# Remains of Air India crash victims are handed over to relatives

By Aijaz Hussain, Shonal Ganguly, and Piyush Nagpal
June 15th, 2025, 10:23 AM

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AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Authorities have started handing over remains of the victims of one of India's worst aviation disasters, days after the Air India flight crashed and killed at least 270 people, officials said Sunday.

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived.

Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most of the bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable.

Rajneesh Patel, an official at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad, said authorities have so far identified 32 victims through DNA mapping and their families were informed. He said the remains of 14 victims were handed over to relatives.

The victims' families waited outside the hospital mortuary as authorities worked to complete formalities and transfer the bodies in coffins into ambulances. Most of them have expressed frustration at a slow pace of the identification process. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process.

Among the passengers, 169 were Indians, 53 Britons, seven Portuguese and one Canadian.

Qasim Rashid Ahmed, a British national of Indian origin whose charity provided food and accommodation to the victims' relatives, said most of the British victims had relatives in Gujarat state and had given their DNA samples.

Alongside the formal investigation, the Indian government has set up a high-level committee to examine the causes leading to the crash. The committee will focus on formulating procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future, the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement Saturday.

Authorities have also begun inspecting Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday in New Delhi at his first news briefing since Thursday's crash.

Eight of the 34 Dreamliners in India have already undergone inspection, Kinjarapu said, adding that the remaining aircraft will be examined with "immediate urgency."

Investigators on Friday recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or the black box, from a rooftop near the crash site.

The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

The plane that crashed was 12 years old. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft. There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.


# Air India crash: Death toll climbs to 270

By Aijaz Hussain, Piyush Nagpal, and Shonal Ganguly
June 14th, 2025, 06:44 AM

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AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Search and recovery teams continued scouring the site of one of India's worst aviation disasters for a third day after the Air India flight fell from the sky and killed at least 270 people in Gujarat state, officials said Saturday.

The London-bound Boeing 787 struck a medical college hostel in a residential area of the northwestern city of Ahmedabad minutes after takeoff Thursday, killing 241 people on board and at least 29 on the ground. One passenger survived.

Recovery teams working until late Friday found at least 25 more bodies in the debris, officials said.

Dr. Dhaval Gameti at the Civil Hospital in Ahmedabad told The Associated Press the facility had received 270 bodies, adding that the lone surviving passenger was still under observation for some of his wounds.

"He is doing very well and will be ready to be discharged anytime soon," Gameti said Saturday.

Hundreds of relatives of the crash victims have provided DNA samples at the hospital. Most bodies were charred or mutilated, making them unrecognizable.

Some relatives expressed frustration Saturday that the process was taking too long. Authorities say it normally takes up to 72 hours to complete DNA matching and they are expediting the process.

"Where are my children? Did you recover them?" asked Rafiq Abdullah, whose nephew, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren were on the flight. "I will have to ask questions. Government is not answering these questions."

Another relative persistently asked hospital staff when his relative's body would be handed over to the family for last rites.

"Give us the body," the relative insisted.

Alongside the formal investigation, the Indian government says it has formed a high-level, multi-disciplinary committee to examine the causes leading to the crash.

The committee will focus on formulating procedures to prevent and handle aircraft emergencies in the future and "will not be a substitute to other enquiries being conducted by relevant organisations," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement.

Authorities have begun inspecting Air India's entire fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, Indian Minister of Civil Aviation Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday in New Delhi at his first news briefing since Thursday's crash.

Eight of the 34 Dreamliner aircraft in India have already undergone inspection, Kinjarapu said, adding that the remaining aircraft will be examined with "immediate urgency."

The government is eagerly awaiting results of the crash investigation by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau and all necessary steps will be taken without hesitation, Kinjarapu said.

Investigators on Friday recovered the plane's digital flight data recorder, or the black box, which was recovered from a rooftop near the crash site and likely will lead to clues about the cause of the accident.

India's Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau said it had started working with "full force" to extract the data.

The device is expected to reveal information about the engine and control settings, while the voice recorder will provide cockpit conversations, said Paul Fromme, a mechanical engineer with the U.K.-based Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Aviation safety consultant Jeff Guzzetti, a former crash investigator for both the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration, said investigators should be able to answer some important questions about what caused the crash as soon as next week as long as the flight data recorder is in good shape.

Investigators likely are looking at whether wing flaps were set correctly, the engine lost power, alarms were going off inside the cockpit and if the plane's crew correctly logged information about the hot temperature outside and the weight of the fuel and passengers, Guzzetti said.

Mistakes in the data could result in the wing flaps being set incorrectly, he said.

Thursday's Air India crash involved a 12-year-old Boeing 787. Boeing planes have been plagued by safety issues on other types of aircraft.

There are currently around 1,200 of the 787 Dreamliner aircraft worldwide and this was the first deadly crash in 16 years of operation, according to experts.


# US-Iran talks over Tehran's nuclear program won't happen after Israel strikes

By Jon Gambrell, Melanie Lidman, and Julia Frankel
June 14th, 2025, 04:14 AM

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel launched an expanded assault on Iran on Sunday, targeting its energy industry and Defense Ministry headquarters, while Tehran unleashed a fresh barrage of deadly strikes.

The simultaneous attacks represented the latest burst of violence since a surprise offensive by Israel two days earlier aimed at decimating Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program.

New explosions boomed across Tehran as Iranian missiles entered Israel's skies in attacks that Israeli emergency officials said caused deaths around the country, including four in an apartment building in the Galilee region. A strike in central Israel killed an 80-year-old woman, a 69-year-old woman and a 10-year-old boy, officials said.

Casualty figures weren't immediately available in Iran, where Israel targeted its Defense Ministry headquarters in Tehran as well as sites that it alleged were associated with the country's nuclear program. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed that Iranian missiles targeted fuel production facilities for Israeli fighter jets, something not acknowledged by Israel.

Amid the continued conflict, planned negotiations between Iran and the United States over Tehran's nuclear program were cancelled, throwing into question when and how an end to the fighting could come.

"Tehran is burning," Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Both Israel's military and Iran state television announced the latest round of Iranian missiles as explosions were heard near midnight, while the Israeli security cabinet met.

Israel's ongoing strikes across Iran have left the country's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of whether to plunge deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seek a diplomatic route.

## Urgent calls to deescalate

World leaders made urgent calls to deescalate and avoid all-out war. The attack on nuclear sites set a "dangerous precedent," China's foreign minister said. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting.

Israel — widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East — said its hundreds of strikes on Iran over the past two days have killed a number of top generals, nine senior scientists and experts involved in Iran's nuclear program. Iran's U.N. ambassador has said 78 people were killed and more than 320 wounded.

U.S. intelligence agencies and the International Atomic Energy Agency have repeatedly said Iran was not pursuing a nuclear weapon before Israel unleashed its campaign of airstrikes targeting Iran beginning Friday. But Iran's uranium enrichment has reached near weapons-grade levels, and on Thursday the U.N.'s atomic watchdog censured Iran for not complying with obligations meant to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has made the destruction of Iran's nuclear program his top priority, said Israel's strikes so far are "nothing compared to what they will feel under the sway of our forces in the coming days."

In what could be another escalation if confirmed, semiofficial Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli drone struck and caused a "strong explosion" at an Iranian natural-gas processing plant. It would be the first Israeli attack on Iran's oil and natural gas industry. Israel's military did not immediately comment.

The extent of damage at the South Pars natural gas field was not immediately clear. Such sites have air defense systems around them, which Israel has been targeting.

## Iran calls nuclear talks 'unjustifiable'

The sixth round of U.S.-Iran indirect talks on Sunday over Iran 's nuclear program will not take place, mediator Oman said. "We remain committed to talks and hope the Iranians will come to the table soon," said a senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss diplomacy.

Iran's top diplomat said Saturday the nuclear talks were "unjustifiable" after Israel's strikes. Abbas Araghchi's comments came during a call with Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat.

The Israeli airstrikes were the "result of the direct support by Washington," Araghchi said in a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency. The U.S. has said it isn't part of the strikes.

On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program, adding that "Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left."

## US helps to shoot down Iranian missiles

Iran launched its first waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday. The attacks killed at least three people and wounded 174, two of them seriously, Israel said. The military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where.

U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures.

Israel's main international airport said it will remain closed until further notice.

First responders were looking for survivors and clearing the remnants of a missile that fell on a neighborhood outside of Tel Aviv early Sunday morning.

An Associated Press reporter saw streets lined with damaged and destroyed buildings, bombed out cars and shards of glass.

Responders used a drone at points to look for survivors in some of the areas that were too hard to access. Some people were fleeing the area with their belongings in suitcases.

## 'More than a few weeks' to repair nuclear facilities

Israel attacked Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. Satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage there. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including "infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion," and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said four "critical buildings" at the Isfahan site were damaged, including its uranium conversion facility. "As in Natanz, no increase in off-site radiation expected," it added.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures, said that according to the army's initial assessment "it will take much more than a few weeks" for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had "concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes."

Israel denied it had struck the nuclear enrichment facility in Fordo, about 100 kilometers (60 miles) southeast of Tehran.

Among those killed were three of Iran's top military leaders: one who oversaw the entire armed forces, Gen. Mohammad Bagheri; one who led the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, Gen. Hossein Salami; and the head of the Guard's aerospace division, which oversees its arsenal of ballistic missile program, Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh. On Saturday, Khamenei named a new leader for the Revolutionary Guard's aerospace division: Gen. Majid Mousavi.


