Supreme Court is urged to block Trump’s huge new ballroom so Congress can decide

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court was urged Tuesday to block construction of President Donald Trump’s huge new ballroom until Congress weighs in. A decision, perhaps only temporary, is likely by Friday.

Acting on his own, Trump had the East Wing of the White House torn down in October and ordered work to start on a massive new building that would dwarf the old executive mansion and seat 1,000 guests for dinner.

But a federal judge in Washington ruled that Trump had overstepped his authority, and the U.S. Court of Appeals agreed in a 2-1 ruling on Aug. 7. Those judges would stop the above-ground construction but put their decision on hold until this Friday. This gave the administration time to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation had sued, arguing that the president has no authority to erect new buildings on government property. Federal law protects “historic buildings, parks, and places, including perhaps the most revered site in our nation: the White House and President’s Park,” the group told the court Tuesday. It is “more than the President’s residence” and “is owned by American people.”

—Los Angeles Times

Northwestern University to revamp decades-old African Studies program, cut some staffers

CHICAGO — Northwestern University officials deny reports that the school is closing its decades-old Program of African Studies, saying it is instead undergoing administrative changes.

The 78-year-old program will move from being one of the school’s “Research Institutes and Centers” under the university’s Office for Research to being administered under the Office of the Provost, NU’s Vice President for Global Marketing and Communications Jon Yates confirmed in an email to the Tribune.

The Office for Research is NU’s “main hub for supporting, managing, and advancing research,” according to the website, while the Office of the Provost provides resources and infrastructure to the university community, including as it oversees “faculty policies and connects faculty with a wide range of career and work/life resources.”

Several academic programs are affiliated with African Studies, which educates undergraduate students across disciplines through lectures, seminars, workshops, conferences and research programs, according to the program’s website. The number of courses offered will not change with the shift, Yates said.

—Chicago Tribune

Ban the Bible? Missouri library to review patron's challenge

ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Books including scenes depicting sex, child birth, witchcraft, drug use and graphic violence have been the topic of heated debate for more than a year at St. Charles City-County Library board meetings.

Now, a patron has asked the board to consider a different type of text: the Bible. Brian Roorda of St. Peters has filed a challenge to remove the King James Version of the Bible due to, he said, its repeated descriptions of acts of violence.

Roorda specifically cites a verse from the Book of Matthew in the New Testament, which suggests that anyone who causes a believer of Jesus Christ to stumble or sin should have a "large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea."

Roorda, a longtime library district supporter, said he is challenging the book as a protest against a recent board decision to ban LGBTQ pride flags as "personal belief items." "I don't actually want the Bible banned," Roorda said. "I don't believe in banning books."

—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Russia threatens UK over Ukraine attacks with British drones

Russia warned that the U.K. would face “consequences for which it will have to answer” after reports that Kyiv used drones made by British companies to carry out strikes inside Russian territory.

“London is deliberately opting for an escalation,” the Russian embassy in London said in a statement Monday. The deeper the U.K.’s involvement in the conflict and the greater its support for Kyiv, “the higher the price it will pay.”

U.K. government minister Lilian Greenwood responded on Tuesday morning, telling Times Radio that Britain “won’t be bullied in this way.”

“Our message back to the Russians is that we stand with Ukraine,” Greenwood said. “We’ve stood with Ukraine throughout this time” since Russia’s invasion and “will continue to do so,” she said.

—Bloomberg News