最新动态
两名持保留意见的共和党参议员取消了对其出任司法部长的阻碍
财经 为了在这一代人中首次采取共同行动以提振日元，美国和日本寻求遏制因日元汇率暴跌而可能引发的震荡。在周一的股票交易中，美国主要指数大涨，道琼斯指数上涨 1.3% 创下历史新高，标准普尔 500 指数和纳斯达克指数分别上涨 1.5% 和 2.1%。
A1, B10
华盛顿 —— 托德·布兰奇通过正式撤回一项 $1.8 亿美元的“反武器化基金”，为其出任美国司法部长铺平了确认之路。批评者此前担心特朗普总统将利用该基金将纳税人的资金输送给其盟友。做出这一举动的布兰奇此前一直担任代理——
诺斯罗普·格鲁曼签署了两项总额为 $3 亿美元的协议，以加速导弹拦截器的生产。B4 日产在报告两年来首次季度净利润时，重申了其年度收益预测。B3 安杜里尔正与马里兰州的一家港口进行深入洽谈，以建立该公司无人船的生产基地，这显示了国防初创企业的潜力。B3 由于牛价飙升持续影响公司底线，泰森食品下调了年度利润预期。B3 中国的工厂正显示出新的疲软迹象，在缺乏政府新刺激措施的情况下，国家经济增长面临更剧烈放缓的风险。A7 易捷航空将 Castlelake 的投标截止日期延长至周五，使其与竞争对手阿波罗全球管理保持一致，使追求者能够提交最终报价或选择退出。B3
AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES 山登制药表示，该公司同意支付 $478.5 亿美元以达成关于美国仿制药定价的反垄断诉讼和解。B4 回声星旗下的休斯网络系统申请了第 11 章破产重组。B5
全球动态 一场干旱正在欧洲沿岸河流肆虐。在罗马尼亚，当局在一条河流旁实施爆炸，试图将急需的水源导向一座发电站。在保加利亚，200 名度假者不得不从一艘受困的游轮上撤离。在德国的工业心脏地带，企业正在削减产量并难以运输货物。
托德·布兰奇采取措施为其出任美国司法部长铺平道路，正式撤回一项 $1.8 亿美元的“反武器化基金”，批评者担心特朗普会利用该基金将纳税人的钱输送给盟友。A1 在特朗普表示他已取消对伊朗的一次重大打击后，伊朗表示目前与美国没有进行任何谈判，也没有计划任何会议。A6
这些事件都表明，欧洲一些最重要河流的水位下降到了多么危险的程度。
在全美蔓延的环孢霉素病（cyclosporiasis）疫情中，密歇根州有两人死亡。A3 犯罪实验室用于分析 DNA 证据的技术存在安全漏洞，导致 30 年的档案面临被黑客攻击的风险。A3 在哥伦比亚特区检察官珍妮妮·皮罗的办公室反驳了关于破坏者损坏反思池的说法后，特朗普讨论了将其撤职的问题。A2 在家人敦促政府当局证明前缅甸领导人昂山素季仍然在世后，一名红十字会官员与被拘留的昂山素季会面。A7
JASON GAY 道奇队的支出令球迷抓狂，但其“反派行径”仍处于规则之内。A12
本期《华尔街日报》最初在美国出版，并在当地重新印刷以进行区域分发。
纽约市警察局官员表示，今年纽约市的反犹太仇恨犯罪增加了 8.5%。A3 众议院
伦理委员会认定，众议员查克·爱德华兹（Chuck Edwards，共和党，北卡罗来纳州）对女性众议院工作人员进行了不受欢迎的性骚扰，并建议对其予以谴责。A4 代理美国移民与海关执法局（ICE）局长大卫·文图雷拉（David Venturella）将其持有的 Geo Group 股份进行了剥离，该公司是美国最大的私营监狱运营商之一。A4
作者：GREGORY ZUCKERMAN 有些人喝咖啡。多伦·泽夫（Doron Zeif）则喝 Danone 咖啡酸奶。
目录 艺术评论...... A11 商业与财经 B2, 5-6 商业新闻...... B3 填字游戏................. A11 街头传闻... B11 市场摘要...... B7 市场与财经 B10 观点................ A13-15 个人日志 A9-10 体育.......................... A12 技术................ B4 美国新闻.............. A2-4 国际新闻........ A6-8
近 40 年来，这位在新泽西州西橙市的律师一直以这种奶油调制饮品开启新的一天。“这就是我起床的动力，”泽夫说。
自从 Danone 停产这款被最忠实粉丝称为 “DCY” 的口味以来，戒断反应一直非常严重。
s 2026 道琼斯公司版权所有 * * * * * TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2026 ~ 第CCLXXXVIII卷 第 29 期 WSJ.com 美国版
道琼斯指数 53178.41 ↑ 693.38 1.32% 纳斯达克指数 25913.90 ↑ 2.1% 欧洲 STOXX 600 652.09 ↑ 0.4% 10年期国债 ↑ 15 / 32, 收益率 4.684% 原油 $80.34 ↑ $4.33 黄金 $4,033.70 ↑ $15.40 欧元 $1.1510 日元 157.17
理查德·鲁宾（Richard Rubin）和林赛·怀斯（Lindsay Wise）
布兰奇撤销拨款基金 (司法部长) 赢得了两名此前阻碍其获得永久职位的共和党参议员的支持。这两位参议员分别是德克萨斯州的约翰·科宁（John Cornyn）和北卡罗来纳州的汤姆·蒂利斯（Thom Tillis），他们此前反对该拨款基金，以及 5 月份同时宣布的针对特朗普的税务审计保护措施。
作者：Sadie Gurman 司法部同意缩小特朗普政府给予总统及其家人和企业的税务审计保护范围。然而，布兰奇的举措并未改变特朗普与其自身政府之间关于建立该基金的协议。同时，总统仍保留了一项不寻常的胜利，他将一次税务...
在周日晚间的一页指令中，布兰奇写道，该基金“被撤销，且不再具有效力”。在同时发布的一份独立文件中，...
作者：ED BALLARD 和 TOM FAIRLESS 干旱正使欧洲河流枯竭 罗马尼亚军方近期在多瑙河沿岸安置炸药，以分流切尔纳沃达核电站反应堆冷却所需的水。
欧洲正经历一个异常干旱的夏天，降雨不足和酷热天气引发了从苏格兰到希腊的森林火灾。如今，由于缺乏降雨，多瑙河和莱茵河的部分河段已缩减至细流，威胁到依赖这些强大水路的产业。在匈牙利，该国唯一核电站的 4 个反应堆中，除一个外均已关闭，因为水量不足以...
最明显的影响发生在多瑙河，那里的水位已经下降到足以露出二战时期的炸弹和猛犸象骨骼。
内部评论 作者：JUSTIN LAHART 美国经济继续将更多鸡蛋放在人工智能这个篮子里。科技公司正花费数千亿美元以满足 AI 计算需求，并发行...
数以十亿美元计的债务以协助完成这些采购。
商业与金融 数据中心的快速建设正在推动建筑支出、招聘和市政收入。与此同时，由芯片制造商股价上涨所驱动的股市上涨……
时尚品牌尝试新趋势：销售二手衣物。 B1
这些美国人失去了起床的主要理由：“DCY” 自 Dannon 停产其咖啡酸奶以来，这种撤出情况十分严重。对于一部分人群来说，这款咖啡酸奶是他们一天中最美好的部分。毕竟，每 5.3 盎司的一杯含有约 32 毫克咖啡因，大约相当于 8 盎司咖啡杯的三分之一。此外，11 克的添加糖也很有吸引力。每……
作者：道格拉斯·贝尔金 (DOUGLAS BELKIN) 当娜塔莉·斯特劳斯 (Natalie Strouse) 结婚 20 年的丈夫死于癌症时，她在任教会计的学院里以其名义设立了一项奖学金以纪念他。每年，她会协助在克利夫兰市外的一所小型天主教学校——圣母学院 (Notre Dame College) 为一名学生选择发放数千美元的奖学金。但在 2024 年，该学院关闭了。斯特劳斯希望在另一所机构重新设立该奖学金。她要求圣母学院退还 $30,000 的捐赠基金。
最忠实的粉丝每天会吃好几个容器。有些人与同样有此弱点的人建立了联系。当出现短缺时，他们会交流技巧。
（请参阅 A10 页）
美国采取行动援助日元，此举亦有助于自身 ……针对政府的披露诉讼，直至审计结束。在周一的一份联合声明中，共和党参议员科宁 (Cornyn) 和蒂利斯 (Tillis) 表示，他们对托德·布兰奇的新书面陈述感到满意，并计划推进其提名。这笔 18 亿美元 billion 的基金在宣布后面临剧烈反弹，包括其他担心该基金可能被用于向 Jan. 6, 2021, 袭击美国国会期间攻击警察的人员支付费用的共和党人。
货币下跌可能导致利率上升，使投资面临风险 （请参阅 A4 页） 作者：杰森·道格拉斯 (JASON DOUGLAS) 东京——美国和日本在实施一代以来首次旨在提振日元的联合行动，旨在遏制由日元暴跌可能引发的震荡。日元跌至 40 年低点，间接威胁到美国利率的上升，并可能干扰将数以十亿美元的日本投资引入美国的计划。通过先后支撑阿根廷货币以及现在的日元，特朗普总统表明他准备帮助与金融市场搏斗的盟友，这与美国政策制定者长期以来所青睐的——除在极端危机时刻外不干预的——做法形成对比。
在美日两国政府于周五进入外汇市场购买日元之前，日元兑美元的交易价格处于四十年来的最低水平。此前单独干预的尝试均告失败，引发了东京对通胀加速以及在与伊朗的战争扼杀石油供应的情况下能源进口账单增加的焦虑。在周一的亚洲下午交易中，随着美日行动的实施，日元兑美元已回升至 156 左右，而干预前的低点接近 164——这是该货币自 1986 年以来最弱的水平。
……在河中将其冷却。Paks 电站通常占该国发电量的 40%。上周，匈牙利境内的多瑙河水位达到了历史最低水平。
“特朗普政府为美国值得信赖的合作伙伴提供了成果，”财政部长斯科特·贝森特 (Scott Bessent) 表示，他通过交易货币和其他资产积累了财富……
他在X的官方账号上发送的一条消息中称，这些资产属于乔治·索罗斯的投资公司。他表示美国不会……匈牙利电网可以从欧洲其他地区调电，但此次危机预计仍将推高批发价格，官员已呼吁企业和消费者减少能源使用。请转至 A2 页。随着本周气温预计将升至 100 华氏度以上，“目前的五个$\dots$”
投资者对日元保持怀疑$\dots$请转至 A7 页 $\dots$ B10
AI 如何最终驱动经济与股市 驱动当前的经济，巴克莱银行经济学家乔纳森·米勒（Jonathan Millar）表示：“很难想象如果没有这种动力，我们的韧性能达到现在的程度。” 其他受益于 AI 热潮的公司导致家庭财富大幅增加。这有助于支撑消费支出。牛津经济研究院（Oxford Economics）经济学家迈克尔·皮尔斯（Michael Pearce）认为，综合来看，这些因素可能对国家近期经济增长的贡献率约为三分之一。准确衡量经济从 AI 中获得多少强度并非易事，且容易出错。即便如此，这看起来依然是巨大的。但经济从 AI 热潮中汲取的强度同时也是一个脆弱点：如果这场热潮熄灭了会发生什么？
上周国民生产总值报告的细节，该报告根据国家生产的产品来衡量经济增长，显示企业$\dots$请转至 A2 页 $\dots$
【街头之议】：如何“玩转”AI 债券泛滥$\dots$ B11
大学动用捐赠基金支付账单 陷入财务困境的学校动用捐赠者的限定基金；部分州通过立法限制此类行为。 $\dots$捐赠礼金仅能用于支持奖学金。一名管理员告诉她，这不可能。钱已经没了。斯特劳斯（Strouse）说：“她告诉我他们用这笔钱来支付账单。我认为这是盗窃。” 俄亥俄州司法部长去年对该学院的 14 名受托人和官员提起诉讼，指控他们违背捐赠者的初衷，不当使用了超过 $2 million 的限定捐赠基金。被告否认了其违反信托责任的指控。请转至 A8 页
特朗普和皮罗在周一傍晚于白宫闭门会面。
华盛顿——据知情人士透露，特朗普总统讨论了撤换哥伦比亚特区联邦检察官珍妮妮·皮罗（Jeanine Pirro）的问题，此前皮罗的办公室反驳了总统关于林肯纪念馆反思池被破坏者损坏的主张。特朗普及其盟友数月来一直坚持认为，反思池底部的损坏是破坏者造成的，而他的政府在美国 250 周年生日之前对该池进行了重新铺面。
周一在椭圆形办公室面对记者时，特朗普对皮罗进行了严厉批评。自从皮罗的办公室在周五撤销对一名三届奥运选手的指控（该选手被指控损坏反思池）以来，总统在公开和私下场合都批评了皮罗。在一份法院文件中，皮罗的办公室写道，新信息表明，困扰这个新装修泳池的问题是由“安装失误而非蓄意破坏”引起的。
“珍妮妮·皮罗犯了错误。那就是蓄意破坏，”特朗普周一在椭圆形办公室说道。他说他“对珍妮妮·皮罗感到失望……她像把雨伞一样迅速折叠（妥协）了。有些人就这样逃脱了惩罚。这是一种耻辱。”
皮罗一直是总统的坚定维护者，此前曾利用她在福克斯新闻（Fox News）的节目为其奔走。皮罗于去年被任命为该职位，最初担任代理联邦检察官，随后获得参议院确认。
知情人士表示，特朗普已告诉顾问，他对皮罗感到愤怒，并认为该法院文件是对他的背叛。
AI 驱动经济，助力股市上涨 美国居民净资产 $175trillion 150 125 100 75 （接第一页）
日元 10 亿美元 可兑换 ¥152。日本、美国购买日元。日本购买日元 154 156 158 160 162 164。2026 年 1 月、2 月、3 月、4 月、5 月、6 月、7 月、8 月。来源：Tullett Prebon。注：刻度反向以显示日元升值。
“美国将担心日元快速抛售从而损害全球金融稳定，”East Asia Econ 的负责人保罗·卡维（Paul Cavey）表示，这是一家为该地区经济提供数据和分析的咨询公司。
这对 特朗普 来说是一项优先任务。长期以来，特朗普一直表示他倾向于一个较弱的美元，以缩小美国的贸易逆差并支持制造业重返美国。日本并非其政府在货币问题上帮助的首个盟友。早期受益者是哈维尔·米莱（Javier Milei）总统领导下的阿根廷，米莱是一位自由意志主义者且是特朗普的支持者。美国与阿根廷建立了互换额度以提供美元获取渠道，而贝森特（Bessent）领导下的财政部则通过购买阿根廷比索来支撑其货币。
特别是对于美国而言，如果日本选择通过出售其持有的大量美国国债来支撑其货币，这可能会在财政担忧和美联储政策不确定性导致美债收益率和利率已经上升的情况下，进一步增加压力。
贝森特的日本同行片山早苗（Satsuki Katayama）周一表示，日本计划利用大流行时期的借贷机制从美联储获取美元，而不是通过出售国债持有量来为未来的干预提供资金。贝森特表示，他将鼓励美联储“扩大”规模，增加那个很少被使用的“外国及国际货币当局回购机制”（Foreign and International Monetary Authorities Repo Facility）。
特朗普与日本首相高市早苗（Sanae Takaichi）建立了良好的关系，后者是一位保守派，与已故的日本在任时间最长的领导人、美国总统之友安倍晋三关系密切。贝森特在 2013 年通过做空日元在几个月内赚了约 10 亿美元，他在周一赞扬了高市的经济计划，将其比作安倍标志性的“安倍经济学”政策，该政策促进了就业增长并帮助日本结束了通货紧缩。
日元疲软也使得日本企业难以为其计划在美国进行的 $550 亿投资筹集资金，而该投资是 2025 年贸易协议的基石。
在“空府一号”上接受记者采访时，特朗普表示日本请求了帮助。
最高刑期为 10 年监禁。
用于庆祝 7 月 4, 及该国 250 岁生日的庆祝活动。周五，皮罗（Pirro）的办公室指出，来自内政部的文件“严重削弱”了指控这位前奥运选手的证据基础。
“现在，我并不是说我对那个承包商 100% 满意，但承包商当时在赶进度，”特朗普说。“我们希望在 7 月 4 日前让它开放，而且我们做到了——但除此之外，还发生了蓄意破坏。”
她的办公室在法庭文件中写道，“视觉检查显示，整个反思池（Reflecting Pool）都有损坏，甚至在池子中间，那里破坏者不太可能尝试撕掉衬里。考虑到所有这些新发现的信息，很难将反思池的广泛损坏归结为蓄意破坏。”
政府在没有经过全面招标程序的情况下，将合同授予了一家总部位于弗吉尼亚州的公司——大西洋工业涂料公司（Atlantic Industrial Coatings）。这项价值 $16 百万的项目在池底开始剥落且藻类爆发导致池水由蓝变绿后引起了全国关注。
根据法庭记录，在希恩（Hearn）之后的一天，另有三个人被指控犯有涉嫌破坏泳池的轻罪。皮罗最初表示，有人“暴力地试图撕掉池底的密封剂”，而她的办公室...
