KHNP, said Thursday that its CEO Kim Hoe-chun has traveled to the Czech Republic to review progress on the construction of two nuclear reactors in the European country.

The state-backed utility noted that Kim took part in a meeting of the Dukovany Steering Committee in Prague alongside South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Resources Kim Jung-kwan and Czech Deputy Prime Minister Karel Havlicek.

Kim’s visit is timed with the first anniversary of the signing of an $18 billion contract to build two 1,000-megawatt reactors in Dukovany, located around 120 miles southeast of the Czech capital.

Groundbreaking is targeted for 2029, with commercial completion expected by 2037. The South Korean consortium includes such industrial partners as Daewoo E&C and Doosan Enerbility.

The two sides also discussed ways to strengthen bilateral nuclear cooperation, while companies from the two countries signed an engineering support agreement related to the project, according to KHNP.

Kim also toured the manufacturing facilities of Doosan Skoda Power in Plzen, situated roughly 55 miles west of Prague. The Czech turbine manufacturer owned by the Doosan Group is expected to play a key role in the Dukovany program.

“The Dukovany project is a monumental endeavor that symbolizes the strategic partnership between South Korea and the Czech Republic,” Kim said in a statement.

“We will work closely with the Czech government, the project owner, local communities, and Czech companies to make this project a model for the safest and most successful nuclear power plant construction in the world,” he added.

The Franco-German KNDS company has presented a new main battle tank, which it is offering to France as an interim replacement for its Leclerc fleet. The development comes as France recognizes that it will need a Leclerc successor before the next-generation Main Ground Combat System (MGCS) becomes available. This joint French and German program is complicated and already delayed, while Europe at large is increasingly alert to the need for capable tanks and other armored vehicles as the threat from Russia grows, and trust around U.S. military backing diminishes.

The proposed CAPINT tank was unveiled at the Eurosatory defense show on the outskirts of Paris this week.

Europe currently has four major lines of development effort for future main battle tanks (excluding the United Kingdom), ranging from multinational programs to national developments. The landscape has become much more fragmented over the past two years, as nations have increasingly understood the urgency of fielding new-generation armored vehicles.

Arguably the most ambitious of these programs is the now-delayed Franco-German MGCS, which began in 2017 and is now expected to arrive in service some time in the mid-2040s. With the MGCS delayed by roughly a decade, both France and Germany have a looming capability gap. In the case of France, its Leclerc tanks are due to be taken out of service by 2038.

As well as the main battle tank that is supposed to be its centerpiece, the MGCS program, as a ‘system of systems,’ is expected to field other crewed and uncrewed vehicles. These will likely be tasked with electronic warfare, air defense, or as platforms from which to launch drones or loitering munitions or fire directed-energy weapons.

Alongside this effort, around a dozen European nations (excluding France) are currently working on research and development under the MARTE (Main ARmored Tank of Europe) program, which is looking at tank requirements for the post-2040 period.

Against this complicated backdrop, France and Germany have both come to the realization that they will need new tanks before the MGCS arrives in service.

As a result, Germany is now working on the Leopard 3, also known as the Leopard 2AX, expected to provide a service-ready fighting vehicle around the early 2030s.

Back in April of this year, French Armed Forces Minister Catherine ​Vautrin told parliament that Paris had decided to launch an “intermediate” tank program to mitigate delays affecting MGCS.

To meet the French requirement for a stopgap tank, KNDS is now proposing its CAPINT (CAPacité INTérmédiaire, or Interim Capability).

This will combine a French turret and main gun on the hull of a German Leopard 2, a tank that is already in production for a variety of customers. Should this solution be chosen, a new Leopard 2 would likely be set up in France to manage the demand.

Interestingly, another new tank on show in Paris this week, the New Main Battle Tank (NMBT) concept demonstrator, from the Leonardo Rheinmetall Military Vehicles (LRMV) joint venture, also uses a Leopard 2 hull as its starting point, although that may change in the future. Derived from the Rheinmetall Panther KF51, the new tank is being offered to the Italian Army, which is also looking for a successor to its current Ariete main battle tank.

