damage

June 27 (UPI) — Iran officially acknowledged its nuclear sites had sustained “serious and significant damage” from U.S. air and missile strikes last weekend.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that while the extent of the damage was still being assessed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, it was undeniable that the losses were substantial and that the country’s nuclear facilities “have been seriously damaged.”

The admission by Araghchi in an interview with Iranian state television on Thursday came amid conflicting reports on the efficacy of the unprecedented military action launched by the United States against three nuclear sites on June 21.

Earlier Thursday, Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khanamei claimed the opposite of his foreign minister, saying damage to the sites had been minimal and instead hailing the “damage inflicted” by Tehran’s “victorious” retaliatory strike on the United States’ Al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Monday.

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has said the strikes using 30,000-pound bunker-buster bombs and long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles “completely and fully obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program — although public briefings have focused on the “primary site,” a key underground uranium enrichment plant at Fordow, with few details forthcoming on the facilities at Natanz and Esfahan.

U.S. officials have pushed back on a leaked preliminary report by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency that assessed the strikes had only set back Iran’s nuclear development by a few months at most, with the White House calling its findings “flat-out wrong.”

Araghchi said inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, might never be allowed back into Iran.

Iranian lawmakers passed a bill Wednesday, effectively banning any future cooperation with the IAEA, which Tehran has accused of carrying out reconnaissance on behalf of Israel and the United States.

The legislation has been waived through by the Guardian Council and will go forward to President Masoud Pezeshkian’s desk for him to sign into law, or veto.

“Without a doubt, we are obliged to enforce this law. Iran’s relationship with the agency will take a different shape,” Araghchi warned.

The independent London-based Iran International said Tehran was considering quitting the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

However, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Thursday, reasserted Iran’s right to pursue peaceful nuclear development afforded to it by the treaty, according to state-run Press TV.

Citing Article IV of the 1968 agreement, he said Iran was determined to keep its nuclear program going “under any circumstances.”

The statement came a day after Trump, announcing fresh Iran-U.S. talks, said he wasn’t interested in existing or new agreements because the only thing the U.S. would be asking for was “no nuclear.”

Araghchi took to social media to claim Iran had conducted itself honorably and abided by international diplomatic norms, contrasting its record against that of European countries and the United States in particular, accusing Washington of treachery for attacking when Iran-U.S. talks were still in play.

“Our diplomatic legitimacy was undeniable. In every conversation I had with foreign ministers, they either approved Iran’s rightful position or were forced into silence. We stood firm, and even adversaries acknowledged our position,” he said in a post on X.

“We have had a very difficult experience with the Americans. In the middle of negotiations, they betrayed the negotiation itself. This experience will certainly influence our future decisions.”

Araghchi confirmed no resumption of talks was planned despite Trump saying Wednesday that the two countries would meet “next week.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters at her regular briefing Thursday that nothing was “scheduled as of now,” but that communication channels between the United States and Iran remained active.

As someone who has permanent ringing in the ears (tinnitus) as a result of hearing damage from concerts, I must take exception to how loud the music is played at sporting events these days. Despite quotes from Dodger players and executives stating how “great” the loudness at Dodger Stadium is, they are putting the paying customers and employees at risk for hearing loss with the excessive volume. Entertaining the fans is one thing, assaulting the delicate instrument that is our ears is quite another. I’m sure they could turn it down to safer decibel levels and everyone will still have a good time.

Mark Furcick
San Pedro

Dodger Stadium hosts a Military Appreciation Night, a Salvadoran Heritage Night, and a Guatemalan Heritage Night. But we will never see an Autism Spectrum Night. The ear-shattering sound system would cause fans to run from the stadium screaming in pain and terror.

I suffer from a condition called hyperacusis, where loud noises can cause ear pain lasting for days or even weeks. It’s rare in the general population, but more common among autistic people. I love baseball, and used to love going to Dodger Stadium from the year it opened until 20-something years ago. But now I’d have to wear industrial-strength ear protection.

Russell Stone
Westchester

I used to like bleacher seats but won’t sit there again — way too loud right under the sound system.

Bob Wieting
Simi Valley

Sure it’s “entertainment.” Sure the players like the enthusiasm. But there are seats located beneath or near speakers that are simply painful to the ears.

Richard Melniker
Los Angeles

Copyrighted books can be used to train artificial intelligence models without authors’ consent, a federal judge ruled Monday.

The decision marked a major victory for San Francisco startup Anthropic, which trained its AI assistant Claude using copyrighted books. The company, started by former OpenAI employees and backed by Amazon, was sued by authors Andrea Bartz, Charles Graeber and Kirk Wallace in August.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup ruled that Anthropic’s use of purchased books was “exceedingly transformative and was a fair use” but the company may have broken the law by using pirated books. Alsup ordered a trial in December to determine damages, which can reach up to $150,000 per case of willful copyright infringement.

“If someone were to read all the modern-day classics because of their exceptional expression, memorize them, and then emulate a blend of their best writing, would that violate the Copyright Act? Of course not,” the ruling reads.

“The purpose and character of using copyrighted works to train [large language models] to generate new text was quintessentially transformative. Like any reader aspiring to be a writer, Anthropic’s LLMs trained upon works not to race ahead and replicate or supplant them — but to turn a hard corner and create something different.”

Anthropic pirated more than 7 million books from Books3, Library Genesis and Pirate Library Mirror, online libraries containing unauthorized copies of copyrighted books, to train its large language models, according to Alsup. As the company started to become “not so gung ho” about pirating “for legal reasons,” it brought on Tom Turvey from Google to obtain “all the books in the world” but still avoid “legal/practice/business slog.”

While Turvey initially inquired into licensing agreements with two major publishers, he eventually decided to purchase millions of print copies in bulk. The company then proceeded to strip the books’ bindings, cut their pages and scan them into digital and machine-readable forms, according to the decision.

Though the plaintiffs took issue with Anthropic making digital copies, Alsup ruled that this practice also falls under fair use: “The mere conversion of a print book to a digital file to save space and enable searchability was transformative for that reason alone,” he wrote.

Anthropic later purchasing books that it initially pirated did not absolve the company, but it may impact the extent of statutory damages, Alsup said.

