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  • Iran says it temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz as it held more indirect talks with the U.S.

    Iran says it temporarily closed the Strait of Hormuz as it held more indirect talks with the U.S.

    GENEVA, Switzerland — Iran announced the temporary closure of the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday for live fire drills in a rare show of force as its negotiators held another round of indirect talks with the United States over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program.

    It was the first time Iran has announced the closure of the key international waterway, through which 20% of the world’s oil passes, since the U.S. began threatening Iran and rushing military assets to the region. It was not immediately clear if the strait had been closed, but such a rare and perhaps unprecedented move could further escalate tensions that threaten to ignite another war in the Middle East.

    As the talks began, Iran’s state media announced that Iranian forces had fired live missiles toward the strait and would close it for several hours for “safety and maritime concerns.”

    Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei meanwhile warned that “the strongest army in the world might sometimes receive such a slap that it cannot get back on its feet.”

    Iranian diplomat sees ‘new window’ in talks

    Iran’s foreign minister later adopted a different tone, expressing optimism about the talks and saying “a new window has opened” for reaching an agreement.

    “We are hopeful that negotiations will lead to a sustainable and negotiated solution which can serve the interests of relevant parties and the broader region,” Abbas Araghchi told a U.N. disarmament conference after leading the Iranian delegation at the talks held in Geneva.

    He added that Iran “remains fully prepared to defend itself against any threat or act of aggression,” and that the consequences of any attack on Iran would not be confined to its borders.

    He made no specific mention of the military drills or the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

    President Donald Trump, who scrapped an earlier nuclear agreement with Iran during his first term, has repeatedly threatened to use force to compel Iran to agree to constrain its nuclear program. Iran has said it would respond with an attack of its own. Trump has also threatened Iran over the killing of protesters.

    Vance says talks went well ‘in some ways’

    Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, led the U.S. delegation at the latest indirect talks, held inside the residence of the Omani envoy to Geneva. Oman, a longtime regional mediator, had hosted an earlier round on Feb. 6.

    There was progress in the talks but many details remained to be discussed, according to a U.S. official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The Iranian delegation said they would present more detailed proposals in the next two weeks to narrow gaps, the official said.

    “In some ways, it went well,” Vice President JD Vance said in an interview with Fox News Channel after he spoke with Witkoff and Kushner. “But in other ways, it was very clear that the president has set some red lines that the Iranians are not yet willing to actually acknowledge and work through.”

    The U.S. also hosted talks between envoys from Russia and Ukraine in Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of the all-out Russian invasion of its neighbor.

    Araghchi, who led the Iranian side, also said he met with Director-General Rafael Grossi of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday in Geneva. The Iranian minister said they discussed the agency’s role in helping to achieve an agreement.

    A live fire drill

    Iran said its Revolutionary Guard started a drill early Monday in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf, and the Gulf of Oman, which are crucial international shipping routes. It was the second time in recent weeks that Iran has held a live fire drill in the Strait of Hormuz.

    Iran often carries out military drills in the strait that can impede maritime traffic, but the announced closure went a step further. Danny Citrinowicz, an Iran expert at Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, said Iran last closed the strait during the war with Iraq in the 1980s, when it mined the waterway.

    He said the latest announcement was a clear message to the international community that any strike on Iran would have global impact.

    Khamenei meanwhile stepped up his warnings to the U.S. over its buildup of military forces in the region.

    “Of course a warship is a dangerous apparatus, but more dangerous than the warship is the weapon that can sink the warship,” Khamenei said, according to Iranian state TV.

    He also warned the U.S. that “forcing the result of talks in advance is a wrong and foolish job.”

    U.S. increases military presence

    Last week, Trump said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, was being sent to the Mideast. It will join the USS Abraham Lincoln and its accompanying guided-missile destroyers, which have been in the region for three weeks.

    U.S. forces shot down an Iranian drone that approached the Lincoln on the same day last week that Iran tried to stop a U.S.-flagged ship in the Strait of Hormuz.

    Gulf Arab nations have warned any attack could spiral into another regional conflict in a Mideast still reeling from the Israel-Hamas war.

    The Trump administration is seeking a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program and ensure it does not develop nuclear weapons. Iran says it is not pursuing weapons and has so far resisted demands that it halt uranium enrichment on its soil or hand over its stockpile of highly enriched uranium.

    The U.S. and Iran were in the middle of months of meetings when Israel’s launch of a 12-day war against Iran back in June halted the talks. The U.S. bombed Iranian nuclear sites during that war, likely destroying many of the centrifuges that spun uranium to near weapons-grade purity. Israel’s attacks decimated Iran’s air defenses and targeted its ballistic missile arsenal as well.

    Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

  • CBS kills Stephen Colbert’s interview with a Democratic candidate. So why was Josh Shapiro allowed on the show?

    CBS kills Stephen Colbert’s interview with a Democratic candidate. So why was Josh Shapiro allowed on the show?

    A defiant Stephen Colbert blasted CBS on Monday for killing an interview with a Texas Democrat, blaming arcane rules being enforced by the Trump administration.

    “He was supposed to be here, but we were told in no uncertain terms by our network’s lawyers, who called us directly, that we could not have him on the broadcast,” Colbert said of State Rep. James Talarico, who is running in the Democratic primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas.

    CBS issued a statement claiming they didn’t prohibit him from running an interview.

    “The Late Show was not prohibited by CBS from broadcasting the interview with Rep. James Talarico,” the statement read. “The show was provided legal guidance that the broadcast could trigger the FCC equal-time rule for two other candidates, including Rep. Jasmine Crockett, and presented options for how the equal time for other candidates could be fulfilled. The Late Show decided to present the interview through its YouTube channel with on-air promotion on the broadcast rather than potentially providing the equal-time options.”

    The decision comes down to something known as the equal-time rule, a federal requirement put into law in 1934 that requires broadcast stations like CBS to provide comparable airtime to political opponents during an election. Cable networks like Fox News and Comedy Central, home to The Daily Show, are not bound to those rules, allowing them to be as partisan as they choose.

