White House walks back Trump ‘Make Iran Great Again,’ regime change calls

The White House Monday sought to walk back President Donald Trump’s calls to “Make Iran Great Again” and for a “regime change” after the massive U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend.

Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt insisted the president was simply asking if the Iranian people might want a new government, not suggesting the U.S. would lead a fight to overthrow the Islamic republic.

“(Trump) believes the Iranian people can control their own destiny,” Leavitt said. “If the Iranian regime refuses to come to a peaceful diplomatic solution … why shouldn’t the Iranian people take away (its) power?”

Leavitt was spinning Trump’s provocative “MIGA” post on social media over the weekend that appeared to mark a shift in his administration’s claim that the powerful air strikes were not intended to interfere in Iran’s internal politics.

—New York Daily News

Interior Alaska fires trigger highway delays, evacuations and air-quality warnings

Several large fires in Interior Alaska flared over the weekend, triggering evacuations and lengthy road closures and delays into Monday.

Nearly 300 wildfires are burning around the state after a previously slow fire season erupted last week amid a barrage of lightning strikes.

Several of the state's more significant blazes near Fairbanks and Healy prompted continued high-level evacuation alerts for multiple neighborhoods. Damage reports were still pending as of Monday, officials said.

Scores of fires started or blew up Thursday and through the weekend with red flag conditions, lightning and high pressure set up over most of the state, according to a state emergency situation report.

—Anchorage Daily News, Alaska

Drones spot ‘first evidence’ of orcas making tools, study says

Over the years, orcas have been seen partaking in some peculiar practices, from sinking sailboats to wearing salmon “hats.” Now, the apex predators have been observed engaging in a “remarkable” new behavior: fashioning tools from underwater plants to massage one another.

The discovery — published Monday in Current Biology — constitutes the “first evidence” recorded of tool-making by marine mammals.

“We were amazed when we first noticed this,” Michael Weiss, the director of the Center for Whale Research, said in a University of Exeter news release.

Researchers from both institutions stumbled upon the previously unknown behavior while flying drones over the “southern resident” orcas in the Salish Sea, located between Washington and British Columbia.

—The Charlotte Observer

Putin slams ‘unprovoked’ attack on Iran as he meets Tehran envoy

Russian leader Vladimir Putin denounced “absolutely unprovoked aggression” against Iran, as he met a top official from Tehran the day after the U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.

Putin described the attack as “totally unfounded and unjustified” as he met Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in the Kremlin on Monday. The Russian leader added that he wanted to discuss with the Iranian envoy “how to get out of today’s situation.”

Iran has warned there would be consequences for U.S. strikes on its key nuclear sites and said it “reserves all options,” while showing restraint in its initial response. The bombing came after Israel launched its own attacks on Iran on June 13.

Putin also held a separate phone call with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani to discuss growing tensions in the Middle East. The two leaders expressed concern about risks to global energy markets and stressed the importance of continuing cooperation within the OPEC+ alliance.

—Bloomberg News