Returning to the CAPINT tank, the turret will be uncrewed and armed with the 120mm ASCALON smoothbore gun from KNDS France. The plan is to have the turret able to accommodate a 140mm cannon in the future. The 120mm ASCALON has already undergone firing trials using an uncrewed turret on a moving vehicle. Meanwhile, the 140mm version of the ASCALON is planned for the MGCS.

#ASCALON

Unlike larger-caliber guns that have been proposed for future tank programs in the past, the 120 mm ASCALON offers the advantage of being fully compatible with all NATO-standard 120 mm ammunition. This means operators can maintain and leverage their existing ammo stockpiles.

The three crew of the CAPINT will be carried in an “armored citadel” at the front of the vehicle, which will be defended by passive composite armor as well as reactive and active protection systems.

The active protection system will be developed by KNDS and will be distributed around the turret and hull, so its defensive effectors provide more complete coverage.

In the meantime, it is interesting to note that a Leclerc outfitted with an anti-drone “cope cage” on top of its turret is part of the dynamic demonstration of military equipment at Eurosatory this week.

KNDS says it will complete a CAPINT demonstrator tank as early as 2030 and, should France choose to go with it, it could deliver the first series-production examples in 2035, leading to frontline deployment in 2037.

There is also a plan to incorporate into the CAPINT some of the advanced systems that are intended for the MGCS.

These elements are likely to include fully integrated AI, the aforementioned passive/reactive/active protection systems, counter-drone warfare, and beyond-line-of-sight engagement capability.

Another feature of the MGCS program that would likely be brought forward for the CAPINT tank is accompanying uncrewed ground vehicles (UGVs). According to MGCS, one or two types of “robotic wingmen” are planned for the interim tank. These UGVs will be able to keep up with the tank, but will be small enough to be affordable. Their cost will also be governed by offering different levels of passive protection.

The renewed focus on tank programs reflects a broader resurgence of armored warfare across Europe, driven largely by lessons from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While that conflict has highlighted the vulnerability of tanks to drones, loitering munitions, and precision anti-tank weapons, it has also underscored that heavily protected, mobile firepower remains indispensable for combined-arms operations. As a result, European militaries that once downsized or delayed armored modernization are now investing heavily in new main battle tanks and upgrades.

While the need for interim tanks in both France and Germany is becoming increasingly urgent, the current push for the CAPINT and for the German Leopard 3/Leopard 2AX does risk putting the MGCS program under threat.

“We are already working to create what will be the combat of tomorrow,” KNDS CEO Jean-Paul Alary said during a press conference at Eurosatory yesterday. “Maybe the combat of tomorrow, the ambition of MGCS, will come a little bit earlier than the project itself.”

Meanwhile, according to Reuters, a German government spokesperson raised doubts about the future of MGCS, saying that the project would be focused on “platform-independent” technologies, adding that it was not clear whether a joint tank would still be built.

Depending on how capable these stopgap tanks prove to be, the decision of France and/or Germany to walk away from the more complex MGCS program could become easier. Much will likely also depend on the path that the MARTE program takes, with the possibility that MGCS requirements could be superseded. Meanwhile, recent experience with the Franco-German-led pan-European Future Combat Air System (FCAS) has highlighted just how difficult it can be to keep programs like these on track, regardless of how badly they may be needed.

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

Israeli journalist Gideon Levy says the US-Iran announcement represents a personal defeat for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his ambitions against Iran and Lebanon. His relationship with US President Donald Trump could also be at risk if Israel jeopardises the deal.

TORONTO — A new Canadian-built bridge across the Detroit River that U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to block will open soon, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Tuesday.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Gordie Howe International Bridge, jointly owned by Canada and the U.S. state of Michigan, is set to take place on Friday, while the bridge itself is expected to open to traffic later this month.

In February, Trump demanded that Canada turn over at least half the ownership of the bridge to the U.S. federal government and agree to other unspecified demands in one of his many salvos over cross-border trade issues.

The bridge, which would connect Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, and would be a vital economic artery between Canada and the United States, had been expected to open early this year, according to information on the project’s website.

The bridge is named after Howe, the late Canadian hockey great who spent 25 seasons with the Detroit Red Wings.

The project was negotiated by former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder — a Republican — and paid for by the Canadian government to help ease congestion over the existing Ambassador Bridge and Detroit-Windsor tunnel. Work has been underway since 2018.

