Read the daily news to learn English

Middle East crisis latest: US carries out strikes across Iran as Tehran targets American bases in region

Donald Trump said that in recent meetings with Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, both leaders assured the US president separately that they would not sell weapons to Iran. “Considering our relationship, I take him at his word,” Trump said of the Chinese leader. Meanwhile, the US president said that the Kremlin made the same guarantees, despite the ongoing war in Ukraine. Putin understands that the US does not sell weapons to Ukraine, “but to Nato countries”, Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Friday. “They pay full price, and how those weapons are distributed, I have no idea.” The US president added: “Two major countries that people speak of often in terms of Iran are, in my opinion, not participating. If they did, it would be very bad for them – certainly not in their best interests.”

France evacuates Cap Ferret peninsula as Spanish wildfires merge near Madrid – as it happened

And, on that note, we will be closing the blog for today. More than 80,000 people have fled huge wildfires in Spain and France as Madrid declared a national emergency and French authorities ordered the total evacuation, by land and sea, of one of the country’s best-known holiday spots. Both countries have triggered the EU’s Civil Protection Mechanism to get help with battling the blaze (9:48, 10:53, 13:24). Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez warned the country faced “a dramatic situation,” after a rare decision to declare a rare state of national emergency (11:03, 11:31), and satellite pictures showing the scale of devastation (13:59). In other news, A Romanian ⁠F-16 fighter jet shot down ⁠a drone that had entered its airspace on Friday, president Nicușor Dan said, with authorities investigating its origin (16:30). Germany’s embattled and deeply unpopular chancellor, Friedrich Merz, sought to turn a scandal into an opportunity with a mini cabinet reshuffle (16:08), as he desperately hopes to turn his rock-bottom poll ratings around. Poland’s main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has split, after former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his allies said they were forced out (16:21) over factional disagreements on policy direction ahead of next year’s parliamentary election. If you have any tips, comments or suggestions, email me at jakub.krupa@theguardian.com. I am also on Bluesky at @jakubkrupa.bsky.social and on X at @jakubkrupa.

A global threat for millennia: experts warn Australia’s nuclear submarine legacy will be weapons-usable uranium cache