# Ye attends 'Diddy' sex trafficking trial in New York

By Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister
June 13th, 2025, 03:56 PM

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NEW YORK (AP) — Ye, the rapper formerly known as Kanye West, briefly showed up to the New York sex trafficking trial of Sean "Diddy" Combs on Friday to support the hip-hop mogul, a longtime friend. But he wasn't allowed into the courtroom and left after briefly watching the trial on a video monitor in another room.

Ye, dressed in white, arrived at Manhattan federal court before noon while the trial was on a break and spent about 40 minutes in the building.

After emerging from an airport-style security screening, Ye was asked if he was at the courthouse to support Combs.

"Yes," he responded with a nod. He then hustled to an elevator and did not respond when asked if he might testify on Combs' behalf when the defense begins its presentation as early as next week.

Courthouse security did not take him to the 26th floor where the trial occurs in one of the building's largest courtrooms. Admittance there is strictly controlled, with seats reserved for Combs' family and legal team, the media and spectators who wait in line for hours to get a coveted seat.

The rapper was taken instead to a courtroom three floors below the trial floor. There, he briefly observed testimony on a large closed-circuit monitor in an overflow room that was one floor below the usual overflow room, which was packed with media representatives and courthouse employees who heard erroneously that he might be there.

As word of his actual location spread and spectators trickled into the room where Ye sat in the front row with Combs' son, Christian, a bodyguard and another Combs' supporter on a side of the room that was otherwise kept vacant by a court officer, Ye looked around the room before abruptly getting up and leaving, along with the others with him.

Ye didn't answer further questions as he left the courthouse, walking past reporters and TV cameras and ducking into a waiting black Mercedes sedan.

In the courtroom where the trial occurred, Combs, 55, seemed elated and aware his friend had visited as family members including his mother watched the proceedings. He has pleaded not guilty to sex trafficking and racketeering conspiracy charges alleging that he used his fame, fortune and violence to commit crimes over a 20-year period.

Ye's appearance at the courthouse came a day after a woman identified in court only by the pseudonym "Jane" finished six days of testimony.

She testified that during a relationship with Combs that stretched from 2021 until his arrest last September at a Manhattan hotel, she felt coerced into frequent dayslong sexual marathons with male sex workers while Combs watched and sometimes filmed the drug-fueled encounters.

Defense attorneys have argued that Combs committed no crimes and that federal prosecutors were trying to police consensual sex that occurred between adults.

On Thursday, Jane testified that during a three-month break in her relationship with Combs, she flew to Las Vegas in January 2023 with a famous rapper who was close friends with Combs.

Prior to Jane's testimony on the subject, lawyers and the judge conducted a lengthy hearing out of public view to discuss what could be divulged about the January trip.

Jane was asked if the rapper she accompanied along with the rapper's girlfriend was "an individual at the top of the music industry as well ... an icon in the music industry."

"Yes," Jane replied.

Once in Las Vegas, Jane testified, she went with a group including the rapper to dinner, a strip club and a hotel room party, where a sex worker had sex with a woman while a half-dozen others watched.

She said there was dancing and the rapper said, "hey beautiful," and told her, in crude language, that he had always wanted to have sex with her. Jane said she didn't recall exactly when, but she flashed her breasts while dancing.

Also Friday, the judge said he was leaning toward removing a juror and replacing him with an alternate after prosecutors found inconsistencies in his answers about where he lives.

During jury selection, the juror said he lived in the Bronx. But, prosecutors said, he told a court employee that he recently moved to New Jersey.

Under questioning by Judge Arun Subramanian, the juror acknowledged moving, but said he retains a New York driver's license and stays there during the week. Only New York residents can serve as Manhattan federal court jurors.

Combs' lawyers called it a "thinly veiled effort to dismiss a Black juror" and suggested Subramanian was "conflating inconsistencies with lying."

The judge noted that even if the juror is ousted, the jury would be diverse.


# Nicaragua's former President Violeta Chamorro dies at 95, family says

June 14th, 2025, 05:33 PM

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SAN JOSE, Costa Rica (AP) — Violeta Chamorro, an unassuming homemaker who was thrust into politics by her husband's assassination and stunned the world by ousting the ruling Sandinista party in presidential elections and ending Nicaragua 's civil war, has died, her family said in a statement on Saturday. She was 95.

The country's first female president, known as Doña Violeta to both supporters and detractors, she presided over the Central American nation's uneasy transition to peace after nearly a decade of conflict between the Sandinista government of Daniel Ortega and U.S.-backed Contra rebels.

At nearly seven years, Chamorro's was the longest single term ever served by a democratically elected Nicaraguan leader, and when it was over she handed over the presidential sash to an elected civilian successor — a relative rarity for a country with a long history of strongman rule, revolution and deep political polarization.

Chamorro died in San Jose, Costa Rica, according to the family's statement shared by her son, Carlos Fernando Chamorro, on X.

"Doña Violeta died peacefully, surrounded by the affection and love of her children and those who had provided her with extraordinary care, and now she finds herself in the peace of the Lord," the statement said.

A religious ceremony was being planned in San Jose. Her remains will be held in Costa Rica "until Nicaragua returns to being a Republic," the statement said.

In more recent years, the family had been driven into exile in Costa Rica like hundreds of thousands of other Nicaraguans fleeing the repression of Ortega.

Violeta Chamorro's daughter, Cristiana Chamorro, was held under house arrest for months in Nicaragua and then convicted of money laundering and other charges as Ortega moved to clear the field of challengers as he sought reelection.

The Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation closed its operations in Nicaragua in January 2021, as thousands of nongovernmental organizations have been forced to do because Ortega has worked to silence any critical voices. It had provided training for journalists, helped finance journalistic outlets and defended freedom of expression.

## Husband's assassination

Born Violeta Barrios Torres on Oct. 18, 1929, in the southwestern city of Rivas, Chamorro had little by way of preparation for the public eye. The eldest daughter of a landowning family, she was sent to U.S. finishing schools.

After her father's death in 1948, she returned to the family home and married Pedro Joaquin Chamorro, who soon became editor and publisher of the family newspaper, La Prensa, following his own father's death.

He penned editorials denouncing the abuses of the regime of Gen. Anastasio Somoza, whose family had ruled Nicaragua for four decades, and was gunned down on a Managua street in January 1978. The killing, widely believed to have been ordered by Somoza, galvanized the opposition and fueled the popular revolt led by Ortega's Sandinista National Liberation Front that toppled the dictator in July 1979.

Chamorro herself acknowledged that she had little ambition beyond raising her four children before her husband's assassination. She said she was in Miami shopping for a wedding dress for one of her daughters when she heard the news.

Still, Chamorro took over publishing La Prensa and also became a member of the junta that replaced Somoza. She quit just nine months later as the Sandinistas exerted their dominance and built a socialist government aligned with Cuba and the Soviet Union and at odds with the United States amid the Cold War.

La Prensa became a leading voice of opposition to the Sandinistas and the focus of regular harassment by government supporters who accused the paper of being part of Washington's efforts — along with U.S.-financed rebels, dubbed "Contras" by the Sandinistas for their counterrevolutionary fight — to undermine the leftist regime.

Chamorro later recounted bitter memories of what she considered the Sandinistas' betrayal of her husband's democratic goals and her own faith in the anti-Somoza revolution.

"I'm not praising Somoza's government. It was horrible. But the threats that I've had from the Sandinistas — I never thought they would repay me in that way," she said.

## 'Peace and progress'

Chamorro saw her own family divided by the country's politics. Son Pedro Joaquin became a leader of the Contras, and daughter Cristiana worked as an editor at La Prensa. But another son, Carlos Fernando, and Chamorro's eldest daughter, Claudia, were militant Sandinistas.

By 1990 Nicaragua was in tatters. The economy was in shambles thanks to a U.S. trade embargo, Sandinista mismanagement and war. Some 30,000 people had died in the fighting between the Contras and Sandinistas.

When a coalition of 14 opposition parties nominated an initially reluctant Chamorro as their candidate in the presidential election called for February that year, few gave her much chance against the Sandinista incumbent, Ortega. Even after months of campaigning, she stumbled over speeches and made baffling blunders. Suffering from osteoporosis, a disease that weakens the bones, she broke her knee in a household fall and spent much of the campaign in a wheelchair.

But elegant, silver-haired and dressed almost exclusively in white, she connected with many Nicaraguans tired of war and hardship. Her maternal image, coupled with promises of reconciliation and an end to the military draft, contrasted with Ortega's swagger and revolutionary rhetoric.

"I bring the flag of love," she told a rally shortly before the vote. "Hatred has only brought us war and hunger. With love will come peace and progress."

She shocked the Sandinistas and the world by handily winning the election, hailing her victory as the fulfillment of her late husband's vision.

"We knew that in a free election we would achieve a democratic republic of the kind Pedro Joaquin always dreamed," Chamorro said.

Washington lifted trade sanctions and promised aid to rebuild the nation's ravaged economy, and by June the 19,000-strong Contra army had been disbanded, formally ending an eight-year war.

## Forced into negotiations

Chamorro had little else to celebrate during her first months in office.

In the two months between the election and her inauguration, the Sandinistas looted the government, signing over government vehicles and houses to militants in a giveaway that became popularly known as "the pinata."