“Obviously the bridge will be open at the end of the week. A symbol of, but also a fact of cooperation between our countries,” Carney told reporters as he walked into Parliament.

“Great for Canadians going across the border, Americans coming across the border, and for commerce,” he said, calling it “positive news.”

Trump threatened the bridge as the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement is up for review this year, and Trump has been taking a hard-line position before those talks, including by issuing new tariff threats.

Carney, meanwhile, has spoken out on the world stage against economic coercion by the United States.

Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, has said that the Canadian-funded project is a “huge boon” to her state and its economic future.

Michigan is a swing state that Trump carried in both 2016 and 2024.

Snyder wrote in an op-ed in The Detroit News earlier this year that Trump was wrong in asserting that Canada owns both the U.S. and Canadian sides of the Gordie Howe bridge.

“Canada and the state of Michigan are 50/50 owners of the new bridge,” Snyder wrote. “Canada was wonderful and financed the entire bridge. They will get repaid with interest from the tolls. Michigan and the United States got their half-ownership with no investment.”

The Gordie Howe bridge will join the privately owned Ambassador Bridge as the second span connecting Detroit and Windsor, Ontario.

The rival Ambassador Bridge is considered the busiest U.S.-Canadian border crossing, carrying 25% of all trade between the two countries. It plays an especially important role in auto manufacturing.

Companies controlled by the Moroun family, owners of the rival Ambassador Bridge, previously sued to prevent the Howe bridge from being built.

Gillies writes for the Associated Press.

WASHINGTON — A relentless push by President Trump to reshape Washington‘s cityscape is facing mounting resistance, threatening a slate of transformative monuments intended to cement his legacy in the nation’s capital.

Eager to see his projects completed before leaving office, Trump has responded to growing legal and political obstacles by pushing ahead, attempting to force approvals through faster than opponents can challenge them. But the scramble to fast-track construction has inflated their costs for taxpayers, imperiling his plans and amplifying his political risks as the midterm elections approach.

Urban design has become a preoccupation for Trump since the start of his second term. Cranes dot the skyline of the city, and construction fences block access to many of its most cherished parks and venues less than a month before the nation celebrates 250 years since its founding on July 4.

Cranes from the White House East Wing ballroom construction project rise from behind the U.S. Treasury Department building on Thursday in Washington, D.C.

(Kevin Carter/Getty Images)

Government lawyers are defending the president’s use of the wrecking ball, arguing in court that he has unfettered power to build and destroy. Should he ever choose to tear down the Statue of Liberty, the Justice Department told a judge Friday, no one could stop him.

Yet a recent series of legal setbacks, as well as increasing Republican opposition on Capitol Hill, have cast doubt on the fate of his most lavish designs, including the construction of an imposing ballroom at the White House and the erection of a massive triumphal arch on the sightline of the National Mall.

It’s become a race against time for the president, who could soon confront a Democratic-controlled Congress armed with renewed oversight authority and subpoena power, further gumming the works of elaborate construction projects, which could stymie their completion before he leaves office.

“This is very much on the committee’s radar,” said one Democratic source with the House Oversight Committee, citing “serious concerns surrounding corruption.”

Visitors at the Mall gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial and near the Reflecting Pool, which is under renovation on Friday in Washington, D.C. President Trump dismissed criticism of the recent Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool renovations, rejecting claims the project amounted to merely a “paint job.”

(Roberto Schmidt / Getty Images)

Trump as ‘builder-in-chief’

Several of Trump’s more modest initiatives, referred to by the administration as beautification projects, are complete or well underway.

At the White House, a historic rose garden conceived by Jacqueline Kennedy was paved over, and its adjoining colonnade refurbished with black granite and gilded presidential portraits. The Palm Room foyer was decked in marble and chandeliers. New flagpoles fly supersized American flags on the North and South lawns.

The en suite bath of the Lincoln Bedroom in the residence has been gutted and renovated. And the Oval Office now practically drips in gold, while an adjoining study, once used by Franklin Roosevelt to scrutinize war maps and Lyndon Johnson to monitor the space race, was converted into the president’s personal swag shop.