Australia’s proposed nuclear submarine fleet will leave behind tonnes of weapons-usable uranium-235: radioactive for hundreds of millions of years, and capable of being processed into scores of warheads, nuclear experts have told a public inquiry into Aukus. And a former White House national security adviser has told the Guardian that Australia’s Aukus deal – involving the transfer of highly enriched uranium to a non-nuclear weapons nation – sets a dangerous proliferation precedent that other countries such as Iran could try to exploit, weakening global control of the spread of weapons-usable nuclear material. Associate Prof Tilman Ruff, founding chair of the Nobel prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, told the Aukus public inquiry that the legacy of Australia’s nuclear submarine fleet – of which each vessel will have a service life of about three decades – will be hundreds of kilograms of high-level radioactive waste. Even as waste, the submarines’ spent reactor fuel will be highly enriched uranium (HEU), usable to build nuclear weapons. “No nation has resolved the huge problem of how to manage this material and there’s no guarantee – given the timeframes involved and the hazards of the material over geological time – that any arrangement that we come up with could reliably isolate that material for hundreds of thousands, or millions of years. “The additional complication here is that it needs a really high level of security because, in 10,000 years, somebody could still go and dig that stuff up and build nuclear weapons with it.” The uranium left behind by Australia’s nuclear submarines at the end of their working lives will likely still be enriched to about 80%: the same level as the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Australian government has repeatedly said the precise amount of high-level nuclear waste that will be left behind by its submarine fleet is classified. But documents released under freedom of information laws show Australia will be responsible for each submarine’s nuclear reactor compartment, “roughly the size of a four-wheel drive”, and spent nuclear fuel “roughly the size of a small hatchback”. Leading global experts on non-proliferation have now estimated each nuclear submarine decommissioned by Australia – beginning in the 2050s – will contain about 400kg of HEU, enriched to about 80%, containing about 320kg of uranium-235 (U-235). The International Atomic Energy Agency states a “significant quantity” of highly enriched uranium – enough to make a weapon – is 25kg of contained U-235. U-235 has a half-life of 700m years: it will be a weapons proliferation risk for millennia. And the radioactive materials generated by its fission process will be toxic to humanity and the environment for millions of years. The HEU left behind by each one of Australia’s three second-hand Virginia-class submarines bought from the US would be sufficient for more than a dozen weapons. Australia’s domestically built Aukus-class submarines – Australia is proposing to build five – will be powered by Rolls-Royce’s in-development PWR3+ reactor. The quantity of HEU required to power that reactor is classified but they are expected to be larger than the Virginia-class reactors, Ruff said. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The Aukus agreement mandates that Australia is responsible for the disposal and storage of all of the nuclear waste left behind by its nuclear-powered submarines in perpetuity. By the end of the century, when all eight of Australia’s planned nuclear powered submarines have been retired, Australia will be responsible for the management of “at least 3 tonnes” of U-235 in the highly enriched uranium spent fuel waste, Ruff told the Guardian. “That’s enough for 120 nuclear weapons using the International Atomic Energy Agency standard.” Australia has spent decades reducing its HEU stocks. There is presently less than 3kg of HEU in the entire country, held for research purposes. Ruff told the public inquiry into Aukus, established by the Australian Peace and Security Forum, that his primary concern over Aukus was that it exacerbated regional tensions and made Australia “a higher priority target, including for nuclear attack”. Ruff cited the work of Dr Frank von Hippel, senior research physicist and professor of public and international affairs emeritus at Princeton University, who estimated that the reactor of a Virginia-class submarine – such as those Australia is set to buy from the US – would be decommissioned at the end of its working life still containing about 400kg of HEU, enriched to about 80%. Von Hippel, who served as an assistant director for national security in the Clinton White House, told the Guardian “by the IAEA’s metric, 0.4 tons of 80% enriched uranium would be sufficient for 13 implosion bombs”. “That’s a lot of weapons potential there. And that’s just one submarine. That is going to change the situation in Australia with regard to the proliferation potential.” Von Hippel said successive US administrations had spent decades bringing thousands of kilograms of HEU on to American soil to reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism. Since the 1990s, about 30 countries have reduced their HEU stocks down to less than 1kg. Countries such as France and China run nuclear-powered submarine fleets on low-enriched uranium, a far lower proliferation risk. “The worry is not so much Australia as the precedent,” von Hippel said, citing countries such as Iran which has previously justified enriching uranium to 60% by saying that in the future it might want to have naval reactors. “My concern is the proliferation example that the US and Australia and the UK have established by legitimising the use of weapons-grade uranium for attack submarines by non-weapons states: they have lowered the barriers to acquisition of nuclear weapons by this action.” Von Hippel said Article IV D in the Aukus agreement, mandating Australia store and manage all spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, defied decades of non-proliferation efforts. “The US has been insisting that spent fuel be sent back to it, because of this concern that the uranium is still weapons usable in the spent fuel. And now, in the case of Aukus, the US … is insisting that Australia keep the uranium … setting a new kind of precedent.” ‘Highest levels of nuclear stewardship’ A spokesperson for the Australian Submarine Agency told the Guardian the government was committed to the “highest levels of nuclear stewardship”, including responsibility for “management, storage, and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste generated from its conventionally-armed, nuclear-powered submarines”. But Australia won’t need to dispose of high-level nuclear waste until the 2050s, when the country’s first nuclear-powered boats are decommissioned, the spokesperson said. “That means we have time to get this decision right, including through a thorough process informed by technical advice and extensive consultation.” The ASA reiterated Australia would not accept intermediate or high-level radioactive waste – including spent nuclear fuel – from any country, including the UK or US. “Aukus is about keeping Australians safe in the most challenging strategic environment since the Second World War. It … strengthens our ability to deter coercion and contribute to regional stability.” The defence department commissioned a review of potential nuclear waste sites in 2023. It has had that report for more than two years but has consistently refused to release it. The defence minister, Richard Marles, said last month Aukus was on track, including consideration of a nuclear waste site. “We have time to work this through, and we will work it through. And … what we have made clear is that the disposal facility will be on existing or future defence ground.”

How dangerous are wildfires and how can we stop them from getting worse?