Her plans to stabilize the hyperinflation-wracked economy with free-market reforms were met with stiff opposition from the Sandinistas, who had the loyalty of most of the country's organized labor.

Chamorro's first 100 days in power were marred by two general strikes, the second of which led to street battles between protesters and government supporters. To restore order Chamorro called on the Sandinista-dominated army, testing the loyalty of the force led by Gen. Humberto Ortega, Daniel Ortega's older brother. The army took to the streets but did not act against the strikers.

Chamorro was forced into negotiations, broadening the growing rift between moderates and hardliners in her government. Eventually her vice president, Virgilio Godoy, became one over her most vocal critics.

Nicaraguans hoping that Chamorro's election would quickly bring stability and economic progress were disappointed. Within a year some former Contras had taken up arms again, saying they were being persecuted by security forces still largely controlled by the Sandinistas. Few investors were willing to gamble on a destitute country with a volatile workforce, while foreign volunteers who had been willing to pick coffee and cotton in support of the Sandinistas had long departed.

"What more do you want than to have the war ended?" Chamorro said after a year in office.

## Vision of forgiveness

Chamorro was unable to undo Nicaragua's dire poverty. By the end of her administration in early 1997, unemployment was measured at over 50 percent, while crime, drug abuse and prostitution — practically unheard of during the Sandinista years — soared.

That year she handed the presidential sash to another elected civilian: conservative Arnoldo Aleman, who also defeated Ortega at the ballot.

In her final months in office, Chamorro published an autobiography, "Dreams of the Heart," in which she emphasized her vision of forgiveness and reconciliation.

"After six years as president, she has broadened her definition of 'my children' to include all Nicaraguans," wrote a reviewer for the Los Angeles Times. "So even political opponents like Ortega are briefly criticized in one sentence, only to be generously forgiven in the next."

After leaving office, Chamorro retired to her Managua home and her grandchildren. She generally steered clear of politics and created the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation.

In 2011 it was revealed that she suffered from a brain tumor. In October 2018, she was hospitalized and said by family members to be in "delicate condition" after suffering a cerebral embolism, a kind of stroke.


# Families of deceased US officers wait years for death benefits

By Ryan J. Foley
June 14th, 2025, 04:03 AM

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When her husband died after a grueling U.S. Border Patrol training program for new agents, Lisa Afolayan applied for the federal benefits promised to families of first responders whose lives are cut short in the line of duty.

Sixteen years later, Afolayan and her two daughters haven't seen a penny, and program officials are defending their decisions to deny them compensation. She calls it a nightmare that too many grieving families experience.

"It just makes me so mad that we are having to fight this so hard," said Afolayan, whose husband, Nate, had been hired to guard the U.S. border with Mexico in southern California. "It takes a toll emotionally, and I don't think they care. To them, it's just a business. They're just pushing paper."

Afolayan's case is part of a backlog of claims plaguing the fast-growing Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program. Hundreds of families of deceased and disabled officers are waiting years to learn whether they qualify for the life-changing payments, and more are ultimately being denied, an Associated Press analysis of program data found.

The program is falling far short of its goal of deciding claims within one year. Nearly 900 have been pending for longer than that, triple the number from five years earlier, in a backlog that includes cases from nearly every state, according to AP's review, which was based on program data through late April.

More than 120 of those claims have been in limbo for at least five years, and roughly a dozen have languished for a decade.

"That is just outrageous that the person has to wait that long," said Charlie Lauer, the program's general counsel in the 1980s. "Those poor families."

Justice Department officials, who oversee the program, acknowledge the backlog. They say they're managing a surge in claims — which have more than doubled in the last five years — while making complicated decisions about whether cases meet legal criteria.

In a statement, they said "claims involving complex medical and causation issues, voluminous evidence and conflicting medical opinions take longer to determine, as do claims in various stages of appeal." It acknowledged a few cases "continue through the process over ten years."

Program officials wouldn't comment on Afolayan's case. Federal lawyers are asking an appeals court for a second time to uphold their denials, which blame Nate's heat- and exertion-related death on a genetic condition shared by millions of mostly Black U.S. citizens.

Supporters say Lisa Afolayan's resilience in pursuing the claim has been remarkable, and grown in significance as training-related deaths like Nate's have risen.

"Your death must fit in their box, or your family's not going to be taken care of," said Afolayan, of suburban Dallas.

Their daughter, Natalee, was 3 when her father died. She recently completed her first year at the University of Texas, without the help of the higher education benefits the program provides.

## The officers' benefits program is decades old and has paid billions

Congress created the Public Safety Officers' Benefits program in 1976, providing a one-time $50,000 payout as a guarantee for those whose loved ones die in the line of duty.

The benefit was later set to adjust with inflation; today it pays $448,575. The program has awarded more than $2.4 billion.

Early on, claims were often adjudicated within weeks. But the complexity increased in 1990, when Congress extended the program to some disabled officers. A 1998 law added educational benefits for spouses and children.

Since 2020, Congress has passed three laws expanding eligibility — to officers who died after contracting COVID-19, first responders who died or were disabled in rescue and cleanup operations from the September 2001 attacks, and some who die by suicide.

Today, the program sees 1,200 claims annually, up from 500 in 2019.

The wait time for decisions and rate of denials have risen alongside the caseload. Roughly one of every three death and disability claims were rejected over the last year.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and other Republicans recently introduced legislation to require the program to make determinations within 270 days, expressing outrage over the case of an officer disabled in a mass shooting who's waited years for a ruling. Similar legislation died last year.

One group representing families, Concerns of Police Survivors, has expressed no such concerns about the program's management. The Missouri-based nonprofit recently received a $6 million grant to continue its longstanding partnership with the Justice Department to serve deceased officers' relatives — including providing counseling, hosting memorial events and assisting with claims.

"We are very appreciative of the PSOB and their work with survivor benefits," spokesperson Sara Slone said. "Not all line-of-duty deaths are the same and therefore processing times will differ."

## Nate Afolayan dreamed of serving his adopted country

Born in Nigeria, Nate Afolayan moved to California with relatives at age 11. He became a U.S. citizen and graduated from California State University a decade later.

Lisa met Nate while they worked together at a juvenile probation office. They talked, went out for lunch and felt sparks.

"The next thing you know, we were married with two kids," she said.

He decided to pursue a career in law enforcement once their second daughter was born. Lisa supported him, though she understood the danger.

He spent a year working out while applying for jobs and was thrilled when the Border Patrol declared him medically fit; sent him to Artesia, New Mexico, for training; and swore him in.

Nate loved his 10 weeks at the academy, Lisa said, despite needing medical treatment several times — he was shot with pepper spray in the face and became dizzy during a water-based drill.

His classmates found him to be a natural leader in elite shape and chose him to speak at graduation, they recalled in interviews with investigators.

He prepared a speech with the line, "We are all warriors that stand up and fight for what's right, just and lawful."

But on April 30, 2009 — days before the ceremony — a Border Patrol official called Lisa. Nate, 29, had fainted after his final training run and was hospitalized.

It was dusty and 88 degrees in the high desert that afternoon. Agents had to complete the 1.5-mile run in 13 minutes, at an altitude of 3,400 feet. Nate had warned classmates it was too hot to wear their black academy shirts, but they voted to do so anyway, records show.

Nate, 29, finished in just over 11 minutes but then struggled to breathe and collapsed.

Now Nate was being airlifted to a Lubbock, Texas, hospital for advanced treatment. Lisa booked a last-minute flight, arriving the next day.

A doctor told her Nate's organs had shut down and they couldn't save his life. The hospital needed permission to end life-saving efforts. One nurse delivered chest compressions; another held Lisa tightly as she yelled: "That's it! I can't take it anymore!"

Lisa became a single mother. The girls were 3 and 1.

Her only comfort, she said, was knowing Nate died living his dream — serving his adopted country.

## Sickle cell trait was cited in this benefit denial

When she first applied for benefits, Lisa included the death certificate that listed heat illness as the cause of Nate's death.

The aid could help her family. She'd been studying to become a nurse but had to abandon that plan. She relied on Social Security survivors' benefits and workers' compensation while working at gyms as a trainer or receptionist and dabbling in real estate.

The program had paid benefits for a handful of similar training deaths, dating to a Massachusetts officer who suffered heat stroke and dehydration in 1988. But program staff wanted another opinion on Nate's death. They turned to outside forensic pathologist Dr. Stephen Cina.

Cina concluded the autopsy overlooked the "most significant factor": Nate carried sickle cell trait, a condition that's usually benign but has been linked to rare exertion-related deaths in military, sports and law enforcement training.

Cina opined that exercising in a hot climate at high altitude triggered a crisis in which Nate's red blood cells became misshapen, depriving his body of oxygen. Cina, who stopped consulting for the benefits program in 2020 after hundreds of case reviews, declined to comment.

Nate learned he had the condition, carried by up to 3 million U.S. Black citizens, after a blood test following his second daughter's birth. The former high school basketball player had never experienced any problems.

A Border Patrol spokesperson declined to say whether academy leaders knew of the condition, which experts say can be managed with precautions such as staying hydrated, avoiding workouts in extreme temperatures and altitudes, and taking rest breaks.

Under the benefit program's rules, Afolayan's death would need to be "the direct and proximate result" of an injury he suffered on duty to qualify. It couldn't be the result of ordinary physical strain.