A temporary Ultimate Fighting Championship arena constructed on the White House South Lawn is another example of how Trump is leaving a visual mark on the presidential residence. The structure, which towers over the White House, was paid for by the UFC, which is scheduled to host a series of fights on the premises.

Outside the White House complex, fountains across the city are coming back to life after decades of neglect, from DuPont Circle to Freedom Plaza and Union Station. The idyllic Logan Circle, surrounded by historic mansions, is being revitalized by the National Park Service, as is Lafayette Square, the site of an infamous clash between Trump and protesters shortly after George Floyd’s murder in 2020.

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1. National Park Service Conservator for the National Mall and Memorial Parks Ali Cavicchio puts a clear coat over the recently repainted “I Have a Dream” marker at the Lincoln Memorial on June 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. The marker’s letters are carved into stairs of the Lincoln Memorial where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. stood and delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech in 1963. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 2. Members of the West Branch Area School District in Morrisdale, Pennsylvania, student marching band perform at the Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall on June 05, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

In some parks, even the turf is getting a makeover.

“People are all thanking me because Washington is beautiful again,” Trump told reporters last week. “The parks are open, we changed the grass. You know, grass has a life, also. Like people, grass has a life, and that grass hasn’t changed in 70 or 80 years.”

On Friday morning, several people sat by the restored cascading fountain at Meridian Hill Park. They walked their dogs, read books and exercised by the water.

Jean Luc, 33, was one of them. As he took a stroll with his 2-month-old daughter, Juno, he said it had been nice to see the government fix up the park, which he says he tries to enjoy with his daughter daily.

“It’s been nice to see the whole process,” he said. “I love it.”

President Trump displays a chart titled “Our Pool is Bigger than Skyscrapers” while discussing his renovations to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Wednesday in the Oval Office.

(Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

The Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has been painted over in “American Flag Blue” by a firm that Trump said had worked on the swimming pool at his golf club in Virginia. Millions will be spent to regild the hulking Art Deco statues that buttress Arlington Memorial Bridge. And Trump has plans to connect the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac River by building a promenade, one of many projects he has said may be named after himself.

Federal contracting data show that the Virginia firm Terra Site Constructors has been awarded roughly $60 million in contracts from the National Park Service to complete work on the various fountain rehabilitation projects across the city.

Another Virginia firm, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, holds a contract for $14.2 million to paint the reflecting pool.

The funding for both contracts comes from the entrance fees paid by national park visitors.

“How fortunate are we to have the builder in chief?” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said Thursday in the Oval Office. “Someone who both has the vision and the understanding of how to get projects done that would make our city safe and beautiful.”

Construction continues on the White House East Wing ballroom on May 29, 2026.

(Kevin Carter / Getty Images)

‘The finest ballroom anywhere in the world’

Yet other, more controversial projects, exacting irreversible change to capital institutions, are facing greater opposition.

On Thursday, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts directed its staff to begin removing Trump’s name from its facade after a judge ruled that the attempted name change, and his effort to close the venue for two years of dramatic renovations, were illegal.

Angered by the court’s decision, Trump directed the Commerce Department to make arrangements to transfer control of the Kennedy Center to Congress. The move would give lawmakers power over the center’s operations, maintenance and management. It was originally an act of Congress that gave the Kennedy Center its name and mandate.

In other areas of the city, preservationists have successfully delayed the president’s bid to paint over the natural gray granite of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. And Republican lawmakers have refused to vote to fund the construction of a ballroom at the White House that has already laid waste to the East Wing and, if completed, would dwarf the landmark residence.

Construction crews began tearing down the East Wing in October to make way for the 90,000-square-foot facility. Trump, who built a career as a real estate developer, has frequently touted the project, gushing over the sounds of jackhammers and excavation trucks.

Construction continues on the White House South Lawn on June 1, 2026, for an upcoming UFC match. President Trump is hosting a UFC match on the White House grounds to mark the nation’s 250th birthday.

(Kevin Carter / Getty Images)

“Oh, that’s music to my ears. I love that sound,” Trump told Republican senators at a White House event last fall. “A lot of people don’t like it. When I hear that sound, it reminds me of money.”

The ballroom project was initially expected to cost $200 million, a price that has since doubled. It is being financed by private donors and Trump, who has called it a “gift to the United States.”

“We are building what will be the finest ballroom anywhere in the world,” the president said last month.

