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California is having a bummer of a political summer.

With the state under daily siege by the Trump administration, Los Angeles occupied by federal troops and our gallivanting governor busy running for president, is it really any surprise?

A recent UC Irvine poll found that residents, by a 2-to-1 margin, believe California is headed on the wrong track, a mood consistent with other gauges of Golden State grumpiness.

Why the sad faces?

“We are so divided as a country that people feel like there’s no common purpose and the other guys are out there about to do mayhem to the things that they believe in,” said Jon Gould, dean of UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology. “Number two, there is a substantial portion of people who feel that their economic situation is worse than it was four years ago, two years ago, one year ago.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom also gets some credit, er, blame for the state’s darkened disposition.

A poll conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found California voters have little faith in their chief executive as he rounds the turn toward his final year in office. (Which may be one reason Newsom would rather spend time laying the groundwork for a 2028 White House bid.)

Only 14% of voters surveyed had “a lot” of trust in Newsom to act in the best interests of the California public, while another 28% trusted him “somewhat.” Fifty-three percent had no trust in the governor, or only “a little.”

Not a strong foundation for a presidential campaign, but Potomac fever is a powerful thing.

The Democratic-run Legislature fared about the same in the Berkeley survey.

Forty-four percent of respondents had either a lot or some degree of trust in Sacramento lawmakers — not a great look, but a number that positively shines compared to attitudes toward California’s tech companies and their leaders as they increasingly try to spread their overweening influence to politics. Only 4% had a lot of trust in the companies acting in the best interest of the California public; nearly six in 10 did not trust them at all. (There was similarly little faith in business groups.)

But it’s not just the state’s leaders and institutions that fail to engender much trust or goodwill.

A survey by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California found residents have also soured on the three branches of the federal government.

Fewer than a third of Californians expressed approval for President Trump and the conservative-leaning Supreme Court. Just 2 in 10 Californians approved of the job Congress is doing.

Some of that is colored by partisan attitudes. Registered Democrats make up the largest portion of the electorate and, obviously, most aren’t happy with the GOP stranglehold on Washington. But that distrust transcended red and blue loyalties.

Overall, 8 in 10 adults said they do not fully trust the federal government to do what is right. A nearly identical percentage said they trust the government to do what is right only some of the time.

That, too, is part of a long-standing pattern.

“It’s a concern, but it’s not a new concern,” said Mark Baldassare, who directs research for the Public Policy Institute. “It’s been around in some form for decades.”

Back in 1958, when the National Election Study first asked, about three-quarters of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time — a level of faith that, today, sounds like it comes from people in another galaxy.

Starting in the 1960s, with the escalation of the Vietnam War, and continuing through the Watergate scandal of the 1970s, that trust has steadily eroded. The last time the Pew Research Center asked the question, in the spring of 2024, just 35% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents nationwide said they trusted the federal government just about always or most of the time. That compared to just 11% of Republicans and Republican leaners.

What’s new — and perhaps most troubling — in the recent batch of opinion surveys are growing fears for the state of our democracy.

Nearly two-thirds of those sampled in the Berkeley poll felt that “American democracy is under attack” and another 26% described it as “being tested.” Only 1 in 10 said our democracy is in “no danger.”

America has had some knock-down political fights in recent decades. But it’s only in the Trump era, with his incessant lying about the 2020 election and assault on the rule of law, that the durability of our democracy has become a widespread concern.

Pollsters didn’t even ask that question “10 years ago, 20 years ago, because it was just inconceivable,” said Eric Schickler, who co-directs Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies.

“Even in moments when people were mad, say after [Hurricane] Katrina, Iraq with Bush, or amid the Lewinsky scandal or various other moments of trouble and conflict you would never have seen… 64% say American democracy is under attack and only 10% saying democracy is not in danger,” Schickler said. “That’s just a pretty stunning number … and I think it suggests something really different is going on now.”

Perhaps this is just a temporary cloud, like the coastal fog that dissipates as summer rolls on?

“In the short to medium term, I’m not optimistic,” Schickler said. “I think that the problems that we have, the challenges, have just been growing over a period of time. Starting before the Trump era, for sure, but then accelerating in recent years. I think we’re heading more toward a politics where there just aren’t limits on what a party in power is going to do or try to accomplish, and the other party is an enemy and that’s a really bad dynamic.”

Oh, well.

There’s always the mountains, beach and desert offering Californians an escape.

Giuseppe Palermo has been wanted under an Interpol red notice, which has called for his arrest in 196 countries.

Colombian authorities have captured an alleged leader of the Italian ‘Ndrangheta mafia in Latin America who is accused of overseeing cocaine shipments and running illegal trafficking routes to Europe.

Police on Friday identified the suspect as Giuseppe Palermo, also known as “Peppe”, an Italian national who was wanted under an Interpol red notice, which called for his arrest in 196 countries.

He was nabbed on the street in Colombia’s capital Bogota during a coordinated operation between Colombian, Italian and British authorities, as well as Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, according to an official report.

Palermo is believed to be part of “one of the most tightly knit cells” of the ‘Ndrangheta mafia, said Carlos Fernando Triana, head of the Colombian police.

The ‘Ndrangheta, one of Italy’s most powerful, ruthless and clandestine criminal organisations, has increasingly wielded its influence overseas and is widely accused of importing cocaine into Europe.

The suspect “not only led the purchase of large shipments of cocaine in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador, but also controlled the maritime and land routes used to transport the drugs to European markets”, Triana added.

Illegal cocaine production reached 3,708 tonnes in 2023, an increase of nearly 34% from the previous year, driven mainly by the expansion of coca leaf cultivation in Colombia, according to the United Nations.

The global illicit drug trade, including cocaine, is estimated to be worth more than $500bn annually.

Floating in the vastness of unknowable space, our miniscule planet contains all of our stories — victories and tragedies orbiting around a dying star. But what if we could leave it all behind and start anew elsewhere? To migrate if you will.

Elio Solís (voiced by Yonas Kibreab) dreams of leaving Earth — he feels he doesn’t belong. As day turns to night, the eponymous orphaned boy in Pixar’s new intergalactic adventure looks up at the sky and wonders if perhaps somewhere out there, on another levitating rock or among a still undiscovered alien race, he might feel more at home.

The animated voyage, with its themes of alienation and aliens, arrives at a time when immigrants in this country, and Latinos at large, have become the target of brutal ICE raids that ignore due process and racially profile citizens and undocumented people alike.

In turn, the production of “Elio” also illuminates the regressive political climate in this country. Last week, a piece published by The Hollywood Reporter claimed that leadership at Pixar erased the protagonist’s queer identity, prompting the original writer-director Adrian Molina to exit the project, with Domee Shi and Madeline Sharafian stepping in to co-direct “Elio.” Had his take come to fruition, Molina, who is Mexican American, would have become the first Latino and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to solo direct a movie for Pixar.

Still, the version that did make it to the screen, where Elio feels ostracized because of his obsession with extraterrestrial life and all its possibilities, remains relevant. Though not overt about his ethnicity, the movie features visual nods to Elio’s Latino upbringing: a Day of the Death altar (pertinent since Molina co-directed “Coco”), a Spanish language song on the radio and colorful conchas as part of a feast.

