Trump insists he must play role in picking new Iran leader as war rages on

President Donald Trump on Thursday insisted he must personally play a role in picking a new leader of Iran as the war against Tehran raged on with no end in sight.

Trump compared the selection of a new leader in Tehran to the U.S. military action in Venezuela that replaced President Nicolas Maduro with his onetime lieutenant Delcy Rodriguez.

“I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy (Rodriguez) in Venezuela,” Trump said in an interview with Axios. He added that Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, would not be an acceptable successor because he’s a “lightweight,” without elaborating.

“Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran,” Trump said. The remarks are the latest in a string of sometimes contradictory rationales that Trump and his administration have offered for the war that is nearing the one-week mark.

—New York Daily News

Archaeologists will work to confirm graves under Tropicana Field lot

TAMPA, Fla. — Archaeologists will soon begin work to confirm whether 10 potential graves found in a November 2024 survey remain under a Tropicana Field parking lot.

The St. Petersburg City Council approved $378,896 Thursday to begin the third phase of determining whether graves remain after cemeteries there were moved out. The city began looking into that land in the Historic Gas Plant District six years ago for the redevelopment of the Trop.

While preparation will begin before opening day on April 6, digging will start after baseball season ends for the Tampa Bay Rays to avoid interference with home games. The World Series begins Oct. 23, but work could start before then. Funding approved for the project covers any needed asphalt resurfacing.

Archaeologists will dig up to 15 feet into the earth to identify what previous ground-penetrating radar detected in Lot 1 at the corner of Fifth Avenue South and 16th Street South. Archaeologists will excavate dirt by hand down to the coffin to confirm whether human remains are present in at least four graves.

—Tampa Bay Times

Baltimore to close parks at night as sharpshooters work to thin deer herds

BALTIMORE — Baltimore will close multiple parks at night this month as federal sharpshooters move in to thin deer herds that officials say are overwhelming forests and choking off new tree growth.

The city’s Recreation and Parks Department held a community meeting Wednesday to go over the details, approved last month by the Baltimore Board of Estimates.

The $110,442 agreement asks the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services to remove up to 271 white-tailed deer through April. The effort targets herds in Druid Hill Park, Gwynns Falls-Leakin Park and Herring Run Park — the city’s largest forested parks.

Crews will work after hours while parks are closed and secured. Sharpshooters using thermal imaging and bait sites will take deer from 20 to 50 yards away, aiming for quick, humane kills, according to city officials. Police will help clear and secure areas before operations begin, including helicopter flyovers.

—The Baltimore Sun

Thousands flee Beirut suburbs after unprecedented Israeli evacuation order

BEIRUT — The Israeli military issued evacuation orders for entire neighborhoods of Beirut's southern suburbs, sparking pandemonium as hundreds of thousands of people joined a panicked exodus out toward Lebanon's north.

On Thursday afternoon, the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman told residents of the Dahieh — the Hezbollah-dominated southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital — to "save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately."

The evacuation order was unprecedented in scale, encompassing a 6-square-mile, densely populated residential area with hundreds of thousands of people. Minutes later, motorists filled the roads, with cars, trucks, scooters, motorcycles — anything with wheels — jostling in a flurry of honking and shouting in a bid to get out to the highways.

Gaggles of residents gathered at a media vantage point in the nearby hills, many of them keeping one eye on Dahieh for sign of an attack and another on their phone for updates on social media.

—Los Angeles Times