The program in 2012 rejected the claim, saying the hot, dry, high climate was one factor, but not the most important.

It had been more than two years since Lisa Afolayan applied and three since Nate's death.

## Lisa Afolayan's appeal was not common

Most rejected applicants don't exercise their option to appeal to an independent hearing officer, saying they can't afford attorneys or want to get on with their lives.

But Lisa Afolayan appealed with help from a border patrol union. A one-day hearing was held in late 2012. The hearing officer denied her claim more than a year later, saying the "perfect storm" of factors causing the death didn't include a qualifying injury.

Lisa and her daughters moved from California to Texas. They visited the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, where they saw Nate's name.

Four years passed without an update on the claim. Lisa learned the union had failed to exercise its final appeal, to the program director, due to an oversight. The union didn't respond to AP emails seeking comment.

Then she met Suzie Sawyer, founder and retired executive director of Concerns of Police Survivors. Sawyer had recently helped win a long battle to obtain benefits in the death of another federal agent who'd collapsed during training.

"I said, 'Lisa, this could be the fight of your life, and it could take forever,'" Sawyer recalled. "'Are you willing to do it?' She goes, 'hell yes.'"

The two persuaded the program to hear the appeal even though the deadline had passed. They introduced a list of similar claims that had been granted and new evidence: A Tennessee medical examiner concluded the hot, dry environment and altitude were key factors causing Nate's organ-system failure.

But the program was unmoved. The acting Bureau of Justice Assistance director upheld the denial in 2020.

Such rulings usually aren't public, but Lisa fumed as she learned through contacts about some whose deaths qualified, including a trooper who had an allergic reaction to a bee sting, an intoxicated FBI agent who crashed his car, and another officer with sickle cell trait who died after a training run on a hot day.

## Today, an appeal is still pending

In 2022, Lisa thought she might have finally prevailed when a federal appeals court ordered the program to take another look at her application.

A three-judge panel said the program erred by failing to consider whether the heat, humidity and altitude during the run were "the type of unusual or out-of-the-ordinary climatic conditions that would qualify."

The judges also said it may have been illegal to rely on sickle cell trait for the denial under a federal law prohibiting employers from discrimination on the basis of genetic information.

It was great timing: The girls were in high school and could use the monthly benefit of $1,530 to help pay for college. The family's Social Security and workers' compensation benefits would end soon.

But the program was in no hurry. Nearly two years passed without a ruling despite inquiries from Afolayan and her lawyer.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance director upheld the denial in February 2024, ruling that the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act didn't apply since the program wasn't Afolayan's employer.

Arnold & Porter, a Washington law firm now representing Afolayan pro bono, has appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Her attorney John Elwood said the program has gotten bogged down in minutiae while losing sight of the bigger picture: that an officer died during mandatory training. He said government lawyers are fighting him just as hard, "if not harder," than on any other case he's handled.

Months after filing their briefs, oral arguments haven't been set.

"This has been my life for 16 years," Lisa Afolayan said. "Sometimes I just chuckle and keep moving because what else am I going to do?"


# Netanyahu faces moment of truth with attack on Iran

By Josef Federman
June 14th, 2025, 07:39 PM

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JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the mission of his lifetime.

For years, the veteran leader has made the destruction of Iran's nuclear program his top priority, raising the issue in speech after speech in apocalyptic terms. Now Netanyahu's moment of truth has arrived.

After battling Iran's allies across the region following Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack, Netanyahu has turned his attention to what he describes as the "head of the octopus," with an unprecedented and open-ended military offensive against Iran and its nuclear program.

It is an aggressive gamble made possible by a confluence of factors, including the weakening of Iranian-backed militant groups in Gaza and Lebanon, and the reelection and support of U.S. President Donald Trump.

But success is not guaranteed, and the outcome of the escalating conflict could determine the fate of Netanyahu's government and shape his legacy.

Here's a closer look:

## Netanyahu's history of warnings on Iran

Netanyahu began warning about the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran in the 1990s — even before his first term as prime minister at the end of the decade. He returned to office in 2009 and has served as prime minister almost continuously since then, rarely missing an opportunity to portray the prospect of a nuclear-armed Iran as a threat to Israel's existence and menace to the world.

In 2012, he famously displayed a crude cartoon illustrating what he said was Iran's march toward the bomb during a speech to the U.N. assembly.

Three years later, he delivered a controversial speech to the U.S. Congress arguing against then-President Barack Obama's emerging nuclear deal with Iran. The speech infuriated the White House and failed to block the deal. But it delighted Republicans and laid the groundwork for Trump to pull out of the agreement three years later.

Netanyahu has frequently compared Iran's theocratic leadership to the Nazis, at times drawing the ire of Holocaust scholars and survivor groups. He turned to that familiar playbook this week as he announced the latest attacks on Iran.

"Eighty years ago, the Jewish people were the victims of a Holocaust perpetrated by the Nazi regime," he said. "Today, the Jewish state refuses to be a victim of a nuclear Holocaust perpetrated by the Iranian regime."

Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only. But its enrichment of uranium to near-weapons grade levels and failure to cooperate with international inspectors have raised doubts about those claims.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency has warned that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make several bombs. The agency censured Iran this week for failing to comply with nonproliferation obligations, one day before the Israeli strikes began.

## Why attack Iran now?

Netanyahu for years has threatened to strike Iran, repeatedly saying that all options were "on the table."

But never before has he pulled the trigger due to opposition by domestic rivals and security chiefs, questions about the feasibility of such a risky operation and the opposition of a string of U.S. presidents.

But things have changed over the past two years, and Netanyahu now believes he has a chance to shape the region in his own image.

Since Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack triggered the ongoing war in Gaza, Israel has systematically degraded a network of Iranian allies across the region.

The war in Gaza has decimated the Palestinian militant group Hamas, but at a devastating price for the territory's civilian population. Last year, Israel also inflicted heavy damage on Hezbollah militants in Lebanon, severely weakening the group and contributing to the downfall of Syrian President Bashar Assad, another key Iranian ally. And during a brief round of fighting with Iran last year, Israel knocked out much of its enemies' air-defense systems.

With Iran's "Axis of Resistance" in tatters and Iran unable to defend itself against Israel's air force, there was little to deter Israel from taking action this week.

Trump provided the final piece of the puzzle. After surprising Israel earlier this year with his resumption of nuclear talks with Iran, Trump grew frustrated with the lack of progress in those talks.

Notified about the Israeli plans, the U.S. president appears to have put up little resistance, creating a rare window of opportunity for Israel.

## Will Netanyahu succeed?

It is too early to say.

The Israeli operation appears to have gotten off to a smooth start – with Israel striking dozens of targets and killing senior Iranian military figures. But it remains unclear how much damage Israel has inflicted on Iran's nuclear program.

For now, the divisive and embattled Netanyahu appears to be riding a wave of support at home. Even the political opposition, which tried to topple Netanyahu in a parliamentary vote earlier in the week, has come out in support of the Iran operation.

But things could change quickly. After an initial wave of support for Israel's war against Hamas, the country is now deeply divided. With the fighting now over 20 months old, many believe Netanyahu has unnecessarily dragged out the conflict in a self-serving campaign to remain in office.

Likewise, public support for the Iranian operation could quickly turn if Iran's missile attacks on Israel cause heavy casualties or continue to disrupt life in Israel for an extended period. A debacle on the battlefield – such as the capture of an Israeli fighter pilot by Iran – could also reverse Netanyahu's fortunes. Netanyahu's hints that he is seeking regime change in Iran — a difficult and complicated task — could further hurt his standing.

## Why is success so important for Netanyahu?

After a record-setting tenure in office, Netanyahu has a complicated legacy. He is the object of affection and adoration among his supporters who see him as a wily politician and distinguished statesman. But he is intensely disdained by his many detractors, who see him as a divisive and populist cynic.

Few on either side would disagree that his legacy has been permanently tarnished by the Oct. 7 attacks, the deadliest day in Israel's history.

Netanyahu now sees an opportunity to reshape that legacy once again and go down in history as the man who saved his country from nuclear annihilation, not the prime minister who presided over its darkest moment.


Here’s what to expect at the Army’s 250th anniversary parade on Trump’s birthday

# Here's what to expect at the Army's 250th anniversary parade on Trump's birthday

By Tara Copp
June 13th, 2025, 04:57 PM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The tanks are staged and ready to roll. Fencing and barriers are up. Protective metal plating has been laid out on Washington's streets.

And more than 6,000 troops are poised to march near the National Mall to honor the Army's 250th anniversary on Saturday, which happens to be President Donald Trump's 79th birthday.

With preparations well in hand, one big unknown is the weather. Rain is in the forecast, so there is a chance the parade could be interrupted by thunderstorms.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly said Thursday that rain or shine the parade will go on. But it could be delayed if there is lightning.

"No matter what, a historic celebration of our military service members will take place!" Kelly said in a statement.

Daylong festivities celebrating the Army are planned on the National Mall — featuring NFL players, fitness competitions and displays — culminating in the parade, which is estimated to cost $25 million to $45 million. The Army expects as many as 200,000 people to attend.

A special reviewing area is being set up for the president, where he will be watching as each formation passes the White House.

Here's what to expect at the parade Saturday:

## The troops

A total of 6,169 soldiers as well as 128 Army tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery will parade before the president and viewers, while 62 aircraft will pass overhead.