It’s not a stretch to think that the premise of a Latino kid alienated for who he is and who believes that he won’t ever feel fully accepted in the place he calls home could speak to millions of Latino children across this country; especially here in California, witnessing the disturbing, life-threatening consequences of the administration’s policies.

Elio (voice of Yonas Kibreab), left, and Glordon (voice of Remy Edgerly) in Disney and Pixar’s “Elio.”

(Disney/Pixar)

Kids who must be wondering why there are masked men violently abducting people that look like their family members solely based on their appearance, or why their parents don’t want to leave the house, or why the vendor near their school hasn’t shown up in weeks.

They might be devastated to learn via online chatter that the people in charge of this country don’t want them to feel like they belong, even if they were born here. Now think about the children whose parents were among those taken. Words fail to estimate the trauma they must be experiencing without any certainty of when or if they’ll be reunited.

How do you explain to a child that the president of the United States is gleefully targeting anyone he deems looks “illegal,” regardless of their immigration status? That millions of people in this country harbor such hatred against immigrants that they cheer on an ill child being deported, children crying for their mothers and people dying in detention centers?

“I voted for this,” they write on social media endorsing the inhumane atrocities their government is committing against people they consider “criminals.” But their rigid version of legality only applies to immigrants from underprivileged backgrounds, those who have no choice but to cross borders without documents in order to survive, to aspire to a dignified life. The “right way” is not available to the poor, and those in power know it.

Down here in our chaotic reality, the villains currently have the upper hand. But up in space, nobody asked Elio for a passport or questioned the validity of his existence. On the contrary, the leaders of other planets, who gathered in a striking locale known as “Communiverse,” take his claim that he is the leader of Earth at face value and the singular boy rises to the occasion. Elio helps deescalate a conflict with a space warlord and reconnects with his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña) by befriending and then saving the life of the warlord’s young son.

Unfortunately, “Elio” has become Pixar’s biggest box office failure, despite being one of the studio’s best reviewed releases in recent years. Grosses were low globally, perhaps as a result of poor marketing or because audiences have been conditioned to wait for Disney’s animated films to hit streaming rather than seeing them in theaters.

But while that outcome can’t entirely be attributed to Latinos not going to the movies, when millions who are part of the audience that most devoutly purchase tickets in this country — we see movies even though the movies don’t often show us — are frightened to step outside their door, one can’t help but wonder if the numbers for “Elio” would be at least slightly different if the ICE raids were not terrorizing the community. If people are afraid to even go to the grocery store, movie theaters are certainly not a priority.

This country takes Latinos for granted, including how our money impacts Hollywood.

I hope that “Elio” lands in front of Latino children soon, and that they see that the hero who saves not only himself but the entire planet is a Latino boy who ultimately redefines the meaning of home on his own terms. Amid the horrors, I also wish for them to not feel alone, and that they know thousands of people have taken to the streets to speak up for them.

People who believe they do belong here, that they are not “aliens” or “invaders,” but integral part of this country. And that their parents and others in their lives, documented or not, deserve dignity and compassion, no matter what the overlords do to deny them.

Influential leader records message from prison, saying ‘care and sensitivity’ needed for peace process.

Abdullah Ocalan, the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), has announced the end of the group’s armed struggle against Turkiye, calling for a full shift to democratic politics.

The jailed leader relayed his message via a video recording dated June, which was aired by the PKK-aligned Firat News Agency on Wednesday, describing the shift as a “historic gain”.

“This represents a voluntary transition from the phase of armed conflict to the phase of democratic politics and law,” said Ocalan, who has been in prison since 1999, but remains a hugely influential figure among Kurds in Turkiye and beyond.

He said the process of voluntary disarmament of Kurdish PKK fighters and the creation of a Turkish parliamentary committee to oversee the peace process would be “crucial”.

“Care and sensitivity are essential,” he said, adding that details of the disarmament process would be “determined and implemented swiftly”.

Ocalan’s message was released just days before the first PKK disarmament ceremony in northern Iraq.

Back in May, the PKK had already announced it was disbanding after more than 40 years of armed struggle against the Turkish state.

The announcement came two months after Ocalan, also known as “Appo” – Kurdish for Uncle – called on the group to disarm in February.

For most of its history, the PKK has been labelled a “terrorist” group by Turkiye, the European Union and the United States.

Ocalan was born to a poor Kurdish farming family in 1948, in Omerli, Sanliurfa, a Kurdish-majority part of Turkiye.

It was after studying political science at Ankara University that he became politically active, founding the PKK in 1978.

Six years later, the group launched a separatist rebellion against Turkiye under his command.

More than 40,000 people were killed between 1984 and 2024, with thousands of Kurds fleeing the violence in southeastern Turkiye into cities further north.

BRICS countries have been in disagreement over how strongly to denounce Israel’s bombing of Iran and its actions in Gaza.

Brazil’s president says the world must act to stop what he describes as an Israeli “genocide” in Gaza as leaders from 11 emerging BRICS nations gathered in Rio de Janeiro.

“We cannot remain indifferent to the genocide carried out by Israel in Gaza, the indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and the use of hunger as a weapon of war,” President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told leaders from China, India and other nations on Sunday.

His comments came as Gaza truce talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Doha and as pressure mounted to end the 21-month war, which began with Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attacks in southern Israel.

Lula said “absolutely nothing could justify the terrorist actions” of Hamas on that day, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly Israeli civilians.

But he also offered fierce criticism of Israel’s subsequent actions. Israel’s military campaign has killed at least 57,418 people in Gaza, also mostly civilians.

BRICS countries have been in disagreement over how strongly to denounce Israel’s bombing of Iran and its actions in Gaza.

‘Autonomy in check once again’

Leaders in Rio called for reform of traditional Western institutions while presenting BRICS as a defender of multilateral diplomacy in an increasingly fractured world.

With forums such as the G7 and G20 groups of major economies hamstrung by divisions and the disruptive America First approach of United States President Donald Trump, expansion of BRICS has opened new space for diplomatic coordination.

In his opening remarks, Lula drew a parallel with the Cold War’s Non-Aligned Movement, a group of developing nations that resisted formally joining either side of a polarised global order.

“BRICS is the heir to the Non-Aligned Movement,” Lula told leaders. “With multilateralism under attack, our autonomy is in check once again.”

BRICS nations now represent more than half the world’s population and 40 percent of its economic output.

Leaders from Brazil, Russia, India and China gathered for the  its first summit in 2009. The bloc later added South Africa and last year included Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as members. This is the first summit of leaders to include Indonesia.

Some leaders were missing from this year’s summit, however. Chinese President Xi Jinping chose to send his prime minister in his place. Russian President Vladimir Putin is attending online because of a warrant issued for his arrest by the International Criminal Court.

Still, several heads of state were gathering for discussions at Rio’s Museum of Modern Art on Sunday and Monday, including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

More than 30 nations have expressed interest in participating in BRICS, either as full members or partners.

Abu Shabab is the leader of the Popular Forces, a criminal group in southern Gaza thought to be backed by Israel.