对前奥运赛艇选手大卫·希恩（David Hearn）提起指控，罪名是重罪破坏政府财产。该指控带有……截至周一，法院的公开记录显示政府已撤销所有三起案件。中心的建设——土地、材料、熟练劳动力——否则可能会被用于其他用途。
摩根大通投资美国住房
“你不能简单地把 AI 剔除，然后让其他一切保持不变，”摩根大通经济学家迈克尔·费罗利（Michael Feroli）表示，“与 AI 相关的活动和金融狂热可能会挤出其他活动。”
摩根大通表示，作为支持美国住房所有权计划的一部分，该公司将在 2035 年前投资 7500 亿美元 billion。这家美国最大的银行表示，计划为 100 万套经济适用房提供融资，并将帮助 50 万人购房。
AI 也在推高通胀，削弱消费者的消费能力。如果不是因为内存芯片价格上涨，9 月份推出的 iPhone 18 Pro 的价格可能会更低。
该投资是该公司更广泛的“美国梦计划”（American Dream Initiative）的一部分，旨在支持小企业，扩大医疗保健服务覆盖面以及推进其他经济优先事项。
目前，尽管近期部分 AI 相关股票出现抛盘，但 AI 支出繁荣态势看来仍将持续。根据 FactSet 的数据，分析师估计，五家所谓的超大规模云服务商（Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Microsoft 和 Oracle）在截至 2029, 年的四年里的资本支出将接近 $4 trillion。这比他们大约一个月前估计的金额多了 3000 亿美元 billion 以上。
“一个负担得起且有韧性的住房市场对于推动经济增长和增加机会至关重要，”摩根大通商业房地产主管米歇尔·赫里克（Michelle Herrick）表示。
摩根大通表示，计划将其抵押贷款规模提高 40% 以上。该行还表示，目标是为 200,000 名首次购房者提供贷款。
股票市场的真实危机可能会破坏这一前景。同样，帮助资助这场繁荣的债务市场出现问题也可能产生影响。巴克莱银行估计，五家大型超大规模云服务商和 AI 新入局者 SpaceX 今年的债券发行额将达到 2850 亿美元 billion，而去年约为 1090 亿美元 billion。
该公司的“美国梦计划”还将为国会 6 月通过的一项新的住房负担能力法案提供支持。该法案加速了某些住房项目的联邦环境审查，并取消了对建造预制房屋的限制及其他措施。该法案于上月生效。
“AI 触及了太多领域，”巴克莱银行的米拉（Millar）表示，“经济的很大一部分在某种程度上押注于这种建设的持续强劲。”
摩根大通表示，它还专门为旧金山的住房项目拨出资金。该公司称，正为旧金山海滨一座 342 单元的住宅楼提供近 $200 million 的融资。
美国很乐意提供帮助。“他们需要一点帮助，我们一直支持日本。日本对我们一直很好，”他说，“当然，珍珠港是个例外。”
首席执行官杰米·戴蒙（Jamie Dimon）曾表示，他担心美国经济的未来和财富不平等问题。该行 3 月表示，未来 10 年将通过贷款以及对社区导向银行和投资基金的支持，向小企业提供高达 800 亿美元 billion 的贷款。
日本并没有处于与阿根廷相同的经济困境。与布宜诺斯艾利斯不同，东京拥有充足的外汇储备，且在经历了数十年的停滞后，日本经济再次增长。
由于停滞和价格下跌。即便如此，日元仍受到投资者焦虑的压力，包括对财政政策、债务以及通胀加速的担忧。——Joseph De Avila
工厂活动再次扩张 与其他亚洲货币（如韩国韩元和印度卢比）一样，随着资本为了追求人工智能热潮带来的更高回报而涌向美国，日元也一直陷入苦战。与伊朗的战争给日本和其他能源进口国的货币增加了压力。
上个月 一份针对制造企业的调查显示，美国7月份的工厂活动扩张超出预期，增长率创下四年多来最高水平。
日本在4月和5月消耗了约 700 亿美元 billion 的外汇储备以支撑日元，结果日元再次走弱。初步数据显示，日本在最近一轮干预中花费了约 500 亿美元 billion。目前尚不清楚美国投入了多少资金来提振日元，不过周五拍到贝森特（Bessent）的一份待办事项清单中包括买入 50 亿美元 billion 到 100 亿美元 billion 的日元。
ISM 采购经理人指数 7 月为 55.6，而 6 月为 53.3。读数高于 50 表示行业扩张。接受《华尔街日报》调查的分析师此前预期读数为 54.。新订单指数在连续四个月处于收缩状态后，连续第七个月扩张。价格指数仍处于扩张状态，但低于 6 月的数值。订单积压指数高于 6 月。
外交关系委员会高级研究员、前财政部官员布拉德·塞特瑟（Brad Setser）表示，通过与美国联手，东京希望最新一轮干预能取得更大成功。
与此同时，就业指数读数为 52.8，比 6 月的 49.7 高出 3.1 个百分点，使该指数在 33 个月来首次进入扩张区间。他说，随着两国都准备好进行干预，“现在做空日元的成本将大大增加”。——Jessica Coacci
纽约市称今年针对犹太人的袭击增加 8.5%
十年后，陈-扎克伯格慈善基金停止对其加州校园的支持 作者：LAURA J. NELSON 普里西拉·陈博士为低收入学生共同创办的这所学校旨在与众不同。
作者：JAMES FANELLI 硅谷其他角落创造的巨额财富大多与加州东帕洛阿尔托市（East Palo Alto）无关，而 Primary School 正是在这里于 2016. 年开学。这所私立且免学费的学校由陈与其丈夫马克·扎克伯格的慈善基金资助，旨在通过全方位服务（包括免费牙科检查、早期干预筛查和针对家长的健康指导）来支持“儿童的全面发展”。
纽约市警察局官员周一表示，自 2023 年以色列袭击事件以来，全球反犹主义水平上升，今年纽约市的反犹仇恨犯罪增加了 8.5%。纽约市拥有以色列以外最大的犹太人口，在 2026, 年前七个月记录了 205 起反犹仇恨犯罪，高于 2025. 年同期的 189 起。根据纽约市警察局的数据，尽管犹太裔纽约人仅占全市人口的 10%，但全市超过一半的仇恨犯罪是反犹性质的。
随后，在运行十年并获得来自陈-扎克伯格倡议（Chan Zuckerberg Initiative）超过 $125 million 资金后，Primary School 于 6 月关闭。据知情人士透露，在获悉陈-扎克伯格倡议在 2025-26 学年之后将不再提供资金后，董事会于 2025 年 4 月一致投票决定关闭该校。
根据一家倡导组织的最新报告，尽管在 2024, 年达到历史高点后，2025 年美国整体的反犹事件有所下降，但自 2021, 年以来一直处于高位。
反诽谤联盟。该学校的关闭标志着这对夫妇慈善机构资助的最受关注的教育尝试之一宣告结束。自市长佐兰·马姆达尼（Zohran Mamdani）今年就职以来，一些犹太裔纽约人表示担心，他对以色列的批评使他们在自己的城市中感到不够安全。根据某些衡量标准，该学校的学术表现远低于州标准及其领导者的预期，这使得将其模式推广到公立和特许学校的努力变得复杂。但从其他方面来看，它成功地在课外为学生提供了公立学校通常无法提供的帮助。犹太领袖表示，在市长呼吁逮捕以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡（Benjamin Netanyahu），且几天后一名犹太男子在曼哈顿遭刺伤（涉嫌仇恨犯罪）之后，这些担忧在近几周内加剧了。董事会主席让-克洛德·布里扎尔（Jean-Claude Brizard）表示，在投票关闭之前，他就学校的未来与CZI分享了几个方案，包括“逐步关停”。他说，如果没有最大出资方的认同，董事会不会投票决定关闭。
“这位市长在整个职业生涯中一直使用分裂性的言论，特别是针对犹太社区，”民主党议员、正统犹太教徒萨姆·博格（Sam Berger）说道。“在他担任市长期间，我们看到他非但没有收敛其言论，反而更加激进。”一名CZI代表表示，关闭决定由学校董事会决定，且该组织关注的是学校的学术成果而非成本。当被问及仇恨犯罪增加的问题时，市长周一表示，他的政府正致力于根除反犹主义。马姆达尼说：“这永远不会被容忍，永远不会被接受，我们知道必须利用我们掌握的所有工具来与之对抗，”并补充说，他的政府已增加了对该市预防仇恨犯罪办公室的资金支持。
该初级学校的关闭。马姆达尼在去年的市长竞选期间一直是对以色列的批评者，指责其政府在加沙实施种族灭绝，并呼吁巴勒斯坦人拥有自决权。今年1月，一些犹太领袖批评他在谴责在皇后区一家犹太教堂外高喊亲哈马斯口号的抗议者时反应迟缓。5月，他以支持巴勒斯坦人为由，选择不参加该市的以色列日游行。这一决定打破了前任市长的惯例。马姆达尼强调，他是所有纽约人的市长，包括犹太居民。他重点介绍了其政府为确保犹太社区安全而采取的各项安全措施。
作者：MARIAH TIMMS
“法医学标准的证据袋缺乏我们对纸袋所要求的同等水平的防篡改标记，”参与该研究的法医科学家、纽黑文大学教授劳拉·盖多什·康姆斯（Laura Gaydosh Combs）说道。一组法医和计算机科学家表示，全美大多数犯罪实验室用于分析DNA证据的技术存在安全漏洞，导致 30 年的犯罪档案面临被黑客攻击的风险。据《华尔街日报》审阅的消息，在大多数设施中提供犯罪实验室设备的 Thermo Fisher Scientific 公司在7月份私下承认了这一漏洞，并表示正在研究修复方案。研究人员在5月份指出了这一安全威胁。研究人员发现，借助广泛可用的AI软件编写的计算机代码，他们能够修改
通过对实物 DNA 证据进行电脑扫描产生的数据，而不会留下任何篡改记录的痕迹。他们表示，这种漏洞可能自 1995 年起就存在于 crimelab 机器生成的数字文件中，但最近的技术进步使得潜在的篡改现在变得容易得多。在收到《华尔街日报》的联系后，该公司周五发布了一份标记为“高严重性”的安全公告，警告称“如果实验室控制措施被规避”，某些文件存在“几乎无法检测到的修改风险”。“实际上，我们拥有的是被合法称为‘金标准’的数据文件。”
华尔街日报。 * * 2026 年 8 月 4 日，星期二 / A3 美国新闻
资金中断导致学校计划结束
上图为 2025 年 5 月的 The Primary School，由下方的普莉希拉·陈（Priscilla Chan）共同创立。右图为梅莱·法卡佩莱亚（Mele Fakapelea）佩戴红色花环，出席其女儿去年 6 月的小学八年级毕业典礼。
这说明了当慈善投资进入一个社区以及离开时，对该社区意味着什么。美国企业研究所（American Enterprise Institute）教育政策研究主任里克·赫斯（Rick Hess）表示，商业领袖和创业者“看待 K-12 教育时会想：‘天呐，改善这玩意儿能有多难？’ 结果，这极其困难。”
“那是一所天赐的学校，”梅莱·法卡佩莱亚说道，她的女儿特莱西亚（Telesia）在创始班的抽签中获得了一个名额。法卡佩莱亚后来将其四个年幼的孩子也送入了该校。她说，失去学校的支持系统令人“崩溃”。
2010 年，扎克伯格在《奥普拉·温弗瑞秀》中宣布了夫妻俩的第一笔重大慈善捐赠之一，即向新泽西州纽瓦克市公立学校捐赠 $100 份拨款。而 The Primary School 的参与度则要高得多。
The Primary School 的两个校区共有近 540 名孩子就读。拉文斯伍德市小学学区（Ravenswood City Elementary School District）目前正准备应对入学人数激增，正在翻修一个校区，以避免将学生挤在临时拖车房中。
陈当时表示，她作为儿科医生的工作经历，以及在波士顿一个住房项目课后计划中的经验告诉她，帮助儿童的系统往往是碎片化的。该学校旨在帮助孩子们克服贫困和童年创伤的影响。
在宣布关闭时，陈·扎克伯格倡议（Chan Zuckerberg Initiative）承诺捐赠 $50 百万美元。这包括向学区支付学校租约的余额，并支持当地团体继续提供部分服务。CZI 还向教育储蓄账户捐赠了 $3.6 百万美元：小学生 $10,000，学前儿童 $2,500，幼儿教育儿童 $1,000。工作人员与社区诊所合作，寻找有高需求的……
山火给华盛顿州带来毁灭性打击
一片狼藉：周一，在华盛顿州斯波坎市部分地区遭受山火袭击后，76 岁的米里亚姆·西姆（Miriam Sim）走在她的社区中。该市及其周边的山火已摧毁约 700 栋建筑，约 67,000 人收到撤离命令。
安全漏洞使 DNA 证据面临被黑客攻击的风险
该公司在给客户的一封单独信函中强调，目前尚无已知利用该漏洞的实例。意图损坏数字证据文件的人需要拥有实验室服务器的本地或远程访问权限，并对 DNA 检测的工作方式有足够的了解。
该漏洞不影响提交检测的实物 DNA 材料。该公司在给《华尔街日报》的一份声明中表示：“自软件问题被提出以来，我们一直与美国网络安全和基础设施局密切合作。我们赞赏法医研究人员在该课题上的工作，并且我们已经发布了一款软件”
这项更新采用了数字签名，以增加额外的保护层，今后将帮助客户核实数据文件是否被篡改。”DNA 证据是刑事调查和起诉中核心且可靠的一部分，但偶尔会出现对篡改的担忧。在科罗拉多州，一名州法医分析师在检察官指控其在 2008 到 2023 年间操纵证据并从事多种不当行为后，于 6 月承认四项重罪。研究人员表示，虽然没有证据表明不法分子利用这一安全漏洞黑入文件，但如果篡改确实发生过，他们尚未找到检测方法。几十年来，实验室机器一直将物理 DNA 证据转化为数字分析文件。随着 AI 的兴起，篡改这些文件的威胁日益增加。凯瑟琳·卡特（Katherine Carter）曾任初中校长，于 2019 年被聘为顾问，她表示，对于启动一所学校所需的“时间量和支持”以及规划，当时“确实缺乏了解”。于 2024 年离职的卡特表示，一所新学校的教学方法可能需要五年时间才能成熟。初等学校（Primary School）创始成员林赛·吕布乔（Lindsey Luebchow）表示，学校在寻找合适的课程和政策方面花费了时间。她说，校长职位的频繁变动是“在单一学校中管理多个项目”这一结构性挑战导致的结果。
（图自上方：EMILY STEINBERGER / THE WASHINGTON POST / GETTY IMAGES, SAO LUTUI, SUZANNE CORDEIRO / AFP / GETTY IMAGES）
钱（Chan）担任初等学校的共同创始人兼董事会主席约八年，直到 2023 年；CZI 是主要的出资方。CZI 表示，永久依赖一个主要支持者并非最初的计划，而是一个“主要通过公共投资即可维持”的模型。CZI 表示，钱游说她的关系网以“引入其他资金来源”。但前芝加哥公立学校负责人布里扎德（Brizard）表示，寻找能够补充 CZI 的捐赠者非常困难。他说：“你为什么要给一个由世界上最富有的人之一资助的机构捐钱？”
安杰丽卡·卡德纳斯（Angelica Cardenas）今年 29 岁，她 3 岁的女儿以及她兄弟姐妹的五个孩子都在此就读，她说她是通过新闻得知学校关闭的。“如果他们知道将停止投资我们的社区，应该早点说出来，”卡德纳斯说。
这些家庭的背景多样。四分之三的学生在家里说英语以外的语言。有些事情感觉更像初创公司而非学校。教师们签署了保密协议。一些幼儿在家里佩戴录音设备，以记录与照顾者的来回对话，这是旨在提升语言发展计划的一部分。一份斯坦福大学的报告发现，在 2025, 14% 的当地三年级及以上学生超过了读写标准；而在初等学校，这一比例为 26%；全州范围则为 47%。
钱经常出现在校园里，包括给幼儿园学生读莫·威廉斯（Mo Willems）的书（《鸽子需要洗澡！》）。在与芝麻工作室（Sesame Workshop）合作推出课程期间，钱在一段宣传视频中与埃尔莫（Elmo）开玩笑。教师们参加了该工作室的 50 周年庆典晚宴并会见了米歇尔·奥巴马（Michelle Obama）。学校表示，八年级学生（其中许多人已在该校就读十年）在最后一年的年级水平熟练度证明超过 50%。法卡佩莱亚（Fakapelea）的大女儿现在 13 岁，她是 6 月份学校唯一一个八年级班级毕业时的两名演讲者之一。毕业后，当家人为她戴上花环时，她流下了眼泪。
但该校也面临一些挑战，包括校长变动率高。此外，学校最初还缺乏
前员工表示，在特殊教育和学生纪律方面缺乏清晰的计划和方法。
密歇根州两起死亡病例与环孢子虫病爆发相关 作者：VICTORIA ALBERT
密歇根州公共卫生官员表示，今年夏天在全美范围内传播的环孢子虫病爆发已导致两人死亡，这是此次异常大规模的食源性疾病暴发中首次出现的死亡病例。
两人均患有“严重的潜在健康问题”，这可能由于环孢子虫病和脱水而加剧，密歇根州卫生与公共服务部表示。该部门未提供关于死者的进一步信息，但指出环孢子虫病导致的死亡在美国并不常见。
美国正面临严重的环孢子虫病暴发，这是一种由环孢子虫原虫引起、以持续数周的爆发性腹泻为特征的食源性疾病。尽管密歇根州的病例数特别高，但已有 40 多个州报告了病例。当局一直将各种环孢子虫病暴发视为独立事件进行调查，但它们之间可能存在关联，且调查人员目前尚未能将它们联系起来。
研究人员表示，这项技术让业余爱好者能够创建他们以前可能不具备开发技能的工具。理论上，一次复杂的攻击可以在犯罪现场证据扫描后添加或删除 DNA 配置文件，从而制造出嫌疑人不在现场或无辜者在场的假象。目前尚不清楚这一安全漏洞是否会影响待决或过去的起诉。辩护律师在案件中经常对 DNA 的采集和分析提出质疑。
规模最大的一次暴发与 Taylor Farms 的切碎冰山生菜有关，该产品在包括 Taco Bell 在内的零售商处销售。7 月 17, Taylor Farms 表示，正将其所有源自墨西哥中部的冰山生菜从美国市场撤回。Taco Bell 在同一天完成了从供应链中撤回潜在受影响产品的操作。参与该项目的 Perlmutter 法律公正中心政策与改革主任 Sarah Chu 表示，该研究突显了在“生死与自由攸关的系统中”协议滞后的问题。
在一次对手和外部团体再次投入巨额资金对其进行压制的竞争中，给 Bush 第二次机会。
在与 Bell 的众议院初选重赛中，进步派寄希望于左翼日益增长的力量
“我想回去工作，”Bush 在一次采访中表示，并承诺如果当选，将努力推动该党进一步向左转。“我对民主党党团感到沮丧，因为我觉得我们可以做得更多，”她说道，并指出了保护堕胎权和对抗 Project 2025 政府削减开支等问题。
作者：TERELL WRIGHT 圣路易斯——在 2024, 年民主党初选失败后的让步演说中，时任众议员 Cori Bush 对 Aipac（一个投入数百万美元击败她的亲以色列组织）发表了严厉措辞：“我要来摧毁你们的王国。”
自从 Bush 失败以来，许多民主党选民已转向她所倡导的立场。她对以色列的批评是
现在在党内广泛流行，那些宣扬与布什所推动的相同进步主义政策（如免费全民医疗）的候选人，已在一系列备受关注的竞选中获胜。就像纽约市市长佐兰·马姆达尼一样，她自认为是一名民主社会主义者。两年后，布什正试图卷土重来，以夺回她在密苏里州失去的深蓝色席位。该席位目前由民主党众议员韦斯利·贝尔持有，后者是一位前检察官，以更倾向于中间派的候选人身份代表圣路易斯及其部分内郊区。周二的这场对决标志着一项高调的测试，旨在衡量民主党选民希望走向何方：是以贝尔为代表的务实温和路径，还是由布什寻求的左倾方向——布什曾是著名的进步派立法者团体“小分队”（Squad）的成员。她正面临大量负面广告的冲击。来自与 Aipac 结盟的“联合民主项目”的广告将她描绘成在国会职责上懒散，且对总统乔·拜登和副总统卡玛拉·哈里斯持有敌意。这次初选还将显示，选民是否愿意……
华盛顿——代理 ICE 局长出售监狱股票 代理 ICE 局长大卫·文图雷拉已抛售其持有的 Geo Group 股票，并根据致参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦（民主党，马萨诸塞州）的一封信函，他已在“所有与拘留相关的合同和义务”以及其他涉及该私营监狱公司的特定事务中申请回避。文图雷拉此前曾在大型私营监狱运营商 Geo 工作，去年返回国土安全部，他曾在奥巴马政府期间在那里工作。根据 SEC 备案文件，文图雷拉在 2012 到 2023 年期间为 Geo Group 工作，随后直到 Jan. 31, 2025, 为该私营监狱公司担任顾问。今年 6 月，他接替了前任代理局长托德·里昂斯，而文图雷拉此前曾担任里昂斯的首席顾问。
布朗大学校长帕克森将于明年离职 在文图雷拉担任代理局长的同时，特朗普已选择俄克拉何马州执法部门资深人士兰斯·施罗耶作为该机构的下一任正式局长。但施罗耶尚未举行确认听证会，其任命的时间表仍不明确。自奥巴马政府以来，移民与海关执法局（ICE）一直没有经过确认的局长。
布朗大学校长克里斯蒂娜·帕克森表示，她将于明年卸任这所常春藤盟校的领导职务。帕克森是常春藤盟校中任职时间最长的校长，她的任期与高等教育最动荡的时期之一重叠。她应对了全球大流行病、特朗普总统对精英大学的抨击，以及在罗德岛州普罗维登斯校园发生的一起导致两名学生死亡的枪击事件。
Geo Group 正在美国各地重新开放监狱，以便根据特朗普政府去年签署的合同安置 ICE 拘留人员。一名国土安全部发言人表示：“代理 ICE 局长遵守所有伦理要求。”帕克森原定于去年退休，但在特朗普冻结 $510 million 研究资金后，她延长了任期。
布朗——玛丽安·莱文
卡塔尔捐赠的“空军一号”与其他总统专机相比如何？
总统飞机 已退役 / 现役 / “神圣之牛”
罗斯福 $\rightarrow$ 当前飞机 “独立号” 杜鲁门 $\rightarrow$ “哥伦比亚 II 号” 艾森豪威尔 $\rightarrow$ “哥伦比亚 III 号” 艾森豪威尔 $\rightarrow$ “奎妮号” 艾森豪威尔 $\rightarrow$ 任职时间最长的 26000 肯尼迪 $\rightarrow$ 总统飞机 仍在运行中 尼克松 $\rightarrow$ 27000 乔治·H·W·布什 $\rightarrow$ 28000 乔治·H·W·布什 $\rightarrow$ 29000 特朗普 $\rightarrow$ 卡塔尔“桥接”飞机
目前尚不清楚在特朗普之后，这架卡塔尔喷气式飞机将作为“空军一号”使用多久。
50 60 70 80 90 2000 10 20 30 1945
注：28000 和 29000
这些飞机是 VC-25A，而卡塔尔的喷气机是 VC-25B Bridge。来源：美国空军；Kenneth T. Walsh。扫描此代码查看在线文章及图表分析：从激光武器到配色方案，乘坐“空军一号”在全球范围内运输美国总统是一门关于细节的学问。
A4 / 星期二，2026年8月4日 HK JP TU ML SI IN UK FR MN PR
华尔街日报. 美国新闻
密苏里州的布什寻求第二次机会 MICHAEL B. THOMAS 为 WSJ 拍摄 MICHAEL THOMAS / AP
Cori Bush Wesley Bell
在他们任职期间，这些攻击重点关注她对 2021年两党基础设施法案投出的反对票。在近日访问该选区期间，许多选民重复了对他过往记录的这些攻击。
比起布什，Bell 是一位“原则坚定的领导者，是亲以色列美国人感到自豪地支持的人”。
布什，50 岁，在密苏里州弗格森市因 Michael Brown Jr. 之死引发的抗议活动中崭露头角，后者在 2014. 被一名白人警察杀害。她在 2020 年的一次初选中击败了担任时间很长的民主党众议员 William Lacy Clay。她曾经历过无家可归，一度住在车里，她表示这段经历塑造了她的政治观点。
在 2021, 她牵头努力延长新冠疫情期间的驱逐禁令，并在睡了四个晚上之后……
布什打赌，民主党内部的不满，加上她作为一名不惧于引起争议的活动人士的声誉，将促使选民转向支持她。布什自己的广告将她塑造为一个不听命于 Aipac（美国以色列公共事务委员会的简称）或其他特殊利益集团的战士。Aipac 发言人 Deryn Sousa 表示，Bell 是一位“严肃的、美国……
观察 CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH / EPA / SHUTTERSTOCK 选民时刻：周一，迈阿密出现了一块佛罗里达州初选邮寄投票的指示牌。
纽约公用事业公司在遭受网络攻击后获得资金
……与白宫达成的一项协议，其中包括向罗得岛州的劳动力发展计划发送 $50 million。该协议引发了学生和教职员工的批评。
纽约州将向当地公用事业公司提供超过 $9 million 的资金，以加强其数字化防御，此前针对至少七个州的供水设施发起了网络攻击。
在周一给布朗大学社区的一封信中，Paxson 表示，她“很自豪我们与联邦政府达成了协议，在保持布朗大学价值观的同时恢复了我们的资金”。
在 10 月，Paxson 拒绝签署特朗普政府一份关于高等教育原则的争议性“协议”。
州长 Kathy Hochul 周一公布了针对 151 个水和废水系统的资金。此次公告是在联邦当局披露自 7月27. 以来破坏了几个州水务运行的攻击几天后发布的。纽约州在今年早些时候敲定了许多饮用水和废水系统的强制性网络安全要求。
她任职期间最黑暗的时刻发生在 12 月，当时一名枪手在一次讲堂袭击中杀死了两名学生并导致 19 人受伤。
—James Rundle —Douglas Belkin
伦理小组呼吁谴责爱德华兹 作者：JACK MORPHET
众议院伦理委员会得出结论，众议员 Chuck Edwards（共和党，北卡罗来纳州）向女性众议院工作人员发出了不受欢迎的性暗示，并建议对其进行谴责。
爱德华兹现年 65 岁且已婚，正在竞选第三任期。一名竞选发言人表示，委员会的调查结果“认定此案中的指控不涉及对价性骚扰”。该发言人表示，爱德华兹“期待能洗清自己的名誉，并将努力确保完整的……
报告称，“在持续的一段时间内，反复地……已经超出了不恰当的程度”。
这一过程被揭露在光天化日之下。”该小组发现有“充分理由”相信，爱德华兹对在他国会办公室工作的两名年轻女性的行为违反了众议院关于性骚扰和敌对工作环境的相关规定。其中一名女性 19 岁，另一名则在 20 岁出头。委员会发现，爱德华兹为了给一名 20 岁出头的工作人员装饰圣诞树而缺席众议院投票，并为其预订及支付了按摩和水疗费用，还为她写了诗，并在她的离职派对上流着泪朗读这些诗句。委员会在周一发布的一份 25 页报告中得出结论，爱德华兹经常评论其工作人员的外貌和体重，在半夜给她们发送消息，发送极其私密且看似浪漫的想法，未经邀请闯入私人场合，支付私人度假费用并花费数千美元购买礼物。“爱德华兹代表对两名年轻员工做了所有这些事情……”爱德华兹还安排了一名歌手在同一名员工生日时为其唱情歌，随后该员工告诉一位朋友，她认为这位国会议员并不将她视为“单纯的女儿形象”，并且她内心感到“有点害怕”。
根据 AdImpact 的数据，资金来自与 Aipac 结盟的“联合民主项目”（United Democracy Project）以及一个与中间派结盟的“新民主多数”（New Democrat Majority）超级政治行动委员会，金额约为 $700,000。
在国会大厦的台阶上。布什最强有力的支持来自圣路易斯最贫困的社区，她作为社区活动家的背景使她成为低收入居民心中捍卫者的化身。相比之下，贝尔在较富裕的圣路易斯县郊区拥有强力支持。根据联邦选举委员会（FEC）的申报文件，截至 7 月中旬，贝尔手中仍有超过 $1 百万美元可用于支出，而布什仅剩约 $98,000。
“我觉得韦斯利·贝尔实际上并没有为圣路易斯市的公民做任何事情，”58 岁的德蒙·史密斯（Demoine Smith）说，他将投票给布什。“科里一直在为我们工作。”布什得到了美国民主社会党和参议员伯尼·桑德斯（Bernie Sanders，佛蒙特州，独立人士）的背书。贝尔则得到了国会黑人议员团和众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯（Hakeem Jeffries，纽约州，民主党）的背书。65 岁的罗伯特·比安科（Robert Bianco）表示，他支持贝尔是因为其检察官的职业经历，并表示他不喜欢布什针对拜登和哈里斯的对抗性言论。比安科说他对贝尔有一个看法：即他认为贝尔深度支持以色列。“这是我觉得有点不安的事情之一，”比安科说。51 岁的贝尔表示，虽然他支持以色列，但他对总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡持批评态度。上个月，他投票反对一项由约一半众议院民主党人支持的修正案，该修正案原本将取消对以色列的军事援助。他还支持诸如“全民医疗保险”（Medicare for All）等进步事业。两年前，选民转向中间立场，贝尔以 5 个百分点的优势获胜。根据联邦选举委员会的文件，在本届竞选中，贝尔总共筹集了 $3.6 百万美元，几乎是布什竞选活动筹集的 $1.3 百万美元的三倍。贝尔还受益于 $2.1 百万美元的广告支出。
布什面临了几起争议。2024 年，她表示司法部正在调查她的竞选团队是否通过不当方式向其丈夫支付费用以提供私人安保，她对此予以否认。她未被指控任何犯罪。
托德·布兰奇撤销特朗普基金 布兰奇的新指令并未改变那项三方协议。科宁在布兰奇的确认听证会上指出，如果司法部未能创建该基金，特朗普可能会起诉其违约，而总统已经继续……
以支持建立基金的想法。接前一页。特朗普的支持者们在国会山。布兰奇在接下来的几周内表示，司法部将放弃该基金，但直到周日发布消息之前，他尚未正式以书面形式记录在案。此外，即使没有该基金，政府仍有权向对政府提出索赔或提起诉讼的人员支付结算款。在被问及撤销该基金的决定时，特朗普在周一表示他个人并未参与其中。“我没看那个，”他告诉记者，“我只知道，托德·布兰奇很出色。”
科宁的办公室在周日晚间表示，他已达成一项协议，其中司法部承诺正式终止该基金，并在一份“具有约束力的书面文件”中明确审计保护的范围是有限的。布兰奇曾在 5 月 19 日的一份文件中提供了审计保护。按照原先的写法，这不仅适用于原起诉书中的原告，还适用于“相关或附属个人”以及“相关公司”。它不仅终止了现有的税务审计，还禁止政府追究“可能待决”的事项，且明确适用于“其他机构或部门”。
这一公告是在定于周二举行的参议院司法委员会关于布兰奇的投票之前发布的，这可能会为布兰奇最快在本周获得确认铺平道路。由于科宁和蒂利斯之前拒绝支持布兰奇，委员会在上周取消了一次投票。这两位议员都与特朗普发生过冲突，且明年将不再回归参议院。在科宁的质询下，布兰奇表示该命令旨在仅适用于国税局（IRS），且仅适用于该案件的指定原告：特朗普、他的两个儿子以及特朗普组织。
虽然来自科宁和蒂利斯的支持可能足以让布兰奇跨过参议院委员会的一个关键门槛，但目前尚不清楚布兰奇在参议院全体会议中是否拥有足够的支持以确保获得确认，以及最终投票何时进行。民主党人反对布兰奇的提名，并称该基金和审计保护都是错误且腐败的。
目前尚不清楚司法部的新承诺在法律上具有多少约束力。该基金（本可用于向特朗普的盟友支付款项）以及审计保护，是特朗普与其自身政府之间一项极具争议的协议产物。该协议结束了一场极其罕见的 $10 亿美元诉讼，这场诉讼是由总统针对国税局发起的，原因是一名承包商在特朗普首个任期内非法泄露了他的税单。
在周日的声明中，布兰奇表示这项救济将仅追溯适用。他还表示，他坚持关于缩小范围的证词。然而，目前尚不清楚布兰奇是否有权终止税务案件，根据税法，除非案件被专门移交给司法部进行诉讼，否则该权力属于国税局（IRS）。
“这些保证就像废纸一样没有价值，”纽约大学税务法中心政策总监布兰登·德博特表示，“对于阻止总统尝试恢复该基金（正如他本周末所威胁的那样），这些措施没有任何新作为。很明显，我们需要国会的行动。”
在其他泄密案件中，司法部一直为政府辩护，认为美国不对承包商的行为负责。但在本案中，该部门的律师从未出庭，而是直接与总统的律师达成了协议。佛罗里达州的一位联邦法官表示，特朗普提起此案是出于恶意
……诚信缺失且出于不正当目的，法官正考虑强制总统向其他介入该案的人员支付律师费。参议员亚当·希夫（Adam Schiff，民主党，加利福尼亚州）表示：“这个所谓的‘协议’并不能阻止未来向暴力叛乱者付款。”他还批评了对特朗普持续提供的税务审计保护。他说：“它不能防止（政府）在下周让这笔秘密资金‘死而复生’，”或者防止其使用司法部的另一项基金进行支付。特朗普仍然有望获得显著利益。他的税务问题尚未公开，但《纽约时报》在 2024 年报道称，特朗普与国税局（IRS）之间存在一项可能超过 $100 million（1亿美元）的争议。司法部的新承诺在法律上具有多少约束力或重要性尚不明确。值得注意的是，创建该基金的协议文本规定，只有在所有签署方（包括国税局、司法部以及以个人身份参与的特朗普）均同意的情况下才能进行修改。
布兰奇在周日晚上的社交媒体帖文中表示，书面和解方案的修订是在过去几周的“诚意讨论”之后达成的。
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进一步了解 是什么让我们成为 #1
2026-2027年《美国新闻与世界报道》最佳医院，在全国排名第一项数量上并列四强；在全国前10名专科数量上并列两强。 此名单反映了纽约大学朗格尼医学中心（NYU Langone）排名top 10的专科。
伊朗称未与美国就开放霍尔木兹海峡进行谈判，但与阿曼关于管理该水域交通的讨论仍在继续 记者：SUMMER SAID 和 BENOIT FAUCON
伊朗周一表示，目前没有与美国进行任何谈判，也没有计划举行任何会议。此前，特朗普总统表示，他已取消了一次针对该国的大规模打击，以给霍尔木兹海峡交通恢复的谈判提供更多时间。
在周末，特朗普表示，在美国盟友干预之前，他已准备好批准他所描述的自第二次世界大战以来规模最大的军事攻击。路透社报道称，伊朗与阿曼正就如何管理霍尔木兹海峡进行讨论，该海峡一直是华盛顿与德黑兰之间僵局的中心。这两个毗邻海峡的国家之间的讨论在近日变得更为重要，阿曼和伊朗均指出已取得一定进展。
“我们已经准备好行动了，但当盟友请求取消时，你得说，‘好吧，让我们看看’，”他周日告诉记者。
伊朗外交部发言人埃斯梅尔·巴盖伊（Esmail Baghaei）否认了特朗普关于谈判正在进行的暗示，并指出伊朗尚未派遣代表团或谈判代表参与任何讨论。他表示，除正在伊拉克访问宗教场所的外交部长阿巴斯·阿拉格奇（Abbas Araghchi）外，伊朗所有谈判代表仍留在国内。
早些时候，伊朗官方媒体援引外交部长阿拉格奇的话称，关于建立船舶通过霍尔木兹海峡机制的讨论“即将完成并处于最后阶段”。
特朗普同样暗示讨论已取得进展。他在周六晚上的社交媒体帖子中写道，伊朗和其他中东国家敦促他取消攻击，因为“协议的框架”已经敲定。
在周一的一篇社交媒体帖子中，特朗普形容伊朗领导层“极其狡诈”，称他们请求就结束战争进行谈判，随后又宣布没有举行任何讨论。
“除非我们愿意，否则没有任何信息能传达到伊朗；除非达成协议或完全投降，否则任何东西都无法通过，”这位美国总统说道。
调解人士告诉《华尔街日报》，伊朗一直与阿曼及其他地区调解方讨论在霍尔木兹海峡开辟一条新的临时航道，以允许商业航运恢复。
随后，特朗普在椭圆形办公室告诉记者：“这是他们签署一份良好文件的最后机会。”
根据该提案，前往波斯湾的船舶将通过伊朗水域进入。不过，伊朗外交部确实承认，德黑兰方面仍在继续（讨论）。
在以色列，针对基督徒的袭击正在增加 作者：MARGHERITA STANCATI
耶路撒冷——在耶路撒冷旧城，一群以色列青少年最近敲响了亚美尼亚使徒教会总部的门，询问里面是否有基督徒。他们想向他们吐痰。
“这就是现实：任何基督徒——只要明显是基督徒——都在成为目标，”监测反基督徒仇恨的以色列学者 Yisca Harani 表示。“参与此类行为的宗教犹太人数量在增加，而以色列当局并未对此予以重视。他们视而不见，这反而形成了一种鼓励。”
这些少年表示，羞辱基督徒（或者用他们的说法，偶像崇拜者）是一项宗教义务，即“mitzvah”。一名包裹在以色列国旗中的少年解释道：“我们应该恨他们。”
反基督徒行为的上升现象相对较新。2013 年，袭击者亵渎了耶路撒冷的一座新教墓地。两年后，犹太极端分子在塔巴加（Tabgha）的一座修道院纵火，基督徒相信耶稣在此创造了“五饼二鱼”的奇迹。
在那个 5 月的下午，这些纵火者是数千名以年轻人为主的以色列人中的一员，他们穿过历史悠久的旧城，参加旨在纪念 1967 年占领东耶路撒冷的国家庆典。这是一场年度武力展示，当地绝大多数巴勒斯坦居民认为这具有挑衅性。
以色列极右翼国家安全部长伊塔马尔·本-格维尔（Itamar Ben-Gvir）曾担任这些纵火者的辩护律师。他表示，向基督徒吐痰是古老的犹太习俗，不应被视为犯罪。
根据监控录像、目击者以及一名在现场的《华尔街日报》记者的观察，就在最近的那个下午，仅在亚美尼亚教堂附近就发生了至少 12 起吐痰事件。
学者 Harani 三年前开始通过她创立的组织“宗教自由数据中心”（Religious Freedom Data Center）记录反基督徒事件。在 2026 年上半年，Harani 的组织登记了 107 起反基督徒事件，是 2024 年同期记录数据的两倍多。
大多数事件发生在耶路撒冷旧城及其周边，最常见的形式是吐痰和言语辱骂，包括喊出“基督徒死掉”之类的话。修道院经常被投掷垃圾。
在耶路撒冷这座基督教、犹太教和伊斯兰教共同视为圣地的城市中，曾经零星发生反基督徒仇恨事件的情况正变得常态化。调查显示，大多数以色列人谴责这种行为，但对基督教的负面态度变得更加普遍，尤其是在年轻人之中。
这些事件令以色列的右翼政府感到尴尬，该政府声称致力于在一个歧视现象普遍的地区维护宗教自由。政府已任命了一名新的阿拉伯基督徒大使，以帮助改善与基督徒社区的关系，但批评者认为力度不足。
绝大多数居住在耶路撒冷的基督徒是巴勒斯坦阿拉伯人。但根据报道，许多反基督徒行为的目标是外国神职人员、修女以及城市中明显的基督教标志。
A6 / 星期二，2026 年 8 月 4 日 * * 华尔街日报 WORLD NEWS
伊朗和地区调解人一直在讨论建立一条通过霍尔木兹海峡的临时航线。他们表示，可以通过阿曼水域离开而无需支付费用。
据熟悉此事的资深阿拉伯官员称，这是为了应对对其领土的威胁。伊朗外交官最初对最新提案反应积极，但随后要求保证不会重启对伊朗的袭击，且制裁……
调解人表示，对其石油的禁令将被解除。周一晚些时候，由于人们希望最终能就重新开放霍尔木兹海峡达成协议，国际油价下跌了约 5%，布伦特原油价格跌至每桶 84 美元左右。调解人们仍在等待伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队的回复，该准军事组织掌握着伊朗的权力杠杆。然而，谈判能否成功仍存在不确定性。早期的努力未能获得太多进展，如果再次停滞，特朗普仍有可能重启其发起大规模军事打击的威胁。他们表示，如果就这一战略水道达成临时协议，谈判将转向恢复最初的谅解备忘录，以在 60 天内解决关于该海峡的冲突；此外还提到，巴基斯坦已提议主办德黑兰与华盛顿之间的下一轮会谈。此外，还有一个问题是，伊斯兰革命卫队是否会同意任何不能让伊朗完全控制该水道的霍尔木兹海峡开放协议。英国海军的航运监测机构 UKMTO 报告称，周日晚间，一艘位于阿曼东北 20 海里处的油轮船长报告在船只附近听到一声爆炸声。阿曼与伊朗之间的谈判重点是就海峡内的航运过境达成临时安排，此举将有助于重新开放该水道，并帮助调解人重启关于初步和平协议的谈判。该机构表示：“据报告，船只及船员均安全。当局正在调查。建议船只谨慎通行，并将任何可疑活动报告给 UKMTO。”地区国家还要求调解人确保任何协议都应包含担保，即伊朗及其代理人均不会对受害者及监测此类事件的权利团体构成威胁。
OFIR BERMAN 为 华尔街日报 拍摄 (3) 从上方起顺时针方向：年轻的以色列人在耶路撒冷日旗帜游行中庆祝；神职人员、修女和基督教符号经常成为反基督教行为的目标；圣墓教堂的一名导游。在旧城中。学者和活动人士表示，虽然只有少数极端分子参与此类行为，但这反映了一个更广泛的问题：年轻的以色列人缺乏关于基督教的知识，而他们所知道的极少信息往往助长了不宽容。4月，一名法国修女在耶路撒冷的锡安山上被一名犹太极端分子推倒在地。该修女的头部伤势已痊愈，肇事者被迅速拘留，但受害者和权利团体表示，大多数此类事件通常是非暴力的，且未受到惩罚。耶路撒冷开放大学的基督教历史教授 Orit Ramon 表示：“他们对基督教的认知并不复杂。他们主要通过欧洲基督徒对犹太人的暴力事件来了解基督教社会。” 许多修女现在由于恐惧而不敢在耶路撒冷外出。来自 Harani 组织的志愿者陪同她们往返于锡安山的修道院与住所之间。
总统痛批石油公司 华盛顿——特朗普总统表示，雪佛龙和埃克森美孚“赚得太多了”，应该将部分利润返还给公众。石油出口已经激增。他们表示，只有重新开放海峡才能确保全球供应量攀升到足以满足全球需求的程度。“他试图利用职位的权威（bully pulpit）来说服公司降低价格。我们过去没看到过这种做法能取得成功，”能源政策主管 Glenn Schwartz 说道。
咨询公司 Rapidan Energy Group。作者：Marianne LeVine, Benoît Morenne 和 Collin Eaton
“当你看到一家公司赚到了前一年 12 倍的利润时，他们应该将其中一部分还给公众，”特朗普周一告诉记者。“而且他们最好降低零售价格，也就是消费者价格。”
“特朗普敏锐地意识到，随着中期选举迅速临近，高油价和高零售汽油价格会给现任者，特别是共和党人带来更多困难，从而产生政治后果。”
在特朗普在伊朗发起的战争导致全球市场出现历史性动荡并推高能源价格后，美国最大的石油公司报告了巨额的季度利润。
特朗普将自己描述为一名“大自由企业主义者”，但他表示，他对石油行业的利润感到沮丧，因为这些利润是在他发起的伊朗战争导致燃料价格上涨的背景下获得的。
“你们会对我说出这话感到惊讶。我会大声且清晰地说：对此我不高兴，”他在谈到该行业的利润时表示。
特朗普最新对油气行业的攻击呼应了前总统乔·拜登的批评。2022 年，在俄罗斯入侵乌克兰后，原油价格飙升，石油巨头的利润随之增加，这促使拜登指责化石燃料公司在战争中牟利，并呼吁国会通过立法惩罚这些公司。
在埃克森美孚（ExxonMobil），季度利润比一年前增加了一倍多，达到了 2022, 以来最高水平，为 $14.5 亿美元。雪佛龙（Chevron）创下了历史最高季度收益，达到 $12.1 亿美元。
特朗普表示，雪佛龙和埃克森美孚“赚得太多了”。埃克森和雪佛龙均拒绝置评。
5 月下旬，在油价约为每桶 $100 的情况下，全国平均汽油价格突破每加仑 $4.55。今年早些时候，由于伊朗境内时而发生的冲突导致霍尔木兹海峡大部分时间处于关闭状态，加油站的价格连续数月上涨。
当天早些时候，在雪佛龙首席执行官迈克·沃思（Mike Wirth）接受福克斯商业频道（Fox Business）玛丽亚·巴蒂罗莫（Maria Bartiromo）采访后，特朗普在 Truth Social 上发帖批评了沃思。沃思在采访中强调了该公司在美国创纪录的油气产量和燃料制造能力。
该水道是全球能源市场的关键节点。在 2 月份战争开始前，全球每日石油需求的 20% 通过该海峡运输。
分析人士表示，特朗普和石油行业在缓解高价格方面几乎没有选择——而且许多方法已经尝试过了。自春季以来，从美国战略石油储备中大规模提取，使应急库存处于 20 世纪 80 年代初以来的最低水平；商业库存也随之萎缩，因为
“他方便地忘记提到的一件事是，如果没有特朗普政府的天才、远见、力量和稳定性，石油工业以及我们国家本身都将死掉！”特朗普写道。
美国大使推动办理签证
以色列的反基督教行为考验了德黑兰在美国最坚定盟友的支持。
去年，当迈克·哈卡比（Mike Huckabee）接任美国驻以色列大使时，他震惊地发现福音派基督教组织在办理签证时困难重重。哈卡比曾经营一家将基督教朝圣者带到该地区的旅游公司。此前未有此类事件报告。