The parade will tell the Army's story, starting with the Battle of Lexington — the first battle of the Revolutionary War — and move all the way to present day.

Each conflict will have 150 troops in period costume, followed by a section of hundreds of troops in modern-day dress. For the past several weeks, Army planners have been working out how to get it timed to exactly 90 minutes, Army spokesman Steve Warren said.

Planners first tried marching troops five across and 12 deep — but the parade ran long. To get it down to the exact time, each section will have soldiers marching seven across and 10 deep, Warren said. That means, for example, the Civil War gets exactly three minutes and 39 seconds and World War II gets 6 minutes and 22 seconds.

## The tanks and aircraft

Then there are the tanks. For fans, 8 minutes and 23 seconds into the procession, the first World War I Renault tank will make its appearance.

Compared with today's tanks, the Renaults are tiny and almost look like a robotic weapon out of "The Terminator." But they were groundbreaking for their time, lightweight and enabling movement in that conflict's deadly trench warfare.

The first aircraft will fly over starting 13 minutes and 37 seconds into the parade, including two B-25 Mitchell bombers, four P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft and one C-47 Skytrain. The latter was made famous by the three stripes painted on the wings and body to mark it friendly over U.S. battleships on June 6, 1944, as thousands of Skytrain aircraft dropped more than 13,000 paratroopers into France on D-Day.

The procession will move along into the Gulf War, the war on terror and the modern day, showcasing the Army's M1A2 Abrams tanks and other troop carriers, like the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle and Stryker combat vehicle.

There will even be six High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS — the mobile rocket launchers that have been highly valued by Ukraine as it has defended itself against Russia's invasion.

A massive show of Army airpower will begin 48 minutes in, when a long air parade of UH-60 Black Hawk, AH-64 Apache and CH-47 Chinook helicopters fly overhead as the Army's story swings toward its future warfare.

## The parade finale

The final sections of marching troops represent the Army's future. The band at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point will lead hundreds of future troops, including members of the Texas A&M Army Corps of Cadets, new enlistees just going through Army initial entry training, and cadets from the Virginia Military Institute and The Citadel in South Carolina.

The last section includes 250 new recruits or soldiers who are reenlisting. As they reach the president, they will turn toward him and raise their right hand, and Trump will swear them into service.

The parade will end with a celebratory jump by the Army's Golden Knights parachute team, which will present Trump with an American flag.

After the parade, a 19-minute fireworks show and concert will round out the celebration.

## Watching the parade

Organizers have estimated that hundreds of thousands of people could be in Washington to see the parade live, but there will be plenty of ways to see it from afar as well.

The Army has said it will be streaming the parade on its social media channels, and some news outlets, including C-SPAN and Fox News Channel, have announced plans to air the entire event live, as well as other special related programming. Others, including NBC News Now, will air the parade via streaming services.

The parade is expected to begin at 6:30 p.m., and organizers have said it will last 90 minutes.


What’s left for the Supreme Court to decide? 21 cases, including state bans on transgender care

# What's left for the Supreme Court to decide? 21 cases, including state bans on transgender care

By Mark Sherman and Lindsay Whitehurst
June 14th, 2025, 12:32 PM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court is in the homestretch of a term that has lately been dominated by the Trump administration's emergency appeals of lower court orders seeking to slow President Donald Trump's efforts to remake the federal government.

But the justices also have 21 cases to resolve that were argued between December and mid-May, including a push by Republican-led states to ban gender-affirming care for transgender minors. One of the argued cases was an emergency appeal, the administration's bid to be allowed to enforce Trump's executive order denying birthright citizenship to U.S.-born children of parents who are in the country illegally.

The court typically aims to finish its work by the end of June.

Here are some of the biggest remaining cases:

## Tennessee and 26 other states have enacted bans on certain treatment for transgender youth

The oldest unresolved case, and arguably the term's biggest, stems from a challenge to Tennessee's law from transgender minors and their parents who argue that it is unconstitutional sex discrimination aimed at a vulnerable population.

At arguments in December, the court's conservative majority seemed inclined to uphold the law, voicing skepticism of claims that it violates the 14th amendment's equal protection clause. The post-Civil War provision requires the government to treat similarly situated people the same.

The court is weighing the case amid a range of other federal and state efforts to regulate the lives of transgender people, including which sports competitions they can join and which bathrooms they can use. In April, Trump's administration sued Maine for not complying with the government's push to ban transgender athletes in girls sports.

Trump also has sought to block federal spending on gender-affirming care for those under 19 and a conservative majority of justices allowed him to move forward with plans to oust transgender people from the U.S. military.

## Trump's birthright citizenship order has been blocked by lower courts

The court rarely hears arguments over emergency appeals, but it took up the administration's plea to narrow orders that have prevented the citizenship changes from taking effect anywhere in the U.S.

The issue before the justices is whether to limit the authority of judges to issue nationwide injunctions, which have plagued both Republican and Democratic administrations in the past 10 years.

These nationwide court orders have emerged as an important check on Trump's efforts and a source of mounting frustration to the Republican president and his allies.

At arguments last month, the court seemed intent on keeping a block on the citizenship restrictions while still looking for a way to scale back nationwide court orders. It was not clear what such a decision might look like, but a majority of the court expressed concerns about what would happen if the administration were allowed, even temporarily, to deny citizenship to children born to parents who are in the country illegally.

Democratic-led states, immigrants and rights groups who sued over Trump's executive order argued that it would upset the settled understanding of birthright citizenship that has existed for more than 125 years.

## The court seems likely to side with Maryland parents in a religious rights case over LGBTQ storybooks in public schools

Parents in the Montgomery County school system, in suburban Washington, want to be able to pull their children out of lessons that use the storybooks, which the county added to the curriculum to better reflect the district's diversity.

The school system at one point allowed parents to remove their children from those lessons, but then reversed course because it found the opt-out policy to be disruptive. Sex education is the only area of instruction with an opt-out provision in the county's schools.

The school district introduced the storybooks in 2022, with such titles as "Prince and Knight" and "Uncle Bobby's Wedding."

The case is one of several religious rights cases at the court this term. The justices have repeatedly endorsed claims of religious discrimination in recent years. The decision also comes amid increases in recent years in books being banned from public school and public libraries.

## A three-year battle over congressional districts in Louisiana is making its second trip to the Supreme Court

Lower courts have struck down two Louisiana congressional maps since 2022 and the justices are weighing whether to send state lawmakers back to the map-drawing board for a third time.

The case involves the interplay between race and politics in drawing political boundaries in front of a conservative-led court that has been skeptical of considerations of race in public life.

At arguments in March, several of the court's conservative justices suggested they could vote to throw out the map and make it harder, if not impossible, to bring redistricting lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act.

Before the court now is a map that created a second Black majority congressional district among Louisiana's six seats in the House of Representatives. The district elected a Black Democrat in 2024.

A three-judge court found that the state relied too heavily on race in drawing the district, rejecting Louisiana's arguments that politics predominated, specifically the preservation of the seats of influential members of Congress, including Speaker Mike Johnson. The Supreme Court ordered the challenged map to be used last year while the case went on.

Lawmakers only drew that map after civil rights advocates won a court ruling that a map with one Black majority district likely violated the landmark voting rights law.

## The justices are weighing a Texas law aimed at blocking kids from seeing online pornography

Texas is among more than a dozen states with age verification laws. The states argue the laws are necessary as smartphones have made access to online porn, including hardcore obscene material, almost instantaneous.

The question for the court is whether the measure infringes on the constitutional rights of adults as well. The Free Speech Coalition, an adult-entertainment industry trade group, agrees that children shouldn't be seeing pornography. But it says the Texas law is written too broadly and wrongly affects adults by requiring them to submit personal identifying information online that is vulnerable to hacking or tracking.

The justices appeared open to upholding the law, though they also could return it to a lower court for additional work. Some justices worried the lower court hadn't applied a strict enough legal standard in determining whether the Texas law and others like that could run afoul of the First Amendment.


# AP-NORC poll: What Americans think about Pope Leo XIV

By Luis Andres Henao and Amelia Thomson-Deveaux
June 15th, 2025, 04:01 AM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Just over a month after Pope Leo XIV became the first U.S.-born pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church, a new poll shows that American Catholics are feeling excited about their new religious leader.

About two-thirds of American Catholics have a "very" or "somewhat" favorable view of Pope Leo, according to the new survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, while about 3 in 10 don't know enough to have an opinion. Very few Catholics — less than 1 in 10 — view him unfavorably.

Among Americans overall, plenty of people are still making up their minds about Pope Leo. But among those who do have an opinion, feelings about the first U.S.-born pope are overwhelmingly positive. The survey found that 44% of U.S. adults have a "somewhat" or "very" favorable view of Pope Leo XIV. A similar percentage say they don't know enough to have an opinion, and only about 1 in 10 see him unfavorably.

As he promises to work for unity in a polarized church, Americans with very different views about the future of the church are feeling optimistic about his pontificate. Terry Barber, a 50-year-old Catholic from Sacramento, California, hopes Leo will seek a "more progressive and modern church" that is more accepting of all.

"I'm optimistic. Certainly, the first pope from the United States is significant," said Barber, who identifies as a Democrat. "Since he worked under the previous pope, I'm sure he has similar ideas, but certainly some that are original, of his own. I'm looking forward to seeing what, if any changes, come about under his leadership."