A Hamas-run court in Gaza has ordered Yasser Abu Shabab, the leader of a criminal group allegedly backed by Israel, to surrender himself for trial.

The Revolutionary Court of the Military Judiciary Authority in Gaza gave the 35-year-old head of the Popular Forces group, which stands accused of collaborating with Israel to loot humanitarian aid, 10 days to turn himself in.

Abu Shabab faces charges of treason, collaborating with hostile entities, forming an armed gang and armed rebellion, the court said on Wednesday, adding that he would be tried in absentia if he fails to surrender.

The Popular Forces posted a response on a Facebook page that usually carries its announcements, describing the court’s order as a “sitcom that doesn’t frighten us, nor does it frighten any free man who loves his homeland and its dignity”.

The group and its leader were thrust into the limelight last month when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his government had “activated” powerful local clans in Gaza on the advice of “security officials”.

Israeli and Palestinian media named the group as the Popular Forces, a well-armed Bedouin clan led by Abu Shabab, reportedly consisting of about 100 armed men.

The group later said online that its members were involved in guarding aid shipments sent to distribution centres run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which Israel contracted to distribute aid in the enclave.

Mass killings of aid seekers near the US-backed GHF distribution centres, which replaced existing distribution networks run by the United Nations and other experienced aid groups, have become a routine occurrence.

The European Council on Foreign Relations think tank has described Abu Shabab as the leader of a “criminal gang operating in the Rafah area that is widely accused of looting aid trucks”.

It said he was thought to have been previously imprisoned by Hamas for drug trafficking.

The court urged Palestinians to inform Hamas security officials about the whereabouts of Abu Shabab, who has so far remained beyond their reach in the Rafah area of southern Gaza held by Israeli troops.

It said anyone who knows of Abu Shabab’s location and fails to report him would be considered to have concealed a fugitive from justice.

Tblisi court sentences opposition figure Nika Gvaramia to eight months and bans him from holding office for two years.

A court in Georgia has sentenced prominent opposition figure Nika Gvaramia to eight months in prison, amid a deepening crackdown on critics of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Gvaramia, the co-leader of the opposition Akhali party, was also barred from holding office for two years.

The court imposed the sentence on Tuesday over his refusal to cooperate with a parliamentary commission tasked with investigating alleged wrongdoing under ex-President Mikheil Saakashvili, a pro-Western reformer currently serving a 12-and-a-half-year prison term.

Several other leading opponents of Georgian Dream have been jailed on similar charges to Gvaramia, including Giorgi Vashadze, a former deputy justice minister, who received a seven-month prison sentence last week.

The crackdown has led to growing accusations against the governing party that it is trampling on democracy amid continuing protests in the wake of last year’s disputed elections.

Speaking to the AFP news agency on Tuesday, Gvaramia’s lawyer Dito Sadzaglishvili said the verdict against his client was “unlawful” and “part of the government’s attempt to crush all dissent in Georgia”.

Growing criticism

The British government on Monday denounced the crackdown on opposition figures and summoned the country’s charge d’affaires.

“The imprisonment of prominent opposition leaders is the latest attempt by the Georgian government to crack down on freedoms and stifle dissent,” the United Kingdom’s Foreign Office said.

“The UK Government will not hesitate to consider further action should Georgia not return to respecting and upholding democracy, freedoms and human rights,” it added.

The NGO Amnesty International also criticised the government, saying last week in reaction to Vashadze’s sentencing that it had “serious concerns over the misuse of legislative, policing and other powers to silence government critics in Georgia”.

The human rights organisation specifically took aim at the parliamentary commission linked to the arrests of opposition figures.

“With its status disputed, the commission has been instrumentalised to target former public officials for their principled opposition,” said Denis Krivosheev, Amnesty’s deputy director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

After Georgian Dream claimed victory in a contested election in October, the European Union candidate nation experienced mass protests.

Critics accuse the government of undermining democracy and of bringing the country close to Moscow, allegations the governing party denies.

The EU has said some 80 percent of the population supports Georgia’s bid to join the bloc, a commitment enshrined in its constitution.

Amid allegations of democratic backsliding, the United States and several European countries have sanctioned some Georgian government officials.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Thursday that his country had delivered a “slap to America’s face” by striking a U.S. air base in Qatar and warned against further attacks in his first public comments since a ceasefire agreement with Israel.

Khamenei’s prerecorded speech that aired on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19, was filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel, the Islamic Republic’s longtime adversaries.

The 86-year-old, a skilled orator known for his forceful addresses to the country’s more than 90 million people, appeared more tired than he had just a week ago, speaking in a hoarse voice and occasionally stumbling over his words.

The supreme leader downplayed U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites Sunday using bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying that President Trump — who said the attack “completely and fully obliterated” Iran’s nuclear program — had exaggerated its impact.

“They could not achieve anything significant,” Khamenei said. Missing from his more than 10-minute video message was any mention of Iran’s nuclear program and the status of their facilities and centrifuges after extensive U.S. and Israeli strikes.

His characterization of Monday’s strike on the U.S. air base in Qatar contrasted with U.S. accounts of it as a limited attack with no casualties.

The White House responded to Khamenei’s video, accusing him of trying to “save face.”

“Any commonsense, open-minded person knows the truth about the precision strikes on Saturday night,” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Thursday. “They were wildly successful.”

U.N. nuclear watchdog confirms damage to Iran sites

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated Thursday that the damage done by Israeli and U.S. strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities “is very, very, very considerable” and that he can only assume the centrifuges are not operational.

“I think annihilated is too much, but it suffered enormous damage,” Grossi told French broadcaster RFI. The IAEA has not been allowed to visit any of the Iranian facilities to do an independent assessment of the damage.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Esmail Baghaei, also conceded Wednesday that “our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that’s for sure.”

Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war on June 13, when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists.

After Sunday’s attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities, Trump was able to help negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect Tuesday.

Iranian leader warns U.S. against further attacks

Khamenei claimed the U.S. had only intervened in the war because “it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.”

“It entered the war to save them, yet it gained nothing,” he said.

He said his country’s attack Monday on the U.S. base in Qatar was significant, since it shows Iran “has access to important U.S. centers in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary.”

“The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America’s face,” he said, adding, “This action can be repeated in the future.”

“Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,” he said.

Trump has dismissed the retaliatory attack as a “very weak response,” saying that the U.S. had been warned by Iran in advance and emphasizing that there had been no casualties.

With the ceasefire, life slowly returns to normal in Iran

On Thursday, Iran partially reopened its airspace, which had been closed since the war began, and shops in Tehran’s capital began to reopen, with traffic returning to the streets.

Majid Akhavan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said Iran had reopened its airspace for the eastern half of the country to domestic and international flights, including those transiting Iranian airspace.

Earlier this week, Tehran said 606 people had been killed in the conflict in Iran, with 5,332 people wounded. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group released figures Wednesday suggesting Israeli strikes on Iran had killed at least 1,054 and wounded 4,476.

The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, said 417 of those killed were civilians and 318 were security forces.

At least 28 people were killed in Israel and more than 1,000 wounded, according to officials there. During the 12-day war, Iran fired more than 550 missiles at Israel with a 90% interception rate, according to new statistics released by Israeli authorities Thursday. Israel, meantime, hit more than 720 Iranian military infrastructure targets and eight nuclear-related sites, Israel said.