Fierce wildfires after back-to-back heatwaves have forced tens of thousands of people across southern Europe to flee their homes, while powerful infernos across Canada and the US choke big cities with thick smoke. How deadly are wildfires? Wildfires directly kill hundreds of people each year. Though they may seem apocalyptic, the death toll is far lower than from floods, which kill thousands, and from heatwaves, which kill hundreds of thousands. But when you factor in smoke, the human cost rises rapidly. The latest study estimates that the air pollution spewed by wildfires kills a staggering 1.5 million people each year. The toxic fumes can reach so far that tendrils of smoke from Australian bushfires have menaced South America, while smoke from Canadian fires – which regularly suffocate cities across the US – have fouled the air in Europe. Last year, a study attributed 22,000 early deaths in Europe to Canadian wildfire smoke in 2023, out of a total of 82,000 deaths. What causes wildfires? Many things can spark a wildfire: natural causes such as lightning, faulty infrastructure such as downed power lines, or people behaving badly. Devastating blazes in recent years have been started by smokers tossing cigarette butts, tourists failing to put out campfires, and even arsonists intentionally setting nature alight. But whether those sparks turn into small fires or raging blazes depends on the weather. Fires need hot, dry fuel to burn, and they spread further with strong winds. How does climate breakdown affect wildfires? Fossil fuel pollution has heated the planet by about 1.3C, raising the risk of prolonged heat that turns forests and grasslands into tinderboxes. In some regions, such as the Mediterranean, global heating is also fuelling droughts that dry out lush greenery. Scientists have found that such shifts have made the wildfires that have happened this year in places including California, South Korea and Australia more likely – in some cases doubling the chance of extreme weather conditions that help fires spread. Are wildfires getting worse? Even as the planet has heated up, the area torched by fires has fallen. This is because people have taken nature that used to burn freely and turned it into farms or cities – in recent decades mainly in Africa – that stop the spread of flames. The latest models find land use changes and other human drivers have shrunk the burned area by 19.1% since 1900, while climate changes increased it by 15.8% – resulting in a small decline of 3.3% overall. Will wildfires become more common? The conditions for ferocious fires are expected to worsen as the planet bakes. Two separate indices of fire weather project a steady rise in the number of days with high fire danger as temperatures inch higher, a recent study found. By the end of the century, the total burned area is projected to rise by 40% even in an optimistic scenario for cutting carbon pollution, according to a separate study. In a worst-case scenario, it is set to double. How can we adapt to wildfires? The danger that wildfires pose to people and property can drop sharply by managing land better. This can include creating fire breaks to stem the spread of an inferno, stopping new settlement in places prone to fires, and even sending herds of goats into abandoned farmland to graze away overgrown vegetation. In some places firefighters are trying the technique of intentionally burning land to avoid a buildup of fuel that could lead to catastrophic fires – a long-running Indigenous practice in Australia and North America that European fire experts are starting to adopt. Would better forest management solve the problem? Not on its own. Land abandonment and fire suppression is a big contributor to the buildup of fuel that allows blazes in parts of the US and the Mediterranean to explode into mega-fires, but in Canada, most of the burning takes place in boreal forests that were never managed by humans. These fires are being intensified by rising global average temperatures that worsen the risk of severe fire weather. How can I stay safe during a wildfire? If you live somewhere at risk of wildfires, put a plan together before disaster strikes. This could include identifying safe routes and nearby shelters, and packing an emergency bag. Some fire services recommend creating a safe zone around your home that is free from leaves and flammable materials. Experts say you should vacate immediately if authorities tell you to – or if your home is at risk but warnings have not come. To avoid the smoke, keep windows closed and use respirator masks.

Canadian government urged to block data-sharing deal between Thomson Reuters and US ICE