This decision comes as Walt Disney Co. and Universal Pictures are involved in their own lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Midjourney, which the studios allege trained its image generation models on their copyrighted materials and may set an important precedent.

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog the IAEA Rafael Grossi has warned that the global non-proliferation regime could “crumble” following US strikes on Iran, telling the Security Council that no-one is in a position to assess the damage at Iran’s Fordow underground site.

US President Donald Trump has announced that the United States has “totally obliterated” three Iranian nuclear sites in what he called “spectacularly successful” strikes.

The military used so-called “bunker buster” bombs and missiles to target the heavily fortified Fordow facility as well as Natanz and Isfahan sites.

Trump’s decision to join Israel’s military campaign marks a sharp escalation in the region, which has seen more than 21 months of Israeli genocide in Gaza.

The US intervention comes more than a week after Israel launched an unprovoked strike on Iranian nuclear and military sites after accusing Tehran of making an atomic bomb.

Iran, as well as the United Nations nuclear watchdog, has rejected the claims that Tehran was on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons.

How did the attack happen, and which sites were targeted?

Trump announced the bombing of three of Iran’s main nuclear sites:

• Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant – A heavily fortified, deeply buried uranium enrichment site near the northern city of Qom.
• Natanz Nuclear Facility – Iran’s main uranium-enrichment complex, located near Isfahan in central Iran.
• Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center – A key conversion and research facility south of Isfahan city.

According to US General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a large formation of seven B-2 stealth bombers, each with two crew members, was launched from the US on Friday at midnight as part of Operation Midnight Hammer.

To maintain tactical surprise, a decoy group flew west over the Pacific, while the main strike group headed east with minimal communications during an 18-hour flight.

At 5pm EST (1:30am local time and 21:00 GMT), a US submarine in the region launched more than two dozen Tomahawk missiles, striking surface infrastructure targets in Isfahan.

At 6:40pm EST (2:10am Iran time and 22:40 GMT), the lead B-2 dropped two GBU-57 Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOPs) on Fordow, followed by a total of 14 MOPs dropped across Fordow and Natanz.

All three nuclear sites—Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan—were hit between 6:40pm and 7:05pm EST (1:30am-2:10am local time; 22:40-23:10 GMT). The final wave of Tomahawk missiles struck Isfahan last to preserve surprise.

In total, more than 125 US aircraft participated, including stealth bombers, fighter jets, dozens of tankers, surveillance aircraft, and support crews.

The Pentagon described it as the largest B-2 combat operation in US history and the second-longest B-2 mission ever flown. Force protection across the region was elevated in anticipation of potential retaliation.

Where are Iran’s nuclear sites?

Iran’s nuclear programme is spread across several key sites. While Iran insists its programme is peaceful and aimed at energy and medical research, the US and Israel remain deeply suspicious.

Iran’s resumption of uranium enrichment after the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 has only deepened tensions. Israel, which had vehemently opposed the nuclear deal under US President Barack Obama, has vowed to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons by any means necessary. On June 13, it launched strikes on Iran a day ahead of a sixth round of US-Iran nuclear talks.

Attack on Fordow

Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant, located about 95km (60 miles) southwest of Tehran, is built deep inside a mountain, reportedly up to 80-90 metres (260-300 feet) underground, to survive air strikes and bunker buster attacks.

According to Sanad, Al Jazeera’s fact-checking agency, three locations show damage: two craters resulting from bunker-busting bombs, and a damaged air defence site designed to shield the nuclear reactor.

Mehdi Mohammadi, an adviser to the chairman of the Iranian parliament, claimed that the US attack was not surprising and that no irreversible damage was sustained during the strikes. He added that authorities had evacuated all three sites in advance.

Attack on Natanz

Natanz nuclear facility, the largest uranium enrichment site in Iran, is located in Isfahan province.

In a previous attack on June 15, the above-ground section of a pilot fuel enrichment plant, where uranium was enriched up to 60 percent, was destroyed by an Israeli strike, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Natanz’s key electricity infrastructure, such as the substation, main power building, emergency supply, and backup generators, was also destroyed. There was no direct hit on the underground cascade hall, but the power loss may have damaged centrifuges used for uranium enrichment.

Attack on Isfahan

Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center is a key conversion and research facility south of Isfahan city. It plays a critical role in preparing raw materials for enrichment and reactor use.

This is the third time Isfahan has been struck since Israel launched attacks across Iran on June 13, prompting fears of a regional escalation.

Bunker buster bombs

The strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites were conducted using B-2 stealth bombers armed with so-called “bunker buster” bombs, alongside submarine-launched Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Experts have long noted that the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant—buried deep within a mountain—could only be destroyed by the US’s 30,000-pound (13,600kg) Massive Ordnance Penetrator, the world’s most powerful bunker-busting bomb. The US remains the only country known to possess this weapon.

No signs of contamination

Iran’s nuclear agency said on Sunday that radiation monitoring and field assessments show no signs of contamination or risk to residents near the targeted sites.

“Following the illegal US attack on the Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan nuclear facilities, no contamination has been recorded,” the agency posted on social media. “There is no danger to residents around these sites. Safety remains stable.”

In a separate statement, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran vowed that its nuclear activities would continue despite the strikes, saying it “assures the great Iranian nation that, despite the hostile conspiracies of its enemies, the efforts of thousands of committed and revolutionary scientists will ensure that this national industry—built on the blood of nuclear martyrs—will not be stopped”.

The IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, also did not notice an increase in radiation levels near the targeted sites.

The attacks came as Israel and Iran have been engaged in more than a week of aerial combat, with more than 400 killed in Iran and 24 casualties reported in Israel.

Six Iranian scientists, two of whom were prominent nuclear scientists, were also killed in Israeli strikes.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Israel pounded Iran for a fifth day in an air campaign against its longstanding foe’s military and nuclear program, as U.S. President Trump warned residents of Tehran to evacuate and suggested the United States was working on something “better than a ceasefire.”

Trump left the Group of Seven summit in Canada a day early to deal with the conflict between Israel and Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One during the flight back to Washington: “I’m not looking at a ceasefire. We’re looking at better than a ceasefire.”

When asked to explain, he said the U.S. wanted to see “a real end” to the conflict that could involve Iran “giving up entirely.” He added: “I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

Trump’s cryptic messages added to the uncertainty roiling the region as residents of Tehran fled their homes in droves and the U.N. nuclear watchdog for the first time said Israeli strikes on Iran’s main enrichment facility at Natanz had also damaged its underground section, and not just the suface area.