    News programs on broadcast TV (such as Meet the Press and Face the Nation) are exempt from the rule, and the Federal Communications Commission has not enforced it on late-night shows since 2006, when it ruled then-California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger’s appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno qualified as a “bona fide news interview.”

    But that is changing under the Trump administration. FCC chairman Brendan Carr, who pressured affiliates to take ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel off the air in September, issued a notice to broadcasters last month stating that late-night and daytime TV talk shows may no longer be exempt from the rule, claiming some were “motivated by partisan purposes.”

    The move was criticized by FCC commissioner Anna Gomez, a Democrat appointed by former President Joe Biden, who called it “an escalation in this FCC’s ongoing campaign to censor and control speech.”

    Colbert said CBS prohibited the interview with Talarico from airing Monday night. Instead, it was posted in its entirety on Colbert’s YouTube channel.

    “At this point, [Carr has] just released a letter that says he’s thinking about doing away with the exemption for broadcast for late night. He hasn’t done away with it yet,” Colbert said. “But my network is unilaterally enforcing it as if he had.”

    Talarico told Colbert that Trump and Republicans ran against cancel culture during the last election, but now the current administration is “trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read.”

    “And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top,” Talarico said. “Corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians.”

    Bill Carter, who covered late-night television for decades at the New York Times and currently writes for the website LateNighter, called CBS’s capitulation “shameful,” especially since the FCC has not moved yet to enforce the rule.

    “Trump’s intention is to mute free speech of his critics, and he’s found the rule in the FCC and decided he can do this,” Carter said. “And he’s got the broadcasters cowed a bit.”

    “Let’s just call this what it is: Donald Trump’s administration wants to silence anyone who says anything bad about Trump on TV, because all Trump does is watch TV,” Colbert added.

    How was Josh Shapiro able to appear on Colbert’s show?

    Governor Josh Shapiro announced his re-election campaign weeks before appearing on Colbert’s show last month.

    Despite the FCC’s threat to crack down on networks, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro was able to appear on The Late Show last month, using his time to bash Trump’ immigration crackdown in Minneapolis as “pure evil” and Vice President JD Vance as a “sycophant” and a “suck-up.”

    So why didn’t CBS ban Colbert from airing Shapiro’s interview?

    The FCC’s equal-time rule applies strictly to a “legally qualified candidate for any public office.” Despite announcing his reelection campaign in Philadelphia on Jan. 8, Shapiro did not become an official candidate until Tuesday, when the state’s official filing period opened. It runs through March 10.

    Shapiro was able to appear not only on Colbert’s show, but also on ABC’s daytime talk show The View, which has also found itself a target of the FCC under Carr.

    “I think it’s worthwhile to have the FCC look into whether The View, and some of these other programs that you have, still qualify as bona fide news programs and therefore are exempt from the equal opportunity regime that Congress has put in place,” Carr said in a September interview with conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings.

    It’s also why U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff’s forthcoming interview with Colbert is still slated to air on the network Wednesday. While Ossoff (D., Ga.) has announced he is running for reelection in Georgia, the window for candidates to officially file paperwork for their primaries does not open until March 2.

    Neither CBS nor Ossoff’s campaign has commented on the interview.

    The equal-time rule also applies to radio broadcasts, where conservative talk shows are among the most dominant formats and regularly feature Republican candidates for office during election years. Then-candidate Trump did multiple interviews on 1210 WPHT in Philadelphia during the 2024 election.

    Carr has said he does not plan to enforce a stricter equal-time rule on radio stations the way he has for television networks, claiming in a news conference last month there wasn’t a similar bona fide news exemption “being misconstrued on the radio side.”

  • José Alvarado says ‘last year is over’ after PED suspension. Could the Phillies reliever throw more four-seamers in 2026?

    José Alvarado says ‘last year is over’ after PED suspension. Could the Phillies reliever throw more four-seamers in 2026?

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — During Tuesday morning’s bullpen sessions at the Phillies’ Carpenter Complex, José Alvarado and Jhoan Duran were pitching at opposite flanks of the seven-pack of mounds.

    It was an early look at likely the two hardest-throwing relievers in the Phillies’ 2026 bullpen, who only were able to team up for exactly 24 days last season. The Phillies acquired Duran at the trade deadline in July, while Alvarado was away from the team serving an 80-game suspension for a positive performance-enhancing drug test.

    He returned in August, but only pitched in eight games before a left forearm strain ended his season. He was ineligible for the playoffs due to the PED suspension.

    With free agency looming next year, Alec Bohm is prepared to bat cleanup (again) for Kyle Schwarber or Bryce Harper

    Now healthy and back in camp, Alvarado does not want to dwell on the past.

    “I know everything that passed last year, I want to say last year is over,” Alvarado said. “I prepare for coming healthy in this spring. I’m so happy for me, what I see in this spring now. Keep working hard and never give up.”

    This winter, the Phillies picked up the $9 million club option on Alvarado’s contract for 2026. The 30-year-old lefty will be a free agent after this season.

    Alvarado said he ramped up slower with his throwing program this offseason, with fewer bullpen sessions and live at-bats than he’s typically done by this point. According to Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham, that was planned out of caution for Alvarado’s forearm.

    “I wouldn’t use the word behind, but it’s just more intentional with the build-up,” Cotham said. “He’s normally overly prepared. Now it’s just more a normal build-up.”

    Alvarado is also planning to represent Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic in March, which will help accelerate his ramp-up.

    At this point in the spring, bullpen sessions aren’t so much focused on velocity, since pitchers are still building up and, in some cases, experimenting. Alvarado has been working on his four-seam fastball. He relies almost exclusively on his sinker-cutter mix, but in past springs, he has also toyed with bringing back his curveball and four-seamer, both of which he threw more when he first broke into the big leagues.