## Bipartisan appeal

About half of Democrats have a favorable view of the new pope, as do about 4 in 10 Republicans and independents. Republicans are a little more likely than Democrats to be reserving judgment. About half of Republicans say they don't know enough to have an opinion about the pope, compared to about 4 in 10 Democrats.

Republicans, notably, are no more likely than Democrats to have an unfavorable opinion of the pope. About 1 in 10 in each group view Pope Leo unfavorably.

Victoria Becude, 38, a Catholic and Republican from Florida, said she's excited about the first U.S.-born pope and hopes he can steer the country back to Catholic doctrine and make Americans proud.

"I'm rooting for him," she said. "I hope that America can get back to faith, and I hope he can do that"

Being a political liberal or conservative, of course, isn't the same thing as identifying as a liberal or conservative Catholic. But the poll found no discernible partisan gap among Catholics on Pope Leo, and Catholics across the ideological spectrum have expressed hope that Leo will be able to heal some of the divisions that emerged during the pontificate of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Pope Leo recently criticized the surge of nationalist political movements in the world as he prayed for reconciliation and dialogue — a message in line with his pledges to make the Catholic Church a symbol of peace.

Before becoming pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms of Pope Francis' pontificate by having women serve on the Vatican board that vets nominations for bishops. He also has said decisively that women cannot be ordained as priests.

Donald Hallstone, 72, a Catholic who lives in Oregon, said he expects that Leo will continue to promote women in governance positions "at a time when there's a shortage of priests" and other leaders in the church.

"It'd be great to see women in those roles," he said. "Women were not excluded in the first centuries."

On the other hand, some right-wing U.S. Catholics hope Leo will focus on Catholic doctrinal opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion.

Becude, the Republican, said she's against same-sex relationships because she believes that unions should be between a man and a woman, something that Pope Leo has reiterated. Even though she describes herself as "very conservative," though, she's in favor of reproductive rights even when church teaching opposes abortion.

"I don't believe that they should stop women from having abortions," she said. "We should have our own rights because you don't know the circumstances behind the reason why a woman would want the abortion in the first place."

## Few have negative views — yet

There's plenty of room for views to shift as Leo's agenda as pope becomes clear.

Not all Americans have formed an opinion of the new pope yet; particularly, members of other religious groups are more likely to be still making up their minds. About half of born-again Protestants, mainline Protestants, and adults with no religious affiliation don't know enough to have an opinion about the pope, although relatively few — about 1 in 10 — in each group have an unfavorable view of him.

Older Americans — who are more likely to identify as Catholics — are also more likely than younger Americans to be fans of Leo's. About half of Americans ages 60 and older have a favorable view of Pope Leo, compared to about 4 in 10 Americans under 30.

But even so, only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults under 30 have an unfavorable view of the pope right now.

Mercedes Drink, 31, is from the pope's hometown of Chicago. She still hopes that women will become ordained under his pontificate.

"It's cool; I like him because he brings something different," said Drink, who lives in Minnesota and identifies as being part of the "religious nones" — atheists, agnostics, or nothing in particular.

"As a young woman, I hope that he can bring change … considering who he is, he brings something new to the table. I hope he opens the world's eyes to modernizing the church, bringing more people in, having more diversity."


# Immigration raids disrupt California farms and could leave fields unharvested

By Amy Taxin and Dorany Pineda
June 13th, 2025, 04:02 PM

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VENTURA, Calif. (AP) — Large-scale immigration raids at packinghouses and fields in California are threatening businesses that supply much of the country's food, farm bureaus say.

Dozens of farmworkers have been arrested recently after uniformed federal agents fanned out on farms northwest of Los Angeles in Ventura County, which is known for growing strawberries, lemons and avocados.

Others are skipping work as fear in immigrant communities has deepened as President Donald Trump steps up his immigration crackdown, vowing to dramatically increase arrests and sending federal agents to detain people at Home Depot parking lots and workplaces including car washes and a garment factory. It also comes as Trump sent National Guard troops and Marines to Los Angeles following protests over his immigration enforcement operations. Demonstrations have since spread to other U.S. cities.

Maureen McGuire, chief executive of Ventura County's farm bureau, said between 25% and 45% of farmworkers have stopped showing up for work since the large-scale raids began this month.

"When our workforce is afraid, fields go unharvested, packinghouses fall behind, and market supply chains, from local grocery stores to national retailers, are affected," she said in a statement on Thursday. "This impacts every American who eats."

## California is a major center of American agriculture

California's farms produce more than a third of the country's vegetables and more than three-quarters of its fruits and nuts. While the state's government is dominated by Democrats, there are large Republican areas that run through farm country, and many growers throughout the state have been counting on Trump to help with key agricultural issues ranging from water to trade.

Primitiva Hernandez, executive director of 805 UndocuFund, estimates at least 43 people were detained in farm fields in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties since Monday. The number is from both the Mexican consulate and the group's own estimates from talking with family members of people detained, she said.

Elizabeth Strater, the United Farm Workers' director of strategic campaigns, said her group received reports of immigration arrests on farms as far north as California's Central Valley. Lucas Zucker, co-executive director of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy, said farmworker members reported that agents went to at least nine farms but were turned away by supervisors because they lacked a warrant.

"This is just a mass assault on a working-class immigrant community and essentially profiling," Zucker said. "They are not going after specific people who are really targeted. They're just fishing."

In response to questions about the farm arrests, Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement that the agency will follow the president's direction and continue to seek to remove immigrants who have committed crimes.

## Trump recognizes growers' concerns

On Thursday, Trump acknowledged growers' concerns that his stepped-up immigration enforcement could leave them without workers they rely on to grow the country's food. He said something would be done to address the situation, but he did not provide specifics.

"Our great Farmers and people in the Hotel and Leisure business have been stating that our very aggressive policy on immigration is taking very good, long time workers away from them, with those jobs being almost impossible to replace," he said on his social media account, adding: "We must protect our Farmers, but get the CRIMINALS OUT OF THE USA. Changes are coming!"

The California Farm Bureau said it has not received reports of a widespread disruption to its workforce, but there are concerns among community members. Bryan Little, the bureau's senior director of policy advocacy, said the group has long pressed for immigration reform to deal with long-running labor shortages.

"We recognize that some workers may feel uncertain right now, and we want to be very clear: California agriculture depends on and values its workforce," Little said in a statement. "If federal immigration enforcement activities continue in this direction, it will become increasingly difficult to produce food, process it and get it onto grocery store shelves."

## Farmworker fears for his children

One worker, who asked not to be named out of fear, said he was picking strawberries at a Ventura County farm early Tuesday when more than a dozen cars pulled up to the farm next door. He said they arrested at least three people and put them in vans, while women who worked on the farm burst out crying. He said the supervisors on his farm did not allow the agents inside.

"The first thing that came to my mind is, who will stay with my kids?" the worker, who is originally from Mexico and has lived in the United States for two decades, said in Spanish. "It's something so sad and unfortunate because we are not criminals."

He said he didn't go to work Wednesday out of fear, and his bosses told him to stay home at least one more day until things settle down. But that means fruit isn't getting picked, and he isn't getting paid.

"These are lost days, days that we're missing work. But what else can we do?" he said.


# Israel and Iran trade strikes for a third day and threaten more to come

By Jon Gambrell, Natalie Melzer, and Tia Goldenberg
June 15th, 2025, 06:33 AM

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel claimed to operate almost freely in the skies over Iran during a third day of airstrikes Sunday and killed more high-ranking security figures, while some Iranian missiles slipped through Israel's air defenses. Both sides threatened to launch more attacks.

In an indication of how far Israel was prepared to go amid fears of all-out war, a U.S. official told The Associated Press that President Donald Trump in recent days vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The Iranian Health Ministry said late Sunday that 224 people have been killed since Israel's attack began Friday. Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said on social media that 1,277 other people were hospitalized. He asserted that more than 90% of the casualties were civilians.

The paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls Iran's arsenal of ballistic missiles, said intelligence chief Gen. Mohammad Kazemi and two other generals were the latest killed, Iran's state TV reported Sunday night. Israel's attacks have killed several top generals and nuclear scientists.

Iran also said Israel struck two oil refineries, raising the prospect of a broader assault on Iran's heavily sanctioned energy industry that could affect global markets. Israel's military warned Iranians to evacuate arms factories, signaling a further widening of the campaign. Iran's military, on state TV, warned Israelis to stay away from "occupied" areas.

Israel, the sole though undeclared nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, has said it launched the attack — its most powerful ever against Iran — to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The two countries have been adversaries for decades. The latest U.S.-Iran talks on its nuclear program were canceled.

Explosions shook the Iranian capital of Tehran. Sirens went off in Israel. The Israeli military noted "several hit sites" Sunday night, including in Haifa in the north, and the Magen David Adom emergency service said it treated nine injured people.

Israel said 14 people have been killed there since Friday and 390 wounded. Iran has fired over 270 missiles, 22 of which got through the country's sophisticated multi-tiered air defenses, according to Israeli figures. Israel's main international airport and airspace was closed for a third day.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said if Israel's strikes on Iran stop, then "our responses will also stop." Iran's president, Masoud Pezeshkian, criticized the United States for supporting Israel and said "the responses will be more decisive and severe" if Israel keeps attacking, state TV reported.