More than half of the publicly identified donors of the ballroom projects — 14 of the 27 known corporate contributors — have won new or bigger federal contracts worth more than $50 billion in the six months since construction began, according to a report released by Public Citizen, a watchdog group.

“These giant corporations aren’t funding the Trump ballroom fiasco out of the goodness of their hearts,” said Jon Golinger, a public policy advocate at Public Citizen and author of the report. “They have massive interests before the federal government and they hope to curry favor with, and receive favorable treatment, from the Trump administration.”

White House military aides stand next to the giant mirror that hangs along the Rose Garden Colonnade at the White House on May 21, 2026.

(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

The White House has challenged the report’s assertions, saying critics of how the project is being funded are “only people who suffer from a severe and incurable disease known as Trump Derangement Syndrome.”

“President Trump is making the White House beautiful and giving it the glory it deserves at no cost to taxpayers — something everyone should celebrate,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said in a statement.

The report came out as the ballroom project has faced persistent hurdles in court and Congress.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation sued to stop construction, arguing the administration had not followed the legally required review process and had not secured congressional approval. In March, a federal judge halted aboveground construction, but an appeals court quickly allowed work to resume through June while the case proceeds.

On Friday, the panel heard the case and expressed skepticism about Trump’s push to build the ballroom without congressional approval.

On Capitol Hill, Senate Republicans dropped a proposal to set aside $1 billion in security funding for the ballroom after several GOP senators said it lacked the votes to pass.

Trump has insisted the funding is not necessary to complete the project, though he said it would help secure the complex. Without it, he told reporters last month, “the White House won’t be a very secure place.”

(Los Angeles Times photo illustration; Photo by Kevin Dietsch / Getty Images)

Arc de Trump

The president is also seeking to build a 250-foot-tall “triumphal arch” near Arlington National Cemetery, across the Potomac River at the foot of Memorial Bridge.

Renderings show the arch would be twice the height of the Lincoln Memorial, crowned by a golden statue of Lady Liberty sporting outstretched wings. An observation deck on its roof would offer sweeping views of the city.

Preservationists have criticized the plan as disrupting a sacred sightline between the memorials to Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee, designed as a statement of unity after the Civil War. Even advocates of adding an arch in Washington have criticized the size of Trump’s proposed structure as overbearing. And a group of Vietnam War veterans has sued to try to stop its construction, arguing the project lacks congressional approval and would “dishonor their military and foreign service” because it would block the view of the cemetery.

Commission of Fine Arts member Pamela Hughes Patenaude, left, hands colleague Matthew Taylor a model of President Trump’s proposed triumphal arch to commemorate the country’s 250th anniversary during the commission’s public meeting at the National Building Museum in Washington on April 16, 2026.

(Andrew Harnik / Getty Images)

Despite public opposition, the National Capital Planning Commission last week advanced the project in its review process.

Trump praised the planning commission’s support, saying that “when completed, it will be, without question, the Greatest Arch of them all!”

The president has yet more plans to leave his mark — in some cases with his name, in others with his face.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has proposed a $22-billion overhaul of Dulles International Airport outside the capital that would include a new terminal brandishing Trump’s name. Limited-edition U.S. passports will feature his portrait. And the Treasury has plans to mint a $250 bill featuring Trump’s mugshot from his 2023 Fulton County arrest, pending congressional approval — an unlikely prospect.

A walkway with the numbers “45” and “47” leading to construction on the new ballroom extension of the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 19. President Trump said a military hospital and research facilities will be built on the site of his planned White House ballroom, offering more details about the scope of the sprawling, controversial project.

(Samuel Corum/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

In a moment that went viral on social media, Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.), who is generating buzz over a potential run for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028, offered a theory on what’s driving the president.

“He’s trying to put his face on the money. He’s building a monument to himself,” Ossoff told a crowd of supporters.

“But see, Atlanta, he’s doing these things now because no one will honor him when he’s gone,” he added, “because he’s a failed president and a national disgrace.”

Wilner reported from Los Angeles and Ceballos from Washington. Times staff writer Ben Wieder contributed to this report.

Nonfiction films and series are among some of the most-watched (and most-discussed) programming on TV. As Emmy season heats up, the directors of six notable contenders share thoughts about their projects.