哈卡比向以色列内政部长反映，但问题依然存在，于是他转向总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡（Benjamin Netanyahu），后者协助发放了签证。
哈卡比表示，主要障碍似乎是内政部的一名持有反基督教偏见的官员。
“以色列国家最好的朋友就是来自”
“美国，”哈卡比在一次采访中说。“如果他们的组织无法让其人员持神职人员签证来服役，那么这将是他们可能发出的最不幸的信号。”从十字军东征到大屠杀。一些犹太极端分子表示，他们希望摧毁耶路撒冷的教堂或将其改为犹太会堂。其中就包括 19 岁的阿塔拉·塞瓦蒂恩（Atara Serwatien）。“这里应该是犹太国家，”她解释道。此外，人们对基督教传教有着根深蒂固的恐惧，并且他们反对教堂中的雕像和图标，许多人认为那是偶像崇拜。许多人对天主教会批评在加沙的战争行为以及公开为巴勒斯坦人辩护感到愤怒。根据以色列跨宗教组织罗辛教育与对话中心（Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue）9月发布的一项民意调查，约有半数的以色列人认为进入教堂是被禁止的，这一比例高于 2008 年的 10%。同样比例的受访者表示，他们认为基督教是一种偶像崇拜。拉蒙（Ramon）过去曾带领以色列高中生前往基督教遗址进行实地考察，但随着学生及其家长的反对声日益增加，大多数学校逐渐停止提供此类活动。拉蒙在 2000 年代中期结束了她的导览活动。
路透社 西班牙领土，一个文化熔炉，现成为大洲之间的冲突点 作者：BENOIT FAUCON 西班牙 塞塔（CEUTA）——到周日上午，成千上万涌入这座西班牙小城市的移民几乎全部离开。但突然涌入带来的创伤依然存在。在一条地中海海滩上，无数鞋子在蓝色海水中漂浮，这些鞋子被那些沿着直布罗陀海峡、就在摩洛哥海岸附近游到这片西班牙领土上的移民所遗弃。一名环卫工人埃瓦里斯托·卡萨雷斯·费尔南德斯（Evaristo Casares Fernandez）指出，清理这些漂浮的鞋类将由他负责。移民们在塞塔的一处海滩篝火旁聚集。上周，移民涌入塞塔，压垮了边境守卫，导致 80,000 名永久居民中的许多人躲进家中的安全地带。商店关闭，该飞地的繁华街道生活消退。“这里曾经是一个非常安静的地方，”55 岁的塞塔当地人卡萨雷斯·费尔南德斯说。“现在不再那样了。”梅赛德斯·卡布雷拉·拉法罗（Mercedes Cabrera Lafaro）希望在成群的年轻男子不再在街上游荡后重新开业她的美容院。但这位 67 岁的女性表示，人们仍然担心此类涌入会再次发生。几个世纪以来，这座城市一直是多民族的熔炉，欧洲与非洲、穆斯林与基督教文化在此交汇，且大多和平共处。其西班牙军事防御工事、教堂、清真寺和犹太会堂的混合风格在北非十分罕见。“我们感到被抛弃了，”她说，这呼应了塞塔人（Ceutíes，当地人的自称）中广泛共享的一种不满情绪。现在，这里成为了移民在两大洲之间撕开的深渊的象征。西班牙当局估计，有 60,000 名移民突破边境并受到控制。
在过去几个混乱的日子里，缅甸的昂山素季与红十字会会面
分析人士表示，缅甸由军方控制，军方实际上在管理这个国家。缅甸总统是敏昂莱（Min Aung Hlaing），直到最近他还是军方总司令。 作者：MIKE CHERNEY 新加坡——缅甸受损的民主偶像昂山素季周一与一名红十字会官员会面，这证明尽管其支持者对其健康状况表示担忧，但这位前领导人仍然在世。与此同时，军方与亲民主活动人士及少数民族团体之间正爆发内战。在中国的支持下，军方最近取得了一些进展。根据缅甸总统府发布在国家媒体 Telegram 频道的一份声明，昂山素季会见了国际红十字会常驻代表阿诺德·德·贝克（Arnaud de Baecque）。红十字会确认了此次访问。缅甸政府并未说明促成此次会面的原因。
会面细节或讨论内容。总统府发言人 Khaing Khaing Soe 在随后的信息中表示，昂山素季健康状况良好。周一还公布了 81 岁的昂山素季的照片，其中一张是在一个镶木墙的房间里，她正与一名看起来像是 de Baecque 的人握手；另一张则是两人坐在椅子上的场景。昂山素季的家人和支持者表示，他们多年来一直没有她的消息。她定居伦敦的儿子 Kim Aris 一直在游说缅甸当局提供她还活着的证据。昂山素季的状况和行踪已成为缅甸与其邻国之间紧张关系的焦点。这次会面可能会帮助缅甸军政府（其在今年早些时候结束了选举）在寻求国际合法性的努力中获益。红十字会表示，此次访问是按照其探视被剥夺自由人员的程序进行的，其中包括私下交谈的机会。该组织未对昂山素季的健康或状况提供评估。投票结果非常激烈
缅甸政府 / AFP / GETTY IMAGES 缅甸政府公布的一张照片中，昂山素季与 Arnaud de Baecque 握手。华尔街日报。Tuesday, August 4, 2026 / A7 世界新闻
大多数抵达休达（Ceuta）的移民在周日之前回到了摩洛哥。部分人员周一仍留在临时设施中。
休达揭示移民政治 supports a faction trying to gain independence for Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that Morocco claims. 桑切斯（Sánchez）对以色列采取了批评立场，而以色列通过一项由特朗普促成的协议与摩洛哥保持关系。“大规模移民削弱了桑切斯，并为（摩洛哥）在美、以两国赢得了好感，”咨询公司 North Africa Risk Consulting 的总裁 Geoff Porter 表示。
AP PHOTO / BERNAT ARMANGUE 西班牙政客纷纷前往休达，批评桑切斯允许移民涌入。桑切斯政府则为其移民政策辩护，并将责任归咎于走私黑帮。
马德里部署了警察和军队，在周六晚上之前将大多数移民驱离并护送至摩洛哥边境。周六，西班牙官员表示，他们开始安装一个临时充气屏障，该屏障从许多移民游向该飞地的防波堤向外延伸约 500 码。
此次事件凸显了西班牙与摩洛哥之间紧张的关系，摩洛哥不承认西班牙对休达的主权要求。移民称，摩洛哥允许他们跨境的原因尚不明确。摩洛哥政府未回应置评请求。西班牙总理办公室也未回应置评请求。
休达的紧张局势远未结束。周日深夜，当地人与从西班牙本土抵达的反穆斯林抗议者发生冲突，促使警方部署力量。摩洛哥当局也处于高度警戒状态。在边境城镇 Fnideq，反暴车被部署在移民游向休达的沙滩沿线。政治分析人士指出，西班牙总理 Pedro Sánchez 最近访问了摩洛哥的邻国兼竞争对手阿尔及利亚。
欧洲河流正在干涸
（接前页） “最艰难的日子还在前方，”匈牙利总理 Péter Magyar 周一在社交媒体上表示。此次停电加剧了 Magyar 的经济困境，他正面临着削减财政赤字和刺激经济增长的压力。长期能量危机可能会迫使政府加大对……的财政支持。
电力部门并阻碍制造业投资，凯投宏观（Capital Economics）首席新兴市场经济学家威廉·杰克逊（William Jackson）表示。“如果人们对能源可靠性产生担忧，这可能会影响投资决策，”他说道。一个备受关注的水位计正给依赖该水路的工业公司带来每日一次的痛苦。多瑙河的情况对旅游业而言也是一种折磨。作曲家小约翰·施特劳斯二世将这条河 immortalized 为《蓝色多瑙河》，但从游轮窗户望出去的景色却是干涸河床那浓重的灰褐色。周五，法兰克福以西考布（Kaub）的水深降至约 9 英寸，略高于 2018. 10 月一次干旱时的最低记录水平。德国水路与航运管理局表示，预计本周该处水位将降至 8 英寸以下。上周末，北莱茵-威斯特法伦州其他莱茵河水位计（如科隆和杜伊斯堡-鲁尔奥特）也测到了创纪录的低水位。
上周，在保加利亚城市维丁（Vidin）附近，一艘维京游轮因水位低触礁，186 名乘客不得不被接至岸上。维京公司表示，其宾客已安全转移至岸上。该公司拥有庞大的船队和丰富的欧洲河流航行经验，但它警告称，部分行程可能需要修改。考布是莱茵河上的几个关键点之一，这里的水位下降如此之低，以至于船只目前只能装载正常载重量的 20% 到 30%，否则就有搁浅风险。这意味着运输货物需要更多船只，从而推高了运费。几家游轮运营商已经取消了航程。德国运营商 Viva Cruises 的副总裁帕特里克·埃尔（Patrick Ell）表示：“莱茵河和多瑙河的大部分地区，以及摩泽尔河和美因河都无法通航，因此我们专注于仍有足够深度可供巡航的路段。”
“我们已经在身体极限的边缘运行了，”代表德国商业内河航运部门的德国联邦内河航运协会（German Federal Association of Inland Navigation）总经理延斯·施万嫩（Jens Schwanen）说道。Viva 已取消了一次巡航并更改了其他航线。在莱茵河上，距离维京乌鲁号（Viking Ullur）搁浅地点的西北方向 800 多英里处，如果干旱继续，可能会导致供应短缺。
中国工厂显现新放缓迹象 中国消费者信心指数 作者：HANNAH MIAO 130 中国工厂正显示出新的疲软迹象，面临增长更大幅度放缓的风险——尽管目前看来，这还不足以推动北京方面采取重大的新刺激措施。 120 110 根据周一发布的一项私人指标，中国 7 月的制造业活动扩张速度低于前一个月。在此之前，政府周五发布的官方制造业采购经理指数显示，7 月活动在五个月内首次出现收缩。 100 90 2020 '21 '22 '23 '24 '25 '26 80 工厂活动的停滞增加了中国的经济困扰。这个仅次于美国的全球第二大经济体最近受到消费需求疲软和投资下降的拖累。第二季度国内生产总值（GDP）同比增长 4.3%，为 2022. 年以来最慢增速。 来源：中国国家统计局，经由 CEIC
出口的激增帮助其勉强实现了足够的增长以达到今年的官方目标，而消费问题在很大程度上未得到解决。今年，当局已经降低了门槛。中国将今年的 GDP 增长目标设定在 4.5% 至 5% 之间，这是至少自 20 世纪 90 年代以来最低的目标。
2026年上半年，中国报告的实际 GDP 增长率为 4.7%，使其有望实现目标。然而，北京方面对一些经济学家寻求的刺激增长措施表现出极低的热情，例如大幅扩大社会福利支出以及加大对陷入困境的房地产行业的支持。在 7 月下旬举行的执政党政治局会议上，最高领导层强调需要充分利用现有政策，并暗示一些有针对性的支持措施即将出台，但未提供具体时间表。花旗集团的分析师表示：“我们认为，缺乏重大的新刺激计划表明，当局仍认为目前的增速放缓是在可控范围内的。”全球各国政府日益担心中国依赖出口来驱动增长。欧洲领导人指责北京利用补贴不公平地支持相关产业，导致产能过剩以及中国产品大量涌入欧洲。中国否认存在产能过剩问题。研究机构 Pantheon Macroeconomics 的经济学家 Kelvin Lam 在周一的一份报告中写道：“我们不期待一个‘大炮式’（规模巨大）的刺激计划。”中国一直处于一种“双速经济”状态：出口强劲且拥有尖端技术，而国内消费乏力，房价依然低迷。经济学家表示，7 月的工厂活动指标表明，由于新出口订单的表现好于整体新订单，出口可能将保持强劲，而国内需求则继续滞后。一些分析师认为，7 月的极端天气导致工厂活动读数较弱。该国经济在去年走过了类似的路径，2025 年伊始增长强劲，但随着时间推移速度有所下降。要求采取措施刺激国内消费的呼声……
[照片 / ANDREEA ALEXANDRU] 在罗马尼亚拉索瓦的多瑙河沿岸，一艘船倾斜在沙地的低洼处。
……例如，化学巨头巴斯夫（BASF）投资购买了浅底驳船，以便在干旱期间更好地航行。经济学家表示，这会导致消费者面临价格上涨，例如在德国南部的加油站。但欧洲化学工业已经出现了压力迹象。德国钢铁生产商蒂森克虏伯（Thyssenkrupp）表示，由于水位过低，其不得不停止使用推驳船船队，尽管已改用小型租用船舶，但原材料交付仍受影响，因此该公司削减了杜伊斯堡高炉的铁水产量。Chemical Market Analytics 执行董事 David Potter 表示，近期苯（许多化学品的重要原料）价格上涨，部分原因是人们对供应中断的担忧。
他表示，对于一些工业用户来说，苯的价格已经高到无法盈利。他补充说，干旱持续时间越长，某些公司暂停生产的可能性就越大。关键的未知因素是干旱的持续时间。ING 全球宏观研究主管 Carsten Brzeski 表示，如果干扰不能尽快减轻，德国今年的国内生产总值可能仅增长 0.5%，而非他此前预测的 0.8%。低水位还导致二战时期的炸弹和猛犸象骨骼出土。欧盟周五的一份干旱更新报告称，持久的干旱还威胁着整个欧洲大陆的作物产量。基尔世界经济研究所估计，2018 年的一次严重干旱使德国 GDP 损失了近 0.4 个百分点。在那次冲击之后，一些公司通过建立替代路线采取措施以降低风险。报告称，虽然预测地中海周边地区会有降雨，但其他地区在 9 月之前可能会出现“严重低于平均水平的干燥状况”。
[图注] 雾晨：一名路人注视着一艘轮渡在伊斯坦布尔的博斯普鲁斯海峡中缓缓驶过。
接第一页。职责缺失，且未能对学校行使适当的监管。高等教育正陷入财务危机，而斯特劳斯失去的奖学金只是日益增加的附带损害中的一部分。大学领导者正在削减项目、解雇教职员工——并动用捐赠基金来支付运营费用。校董会承受着巨大的压力，部分成员开始相互攻击，以及攻击他们聘请的校长。在极端情况下，学校在捐赠者不知情或未同意的情况下，使用捐赠者为其他用途提供资金来支付日常账单。这种手段在高等教育的整合过程中制造了一个新的输家：数代以来向大学和学院捐赠数十亿美元的数千名慈善家。
根据高等教育财务顾问公司 Perspective Data Science 的估计，2025 年有近 200 所私立大学从受限捐赠基金中借款，而 2021 年这一数字为 131 所。该公司创始人马修·亨德里克斯表示，学校将大部分资金用于日常开支。慈善圆桌会（Philanthropy Roundtable，一个代表慈善家发声的非营利组织）研究员乔安娜·弗洛里诺表示：“随着小型大学的关闭，这将成为一个巨大的问题。许多在世的捐赠者发现，他们捐赠的资金并没有被用于捐赠时的原定用途。”
对大学学位价值的质疑——由于近期毕业生面临严峻的就业市场而进一步放大——也降低了选择大学的美国人比例。堪萨斯州、肯塔基州、佐治亚州和蒙塔纳州在过去几年中通过了新法律，使捐赠者更容易对包括大学在内的、将受限捐赠用于非原定条款的非营利组织采取法律行动。弗洛里诺表示，在对资金被滥用可能性的担忧日益增加的情况下，圆桌会推动了该立法。
根据为学校提供合并建议的 Huron Consulting Group 的预测，未来十年有 440 多所大学面临关闭或合并的风险。数十年来，学费的增长速度超过了通货膨胀，使学生和家庭背负了高额债务，并且在投入四年学位的金钱和时间后，获得的收益并不均衡。最富有的大学可以通过巨额捐赠基金抵消学费成本，使得其中许多学校比资源较少、知名度较低的小型大学更负担得起。
使用受限捐赠资金来支付日常开支无异于在校园里挂上“停业清算”的招牌，因此在大学董事会会议室之外很少被讨论。即使是第三方的年度审计报告，在学校资金提取来源的问题上也往往含糊其辞。前密苏里中央大学校长、现任 Husch Blackwell Consulting 高级顾问的查克·安布罗斯表示，结果就是，随着学校的关闭或合并，许多鲁莽行为很可能会被曝光。
Perspective Data Science 分析了近 1,000 家机构，结果显示，捐赠基金提取率超过 7%（被视为财务不稳定的迹象）的私立非营利大学比例，从 2016 年的 9.7% 几乎翻了一番，在 2025 年达到了 19.3%。捐赠基金提取率在 15% 的学校比例则翻了三倍，达到了 5%。亨德里克斯表示：“许多学校正在竭尽全力维持运转。”
给大学的捐赠分为两类：一种是通用资金，另一种是由捐赠者指定特定用途的受限资金。通常，学校只能通过请求许可才能更改受限捐赠的支出方式——如果捐赠者在世则向其请求，或向律师请求。
如果捐赠者已经去世，则资金将交由司法部长或法院处理。大学的入学人数正面临所谓的“人口悬崖”，即由于出生率下降导致潜在学生人口减少。去年秋天，单年出生人数最多的美国人群体开始进入大学。根据西部高等教育州际委员会的数据，预计到 2041, 入学人数将下降 13%。在中西部和东北部，这种下降趋势已经持续了数年。
位于俄亥俄州南尤克里德的圣母学院（Notre Dame College，见上图）于 2024. 关闭。5 月，校园被一家医院买下，学校的设备（见右下图）被拍卖。詹妮弗·舒勒（Jennifer Schuller，见左下图）是俄亥俄州伊利湖学院的院长。对圣母学院财务前景的信心在疫情期间开始下降。该校成立于 1922 年，最初是一所天主教女子学院。在 20 世纪 90 年代，入学人数维持在 500 人左右，但在 2001 年，它开始招收男性，扩大体育项目，并将入学人数提升至近 2,000. 人。2008 年，学校借款 $20 million 用于建设新宿舍和改善体育设施。疫情期间，人们对该校前景的信心开始动摇。圣母学院在 2020, 秋季让学生回到教室，但入学人数下降，学院的财务前景恶化。根据联邦数据和学院的税务申报文件，到 2023, 入学人数较 2016 年下降了 32%，且学校每年亏损 $4 million。
崩溃时刻。前一年加入董事会的企业主迈克尔·坎蒂（Michael Canty）开始怀疑学校在违规挪用受限捐赠基金。他与时任院长 J. 迈克尔·普雷西蒙（J. Michael Pressimone）对质，告诉他这种做法是不正当的，必须停止。坎蒂表示，普雷西蒙为这种做法辩护，称其是必要的。“我震惊了，”坎蒂说，“我大发雷霆。”在一次采访中，普雷西蒙表示，圣母学院在学期末现金流紧张时，确实经常动用非受限捐赠基金来覆盖成本，但他表示自己从未授权使用受限资金。不久之后，董事会举行了会议。俄亥俄州司法部长指控，普雷西蒙提出一项动议，正式将 $1.2 million 的受限捐赠基金重新分类用于其他用途。根据诉讼，没有人支持这项动议。司法部长表示，第二天，董事会要求普雷西蒙离职。起诉书显示，一周后，代理院长告知执行委员会，需要将 $2.800 万 退还至受限捐赠基金。一名学校发言人表示，学校已采纳审计师的建议，“以证明内部借款在法律上是允许的”。“捐赠者的意愿过去是一直被、今后也将继续被充分尊重。”
学校的财务危机在蔓延。一名棒球教练在尝试支付球队差旅费时，发现自己的卡被拒付。根据采访和 2024 年的一项诉讼，该卡绑定的是一个受限账户，其中的资金是为球队使用而筹集的。俄亥俄州的鲍德温-华莱士大学（Baldwin Wallace University）去年将约 $20 million 从
根据 2025 年的一项审计，捐赠资金被从限定用途转为非限定用途。这些资金在未获得校董会事先授权的情况下被提取。学校发言人丹·卡普（Dan Karp）表示，学校“已任命新校长和领导团队，并正在咨询第三方专家以实施内部财务控制”。该诉讼因原告缺乏诉讼资格而被驳回，但去年俄亥俄州司法部长提起了一项单独的诉讼，指控 14 名信托员和官员在未经允许的情况下，从限定用途的捐赠基金中支出了超过 $2 million。被告否认其违反了信托职责。今年 5 月，一家俄亥俄州医院以 $800 万 的价格买下了这座占地 48 英亩的校园。一周后，学校的财产（包括家具、科学设备和体育器材）被整理好，整齐地堆放起来准备拍卖。
詹妮弗·舒勒（Jennifer Schuller）在 2023, 年担任俄亥俄州伊利湖学院（Lake Erie College）校长时，她表示学校当时处于亏损状态且面临关闭危险。她的首要行动之一是联系八位捐赠者，请求他们将 $594,000 的限定捐赠资金释放。她说，她将这笔钱用于一般运营预算，为学校争取了更多时间。根据 2025 年的一项审计，去年伊利诺伊州的昆西大学（Quincy University）为了“现金流需求”，在未经司法部长许可的情况下，从其捐赠基金中借了约 $6 million。审计员建议该校“就捐赠基金借款寻求伊利诺伊州司法部长的追溯批准”。“我向他们解释，学校现在需要这笔钱，不能等待，”她说。她认为这些现金和其他变动帮助伊利湖学院走上了可持续发展的轨道。
随着学生人数下降以及学校难以应对成本，一种模式正在上演，专门从事关闭失败大学的 Highland Group 创始人道格·摩尔（Doug Moore）表示。首先，校董会动用非限定用途的捐赠基金。然后，他们尝试从校友和基金会筹集资金。接着，他们请求捐赠者取消限制，允许将资金用于运营支出。但摩尔说，说服在世的捐助者取消限制并不总能筹集到足够的资金来维持学校运转。因此，董事会开始通过搜寻已故捐助者提供的限定基金中的漏洞来“挖掘美元”。直到 1990 年代中期，礼赠协议的清晰记录才成为常态。在此之前，专项用于奖学金的资金通常仅体现在捐助者与大学校长之间的往来信件中。一些学校正在聘请档案管理员来查找这些信件，并重新评估礼赠条款。
几代以来，大学校董主要扮演机构看守者的角色，专注于保护和延续。如今，治理受到持续的财务和法律波动影响。帮助机构建立捐赠基金的 Benefactor Group 负责人劳拉·麦克唐纳（Laura MacDonald）表示，这导致董事会在面对艰难选择时准备不足。她说，当他们面临关闭学校时，他们会想：“不能在我任期内发生。”
65 岁的斯特劳斯（Strouse）说，司法部长没有联系她。尽管如此，她对学校的关闭（她于 2001, 年开始在那里任教）以及奖学金的损失感到难过。她曾与丈夫一起参加圣母大学的体育赛事，非常尊敬那些既练习体育、努力学习，且经常在校外兼职的学生运动员。在他去世后，几名通过他在比赛中提供支持而结识的学生参加了葬礼。在 2019, 年设立奖学金后，斯特劳斯协助挑选获奖者——既是运动员又是会计专业的学生。该奖学金每年产生几千美元。她说：“即使是一点点也能帮上忙。”
[图注] 从顶部起顺时针方向：LISA SCALFARO / USA TODAY NETWORK / REUTERS；DOUGLAS BELKIN / WSJ；MIKE DEMETER
俄罗斯指责基辅策划莫斯科爆炸案 俄罗斯周一指责乌克兰发动了周六在莫斯科的一次爆炸袭击，称此次针对 Balzi Rossi 餐厅的袭击造成 5 人死亡，19 人受伤。 乌克兰当局尚未对该事件发表评论。另外，地区负责人伊万·费多罗夫（Ivan Fedorov）周一表示，俄罗斯飞机向乌克兰南部城市扎波罗热的住宅区投弹，造成 1 人死亡，数十人受伤。 与此同时，在周末期间，俄罗斯克拉斯诺达尔地区黑海沿岸的小镇阿尔希波-奥西波夫卡（Arkhipo-Osipovka）有 6 人被乌克兰无人机残骸击毙。 在乌克兰周日深夜至周一针对克里米亚的袭击中，另有 3 人死亡，2 人受伤。 —美联社
无人机袭击造成数十人死亡 一家人权组织表示，苏丹军队对苏丹达尔富尔地区的一座民事法院进行无人机袭击，造成至少 35 人死亡。 记录苏丹暴行的独立团体“紧急律师”（Emergency Lawyers）周日下午表示，无人机袭击了北达尔富尔州 Al-Zawiya Gara 村的民事法院总部。 根据冲突监测组织“武装冲突地点与事件数据”（Armed Conflict Location and Event Data）的数据，苏丹在 2023 年 4 月陷入了准军事组织快速支援部队与苏丹军队之间的全面战争，造成至少 59,000 人死亡。援助团体表示，这一数字被低估，实际人数可能更高。 苏丹军队未回应置评请求。 —美联社
广播名嘴涉袭案开庭 悉尼退休广播员、前澳大利亚国家橄榄球教练艾伦·琼斯（Alan Jones）周一开始接受审判。他被指控在过去 20 年间对 6 名男子和男孩实施性犯罪。 这位 85 岁的老人对 20 项猥亵袭击指控和两项未经同意的性接触指控否认认罪。 琼斯在悉尼主持了一档热门广播节目近 20 年。从 1984 年初起，他担任澳大利亚国家橄榄球队“袋鼠队”（Wallabies）教练四年之久，并取得了成功。在他的领导下，该队在 102 场比赛中赢了 86 场。 琼斯在保守派政治中具有影响力，曾担任总理马尔科姆·弗雷泽（Malcolm Fraser）的演讲撰稿人。弗雷泽在 1975 年至 1983 年期间执政。
作者：娜塔莉·考夫曼（NATALIE KAUFMAN）
塑料烧焦的恶臭扑面而来，维基·维瓦尔迪（Vicky Vivaldi）愣住了。她的福特 F-150 空调坏了——在奥兰多 7 月的酷暑中，这可是件大事。
“我想，我不能在佛罗里达州 108 度的天气里，卡车还没空调，”在佛罗里达大学学习动物科学的维瓦尔迪说，“我会死掉的。”
在福特经销商那里，一个更令人心碎的惊喜在等着她：一份 5,100 美元的报价单。服务代理告诉维瓦尔迪，她需要更换一套全新的空调系统。
维瓦尔迪之前做过一些研究，预计费用在 2,000 美元左右。她将报价单上传到 ChatGPT，AI 告诉她该价格很可能被夸大了，并建议她联系福特客户服务部门，询问是否存在可能在保修范围内的缺陷。
制造商随后削减了当地经销商的费用，将账单金额几乎降低了一半。
我们都经历过这种情况：在给车做保养时，技师或代理说你需要进行一项昂贵的修理。但你无法判断这是一个真正的修复，还是不必要的推销。现在，一些驾驶员通过咨询人工智能来核对报价、诊断问题，甚至引导他们进行基础维修。
技师们对这位“外部顾问”持有截然不同的看法。当聊天机器人的建议确认并解释了他们的诊断结果时，他们对此表示欢迎；但当它陷入“幻觉”并提供错误信息时，他们认为这反而成了阻碍。
这位印第安纳州福特韦恩的居民几年前将她的 2014 年道奇 Journey 带到技师那里，结果离开时轮胎不平衡。她的车在前往印第安纳波利斯的整个行程中都在剧烈抖动。
因此，当她 2021 年马自达车的空调最近停止工作时，她说她的第一个想法是：“我想知道我自己能不能搞定。”34 岁的 Burris Duncan 刚刚失业，无法负担专业检查的费用。
她指令 ChatGPT 扮演一名技师。30 分钟后，她就在更换汽车肮脏的空气滤芯。之后，她更换了鼓风机电机。
整个过程总花费在 $200 以下——她说，这远低于专业诊断和维修的费用。“AI 在帮我们核实事实方面做得非常好，”Underdog 的共同所有者之一 Palmer Dababneh 表示，“所以我们无法欺骗客户，或者试图向您推销不必要的服务。”
Burris Duncan 会将 AI 用于简单的修复，但她还没准备好更换刹车或摆弄发动机。“有些事情只能由技师来做，”她说。
Dababneh 表示，这种做法培养了满意的客户，从而带动了更多销售。它还让技师们不必为建议的维修项目在争论中证明自己的合理性。
一些技师将 AI 视为建立信任的工具。在服务于达拉斯-沃思地区的移动维修企业 Underdog Automotive，技术人员鼓励客户通过聊天机器人来运行他们的诊断和维修报价。
[图注] 上图为 Vicky Vivaldi 及其福特 F-150。右图为 Sienna Mallon 及其 2016 年丰田 Land Cruiser 79 系列。从顶部顺时针方向依次为：ELENA SCOTTI / WSJ；ISTOCK；SIENNA MALLON；VICKY VIVALDI
NICOLE NGUYEN
在去年的 7 月 4 日独立日周末，这对搭档使用 Veo 3 生成了 Granny Spills 的首批图像。这是一个身着奢侈品牌、痴迷粉色、穿梭于派对之间且充满个性的 70 多岁老人。该角色的 Instagram 账号在一个月内就获得了 100 万粉丝。
当我看向手机时，我开始渐渐失去了对现实的掌控感。一张凳子的木纹看起来光滑得令人起疑。炸西葫芦饼散发出的蒸汽……很不自然。最近，我正对着 Pinterest 上一个客厅的设计心往而行，直到我发现了免责声明：AI 修改。
在一段 Granny 为世界杯球星化装的视频下方，一名评论者写道：“我到底看了个什么鬼东西？”
人工智能正在向我们的信息流中注入大量内容。有些是无害的娱乐，有些旨在激怒我们，有些则是彻头彻尾的诈骗。其中大部分在智能手机屏幕上看起来真实得令人印象深刻。而现在，我们不得不承担一种心理成本，即必须不断地询问：“这是真实的，还是 AI 生成的？”
Vaserstein 曾花费多年时间通过有趣的街头采访积累了数百万粉丝，他对此次成功感到满意。他说：“我们发现塑造这些 AI 虚构角色的增长速度要快得多。”Granny 和其他 AI 网红并不掩饰自己的数字根源。数字模特 Shudu 的创造者 Cameron-James Wilson 引用了像芭比（Barbie）和《冰雪奇缘》中的艾莎（Elsa）这样深受喜爱的角色，表示：“如果人们知道某样东西不是真实的，这并不会妨碍他们享受其中。”
它正在侵蚀我们的现实感。以下是对这个勇敢的新在线生态系统的快速入门指南，以及一份生存实用手册。
还记得 2023 年 3 月那个穿着大蓬松外套的教皇吗？不久前，AI 时刻还只是零星的、病毒式传播的峰值。而现在，它们已成为常态。像谷歌的 Nano Banana 和 Veo 3 这样强大模型的出现，让几乎每个人都能进行高质量的视觉生成。以前的破绽——六根手指、混乱的文字——已经消失了。
Shudu 身材高挑苗条，肤色无瑕且光彩照人。当我询问合成超级模特是否创造了不切实际的审美标准时，Wilson 承认这是有可能的——而且这并非新鲜事。他说：“我曾担任了 10 年的时尚摄影师，做过大量修图工作。”
我对 AI 网红的崛起感到好奇，但更令我不安的是微妙合成图像的普遍存在：AI 烹饪视频、带有机器人配音的 AI 广告、AI 名人婚礼照片、AI 政治深度伪造……名单还可以继续延伸。
我们再也无法相信自己的眼睛和耳朵。去年，AI 歌曲首次登上 Billboard 榜单，促使法国流媒体平台 Deezer 开发了一款合成音频检测器。
像事实核查员一样思考。那么，我们如何才能判断某样东西是否由 AI 生成？数字取证专家、达特茅斯学院计算机科学教授 Hany Farid 表示：“我以此为生，而且我相当擅长，但即便如此，这依然很难。”
Farid 表示，现在人们甚至开始怀疑可以验证的事件。“这件事发生了吗？我说发生了，你说没发生。如果我们失去了共同的现实感，我们将进入一个危险的世界。”
能做些什么？除非完全退出互联网，否则你可以通过像研究员一样思考来评估你的信息流：
阴影可能与太阳的位置不一致。寻找铁梁等直线结构上的波浪线。如果你想深入挖掘，可以使用 Google 街景服务交叉验证位置细节。
谁发布了这个？审计个人资料以寻找危险信号：创建日期是否近期、发布频率以及明显的诱导互动行为。
这件事是否好得离谱——或者气得离谱——以至于不像是真的？监测你的情绪脉搏，质疑发布者的意图。然后问问自己：这种情况发生的可能性有多大？警惕“愤怒诱饵”——社交媒体算法倾向于放大那些能触发强烈情绪（如惊讶、愉悦和愤怒）的内容。
[图注] 左侧的 Shudu 和 Granny Spills 是拥有真实人类追随者的 AI 生成网红。
我们的脑回路并非为此而设计。“如果你思考数百万年的进化过程，我们的神经结构并非为了判断‘灌木丛里的老虎是真的还是假的’而设计。而是‘老虎！快跑！’”他说道。
正如乔治城大学副教授雷妮·迪雷斯塔（Renee DiResta）告诉我的那样，生成式 AI 是一种工具：“你可以用锤子来盖房子，也可以把它当作武器，对吧？”在如今的信息流中，留意锤子挥向何处是明智之举。
在内陆地区保持警惕。但来自纽约州瓦平格斯福尔斯（Wappingers Falls）的技师理查德·法苏洛（Richard Fasulo）——他在社交媒体上被称为“检查发动机的查克”（Check Engine Chuck）——表示，绕过专业人士可能会引发一个吞金的恶性循环。
法苏洛说，他经常听到追随者讲述自己在听信了聊天机器人的错误建议后，更换了车辆中错误的部件。"大多数情况下，这最终会比客户直接将其送到信誉良好的维修店并支付诊断费和修理费更加昂贵，"他在谈到那些缺乏正确信息的 DIY 爱好者时这样说道，并补充称，如果出现问题，责任将由维修店承担。
如何使用 AI。服务技师表示，如果你打算咨询聊天机器人，请记住以下要点：
去年，西耶娜·马龙（Sienna Mallon）在澳大利亚内陆的一个偏远地区驾驶她的 2016 年丰田陆地巡洋舰 79 系列进行单人旅行，当时仪表盘上出现了指示“燃油故障”的灯。这位 29 岁的卡车司机兼社交媒体影响者停了下来，利用她的星链（Starlink）网络连接咨询了 ChatGPT。
马龙认为问题是油箱进水，于是向机器人询问修理指南。随后，她对燃油滤清器进行了拆除、启动和重置。第二天早上她重新上路，但警告灯再次出现。
细化描述。向你的聊天机器人“过度解释”问题。不要只说“发动机噪音奇怪”，而要描述所有细微的细节，并包括车辆的品牌、型号和年份。向 AI 提供车辆的 VIN（车辆识别号码）有助于获得更准确的诊断。
独立验证 AI 建议。聊天机器人可能会基于不足的信息自信地提供错误的建议。来自南卡罗来纳州默特尔比奇（Myrtle Beach）附近的汽车顾问克里斯·克雷格（Chris Craig）表示，务必通过信任的第三方验证输出结果，甚至可以将其带到你的机修工面前。
犹豫不决时，不要 DIY。更换刹车片——甚至更换机油和变速箱油——最终可能会制造出一场混乱，而如果交给专业人士处理，成本会更低，过程也会更简单。
这一次，她转而咨询了一个真人：她的哥哥。通过 FaceTime，他判定问题实际上是滤清器堵塞。马龙设法开到了下一个城镇并找到了更换件。
尽管不必要的摆弄没有损坏她的卡车，但其他聊天机器人的建议可能会造成损害。"在没有先咨询他人之前，不要做任何你不知道如何撤销的操作，"马龙说。
What’s News Two holdout GOP senators remove block on his bid to be attorney general Business&Finance In carrying out their first joint effort in a generation to boost the yen, the U.S. and Japan seek to contain tremors that could be triggered by a cratering Japanese currency. In stock trading Monday, major U.S. indexes surged, lifting the Dow 1.3% to a record and boosting the S&P 500 and Nasdaq by 1.5% and 2.1%, respectively. A1, B10 WA S H I N G T O N — To d d Blanche smoothed his confirmation to U.S. attorney general by formally rescinding a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that critics feared President Trump would use to funnel taxpayer money to his allies. The move by Blanche, who has been serving as acting at- Northrop Grumman signed two agreements totaling $3 billion to speed up production of missile interceptors. B4 Nissan reiterated its annual earnings forecasts as it reported its first quarterly net profit in two years. B3 Anduril is in advanced talks with a Maryland port to build out a production site for the company’s drone boats, a sign of the potential for defense startups. B3 Tyson cut its profit outlook for the year because of soaring cattle prices, which continue to weigh on the company’s bottom line. B3 China’s factories are showing new signs of weakness, risking a sharper slowdown in national economic growth in the absence of new government stimulus. A7 EasyJet extended Castlelake’s bid deadline to Friday, aligning it with rival bidder Apollo and putting the suitors on a footing to submit a firm offer or walk away. B3 AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES Sandoz said it agreed to pay $478.5 million to settle antitrust litigation over genericdrug pricing in the U.S. B4 Hughes Network Systems, owned by EchoStar, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. B5 Worldwide A drought is wreaking havoc along Europe’s rivers. In Romania, authorities set off an explosion beside a river in a bid to divert much-needed water to a power plant. In Bulgaria, 200 vacationers had to be evacuated from a stranded cruise ship. In Germany’s industrial heartlands, companies are curbing production and struggling to ship goods. Todd Blanche took steps to smooth his confirmation to U.S. attorney general, formally rescinding a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization fund” that critics feared Trump would use to funnel taxpayer money to allies. A1 Iran said there weren’t any talks under way with the U.S. and nor were there any meetings planned after Trump said he had called off a major strike on the country. A6 The incidents are all signs of how perilously low water levels in some of Europe’s most sig- Two people died in Michigan in connection with the cyclosporiasis outbreak that has spread across the U.S. A3 A security weakness in the technology crime labs use to analyze DNA evidence exposed 30 years of files to the risk of being hacked. A3 Trump discussed ousting Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, after her office contradicted his contention that vandals damaged the Reflecting Pool. A2 A Red Cross official met with detained former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi after her family pressed government authorities to prove that she was alive. A7 JASON GAY The Dodgers’ spending This edition of The Wall Street Journal was originally published in the United States and reprinted locally for regional distribution. drives fans nuts, but their ‘villainy’ remains within the rules. A12 Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 8.5% in New York City this year, New York Police Department officials said. A3 The House Ethics Committee concluded that Rep. Chuck Edwards (R., N.C.) made unwelcome sexual advances to female House staffers and recommended he be censured. A4 Acting ICE Director David Venturella divested himself of his holdings in Geo Group, one of the nation’s largest private prison operators. A4 BY GREGORY ZUCKERMAN Some people have coffee. Doron Zeif had Dannon coffee yogurt. CONTENTS Arts in Review...... A11 Business & Finance B2,5-6 Business News...... B3 Crossword................. A11 Heard on Street... B11 Markets Digest...... B7 Markets & Finance B10 Opinion................ A13-15 Personal Journal A9-10 Sports.......................... A12 Technology................ B4 U.S. News.............. A2-4 World News........ A6-8 For nearly 40 years, the lawyer in West Orange, N.J., started his day with the creamy concoction. “It’s what I got out of bed for,” Zeif says.
