Today's POLITICS story

Texas Democrats exit state to block redistricting vote

What happened
More than 51 Texas House Democrats left their state yesterday to at least temporarily thwart a Republican plan to redraw congressional districts to create five more likely GOP seats. The unusual mid-decade redistricting, requested by President Donald Trump in an effort to preserve the GOP's narrow U.S. House majority in the 2026 midterms, was slated for a Texas House vote on Tuesday.

Who said what
The Democratic lawmakers said they planned to stay out of Texas until a special session called by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) expired in two weeks. Their absence leaves the 150-seat state House short of the two-thirds majority needed to conduct business.

The "fight in Texas and a looming GOP-led redistricting effort in Ohio have kicked off a national battle," The Washington Post said. Democrats in California, Illinois and New York have threatened to "retaliate by tilting their states' congressional districts further in favor of their party." But "state laws mandating independent commissions or blunting the ability to gerrymander would come into play," The Associated Press said.

What next?
Abbott threatened to remove the absent legislators from office, a move that "would almost certainly be challenged in court," The New York Times said. Quorum-breaking has "persisted" as a "minority party tactic" in Texas since 1870, The Texas Tribune said, but like the previous efforts, this flight is "likely to be symbolic rather than directly effective."

Today's CULTURE Story

Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk

What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday lashed out at Charlamagne Tha God after the radio host said on Fox News that the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could be the vehicle for a "political coup" in which "traditional conservatives" take back the Republican Party from Trump's stranglehold.

Who said what
The Epstein case has "dominated news coverage" since the Justice Department announced it will not be releasing any more documents from the sex trafficking investigation, The Associated Press said. Trump and top officials had suggested for months that those Epstein files would "expose hidden truths about his death," The New York Times said, and the "reversal triggered outrage" among the president's "most ardent supporters."

Traditional conservatives know that "this Epstein thing" is "the issue that has gotten the base riled up — the MAGA base isn't letting this issue go — and for the first time they can probably take their party back and not piss off the MAGA base," Charlamagne, whose real name is Lenard McKelvey, told Trump's daughter-in-law Lara Trump on her Fox News show Saturday. Trump responded on social media, calling the "Breakfast Show" host a "low IQ" and "racist sleazebag" who "knows nothing about me or what I have done."

What next?
Trump is a "once-in-a-lifetime, one-on-one political juggernaut," Charlamagne said, but "we have the opportunity to have, like, a huge reset."

It's not all bad

Two decades after the Timor-Leste government prioritized fighting malaria, the World Health Organization has certified the country free of the disease. This is a "significant milestone" and "proves malaria can be stopped in its tracks" when there's "strong political will," sustained investment and committed health care workers, said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Timor-Leste is the third Southeast Asian country to be declared malaria-free, after the Maldives and Sri Lanka.

Under the radar

The science behind regrowing missing teeth

A pioneering new drug that could eventually help people regrow missing or damaged teeth has begun clinical trials in Japan. If successful, the "groundbreaking medication" may be a "game changer for the entire field of dentistry," said Japanese daily The Mainichi.

Unlike many species, especially reptiles and fish, humans grow only two sets of teeth in their lifetime: the first as a baby, then a second permanent set for adulthood. The premise of the new drug is that humans "once had the ability to grow a third set" and "still possess the buds" necessary to regrow them, said Discover Magazine.

The drug research team, led by Katsu Takahashi, the head of the dentistry and oral surgery department at the Medical Research Institute Kitano Hospital in Osaka, identified a protein called USAG-1 that was found to limit tooth growth. A new antibody medicine that blocked the protein's function was tested on mice in 2018 with hugely encouraging results. A trial is now underway to test whether the drug is safe and effective for use on humans.

This year, scientists at King's College London managed to grow a tooth under laboratory conditions. Xuechen Zhang, a final-year PhD student at the Faculty of Dentistry, Oral and Craniofacial Sciences, said lab-grown teeth would "naturally regenerate, integrating into the jaw" in the same way as real teeth. This breakthrough may still be a "long way from filling in the gaps in anyone's mouth," said the BBC, but it's "filling in the gaps in research."

On this day

August 4, 1944

Anne Frank and her family were discovered hiding in their secret annex in Amsterdam and arrested by the Gestapo. Anne, her sister and her mother died in concentration camps, while her father survived and published Anne's famous diary. Today, the annex hosts the Anne Frank House Museum.

TODAY'S newspaperS

'Welcome to hell'

"ICE is hiring" and "sheriffs worry ad blitz will lure deputies away," USA Today says on Monday's front page. "A drop-off at day care leads to ICE detainment," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says. "Welcome to hell," The Washington Post says, quoting deported migrants describing conditions in El Salvador's CECOT megaprison. "I have nightmares," the Miami Herald says, quoting other migrants detained in the 40,000-capacity facility. "Trump's economy shows signs of fraying," the Los Angeles Times says. "It's a hot summer for making deals," says The Wall Street Journal, but "for unemployed Americans, job searches take longer."

► See the newspaper front pages

Tall tale

Don't eat the pictures

Artist Lucy Sparrow has opened a fish and chip shop in London, but you can't eat any of the food. That's because the restaurant is actually an immersive exhibition called the Bourdon Street Chippy, and everything from the fish and fries to the mushy peas and condiments is made of felt. Sparrow created 65,000 items for the display, including silverware, menus, a counter and booths. Her goal is to "completely transport the audience into a parallel felt universe," she said to PA Media.

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Summer Meza, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz, Peter Weber and Kari Wilkin, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.