A Canadian federal opposition party leader is calling on the Mark Carney government to block the latest data-sharing deal between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Canadian media giant Thomson Reuters. Avi Lewis, the federal leader of the New Democratic party (NDP), demanded on Tuesday that Ottawa address the contract and further restrict Canadian corporations from doing business with ICE, after Canada’s National Observer reported on the deal. “My blood ran cold when I read about this development,” he added in a statement to the Guardian. “Complicity between Canadian corporations and ICE should absolutely be illegal.” Under the US$125m deal, ICE will pay the technology and content conglomerate to access its Clear database – which includes property records, social media and geolocation information – in order to identify “voter fraud” and “immigration fraud”, according to reports. In a procurement document obtained by 404 Media, Thomson Reuters says it is the only firm that allows ICE to have access to the “continuous monitoring” of millions of people. Thomson Reuters’ contracts with ICE date back to 2015, when it first began providing US officials with access to Clear in order to track people for deportation. Critics have long alleged that the databases were being used to facilitate human rights abuses. The latest contract, however, is the first to state that Clear software will be used to support the Trump administration’s objectives of addressing supposed “voter fraud”. In a recent primetime television address, the president repeated false claims about the supposed fallibility of the 2020 US presidential election results, alleging voter fraud, noncitizen voting and a host of other misleading or incorrect statements. Election officials from across the political spectrum lambasted the speech and reasserted the reliability of US elections. Thomson Reuters is owned by the Woodbridge Company, a holding company for the Thomson family, frequently described as the richest family in Canada. The media company also owns the news agency Reuters and the Globe and Mail newspaper. A spokesperson for Thomson Reuters said it does not comment on customer contracts, and referred to a page on the company’s website about Clear. The post says there are “misunderstandings” about the tool, and that it is licensed “exclusively to select businesses, law enforcement and government agencies to help expedite investigative processes in legitimate legal investigations”. The company emphasises that “our investigative solutions are not surveillance tools.” Lewis said the federal government should deny export permits to companies selling equipment to ICE, and pull public subsidies or contracts from any companies that have dealings with the agency. In January, the NDP made similar calls following the shooting deaths of two US citizens by ICE in Minneapolis. “If the Carney government is serious about Canadian economic independence, it should move to block this contract,” Lewis said. The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Thomson Reuters contract. Joel Bakan, a law professor at the University of British Columbia and author of several books on the unethical behaviour of corporations, said the legal framework does exist in Canada to bar companies from working with ICE. “Companies are not allowed to engage with various rogue regimes, authoritarian regimes, and certainly enemy regimes,” he said. “It’s definitely within the jurisdiction of the government, including the federal government of Canada, to impose various kinds of limitations.” He pointed to Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act, the country’s primary sanctions law, which can authorise the government to restrict trade in relations to human rights violations. “As a matter of realpolitik, I can’t imagine the federal government invoking this against the US, but it is at least arguable that ICE has been involved in such violations,” he said.

Poland’s main rightwing opposition splits after loyalty pledge ultimatum

Poland’s main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party has split, after former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his allies said they were forced out over factional disagreements on policy direction ahead of next year’s parliamentary election. Speaking at a press conference, the party’s longtime leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, said dozens of members of parliament effectively left the party after refusing to sign a loyalty oath. All those who refused to sign the pledge were deemed by Kaczyński to have effectively resigned from the party. The rebel MPs insisted they did not intend to leave, but conceded they may be formally expelled at a party leadership meeting on Tuesday. “Everyone knew what they were signing, and at the same time everyone knew what the consequences of not signing would be … it’s all done,” Kaczyński said, adding that the decision will be formally processed on Tuesday. Law and Justice is one of Poland’s two most successful political parties since 1989, having ruled the country for 10 years in 2005-2007 and 2015-2023, with its candidates winning four out of eight presidential elections. Despite losing to a coalition of pro-European parties led by former European Council president Donald Tusk and going into opposition at the last election in 2023, PiS remained the largest party in the Polish parliament – a status it could lose as a result of the split. The resignations come after months of increasingly bitter disagreements in Poland’s main opposition party as it lost its grip on the Polish right. Over the past two years, it struggled to respond to the emerging libertarian-right Confederation and the far-right ethno-nationalist Confederation of the Polish Crown, splitting the conservative vote into three. In April, Morawiecki, who served as Poland’s prime minister between 2017 and 2023, set up a growth-oriented policy group in a bid to broaden the party’s electoral appeal on the centre-right. It is planning to host its inaugural public event later this month. But the move was harshly criticised by Kaczyński and his allies, who questioned the former prime minister’s loyalty amid rumours of his growing disenchantment with the party’s drift towards the nationalist right and interests of the older electorate. After tense talks behind closed doors, Kaczyński told all MPs to sign a loyalty pledge committing them not to work with any other political groups or face expulsion, with the deadline set for midnight on Thursday. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Morawiecki said his group “until the very last moment fought for the unity of the party” as it wanted PiS to follow “a strategy of two lungs” to mobilise younger centre-right voters and entrepreneurs to boost its electoral prospects in 2027. Morawiecki blamed a circle of “plotters” around Kaczyński for leading the party into the crisis and issuing the loyalty ultimatum. He confirmed the splinter group includes 40 MPs, three members of the European parliament and one senator. “The situation emerging on the Polish right is that … there is no single dominant force, it comprises many different factions,” he said. “For me and for us, these disputes within the right are like squabbles within a family, but in fact we will be directing the brunt of our attack at this very bad government by Donald Tusk.” He declined to speculate on whether the group will form a new party, and instead urged PiS leaders to “take a step back”. Morawiecki, a former senior banker and one-time economic adviser to Tusk, remains one of the most recognisable leaders on the right. But he is also the face of the highly divisive eight years of Law and Justice’s last term in power, seen by critics through the prism of democratic backsliding, conflicts with the European Union and alleged irregularities and abuses of power. He is also the leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists party in the European parliament, a grouping of like-minded parties in Europe, including Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy. His departure is likely to further splinter the vote on the right. Hypothetical polls including a new party had it polling at about 6%. The next parliamentary election is scheduled for October 2027.