The withdrawal has been severe since Dannon discontinued the flavor, known to its most loyal fans as “DCY.” s 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4, 2026 ~ VOL. CCLXXXVIII NO. 29 WSJ.com U.S. Edition DJIA 53178.41 À 693.38 1.32% NASDAQ 25913.90 À 2.1% STOXX 600 652.09 À 0.4% 10-YR.TREAS. À 15/32, yield 4.684% OIL $80.34 g $4.33 GOLD $4,033.70 g $15.40 EURO $1.1510 YEN 157.17 Richard Rubin and Lindsay Wise Blanche Rescinds Payout Fund torney general, won the support of two holdout Republican senators who were blocking his confirmation to the permanent position. The senators, John Cornyn of Texas and Thom Tillis of North Carolina, had objected to the payout fund and to taxaudit protections for Trump that were announced at the same time in May. By Sadie Gurman, Justice Department agreed to narrow the scope of the taxaudit protections that the Trump administration gave to the president, his family and his businesses. Blanche’s moves, however, don’t alter the agreement between Trump and his own administration that required the fund’s creation. And they leave in place an unusual victory for the president, who turned a taxIn a one-page order late Sunday, Blanche wrote that the fund “is rescinded and shall have no force or effect.” In a separate document released simultaneously, the Romania’s military set explosives recently along the Danube to divert water needed to cool reactors at a nuclear power plant. BY ED BALLARD AND TOM FAIRLESS Drought Is Draining Europe’s Rivers moth bones. nificant waterways are challenging the region’s already stressed economy. Low water levels are making it impossible for some nuclear-power plants to run their cooling systems. In Romania, where one of the two reactors at the Cernavoda power plant has been shut down, the military in recent days set off the explosives as part of a plan to divert more water to the plant from another channel of the river. Europe is enduring a punishingly dry summer, with a lack of rain and sweltering temperatures stoking wildfires from Scotland to Greece. Now, the lack of rain is reducing stretches of the Danube and Rhine to trickles, threatening an industry that has relied on the mighty waterways. In Hungary, all but one of the four reactors at the country’s only nuclear-power plant have been switched off because there isn’t enough water The most vivid effects are playing out on the Danube, where water levels have receded enough to expose World War II-era bombs and mamINSIDE BY JUSTIN LAHART The U.S. economy keeps putting more eggs in the artificial-intelligence basket. Tech companies are spending hundreds of billions of dollars to meet AI computing needs and issuing billions of dollars of debt to help make those purchases. BUSINESS & FINANCE The rapid data-center buildout is powering construction spending, hiring and municipal revenues. Meanwhile, a stockmarket rally fueled by the rise in shares of chip makers and Big fashion brands try on a new trend: Selling secondhand clothes. B1 These Americans Lose Main Reason To Get Out of Bed: ‘DCY’ i i i The withdrawal has been severe since Dannon discontinued its coffee yogurt For a slice of the population, the coffee yogurt was the best part of their day. After all, each 5.3-ounce cup contained about 32 milligrams of caffeine, or about a third of an 8- BY DOUGLAS BELKIN When Natalie Strouse’s husband of 20 years died of cancer, she honored his memory by creating a scholarship in his name at the college where she taught accounting. ounce cup of coffee. The 11 grams of added sugar also didn’t hurt. Each year, she helped select a student to receive a few thousand dollars at Notre Dame College, a small Catholic school outside Cleveland. But in 2024, the college closed. Strouse wanted to re-establish the scholarship at another institution. The most devoted fans ate several containers a day. Some bonded with others who shared the same weakness. When shortages arose, they exchanged tips Buzzkill She asked Notre Dame for the $30,000 endowment, which under the terms of the PleaseturntopageA10 U.S. Helps Japan, And Itself, With Move To Aid Yen disclosure lawsuit against the government into the end of an audit. In a joint statement on Monday, Sens. Cornyn and Tillis said they were pleased by Blanche’s new written statements and planned to advance his nomination. The $1.8 billion fund faced intense blowback after it was announced, including from other Republicans who worried that it could be used to pay people who attacked police officers during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Currency’s slide had potential to increase interest rates, put investment at risk PleaseturntopageA4 BY JASON DOUGLAS TOKYO—In carrying out their first joint effort in a generation to boost the yen, the U.S. and Japan are seeking to contain tremors that could be triggered by a cratering Japanese currency. The yen’s slide to a 40-year low indirectly threatened to bump up U.S. interest rates and risked throwing a wrench into plans to pull billions of dollars of Japanese investment into the U.S. By propping up first Argentina’s currency and now the yen, President Trump is showing he is prepared to help allies who are battling financial markets, a contrast to the hands-off approach long favored by U.S. policymakers except in moments of exceptional peril. Before the U.S. and Japanese governments stepped into the foreign-exchange market to buy the yen on Friday, the Japanese currency had been trading at its lowest level against the dollar in four decades. Earlier bouts of solo intervention had fizzled, sparking anxiety in Tokyo about faster inflation and a bigger import bill for energy as war with Iran strangles oil supplies. In afternoon trade in Asia on Monday, the yen had recovered to around 156 to the dollar following the U.S.-Japan move, from a pre-intervention low of close to 164—the weakest the currency had been since 1986. in the river to keep them cool. The Paks plant typically accounts for 40% of the country’s electricity generation. Water levels on the Danube in Hungary reached their lowest level on record last week. “The Trump administration delivers for America’s trusted partners,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who made a fortune trading currencies and other assets for George Soros’s investment firm, said in a message on his official account on X. He said the U.S. wouldn’t Hungary’s grid can pull power from elsewhere in Europe, but the crisis is nevertheless expected to push up wholesale prices, and officials have called on businesses and consumers to cut energy use. PleaseturntopageA2 With temperatures set to rise above 100 degrees Fahrenheit this week, “the five Investors stay skeptical on PleaseturntopageA7 the yen.................................. B10 How AI Wound Up Driving Economy and Stock Market driven economy right now,” said Barclays economist Jonathan Millar. “It’s hard to imagine that we would be anywhere near as resilient without that impetus.” other companies benefiting from the AI boom has led to a massive increase in household wealth. That is helping to bolster consumer spending. Combined, those factors are likely responsible for roughly one-third of the nation’s recent economic growth, according to Michael Pearce, an economist at Oxford Economics. Mapping out exactly how much strength the economy is drawing from AI is less than straightforward and prone to error. Even so, it appears substantial. But the strength that the economy is drawing from the AI boom is also a vulnerability: What would happen if the boom fizzled out? Details of last week’s gross PleaseturntopageA2 Heard on the Street: How to “It is very much an AIplay flood of AI bonds..... B11 Colleges Raid Endowments To Pay Their Bills Schools in financial trouble tap restricted funds from donors; some states pass legislation to curb the practice gift could only be used to support the scholarship. Not possible, she said an administrator informed her. The money was gone. “She told me they used it to pay the bills,” Strouse said. “I consider it theft.” Ohio’s attorney general last year filed a complaint against 14 trustees and officers of the college alleging they improperly used more than $2 million of restricted endowment funds outside donors’ intended purposes. The defendants have denied allegations that they breached their fiduciary PleaseturntopageA8
and Pirro met behind closed doors at the White House late Monday afternoon. WASHINGTON—President Trump has discussed ousting Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, according to people familiar with the matter, after Pirro’s office contradicted the president’s contention that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was damaged by vandals. Trump and his allies have insisted for months that vandals were to blame for damage to the bottom of the reflecting pool, which his administration had resurfaced ahead of America’s 250th birthday. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday, Trump sharply criticized Pirro. The president has criticized Pirro in public and in private since her office on Friday dropped its case against the three-time Olympian it charged with damaging the reflecting pool. In a court filing, Pirro’s office wrote that new information shows the problems that have plagued the newly renovated pool were caused by a “botched installation not vandalism.” “Jeanine Pirro made a mistake. It was vandalism,” Trump said in the Oval Office on Monday. He said he “was disappointed with Jeanine Pirro…She folded like an umbrella. And people get away with things. It’s a disgrace.” Pirro has been an unwavering defender of the president, previously using her show on Fox News to advocate for him. Pirro was installed in her position last year, first as the acting U.S. attorney. She was later confirmed by the Senate Trump has told advisers that he is angry with Pirro and felt betrayed by the court filing, the people said. Trump AI Driving Economy, Stock Gains U.S. households’ net worth $175trillion 150 125 100 75 ContinuedfromPageOne domestic product report, which measures economic growth based on what the country produces, showed that business investment in AI-related categories continues to swell. 50 25 0 2022 ’23 ’24 ’25 ’26 Spending on software, datacenter construction and computer and communications equipment, were it to keep the same pace for 12 months, would come to about $1.5 trillion. Two years earlier, the annual rate was about $1 trillion. Private investment in AI-related categories† $1.4trillion 1.2 1.0 On Monday, the Commerce Department reported that June construction outlays on data centers reached $68.3 billion, at an annual rate, up $21.5 billion from a year earlier. Outlays on all other private construction—everything from houses to shopping centers to hospitals—fell by $101.6 billion over the same period. Also Monday, comments included in the Institute for Supply Management’s July manufacturing report pointed to robust, AI-related demand. 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 2022 ’23 ’24 ’25 ’26 *Including computer equipment and semiconductors †Seasonally adjusted, at an annual rate Sources: Federal Reserve (net worth); Commerce Department (imports, AI-related investment) pouring money into other capital-spending categories, such as cooling systems and backup generators. Not all of tech-related spending went toward AI— some of it was devoted to buying computers that sit on white-collar workers’ desks, for example. On the other hand, the AI build-out is also A chunk of what is going into the build-out, such as memory chips, is imported, so some AI spending isn’t directly boosting U.S. producHelp on Yen Aided Japan And U.S. The U.S. last helped strengthen the yen in 1998, when the global economy was reeling from the Asian financial crisis. There are a variety of reasons why the U.S. wants a stronger yen. A rapid and disorderly decline in the currency could spill over into other assets, especially as the yen is a popular funding currency because of the gap in interest rates between Japan and the rest of the world, including the U.S. ContinuedfromPageOne hesitate to intervene again to “correct the substantial undervaluation of the Japanese yen.” U.S. intervention in currency markets on behalf of another country is rare. The lure of this “carry trade” has been lessened by a small rise in Japanese interest rates, and may diminish further thanks to the U.S.-Japan intervention, but past crises have shown the risk of disorderly stampedes out of carry trades. Washington stepped in to help Tokyo in 2011, in that case to weaken the yen rather than prop it up. The Japanese currency was surging at the time in the aftermath of a major earthquake. 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THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. U.S. NEWS BY NATALIE ANDREWS President Has Discussed Ousting Pirro ANNA MONEYMAKER/GETTY IMAGES U.S. attorney Jeanine Pirro had dropped criminal charges over damage to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. and, from her post atop the largest U.S. attorney’s office, has shown an eagerness to pursue cases and investigations favored by Trump. ported that Trump has discussed removing Pirro. Earlier Monday, Trump didn’t respond to questions from reporters about whether Pirro should remain in her position. A Pirro spokesperson didn’t respond to a request for comment. The White House declined to comment, pointing to Trump’s public comments about Pirro. CNN earlier reHe acknowledged that he wasn’t happy with the contractors who had rushed to finish coating the pool in time five months of 2024. Value of U.S. imports of electronic components from Taiwan* Also, inflation is eating away at the value of AI spending. Surging chip prices mean buyers simply aren’t getting as much bang for their buck as they used to. $17.5 billion 15.0 Even so, Oxford’s Pearce estimates that AI investment alone has been behind nearly a quarter of the growth in gross domestic product recently. 12.5 10.0 7.5 The AI-boosted stock market is the other big source of support. 5.0 2.5 In the first quarter, U.S. household net worth reached $174 trillion, according to the Federal Reserve, an increase of $13 trillion from a year earlier that was mostly because of stock gains. Since then, the broad S&P 1500 index has risen by about 15%, so net worth is likely trillions of dollars higher now. Those gains have been driven in large part by enthusiasm for AI. 0 2022 ’23 ’24 ’25 ’26 Data centers Communication equipment Computers and peripheral equipment When people’s net worth increases, they spend more freely. Estimates of these wealth effects vary, but economists generally think that for every dollar in stock-market wealth gained, people spend a few cents more. The spending from higher-income consumers, who hold the bulk of stocks, benefits the most. Software “Without this investment boom, I think it’s pretty clear the economy would be running cooler,” Pearce said. tion, and therefore GDP. In the first five months of this year, for example, the U.S. imported about $90 billion in computer equipment, semiconductors and other electronic components from Taiwan. That figure came to about $20 billion in the first To be sure, AI might be sucking up so many resources that it is actually crowding out other parts of the economy. For example, resources that are being taken up by dataHow many Japanese yen $1 buys ¥152 Japan, U.S. buy yen Japan buys yen 154 156 158 160 162 164 Jan. 2026 Feb. March April May June July Aug. Source: Tullett Prebon Note: Scale inverted to show yen’s appreciation “The U.S. would be concerned about a rapid selloff in the yen that undermined global financial stability,” said Paul Cavey, who runs East Asia Econ, a consulting firm that provides data and analysis on the region’s economies. a priority for Trump. Trump has long spoken of his preference for a weaker dollar to narrow the U.S. trade deficit and support the return of manufacturing to the U.S. Japan isn’t the first ally his administration has helped on currencies. An early beneficiary was Argentina under President Javier Milei, a libertarian and Trump supporter. The U.S. set up a swap line with Argentina to provide access to U.S. dollars and the Treasury under Bessent has bought Argentine pesos to prop up its currency. For the U.S. in particular, if Japan chose to support its currency by selling some of its vast holdings of U.S. Treasurys, that could add to the pressure on U.S. bond yields and interest rates when they are already rising on fiscal concerns and uncertainty over Federal Reserve policy. Bessent’s Japanese counterpart, Satsuki Katayama, said on Monday that Japan planned to use a pandemic-era borrowing facility to get dollars from the Federal Reserve rather than sell down its Treasury holdings to finance future intervention. Bessent said he would encourage the Fed to “upsize” the little-used Foreign and International Monetary Authorities Repo Facility. Trump has struck up a rapport with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, a conservative who was close to the late Shinzo Abe, Japan’s longest-serving leader and a friend of the U.S. president. Bessent, who in 2013 made around $1 billion in a matter of months betting against the yen, on Monday praised Takaichi’s economic plans, likening them to Abe’s signature “Abenomics” policies that boosted job growth and helped end deflation in Japan. A weak Japanese currency also makes it harder for Japanese firms to finance a planned $550 billion in investments in the U.S., a cornerstone of a 2025 trade pact and Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said Japan had asked for help and maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. for celebrations tied to July 4 and the country’s 250th birthday. On Friday, Pirro’s office pointed to documents from the Interior Department that “significantly undermine” the evidence that was the basis for charging the former Olympian. “Now, I’m not saying I was 100% thrilled with the contractor, but the contractor was rushing,” Trump said. “We wanted to get it open for July 4, and we got it done— but, in addition, there was vandalism.” Her office wrote in the court filing that a “visual inspection showed damage throughout the Reflecting Pool, even in the middle of the pool, where a vandal wouldn’t likely attempt to peel the lining. Given all of this newly discovered information, it is difficult to attribute the widespread damage to the Reflecting Pool to vandalism.” The government awarded a contract to a Virginia-based company, Atlantic