‘The Yogurt Shop Murders’ (HBO)

“It’s just a famous, famous story in Texas, but particularly Austin,” director Margaret Brown says of the bewilderingly complex case of four teenage girls slain at a yogurt shop in the state’s capital in 1991. “You heard about it all the time at parties. My best friend was like, ‘That story is rabbit hole upon rabbit hole upon rabbit hole — no one knows what really happened. It’s impossible to figure out.’ I liked the idea of something that was impossible to figure out. But when I started doing the interviews, I was like, ‘This is dark, this is deep trauma.’ I’d never watched or done true crime before. I didn’t realize what it would be like to sit with people who hadn’t known what happened to their siblings and children for over 30 years. I remember [thinking], ‘I’ve got to get this right. I can’t mess this up. There’s just too much pain here.’”

‘The American Revolution’ (PBS)

“Leading up to it, I said I just don’t want us drowning in fife-and-drum treacle,” director Ken Burns says of his expansive treatment of America’s origin story, which draws out the experiences of Native Americans and enslaved people as well as the era’s atmosphere of civic discord. “Clearly it’s not, because we’re so existentially challenged by the moment. But the revolution gives us a sense of perspective. Times were more challenging then. More division. More division in the Civil War. More division in Reconstruction. Yes, the threats are unprecedented, but they’re not totally unfamiliar. Mark Twain is supposed to have said history doesn’t repeat itself, but he’s [also] supposed to have said it rhymes. I love that. So like Odysseus, I tie myself to the mast and resist the temptation to put a little neon sign in the film saying, ‘Isn’t this so much like today?’”

‘Sean Combs: The Reckoning’ (Netflix)

“There was so much noise,” says director Alexandria Stapleton, who tracks hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs’ rise and shocking fall in this series, executive produced by 50 Cent. “I’m scared for my safety, I’m scared for my career. Then there was every journalist, every giant corporation, trying to chase the same story. Because there was a feeding frenzy, there were a lot of people that were not truthful. It was making sure that we were going after the right people to speak with, and then … making sure that they felt safe emotionally. No one knew who I was interviewing while I was making it. In making a project about a man who’s very connected in media and very good at whatever he wants his narrative to be, there was a very deliberate decision to not drop this project until we literally were a week out.”

‘Ocean With David Attenborough’ (National Geographic)

(Keith Scholey / Silverback Films and Open Planet / National Geographic)

“It’s been weird, because I’ve got older, and he sort of stayed the same, like the Dorian Gray picture,” says Keith Scholey, one of the film’s directors, of the 100-year-old broadcasting legend and naturalist. “He’s still got that huge power and presence and commitment. It comes from the heart. He’s got a huge depth to him, in terms of knowledge, experience, personality … but he’s also very self-effacing. The most boring thing in the world for David Attenborough is David Attenborough. He’s interested in every aspect of the truth, and he loves uncovering that and passing that on to the world. He knows how to present in a way that it’s a performance, but it’s not a performance.”

‘Neighbors’ (HBO)

“Neighbor disputes are a great leveler,” says Harrison Fishman, who co-directs this gonzo excursion into neighborhood feuds with Dylan Redford. “If you think about class and race and politics, all that stuff gets thrown out the window when people are dealing with such small, concrete problems. You quickly start learning why people care so much about the things that they’re fighting for. It becomes a bit like a Trojan horse into learning about aspects of America and things about people that have nothing to do with the dispute. Those tangents are so valuable to us, because it gives context to the dispute. But it also helps people understand who everybody is in our country.”

‘Mr. Scorsese’ (Apple TV)

“We would get together and have these very long conversations,” says director Rebecca Miller, who interviewed American cinema’s great poet of tortured masculinity over five years. “But then in terms of the other voices, I thought, ‘Who knows him best?’ There was this wonderful movie called ‘Crumb,’ by Terry Zwigoff. He interviewed [cartoonist R. Crumb’s] ex-girlfriend at a certain point, and I felt like I got a view into the person, not in a gossipy way, but … trying to get a rounded view. If you only get the front-facing part, you’re not going to get a full sense of who they are. It was very important to me that we hear from the daughters or his wife, that there’s a sense of a person in there.”