Israel says its sweeping assault on Iran’s top military leaders, nuclear scientists, uranium enrichment sites and ballistic missile program is necessary to prevent its adversary from getting any closer to building an atomic weapon. The strikes have killed at least 224 people in Iran.

Iran has retaliated by launching more than 370 missiles and hundreds of drones at Israel. So far, 24 people have been killed in Israel. The Israeli military said a new barrage of missiles was launched on Tuesday.

Damage at Natanz

The International Atomic Energy Agency said on Tuesday it believes that Israel’s first aerial attacks on Iran’s Natanz enrichment site had “direct impacts” on the facility’s underground centrifuge halls.

“Based on continued analysis of high-resolution satellite imagery collected after Friday’s attacks, the IAEA has identified additional elements that indicate direct impacts on the underground enrichment halls at Natanz,” the watchdog said.

Located 135 miles southeast of Tehran, the Natanz facility was protected by anti-aircraft batteries, fencing and Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

The underground part of the facility is buried to protect it from airstrikes and contains the bulk of the enrichment facilities at Natanz, with 10,000 centrifuges that enrich uranium up to 5%, experts assess.

The IAEA had earlier reported that Israeli strikes had destroyed an above-ground enrichment hall at Natanz and knocked out electrical equipment that powered the facility.

However, most of Iran’s enrichment takes place underground.

Although Israel has struck Natanz repeatedly and claims to have inflicted significant damage on its underground facilities, Tuesday’s IAEA statement marked the first time the agency has acknowledged impacts there.

Iran maintains its nuclear program is peaceful, and the United States and others have assessed Tehran has not had an organized effort to pursue a nuclear weapon since 2003. But the head of the IAEA has repeatedly warned that the country has enough enriched uranium to make several nuclear bombs should it choose to do so.

While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed on Tuesday that Israeli strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites have set the country’s nuclear program back a “very, very long time,” Israel has not been able to reach Iran’s Fordo uranium enrichment facility, which is buried deep underground.

Shops closed, lines for gas in Iran’s capital

Echoing an earlier Israeli military call for some 330,000 residents of a neighborhood in downtown Tehran to evacuate, Trump on Tuesday warned on social media that “everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

Tehran is one of the largest cities in the Middle East, with around 10 million people, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Israel. People have been fleeing since hostilities began.

Asked why he had urged for the evacuation of Tehran, Trump said: “I just want people to be safe.”

Downtown Tehran appeared to be emptying out early Tuesday, with many shops closed. The ancient Grand Bazaar was also closed, something that only happened in the past during anti-government demonstrations or at the height of the coronavirus pandemic.

On the roads out of Tehran to the west, traffic stood bumper to bumper. Many appeared to be heading to the Caspian Sea, a popular vacation spot where a large number of middle- and upper-class Iranians have second homes.

Long lines also could be seen at gas stations in Tehran. Printed placards and billboards calling for a “severe” response to Israel were visible across the city. Authorities cancelled leave for doctors and nurses, while insisting everything was under control.

The Israeli military meanwhile claimed to have killed someone it described as Iran’s top general in a strike on Tehran. Iran did not immediately comment on the reported killing of Gen. Ali Shadmani, who had just been named as the head of the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, part of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

Iran has named other generals to replace the top leaders of the Guard and the regular armed forces after they were killed in earlier strikes.

Trump leaves G7 early to focus on conflict

Before leaving the summit in Canada, Trump joined the other leaders in a joint statement saying Iran “can never have a nuclear weapon” and calling for a “de-escalation of hostilities in the Middle East, including a ceasefire in Gaza.”

French President Emmanuel Macron told reporters that discussions were underway on a ceasefire between Israel and Iran, but Trump appeared to shoot that down in his comments on social media.

Macron “mistakenly said that I left the G7 Summit, in Canada, to go back to D.C. to work on a ‘cease fire’ between Israel and Iran,” Trump wrote. “Wrong! He has no idea why I am now on my way to Washington, but it certainly has nothing to do with a Cease Fire. Much bigger than that.”

Trump said he wasn’t ready to give up on diplomatic talks, and could send Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff to meet with the Iranians.

“I may,” he said. “It depends on what happens when I get back.”

Israel says it has ‘aerial superiority’ over Tehran

Israeli military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Monday his country’s forces had “achieved full aerial superiority over Tehran’s skies.”

The military said it destroyed more than 120 surface-to-surface missile launchers in central Iran, a third of Iran’s total, including multiple launchers just before they launched ballistic missiles towards Israel. It also destroyed two F-14 fighter planes that Iran used to target Israeli aircraft, the military said.

Israeli military officials also said fighter jets had struck 10 command centers in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Quds Force, an elite arm of its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducts military and intelligence operations outside Iran.

Israel’s military issued an evacuation warning for a part of central Tehran that houses state TV and police headquarters, as well as three large hospitals, including one owned by the Guard. It has issued similar evacuation warnings for parts of the Gaza Strip and Lebanon ahead of strikes.

Krauss, Gambrell and Melzer write for the Associated Press. Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel. AP writers Nasser Karimi and Amir Vahdat in Tehran; Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv; and Tara Copp in Washington contributed to this report.

More than 30 million Californians across the state could see their electric bills go up to pay for the devastating Eaton fire, as officials scramble to shore up a state wildfire fund that could be wiped out by damage claims.

One early estimate places fire losses from the Eaton fire at $24 billion to $45 billion. If Southern California Edison equipment is found to have sparked the blaze on Jan. 7, as dozens of lawsuits allege, the damage claims could quickly exhaust the state’s $21-billion wildfire fund.

“Everyone is concerned about this,” said Michael Wara, director of Stanford’s climate and energy policy program, who was involved in the fund’s creation. “If we need to put more money into the fund, where will it come from?”

The wildfire fund was created to shield the state’s three big utilities from bankruptcy in the event one was found liable for massive fire damages.

At a meeting last month, members of the state Catastrophe Response Council, which oversees the fund, were told that Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders were being urged to extend a monthly surcharge on electric bills beyond its planned expiration in 2035. The fee, called the non-bypassable charge, adds roughly $3 a month to the average residential bill.