Industrial Coatings, without a full bidding process. The $16 million project gained national attention when the pool bottom began to peel and algae blooms turned the pool from blue to green. Three other people were charged with misdemeanors for allegedly damaging the pool a day after Hearn, according to court records. Pirro initially said there was “a violent effort to rip up the sealant from the bottom of the pool,” and her office secured an indictment against David Hearn, a former Olympic canoe racer, for felony destruction of government property. The charge carried a As of Monday, the court’s public docket showed the government had dropped all three cases. center construction—land, materials, skilled labor—might otherwise be put to other use. JPMorgan Sets Investments In U.S. Housing “You can’t just take out AI and leave everything else unchanged,” said JPMorgan Chase economist Michael Feroli. “The activity and the financial exuberance associated with AI might be squeezing out activity.” JPMorgan Chase said it is investing $750 billion through 2035 as part of an initiative to support U.S. homeownership. The nation’s largest bank said it plans to provide financing for one million affordable housing units and will help half a million people buy homes. AI is also feeding into inflation, cutting into consumers’ spending power. The iPhone 18 Pro coming out in September might cost less if it weren’t for the jump in memory-chip prices. The investment is part of the company’s broader American Dream Initiative that aims to support small businesses, broaden access to healthcare and other economic priorities. For now, and despite recent selling in some AI-related stocks, the AI spending boom looks likely to continue. Analysts estimate that capital spending at five of the socalled hyperscalers—Alphabet, Amazon.com, Meta Platforms, Microsoft and Oracle—will come to nearly $4 trillion over the four years ending in 2029, according to FactSet. That is over $300 billion more than what they estimated about a month ago. “An affordable and resilient housing market is essential to driving economic growth and increasing opportunity,” said Michelle Herrick, head of commercial real estate for JPMorgan. JPMorgan said it plans to increase its level of mortgage lending by more than 40%. The bank also said it aims to provide loans to 200,000 first-time home buyers. Real trouble in the stock market could disrupt that story. So, too, could problems in the debt markets that are helping fund the boom. Barclays estimates that bond issuance at the five big hyperscalers and AI entrant SpaceX will come to $285 billion this year, versus about $109 billion last year. The company’s American Dream Initiative will also offer support to a new housing-affordability law passed by Congress in June that speeds up federal environmental reviews for certain housing projects and removes restrictions on building manufactured homes and other measures. The law went into effect last month. “AI is touching so many things,” said Millar, from Barclays. “A lot of the economy is kind of banking on continued strength from the build-out.” JPMorgan said it has also carved out funding specifically for housing projects in San Francisco. The bank is providing nearly $200 million in financing for a 342-unit residential building on the San Francisco waterfront, it said. the U.S. was happy to oblige. “They wanted a little bit of help and we’re always there for Japan. Japan has been very good to us,” he said, “with the exception, of course, of Pearl Harbor.” Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has said he is worried about the future of the U.S. economy and wealth inequality. The bank said in March it would also lend small businesses as much as $80 billion over the next 10 years, through loans and support for community-oriented banks and investment funds. Japan isn’t in the same economic straits as Argentina. Unlike Buenos Aires, Tokyo has abundant foreign-exchange reserves and Japan’s economy is growing again after decades of stagnation and falling prices. Even so, the yen has been under pressure from a combination of investor anxieties, including over fiscal policy, debt and quickening inflation. —Joseph De Avila Factory Activity Expanded Again In common with other Asian currencies, such as the South Korean won and Indian rupee, the yen has also been struggling as capital races to the U.S. in search of higher returns from the artificial-intelligence boom. The war with Iran has piled pressure on the currencies of Japan and other energy importers. Last Month Factory activity expanded past expectations in the U.S in July, growing at its fastest rate in more than four years, according to a survey of manufacturing firms. Japan in April and May burned through some $70 billion of foreign-exchange reserves to prop up the yen, only to have it weaken again. Preliminary data suggest Japan has spent around $50 billion in this latest burst of intervention. It isn’t clear how much the U.S. deployed to boost the yen, though Bessent was photographed on Friday with a todo list that included buying $5 billion to $10 billion of yen. The ISM’s purchasing managers’ index was 55.6 in July compared with 53.3 in June. Readings above 50 indicate a sectoral expansion. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal were expecting a reading of 54. The new orders index expanded for the seventh consecutive month after four straight readings in contraction. The prices index remained in expansion, but fell from June’s figure. The backlog of orders index was up from June. By joining forces with the U.S., Tokyo is hoping the latest round of intervention will be more successful, said Brad Setser, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a former Treasury official. Meanwhile, the employment index reading of 52.8 was up 3.1 percentage points from June’s figure of 49.7, putting the index in expansion territory for the first time in 33 months. With both countries ready to intervene, “it will now be much more costly to be short the yen,” he said. —Jessica Coacci
Attacks On Jews Rose 8.5% This Year, NYC Says After a decade, Chan Zuckerberg charity halts its support of a California campus BY LAURA J. NELSON The school that Dr. Priscilla Chan co-founded for low-income students was designed to be different. BY JAMES FANELLI The vast fortunes being minted in other corners of Silicon Valley had mostly missed East Palo Alto, Calif., where the Primary School opened in 2016. Funded through Chan’s philanthropy with her husband, Mark Zuckerberg, the private, tuition-free school aimed to support the “whole child” through wraparound services, including free dental checkups, early-intervention screenings and wellness coaching for parents. Anti-Jewish hate crimes increased by 8.5% in New York City this year, New York Police Department officials said Monday, amid heightened levels of antisemitism around the world since the 2023 attacks in Israel. New York City, which has the largest Jewish population of any city outside Israel, recorded 205 anti-Jewish hate crimes in the first seven months of 2026, up from 189 during the same period in 2025. More than half of all hate crimes in the city were anti-Jewish, despite Jewish New Yorkers comprising 10% of the city’s population, according to the NYPD. Then, after a decade of operation and more than $125 million from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, the Primary School shut down in June. The board voted unanimously in April 2025 to close the school after learning that the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative wouldn’t fund it after the 2025-26 academic year, people familiar with the situation said. While antisemitic incidents decreased in the U.S. overall in 2025 after reaching a record high in 2024, they have remained at elevated levels since 2021, according to a recent report by advocacy group Anti-Defamation League. The school’s demise marks the end of one of the highestprofile education efforts funded by the couple’s philanthropic arm. Since Mayor Zohran Mamdani took office this year, some Jewish New Yorkers have voiced concerns that his criticism of Israel has made them less safe in their own city. By some measures, the school’s academic performance fell well short of state norms and its leaders’ expectations, complicating efforts to spread its model to public and charter schools. By others, it succeeded in helping students outside the classroom in ways that are usually not available in public schools. Those fears have intensified in recent weeks, Jewish leaders say, after the mayor called for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, days later, a Jewish man was stabbed in Manhattan in an alleged hate crime. Board president Jean-Claude Brizard said before the vote to close, he shared several options with CZI about the school’s future, including “winding down.” The board wouldn’t have voted to close without alignment from its biggest funder, he said. “This is a mayor who has spent his career using divisive rhetoric, particularly aimed at the Jewish community,” said Assemblyman Sam Berger, a Democrat and Orthodox Jew. “Something we have seen throughout his mayoralty is that rather than pulling back from his rhetoric, he has leaned in to it.” A CZI representative said the decision to close was up to the school’s board and that the organization was focused on the school’s academic results, not the cost. When asked about the rise in hate crimes, the mayor said Monday that his administration is working to root out antisemitism. “It will never be tolerated, it will never be accepted, and we know that this is something that we have to fight with every single tool at our disposal,” Mamdani said, adding that his administration has increased funding for the city’s Office for the Prevention of Hate Crimes. The Primary School’s closure Mamdani was a critic of Israel during the mayoral race last year, accusing its government of committing genocide in Gaza and calling for Palestinians to have the right to self-determination. In January some Jewish leaders criticized him for being slow to condemn protesters who shouted pro-Hamas chants outside a Jewish synagogue in Queens. In May he opted not to participate in the city’s Israel Day parade, citing his support for Palestinians. The decision was a break in custom from previous mayors. Mamdani has emphasized that he is a mayor for all New Yorkers, including Jewish residents. He has highlighted various security measures his administration has taken to ensure the safety of the Jewish community. BY MARIAH TIMMS standard of forensic science that lack the same level of tamper-evident markings that we require for a paper bag,” said Laura Gaydosh Combs, a forensic scientist and University of New Haven professor who worked on the research. A security weakness in the technology used by most of the nation’s crime labs to analyze DNA evidence exposed 30 years of crime files to the risk of being hacked, a group of forensic and computer scientists said. The company that makes the crime-lab equipment used in a majority of facilities, Thermo Fisher Scientific, privately acknowledged the vulnerability in July and indicated it was working on a fix, according to messages reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. The researchers flagged the security threat in May. The researchers found that with the help of computer code written by widely available AI software, they could alter the data produced from computerized scans of physical DNA evidence without leaving any trace they had tampered with the records. The vulnerability is likely to have existed in the digital files produced by crimelab machines since 1995, but recent technological advances make potential tampering much easier now, they said. After being contacted by the Journal, the company Friday issued a security bulletin, labeled high severity, that warned of “a risk for nearly undetectable modification” of certain files “if laboratory controls are circumvented.” “Effectively, what we have are data files that are legitimately referred to as the gold THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. * * Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | A3 U.S. NEWS Funding Lapse Ends School Initiative The Primary School, above in May 2025, was co-founded by Priscilla Chan, below. At right, Mele Fakapelea, in red lei, at her daughter’s eighthgrade graduation last June. dents, $2,500 for preschoolers and $1,000 for children in early-childhood education. has illustrated what philanthropic investment means for a community when it arrives, and when it leaves. Business leaders and founders “look at K-12 education and go, ‘Man, how hard can it be to improve this thing?’ ” said Rick Hess, the director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute. “Well, it’s incredibly hard.” “It was a godsend school,” said Mele Fakapelea, whose daughter Telesia won a lottery spot in the founding class. Fakapelea later enrolled her four younger children. Losing the school’s support system, she said, was “crushing.” Zuckerberg announced one of the couple’s first major charitable gifts, a $100 million grant to Newark, N.J., public schools, on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” in 2010. The Primary School was far more hands-on. Nearly 540 kids were enrolled at the Primary School’s two campuses. The Ravenswood City Elementary School District is now preparing for an enrollment surge, renovating a campus to avoid packing students into portable trailers. Chan said then that her work as a pediatrician, and at a Boston housing project afterschool program, had taught her that systems to help children are often siloed. The school set out to help kids overcome the effects of poverty and childhood trauma. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pledged $50 million when the closure was announced. That includes paying the balance of the school’s lease to the district and supporting local groups to carry on some services. CZI also gave $3.6 million to education savings accounts: $10,000 for elementary stuStaff worked with community clinics to find high-needs Wildfires Bring Devastation to Washington State IN RUINS: Miriam Sim, 76, walked through her neighborhood on Monday after a wildfire struck part of Spokane, Wash. Wildfires in and around the city have destroyed about 700 buildings, and some 67,000 people were under orders to evacuate. Security Flaw Put DNA Evidence at Risk of Hacking The company in a separate note to customers emphasized that there were no known instances where the vulnerability had been exploited. Someone with an intent to corrupt the digital evidence files would need local or remote access to a lab’s servers and enough know-how about the way DNA testing works. The vulnerability doesn’t affect the physical DNA material submitted for testing. “We have been working closely with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency since the software issue was raised,” the company said in a statement to the Journal. “We appreciate the work of forensic researchers on this topic, and we have released a software update that implements the use of digital signatures to add an extra layer of protection that moving forward will help customers verify that data files have not been modified.” DNA evidence is a central and reliable part of criminal investigations and prosecutions, but there have been occasional worries about tampering. In Colorado, a state forensic analyst pleaded guilty in June to four felonies after prosecutors alleged she manipulated evidence and engaged in a variety of misconduct from 2008 to 2023. While there is no evidence that bad actors have exploited the security weakness to hack files, the researchers said they haven’t found a way to detect tampering if it had happened. For decades, lab machines have taken physical DNA evidence and produced digital analysis files. The threat of tampering with those files has grown since the rise of AI Katherine Carter, a former middle-school principal hired as a consultant in 2019, said there “really was not an understanding of the amount of time and support” and planning to launch a school. Carter, who left in 2024, said it can take five years for a new school’s approach to jell. It took time for the school to find the right curriculum and policies, said Lindsey Luebchow, a founding member of the Primary School. Principal turnover, she said, was one result of the structural challenge of “managing many programs in a single school.” FROM TOP: EMILY STEINBERGER/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES, SAO LUTUI, SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Chan was the Primary School’s co-founder and board chair for about eight years, until 2023; CZI was the main funder. Having one major backer in perpetuity hadn’t been the original plan, CZI said, but rather a model that “could be sustained through primarily public investment.” Chan lobbied her network “to bring in other funding sources,” CZI said. But finding donors to supplement CZI was a tough sell, said Brizard, who is the former head of Chicago’s public schools. “Why would you give money to an entity being funded by one of the wealthiest people in the world?” he said. Angelica Cardenas, 29, whose 3-year-old daughter was enrolled along with her siblings’ five children, said she heard about the closure from the news. “If they knew they were going to stop investing in our community, it should have been spoken about earlier on,” Cardenas said. families. Three in four students spoke a language other than English at home. Some things felt more startup than school. Teachers signed nondisclosure agreements. Some toddlers wore recording devices at home to count back-and-forth conversations with their caregivers, part of a program to boost language development. A Stanford report found that in spring 2025, 14% of local students in third grade and above exceeded literacy standards; at the Primary School, it was 26%; statewide, it was 47%. Chan was on campus often, including to read a Mo Willems book (“The Pigeon Needs a Bath!”) to kindergartners. During the launch of a curriculum with Sesame Workshop, Chan bantered with Elmo in a promotional video. Teachers attended the workshop’s 50th-anniversary gala and met Michelle Obama. Eighth-grade students, many of whom had attended the school for a decade, demonstrated above 50% gradelevel proficiency in their final year, the school said. Fakapelea’s oldest daughter, now 13, was one of two speakers when the school’s lone class of eighth-graders graduated in June. She cried afterward, as her family draped her in leis. But the school had some challenges, including high principal turnover. It also initially lacked clear plans and approaches for special education and student discipline, former employees said. Two Deaths In Michigan Linked to Cyclospora Outbreak BY VICTORIA ALBERT Two people have died in connection with the cyclosporiasis outbreak that has spread across the U.S. this summer, according to publichealth officials in Michigan, marking the first deaths tied to the unusually large flare-up of the food-borne illness. LINDSEY WASSON/AP Both of the people had “significant underlying health conditions” that may have been exacerbated by cyclosporiasis and dehydration, said Michigan’s Department of Health and Human Services. It didn’t provide additional information about the people who died, but said cyclosporiasis deaths are uncommon in the United States. The U.S. is facing a severe outbreak of cyclosporiasis, a food-borne illness caused by the cyclospora parasite and characterized by explosive diarrhea that can last weeks. While Michigan has seen an especially high tally, more than 40 states have reported cases. Authorities have been probing various cyclospora outbreaks as if they are distinct, but it is possible they are related and investigators so far haven’t been able to connect them. technology that lets amateurs create tools they might not previously have had the skills to develop, the researchers said. In theory, a sophisticated attack could add or remove DNA profiles after crime-scene evidence is scanned, creating the impression a suspect wasn’t at the scene or an innocent person was. It isn’t clear whether the security vulnerability will affect pending or past prosecutions. Defense attorneys regularly mount challenges to DNA collection and analysis in their cases. The largest outbreak has been linked to Taylor Farms’ shredded iceberg lettuce, which was sold at retailers including Taco Bell. On July 17, Taylor Farms said it was removing all iceberg lettuce sourced from central Mexico from the U.S. market. Taco Bell finished pulling potentially affected product from its supply chain on the same day. Sarah Chu, the director of policy and reform at the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice, who worked on the project, said the research highlights lagging protocols “in a system where life and liberty are at stake.”