Trump has also asserted that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, giving rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace.

Iran has not acknowledged that any such talks would take place, though U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of U.S.-Iran negotiations was scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was canceled after Israel attacked Iran.

Iran has insisted that it will not give up its nuclear program. In a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, its parliament agreed Wednesday to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country’s cooperation with the IAEA, which has monitored the program for years.

Amiri and Rising write for the Associated Press. The AP’s John Leicester in Paris and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Aamer Madhani in Washington contributed to this report.

The recently elected leader of Warwickshire County Council has resigned, leaving his 18-year-old deputy in charge.

Reform UK councillor Rob Howard released a short statement in which he said he had made the decision with “much regret”.

Howard was elected in May, when Reform made unprecedented gains in the local elections, becoming the largest party in Warwickshire and forming a minority administration.

The outgoing leader cited his health as the reason for his decision, adding: “The role of leader is an extremely demanding role and regretfully my health challenges now prevent me from carrying out the role to the level and standard that I would wish.”

He also confirmed that his current deputy, George Finch, would serve as interim leader until the council confirmed a new leader in due course.

Speaking to the BBC earlier this month, Howard said he was “not intimidated” by the challenge of running a local authority with £1.5bn of assets and a revenue budget of about £500m.

Despite resigning the top job with immediate effect, Howard confirmed he would be staying on as a county councillor.

“I am honoured and privileged to have held the role, even if only for a short time. I remain committed to my continued role working as a county councillor for the benefit of Warwickshire residents,” he said.

Mr Finch, councillor for Bedworth Central, was a member of the Conservative Party for three months before switching to Reform on the grounds that it would better tackle illegal immigration.

On the New Reformer website, he said his politics could be summed up as “Brexit, sovereignty and a strong and united family unit”.

The BBC has contacted the interim council leader for comment.

Jose Adolfo Macias, alias ‘Fito’, is due to be extradited to the US on drug trafficking and weapons smuggling charges.

The fugitive leader of Ecuador’s Los Choneros gang has been recaptured after nearly 18 months on the run, according to President Daniel Noboa.

Jose Adolfo Macias, also known as “Fito”, escaped from Guayaquil prison in January 2024, where he was serving a 34-year sentence for drug trafficking and murder.

Following his capture, Macias will now be extradited to the US, where he was indicted by a federal court for charges related to drug trafficking and firearms smuggling, Noboa said on the X social media platform on Wednesday.

Noboa had previously offered $1m for assistance in Macias’s capture and dispatched thousands of police officers and members of the armed forces to find him.

“My recognition to our police and military who participated in this operation. More will fall, we will reclaim the country. No truce,” Noboa said on X.

Para los que se opusieron y dudaron de la necesidad de las leyes de Solidaridad e Inteligencia: gracias a esas leyes, Fito fue capturado hoy y está en manos del Bloque de Seguridad.

Mi reconocimiento a nuestros policías y militares que participaron en esta operación. Caerán más,…

— Daniel Noboa Azin (@DanielNoboaOk) June 25, 2025

Macias reportedly escaped ahead of his transfer to a maximum-security prison, but authorities have yet to explain how he succeeded.

The successful escape “triggered widespread riots, bombings, kidnappings, the assassination of a prominent prosecutor, and an armed attack on a TV network during a live broadcast”, according to the United States government, leading Noboa to declare a 60-day state of emergency across Ecuador.

The Ecuadorian president also designated 22 gangs, including Los Choneros, as “terrorist groups”.

The US Department of the Treasury separately sanctioned both Macias and Los Choneros in February 2024 for drug trafficking and instigating violence across Ecuador.

Ecuador was once one of Latin America’s most peaceful countries, but its proximity to Peru and Colombia – the world’s top producers of cocaine – has made it a prime target for criminal groups exporting drugs abroad.

Competition between rival local gangs, backed by foreign criminal syndicates from Mexico to as far as Albania, has led to an explosion in violence across the country.

June 25 (UPI) — The United States on Tuesday sanctioned, charged and added to the FBI’s most wanted list a Venezuelan fugitive accused of being a leader of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang, one of several criminal organizations that the Trump administration has targeted in its crackdown on immigration.

The alleged gang leader, 37-year-old Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano, is accused of being involved in the TdA’s drug trafficking and financial operations.

According to a five-count superseding indictment announced Tuesday by the Justice Department, Mosquera Serrano, who also goes by the name “El Viejo,” and 24-year-old Jose Enrique Martinez Flores, aka “Chuqui,” are charged with conspiring to provide and providing support to a designated foreign terrorist organization as well as distributing cocaine in Colombia intended for the United States.

The indictment calls Mosquera Serrano a senior TdA leader who oversees its criminal operations in Colombia, Central America and the United States, while Martinez Flores is an alleged high-ranking TdA leader in Bogota.

The Justice Department accuses the pair of being involved in the delivery of some 5 kilos or more of cocaine for international distribution for the benefit of the TdA.

According to the FBI, Mosquera Serrano is the 536th addition to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list and the first alleged TdA member to be included.

“Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano’s leadership fuels an organization that thrives on brutal murders, forced prostitution, kidnappings and the destruction of lives across continents,” Douglas Williams, special agent in charge of FBI Houston, said Tuesday in a statement.

The State Department has been offering a reward of up to $3 million for information leading to his arrest or conviction since June 2024.

“The United States is committed to keeping the American people safe by using all available means to eliminate TdA’s threats of violent crime throughout our hemisphere,” the State Department said in a statement.

The U.S. government under President Donald Trump has been cracking down on immigration, focusing on alleged bad actors and international criminal organizations.

On Feb. 20, Trump designated TdA and seven other criminal organizations as foreign terrorist organizations and specially designated global terrorists, exposing them and their members and proxy entities to punitive measures, including sanctions.

The State Department has offered up to $3m for information leading to the arrest of Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano.

The United States Treasury Department has sanctioned the alleged leader of Tren de Aragua (TDA), a Venezuelan gang that the administration of President Donald Trump has used as justification for its immigration crackdown.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Giovanni Vicente Mosquera Serrano was not only sanctioned but also indicted by the Department of Justice.

According to unsealed court documents, Mosquera Serrano faces charges related to drug trafficking and terrorism. He was also added to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted list, with a $3m reward offered for information leading to his arrest or conviction.

In the statement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Tren de Aragua, under Mosquera Serrano’s leadership, of “terrorizing our communities and facilitating the flow of illicit narcotics into our country”.

It was the latest effort in the Trump administration’s campaign to crack down on criminal activity that it claims is tied to the proliferation of foreign gangs and criminal networks in the US.

Earlier this year, the Trump administration designated Tren de Aragua and other Latin American gangs as “foreign terrorist organisations”, a category more commonly used to describe international groups with violent political aims.

But Trump has used the threat of criminal networks based abroad to justify the use of emergency powers during his second term.