“They are asking the people of California to put more money into the fund,” said council member Paul Rosenstiel, a former investment banker and Newsom advisor, according to a transcript of the meeting. “Some of them are asking for an extension of the non-bypassable charge.”

The fee is paid by customers of the state’s three big for-profit utilities — Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric.

Rosenstiel didn’t respond to a request for comment. At the meeting, he didn’t say who was lobbying the governor and lawmakers to extend the surcharge to ratepayers.

California utility executives have told their investors they have been talking to Newsom and legislative leaders about shoring up the fund. PG&E executives have said that they have asked that no new money come from utilities or their shareholders, which would likely leave electric customers to pay more.

“We continue to advocate that we don’t think there is a good case that investors should contribute to the fund,” Patti Poppe, PG&E’s chief executive, told Wall Street analysts in an April conference call.

A Siller Skycrane removes Southern California Edison’s tower 208 from a hillside in Altadena in May. The idle transmission tower, suspected of sparking the Eaton fire, will be examined at a lab.

(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)

Pedro Pizarro, chief executive of SoCal Edison’s parent company Edison International, was asked in a recent call with Wall Street analysts about the prospects for legislation that would bolster the wildfire fund.

“Clearly the governor’s office is engaged, as are our legislative leaders,” he said, adding that he was “certainly very encouraged by the level of diligence and engagement that I’m seeing.”

Asked to elaborate, Kathleen Dunleavy, a SoCal Edison spokeswoman, said the utility was not seeking a specific solution to questions of the fund’s durability.

“Our focus is to convey the importance of a strong wildfire fund,” she said. “We are not being prescriptive in how to achieve that.”

This year, the electric bill surcharge is expected to add $923 million to the fund, according to California Public Utility Commission records. If the fee was extended an additional 10 years, it would require customers of the three utilities to pay an additional $9 billion into the fund.

That doesn’t sit well with consumer advocates, who point out customers are already on the hook to contribute half of the $21-billion fund, while also paying higher bills to cover costs such as undergrounding and insulated electric wires.

Those measures are intended to make the electric system safer. Yet despite spending billions of dollars last year on wildfire mitigation, the number of fires sparked by its equipment jumped from 90 in 2023 to 178 last year.

Altadena homes lie in ruins after the Eaton fire.

(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)

“We think ratepayers have more than done enough,” said Mark Toney, the executive director of The Utility Reform Network, also known as TURN, a consumer group in San Francisco. “My position is that ratepayers should not pay another penny.”

Rosenstiel said at the May meeting that Newsom and legislative leaders were also being asked for the state’s general fund, which pays for schools, healthcare, prisons and other government operations, to contribute to the fund that protects utilities from wildfire claims.

The governor’s office declined to answer questions and said Newsom’s schedule didn’t allow time for an interview.

Newsom has a seat on the Catastrophe Response Council. He was a no-show at the group’s most recent meeting, sending a designee in his place.

Assemblywoman Cottie Petrie-Norris (D-Irvine), the chair of the Assembly’s Utilities and Energy Committee, acknowledged that lawmakers are concerned about the fund but said that they are still considering remedies.

“All options are on the table and are being considered and evaluated,” she said. “I have certainly not arrived at a solution yet.”

The cause of the Eaton fire, which killed 18 people and destroyed more than 9,000 homes, businesses and other structures in Altadena, remains under investigation.

Edison CEO Pizarro has said a leading theory is that an unused, decades-old transmission line in Eaton Canyon was reenergized and sparked the blaze. Video captured flames erupting under an Edison transmission tower on the night of the fire.

If Edison’s equipment is found to have started the inferno, the state’s wildfire fund is expected to cover most of the cost of damages over $1 billion, under a 2019 law that was passed after PG&E went bankrupt from its liability for the deadly 2018 Camp fire.

The first $1 billion in damages from the Eaton fire would be covered by insurance that electric customers paid for.

The total cost of the fire in Altadena won’t be known until dozens of lawsuits make their way through the courts, which could take years.

A February study by UCLA economists Zhiyun Li and William Yu estimated that the fire caused $24 billion to $45 billion in property damages and capital losses, or the cost to replace what was destroyed.

Officials at the California Earthquake Authority, which manages the wildfire fund, told members of the Catastrophe Response Council in a May memorandum that the authority had “undertaken a significant project to evaluate alternatives for extending the durability of the Wildfire Fund in the face of potential large losses.”

To determine how to strengthen the fund, authority officials said they had rehired consultants who worked with Newsom’s office in 2019 to create the fund. The four firms will be paid $4.5 million, which the fund will cover, they said.

Among the consultants is Guggenheim Securities, the investment banking arm of Guggenheim Partners. Another subsidiary of Guggenheim Partners owns stock in the state’s three big utilities.

A recommendation to tap utility customers to replenish the fund, instead of the utility companies themselves, would likely have a big impact on company share prices.

“They [Guggenheim] certainly have a vested interest in the financial success of the utilities,” Toney said.

A spokesman for Guggenheim Securities said the stocks owned by the sister company didn’t pose a conflict, saying it “maintains a robust conflict management program, including strict information barriers between its investment banking department and the rest of Guggenheim Partners.”

Wara at Stanford said if Edison is found responsible for the Eaton fire, the wildfire fund would cover what insurers paid to victims and also pay for property damage not covered by insurance.

For example, families who lost their homes but received insurance payouts lower than the value of their property could seek the balance from Edison, he said. The utility would then seek to recover those sums from the wildfire fund.

The other deadly Los Angeles County inferno that ignited on Jan. 7, the Palisades fire, is not covered by the wildfire fund because Pacific Palisades is served by the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, a municipal utility. The fund only covers blazes ignited by equipment owned by the state’s three biggest investor-owned utilities.

“They have their insurance and that’s it,” Wara said of Palisades fire victims.

At its meeting last month, the state Catastrophe Response Council was informed that insurance claims from the Eaton fire have totaled roughly $15 billion so far.

Adding to the damage bill is the potential cost of lawsuits. The possibility that the fund will pay out large amounts for Eaton fire damages has led to dozens of lawsuits being filed against Edison, even before the official cause has been determined.