Trump said the U.S. "had nothing to do with the attack" and that Iran can avoid further destruction only by agreeing to a new nuclear deal.

## Mosques as bomb shelters

Photos shared by Iran's ISNA News Agency showed bloodied people being helped from the scene of Israeli strikes in downtown Tehran. One man carried a blood-spattered girl.

Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Israel hit a Foreign Ministry building in the north of Tehran, with several civilians injured "including a number of my colleagues," Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported.

Israeli strikes also targeted Iran's Defense Ministry after hitting air defenses, military bases and sites associated with its nuclear program. On Sunday night, Israel said it struck "numerous" sites across Iran that produce missile and air defense components.

Israel also claimed it attacked an Iranian refueling aircraft in Mashhad in the northeast, calling it the farthest strike the military had carried out. Iran did not immediately acknowledge any attack. Video obtained and verified by the AP showed smoke rising from the city.

Iran's foreign minister said Israel targeted an oil refinery near Tehran and another in a province on the Persian Gulf.

State television reported that metro stations and mosques would be made available as bomb shelters beginning Sunday night.

## Death toll rises in Israel

Earlier Sunday in Israel, at least six people, including a 10-year-old and a 9-year-old, were killed when a missile hit an apartment building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv. Daniel Hadad, a local police commander, said 180 people were wounded and seven were missing.

Another four people, including a 13-year-old, were killed and 24 wounded when a missile struck a building in the Arab town of Tamra in northern Israel. A strike on the central city of Rehovot wounded 42. The Weizmann Institute of Science, an important center for military and other research in Rehovot, reported "a number of hits to buildings on the campus" and said no one was harmed.

An oil refinery was damaged in the northern Israeli city of Haifa, according to the firm operating it, which said no one was wounded.

## Netanyahu says regime change in Iran could be a result

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has brushed off urgent calls by world leaders to deescalate.

In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, he said regime change in Iran "could certainly be the result" of the conflict. He also claimed, without giving evidence, that Israeli intelligence indicated Iran intended to give nuclear weapons to Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Iran has always said its nuclear program was peaceful, and the U.S. and others have assessed that it has not pursued a weapon since 2003. But Iran has enriched ever larger stockpiles of uranium to near weapons-grade levels in recent years and was believed to have the capacity to develop multiple weapons within months if it chose to do so.

The U.N.'s atomic watchdog issued a rare censure of Iran last week.

A senior U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive nuclear talks, said Washington remained committed to them and hoped the Iranians would return to the table.

The region is already on edge as Israel seeks to annihilate Hamas, an Iranian ally, in the Gaza Strip, where war still rages after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack.

In a social media post, Trump warned Iran that any retaliation directed against it would bring an American response "at levels never seen before."

## 'More than a few weeks' to repair nuclear facilities

In Iran, satellite photos analyzed by AP show extensive damage at Iran's main nuclear enrichment facility in Natanz. The images shot Saturday by Planet Labs PBC show multiple buildings damaged or destroyed. The structures hit include buildings identified by experts as supplying power to the facility.

U.N. nuclear chief Rafael Grossi told the Security Council that the above-ground section of the Natanz facility was destroyed. The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to be hit, but the loss of power could have damaged infrastructure there, he said.

Israel also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan. The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, said four "critical buildings" were damaged, including Isfahan's uranium-conversion facility. The IAEA said there was no sign of increased radiation at Natanz or Isfahan.

An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity Sunday in line with official procedures, said it would take "many months, maybe more" to restore the two sites.


# Cambodia bans Thai movies and TV shows in latest border feud tit-for-tat

By Sopheng Cheang
June 13th, 2025, 02:12 PM

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PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia escalated its cold war with Thailand on Friday when it announced a ban on Thai movies and TV shows and a boycott of the neighboring country's international internet links.

Tensions between the Southeast Asian countries have soared since an armed confrontation in a border area on May 28 that each side blamed on the other and which left one Cambodian soldier dead.

Cambodian officials said the import and screenings of Thai movies would be banned, and that broadcasters would be ordered not to air Thai-produced shows, which include popular soap operas. The government said it would inflict a financial blow on Thailand by rerouting its international internet traffic through other countries instead.

Cambodian and Thai authorities engaged in saber-rattling last week, though they have since walked back much of their earlier statements emphasizing their right to take military action.

But they continue to implement or threaten measures short of armed force, keeping tensions high. Thailand has added restrictions at border crossings. Much of their war of words actually has appeared intended to mollify nationalistic critics on their own sides.

The confrontation reportedly took place in a relatively small "no man's land" constituting territory along their border that both countries claim is theirs.

The area is closed to journalists, but it appears that both sides withdrew soon after the fatal confrontation to avoid further clashes, without explicitly conceding the fact in order to save face.

"Neither side wants to use the word 'withdraw'. We say 'adjust troop deployments' as a gesture of mutual respect—this applies to both Cambodia and Thailand." Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra was quoted telling reporters this past week.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet said Friday on the Telegram social network that his government would act preemptively to establish self-reliance in response to exhortations by Thai nationalists to cut off electricity and internet connectivity to Cambodia.

Camboia's Minister of Post and Telecommunication Chea Vandeth announced on his Facebook page that "all telecommunications operators in Cambodia have now disconnected all cross-border internet links with Thailand," and that the move would deprive Thailand of as much as hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, a claim that could not be immediately checked.

The reported move to use circuits bypassing Thailand temporarily disrupted internet connectivity for users of at least one Cambodian service provider.

Thai officials said any plans to cut services to Cambodia were unrelated to the territorial conflict and would actually be targeting the infamous online scam centers in the Cambodian border town of Poipet that have been a problem for several years.

Cambodia's Ministry of Fine Arts meanwhile informed all film distributors and cinemas owners that starting Friday, the import and screening of all Thai films must be immediately suspended.

Som Chhaya, deputy director general of a popular Cambodian TV channel, People Nation Network, told The Associated Press that his company will comply with another government order to drop Thai-produced shows, and in their place broadcast Chinese, Korean or Cambodian dramas.

Thai films and TV shows have a large audience in Cambodia.

Friday's actions in Cambodia were taken one day ahead of a planned meeting in the capital Phnom Penh of the two countries' Joint Commission on Demarcation for Land Boundary to help resolve the conflicting territorial claims that led to last month's deadly confrontation.

There is a long history to their territorial disputes, Thailand is still rankled by a 1962 ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands that awarded to Cambodia the disputed territory where the historic Preah Vihear temple stands. There were sporadic though serious clashes there in 2011, and the ruling was reaffirmed in 2023.


# Putin and Trump discussed Middle East tensions, Ukraine war in phone call

By The Associated Press
June 14th, 2025, 04:36 PM

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Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump held a lengthy call Saturday to discuss the escalating situation in the Middle East and Russia's war in Ukraine.

Trump in a posting on his Truth Social platform said they spent the bulk of their conversation focused on Israel's ongoing blistering attacks aimed at decapitating Iran's nuclear program and Iran's retaliatory strikes. But Trump said that he also pressed Putin to end Russia's war in Ukraine.

"He feels, as do I, this war in Israel-Iran should end, to which I explained, his war should also end," said Trump, who added the conversation went about an hour.

Putin foreign affairs adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin briefed Trump on his recent talks with the leaders of Iran and Israel and reiterated Russia's proposal to seek mutually acceptable solutions on the Iranian nuclear issue.

"Vladimir Putin, having condemned the military operation against Iran, expressed serious concern about the possible escalation of the conflict," Ushakov told reporters. He added that Putin raised concerns that escalating conflict between Israel and Iran threatened "unpredictable consequences for the entire situation in the Middle East."

Putin also emphasized Russia's readiness to carry out possible mediation efforts, and noted that Russia had proposed steps "aimed at finding mutually acceptable agreements" during U.S.-Iran negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program.

The Russia-Iran relationship has deepened since Putin launched a war on Ukraine in February 2022, with Tehran providing Moscow with drones, ballistic missiles, and other support, according to U.S. intelligence findings.

"Russia's principled approach and interest in the settlement remain unchanged," Ushakov said.

Trump described the regional situation as "very alarming," Ushakov said, but acknowledged the "effectiveness" of Israel's strikes on targets in Iran.

The leaders did not rule out a possible return to negotiations on the Iranian nuclear program, according to Ushakov.

Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff had been set to travel on Sunday to Oman for a sixth round of talks with Iranian officials aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear program — a meeting that was set before Israel launched strikes on Friday. But Oman's foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, said on Saturday that the meeting would not take place as planned.

Putin and Trump also discussed the ongoing exchange of war prisoners between Russia and Ukraine. The two sides traded more prisoners on Saturday under an arrangement brokered during talks between the two sides in Istanbul earlier this month.

"Our president noted that an exchange of prisoners of war is taking place, including seriously wounded and prisoners of war under 25 years of age," Ushakov said, along with expressing readiness to continue negotiations with the Ukrainians.

Trump said Putin also wished him "a Happy Birthday." The U.S. leader turned 79 on Saturday.


# UN conference on Palestinian state postponed

June 13th, 2025, 06:41 PM

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PARIS (AP) — A top-level U.N. conference on a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians scheduled for next week has been postponed amid surging tensions in the Middle East, French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday.

France and Saudi Arabia were due to co-chair the conference hosted by the U.N. General Assembly in New York on June 17-20, and Macron had been among leaders scheduled to attend. The Palestinian Authority hoped the conference would revive the long-defunct peace process.