For instance, the Trump administration has claimed that Tren de Aragua is coordinating its US activities with the government of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. That allegation was then used to justify the use of a rare wartime law: the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

Claiming that the presence of groups like Tren de Aragua constituted a foreign “invasion” on US soil, Trump leveraged the Alien Enemies Act as the legal basis for pursuing the expedited deportations of alleged gang members.

More than 200 people were sent to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, where many of them remain to this day.

Those deportations have drawn widespread criticism, along with a slew of legal challenges. Critics have said that the expedited deportations violated the immigrants’ rights to due process. They also pointed out that many of the deported men did not have criminal records.

Lawyers for some of the men have argued that they appear to have been imprisoned based on their tattoos and wardrobe choices. The Department of Homeland Security, however, has disputed that allegation.

At least one top US official has acknowledged that Maduro’s government may not direct Tren de Aragua.

An April memo from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, obtained by news outlets like NPR and The New York Times, likewise cast doubt on the idea that Venezuela was controlling the gang’s movements in the US.

Rather, the memo said that the Maduro government likely sees Tren de Aragua as a threat.

“While Venezuela’s permissive environment enables TDA to operate, the Maduro regime probably does not have a policy of cooperating with TDA and is not directing TDA movement to and operations in the United States,” the memo reads.

Last July, the US and Colombia offered joint multimillion-dollar rewards for information leading to the arrest of Mosquera Serrano and two other men believed to lead Tren de Aragua.

The group was also sanctioned in the same month as a transnational criminal organisation for “engaging in diverse criminal activities, such as human smuggling and trafficking, gender-based violence, money laundering, and illicit drug trafficking”, according to a Treasury Department statement.

Numerous countries in Latin America have struggled with the gang’s rapid growth, which has been linked to political assassinations and widespread human trafficking, though experts say there is little to suggest the gang has infiltrated the US.

“This man absolutely should not continue to exist.” Israel’s defence minister threatened to assassinate Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, after Iranian missile strikes across Israel. The missiles injured dozens, damaging a hospital, a high-rise, and several residential buildings.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran’s supreme leader on Wednesday rejected U.S. calls for surrender in the face of more Israeli strikes and warned that any military involvement by the Americans would cause “irreparable damage to them.”

The second public appearance by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei since the Israeli strikes began six days ago came as Israel lifted some restrictions on daily life, suggesting that the missile threat from Iran was easing.

Khamenei spoke a day after President Trump demanded in a social media post that Iran surrender without conditions and warned Khamenei that the U.S. knows where he is but has no plans to kill him, “at least not for now.”

Trump initially distanced himself from Israel’s surprise attack on Friday that triggered the conflict, but in recent days he has hinted at greater American involvement, saying he wants something “much bigger” than a ceasefire. The U.S. has also sent more military aircraft and warships to the region.

‘Nobody knows what I’m going to do’

Speaking to reporters at the White House Wednesday, Trump would not say whether he has decided to order a U.S. strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation if it happens.

“I may do it, I may not do it,” Trump said in an exchange with reporters at the White House. “I mean, nobody knows what I’m going to do.”

Trump added that it’s not “too late” for Iran to give up its nuclear program as he continues to weigh direct U.S. involvement in Israel’s military operations aimed at crushing Tehran’s nuclear program.

“Nothing’s too late,” Trump said. “I can tell you this. Iran’s got a lot of trouble.”

“Nothing is finished until it is finished,” Trump added. But “the next week is going to be very big — maybe less than a week.”

Trump also offered a terse response to Khamenei’s refusal to heed to his call for Iran to submit to an unconditional surrender.

“I say good luck,” Trump said.

‘The Iranian nation is not one to surrender’

Khamenei dismissed the “threatening and absurd statements” by Trump.

“Wise individuals who know Iran, its people and its history never speak to this nation with the language of threats, because the Iranian nation is not one to surrender,” he said in a low-resolution video, his voice echoing. “Americans should know that any military involvement by the U.S. will undoubtedly result in irreparable damage to them.”

Iran released Khamenei’s statement before the video was aired, perhaps as a security measure. His location is not known, and it was impossible to discern from the tight shot, which showed only beige curtains, an Iranian flag and a portrait of Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Khamenei’s immediate predecessor, who died in 1989.

An Iranian diplomat had warned earlier Wednesday that U.S. intervention would risk “all-out war.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei did not elaborate, but thousands of American troops are based in nearby countries within range of Iran’s weapons. The U.S. has threatened a massive response to any attack.

Another Iranian official said the country would keep enriching uranium for peaceful purposes, apparently ruling out Trump’s demands that Iran give up its disputed nuclear program.

Strikes in and around Tehran

The latest Israeli strikes hit one facility used to make uranium centrifuges and another that made missile components, the Israeli military said. Military officials said their defenses intercepted 10 missiles overnight as Iran’s retaliatory barrages diminished. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Israel struck two centrifuge production facilities in and near Tehran.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the military also struck the headquarters of Iran’s internal security forces on Wednesday, without specifying the agency or location. The strike marks a shift toward targeting Iran’s domestic security apparatus, which has long cracked down on dissent and suppressed protests.

Israel’s air campaign has struck several nuclear and military sites, killing top generals and nuclear scientists. A Washington-based Iranian human rights group said at least 585 people, including 239 civilians, have been killed and more than 1,300 wounded.

Iran has fired some 400 missiles and hundreds of drones in retaliatory strikes, killing at least 24 people in Israel and wounding hundreds. Some have hit apartment buildings in central Israel, causing heavy damage, and air-raid sirens have repeatedly forced Israelis to run for shelter.

Iran has fired fewer missiles as the conflict has worn on. It has not explained the decline, but Israel has targeted launchers and other infrastructure related to the missiles.

By Wednesday, Israel eased some of the restrictions that it had imposed on daily life when Iran launched its retaliatory attack, allowing gatherings of up to 30 people and letting workplaces reopen as long as there is a shelter nearby.

Schools are closed, and many businesses remain shuttered, but Israel’s decision to reverse its ban on gatherings and office work for all but essential employees signals the Israeli military’s confidence that its attacks have limited Iran’s missile capabilities.

Casualties mount in Iran

The Washington-based group Human Rights Activists said it had identified 239 of those killed in Israeli strikes as civilians and 126 as security personnel.

The group, which also provided detailed casualty figures during 2022 protests over the death of Mahsa Amini, crosschecks local reports against a network of sources it has developed in Iran.

Iran has not been publishing regular death tolls during the conflict and has minimized casualties in the past. Its last update, issued Monday, put the toll at 224 people killed and 1,277 others wounded.

Shops have been closed across Tehran, including in its famed Grand Bazaar, as people wait in gas lines and pack roads leading out of the city to escape the onslaught.

A major explosion was heard around 5 a.m. Wednesday in Tehran. That followed other explosions earlier in the predawn darkness. Authorities in Iran offered no acknowledgement of the attacks, which have become increasingly common as the Israeli airstrikes have intensified.

At least one strike appeared to target Tehran’s eastern neighborhood of Hakimiyeh, where the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has an academy.

Iran says it will keep enriching uranium

Israel says it launched the strikes to prevent Iran from building a nuclear weapon, after talks between the United States and Iran over a diplomatic resolution made little visible progress over two months but were still ongoing. Trump has said Israel’s campaign came after a 60-day window he set for the talks.