Families of Altadena residents who died have filed wrongful-death suits. Edison is also facing lawsuits from L.A. County and other local governments for damages, including to public infrastructure such as water systems. Residents living outside the fire’s borders have filed suit, saying they were harmed by lead and other toxins in the smoke.

If a court found Edison negligent in maintaining its equipment, Wara said, victims could ask for compensation for pain and suffering, which would escalate the cost.

“Then the wildfire fund is out of money,” Wara said.

Pizarro has said that Edison is “committed to a thorough and transparent investigation.”

“Our hearts go out to everyone who has suffered losses,” he said.

The 2019 law that created the wildfire fund, known as AB 1054, greatly limited what Edison would have to pay for any of the claims. The company has told its investors that its maximum liability would be $3.9 billion.

The three utilities are asking legislators to ensure that state law continues to protect them and their shareholders, even if the $21-billion fund runs out of money.

Since the January fires, Edison, PG&E and Sempra, the parent company of San Diego Gas & Electric, have each spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to lobby in Sacramento, according to required regulatory reports they filed for the first three months of the year.

A PG&E lobbyist reported taking Assemblywoman Petrie-Norris to a $267 dinner at Paragary’s, a bistro in Sacramento, on Feb. 3.

Petrie-Norris said the dinner was with Carla Peterman, a former state public utilities commissioner who is now a top PG&E executive. Petrie-Norris said they talked about a planned March hearing on electricity affordability and didn’t discuss the wildfire fund.

The next month, a PG&E lobbyist took Dee Dee Myers and Rohimah Moly, two of Newsom’s top staff members, to the upscale Prelude Kitchen & Bar, which is a short walk from the state Capitol.

Willie Rudman, a spokesman for the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development, said the wildfire fund wasn’t discussed at the meal. Instead it “was a general meet and greet,” Rudman said, where the governor’s staff and PG&E executives “discussed opportunities for future collaboration.”

PG&E declined to answer questions. Lynsey Paulo, a PG&E spokesperson, said in a statement that the utility’s lobbying expenses were paid with shareholder funds and not money from customers.

“Like many individuals and businesses, PG&E participates in the political process on behalf of our customers and company,” Paulo said.

Five people have been killed and dozens injured as Iran launched fresh strikes across central Israel overnight, according to Israel’s national emergency service. Footage shows explosions and damage in Tel Aviv and Haifia. Officials say at least 19 people have been killed in Israel and 224 people in Iran since Friday, when the two countries began launching attacks.

A MAN was left with brain damage after a vicious attack as he walked home from a night out.

Al Moreton woke up in hospital two days after the incident, with no memory of what happened.

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The 46-year-old was left with two bleeds on the brain, brain damage and four fractures to his skull, and has lost his job as a HGV driver as a result.

Doctors told him his injuries were consistent with being struck repeatedly, rather than a fall, he says.

But with police closing the case after being unable to find any CCTV footage, Al posted about it on Facebook before receiving an odd response.

He was sent a DM from a stranger telling him he may know who committed the attack but was too scared to give any further details.

Al had been attending a friend’s private birthday party at Bomba nightclub in Exeter on Friday, February 28.

He drove from his home in Cullompton, Devon, arriving at the club around 8pm – with the plan to get the last bus home at 11pm and pick up his car the next day.

However, Al is told by pals he became quickly intoxicated despite only having a few drinks, and fears he may have been spiked.

He told The Sun: “I don’t remember anything from after leaving the house due to my injuries.”

Al understands he left the club, in The Quay area of the city centre, at 10.30pm with the intention of heading for the bus station.

But he said witnesses told him he was seen walking the opposite direction towards the River Exe.

At around 11am the next day he was found by a passerby lying unconscious at Marsh Barton industrial estate, around two miles from the club.

“All I’ve been told is someone who spotted me picked me up and dropped me at the hospital,” he explained.

“He didn’t leave his name or anything, he just dropped me off and didn’t want to be involved in any other way.”

Al added: “I’d like to be able to thank the person. I’ve no idea who they are. It was a very strange event which has caused me massive problems.”

I’d like to be able to thank the person. I’ve no idea who they are. It was a very strange event which has caused me massive problems.

Al Moretonattack victim

He explained he had a “small recollection” of Saturday, March 1, “but thought that was a dream”, adding: “When I woke up on Sunday I realised it wasn’t a dream. I had family around me.”

Al said his injuries, according to hospital staff, “aren’t consistent with falling over – the injury to my forehead is consistent with being hit by something”.

He continued: “I’ve got no scraping – if I’d fallen over I would have hit something and scraped.

“I’ve just got particular points where I might have been hit by something.

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“They discounted the fact I had fallen over and must have been from an attack.”

Al said he reported it to police and they “investigated for a month or so” and was told officers had done door to door inquiries and searched for CCTV footage – but came up with nothing.

“It’s odd that there’s no footage of me, considering I ended up on an industrial estate where I assume there’s loads of cameras,” he said.

Judging by his route, Al believes he likely walked passed a couple of pubs too.

“Pubs would’ve been kicking out that sort of time and people would’ve been around and about,” he said.

Strangely, Al didn’t have any possessions missing when he woke up in the hospital.

“My phone was apparently missing but was actually picked up by a doctor who worked at the hospital, so I had it back when I woke up,” he explained.

“My wallet was there and there was no money missing, so it wasn’t a robbery.”

Roaming gang

Al theorised it could have been a gang roaming around who attacked him at random.

“They may have seen how vulnerable I was and decided to start something,” he said.

“I’m not a violent person, I wouldn’t have been aggressive, I never am when I’m drunk, I’m more of a lover than fighter when I’m drunk.”

He posted about the incident on Facebook a few days after getting out of hospital and then a couple of weeks ago noticed he had “four or five” messages in his spam folder.

“There was someone who had said that they thought they saw me actually not at the Quay but further away in a different direction, stumbling around drunk.

“I’ve got to hand that onto the police and see if they pursue that.”

He said another message was very strange. “Someone on Facebook said ‘I know who the people are’.

“They said ‘I’m a bit afraid to talk about it’ – but then said they would give further information for money, so I don’t know how real that was. I passed it onto police.”

The event Al was attending was a private, invite-only do for around 50 people.

Asked how likely it is he could’ve been spiked, he said: “I find it hard to believe, usually it’s women who get spiked. But speaking to someone else, they said actually all sorts of people get spiked because you’re left vulnerable and can be followed.”

