--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Michael Simon-Johnson. Today's Friday, June 13th. Here's what we're covering.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Moments ago, Israel launched Operation Rising Lion, a targeted military operation to roll back the Iranian threat to Israel's very survival. Israel launched a stunning series of strikes against Iran last night, with 200 Israeli warplanes, dropping hundreds of bombs across the country and striking over a hundred targets.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Residents of Iran's capital, Tehran, weathered a night of terror and shock, reeling from explosions across the city as the entire Middle East moves closer toward a full-blown regional war. Among Israel's targets were some of Iran's key nuclear sites, including its main enrichment facility, as well as a research center.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: At least two prominent nuclear scientists have been killed. Israel also struck a huge blow to Iran's military chain of command. Iran has confirmed that its three highest-ranking generals have been killed.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: For years, Iran has openly called for Israel's destruction, and Israel has argued that Iran's acquisition of nuclear weapons would be an existential threat. Israel is describing this attack as preemptive, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: I want to assure the civilized world, we will not let the world's most dangerous regime get the world's most dangerous weapons. Netanyahu is hailing the attack as a success, but warned the Israeli public that they should prepare for the fighting to go on for days.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: A senior official from the Israel Defense Forces told Israeli television, quote, we are at war. Iran's leader, Ayatollah Khomeini, said on Iranian state television that Israel should, quote, anticipate a harsh punishment. Iran later fired about 100 drones at Israel.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: I think it's very hard to know what the next couple of days are going to bring. Aaron Boxerman is in Israel covering the attack.
--:-- Aaron Boxerman: In Israel, people are anxiously awaiting Iranian retaliation, which would likely take the form of volleys of hundreds of ballistic missiles and drones and other munitions. In Iran, people are similarly, fearfully waiting what might come next, how far this fighting will go.
--:-- Aaron Boxerman: And the truth is that we don't really have a template for this because we've never really been here before. Israel and Iran have fought a decades-long shadow war, which was characterized by covert assassinations and subterfuge and sabotage. But we're in a totally different place right now.
--:-- Aaron Boxerman: American officials have said that the U.S. was not involved in the strikes. But President Trump told Fox News he did know about Israel's plans to target top Iranian leaders.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Trump has been trying to negotiate with Iran to get the country to freeze its nuclear program. Israel's strikes have torpedoed those plans, with Iran saying it won't participate in talks with the U.S. until further notice.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Trump posted this morning on social media pushing Iran to make a deal with the U.S., writing, quote, There is still time to make this slaughter, with the next already planned attacks being even more brutal, come to an end. He added, quote, just do it before it's too late.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: In California. Today was really about a test of democracy And today we passed the test We the people passed the test
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from mobilizing National Guard troops in Los Angeles. In a ruling Thursday night, the judge cut off the president's control of the troops, calling their deployment a, quote, dangerous precedent that was illegal and unconstitutional.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Trump relied on a rarely used law to mobilize 4,000 National Guard troops. That law requires the president to go through the governor to do so, but the administration ignored that and went around Governor Gavin Newsom.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: It was the latest judicial rebuke over Trump's use of emergency powers, and the ruling returned authority of California National Guard troops back to Newsom. The National Guard will be redeployed to what they were doing before Donald Trump commandeered them.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The National Guard will go back to border security, working on counter-drug enforcement and fentanyl enforcement. The order was supposed to take effect today, but the administration quickly filed an appeal.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: And late last night, an appeals court blocked the order from going into effect until it can review the case.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Meanwhile. Sir, hands up, hands up. I'm Senator Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary.