Iran has long insisted its nuclear program is peaceful, though it is the only non-nuclear-armed state to enrich uranium up to 60%, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. U.S. intelligence agencies have said they did not believe Iran was actively pursuing the bomb.

Israel is the only country in the Middle East with nuclear weapons, but has never publicly acknowledged them.

Iran’s ambassador to Geneva, Ali Bahreini, told reporters that Iran “will continue to produce the enriched uranium as far as we need for peaceful purposes.”

He rejected any talk of a setback to Iran’s nuclear research and development from the Israeli strikes, saying, “Our scientists will continue their work.”

Israel welcomes first repatriation flights

Israelis began returning on flights for the first time since the country’s international airport shut down at the start of the conflict.

Two flights from Larnaca, Cyprus, landed Wednesday at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport, said Lisa Dvir, an airport spokesperson.

Israel closed its airspace to commercial flights because of the ballistic missile attacks, leaving tens of thousands of Israelis stranded abroad.

Krauss, Gambrell and Frankel write for the Associated Press. Frankel reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Amir Vahdat and Nasser Karimi in Iran, and Jamey Keaten in Geneva, contributed.

President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance have both posted to social media hinting that the United States is considering involvement in the conflict between Israel and Iran, with Trump even raising the possibility of violence against Iran’s leadership.

The first of Tuesday’s posts came from Vance, who wrote a lengthy missive defending Trump’s handling of the conflict and blaming Iran for continuing its nuclear enrichment programme.

“The president has made clear that Iran cannot have uranium enrichment. And he said repeatedly that this would happen one of two ways- the easy way or the ‘other’ way,” Vance wrote.

The vice president proceeded to explain what the “other way” might look like.

“The president has shown remarkable restraint in keeping our military’s focus on protecting our troops and protecting our citizens,” Vance said. “He may decide he needs to take further action to end Iranian enrichment. That decision ultimately belongs to the president.”

Trump himself upped the ante less than an hour later. On his Truth Social platform, the president appeared to threaten Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and called for the country’s “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”.

“We know exactly where the so-called ‘Supreme Leader’ is hiding,” Trump wrote.

“He is an easy target, but is safe there – We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now. But we don’t want missiles shot at civilians, or American soldiers. Our patience is wearing thin.”

The two messages arrive as Iran and Israel continue to exchange missile fire, with experts fearing the outbreak of a wider regional war.

That prospect has raised questions about whether and how the US might become involved.

Already, Trump has indicated he had prior knowledge of Israel’s initial attack on June 13, and news reports indicate that the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has petitioned Trump to join its military campaign against Iran.

Still, the Trump administration has put some distance between itself and Israel, a longtime ally.

On the night the first attacks were launched by Israel, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement calling Israel’s actions “unilateral” and stressing that the US was “not involved in [the] strikes against Iran”.

Shifting tone

Critics have speculated, however, that Trump may be gradually building a case for more direct US involvement in the conflict.

Prior to the last five days of bombing, the US and Iran had been engaged in months of negotiations to limit Iran’s nuclear programme. Another round of talks had been scheduled for last weekend, but was cancelled amid the escalating violence.

The US has since repositioned warships and military aircraft in the region, in the name of “protecting US forces”.

“These deployments are intended to enhance our defensive posture in the region,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.

Trump, meanwhile, has framed the conflict as a result of Iran’s unwillingness to curtail its nuclear programme. As he flew home from the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Canada overnight, he reemphasised that Iran had missed its opportunity to avoid conflict.

“They should have done the deal. I told them: ‘Do the deal’,” Trump told reporters. “So I don’t know. I’m not too much in the mood to negotiate.”

Iran has long denied seeking a nuclear weapon. But fears that it might develop one anyway have fuelled decades of tensions with the US, Israel and other countries.

In 2015, Iran inked a deal with the US, China, Russia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the European Union to scale back its nuclear programme, in exchange for sanctions relief. But in 2018, during his first term in office, Trump unilaterally withdrew the US from the pact, causing it to crumble.

He has since pursued a policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran and other US adversaries, a campaign he has continued during his second term.

In March, for instance, Trump blamed Iran for attacks from Yemen’s Houthi rebels, writing, “IRAN will be held responsible, and suffer the consequences, and those consequences will be dire!”

A nuclear question

Those threats have raised concerns, even among Trump’s Make America Great Again (MAGA) base, that the US could once again become embroiled in a costly foreign war.

On Friday, for instance, the Tucker Carlson Network — led by the eponymous conservative commentator — sent out a morning newsletter lobbying against US involvement in the Iran-Israel conflict.

“If Israel wants to wage this war, it has every right to do so. It is a sovereign country, and it can do as it pleases. But not with America’s backing,” the newsletter read.

Lawmakers have likewise moved to curb any potential US involvement in the conflict.

On Tuesday, US Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican, joined his Democratic colleague Ro Khanna of California in announcing they would introduce a bill called the Iran War Powers Resolution, which would require the president to seek congressional approval before engaging in the conflict.

Just a day earlier, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine unveiled a similar bill. It would have directed the president to “terminate the use of US Armed Forces for hostilities against Iran”.

The Trump administration, however, has emphasised its position that Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon is a red line that cannot be crossed. On Tuesday, the White House issued a statement stressing that Trump “has never wavered” in his position, linking to dozens of past comments he has made.

Critics, however, have pointed out that Trump has contradicted some members of his own inner circle, who have cast doubt on the likelihood that Iran has a nuclear weapons arsenal.

In March, for instance, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard testified to Congress that the US “continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorised the nuclear weapons programme he suspended in 2003”.

During his overnight flight back to the US, however, Trump dismissed Gabbard’s assessment. “I don’t care what she said. I think they’re very close to having it,” he told reporters.

Gabbard herself has since said her comments were in line with the president’s position.

But the Trump administration’s contradictory statements have raised questions about how its stance towards Iran — and military engagement in the Middle East — might shift in the coming weeks.

Yasmine Taeb, legislative and political director for the advocacy group MPower Change Action Fund, noted that Gabbard’s congressional testimony represented the findings of the entire US intelligence community.

“It’s just reprehensible and incredibly reckless that Trump is not even relying on guidance from his own intelligence,” she told Al Jazeera.

Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), a think tank and political group, also told Al Jazeera that Trump’s comments raise questions about the sources he is relying on for information.

“This makes really clear that this is a war of choice,” he told Al Jazeera. “If he’s not listening to his own intelligence community, who is he listening to? Is it Netanyahu?”

“I mean, at least when [former US President] George W Bush started his endless war, he had the dignity to lie to us about WMDs [weapons of mass destruction],” Abdi continued, citing the claim that helped launch the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.

“Donald Trump is just saying: ‘I don’t care what the facts are. We’re just doing this anyway because I say so.’”

BLAINE, Minn. — Minnesota’s House Democratic leader Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in a politically motivated assassination, Gov. Tim Walz announced Saturday. A second lawmaker and his wife were shot and wounded.

“We must all, in Minnesota and across the country, stand against all forms of political violence,” Walz said at a news conference Saturday. “Those responsible for this will be held accountable.”