He’s not sure if he was tested for substances in his blood while he was in hospital but said it wasn’t mentioned by the doctors.

Referring to his injuries, Al continued: “I had two bleeds on the brain, one on each side at the front and then four fractures around my right eye socket.

I’m not working, so struggling to pay rent and pay bills. It’s led to a dramatic change in my circumstances

Al Moretonattack victim

“That’s now been fixed and plated. One of the points I had a bleed I had some damage to the brain on that side, which has caused me to effectively lose my job because I’m a lorry driver.

“I’ve had my licences revoked for 12 months because I’m at a risk of seizures.

“I’m not working, so struggling to pay rent and pay bills. It’s led to a dramatic change in my circumstances.”

Al has been told he suffered “serious significant head injuries” but that his cognitive functions will improve over time.

“Like with a lot of injuries, it takes time while I recover – they said I should recover 100%, but they can’t be sure at this stage.”

Al says he was told by the DVLA he needed to prove he’s “less than a two percent risk” of seizures over a 12 month period before he can be given his licence back.

“I’ve not had a seizure and I don’t feel like I’ve been on the verge of having one,” he explained.

Al is currently suffering with post concussion syndrome, having spent a couple of months living at his mum’s home following the attack.

“I wasn’t bedridden but I was extremely tired and had constant headaches which were debilitating in themselves,” he said of that initial recovery period.

“I had constant headaches, woke up with them and went bed with them – I was drained and worn out by the injuries, so mostly stayed in bed.”

He added: “I’m keeping myself to myself. I’ve got a little bit of social anxiety after what happened.”

The Sun has approached Devon & Cornwall Police for comment.

Do you know more? Email [email protected]

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In every round of the competition, the match-ups are played as one-off doubles matches, and Clayton believes his and Price’s rugby experiences gives them an edge.

“We go out as a team, and I think the rugby background helps,” said Clayton.

“We’ve played in team games before, and I know rugby is completely different to darts, but it is the team mentality.

“We believe in each other and you have to believe in your team-mate.”

While both Clayton and Price have Welsh aspects to their standard darts jersey, ‘The Ferret’ says there is something special about representing the country at the World Cup.

“There’s no better feeling than representing Wales,” added Clayton.

“Being a Welshman, I’m so proud when I put that jersey on.

“No matter what sport you play, if you can represent your country there is no better feeling.”

In the overcast light — on a chilly, gray Monday morning in June — a cluster of city workers quietly gathered outside Los Angeles City Hall to assess the damage.

After thousands of demonstrators converged downtown over the weekend to protest the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigrants in the country without documentation, the granite walls of the towering Art Deco seat of city government was marked up with fresh graffiti, with the same four-letter expletive preceding the word “ICE” in about a dozen places.

On the south and west sides of City Hall, about a dozen windows were smashed. At least 17 glass-covered light boxes surrounding the structure were busted, with broken shards of blue-gray glass covering the light fixtures.

On the front steps, insults daubed in spray paint were directed at both Mayor Karen Bass and President Trump.

The vandalism and graffiti stretched out block after block across downtown Los Angeles: “Remove Trumps head!!” was scrawled on the front facade of the Los Angeles County Law Library. The T-Mobile store on South Broadway had several windows boarded up, and glass still littered the sidewalk. Spent canisters, labeled “exact impact,” lay on the ground at various intersections.

The former Los Angeles Times building was scrawled with expletives, along with the words: “Immigrants rule the world.” The doors to its historic Globe Lobby were shattered, with graffiti on the large globe inside and across the building’s facade: “Return the homies” and “Trump is scum.”

But few Angelenos appeared outraged by the destruction.

“It’s kind of the usual. We always have protests,” said Eileen Roman as she walked her dog near Grand Central Market.

As the daughter of Guatemalan immigrants, she said she understood why people were protesting. Although she didn’t plan to join them on the streets, she said, she would be involved on social media.

“I think we all are concerned about what’s going on,” Roman, 32, said of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

Thomas Folland, a downtown resident and art history professor at Los Angeles Mission College, also said he wasn’t particularly concerned by the graffiti and vandalism he saw Monday morning.

“I was curious to see what the aftermath was this morning,” Folland said, noting that it was a particularly loud night at his apartment. But so far, he said, it wasn’t anything that worried him — though he noted his apartment building did start boarding up its windows in anticipation of what might come later this week.

“I’m not that offended by graffiti,” Folland said. “This is at least a genuine community expression.”

Sunday marked the third day of protests in downtown Los Angeles after federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested immigrants at a Home Depot parking lot, L.A.’s Garment District, and several other locations on Friday.

As President Trump ordered the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops to the city, tensions escalated Sunday. Demonstrators blocked the 101 Freeway, set self-driving cars ablaze and hurled incendiary devices — and, in some cases, chunks of concrete — at law enforcement officers. Police, in turn, wielded tear gas and rubber bullets.

At 8:56 p.m. Sunday, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a social media post that “agitators have splintered” throughout downtown and an unlawful assembly had been declared for the Civic Center area.

“Residents, businesses and visitors to the Downtown Area should be alert and report any criminal activity,” LAPD Central Division said on X. “Officers are responding to several different locations to disperse crowds.”

About half an hour later, the LAPD expanded its unlawful assembly across downtown Los Angeles. By 10:23 p.m., police said business owners were reporting that stores were being broken into and burglarized in the area of 6th Street and Broadway.

“All DTLA businesses or residents are requested to report any vandalism, damage or looting to LAPD Central Division so that it can be documented by an official police report,” LAPD Central Division said just before midnight. “Please photograph all vandalism and damage prior to clean up.”

Eric Wright and his wife, Margaux Cowan-Banker, vacationers from Knoxville, Tenn., were on a jog Monday morning downtown and paused to take photos — past scores of police vehicles — of the graffiti-covered Federal Building at 300 N. Los Angeles St., which houses offices for ICE, the IRS, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and other agencies.

There was egg on the exterior walls and spray-painted slogans with expletives.

“When tyranny becomes law,” one graffiti said, “rebellion becomes duty,”

The couple — who laughed about being red-state denizens in L.A. during this time — said the peaceful protesters, of which they saw many Sunday night, didn’t bother them.