--:-- [Sound of a news conference]
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: At a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday, California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly removed, shoved to the ground, and handcuffed by federal agents as he interrupted a briefing by Secretary of Homeland Security Christine Noem.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Padilla had attended the press conference because he said he could not get answers from the administration on its immigration crackdown. And at one point, he interrupted Noam, calling out a question about mugshots that were on display.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: That's when agents grabbed him, pushed him out of the room, and forced him to his knees. Padilla appeared stunned and repeated that he was a U.S. senator.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: He was uncuffed only after an advisor to Noam intervened. If this is how the Department of Homeland Security and the people around the secretary will treat a United States senator for having the audacity to ask a question, than imagine what they are doing to people in communities, not just throughout Los Angeles, but throughout the country.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Padilla and other Democrats expressed outrage after the incident. Gavin Newsom called the scene outrageous. A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security defended the agents, saying they believed Padilla was an attacker and accused the senator of engaging in, quote, disrespectful political theater.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Top FBI officials also defended the federal agents. But even some Republicans denounced Padilla's treatment. Senator Susan Collins of Maine said the incident was very disturbing. And Lisa Murkowski, a senator from Alaska, said, quote, It's not the America I know.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: More details are emerging from a plane crash in western India that killed more than 260 people on Thursday. The Air India flight, which was headed to London, crashed just seconds after takeoff.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Video verified by the Times shows the plane descending slowly. It then appears to have skidded along the ground, damaging buildings and then crashing into a local medical college.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: At least five students at the college were killed, but officials say as many as three dozen people caught in the path of the plane may have died. Of the more than 240 passengers on the plane, just one is known to have survived
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The Times spoke with his family who lives in the UK hours after the crash When the plane crashed he literally got off the plane And he video called my dad saying, oh, our plane's crashed. From right outside the plane? Yeah. Oh my God. He's like, I don't see any other passengers.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: He was just in shock. Like, I don't know how I'm alive. This morning, local health services appeared overwhelmed as they carried out hundreds of DNA tests to identify bodies so they can return them to families.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: And finally, there are some relationships that are just meant to be, even if one party isn't entirely thrilled about it. And research now shows that nothing quite compares to the connection between humans and bedbugs.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: According to a new study published in the journal Biology Letters, the bedbug's long affair with humans has been going on for much longer than previously thought, about 245,000 years.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Back then, the insect fed entirely off of cave-dwelling bats, until it discovered the blood of a Neanderthal or some other early human that set up shop in the same cave.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: From that point on, scientists say, bedbugs diverged into two distinct species, one that lived solely on bat blood and one that became exclusively reliant on humans.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: But the study says the key to the bedbugs' longevity is their resilience. They can live for more than a year without feeding, and they have a remarkable ability to overcome pesticides through rapid genetic mutation.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Today, their populations are surging, thanks to globalization, the rise of inexpensive air travel, and accelerating urbanization. In some sense, our relationship has never been stronger.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Those are the headlines. But stick around, we've got the Friday news quiz for you after the credits.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: This show is made by Will Jarvis, Jessica Metzger, Tracy Mumford, Jan Stewart, and me, Michael Simon Johnson. Original theme by Dan Powell. Special thanks to Isabella Anderson, Larissa Anderson, Jake Lucas, Zoe Murphy, Katie O'Brien, and Paula Schumann.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Now for the quiz. We've got questions about three stories The Times has covered this week. Can you answer them all?
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: First up. For a little breaking news, we are also going to be restoring the names to Fort Pickett, Fort Hood, Fort Gordon, Fort Rucker. During a speech this week, President Trump said he will restore the names of U.S. Army bases, like Fort Lee or Fort Hood, that were once named for Confederate generals.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Fort Bragg is in. That's the name. And Fort Bragg, it shall always remain. That's never going to be happening again. He was speaking to soldiers at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, originally named for the Confederate general Braxton Bragg.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: That name temporarily changed in 2023. What name had it changed to? Was it Fort Freedom, Fort Liberty, or Fort Eisenhower? The answer? Fort Liberty.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The change came after Congress passed a law mandating that Confederate names be removed from bases Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth restored the name back to Bragg in February and now they doing that for seven more Army installations
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: In a statement the Army said that the restored base names will no longer honor Confederates, but instead honor other American soldiers with similar names or initials, like Fort Lee, which is officially being named in honor of Private Fitz Lee, a Black soldier who fought in the Spanish-American War.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Okay, next question. Organizers in Spain, Italy, and Portugal are planning to protest against over-tourism in visitor hotspots on Sunday. They're expected to hold marches, disrupt traffic, picket airports, and block entrances to tourist attractions.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: They say the surge in tourism has contributed to housing shortages and rising rents for locals. This isn't the first time tourists have been targeted. Last summer, during a march in Barcelona, protesters harassed visitors using what?
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: This news report from last year has the answer bleeped out. See if you can get it. They marched around major tourist hotspots in that city, spraying visitors with brightly colored water, encouraging them to go home.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: What were the protesters carrying? The answer is water guns. They squirted tourists sitting outside restaurants. Organizers say it was such a hit last year that they're encouraging protesters to bring back their colorful water guns this weekend.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Okay, last question. We told you earlier this week that the world is on the cusp of a BTS reunion. The popular boy band has been on hiatus since 2022, releasing solo albums and serving their mandatory military service in South Korea.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The last member wraps up his service next week, and the band expects to go into the studio soon to work on a new album. So, to honor the return of one of K-pop's biggest acts, we want to test how well you know BTS songs.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: We'll play you three clips. Two of them will be from BTS. One of them will be from another K-pop group. You have to figure out which one isn't a BTS song. Okay, here's song number one. Here's number two. And here's the last song.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Okay, which one is not from BTS? If you said song number one was not BTS, you're right. That was the group Stray Kids with their hit God's Menu. The BTS songs were Butter and Fake Love.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: Full disclosure, I would absolutely have not gotten that. All right, that's it for the news quiz. If you want to tell us how you did or what you think about the quiz, you can always email us at theheadlines at nytimes.com.
--:-- Michael Simon-Johnson: The show will be back on Monday, and we'll try a few more questions next Friday.