    So far, they haven’t really stayed in his arsenal when the regular season starts. In a limited sample size of 26 innings due to his abbreviated 2025 season, Alvarado threw 22 curveballs (4.8% of his pitches) and six four-seamers (1.3%). When he did throw the four-seam, it averaged 99.6 mph.

    The Phillies are planning to have José Alvarado (left) and Jhoan Duran as a late-inning, 1-2 punch out of the bullpen.

    “I’m not very confident on that pitch, because when it’s game time, it’s different energy. It looked good,” Alvarado said of his four-seam after a recent bullpen session. “ … Every result I see right now is good. I am in a good spot right now; I need to keep it like that.”

    Will the four-seam stick around this time?

    “I think a lot of times things that stick are things that work,” Cotham said. “So I think the avenue for me in getting it to stick is he’s got to feel good with it, but it’s also got to work. And we got to work to help him, and find the spots with [catcher] J.T. [Realmuto] and when not to throw it.”

    The four-seam can give Alvarado another tool for certain right-handed hitters who handle sinkers well. Cotham also said that working on the four-seam can also help Alvarado fine-tune his other, bread-and-butter fastball.

    Phillies will test-drive the automated ball-strike challenge system this spring

    “It’s also a nice way to keep the sinker calibrated, because he can feel the difference in the four-seam, sinker,” he said. “He’s a guy where the sinker can fly similar to a four-seam sometimes. So actually keeping those both in practice helps keep the sinker going.”

    The Grapefruit League, which starts for the Phillies on Saturday, will provide an opportunity for Alvarado to mix in the four-seam to test it out in games.

    “Alvy’s a guy where … there’s a lot of feel to his game and wanting to feel the delivery,” Cotham said. “So if he feels good with it, what I tell him is, I’m in. It’s just a matter of when and why, where we use it.”

    Extra bases

    Brandon Marsh was a full participant in batting practice Tuesday after a cut on his foot limited him the day before. “He’s full go,” Thomson said.

  • South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito is in eighth place after the women’s short program at the Winter Olympics

    South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito is in eighth place after the women’s short program at the Winter Olympics

    MILAN, Italy — South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito, 18, landed in eighth place in Tuesday’s short program at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

    Competing in her mother’s hometown, just minutes from where her grandmother still lives, Levito, who lives and trains in Mount Laurel, started her short program a little tight but landed all of her elements.

    “I feel very good,” Levito told NBC after she skated. “I feel like I skated with the elegance I wanted to skate with. And I’m very glad my Olympic debut looked like that. I feel very confident and just very happy with myself right now.”

    She did not address the writing media.

    Levito is the reigning U.S. bronze medalist. She was the U.S. champion in 2023 and the world silver medalist in 2024 in women’s singles.

    This is the moment 18-year-old South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito has been waiting for: The Olympics

    Levito’s program, to a compilation of sassy songs from Sophia Loren movies, opened with a triple flip-triple toe loop combination. Then she moved on to a double Axel and a flying camel, which got a Level 4, the highest. Her first three elements got positive grades of execution.

    Next came her triple loop, which was judged to be a quarter-rotation short. Five of the nine judges gave her a minus-1 grade of execution and one gave her a minus-2.

    South Jersey’s Isabeau Levito placed eighth in women’s short program.

    The second half of Levito’s program included a step sequence, which was called at a Level 3 rather than the Level 4 she usually has received.

    She then skated combination spin that received a Level 4 and grades of execution up to plus-5, the highest available. She wrapped up with a layback spin into a Biellmann that received a Level 4 and plus-3 and plus-4 grades of execution.

    South Jersey’s Isabeau Levito receives her scores following the short program accompanied by her coaches, Yulia Kuznetsova (left) and Slava Kuznetsov.

    Her score was a 70.84, nearly three points lower than her season’s best, which she skated at the Grand Prix of France.

    However, Levito’s program components (or artistic mark) was the fourth-highest of the night. Only Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Mone Chibe and American Alysa Liu placed higher.

    Many on social media thought Levito was underscored.

    On the technical side, Levito was not alone in the small mistakes. Most of the women had some rotation issues, although most skated fairly clean.

    Ami Nakai of Japan won the women’s short program figure skating at the Winter Olympics.

    Japan’s Ami Nakai, the youngest skater in the competition at age 17 (which now is the youngest age allowed in international figure skating at the senior level), won the short program. She opened with a clean triple Axel, and she received positive grades of execution on all of her elements, making her the only woman with a clean score sheet. Her step sequence and spins received Level 4 grades of execution. She earned a season-best 78.71.

    Breaking down Isabeau Levito’s figure skating costumes over the years

    Sakamoto has been the sentimental favorite this year after placing third in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing (and notably being the only happy one on the medal stand, after much drama with the Russian women over doping allegations and placements). Sakamoto also has won the World Championships three times after being displaced last year by Liu. She helped lead Japan to a silver medal in the Olympic team event for the second time in a row last week.

    Sakamoto has said this will be her last year competing, and her short program is to “Time To Say Goodbye,” by Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli.

    Kaori Sakamoto of Japan competes is in second after women’s short program figure skating at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy.

    She received an exclamation mark on her opening triple Lutz, meaning it was not clear whether she took off on the required outside edge or had shifted to an inside edge. Her triple flip-triple toe loop combination also was called a quarter of a rotation short.

    She is less than a point behind Nakai, earning 77.23 for her short program.

    The highest-placing American woman of the night was Liu, who wound up in third place. She repeated last year’s winning short program, to “Promise,” by Laufey. After she skated, she said she was unconcerned with placements but was more excited to have people see her work and to have her siblings and friends in the audience, most of whom had never seen her compete.

    Liu received all positive grades of execution, mostly plus-3 to plus-5, except for her triple Lutz-triple loop combination (a particularly difficult one, therefore worth more points), which was called a quarter short. Her score was 76.59.