The latest US troops killed in Trump’s Iran war are remembered for lives of service

A 30-year-old husband and father of two. A 25-year-old officer just weeks away from earning his MBA. A 19-year-old recent high school graduate. And a 28-year-old from Queens, New York, with a “radiant smile”. The Pentagon this week identified three American service members who were killed, and a fourth believed to have been killed, in the Middle East over the past week amid an escalation in attacks between the United States and Iranian forces. Their deaths bring the number of US troops killed since the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran in late February to 18, and hundreds of troops have also been injured, including nearly 100 since 7 July alone. The Pentagon has said that 96% of the nearly 100 injured since early July have since returned to duty. On Wednesday, Donald Trump attended the dignified transfer of the US service members at Dover airforce base in Delaware. Here’s a look at the four service members the Pentagon identified this week: Michael Swinton, 30 On Tuesday, the Pentagon announced the death of Sergeant Michael Emmanuel Swinton, 30, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, who officials said was an active-duty soldier who was “supporting overseas operations in Iraq”. The Pentagon said that Swinton was killed in action in northern Iraq over the weekend during the disposal of what the military described on Sunday as a “downed Iranian one-way attack drone” at Erbil airbase in Iraq. The incident, which officials described as a “controlled detonation”, is under investigation. The Pentagon said that Swinton was assigned to D battery, 2nd battalion, 55th air defense artillery regiment, 108th air defense artillery brigade at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. His wife, Mia Gonzalez-Swinton, described him in a message to the Guardian as “an amazing man”. “He had an impact on anyone that crossed paths with him,” she said. “He was an amazing father, and amazing leader. He cared and loved hard for everyone in his life.” Swinton leaves behind two children: a four-year-old daughter, and a six-year-old son, she said. The military said that Swinton enlisted in the US army in 2017 as a 14H air defense early warning system operator, and that he reclassified as a 14E patriot fire control enhanced operator/maintainer. The US army said that Swinton would be posthumously promoted to staff sergeant. Swinton’s mother, Christel Swinton Andujar, told the Guardian that her son was the kind of person who could “light up any room”. “He had a contagious laugh, an incredible sense of humor, and loved making people smile,” she said in a message. “He was a true jokester who believed life was meant to be lived to the fullest.” She described him as “adventurous and fearless” and as someone who was “always ready for the next challenge”. “He embraced life with courage, confidence, and a willingness to take risks,” she said. “But beneath that adventurous spirit was a man of unwavering loyalty and strength.” Above all, she said, “Michael’s greatest love was his family,” adding that his wife, Mia, and two children, “were the center of his world”. “Michael was the most patient and loving father I have ever known,” she said. “He cherished every moment with his children, making them feel safe, valued, and deeply loved. He carried that same gentle heart into being an uncle. His nieces and nephews adored him because he always made time for them, encouraged them, and made them laugh.” To so many, she said that “Michael wasn’t just a hero because he wore the uniform – he was a hero because of the way he loved, protected, encouraged, and inspired everyone around him. “His legacy will live on through the countless lives he touched, the laughter he shared, the strength he gave others, and the unconditional love he poured into his family. He will forever be missed, forever honored, and forever our hero,” she added. Tyler Feehan, 25 First Lieutenant Tyler James Feehan, 25, of Ewa Beach, Hawaii, was supporting overseas operations in Jordan and was killed in an Iranian attack at Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan last week. The US army said Feehan enlisted in the US army in 2019 as a 12B combat engineer with the Hawaii army national guard and later commissioned as an active-duty air defense artillery officer in 2024, and was assigned to 2nd battalion, 55th air defense artillery regiment, 32nd army air and missile defense command, as a platoon leader at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The US army said that Feehan would be posthumously promoted to the rank of captain. Southern Utah University said in a statement that Feehan was both a SUU graduate and current student in the school’s MBA program. The university said that he was just weeks away from earning his MBA from the school. His degree will be awarded posthumously. In a statement sent to the Guardian, Feehan’s