give Bush a second chance, in a race where she is again being vastly outspent by her opponent and outside groups. In House primary rematch with Bell, progressive counts on left’s rising power “I want to go in and get back to work,” Bush said in an interview, promising to fight to move the party further left if elected. “I’ve been frustrated with the Democratic caucus because I feel like we can do so much more,” she said, pointing to issues such as protecting abortion rights and combating Project 2025 government cuts. BY TERELL WRIGHT ST. LOUIS—In her concession speech after losing the Democratic primary in 2024, then-Rep. Cori Bush delivered stern words to Aipac, a pro-Israel group that poured millions into defeating her: “I’m coming to tear your kingdom down.” Since Bush’s defeat, many Democratic voters have shifted toward the positions she has championed. Her criticism of Israel is now widespread in the party, and candidates touting the same progressive policies that Bush has pushed, like free universal healthcare, have won a series of high-profile races. Like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, she identifies as a Democratic socialist. Two years later, Bush is staging a comeback attempt to reclaim the deep-blue Missouri seat she lost to Democratic Rep. Wesley Bell, a former prosecutor running as a more-centrist candidate to represent St. Louis and some of its inner suburbs. The rematch Tuesday marks a high-profile test of which direction Democratic voters want to go: a pragmatic, moderate path personified by Bell, or the leftward direction sought by Bush, a onetime member of the “Squad” of prominent progressive lawmakers. She is facing an onslaught of negative ads. Spots from Aipac-aligned United Democracy Project paint her as having been lackadaisical in her congressional duties and hostile to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris The primary also will show whether voters are willing to WASHINGTON Acting ICE Director Sells Prison Stock Acting ICE Director David Venturella has divested himself of his Geo Group stock and recused himself from “all contracts and obligations related to detention” and certain other matters that involve the private prison company, according to a letter sent to Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D., Mass.). Venturella previously worked at Geo, a large private prison operator, before returning last year to the Department of Homeland Security, where he worked during the Obama administration. Venturella worked for Geo Group from 2012 to 2023 and then was a consultant for the private prison company through Jan. 31, 2025, according to an SEC filing. In June, he replaced Todd Lyons, the previous acting director, for whom Venturella served as a top adviser. BROWN UNIVERSITY President Paxson To Leave Next Year While Venturella is acting director, Trump has picked Lance Schroyer, a veteran of Oklahoma law enforcement, as the agency’s next permanent director. But Schroyer has yet to have a confirmation hearing and the timeline of his nomination remains unclear. Immigration and Customs Enforcement hasn’t had a confirmed director since the Obama administration. Brown University President Christina Paxson said she would step down from the helm of the Ivy League school next year. Paxson is the longest-serving Ivy League president, and her tenure has overlapped with one of higher-education’s most volatile periods. She contended with a global pandemic, a broadside on elite universities by President Trump and a shooting at the Providence, R.I., campus that left two students dead. Geo Group is reopening prisons across the U.S. to house ICE detainees under contracts the Trump administration signed last year. A DHS spokesperson said: “The Acting ICE Director abides by all ethics requirements.” Paxson was scheduled to retire last year, but she extended her tenure after Trump froze $510 million in research funding. Brown —Marianne LeVine How Does the Qatar-Donated Air Force One Compare With Other Presidential Jets? Presidential planes Retired In use ‘Sacred Cow’ Roosevelt CURRENT PLANE ‘Independence’ Truman ‘Columbine II’ Eisenhower ‘Columbine III’ Eisenhower ‘Queenie’ Eisenhower The longest-serving SAM-26000 Kennedy presidential plane is still in use. SAM-27000 Nixon SAM-28000 G.H.W. Bush SAM-29000 G.H.W. Bush Qatari ‘bridge’ plane Trump It’s unclear how long the Qatari jet will remain in use as Air Force One afterTrump. ’50 ’60 ’70 ’80 ’90 2000 ’10 ’20 ’30 1945 Note: The 28000 and 29000 jets are VC-25As and the Qatari jet is the VC-25B Bridge. Sources: U.S. Air Force; Kenneth T. Walsh Scan this code for an online article and graphics analysis: From laser weapons to color schemes, transporting the U.S. president around the world in Air Force One is a study in details. A4 | Tuesday, August 4, 2026 HK JP TU ML SI IN UK FR MN PR
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. U.S. NEWS Missouri’s Bush Seeks a Second Chance MICHAEL B. THOMAS FOR WSJ MICHAEL THOMAS/AP Cori Bush Wesley Bell when they were in office, and they highlight her vote against the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure bill. Those attacks on her record were repeated by many voters, during a visit in recent days to the district. principled leader who pro-Israel Americans are proud to support” over Bush. Bush, 50 years old, rose to prominence during the Ferguson, Mo., protests that followed the death of Michael Brown Jr., who was killed by a white police officer in 2014. She unseated long-serving Democratic Rep. William Lacy Clay in a 2020 primary. She has been homeless, living in her car at one point, an experience she said shaped her politics. In 2021, she spearheaded efforts to extend a Covid-19-era eviction moratorium, sleeping for four nights Bush is betting that dissatisfaction among Democrats, paired with her reputation as an activist who isn’t afraid to ruffle feathers, will jolt voters her way. Bush’s own ads cast her as a fighter who isn’t beholden to Aipac—short for American Israel Public Affairs Committee— or other special interests. Aipac spokeswoman Deryn Sousa said Bell is a “serious, U.S.WATCH CRISTOBAL HERRERA-ULASHKEVICH/EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK VOTERS’ TURN: A sign for mail-in voting in Florida’s primary was put out in Miami Monday. NEW YORK Utilities Get Funds After Cyberattacks reached an agreement with the White House that included sending $50 million to workforce development programs in Rhode Island. That deal sparked criticism from students and faculty. New York is giving local utilities more than $9 million to shore up their digital defenses, following cyberattacks that targeted water utilities across at least seven states. In a letter to the Brown community on Monday, Paxson said she is “proud that we came to an agreement with the federal government that restored our funding while staying true to Brown’s values.” In October, Paxson declined to sign on to a controversial Trump administration “Compact” proposing higher-education principles. Gov. Kathy Hochul on Monday unveiled funding for 151 water and wastewater systems. The announcement comes days after federal authorities disclosed attacks that disrupted water operations in several states since July 27. New York finalized mandatory cybersecurity requirements for many drinking water and wastewater systems earlier this year. The darkest moment of her presidency came in December when a gunman killed two students and injured nine in a lecture-hall attack. —James Rundle —Douglas Belkin Ethics Panel Calls For Edwards’ Censure ers, repeatedly over a sustained period, was beyond inappropriate,” the report said. BY JACK MORPHET The House Ethics Committee concluded that Rep. Chuck Edwards (R., N.C.) made unwelcome sexual advances to female House staffers and recommended he be censured. Edwards, who is 65 and married, is running for a third term. A campaign spokesperson said the committee findings “concluded that the allegations in this matter do not implicate quid pro quo sexual harassment.” The spokesperson said Edwards “looks forward to having his name cleared and will work to ensure that the full light of day is brought on this process.” The panel found “substantial reason” to believe that behavior by Edwards toward two young women working in his congressional office violated House rules related to sexual harassment and a hostile workplace. One woman was a 19-year-old and the other was in her early 20s. The committee found Edwards missed votes in the House to decorate the Christmas tree of a staffer in her early 20s, booked and paid for her massages and spa treatments, and wrote poems for her that he read through tears at her going-away party. The committee concluded in a 25-page report released Monday that Edwards made frequent comments regarding his staffers’ appearance and weight, sent them messages in the middle of the night, texted them deeply personal and seemingly romantic thoughts, intruded on personal occasions without invitation, paid for personal vacations and spent thousands of dollars on gifts. “That Representative Edwards did all these things to two young staffEdwards arranged for a singer to serenade the same staffer on her birthday, after which she told a friend she thought the congressman didn’t view her as “just a daughter figure” and that she was “scared lowkey.” ing from the Aipac-aligned United Democracy Project and about $700,000 from the New Democrat Majority super PAC, a group aligned with centrists, according to AdImpact. on the steps of the Capitol. Bush’s strongest support comes from St. Louis’s poorest neighborhoods, where her background as a community activist earned her cachet as a champion for low-income residents. Bell, in contrast, has strong support in the wealthier St. Louis County suburbs. As of mid-July, Bell still had more than $1 million to spend on hand, while Bush had only about $98,000, according to the FEC filings. “I don’t feel Wesley Bell is actually doing anything for the citizens of the city of St. Louis,” said Demoine Smith, 58, who is voting for Bush. “Cori was working for us.” Bush has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.). Bell is endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D., N.Y.). Robert Bianco, 65, said he was supporting Bell because of his career as a prosecutor, and said he didn’t like Bush’s antagonistic language toward Biden and Harris. Bianco said he had one issue with Bell: what he saw as his deep support for Israel. “That’s one of the things I find a bit disturbing,” Bianco said. Bell, 51, said although he supports Israel, he is critical of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Last month, he voted against an amendment backed by about half of House Democrats that would have stripped military aid from Israel. He also supports such progressive causes as Medicare for All. Two years ago, voters swung toward the center, and Bell notched a five-point win. This campaign, Bell has raised $3.6 million in total, nearly triple the $1.3 million raised by the Bush campaign, according to Federal Election Commission filings. Bell also has benefited from $2.1 million in ad spendBush has faced several controversies. In 2024, she said the Justice Department was investigating whether her campaign improperly paid her husband to provide personal security, which she denied. She wasn’t charged with any crime. Blanche Rescinds Trump Fund ity. Blanche’s new order doesn’t change that threeparty agreement. Cornyn had pointed out during Blanche’s confirmation hearing that Trump could sue for breach of contract if the Justice Department fails to create the fund, and the president has continued to support the idea of a fund. ContinuedfromPageOne Capitol by Trump supporters. Blanche in the following weeks said the Justice Department was abandoning the fund, but he hadn’t formally memorialized it in writing until Sunday’s release. Additionally, even without the fund, the administration still has the authority to make settlement payments to people who file claims or lawsuits against the government. Asked about the decision to rescind the fund, Trump said on Monday that he wasn’t personally involved with it. “I didn’t look at it,” he told reporters. “All I know is, Todd Blanche is great.” Cornyn’s office said late Sunday that he had reached the agreement in which the Justice Department committed to formally terminate the fund and make clear “in a binding written document” that the scope of the audit protections was limited. Blanche had provided the audit protections in a May 19 document. As written, that applied not only to the plaintiffs in the original lawsuit but also to “related or affiliated individuals” and “related companies.” It didn’t just end existing tax audits but also barred the government from pursuing matters that “could be pending,” and it explicitly applied to “other agencies or departments.” The announcement comes ahead of a Senate Judiciary Committee vote on Blanche scheduled for Tuesday and could clear the way for Blanche’s confirmation as soon as this week. The committee had scrapped a vote last week because Cornyn and Tillis had refused to back Blanche. Both lawmakers have clashed with Trump and won’t be returning to the Senate next year. Under questioning from Cornyn, Blanche said that order was intended to apply only to the IRS and only to the While the backing from Cornyn and Tillis will likely be enough to advance Blanche past a critical hurdle in the Senate committee, it wasn’t yet clear w h e t h e r Blanche has sufficient support in the full Senate to clinch confirmation, or when a final vote might happen. Democrats oppose Blanche’s nomination and have called both the fund and audit protections wrong and corrupt. named plaintiffs in the case: Trump, two of his sons and the Trump Organization. It isn’t clear how legally binding the DOJ’s new commitments In his Sunday statement, Blanche said this relief would only apply retroactively. And he said he stood by his testimony on the narrowed scope. However, it isn’t clear whether Blanche has the authority to end tax cases, a power that the tax code leaves with the IRS unless cases have been specifically referred to Justice Department for litigation. are. The fund, which could have been used to pay Trump allies, and the audit protections were a product of a controversial settlement between Trump and his own administration. That pact ended an extraordinary $10 billion lawsuit filed by the president against the Internal Revenue Service for a contractor’s illegal leak of his tax returns during his first term. “These assurances are not worth the paper they’re written on,” said Brandon DeBot, policy director of the New York University Tax Law Center. “They don’t do anything new to stop the president from trying to bring back the fund, as he threatened to this weekend. It’s abundantly clear we need congressional action.” In other leak cases, the Justice Department has defended the government, arguing that the U.S. wasn’t liable for the contractor’s actions. In this case, the department’s attorneys never appeared in court and reached the deal directly with the president’s lawyers. A federal judge in Florida said Trump brought the case in bad faith and for an improper purpose, and the judge is considering forcing the president to pay attorneys’ fees to others who intervened in the case. “This supposed ‘deal’ doesn’t prevent payouts to violent insurrectionists in the future,” said Sen. Adam Schiff (D., Calif.), who also criticized the continued tax-audit protection for Trump. “It doesn’t prevent the [administration] from bringing the slush fund back from the dead next week” or from using another Justice Department fund to make payments, he said. Trump still stands to receive significant benefits. His tax matters aren’t public, but the New York Times reported in 2024 that Trump was in a dispute with the IRS that could top $100 million. It isn’t clear how legally binding or significant the Justice Department’s new commitments are. Notably, the text of the deal creating the fund said it could be changed only with agreement of all of the parties who signed it, including the IRS, the Justice Department and Trump in his personal capacBlanche in a social-media post Sunday night said the written-settlement revisions came after “good-faith discussions” over the past few weeks.