    A beginner’s guide to watching figure skating at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics

    Amber Glenn, the three-time U.S. champion, started her program (to Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”) strong with a triple Axel that received up to plus-3 grades of execution. (She and Nakai were the only women of the night to attempt the jump.)

    Her triple flip-triple toe loop combination was called a quarter short. But she made a big mistake in the middle of the program when she doubled her intended triple loop. A solo triple jump is a required element in the short program, so the double loop received no points. She finished strong with a Level 4 step sequence and two Level 4 spins, but Liu, watching on a monitor in the mixed zone, wondered if Glenn had changed the program on the fly after a mistake.

    Glenn’s score was 67.39, well below her season’s best of 75.72, and she was in 13th after the short program.

    The short program also included the return of two Russian women, skating under a neutral flag. Viktoriia Safonova was the first to skate and was not among the top 24 (of 29) skaters who qualified for Thursday’s free skate.

    The other Russian woman, Adeliia Petrosian, skated second and has been considered a medal contender. She scored a strong 72.89, which would not be topped until the 18th skater performed. That was by Nakai, the eventual winner.

    Levito, Liu, and Glenn call themselves the Blade Angels, modeled somewhat on women’s Olympic gymnastics teams, which give themselves names, and somewhat on Charlie’s Angels.

    Liu and Glenn shared in last week’s Olympic gold medal in the team event. Only up to two skaters from each team could be chosen for the women’s section. Levito, who has said she has flown somewhat under the radar since suffering an injury last year and missing part of the season (but came back to place fourth at the world championships in Boston), was not selected to compete. Only those who skate share in the medal.

  • The Diocese of Camden said it will help pay $180 million to resolve clergy sex-abuse claims

    The Diocese of Camden said it will help pay $180 million to resolve clergy sex-abuse claims

    The Diocese of Camden has agreed to help pay $180 million to more than 300 people who said they were sexually abused by clergy members, the diocese and lawyers for the survivors announced Tuesday.

    If the arrangement is approved by a federal judge, it would represent one of the largest sex-abuse settlements involving the Roman Catholic Church in United States history.

    The diocese had previously agreed to pay $87.5 million to people who sued over clergy sex abuse in South Jersey. But the arrangement announced Tuesday is considered a supplement to that settlement, officials said, and would include contributions from other church affiliates and insurance companies that had not yet agreed to resolve their roles in some complaints.

    The plan is subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Camden Bishop Joseph A. Williams said. If that happens, the money will be made available to resolve all claims of abuse.

    Williams called the potential resolution “long overdue,” adding: “To each one of those survivors, I would like to say: Thank you for your courage in coming forward. Without your bravery and persistence, this new day would not have dawned. I am profoundly sorry for what you have suffered.”

    Greg Gianforcaro, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, said: “After decades of being ignored and dismissed, survivors of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Camden have finally reached a measure of accountability. Their persistence in standing up to those who harmed them made this moment possible.”

    The development is the latest chapter in a long-running scandal that has had significant ramifications for the diocese, which serves nearly half a million Catholics in Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, and Salem Counties.

    In 2020, it filed for bankruptcy protection after a new state law expanding the statute of limitation on sex-abuse claims led to dozens of lawsuits against the church. Some of the accusations dated back decades.

    Over the next several years, advocates accused the diocese of seeking to dodge accountability for its past misdeeds. And just last year, survivors said they were outraged that the diocese had been secretly opposing the state attorney general’s attempt to empanel a grand jury to investigate decades of clergy abuse statewide.

    Williams — who took over last spring as Camden’s bishop — ultimately reversed course on that issue, saying he wanted the diocese to work with prosecutors to help ensure a comprehensive and constructive investigation.

    The bankruptcy case, meanwhile, had been mired in litigation since 2024, when the U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved a reorganization plan proposed by the diocese and a settlement committee that included its intent to pay survivors $87.5 million. But that total did not include money from insurance companies and other parties to certain lawsuits, who continued to hold out and litigate their roles in the matter.

    Tuesday’s agreement, if approved, would end that ongoing stalemate, officials said. Trusha Goffe, one of the victims’ attorneys, said that there is no time frame by which the court must approve the deal but that, if approved, it would represent “the final step in a long and hard-fought legal battle.”

    “This achievement belongs to the survivors, whose courage in endlessly standing up for truth and accountability is nothing short of triumphant,” Goffe said.

    Williams, meanwhile, said he was “profoundly sorry” for what the victims had endured throughout the years, calling clergy abuse a “grave sin and a devastating betrayal of the trust you placed in the church that you loved.”

    “I cannot remove the scars you carry nor restore the innocence you lost,” he said, “but on behalf of my predecessors and the faithful of Camden, I can say clearly and without reservation: We believe you, we are sorry, and we are committed to walking a different path going forward with you, God willing, at our side.”

  • With free agency looming next year, Alec Bohm is prepared to bat cleanup (again) for Kyle Schwarber or Bryce Harper

    With free agency looming next year, Alec Bohm is prepared to bat cleanup (again) for Kyle Schwarber or Bryce Harper

    CLEARWATER, Fla. — Six years into his major-league career, Alec Bohm knows exactly who he is as a player.

    Also, who he’s not.

    “In the grand scheme of things,” Bohm said here Tuesday, “you think about it, I’m prototypically not your average cleanup hitter. Body type-wise, yeah. But the way my game is, I guess, is not that of a typical [No.] 4 hitter.”

    Bohm has thought about it. A lot. Because he does look the part — 6-foot-5, with shoulders that block the sun and never-ending arms and legs. But he hasn’t hit more than 20 homers or slugged .450 in a full season.

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    And yet, guess the Phillies‘ most frequent cleanup hitter over the last two seasons — and the leading candidate to reprise the role on opening day of Bohm’s last year before free agency.

    Rob Thomson hasn’t settled on the order but wants Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper to bat in the first inning. And whether Schwarber and Harper bat second and third, or vice versa, the cleanup hitter will be tasked with protecting one of the Phillies’ feared lefty sluggers.