The wounded lawmaker was identified as state Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, who was first elected in 2012. He runs Hoffman Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm. He previously served as vice chair of the Anoka Hennepin School Board, which manages the largest school district in Minnesota. Hoffman is married and has one daughter.

Hortman was the top House Democratic leader in the state Legislature and is a former House speaker. She was first elected in 2004.

Both Hoffman and Hortman represented districts north of Minneapolis.

Drew Evans, superintendent of the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said that authorities were actively searching for a suspect. Hortman and her spouse died from gunshot wounds, Evans said.

Public Safety Commissioner Bob Johnson said at the news conference with Walz that the suspect was posing as a law enforcement officer.

The “suspect exploited the trust of our uniforms, what our uniforms are meant to represent. That betrayal is deeply disturbing to those of us who wear the badge with honor and responsibility,” Johnson said.

The shootings happened at a time when political leaders nationwide have been attacked, harassed and intimidated amid deep ideological divisions.

Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, leader of Giffords, a national gun violence prevention group, said in a statement: “I am horrified and heartbroken by last night’s attack on two patriotic public servants. My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well. An attack against lawmakers is an attack on American democracy itself. Leaders must speak out and condemn the fomenting violent extremism that threatens everything this country stands for.”

Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was shot in the head in 2011 by a gunman who killed six people and injured 12 others. She stepped down from Congress in January 2012 to focus on her recovery.

Grand Slam Track canceled the final meet of its first season, in Los Angeles, leaving the host of the 2028 Olympics and the country’s second-largest city without a major track meet this summer.

The news Thursday about the abrupt scrubbing of the meet, scheduled for the last weekend in June at Drake Stadium, combines with USA Track and Field’s recent decision to take an event set at the same stadium for earlier in June — the L.A. Grand Prix — off the calendar.

USATF CEO Max Siegel told the Associated Press that the federation pulled its event because it was not viable to hold two major track meets at the same venue in L.A. in the span of three weeks.

Grand Slam Track founder Michael Johnson said “the decision to conclude the inaugural Grand Slam Track season is not taken lightly, but one rooted in a belief that we have successfully achieved the objectives we set out to in this pilot season.”

He cited a shift in the global economic landscape as the reason for canceling the LA event, which will be part of the league’s 2026 calendar.

Siegel said leaders at USATF “understand the significance of the (LA) market,” and that there are plans for leaders to meet later this summer to coordinate the future of track there and throughout the United States, starting in 2026.

“It highlights the complicated way the (sport) works, and how difficult it is to financially sustain track meets,” Siegel said. “The only way to do it in a sustainable way is collaboration and partnerships.”

In the short term, USATF is looking to find meets for a handful of athletes who still need to reach standards or collect points to qualify for world championships later this year and were planning on competing in Los Angeles.

The news was far from what Olympic and track leaders were hoping as they lead in to the first Summer Games in the United States since 1996 in a city that, 12 years before that, put Carl Lewis, Edwin Moses, Evelyn Ashford and others in the sports spotlight.

Johnson raised around $30 million to launch Grand Slam Track this spring, promising a new way of doing track — involving a group of runners under contract racing twice over a weekend and focusing more on where they finished than actual times.

Among the top athletes he signed were Olympic champions Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Gabby Thomas, though two other American track stars, Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, did not race in the league.

The league said Kenny Bednarek and Melissa Jefferson-Wooden are the league’s “Racers of the Year,” having won three straight slam championships each.

The first three events, in Kingston, Jamaica, Miami and Philadelphia, doled out about $9.45 million, with another $3 million expected to be paid in L.A. Bonuses were expected to go to season-long winners of the categories.

Pells and Graham write for the Associated Press.

Frame it as a call to action or a presidential campaign announcement, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s address to America on Tuesday has tapped into our zeitgeist (German words feel oddly appropriate at the moment) in a way few others have.

“Democracy is under assault right before our eyes,” Newsom said during a live broadcast with a California flag and the U.S. flag in the background. “The moment we’ve feared has arrived.”

What moment exactly is he referring to?

President Trump has put Marines and National Guardsmen on the streets of Los Angeles, and granted himself the power to put them anywhere. Wednesday, a top military leader said those forces could “detain” protesters, but not outright arrest them, though — despite what you see on right wing media — most protesters have been peaceful.

But every would-be authoritarian ultimately faces a decisive moment, when the fear they have generated must be enforced with action to solidify power.

The danger of that moment for the would-be king is that it is also the time when rebellion is most likely, and most likely to be effective. People wake up. In using force against his own citizens, the leader risks alienating supporters and activating resistance.

What happens next in Los Angeles between the military and protesters — which group is perceived as the aggressors — may likely determine what happens next in our democracy. If the military is the aggressor and protesters remain largely peaceful, Trump risks losing support.

If the protesters are violent, public perception could further empower Trump.

The president’s immigration czar Tom Homan, said on CNN that what happens next, “It all depends on the activities of these protesters — I mean, they make the decisions.”

Welcome to that fraught moment, America.

Who would have thought Newsom would lead on it so effectively?

“Everybody who’s not a Trumpist in this society has been taken by surprise, and is still groggy from the authoritarian offensive of the last five months,” said Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at the embattled Harvard University, and author of “How Democracies Die.”

Levitsky told me that it helps shake off that shock to have national leaders, people who others can look to and rally behind. Especially as fear nudges some into silence.

“You never know who that leader sometimes is going to be, and it may be Newsom,” Levitsky said. “Maybe his political ambitions end up converging with the small d, democratic opposition.”

Maybe. Since his address, and a coinciding and A-game funny online offensive, Newsom’s reach has skyrocketed. Millions of people watched his address, and hundreds of thousands have followed him on TikTok and other social media platforms. Searches about him on Google were up 9,700%, according to CNN. Love his message or find it laughable, it had reach — partly because it was unapologetically clear and also unexpected.

“Trump and his loyalist thrive on division because it allow them to take more power and exert even more control,” Newsom said.

I was on the ground with the protesters this week, and I can say from firsthand experience that there are a small number of agitators and a large number of peaceful protesters. But Trump has done an excellent job of creating crisis and fear by portraying events as out of the control of local and state authorities, and therefore in need of his intervention.

Republicans “need that violence to corroborate their talking points,” Mia Bloom told me. She’s an expert on extremism and a professor at Georgia State University.

Violence “like in the aftermath of George Floyd, when there was the rioting, that actually was helpful for Republicans,” she said.

Levitsky said authoritarians look for crises.

“You need an emergency, both rhetorically and legally, to engage in authoritarian behavior,” he said.

So Trump has laid a trap with his immigration sweeps in a city of immigrants to create opportunity, and Newsom has called it out.

And it calling it out — pointing out the danger of protesters turning violent and yet still calling for peaceful protest — Newsom has put Trump in a precarious position that the president may not have been expecting.

“Repressing protest is a very risky venture,” said Levitsky. “It often, not always, but often, does trigger push back.”

Levitsky points out that already, there is some evidence that Trump may have overreached, and is losing support.

A new poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 76% of Americans oppose the military birthday parade Trump plans on throwing for himself in Washington, D.C. this weekend. That includes disapproval from more than half of Trump supporters.