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No Talks With U.S. to Open Strait of Hormuz, Iran Says Discussions with Oman continue on managing traffic in the waterway BY SUMMER SAID AND BENOIT FAUCON Iran said Monday that there weren’t any talks under way with the U.S. nor were any meetings planned, after President Trump said he had called off a major strike on the country to provide more time for negotiations on freeing up traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. Over the weekend, Trump said he had prepared to greenlight what he described as the biggest military attack since World War II before U.S. allies intervened. REUTERS with Oman on how to manage the Strait of Hormuz, which has been at the center of the stalemate between Washington and Tehran. The discussions between the two countries bordering the strait have grown more significant in recent days, with both Oman and Iran noting there had been some progress. “We were all set to go, but when the allies asked to call it off, you got to sort of say, ‘Well, let’s see,’ ” he told reporters Sunday. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei rejected Trump’s suggestion that talks were under way, noting that Iran hadn’t sent delegations or negotiators to take part in any discussions. He said all of Iran’s negotiators were still in the country, with the exception of Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who was visiting a religious site in Iraq. Iranian state media earlier cited Araghchi, the foreign minister, as saying that discussions on creating a mechanism for ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz were “nearing completion and in their final stages.” Trump, too, had suggested the discussions are making some headway. He wrote in a social-media post Saturday night that Iran and other Middle East countries had urged him to cancel his attack because the “perimeters of a deal” had been hammered out. In a social-media post Monday, Trump described Iran’s leadership as “unbelievably duplicitous,” saying they had asked for talks on ending the war and then announced that no discussions were being held. “Nothing gets through to Iran, unless we want it to, and nothing will get through, unless a Deal, or Total Surrender, is accomplished,” the U.S. president said. Iran has been in discussions with Oman and other regional mediators about the creation of a new temporary route through the Strait of Hormuz that would allow commercial shipping to resume, mediators told The Wall Street Journal. Later, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “This is the last chance for them to sign a good document.” According to the proposal, Persian Gulf-bound ships will enter via Iranian waters and Iran’s Foreign Ministry did, however, acknowledge that Tehran was continuing talks In Israel, Attacks On Christians Are Increasing BY MARGHERITA STANCATI munities, but critics say it isn’t doing enough. JERUSALEM—In Jerusalem’s Old City, a group of Israeli teenagers recently banged on the door of the headquarters of the Armenian Apostolic Church and asked if there were Christians inside it. They wanted to spit at them. “This is the reality: Whomever is a Christian—visibly a Christian—is becoming a target,” said Yisca Harani, an Israeli scholar who monitors anti-Christian hatred. “There are a growing number of religious Jews who do this, and it is not being taken seriously by Israeli authorities. They are turning a blind eye, and that is an encouragement.” The boys said it was a religious duty, or mitzvah, to humiliate Christians, or, as they called them, idol worshipers. “We are supposed to hate them,” explained one teen, wrapped in an Israeli flag. The rise in anti-Christian behavior is relatively new. In 2013, attackers desecrated a Protestant cemetery in Jerusalem. Two years later, Jewish extremists set fire to a monastery in Tabgha, a place where Christians believe Jesus performed the loaves-and-fish miracle. They were among the thousands of mostly young Israelis who on that May afternoon marched through the historic Old City for a national celebration that marks the capture of East Jerusalem in 1967. It is an annual show of force that the area’s mostly Palestinian residents find provocative. Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, was the defense lawyer of the arsonists. He has said spitting on Christians is an ancient Jewish custom and shouldn’t be considered a crime. On that recent afternoon, there were at least a dozen spitting incidents near the Armenian church alone, according to security-camera footage, witnesses and a Wall Street Journal reporter on the scene. Harani, the scholar, began documenting anti-Christian incidents three years ago through the Religious Freedom Data Center, the organization she founded. In the first half of 2026, Harani’s organization registered 107 anti-Christian incidents, more than double the figures it recorded in the same period in 2024. The majority occurred in and around Jerusalem’s Old City, and the most common form is spitting and verbal abuse, including shouts of “Death to Christians.” Trash is often thrown at monasteries. Incidents of anti-Christian hate, once sporadic, are becoming routine in Jerusalem, a city held sacred in Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Most Israelis condemn this behavior, but negative attitudes toward Christianity have become more common, particularly among young people, surveys show. The incidents are embarrassing for Israel’s right-wing government, which says it is committed to upholding religious freedom in a region where discrimination is common. The government has appointed a new Arab Christian ambassador to help smooth relations with Christian comThe overwhelming majority of Christians who live in Jerusalem are Palestinian Arabs. But much of the anti-Christian behavior targets foreign clerics, nuns and the city’s overtly Christian symbols, according A6 | Tuesday, August 4, 2026 * * THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. WORLD NEWS Iran and regional mediators have been discussing creating a temporary route through Hormuz. exit via Omani waters without paying fees, they said. threats to their territories, according to senior Arab officials familiar with the matter. Iranian diplomats initially reacted positively to the latest proposal, but later demanded guarantees that attacks on Iran wouldn’t resume and that sanctions on its oil would be lifted, the mediators said. International oil prices were about 5% lower late Monday on hopes that an agreement to finally reopen the Strait of Hormuz could be reached, with prices for Brent crude falling to around $84 a barrel. Mediators were also still waiting for a response from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, the paramilitary group that holds the levers of power in Iran. Uncertainty for the talks’ success continues, however. Earlier efforts failed to gain much traction, and if they again stall there remains the prospect that Trump will return to his threats of a massive military strike. If a temporary agreement is reached on the strategic waterway, negotiations would move to revive the initial memorandum of understanding to resolve the conflict over the strait for 60 days, they said, adding that Pakistan has proposed to host the next round of talks between Tehran and Washington. There also is the question of whether the IRGC would agree to any deal to open up the Hormuz strait that doesn’t hand Iran total control of the waterway. The British Navy’s marinetraffic monitoring agency, UKMTO, reported that late Sunday the master of a tanker 20 nautical miles northeast of Oman reported hearing an explosion in proximity to the vessel. The talks between Oman and Iran are focused on finding temporary arrangements over shipping transits in the strait, a move that would ease the reopening of the waterway and help mediators restart talks about a preliminary peace deal. “The vessel and crew are all reported as safe. Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” it said. Regional countries also have asked the mediators that any agreement should include guarantees that neither Iran nor its proxies will pose OFIR BERMAN FOR WSJ (3) Clockwise from above: Young Israelis celebrate the Jerusalem Day flag march; clerics, nuns and Christian symbols are often the target of anti-Christian behavior; a tour guide at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. to victims and rights groups that monitor such incidents. dence in the Old City. While only a small number of extremists engage in such behavior, it speaks of a broader problem, scholars and activists say: Younger Israelis lack knowledge about Christianity, and the little they do know often fuels intolerance. In April, a French nun on Jerusalem’s Mount Zion was shoved to the ground by a Jewish extremist. The nun recovered from her head injuries and the perpetrator was quickly detained, but victims and rights groups say most incidents, which are usually nonviolent, go unpunished. “The notion they have of Christianity is not very complex,” said Orit Ramon, an Israeli professor of Christian history at Jerusalem’s Open University. “They know Christian society mostly through the events of violence by European Christians towards Jews,” from Many nuns are now too frightened to go outside in Jerusalem. Volunteers from Harani’s organization escort them to and from a monastery on Mount Zion to their resiPresident Blasts Oil Companies WASHINGTON—President Trump said Chevron and ExxonMobil are “making too much money” and should return some of their profits back to the public. oil exports have surged. Only reopening the strait can ensure global supplies climb high enough to sate the world’s appetite, they said. “He’s trying to use the bully pulpit of the office to try to persuade companies to bring their prices down. We haven’t seen it be successful in the past,” said Glenn Schwartz, director of energy policy at consulting firm Rapidan Energy Group. By Marianne LeVine, Benoît Morenne and Collin Eaton “When you look at one company where they made 12 times what they made the year before, they ought to give some of that back to the public,” Trump told reporters Monday. “And they better cut the retail price, the consumer price.” “Trump is acutely aware of the political consequences, with the midterms fast approaching, that high oil and high retail gasoline prices make things more difficult on incumbents, particularly Republicans.” The U.S.’s largest oil companies reported blockbuster quarterly profits after Trump’s war in Iran caused a historic dislocation in global markets that sent energy prices soaring. Trump described himself as a “big free enterprise guy,” but said he is frustrated by the oil industry’s profits, which come as fuel prices increase as a result of his war in Iran. “You’re surprised I’m saying it. I’ll say it loud and clear. I’m not happy about it,” he said of the industry’s profits. Trump’s latest attack on the oil-and-gas industry echoes former President Joe Biden’s criticisms. Crude prices soared in 2022 after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and with them Big Oil’s profits, prompting Biden to accuse fossil-fuel companies of war profiteering and call on Congress to pass legislation to penalize companies. At ExxonMobil, quarterly profits more than doubled from a year earlier to their highest level since 2022, at $14.5 billion. Chevron had its highest quarterly earnings on record, at $12.1 billion. Chevron and ExxonMobil are ‘making too much money,’ Trump says. Exxon and Chevron declined to comment. The national average price of gasoline topped $4.55 a gallon in late May on oil prices around $100 a barrel. Prices at the pump marched higher for several months earlier this year as skirmishing off and on in Iran kept the Strait of Hormuz mostly closed. Trump earlier in the day criticized Mike Wirth, CEO of Chevron, in a Truth Social post, after Wirth did an interview with Fox Business’s Maria Bartiromo. Wirth highlighted the company’s record oil-and-gas production and fuel-making in the U.S. The waterway is a pinchpoint in the global energy market. As much as 20% of the world’s daily oil needs flowed through the strait before the war started in February. Analysts said Trump and the oil industry have few options to mitigate high prices— and many have been tried. Large withdrawals from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve since spring have left the emergency stockpiles at the lowest levels since the early 1980s; commercial inventories have shrunk, too, as “The only thing he conveniently forgot to mention is that, without the genius, foresight, strength, and stability, of the TRUMP Administration, the Oil Industry, and our Country itself, would be DEAD!,” Trump wrote. U.S. Ambassador Pushed for Visas Anti-Christian behavior in Israel has tested the support of Tehran’s staunchest allies in the U.S. When Mike Huckabee took over as U.S. ambassador to Israel last year, he was shocked to discover evangelical Christian organizations were struggling to get visas. Huckabee ran a tour company that brought Christian pilgrims to the area. No previous incidents had been reported. Huckabee went to Israel’s minister of interior, but the problem persisted, so he turned to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who helped release the visas. The main obstacle, said Huckabee, appeared to be an official at the Ministry of Interior who held antiChristian prejudices. “The best friends that the state of Israel has are evangelical Christians from America,” Huckabee said in an interview. “And if their organizations could not get their people to come serve on a clergy visa, that was the most unfortunate message they could possibly send.” the Crusades to the Holocaust. Some Jewish extremists say they want Jerusalem’s churches destroyed or converted into synagogues. Among them is 19-year-old Atara Serwatien. “It should be a Jewish state,” she explained. There is also a deep-rooted fear of Christian proselytizing, and they oppose the statues and icons in churches that many regard as idolatry. Many are resentful of the Catholic Church for criticizing the conduct of the war in Gaza and for speaking out in defense of Palestinians. About half of Israelis believed that entering a church is forbidden, up from 10% in 2008, according to a poll published in September by the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, an Israel-based interreligious group. A similar proportion of respondents said they considered Christianity a form of idolatry. Ramon used to take Israeli high-school students on field trips to Christian sites, but as students and their parents increasingly objected, most schools gradually stopped offering them. Ramon ended her tours in the mid-2000s.
REUTERS Spanish territory, a cultural melting pot, is now a flashpoint between continents BY BENOIT FAUCON CEUTA, Spain—By Sunday morning, nearly all of the tens of thousands of migrants who flooded into this tiny Spanish city were gone. But the trauma of the sudden influx lingered. Off a Mediterranean beach, countless shoes bobbed in the blue waters, abandoned by migrants who had swum to this slice of Spanish territory along the Strait of Gibraltar, just off the coast of Morocco. Evaristo Casares Fernandez, a sanitation worker, noted that it would fall to him to clean up the floating mass of footwear. Migrants gather around a bonfire on a beach in Ceuta. week, migrants flooded into Ceuta, overwhelming the border guards and sending many of the 80,000 permanent residents to the safety of their homes. Shops closed, the enclave’s bustling street life receded. “It used to be a very tranquil place,” said Casares Fernandez, 55 years old, a Ceuta native. “That’s no longer the case.” Mercedes Cabrera Lafaro was hoping to reopen her beauty parlor now that the large groups of young men were no longer roaming the streets. But the 67-year-old said the fear remained that such an influx could happen again. For centuries, this city has been a multiethnic melting pot where European and African, Muslim and Christian cultures converged, and coexisted mostly peacefully. Its mix of Spanish military fortifications, churches, mosques and a synagogue is unusual for North Africa. “We feel abandoned,” she said, echoing a widely shared grievance among Ceutíes, as the locals call themselves. Now, it is a symbol of the chasm migration has opened between the two continents. Spanish authorities estimated 60,000 migrants breached the border and enFor several chaotic days last Myanmar’s Suu Kyi And Red Cross Meet trolled and the military is effectively running the country, analysts said. Myanmar’s president is Min Aung Hlaing, who until recently was commander in chief of the military. BY MIKE CHERNEY SINGAPORE—Myanmar’s tainted pro-democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi, met with a Red Cross official Monday, offering evidence that the former leader is alive despite concerns from her supporters about her health. Meanwhile, a civil war is raging between the military, and pro-democracy activists and ethnic groups. The military, supported by China, has made some gains recently. Suu Kyi met with Arnaud de Baecque, the resident representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross, according to a statement attributed to Myanmar’s presidential office that was posted on a state media Telegram channel. The Red Cross confirmed the visit. The Myanmar government didn’t say what prompted the meeting or what was discussed. Presidential office spokeswoman Khaing Khaing Soe said in a message afterward that Suu Kyi is in good health. Photos of Suu Kyi, who is 81 years old, also were released Monday, including one in which she is shaking hands with someone who appears to be de Baecque in a wood-paneled room, and another where the pair are sitting on chairs. Suu Kyi’s family and supporters say they haven’t heard from her in years. Her London-based son Kim Aris has been campaigning to get Myanmar authorities to offer proof that she is alive. Suu Kyi’s condition and whereabouts have become a point of tension between Myanmar and its neighbors. The meeting could help Myanmar’s military rulers—who concluded elections earlier this year—in their campaign for international legitimacy. The Red Cross said the visit was carried out in accordance with its procedures for visiting people deprived of liberty, which included the opportunity to speak in private. It didn’t provide an assessment of Suu Kyi’s health or condition. The vote was tightly conMYANMAR GOVERNMENT/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Aung San Suu Kyi shakes hands with Arnaud de Baecque in an image released by the Myanmar government. THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. Tuesday, August 4, 2026 | A7 WORLD NEWS Most of the migrants who came to Ceuta retured to Morocco by Sunday. Some remained at a temporary facility on Monday. Ceuta Lays Bare Migration Politics supports a faction trying to gain independence for Western Sahara, a former Spanish colony that Morocco claims. Sánchez has taken a critical line toward Israel, which has relations with Morocco through a Trump-brokered pact. “The mass migration undermines Sánchez and curries favor [for Morocco] with the U.S. and Israel,” said Geoff Porter, president of consulting firm North Africa Risk Consulting. AP PHOTO/BERNAT ARMANGUE Spanish politicians have descended on Ceuta to criticize Sánchez for allowing the migrant influx. The Sánchez government has defended its migration policies and blamed smuggling mafias. tered Ceuta, but some residents said it seemed like more. Madrid deployed police and military forces to round up most migrants and escort them to the border with Morocco by Saturday evening. On Saturday, Spanish officials said they began installing a makeshift, inflatable barrier that extends out some 500 yards from a breakwater where many of the migrants had swum to the enclave. The incident highlights the tense relationship between Spain and Morocco, which doesn’t recognize the Spanish claim to Ceuta. Migrants say Morocco allowed them to cross the border for reasons that remain unclear. Morocco’s government didn’t respond to requests to comment. The Spanish prime minister’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment. The tensions in Ceuta are far from over. Late Sunday, locals clashed with anti-Muslim protesters who arrived from mainland Spain, prompting the police to deploy. Moroccan authorities also were on high alert. At the border town of Fnideq, antiriot vehicles were stationed along the beach where the migrants had swum to Ceuta. Political analysts have pointed to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s recent visit to Algeria, Morocco’s neighbor and rival. Algeria Europe’s Rivers Are Going Dry ContinuedfromPageOne most difficult days lie ahead,” Hungary’s Prime Minister Péter Magyar said on social media on Monday. The outage deepens an economic headache for Magyar, who is under pressure to reduce a fiscal deficit and boost growth. A prolonged energy crisis could force the government to step up financial support for the power sector and deter investment in manufacturing, said William Jackson, chief emerging-market economist at Capital Economics. “If there are concerns about energy reliability, that’s likely to affect investment decisions,” he said. closely watched water-level gauge is delivering a daily dose of pain to industrial companies that rely on the waterway. Conditions on the Danube are a pain for tourism, too. The river was immortalized by composer Johann Strauss II as “The Blue Danube,” but views from cruise-ship windows are heavy on the gray-brown hues of dried-up riverbeds. On Friday, the water depth at Kaub, west of Frankfurt, fell as low as about 9 inches, just shy of its lowest recorded level from a drought in October 2018. The water level there is expected to drop below 8 inches this week, the German Waterways and Shipping Administration said. Record-low levels were measured at other Rhine gauges in North Rhine-Westphalia, such as in Cologne and DuisburgRuhrort, over the weekend. Last week, 186 passengers had to be brought ashore from a Viking cruise liner that hit a sandbank because of low water levels near the Bulgarian city of Vidin. Viking said its guests were transferred safely ashore. The company has a large fleet and lots of experience navigating Europe’s rivers, but some itineraries may need to be modified, it warned. Kaub is one of several points on the Rhine where water levels have fallen so low that ships can now only carry 20% to 30% of their normal load without risk of grounding. That means more vessels are needed to ship goods, pushing up freight rates. Several cruise operators have canceled voyages. “Major parts of the Rhine and Danube as well as the Moselle and Main are not navigational, so we focus on the stretches that still have enough depth to cruise,” said Patrick Ell, a vice president at German operator Viva Cruises. “We are operating up to the limits of what is physically possible,” said Jens Schwanen, managing director of the German Federal Association of Inland Navigation, which represents the country’s commercial inland shipping sector. Viva has canceled one cruise and rerouted others. On the Rhine, more than 800 miles northwest of where the Viking Ullur ran aground, a If the drought continues, it could lead to supply shortages China’s Factories Show New Signs Of a Slowdown China consumer confidence index BY HANNAH MIAO 130 China’s factories are showing new signs of weakness, risking a sharper slowdown in growth—though not enough, it appears, to push Beijing into delivering major new stimulus. 120 110 Manufacturing activity in China expanded at a slower pace in July than the previous month, according to a private gauge released Monday. That came after the government’s official manufacturing purchasing managers index on Friday showed a contraction in activity in July for the first time in five months. 100 90 2020 ’21 ’22 ’23 ’24 ’25 ’26 80 Stalling factory activity adds to China’s economic woes. The world’s second-largest economy after the U.S. has been weighed down recently by weak consumer demand and a drop in investment. Gross domestic product grew 4.3% in the second quarter compared with the same period a year earlier, the slowest pace since 2022. Source: China's National Bureau of Statistics via CEIC sumption went largely unanswered as a surge in exports helped it to eke out sufficient growth to meet its official target for the year. This year, authorities have already lowered the bar. China set a target of GDP growth of between 4.5% and 5% this year, the lowest target since at least the 1990s. For the first half of 2026, China reported 4.7% real GDP growth, putting it on track to meet the target. Yet Beijing has signaled little appetite for steps sought by some economists to stimulate growth, such as significantly expanding social-welfare spending and stepping up support for the beleaguered real-estate industry. At a late July meeting of the ruling Communist Party’s Politburo, top leaders stressed the need to make full use of existing policies, and suggested that some targeted support is on the way, without offering a specific timeline. “We believe the absence of a major new stimulus package suggests that authorities still view the current slowdown as manageable,” analysts at Citigroup said. Governments around the world increasingly are concerned about China’s reliance on exports to drive growth. European leaders have accused Beijing of using subsidies to unfairly support industries, leading to overproduction and a flood of Chinese products entering Europe. China denies that it has a problem with overcapacity. “We do not expect a bazooka-style package,” Kelvin Lam, an economist at research firm Pantheon Macroeconomics, wrote in a note Monday. China has been experiencing a two-speed economy. It boasts strong exports and cutting-edge technology, while domestic spending has faltered and property prices remain in the doldrums. The July gauges of factory activity suggest exports likely will remain strong, while domestic demand continues to lag behind, as new export orders held up better than overall new orders, economists said. Some analysts believe extreme weather in July contributed to the weaker factory activity readings. The country’s economy followed a similar path last year, starting 2025 with strong growth but losing speed as time went on. Calls for steps to stimulate domestic conAP PHOTO/ANDREEA ALEXANDRU A boat is banked on a low point in the sand along the Danube in Rasova, Romania. instance, has invested in shallow-bottomed barges that are better-equipped to navigate during droughts. and price increases for consumers, for example at gas stations in the south of Germany, economists say. But there are already signs of distress in Europe’s chemicals sector. German steel producer Thyssenkrupp said it has reduced hot-metal production at its blast furnaces in Duisburg after low water levels forced it to remove its push-barge fleet from service, crimping rawmaterial deliveries despite switching to smaller chartered vessels. A recent run-up in the price of benzene—an important input for many chemicals—was likely driven in part by concerns about supply disruption, said David Potter, an executive director at Chemical Market Analytics. Benzene is already too expensive for some industrial users to operate profitably, he said, adding the longer the drought lasts, the more likely it is that some companies might suspend production. Low water levels The crucial unknown is the drought’s duration. Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro research at ING, said Germany’s gross domestic product might only grow by 0.5% this year— rather than the 0.8% he had forecast—if the disruption doesn’t abate soon. have exposed WWII bombs and mammoth bones. The prolonged dry spell is also threatening crop yields across the Continent, a European Union drought update said on Friday. A bad drought in 2018 wiped nearly 0.4 percentage point off German GDP, the Kiel Institute for the World Economy estimated. Since that shock, some companies have taken steps to reduce their exposure by shoring up alternative routes. While forecasts point to rain around the Mediterranean, other regions can expect “severely drier than average conditions” until September, it said. Chemicals giant BASF, for
[图注] FOGGY MORNING: A passer-by watches a ferry glide along the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul.