    Thomson has mentioned new right fielder Adolis García and J.T. Realmuto as options. But he noted that Bohm “would have taken down most of the at-bats” in the cleanup spot if not for two stints on the injured list. He was the cleanup hitter 102 times — and an All-Star — in 2024.

    Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm hasn’t hit more than 20 homers or slugged .450 in a full season of his career.

    Get ready, then, for one more round of the familiar gripe about the Phillies’ atypical cleanup hitter, notably that someone as big and strong as Bohm doesn’t hit more balls over the fence.

    “Anybody that says that has no [bleeping] clue how hard this game is and how good the pitching is at this point,” Bohm said. “Would you rather me swing at stuff that’s bouncing in front of the plate and strike out 180 times and get you 25 to 30 home runs so you feel better about it? Or do you want me to hit .280 and drive in 80 to 90 to 100 runs and hit 40 doubles and do it that way?

    “To me, that’s more productive than me walking up there and striking out 190 times. That’s not my game.”

    Bohm concedes that his game was “down last year.” He opened the season in a 9-for-60 tailspin with one extra-base hit through 14 games. He missed 27 games after the All-Star break with a cracked left rib and 11 in September with a cyst in his left shoulder that needed to be drained.

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    And after back-to-back 97-RBI seasons in which he was 11% more productive than league average based on OPS-plus, he backslid to 18 doubles, 11 homers, and a .741 OPS, 2% more productive than league average.

    The Phillies shuttled Nick Castellanos, Realmuto, and Bohm through the cleanup spot, behind Harper. Phillies cleanup hitters combined for a .720 OPS, 20th in the majors. And Harper saw the lowest rate of pitches in the strike zone (43%) of anyone who qualified for the batting title.

    Coincidence? Somewhat. Harper saw 42.6% of pitches in the zone through his first six Phillies seasons (2019-24). He has long contended that teams take extreme care in how they pitch to him no matter who bats behind him.

    “There’s a lot of situations throughout the game, especially later in the game, where they’re obviously not going to let the franchise player beat them,” Bohm said. “You’ve got a righty on the mound, who in their right mind would let Bryce beat them?”

    When Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm was an All-Star in 2024, he batted in the cleanup spot 102 times.

    Maybe it would make the decision to pitch around Harper more difficult if Schwarber batted behind him, so Thomson is mulling that arrangement.

    “But if Schwarbs is sitting there [in the No. 3 spot], the same thing’s going to kind of happen, right?” Harper said. “So, whoever’s in that four spot is going to have a big job to do.”

    Bohm believes he’s up for it, even if his homer total doesn’t rise far above his 14.8 average over the last four years.

    “For me, it’s not necessarily putting up a certain number of home runs,” Bohm said. “It’s just, am I executing with runners in scoring position? Am I driving in runs? Am I putting tough at-bats up there?

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    “The protection [of Harper or Schwarber] aspect of it, the way I want to go about it just being a good situational baseball player. The home runs, the damage, the doubles, all that stuff is going to come. But it’s not going to come as frequently if I’m up there trying to force it.”

    Bohm’s best work over the years has come with runners in scoring position, largely because he makes more consistent contact than most hitters in the Phillies’ lineup. Even last year, his strikeout rate (16.3%) was well below major-league average (22.2%).

    It’s one of the attributes cited by Thomson as a reason to like Bohm in the cleanup spot.

    “If there’s runners out there, he’s going to put the ball in play,” Thomson said. “Typically, he hits a lot of doubles. And I love doubles. I love home runs, but I love doubles as well because that clears the bases.”

    Phillies right fielder Adolis Garcia (left) is another candidate to bat in the cleanup spot.

    And Bohm has millions of reasons to capitalize on another opportunity to fill the cleanup role. He’s eligible for free agency after the season, which he said feels “really far off in the distance.”

    Bohm’s successor may be only a few lockers away in the spring-training clubhouse. Top prospect Aidan Miller will play third base at times this year. And the Phillies discussed moving on from Bohm in each of the last two offseasons. They nearly signed free-agent infielder Bo Bichette last month, a move that would’ve corresponded with trading Bohm.

    But for as long as he’s here, Bohm believes he can handle batting behind Harper or Schwarber.

    “I can do things in a different way to create runs and not let the other team go, ‘We got through Kyle, now just walk Bryce, and we should be home free,’” Bohm said. “What I do is put the ball in play to where I’m not a hole behind a very important piece of our lineup.”

  • ‘He loved Philadelphia, and Philadelphia loved him’: Jesse Jackson in Philadelphia through the years

    ‘He loved Philadelphia, and Philadelphia loved him’: Jesse Jackson in Philadelphia through the years

    The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, a civil rights icon and a regular presence in Philadelphia who energized Black voters both locally and nationally for more than five decades, died Tuesday at his home in Chicago following a prolonged battle with a rare neurological disorder. He was 84.

    “Jesse Jackson will be remembered in Philadelphia as a civil rights hero, and a leader in terms of independent Black politics nationwide,” said former Councilmember W. Wilson Goode Jr., the son of Philly’s first Black mayor, W. Wilson Goode Sr. “He loved Philadelphia, and Philadelphia loved him.”

    A native of Greenville, S.C., Rev. Jackson initially rose to prominence in the mid-1960s, when he joined the 1965 voting rights march that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. In the years following King’s assassination in 1968, Rev. Jackson largely came to be considered his successor.

    Rev. Jackson would go on to become a prominent Black political and cultural leader in his own right, with his lengthy time in the public eye including presidential runs in 1984 and 1988. His visits to Philadelphia date back to the 1970s, and run the gamut from time in town supporting his own presidential campaigns — though neither of which were successful in the ‘80s — to appearances at the Democratic National Convention in 2016.