Though “the graffiti is tough — I appreciate the sentiment, but someone’s gotta clean it up,” said Wright, a 37-year-old physical therapist.

“But a few graffiti-ists don’t make the protest, right?”

As dawn broke Monday, city crews had already fanned out across downtown, cleaning up the aftermath.

Several yellow city street sweepers drove up and down Los Angeles Street in front of the federal courthouse, between blooming purple jacarandas and scores of police vehicles from various SoCal cities.

Just before 9 a.m., two workers from C. Erwin Piper Technical Center carried planks of plywood to City Hall to board up the windows. When they were done, they told The Times, they planned to head across the street to repair the Los Angeles Police Department’s headquarters.

Members of the National Guard were stationed outside the federal detention center and downtown Los Angeles V.A. clinic at Alameda and Temple streets, and police cars blocked roads around the federal buildings.

A person in a silver SUV — their head entirely covered by a white balaclava — drove by the barricade at Commercial and Alameda streets, window down. They flipped off the officers standing nearby.

Some stores that were typically open on a Monday morning remained shuttered, including Blue Bottle Coffee. But others, including Grand Central Market, were already buzzing with customers.

Octavio Gomez, a supervisor with the DTLA Alliance, quickly rolled black paint onto a wall next to Grand Central Market that had been newly covered in graffiti.

“Today’s a bad day because of … last night,” Gomez said, noting his teams had been working since 5 a.m. to respond to the damage across the city. “It’s all going to come back, right? Because there’s still protests.”

For the couple from Knoxville, the juxtaposition between their weekend in L.A. and news coverage of the protests felt bizarre.

They had an idyllic Los Angeles Sunday — a food festival, the L.A. Pride March in Hollywood, a visit to Grand Central Market.

But on TV and social media, Los Angeles was portrayed as a place of total chaos.

“People back where we live are going to completely be horrified,” said Cowan-Banker, a 42-year-old personal trainer. “I’m sure they think it’s a war zone here.”

But Wright said he thought people should be protesting the Trump administration: “They’re stealing people off the streets from their families,” he said, referring to the ICE raids. “This is America. To send the National Guard was intentionally inflammatory.”

“This feeds right into his voters,” Wright said of Trump.

“And they’re the people we go home to,” his wife added. “I’m kinda glad we’re here to carry information, though no one’s gonna listen.”

The couple, at the halfway point of their five-mile morning run, kept on snapping their photos, past a line of police cars.

Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer harassed and retaliated against a high-ranking female prosecutor in his office after she raised concerns about his conduct and tried to protect other prosecutors who were sexually harassed by another superior, according to a jury verdict Thursday.

The jury, which heard the case in San Diego County to avoid potential conflicts, found Spitzer acted with malice against Tracy Miller, who was at one point the highest-ranking woman in the prosecutor’s office.

The jury also found that the county did not take reasonable steps to prevent workplace harassment, and took “adverse employment action” against Miller.

“Tracy Miller had the fortitude to resist the most powerful law enforcement person in the county, and she prevailed,” John Barnett, Miller’s attorney, said after the verdict was read. “It took a lot of courage, and the jury saw that she was right.”

The county declined to comment on the verdict.

The jury found the county, Spitzer and former Chief Assistant Dist. Atty. Shawn Nelson liable for $3 million in damages, including $1.5 million for past emotional distress.

Late Thursday, the jury also ruled Spitzer would be liable for an additional $25,000 in punitive damages.

In a statement to The Times, Spitzer said he accepted “full responsibility for any and all actions which occur in my administration, including my own actions and the actions of my former Chief Assistant District Attorney Shawn Nelson.”

Spitzer, in the statement, made no mention of the allegations of retaliation or harassment made by Miller in the lawsuit but said he had “set a very high standard which I expected all my employees to meet, and Ms. Miller was overseeing extremely important assignments.”

“It is no secret that there was a lot of frustration on my part with her lack of performance in handling these very serious matters,” Spitzer said in the statement after the jury returned with their verdict. “I respect the jury’s decision, and I am heartbroken over the fact that any of my actions could have been interpreted as anything other than a good faith effort to clean up the public corruption in the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and to create a work ethic that adheres to what Orange County residents demand of its District Attorney.”

Unlike criminal trials, civil trials in California do not require a unanimous verdict. In this civil case, juror decisions ranged from 12 to 0 to 9 to 3 for the various claims upheld against the defendants. The jury voted 10 to 2 to award punitive damages against Spitzer.

Miller accused Orange County, Spitzer and Nelson of retaliation and forcing Miller out after she objected to Spitzer’s actions while heading the office. Miller alleged she tried to protect female prosecutors from being retaliated against after they alleged they were sexually harassed by Gary LoGalbo, a former supervisor who was also friends with Spitzer.

Former and current prosecutors in the office described a “challenging” and “demanding” environment inside the prosecutors office, but some said they faced threats of being fired or demoted.

In her testimony, Miller said Spitzer and Nelson used “gender-based slurs,” disrespected her and undermined her authority in the office.

According to her suit, Miller alleged she had raised concerns that Spitzer had violated the Racial Justice Act by bringing up questions about race while determining whether to seek the death penalty against a Black defendant, and that Spitzer used race in case assignments.

Miller said in court that Spitzer, in retaliation, had threatened to fire her close friends in the office and dismantle programs she had spearheaded.

But much of the trial centered on what occurred shortly after several female prosecutors alleged they were sexually harassed by LoGalbo, a former police officer and the best man at Spitzer’s wedding.

When an internal county investigation confirmed the women were harassed, the report identified Miller and her testimony by describing her position and gender. Afterward, Miller testified, Spitzer targeted her and criticized her for writing notes during executive meetings.

“You could see anytime a subject came up, Tracy was taking notes about our meetings,” Spitzer testified. “There was a point of time where it was very curious to me, why do you seem to be memorializing everything we’re doing?”

Spitzer, who testified on multiple days during the trial, denied the accusations of harassment and retaliation. He acknowledged deep tensions within the office after he assumed the role in 2018 but attributed the opposition to employees who supported the previous district attorney, Tony Rackauckas.

“I knew it was going to be miserable, and it was miserable,” Spitzer said in testimony, at one point wiping away tears.