Continued from Page One duties and failed to exercise proper oversight of the school. Higher education is in financial trouble and Strouse’s lost scholarship is one piece of the growing collateral damage. College leaders are cutting programs, laying off faculty—and digging into endowments to pay operating expenses. Boards of trustees are under intense pressure and some are turning on one another and the presidents they employ. In extreme cases, schools are covering day-to-day bills with funds that donors gifted for other purposes, without the donors’ knowledge or consent. This tactic is creating a new loser in the consolidation of higher education: thousands of philanthropists who have donated billions of dollars to colleges and universities across generations. Nearly 200 private colleges borrowed from restricted endowments in 2025, up from 131 in 2021, according to estimates from Perspective Data Science, a higher-education financial consultant. Schools used most of the money for everyday expenses, said Matthew Hendricks, the company’s founder. “This is going to be a huge problem as small colleges close,” said Joanne Florino, a fellow at Philanthropy Roundtable, a nonprofit organization that advocates on behalf of philanthropists. “A lot of living donors are finding out the money they donated is not being used for what they gave it for.” Skepticism about the value of a college degree—amplified by the tough job market for recent graduates—has also reduced the share of Americans choosing college. New laws in Kansas, Kentucky, Georgia and Montana have passed legislation in the past few years making it easier for donors to take legal action against nonprofit organizations, including colleges, that use restricted gifts outside the intended terms. The Roundtable pushed for the legislation amid growing concerns about the possibility of misuse, said Florino. More than 440 colleges are at risk of closing or merging in the next decade, according to a forecast by the Huron Consulting Group, which advises schools on mergers. Tuition that outpaced inflation for decades has saddled students and families with high debt and yielded uneven returns on the time and money poured into a four-year degree. The wealthiest universities can offset tuition costs with large endowments, making many of them more affordable than smaller, lesser-known colleges with fewer resources. Using restricted donor funds to cover day-to-day expenses is tantamount to putting a going-out-of-business sign on campus, so it is little discussed outside college boardrooms. Even third-party annual audit reports are often vague on where schools are pulling money. The result, said Chuck Ambrose, former president of the University of Central Missouri and now a senior adviser at Husch Blackwell Consulting, is that a lot of reckless behavior will likely come to light as schools close or merge. The percentage of private, nonprofit colleges drawing down endowments at greater than 7%—considered a sign of financial instability—nearly doubled to 19.3% in 2025 from 9.7% in 2016, according to Perspective Data Science, which analyzed nearly 1,000 institutions. The percentage of schools drawing down endowments at 15% tripled to 5%. “A lot of schools are doing whatever they can to keep the lights on,” said Hendricks. Donations to colleges fall into two buckets: those for general use and those restricted to a specific purpose by the benefactor. Generally, schools can only change how a restricted gift is spent by asking permission—from the donor if still alive, or from the attorney general or the courts if the donor has died. College and university enrollments are hitting the so-called demographic cliff, a falloff in the population of potential students caused by lower birthrates. The largest number of Americans born in a single year started college this past fall. Now, enrollments are projected to fall 13% by 2041, according to the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. In the Midwest and Northeast, the decline has been ongoing for several years.
Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, above, closed in 2024. In May, the campus was bought by a hospital, and the school’s equipment, below right, was auctioned off. Jennifer Schuller, below left, is president of Ohio’s Lake Erie College. Confidence in Notre Dame’s financial outlook began to fall during the pandemic. The school was founded in 1922 as a Catholic women’s college. Through the 1990s, enrollment hovered around 500 but in 2001 it began admitting men, expanded its sports program and boosted enrollment to nearly 2,000. In 2008 the school borrowed $20 million to build a new dormitory and improve sports facilities. Confidence in the school’s outlook began to shake during the pandemic. Notre Dame brought students back to the classroom in the fall of 2020, but enrollment fell and the college’s financial outlook weakened. By 2023, enrollment had fallen 32% from 2016 and the school was losing $4 million a year, according to federal data and the college’s tax filings. The collapse Michael Canty, a business owner who had joined the board the prior year, began to suspect that the school was improperly borrowing from restricted endowments. He confronted the then-president, J. Michael Pressimone, telling him the practice was improper and had to end. Pressimone defended the practice as necessary, Canty says. “I was flabbergasted,” Canty said. “I threw a civil fit.” In an interview, Pressimone said Notre Dame did regularly dip into the unrestricted endowment to cover costs toward the end of the semester when cash flow was tight, but he says he never authorized the use of restricted funds. Soon after, the board held a meeting. Pressimone made a motion to officially reclassify $1.2 million of restricted endowment funds for other uses, the Ohio Attorney General alleged. No one seconded the motion, according to the suit. The next day, the board asked Pressimone to leave, the attorney general says. A week later, the interim president advised the executive committee that $2.8 million would need to be returned to restricted endowment funds, according to the complaint. The school has adopted the auditors’ recommendations “to demonstrate legal support for the allowability of the internal borrowings,” according to a school spokesman. “Donor intent has been and will continue to be fully honored.” The school’s financial woes were spreading. The baseball coach discovered his card was declined when he tried to pay for team travel expenses. The card was tied to a restricted account with money raised for the team’s use, according to interviews and a 2024 lawsuit. Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio last year reclassified about $20 million from donor-restricted to unrestricted, according to a 2025 audit. The funds were withdrawn without prior authorization of the Board of Trustees. Dan Karp, a school spokesman, said the school “has appointed a new President and leadership team, and is implementing internal financial controls in consultation with third-party experts.” The suit was dismissed for lack of standing, but last year Ohio’s Attorney General filed its own suit, alleging 14 trustees and officers had spent more than $2 million from restricted endowments without permission. The defendants have denied that they breached their fiduciary duties. In May, an Ohio hospital bought the 48-acre campus for $8 million. A week later, the school’s possessions, including furniture, science equipment and athletic gear, had been organized, stacked in neat rows and put up for auction.
When Jennifer Schuller became president at Ohio’s Lake Erie College in 2023, the school was in the red and in danger of closing, she says. One of her first acts was to contact eight donors and ask them to free up $594,000 in restricted donations. She applied that money to the general operating budget, she says, and bought the school more time. Last year, Quincy University in Illinois borrowed about $6 million from its endowment “for cash flow needs,” without permission from the attorney general, according to a 2025 audit. The auditor recommended that the school “seek retroactive approval from the Illinois Attorney General for the endowment borrowings.” “I explained to them the school needed the money now and could not wait,” she said. She believes that cash and other changes helped set Lake Erie on a sustainable trajectory. As student enrollment sinks and schools struggle to keep up with costs, a pattern plays out, says Doug Moore, founder of Highland Group, a firm that specializes in closing failed colleges. First, trustees dig into unrestricted endowment funds. Then they try to raise money from alumni and foundations. Then they ask donors to lift restrictions and allow the money to be spent on operating expenses. But persuading living benefactors to lift restrictions doesn’t always generate enough money to keep schools afloat. So boards start “digging for dollars” by searching for loopholes in restricted funds given by benefactors who are deceased, Moore said. It wasn’t until the mid-1990s that clear documentation for gift agreements was the norm. Prior to that, money earmarked for scholarships was often expressed in correspondence between benefactors and college presidents. Some schools are hiring archivists to locate those letters and re-evaluate the terms of gifts. For generations, college trustees were primarily institutional caretakers focused on preservation and continuity. Today, governance is shaped by sustained financial and legal volatility. That is translating into boards ill-prepared for tough choices, said Laura MacDonald, who runs Benefactor Group, which helps institutions build endowments. When they are faced with closing schools, they think: “Not on my watch,” she says. Strouse, 65 years old, said she wasn’t contacted by the AG. Still, she is upset by both the closing of the school, where she started teaching in 2001, and the loss of the scholarship. She attended Notre Dame sporting events with her husband and had great respect for student athletes who practiced their sport, studied hard and often held off-campus jobs. When he died, several students who knew him from his support at their games came to the funeral. After she set up the scholarship in 2019, Strouse helped to pick the recipients—accounting majors who were also athletes. The scholarship generated a few thousand dollars a year. “Even a little bit can help,” she said.
[图注] CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: LISA SCALFARO/USA TODAY NETWORK/REUTERS; DOUGLAS BELKIN/WSJ; MIKE DEMETER
Russia Blames Kyiv For Moscow Bomb Russia on Monday blamed Ukraine for a Saturday bombing in Moscow, saying the attack on the Balzi Rossi restaurant killed five and injured 19 others. Ukrainian authorities haven’t commented on the incident. Separately, Russian planes dropped bombs on residential districts of the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia, killing one person and wounding dozens, regional chief Ivan Fedorov said Monday. Meanwhile during the weekend, six people were killed by Ukrainian drone debris in Arkhipo-Osipovka, a small town on Russia’s Black Sea coast in the Krasnodar region. Three other people were killed and two were wounded in Ukraine’s overnight into Monday attack on Crimea. —Associated Press
Dozens Are Killed In a Drone Attack At least 35 people were killed in a Sudanese army drone strike on a civil court in Sudan’s Darfur region, a rights group said. Emergency Lawyers, an independent group documenting atrocities in Sudan, said on Sunday afternoon drones targeted the headquarters of the civil court in Al-Zawiya Gara village in North Darfur State. Sudan plunged into all-out war in April 2023, between the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese military, leaving at least 59,000 people dead, according to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a conflict-monitoring group. Aid groups say the figure is an undercount and the true number could be higher. The Sudanese army didn’t respond to requests to comment. —Associated Press
Radio Personality’s Assault Trial Starts The trial of Alan Jones, a retired Sydney radio broadcaster and former Australian national rugby coach accused of sexual offenses against six men and boys over two decades, began on Monday. The 85-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 20 counts of indecent assault and two of sexual touching without consent. Jones hosted a popular Sydney radio show for nearly two decades. He also was a successful coach of the Australian national rugby team, the Wallabies, for four years from early 1984. The team won 86 of their 102 matches under his leadership. Jones was influential in conservative politics and was a speechwriter for Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser. Fraser was in power from 1975 until 1983. —Associated Press
BY NATALIE KAUFMAN
The stench of burning plastic smacked Vicky Vivaldi in the face. Her Ford F-150’s air conditioning had failed—a pretty big deal in the throes of an Orlando July.
"I was like, I cannot be in Florida and like 108-degree weather and not have AC in my truck," says Vivaldi, who studies animal science at the University of Florida. "I will die."
An even more punishing surprise awaited her at the Ford dealership: a $5,100 quote. The service agent told Vivaldi she would need a brand-new AC system.
Vivaldi had done some research before and had expected to pay closer to $2,000. She uploaded the quote into ChatGPT, which told her it was likely inflated. It recommended contacting Ford customer service to ask about a flaw that might be covered.
The manufacturer cut the local dealer’s fees and slashed the bill nearly in half.
We have all been there: You’re getting your car serviced, and the mechanic or agent says you need an expensive repair. But you can’t tell if it’s a genuine fix or an unnecessary upsell. Some drivers now consult artificial intelligence to gut-check quotes, diagnose problems—and even guide them through basic repairs.
Mechanics have mixed opinions on this outside consultant. When the chatbot advice confirms and explains their diagnosis, they welcome it. When it veers into hallucinations and misinformation, it’s a hindrance, they say.
The Fort Wayne, Ind., resident brought her 2014 Dodge Journey to a mechanic a few years ago and left with unbalanced tires. Her vehicle shook the whole ride to Indianapolis.
So when the AC recently stopped working in her 2021 Mazda, she says her first thought was, "I wonder if I can do this myself." Burris Duncan, 34, had just lost her job and couldn’t afford a professional checkup.
She instructed ChatGPT to act like a mechanic. Thirty minutes later, she was changing the car’s dirty air filter. After that, she replaced the blower motor.
The process cost under $200, all in—far less than a professional diagnosis and repair, she says. "AI does a really good job at fact-checking us," says Palmer Dababneh, one of Underdog’s co-owners. "So we can’t lie to our customers, or we can’t try and upsell you."
Burris Duncan will use AI for easy fixes, but she isn’t ready to change her brakes or tinker with her engine. "There are some things that mechanics just have to do," she says.
The practice has cultivated happy clients, driving more sales, Dababneh says. It also saves mechanics from having to argue their case on a suggested repair.
Some mechanics see AI as a trust builder. The techs at Underdog Automotive, a mobile-repair business serving the Dallas-Fort Worth area, encourage customers to run their diagnoses and repair quotes through chatbots.
[图注] Vicky Vivaldi in her Ford F-150, above. Right, Sienna Mallon with her 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser 79 Series. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: ELENA SCOTTI/WSJ; ISTOCK; SIENNA MALLON; VICKY VIVALDI
NICOLE NGUYEN
During Fourth of July weekend last year, the pair used Veo 3 to generate the first images of Granny Spills, a luxury-brand-wearing, pink-obsessed, party-hopping sassy septuagenarian. The character’s Instagram account gained a million followers within a month.
When I look at my phone, I’ve been starting to lose my grip on what’s real. A stool’s wood grain seemed suspiciously smooth. The steam emanating from a fried zucchini fritter was…unnatural. Recently, I was swooning over a Pinterest living room before I spotted the disclaimer: AI-modified.
Beneath a video of Granny putting makeup on a World Cup star, one commenter wrote, "What the heck did I just watch?"
Artificial intelligence is pumping a lot of stuff into our feeds. Some is harmless fun. Some is engineered to rile us up. Some is straight-up scammy. Most of it looks impressively lifelike on a smartphone screen. And now we suffer the mental tax of constantly having to ask, "Is this real or AI?"
Vaserstein, who took years to amass millions of followers with funny man-on-the-street interviews, was pleased with the success. "We found it way easier to grow these AI fictional characters," he says. Granny and other AI influencers don’t hide their digital roots. "If people know that something’s not real, it doesn’t stop them from enjoying it," says Cameron-James Wilson, the creator of digital model Shudu, citing beloved characters like Barbie and Elsa from "Frozen."
It’s eroding our sense of reality. Here’s a quick primer on this brave new online ecosystem, and a practical guide for surviving it.
Remember the pope in a big puffy jacket back in March 2023? Not long ago, AI moments arrived in sporadic, viral spikes. Now, they’re the norm. The arrival of powerful models such as Google’s Nano Banana and Veo 3 put high-quality visual generation in just about everyone’s hands. Former tells—six-fingered hands, jumbled text—went away.
Shudu has a tall, lean figure and an immaculate, glowing complexion. When I asked whether a synthetic supermodel creates unrealistic beauty standards, Wilson agrees it’s possible—and isn’t new. "I used to be a fashion photographer for 10 years. I’ve done tons of retouching," he says.
I’m intrigued by the rise of AI influencers. I’m more disturbed by the prevalence of subtle synthetic images: AI cooking videos, AI ads with robotic voice-overs, AI celebrity-wedding photos, AI political deepfakes…and the list goes on.
We can no longer trust our eyes and ears. Last year, AI tracks hit the Billboard charts for the first time, prompting French streamer Deezer to build a synthetic-audio detector.
Think like a fact-checker. So, how can we tell if something is AI-generated? "I do this for a living and I’m pretty good at it and it’s hard," says Hany Farid, digital-forensics expert and Dartmouth College professor of computer science.
Now, people are starting to doubt even verifiable events, according to Farid. "Did this happen? I said yes. You said no. This is a dangerous world we’re entering if we don’t have a shared sense of reality."
What can be done? Short of quitting the internet altogether, you can evaluate your feed by thinking like a researcher:
Shadows might be inconsistent with the sun’s position. Look for wavy lines on straight structures like iron beams. If you want to dig deeper, cross-reference location details using Google Street View.
Who posted this? Audit the profile for red flags: a recent creation date, post frequency and blatant engagement bait.
Is this too good—or too infuriating—to be true? Check your emotional pulse and question the poster’s intent. Then ask yourself: How likely is this scenario? Watch for rage-bait—social-media algorithms tend to amplify content that triggers strong emotions like surprise, delight and outrage.
[图注] Shudu, left, and Granny Spills are AI-generated influencers with real human followings.
Our brains aren’t wired for this. "If you think about the millions of years of evolution, our neural architecture wasn’t designed to say, ‘Is the tiger in the brush real or fake?’ It’s ‘Tiger! Run!’" he says.
As Renee DiResta, associate professor at Georgetown University, told me, generative AI is a tool: "You can take a hammer and build a house with it, or you can use it as a weapon, right?" In today’s feed, it pays to watch where the hammer is swinging.
Alert in the Outback. But circumventing the professionals can trigger a money-sucking spiral, says Richard Fasulo, a technician based in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., who is known on social media as Check Engine Chuck.
Fasulo says he frequently hears from followers who replaced the wrong parts on their cars after taking flawed advice from a chatbot. "It does more often than not end up being more expensive than if the customer had just brought it somewhere reputable, paid them to diagnose it, paid them to fix it," he says of those ill-informed DIYers, adding that in the event something goes wrong, liability falls on the shop.
How to use AI. Service technicians say if you’re going to consult a chatbot, keep these pointers in mind:
Sienna Mallon was on a solo drive last year in a remote part of the Australian Outback in her 2016 Toyota Land Cruiser 79 Series when a light indicating a "fuel fault" appeared on the dashboard. The 29-year-old truck driver and social-media influencer stopped and used her Starlink internet connection to consult ChatGPT.
Thinking the issue was water in the fuel tank, Mallon asked the bot for repair instructions. She proceeded to remove, prime and reset the fuel filter. She was back on the road the next morning when the warning reappeared.
Get granular. "Overexplain" the issue to your chatbot. Instead of saying "weird engine noise," describe all the nitty-gritty details and include vehicle make, model and year. Feeding AI your car’s VIN can help get you closer to a more accurate diagnosis.
Verify AI advice independently. Chatbots can confidently deliver flawed suggestions based on insufficient information. Always verify the outputs with a trusted third party or even bring him or her to your mechanic, says Chris Craig, an automotive consultant based near Myrtle Beach, S.C.
When in doubt, don’t DIY. Changing brake pads—or even your oil and transmission fluid—might end up creating a mess that would have been cheaper and easier if you had left it to the professionals.
This time, she instead consulted a human: her brother. Over FaceTime, he determined the problem was actually a filter blockage. Mallon managed to get to the next town and find a replacement.
Although the unnecessary tinkering didn’t damage her truck, other chatbot advice could have. "Don’t do anything you don’t know how to undo without checking with someone else first," Mallon says.
remote_md_025_The_Wall_Street_Journal_-_04_08_2026 at the top, which appears to be an internal filename or cleanup label.| Category | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Faithfulness | ❌ Fail | Major errors in currency/number conversion ($478.5M $\rightarrow$ $47.85B). |
| Completeness | ⚠️ Warning | Minor fragments and abrupt endings at column breaks. |
| Wrong Numbers | ❌ Fail | Multiple critical errors in "Million" vs "Billion". |
| Residual English | ❌ Fail | "billion" left in text; internal filename included. |
| Hallucinations | ⚠️ Warning | Misinterpretation of scale for financial figures. |
| Section Order | ✅ Pass | General sequence is maintained. |
Verdict: BLOCKING. The document cannot be delivered due to critical financial figure errors.