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, acknowledges the cheers of delegates as he walks to the podium to deliver remarks on the third night of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 27, 2016.
    Hillary Clinton supporters and the Rev. Jesse Jackson (right) on the fourth day of the Democratic National Convention at the Wells Fargo Center on July 28, 2016.
    The Rev. Jesse Jackson visits Baltimore’s turbulent intersection of West North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue on April 28, 2015.

    Across that time, Rev. Jackson served as a sort of rallying figure for Black Philadelphians at large, who largely supported his candidacy during his presidential runs, despite him failing to secure the Democratic nomination statewide. Still, his impact for Black voters both in Philadelphia and nationally remains everlasting.

    “That was the Rosetta stone to everything Jackson was trying to achieve,” said former Daily News scribe Gene Seymour, nephew of legendary People Paper columnist Chuck Stone. “We aren’t to be ignored or dismissed or cast aside — we matter.”

    In that sense, Goode Jr. said, Rev. Jackson will remain a political icon who inspired the nationalization of Black political empowerment.

    “Jesse Jackson is also a cultural icon in terms of telling people to be proud of being Black, and telling themselves, ‘I am somebody,’” Goode Jr. said, referencing Rev. Jackson’s famed refrain. “That is something that was indelible in the soul of Black people across the nation and world, and in Philadelphia here as well.”

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson visits the turbulent intersection of West North Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue in Baltimore on April 28, 2015.
    The Rev. Jesse Jackson visited Occupy Philadelphia protesters on Nov. 13, 2011. He told them to “never surrender.”
    The Rev Jesse Jackson at Joe Frazier’s funeral at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church on Cheltenham Avenue in Philadelphia on Nov. 14, 2011.
    The Rev. Jesse Jackson (center) visits the Interfaith tent, donated by Quakers, to talk to the Rev. Peter Friedrich (left) and (from right) Phillip Hall, Hollister Knowlton, and Joyce Moore in 2011.

    Though Philadelphia’s Black community generally was supportive of and receptive to Rev. Jackson’s messaging historically, Seymour said, he maintained something of a complicated relationship with the city’s prominent politicians. Wilson Goode Sr., for example, officially supported Walter Mondale and Michael Dukakis for president in the 1980s. At least in 1988, Seymour said, Rev. Jackson likely had “the people’s hearts,” despite lacking the official nomination.

    Wilson Goode Sr. was not immediately available for comment.

    “His presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988 reshaped American politics,” said the Rev. Gregory Edwards, of the Philly-based POWER Interfaith, in a statement. “Those campaigns widened the political imagination of this country and helped cultivate a generation of Black elected leaders.”

    Rev. Jackson’s relationship with Goode Sr. was somewhat complicated following the 1985 MOVE bombing, which brought the civil rights leader to tour the ruins of the 6200 block of Osage Avenue in its aftermath. Rev. Jackson urged a congressional investigation into the incident, which he called “excessive force,” but avoided criticizing Goode directly in subsequent meetings. Goode, meanwhile, said that the city would cooperate with any groups investigating the incident, The Inquirer reported at the time.

    “He was not happy with what happened in ‘85 with MOVE,” Seymour said.

    The Rev. Jesse L. Jackson speaks during during funeral services for civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker at Deliverance Evangelistic Church on Oct. 21, 2005. Seated in front row behind him, left to right are Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation; Marion Barry, former mayor of Washington, and Philadelphia Mayor John Street.
    Rev. Jackson is projected live on a large screen monitor (camera operator in foreground) as he participates in a panel discussion laying out a legal and political strategy for fulfilling Brown v. the Board of Education, at the annual NAACP meeting on July. 14, 2004 at the Convention Center.
    Her family stands by as husband (partially hidden) William T. Tucker covers the body of civil rights activist C. Delores Tucker in her casket at the beginning of funeral service at Deliverance Evangelistic Church on Oct. 21, 2005. At right is the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, founder and president of the Rainbow Coalition/PUSH, who later delivered the eulogy. Seated in rear at right is former Vice President Al Gore.
    AIDS quilt panels flank the podium as the Rev. Jesse Jackson speaks at an African American AIDS conference at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel on Feb. 28, 2005.

    Still, Rev. Jackson often served as a defender of Philadelphia’s famed Black figures. In 2011, for example, Rev. Jackson spoke at the funeral of legendary world heavyweight boxing champion Joe Frazier, who had long competed with the fictional Rocky Balboa for recognition. As Jackson put it at the time, Frazier was the “real champion,” not the “Italian Stallion.”

    The Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has a sleeping bag draped around his shoulders, is talking and praying with Occupy Philadelphia demonstrators: Brad Wilson (from left); the Rev. Bill Golderer, pastor of Broad Street Ministry; and Donna Jones, pastor of the Cookman Baptist Initiative.

    “If you were of importance as a Black person in America during the time [Jackson] was in the public eye,” Seymour said, “he was there to speak on your behalf.”

    Goode Jr.’s most prominent memory of Rev. Jackson, meanwhile, dates back to the mid-1980s, when he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania. At the time, he said, Rev. Jackson attended a National Black Student Union conference following an invitation from its organizers, Goode Jr. included. It was, Goode Jr. said, an inspiration.

    “It meant a lot to us,” Goode Jr. said. “Not just Black leaders at Penn, but across the nation, who were gathered there.”

    Striking Red Cross worker Lenny Lerro takes a picture of himself with the Rev. Jesse Jackson as they walk the picket line in 2011 on Spring Garden Street in Philadelphia.
    Rev. Jesse Jackson visits with folks at Occupy Philadelphia, just outside City Hall on Nov. 20, 2011.
    The Rev. Jesse Jackson visits with folks at Occupy Philadelphia, just outside City Hall on Nov. 20, 2011.
    U.S. Rep. John Lewis (second from left) is presented with the Civil Rights Champion Award in 2013 by (from left) the Rev. Al Sharpton, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, and Marc Morial, president of the Urban League.
  • Ramadan arrives in Gaza under shaky ceasefire deal, but the festive spirit eludes many Palestinians

    Ramadan arrives in Gaza under shaky ceasefire deal, but the festive spirit eludes many Palestinians

    GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Palestinians in Gaza are preparing to welcome the Muslim holy month of Ramadan under a fragile ceasefire deal, but many say the challenges of their daily lives and the losses of the Israel-Hamas war are dampening the typically festive spirit.

