Who's speaking at commencement events around N.H.?

May 16 at 4 p.m. (
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Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to former president Joe Biden who is married to Representative Maggie Goodlander, will address law school graduates at White Park in Concord. In August, he will join the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law faculty as a senior fellow.
University of New Hampshire
May 17 at 9 a.m., 12:30 p.m., and 4 p.m. (
)
Scott 'Kidd' Poteet is a retired U.S. Air Force veteran who
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Saint Anselm College (
)
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May 17 at 10 a.m.
Carlos Lozada is a Peruvian journalist who won the
Dartmouth College
June 15 at 9:30 a.m. (
)
Sandra Oh is an actor and
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San Francisco Chronicle​

6 hours ago

• San Francisco Chronicle​

Photos: S.F. Juneteenth Parade a joyful celebration of Black freedom and heritage

The third annual San Francisco Juneteenth Parade enlivened Market Street on Sunday with an array of floats and performers, united by the theme of Black pride. A dozen block parties were in full swing through the duration of the parade, from the Embarcadero to Civic Center. The parties featured children's activities, a car show, games, giveaways, line dancing, musical performances and dances. San Francisco's parade was one of many events around the Bay Area this month celebrating Juneteenth, the day in 1865 when slaves in Galveston, Texas, learned of their emancipation more than two years earlier. President Joe Biden declared June 19 a federal holiday four years ago, though his successor, President Donald Trump, did not sign a proclamation celebrating Juneteenth this year. Trump, who has sought to end diversity, equity and inclusion policies nationwide, has said the U.S. has 'too many non-working holidays' and that they harm the economy. Regardless, the mood was celebratory and upbeat Thursday during the Hella Juneteenth Festival at the Oakland Museum of California, where hundreds of people enjoyed live music, food and drinks while acknowledging the added significance of the holiday this year under Trump. Last weekend, San Francisco's Fillmore neighborhood celebrated Juneteenth with a party spanning eight blocks featuring performers, vendors, games and a fashion show.

Boston Globe

10 hours ago

• Boston Globe

Europe frets about US retreating from region ahead of NATO

With some 80,000 US troops in Europe, governments in the region have factored in at least a reversal of the military surge under former president Joe Biden of about 20,000 troops. The stakes got significantly higher overnight after the U.S. struck nuclear sites in Iran with the risk that Trump will get sucked into a spiraling conflict in the Middle East after being a vocal critic of US military involvement overseas. His foreign policy U-turn will be a topic that will be hard to avoid at the gathering, especially with NATO ally Turkey present and a key stakeholder in the region. Europeans have been kept in the dark about the Trump administration's plans. But officials in the region are bracing potentially for a far bigger withdrawal that could present a dangerous security risk, according to officials familiar with the discussions who declined to be identified as closed-door talks take place before the review. Advertisement Up until early June, no official from the United States had come to NATO to talk about the US force posture review, spurring concern among allies that this could be done at very short notice, according to a person familiar with the matter. Advertisement It's unclear whether European nations have started planning to fill any potential gaps left by US forces. Withdrawing the aforementioned 20,000 troops could also have an even greater impact if other NATO allies follow the US lead and remove their troops from the east. The worry with even deeper cuts impacting US bases in Germany and Italy is they could encourage Russia to test NATO's Article 5 of collective defense with hybrid attacks across the alliance, the person familiar also said. Since returning to the White House, Trump and his allies have warned European capitals that – despite the mounting threat from Russia – they need to take charge of their security as the United States turns its military and diplomatic focus to the Indo-Pacific region. Contacted by Bloomberg, NATO declined to respond to questions but referred to a statement by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in early June. When asked about a US drawdown from Europe, he said it was normal they would pivot to Asia. 'I'm not worried about that, but I'm absolutely convinced we will do that in a step-by-step approach,' Rutte said then. 'There will be no capability gaps in Europe because of this.' The White House referred questions to the Pentagon. 'The U.S. constantly evaluates force posture to ensure it aligns with America's strategic interests,' a defense official responded. The geopolitical shift is likely to have enormous consequences for the 32-member alliance, which is weathering its greatest challenge since it became the bulwark against Soviet power in the decades after World War II. European militaries, long reliant on American hard power, will have to fill the gap as Washington scales back. Advertisement If a troop reduction focuses on efficiency, it would be far less problematic for Europeans than one that hits critical assets and personnel that Europe couldn't replace immediately, according to one European diplomat. The nature of a withdrawal would be more important than the troop numbers, the person said. A dramatic pullout announcement is likely to trigger an instant reaction from eastern member states, with those closer to Russia immediately requesting deployments from Western European allies. The holistic review of the US military, which Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says should focus on threats facing the U.S., is meant to reflect the tilt in the global power dynamic, bringing potentially large-scale redeployment of weapons and troops. But European diplomats have bristled at the timing of the review, taking place only after NATO signs off on its most ambitious new weapons targets since the Cold War — with member states agreeing to foot the bill. A withdrawal that is more dramatic than anticipated will mean that, after acceding to Trump's ramp-up in defense spending, they still may be left with a heavy burden to respond to a rapidly growing Russian military. 'We would be remiss in not reviewing force posture everywhere, but it would be the wrong planning assumption to say, 'America is abandoning'' or leaving Europe, Hegseth said in Stuttgart in February. 'No, America is smart to observe, plan, prioritize and project power to deter conflict.' After the Trump administration balked at providing a backstop to European security guarantees to Ukraine, a pullout of more US troops could embolden Russia's Vladimir Putin, according to people familiar with the matter. Advertisement 'The question is when pressure is on for a greater focus on the Indo-Pacific, what capabilities do they need to think about moving,' said Matthew Savill, director of military sciences at RUSI, a defense think tank. 'I don't get an impression that they have yet decided what that means for force levels in specific terms.' Germany, Europe's richest and most populous nation, is positioning itself to take on the largest share of the redistribution. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is taking the lead in building out the military after the country scrapped constitutional debt restrictions when it comes to security. Berlin will do the 'heavy lifting,' he's said. Pistorius recently unveiled a new battle tank brigade in Lithuania and has said the country is committed to boosting its armed forces by as many as 60,000 soldiers. The military currently has about 182,000 active-duty troops. European governments are pushing Washington to communicate its plans clearly and space out any troop draw-downs to give them time to step up with their own forces. 'There are some capabilities, like deep precision strikes, where we Europeans need some time to catch up,' said Stefan Schulz, a senior official in the German Defense Ministry. He called for any US reduction to be done in an orderly fashion, 'so that this process of US reduction is matched with the uplift of European capabilities.' The ideal scenario would be an orderly shift within NATO toward a stronger Europe that would take about a decade, said Camille Grand, distinguished policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations and a former NATO assistant secretary general. A more dire scenario would involve a US administration acting out of frustration with European progress and drastically reducing troop presence. Grand said a 'plausible' scenario would be a cut to about 65,000 US troops, matching a low-point figure before Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 — a level that NATO could manage. Advertisement 'But if we go below that, we are entering uncharted waters, a different world,' Grand said.