He said that was part of the reason he chose Nelson, now a county Superior Court judge, as chief assistant district attorney when he first took office.

“I picked him because I was going into battle, in the lions’ den,” Spitzer said.

But Miller testified Nelson’s actions also raised problems in the district attorney’s office after the allegations of sexual harassment were made. For example, prosecutors testified that during a sexual harassment training session for managers, Nelson stood up and said there were “no victims.”

On Thursday, one of the attorneys representing Miller urged jurors to seek punitive damages against Spitzer, arguing that the acts of retaliation and harassment against Miller were not isolated events.

“This wasn’t just a single incident,” he told jurors. “It wasn’t negligence. This was intentional. It was a long-term, long series of events.”

In his statement Thursday, Spitzer apologized while also criticizing Miller’s work performance during her time in the office.

“In hindsight, I realize that I was not as sensitive to the issues Ms. Miller was facing at the time as I should have been, and for that I am truly sorry,” the statement read.

Tracy Kennedy, an attorney representing the county, told jurors that there was no need to seek additional punitive damages against Spitzer, and that the $3 million sent a message to the district attorney about his behavior in office.

“He’s heard it, he understands,” she said. “He has been punished.”

The county still faces eight sexual harassment lawsuits involving allegations that were made against LoGalbo.

“It’s very important for the public to know what happened,” said Barnett, Miller’s attorney. “I was confident that our case was strong and we were right.”

Donald Trump’s decision to ban Harvard from enrolling foreign students has caused irreparable damage, says one student leader. The order was the latest move in the administration’s escalating battle with the Ivy League school. A federal judge has now temporarily blocked it.

AN EARTHQUAKE of magnitude 6.3 has hit the holiday hotspot island of Crete, Greece.

The quake was at a depth of 83km, the German Research Centre for Geosciences said.

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Citizens in Israel have reported feeling shockwaves from the earthquake, especially in the centre of the country including Tel Aviv, The Jerusalem Post reports.

It comes after the idyllic Greek island of Santorini was plunged into a state of emergency in February as a total of 7,700 tremors shook the isle in two weeks.

Around 7,700 earthquakes have shaken the Santorini-Amorgos seismic zone since January 26.

More to follow… For the latest news on this story keep checking back at The Sun Online

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On May 12, two days after the announcement of a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi finally addressed the nation. He stated that the Indian army had only “paused” military action and Operation Sindoor, launched in the aftermath of the April 22 massacre in Pahalgam to target “terrorist hideouts”, had not ended.

“Now, Operation Sindoor is India’s policy against terrorism. Operation Sindoor has carved out a new benchmark in our fight against terrorism and has set up a new parameter and new normal,” he said.

Modi’s speech was clearly not meant to reassure the Indian people that the government can guarantee their safety or security and is seeking peace and stability. Instead, it was meant to warn that the country is now in a permanent warlike situation.

This new state of affairs has been called not to secure the national interest but to satisfy Modi’s nationalist support base, which was bewildered and disappointed with the announcement of the ceasefire by United States President Donald Trump. The detrimental impact that this new militarised normal will have on Indian democracy is clearly a price worth paying, according to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The truth is, the political establishment unwittingly put itself in a difficult position when it decided to capitalise politically on the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack in India-administered Kashmir and whip up war fervour.

While victims of the attack like Himanshi Narwal, who survived but lost her husband, navy officer Vinay Narwal, called for peace and warned against the targeting of Muslims and Kashmiris, the BJP called for revenge and embraced anti-Muslim rhetoric.

As a ruling party, it did not feel the need to take responsibility for failing to prevent the attack or explain the carelessness in securing tourist destinations. It immediately converted this act of killing into an act of war against India.

Actions followed the hate rhetoric swiftly. Muslims and Kashmiris were attacked in several parts of India, and arrests were made of those criticising the Indian government. In Kashmir, nine houses were blasted immediately as punishment of those who had any link with “terrorists”, and thousands were detained or arrested. People with Pakistani passports were deported, and families were broken.

Then, Operation Sindoor was announced. The Indian army’s targeting of Pakistani sites was accompanied by frenzied calls from the mainstream media for the complete obliteration of Pakistan. Major TV platforms – entirely falsely – declared the Karachi port had been destroyed and the Indian army had breached the border.

The war cries and fake news emerging from the TV studios and the frantic messaging from the IT cells of the BJP led its supporters to believe that a decisive battle against Pakistan had been launched and its fall was imminent.

In parallel, critical voices were swiftly silenced. The Indian government requested the blocking of 8,000 accounts from the social media platform X, including those of BBC Urdu, Outlook India, Maktoob Media, veteran journalist Anuradha Bhasin and political content creator Arpit Sharma.

Just when war fever had gripped the BJP’s support base, the sudden announcement of a ceasefire by the US caught them by surprise. The truce was seen as a retreat and an admission of weakness.

Some of the BJP’s online supporters turned on the foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, who had declared the ceasefire as the representative of the government of India. He was viciously attacked, and his timeline was flooded with abusive and violent messages, calling him a traitor and coward. His daughter also faced abuse.

The trolling was so severe that Misri had to lock his social media accounts. Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, we did not hear about the blocking of any social media accounts trolling him or any action by the police against them. There was no action to protect Narwal either after she faced abuse and humiliation by the same crowd for daring to call for peace.

Meanwhile, the Association for Protection of Civil Rights, which focuses on rights violations in marginalised communities, has released a report saying 184 hate crimes against Muslims – including murder, assault, vandalism, hate speech, threats, intimidation and harassment – have been reported from different parts of India since April 22.

On Saturday, Misri claimed that India was a democracy that allowed criticism of the government. But the experience of critics raising questions about the objective and efficacy of Operation Sindoor has been bitter.

Criticism of government requires parliamentary deliberation. But the government has been ignoring calls by opposition parties to convene the parliament, which means stalling democratic dialogue.

Now that the prime minister has announced the operation has not ended, total loyalty from the Indian people will be demanded. Opposition parties would feel compelled to suspend all questions to the government. Muslims would feel a burden to prove their allegiance to the nation. The government will happily blame a dire economic situation that is of its doing on the war. There will be freedom of speech, but only for those who speak in favour of the BJP.

Democracy in India thus remains in suspended animation as the country now faces a permanent enemy and a permanent war.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.