    “There is no joy after we lost our family and loved ones,” said Gaza City resident Fedaa Ayyad. “Even if we try to cope with the situation, we can’t truly feel it in our hearts. … I am one of those who cannot feel the atmosphere of Ramadan.”

    In Gaza, the first day of the holy month is Wednesday. During Ramadan, observant Muslims fast daily from dawn to sunset. In normal circumstances, the month often brings families and friends together to break their fast in joyous gatherings. For Muslims, it’s a time for increased worship, religious reflection, and charity.

    Circumstances in Gaza are far from normal. Israel’s military offensive has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, and caused widespread destruction and displaced most of the territory’s residents. Israel launched the offensive after Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 251 hostage in their attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

    As Gaza residents visited markets this week, some lamented that economic woes cast a pall on the month.

    “There is no cash among the people. There is no work. It’s true that it is Ramadan, but Ramadan requires money,” said Gaza City resident Waleed Zaqzouq. He said merchants should consider people’s financial hardships.

    Before the war, “people lived a dignified life,” he said. “The situation has completely changed in the war, meaning people have been devastated and worn down.”

    The Oct. 10 U.S.-brokered ceasefire deal attempted to halt more than two years of war between Israel and Hamas. While the heaviest fighting has subsided, there has been almost daily Israeli fire in Gaza.

    Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing more than 600 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials. The ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

    Militants have carried out shooting attacks on Israeli troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed.

    Gaza’s winter has highlighted the grim conditions of the displaced residents and the many needs of the enclave and its people. Severe cold has caused child deaths in Gaza, and torrential rain has flooded displacement camps and collapsed already badly damaged buildings.

    “There is much that has changed from this Ramadan to Ramadan before the war,” said Raed Koheel, who lives in Gaza City. “In the past, the atmosphere was more delightful. The streets were lit up with decorations. All streets had decorations. Our children were happy.”

    Still, amid the hardships, some in the Gaza Strip have worked to bring a taste of Ramadan’s festivities.

    Surrounded by ruins and crumbled buildings in Khan Younis, calligrapher and artist Hani Dahman dipped his brush in paint and wrote “Welcome, Ramadan” in Arabic as children watched.

    “We are here in Khan Younis camp, trying to bring happiness to the hearts of children, women, men and entire families,” Dahman said. “We are … sending a message to the world that we are people who seek life.”

    Strands of Ramadan decorations were hung among the ruins. Mohammed Taniri watched the decorations take shape.

    “When they provide such beautiful, simple decorations, it brings joy to the children,” he said. “Despite all the hardships, they are trying to create a beautiful atmosphere.”

  • Philly bars open past 2 a.m.? A new push for late-night bars amid FIFA World Cup

    Philly bars open past 2 a.m.? A new push for late-night bars amid FIFA World Cup

    A new push to let Philadelphia bars stay open past 2 a.m. is being mounted by local trade groups and bars as the largest global sporting event arrives in the city in June.

    The Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association, which represents restaurants, bars, and other hospitality businesses, wants state lawmakers to create a temporary permit that allows Philadelphia bars to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will come to Philadelphia and 15 other cities in North America from June 11 to July 19.

    “When we’re trying to attract tourists from all over the world to a destination in the United States to enjoy the World Cup, we want to make sure that Philadelphia is offering at least the same amenities as the other host cities,” said Ben Fileccia, senior vice president for strategy for the restaurant and lodging association.

    Many of the most popular U.S. host cities allow bars to serve alcohol past 2 a.m., including New York, Miami, and Kansas City. Other popular international destinations, such as Mexico City and Toronto, also allow it.

    Philadelphia officials did not immediately return a request for comment.

    Any changes to bar closing times would have to come from new legislation, as the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board does not have the authority to change the liquor code to allow bars to sell alcohol after 2 a.m., said PLCB spokesperson Shawn Kelly.

    The crowd cheers and celebrates USA’s first goal against the Netherlands in the World Cup at Brauhaus Schmitz bar in Philadelphia, Pa., on Saturday Dec. 3, 2022.

    Philly’s chance to prove 4 a.m. closing times work

    Fileccia said this permit would allow bars to take advantage of the estimated 500,000 soccer fans expected to stay in Philadelphia for the six matches being played at Lincoln Financial Field.

    Zek Leeper, co-owner of Founding Fathers sports bar in Southwest Center City, does not see this just as a way to earn more revenue with a surge of tourists coming to Philadelphia.

    “This is our chance to prove that 4 a.m. nightlife can work in Philadelphia. Setting up a temporary license also allows the city and state to pull it back, depending on how it goes,” Leeper said. “With the amount of tourists this year, when is this opportunity going to come up again to justify giving this a try?”

    It doesn’t hurt that an estimated 1.5 million people, including the half million soccer fans, are expected to stay overnight in Philadelphia this summer as the city also hosts America’s 250th celebration and the MLB All-Star Game.

    Leeper and other local bar owners feel confident that the crowds will show up for late-night matches. “We host soccer games from leagues around the world, and those fans are committed. They have consistently shown up whenever the game is on,” Leeper said.

    Steve Maehl (left) of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin laughs as Philly Seagulls President John Fitzpatrick and Dan Peck of Brighton, England (right) look on during the supporter meetup, to kickoff the summer series weekend, at Fadó Irish Pub in Phila., Pa. on Thursday, July 20, 2023.

    Philadelphia soccer fans are already known to work deals with local bars to open as early as 7 a.m. Leeper said upward of 50 people will pack into the bar at sunrise to watch games. While there are no games being played in Philadelphia past 9 p.m. during the World Cup, at least eight of the group stage matches in June will be broadcast on the East Coast starting at midnight or 11 p.m.