Miami Herald

12 hours ago

• Miami Herald

US strikes Iran's nuclear sites, risking wider Mideast war

The U.S. carried out airstrikes on three nuclear sites in Iran overnight, directly entering Israel's war with Tehran despite President Donald Trump's longtime promises to avoid new foreign conflicts. Trump said Iran's key nuclear enrichment facilities had been "totally obliterated" and warned of "far greater" attacks unless the Islamic Republic agreed to make peace, raising the prospect of deeper U.S. involvement in a Middle East war sparked by Israeli strikes nine days ago. Iranian officials said the ongoing attacks by Israel - now joined by the U.S. - had left little room for diplomacy, arguing that negotiations are impossible while the country is under assault. Tehran fired missiles at Israel in response but has so far stopped short of targeting American forces or assets in the region. American B-2 bombers dropped 14 of the 30,000-pound (13,600-kilogram) bunker-buster bombs on targets including Fordow, a uranium-enrichment site buried deep under a mountain, according to U.S. Air Force General Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Natanz and Isfahan nuclear facilities were also struck with similar weapons and cruise missiles. "Our objective was the destruction of Iran's nuclear enrichment capacity and a stop to the nuclear threat posed by the world's No. 1 state sponsor of terror," Trump said. "Iran, the bully of the Middle East, must now make peace. If they do not, future attacks will be far greater - and a lot easier." Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the American strikes are "outrageous and will have everlasting consequences." The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said it would continue targeting Israel in response and cited American bases in the region as a vulnerability for the U.S., without openly threatening them. Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has yet to make an appearance or comment on the airstrikes. Despite Trump's declaration that all targeted nuclear facilities were obliterated, neither Israel nor Iran offered definitive assessment of the damages to those sites. Tehran's nuclear regulatory agency said there was no sign of radiation contamination and that it had taken precautions in anticipation of an attack. An official evaluation of the strikes' impact would follow later, said Caine, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff. America's entry into the conflict marks an extraordinary escalation by Trump - the most consequential foreign policy decision of his presidency to date. In ordering the strikes, Trump defied warnings from key U.S. allies in the Middle East and Europe, as well as from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The U.N. watchdog has repeatedly cautioned that nuclear facilities must not be targeted, citing risks of radioactive contamination. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the strikes had a "limited" objective, focused on destroying Iran's nuclear program. "The mission was not, has not, been about regime change," he said. Iran has long maintained that it does not seek nuclear weapons, a view echoed in recent U.S. intelligence assessments that found Tehran had yet to commit to developing a bomb. Trump dismissed those conclusions and refused to rule out joining Israel's attacks on the Islamic Republic. Western and Arab concerns over Iran's nuclear program have intensified in recent years, as Tehran has enriched enriched uranium well beyond levels required for civilian use. It is now processing material close to weapons-grade purity, for which Western countries feel there is little justification with current civilian uses of the material. The U.S. strikes could lead to attacks on American assets in the Middle East. Earlier in the conflict, Khamenei warned Washington of "irreparable damage" if it bombed his country. "Trump wants this to be one and done," Eurasia Group analysts including Gregory Brew wrote in an emailed note. "Iran has to respond to the U.S. attack, but the response will be calibrated to avoid causing significant damage or casualties, as that would surely provoke Trump into mounting a more forceful campaign." The U.S. will likely have to put its troops on high alert. It has around 50,000 service members in the region, the bulk being in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In Yemen, the Houthis, a militant group backed by Iran, issued fresh threats against U.S. commercial and naval ships. Until a ceasefire in early May, the Houthis were regularly firing drones and missiles at Western vessels and warships in the southern Red Sea. It's also possible that Tehran opts to leave the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, according to Ali Vaez, the director of the International Crisis Group's Iran Project and a long-time analyst of the country's atomic program. The NPT is the bedrock arms-control agreement that compels signatories to accept inspections from the IAEA. If Iran left, the world would get even less information about what remains of its atomic sites. Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, left the door open for such an eventuality, questioning the treaty's effectiveness since it failed to "protect" Iran from attacks. Israel was notified in advance of the strikes, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified discussing private deliberations. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the U.S. and Israel had coordinated fully on the attacks. Israel's main stock exchange rose 1.5%, with Sunday's rise putting stocks on course for the biggest quarterly rally since 2003. The likelihood of an imminent strike seemed to have eased when Trump's team said on Thursday he would make a decision within two weeks. On Friday, the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK met their Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, in Geneva to try to get Tehran to restart nuclear talks with the U.S. The UK said on Sunday it didn't take part in the overnight strikes. Iran had been in negotiations with the U.S. for about two months, but called them off after Israel started bombing its territory. The two had made some progress toward a deal that would curb Tehran's atomic activities in return for sanctions relief, but stalled on enrichment. Iran insisted it must be allowed to continue that process, even if to the low level needed for civilian purposes. Trump and Israel said it shouldn't be able to carry out any enrichment at all. Energy prices The war between Israel and Iran has evoked fears of conflict with high civilian casualties and that spreads to other countries in the energy-rich region, disrupting flows of oil and liquefied natural gas. Those concerns among world powers and investors will probably increase in light of the American intervention. The most immediate impact on the global economy could be through higher crude and LNG prices. About a fifth of the world's daily oil supply goes through the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and its Gulf Arab neighbors such as Saudi Arabia. One option for Iran would be to hit or hassle crude and LNG tankers passing through the area. Brent crude closed on Friday at just over $77 a barrel, up 11% since the conflict began. Another rise when global markets reopen on Monday morning will further complicate the task of major central banks as they seek to slow inflation. For days, Trump had faced conflicting advice from his supporters, after he campaigned on promises to keep the U.S. out of foreign wars, pointing to American involvement in Afghanistan and Iraq this century. MAGA allies, including longtime Trump supporter Steve Bannon, have warned against any U.S. intervention, insisting this is Israel's fight to finish. Other Republicans urged Trump to join the conflict against Iran, arguing that Tehran was more vulnerable following Israel's attacks. They said it was an opportunity to deliver on the president's pledge that Iran's regime would never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon. Israel has said its attacks on Iran were aimed at setting back or destroying its nuclear program. On Sunday, Israel Defense Forces Spokesman Effie Defrin said the country will continue its mission, citing existential threat posed by Iran. While Israel has not said it is aiming to topple Khamenei and the Islamic Republic, its officials have said they hope their attacks undermine the regime, which has been an adversary to the U.S. and Israel for most of the period since the Iranian revolution in 1979. That event saw the fall of a Western-friendly monarchy and the birth of a theocratic government. Israel needed the U.S.'s help in attacking nuclear sites because it lacked the heavy bombs and B-2 stealth jets required to destroy facilities buried deep underground at Fordow and Natanz. Tehran has responded to Israeli bombings by firing waves of ballistic missiles and drones at the Jewish state every day. There was another salvo against Israel hours after the U.S. attacks. Iran's ability to react may be limited by its economic weakness, with inflation running at around 40%. It is also largely isolated internationally. While allies such as Russia and China condemned Israel's strikes and warned against U.S. intervention, they've offered little concrete support to Tehran. "Tehran is now in its nightmare scenario," said Ryan Bohl, a senior Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk consultancy Rane Network. "To act or to not act are equally dangerous. To essentially surrender is to invite internal challenges; to fight back is to invite an open U.S. air campaign that could aim to overthrow the Islamic Republic." _____ (With assistance from Steven T. Dennis, Dan Williams, Golnar Motevalli, Natalia Drozdiak, Eric Martin, Courtney McBride and Erik Wasson. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.