A separate poll by Quinnipiac University found that 54% of those polled disapprove of how he’s handling immigration issues, and 56% disapprove of his deportations.

Bloom warns that there’s a danger in raising too many alarms about authoritarianism right now, because we still have some functioning guardrails. She said that stoking too much fear could backfire, for Newsom and for democracy.

“We’re at a moment in which the country is very polarized and that these things are being told through two very different types of narratives, and the moment we give the other side, which was a very apocalyptic, nihilistic narrative, we give them fodder, we justify the worst policies” she said.

She pointed to the Iranian Revolution of 1979, when some protesters placed flowers in the barrels of soldiers’ guns, and act of peaceful protest she said changed public perception. That, she said, is what’s needed now.

Newsom was clear in his call for peaceful protest. But also clear that it was a call to action in a historic inflection point. We can’t know in the moment who or what history will remember, said Levitsky.

“It’s really important that the most privileged among us stand up and fight,” he said. “If they don’t, citizens are going to look around and say, ‘Well, why should I?”

Having leaders willing to be the target, when so many feel the danger of speaking out, has value, he said.

Because fear may spread like a virus, but courage is contagious, too.

Like many of his predecessors, President Trump has affirmed the importance of historically Black colleges and universities, hailing them as a pathway to careers and a better life for students in the U.S.

The schools have not faced cuts to federal grants of the kind that have rocked Ivy League schools Trump has blasted as hotbeds of “wokeness” and antisemitism, and the president has said HBCUs’ core federal funding is not at risk.

But that is not to say it’s a comfortable time for HBCUs’ leaders. As the Trump administration cracks down elsewhere on programs to support underrepresented students, the colleges have been expressing gratitude for the administration’s recognition while mostly keeping quiet on its sweeping attacks against diversity, equity and inclusion policies.

“HBCUs, in general, I don’t believe are in a position to be adamantly and vociferously opposed to these attacks, but deep down we all know what’s going on,” said Deron Snyder, an alumnus of and professor at Howard University. “It’s just how much can you actually say without fear of retribution.”

An executive order signed by Trump in April recognizes HBCUs and pledges his administration’s support. It calls for an annual White House conference, private-sector partnerships and an advisory board with the Education Department, but it does not guarantee any new federal funding.

The order won praise from some Black universities, including Howard University and Morgan State University, as well as organizations that work with HBCUs. Harry Williams, president of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said the order should serve as a call to action for corporations, foundations and lawmakers to redouble support for HBCUs and their students.

But the colleges’ leaders have said little on other administration actions that are out of line with the mission of HBCUs, which were founded to educate formerly enslaved people.

The administration’s campaign against DEI has encouraged restrictions on classroom discussions around racism and led to cuts in federal research grants. As it threatens to cut federal funding from schools, some colleges have closed diversity offices and ended other programs to support students of color.

For HBCUs, the moment is reminiscent of the era decades ago when Black colleges were compelled to argue that school segregation was wrong but also needed to maintain government support for their institutions, said Marybeth Gasman, a Rutgers University professor who has studied the history of HBCUs.

Black college leaders “don’t want HBCUs to be under the umbrella of DEI, but I don’t know any HBCU president who would agree with the way that Donald Trump is dismantling diversity, equity and inclusion efforts,” she said.

The Trump administration has cut federal research grants for several universities, pressuring them to comply with his agenda. Since Harvard University refused the administration’s demands for changes to its policies and leadership, the government has slashed $2.6 billion in funding, which the Ivy League school has described as retaliation.

In an interview in April, Trump told NewsNation that Black colleges and universities should not be concerned about losing their funding.

U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), vice chair of the House HBCU caucus, said there has long been bipartisan support for the colleges. But she said there will be new vigilance of their federal support in light of the administration’s record on programs serving minorities.

Sewell said it is also alarming to see the administration move to dismantle the Education Department.

“We’ll be pushing back fiercely against that and do all that we can to make sure that our HBCUs get the money that they deserve,” Sewell said. She said the Congressional Black Caucus has been paying close attention to the Republicans’ funding plan for a program that supports 19 HBCUs through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Williams, of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, said HBCUs have exceeded all expectations of the opportunities they have provided for underrepresented students. He said he is grateful for the administration’s support, but when asked about its actions toward diversity initiatives, he said the administration has challenges it is working through.

“Hard work pays off and education pays off. That’s why these institutions are so critical to this country,” he said. “The realities of those other challenges that we’re grappling with right now in terms of what the administration is dealing with as it relates to their priorities, we were just pleased to know that they recognize the importance of what these institutions have done for the country will continue to do in a very deliberate way.”

Mumphrey writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Collin Binkley and Matt Brown in Washington contributed to this report.

Supporters of conservative Popular Party demand Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez step down amid corruption scandals.

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in an opposition-organised demonstration in Spain’s capital, Madrid, accusing the government of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of corruption and urging him to call early elections.

Protesters, many waving red and yellow Spanish flags, massed on Sunday in the Plaza de Espana, a large square in the centre of Madrid, and chanted, “Pedro Sanchez, resign!”

The conservative Popular Party (PP) called the rally after leaked audio recordings allegedly documented a member of the Socialist Workers’ Party, Leire Diez, waging a smear campaign against a police unit that investigated corruption allegations against Sanchez’s wife, brother, and his former transport minister and right-hand man Jose Luis Abalos.

Diez has denied the allegations, telling reporters on Wednesday that she was conducting research for a book and was not working on behalf of the party or Sanchez. She also resigned from Sanchez’s party.

PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo has accused the government of “mafia practices” over the affair and said Sanchez is “at the centre” of multiple corruption scandals.

Sanchez and his government have been embroiled in numerous scandals with perhaps the most significant being the “Koldo Case”, or “Masks Case”, which concerns corruption allegations in the awarding of public contracts for medical supplies, particularly masks, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The case involves Abalos and his former adviser Koldo Garcia Izaguirre, the latter of whom is accused of using his influence to secure contracts for certain companies and receiving substantial commissions in return.

Sanchez considered stepping down in April 2024 after a Madrid court opened an investigation into his wife, Begona Gomez, on suspicion of influence peddling and business corruption.

The right-wing organisation Manos Limpias (Clean Hands) initially made the allegations against Gomez, who is accused of using her position to influence the awarding of government contracts and of irregularities in her professional activities.

‘Smear campaign’

Sanchez has dismissed the probes against members of his inner circle and family as part of a “smear campaign” carried out by the right wing to undermine his government.

But Feijoo urged Sanchez to call early elections and told the rally: “This government has stained everything – politics, state institutions, the separation of powers.”

The PP estimated that more than 100,000 people attended the rally, held under the slogan “Mafia or Democracy”, while the central government’s representative in Madrid put the turnout at 45,000 to 50,000.

“The expiry date on this government passed a long time ago. It’s getting tiring,” protester Blanca Requejo, a 46-year-old store manager who wore a Spanish flag draped over her back, told the AFP news agency.

Sanchez came to power in June 2018 after ousting his PP predecessor Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote over a corruption scandal involving the conservative party.

Recent polls indicated the PP holds a slim lead in support over the Socialists. Spain’s next general election is expected in 2027.