    With a 90-minute match, plus halftime and added time, there could be a handful of cases where bartenders have to face down a packed crowd of fans and ask them to leave before the final whistle, Leeper said.

    There’s also the element of international tourists coming from cities that do not have a 2 a.m. cutoff, such as London and Tokyo, leading some visitors to find ways to late-night party outside of licensed establishments, Fileccia said.

    Philly bars were allowed to close later during the 2016 DNC

    Lawmakers allowed bars to stay open until 4 a.m. during the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. Bars and restaurants with contracts or association with the convention could apply for $5,000 special-event permits to serve alcohol past 2 a.m.

    Fileccia said the details for a similar permit in 2026 are not available yet, as the effort is just underway. But he and others at PRLA want to bring the Philadelphia Police Department, the Philadelphia Department of Commerce, and other stakeholders to the table to find out the best resolution, he said.

    Fans react to the Eagles play the Chiefs in the NFL Super Bowl LIX, in a bar near Frankford and Cottman Aves., Saturday, Feb. 8, 2025, in Philadelphia.

    Will there be enough interest in late-night partying?

    With millions of tourists in Philadelphia this year for the international and national events, there will be increased foot traffic throughout the city, but will there be a late-night crowd to meet the moment?

    That is the question Chuck Moran, executive director of the Pennsylvania Licensed Beverages and Taverns Association, is asking despite his support for temporarily keeping bars open later.

    “The one thing that I’ve been hearing across the state is that ever since COVID, the late-night crowds have left,” Moran said. “There could also be issues with finding staff who want to work till 4 a.m. in a bar.”

    Moran said he would rally behind the cause but would look to other measures to maximize revenue for local restaurants and bars, such as allowing liquor-license holders to operate a “satellite location,” letting them serve liquor at a second establishment under their original license. That would open the door to partnerships with restaurants without liquor licenses, Moran said. State Rep. Pat Gallagher, a Philadelphia Democrat, introduced a bill to do just that last June.

    No legislation on keeping Philly bars open later has been introduced yet, but Fileccia hopes to get the ball rolling with lawmakers in the coming months before the first match in Philly on June 14. Even with the window closing on getting new rules passed, Kelly said the PLCB turned around special-event permits in less than two weeks before the start of the 2016 DNC.

  • Ann B. Levine, expert recruiter and longtime dean of admissions at Franklin Learning Center, has died at 75

    Ann B. Levine, expert recruiter and longtime dean of admissions at Franklin Learning Center, has died at 75

    Ann B. Levine, 75, of Philadelphia, expert recruiter, longtime dean of admissions at Franklin Learning Center, business teacher, popular radio host, and community activist, died Saturday, Jan. 31, of age-associated decline at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital.

    Bubbly, charismatic, and skillful at engaging with young people about their interests and goals, Ms. Levine worked as dean of admissions at Franklin Learning Center in Philadelphia from 1980 to her retirement in 2010. For 30 years, she recruited thousands of high-performing junior high school students to admission-only Franklin Learning Center, pored over more than 1,000 yearly applications, and helped choose the final 250 for admission.

    Every year, she toured the city’s junior high schools, cutting-edge slideshow in tow, and spoke to students and families about the curriculum, activities, staff, and student body at Franklin Learning Center. She interviewed the teenage applicants personally, routinely showed interest in their lives as well as their grades, and made countless lifelong friends.

    “You could tell she had their attention when she talked because they asked questions,” said her husband, Bob Bosco. “She was enthusiastic and thorough. She could connect. She found her niche.”

    Ms. Levine (center) “was always a friendly, smiling face,” a friend said in a tribute.

    Friends described Ms. Levine in online tributes as “happy and joyful,” a “sweet girl,” and “so fun to be with.” One friend said she “shared her views openly and freely.” Another said: “She was always a friendly, smiling face.”

    She also founded and was the first director of Franklin Learning Center’s celebrated mock trial team. She persuaded several prominent attorneys and lawyers to mentor her students after school and on weekends, and several of her pupils went on to their own impressive legal careers.

    In 2005, her eight-member mock trial team was one of 12, out of 270 overall, to advance to the Pennsylvania Bar Association statewide mock trial championships at the Dauphin County Courthouse in Harrisburg. Before becoming dean of admissions, she taught business and business law at Franklin Learning Center.

    After she retired, Ms. Levine joined her husband as a fill-in radio host for a decade. They played oldies on WVLT-FM in Vineland, WRDV-FM in Hatboro, and other stations. Her natural charm, love of music, and ability to entertain made her a hit with listeners.

    Ms. Levine married Bob Bosco in 1981.

    “First it was the Bob and Ann Show,” Bosco said. ”Then it was the Ann and Bob Show. Then it was Ann and what’s his name.”

    Ann Barbara Levine was born April 12, 1950, in Trenton. She worked on the yearbook, graduated from Trenton High School, and earned a bachelor’s degree in business at Drexel University and a master’s degree at the old Marywood business school.

    She was taking tennis lessons at the Young Men’s Hebrew Association center in Philadelphia in 1975 when she met Bob Bosco. He was playing basketball.

    They married in 1981, lived in Center City, and traveled together on memorable cruises and visits to Europe, Cuba, and Florida. Ms. Levine was an avid reader. She followed current events and enjoyed The Real Housewives TV shows.

    Ms. Levine “really influenced the lives of a lot of young women,” her husband said.

    For years, she was active with neighborhood groups in Southwest Center City. “She knew everybody,” her husband said. “She really influenced the lives of a lot of young women. She worked with the best of the best.”

    In a tribute, a friend since childhood said: “Though we lived far apart, she was always special to me.”

    In addition to her husband, Ms. Levine is survived by other relatives. A brother died earlier.

    Services were held earlier.

    Donations in her name may be made to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2600 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia, Pa. 19130; and the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History, 101 S. Independence Mall East, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106.