Macron expressed his "determination to recognize the state of Palestine" at some point, despite the postponement. France has pushed for a broader movement toward recognizing a Palestinian state in parallel with recognition of Israel and its right to defend itself.

After Israel's strikes on Iran on Friday, Macron said that France's military forces around the Middle East are ready to help protect partners in the region, including Israel, but wouldn't take part in any attacks on Iran.

Macron told reporters that the two-state conference was postponed for logistical and security reasons, and because some Palestinian representatives couldn't come to the event. He insisted that it would be held "as soon as possible" and that he was in discussion with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman about a new date.

The U.N. ambassadors from France and Saudi Arabia said in a letter to the 193 U.N. member nations that the delay is "due to the current circumstances in the Middle East that prevent regional leaders from attending the conference in New York."

France's Jerome Bonnafont and Saudi Arabia's Abdulaziz Alwasil said the conference will open on June 17 in the General Assembly hall, but only to propose and agree to its suspension. They invited all countries to attend the opening.

"We are determined to resume the conference at the earliest possible date," the two ambassadors said.

Macron said the aim of the conference "is a demilitarized Palestinian state recognizing the existence and the security of Israel." Any such state would exclude any Hamas leaders, he said.

Macron said that the Israel-Iran conflict, the war in Gaza and the situation for Palestinians around the region are all "interlinked."

Macron spoke on Friday with 10 world leaders, including U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu, about the Israeli strikes on Iran and consequences.

One of the aims at the U.N. conference was to increase the number of countries recognizing Palestinian territories as an independent state. So far, more than 145 of the 193 U.N. member nations have done so. The Palestinians view their state as encompassing Gaza and the West Bank with east Jerusalem as the capital.

Netanyahu has rejected the creation of a Palestinian state, and Israel refused to participate in the conference.


# Alaska's first ever heat advisory issued for Fairbanks area

By Mark Thiessen
June 13th, 2025, 11:37 PM

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — For the first time ever, parts of Alaska will be under a heat advisory — but you can put an asterisk at the end of that term.

It's not the first instance of unusually high temperatures in what many consider the nation's coldest state, but the National Weather Service only recently allowed for heat advisories to be issued there. Information on similarly warm weather conditions previously came in the form of "special weather statements."

Using the heat advisory label could help people better understand the weather's severity and potential danger, something a nondescript "special weather statement" didn't convey.

The first advisory is for Sunday in Fairbanks, where temperatures are expected to top 85 degrees Fahrenheit (29 degrees Celsius). Fairbanks has has been warmer in the past, but this is unusual for June, officials said.

Here's what to know about Alaska's inaugural heat advisory:

## Why it's the first

The National Weather Service's switch from special weather statements to advisories was meant to change how the public views the information.

"This is an important statement, and the public needs to know that there will be increasing temperatures, and they could be dangerous because Alaska is not used to high temperatures like these," said Alekya Srinivasan, a Fairbanks-based meteorologist.

"We want to make sure that we have the correct wording and the correct communication when we're telling people that it will be really hot this weekend," she said.

## Not unprecedented and not climate change

The change doesn't reflect unprecedented temperatures, with Fairbanks having reached 90 degrees twice in 2024, Srinivasan said. It's purely an administrative change by the weather service.

"It's not that the heat in the interior that prompted Fairbanks to issue this is record heat or anything like that. It's just now there's a product to issue," said Rich Thoman, a climate specialist at the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy.

Thoman also clarified that the term swap doesn't have anything to do with climate change.

"I think some of it is related to the recognition that hot weather does have an impact on Alaska, and in the interior especially," Thoman said.

## Little air conditioning

While the temperatures in the forecast wouldn't be considered extreme in other U.S. states, Thoman noted that most Alaska buildings don't have air conditioning.

"And just the opposite, most buildings in Alaska are designed to retain heat for most of the year," he said.

People can open their windows to allow cooler air in during early morning hours — if wildfires aren't burning in blaze-prone state. But if it's smoky and the windows have to remain shut, buildings can heat up very rapidly.

"Last year was the third year in a row in Fairbanks with more than a hundred hours of visibility-reducing smoke, the first time we've ever had three consecutive years over a hundred hours," he said.

There's only been two summers in Fairbanks in the 21st century with no hours of smoke that reduced visibility, a situation he said was commonplace from the 1950s to the 1970s.

## What about Anchorage?

The Juneau and Fairbanks weather service offices have been allowed to issue heat advisories beginning this summer, but not the office in the state's largest city of Anchorage — at least not yet. And, regardless, temperatures in the area haven't reached the threshold this year at which a heat advisory would be issued.

Brian Brettschneider, a climate scientist with the weather service, said by email that the Anchorage office is working on a plan to issue such advisories in the future.


# Protests, parades and Pride: One week in June 2025 is drawing stark American fault lines

By Ted Anthony
June 14th, 2025, 11:16 AM

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WASHINGTON (AP) — On the first weekend: a vision of the nation built upon inclusivity and the tenets of liberalism — a conception of country that incorporates generations of fights for equity, for compassion, for expanding what it means to be an American.

On the second weekend, in the same town: a public show of strength and nationalism constructed on a foundation of military might, law and order, a tour de force of force.

And on the days in between: a city 2,000 miles from the capital locked in pitched battles over the use — abuse, many contend — of federal power and military authority to root out, detain and oust people who the current administration says do not belong.

Today's United States — its possibility, its strength, its divisiveness, its polarization and fragmentation — is encapsulated in a single week in June 2025, its triumphs and frictions on vivid display.

As events both planned and chaotically spontaneous play out, many Americans are frantically and sometimes furiously pondering assorted iterations of two questions: What is this country right now? And what should it be?

## Pride, protests and parades

Consider two quotes from recent days from two very different Americans.

The first came last weekend, during World Pride in Washington, when a 58-year-old gay man from Philadelphia named David Begler summed up what many were messaging in the days leading up to it after months of Donald Trump's increasing attempts to target the LGBTQ community: "I want us to send a message to the White House to focus on uplifting each other instead of dividing."

The second came days ahead of the military parade planned Saturday for the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary, from the mouth of the president on whose 79th birthday it will be held: "If there's any protester that wants to come out, they will be met with very big force," Donald Trump said. "I haven't even heard about a protest, but you know, this is people that hate our country, but they will be met with very heavy force."

Among the competing visions of America in 2025: the desire to protest and seek a redress of grievances against the government vs. the desire for control, order — and a respect for the government and for authority.

The volatile combination of demonstrations and the U.S. military is a potent one, with its most recent roots in the protest movement of the 1960s against the Vietnam War. A young generation that would later be known as baby boomers regularly squared off against police and sometimes the military over U.S. involvement in what was framed as a war against communism in Southeast Asia. Historians give those protesters a fair bit of the credit for that war ultimately ending in 1975. President Jimmy Carter ultimately pardoned more than 200,000 people who had dodged the draft for that conflict.

Then, as now, many in the establishment criticized protesters bitterly, saying they were undermining a nation to which they should be grateful. Questions of loyalty and betrayal were thrown around. The role of the military in quelling civilian protests was bitterly contested, particularly after Ohio National Guardsmen opened fire and killed four students during antiwar protests in May 1970 at Kent State University.

There are echoes of that this week, not only in Los Angeles but now in Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the deployment of 5,000 state National Guard troops ahead of the "No Kings Day of Defiance" against the Trump administration's ongoing immigration raids. And as protesters in Los Angeles taunt the military and say guardsmen should be "ashamed" to face off against what they call a just cause, it's easy to wonder: How can patriotism and protest coexist?

## Washington at the epicenter

Democracy has always been messy and resistant to consensus. That's part of why the national slogan of the United States is "e pluribus unum" — "out of many, one." And Washington, D.C., as the nation's capital, has long been the place where the many have come to make themselves known as part of the one — and to be noticed.

It was where the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans marched in 1932 to demand their promised postwar payments and be heard in a demonstration that ended violently. It was where the first National Boy Scout Jamboree was held on the National Mall in 1937. It was where the "March on Washington," a centerpiece of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, ended with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s renowned "I Have a Dream" speech. It was where, in 1995, the "Million Man March" was held to address concerns of the American Black community, and where hundreds of thousands of women came to Washington largely in protest of Trump, just a day after his first inauguration.

It is also the place where Americans remember, where the memorials to World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War sit. It is where the country erected stone shrines in various shapes and sizes to the presidents it most admired — Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, Franklin D. Roosevelt. It is the site of museums containing some of the most distilled expressions of culture — from the Holocaust Museum to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum to the National Museum of African American History.

Is it so hard to believe, then, that two events as opposite as World Pride and a military parade unfold here, within blocks of each other, within a week's time? At a politically fractious moment when some families can hardly break bread without political arguments erupting over Trump, Gaza and Israel, immigration and LGBTQ rights, isn't it possible that the weird and downright uncomfortable juxtaposition of these two starkly different events might be the most American thing of all?

Walt Whitman, one of the most famous poets in American history, had this to say about the the diversity of America when he wrote "I Hear America Singing" to underscore that its citizens all contribute to the nation's song: "I am large. I contain multitudes."

And in one week in June, at a time when the fate of the United States is being discussed in every direction we turn, the capital of Whitman's nation has become a showcase in displaying those messy democratic multitudes to the world. For better or for worse.