parents, Shari and Stephen Feehan, said that their hearts “are shattered”. “Our son, our ‘Tivo,’ was taken from us far too soon – alongside other American heroes lost or wounded in this same tragic attack,” they said. “In just 25 years, Tyler packed in more living than most people manage in a lifetime.” “He chased adventure relentlessly, whether it meant reaching Everest Base Camp or walking the Camino de Santiago across France and into Spain,” they said. “As a leader, he never wavered in putting his soldiers first – mentoring them, sharing his love of finance, and pushing the value of education every chance he got.” His parents said Feehan “believed deeply in the power of military service, especially what it builds in a person: discipline, leadership, character. Everyone who knew him loved him. “Behind him, he leaves a family in mourning – his parents, his fiancée who was to become his wife upon his return from deployment, four sets of grandparents, and a wide circle of aunts, uncles, and cousins who adored him,” they added. “Law school was next on his list, a goal he talked about with the same confidence he quoted from Legally Blonde: ‘What, like it’s hard?’. “Tyler, we are proud of you beyond words – devastated, yes, but prouder still,” they said, adding that “no parents could have asked for a better son, and carrying your legacy forward is now our purpose.” They concluded their statement, saying that “we ask only this: that in remembering Tyler, people pause to see the good this country still holds, rather than what divides it” and said that they were building a scholarship in their son’s name, “one meant to open doors to education for those who serve or hope to”. Feehan’s fiancee, Claire Fletcher, said in a statement to the Guardian that “his loss has devastated me beyond imagining, and there are no words that can truly capture the depth of that grief”. “Serving others and standing up for what he believed in wasn’t just a job,” she said. “It was his purpose. Tyler embodied everything the Army values strive to represent: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage.” Fletcher also said that outside of the army, Feehan “found joy in the little things that made him who he was” and said that “he loved building Lego sets, cheering for the Atlanta Falcons, using Dr Squatch soap and drinking Shatto Milk from Missouri.” She said that he loved to travel and that after his military service, Feehan wanted to become a high school football coach, and mentor young people. “The very last text message Tyler sent me before he died was simply, ‘I love you’” she said. “Those three words were perfect even if he didn’t know it at the time. This is the man he was. “This is how I hope Tyler Feehan is remembered: not only as an exceptional Army officer, but as a man whose greatest strength was his heart,” Fletcher concluded. “I will love him for the rest of my life, and I will do everything I can to honor the legacy he leaves behind.” Isabella Gonzales, 19 Private Isabella Gonzales, 19, of Carrollton, Texas, was also killed in the Iranian attack at Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Jordan. Gonzales was assigned to 1st battalion, 57th air defense artillery regiment, 52nd air defense artillery brigade, 10th army air missile defense command in Ansbach, Germany, the Pentagon said. Gonzales graduated from Hebron high school in Carrollton, Texas, in 2025, and joined the US army after. In a statement to the Guardian, the Lewisville independent school district said:“She gave her life in [army] service, and our district is heartbroken by her loss.” Anthony Tapia, 21, told the Guardian that he and Gonzales met in Germany in the soldier barracks and began dating in February of this year, “when I asked her to be my girlfriend on a snowy night in Stuttgart”. “She was one of the most incredible people I had ever met, funny, playful, charismatic, and so full of life,” Tapia said in a message. “She had a way of making everyone around her smile, and even in the most serious situations, she could somehow find a reason to laugh, make a joke, or put that beautiful smile on her face.” Tapia said that while they were apart, they would “talk whenever we could” and that they had been looking forward to taking a trip together to Tapia’s home town in Washington state. “We talked about it so many times, saying how it was going to be one of the best trips of our lives,” he said. “My family was so excited to finally meet her, and I was so excited to show her the place where I grew up. “We had so many plans,” he continued. “We talked about marriage, our future, traveling together, growing older together, and building a life filled with love and laughter. I truly believed we had so much time ahead of us.” Tapia said: “There are no words that can fully describe the pain of losing someone I loved so deeply. “She was so much more than my girlfriend,” he said. “She was my best friend, the person I wanted to marry, the person I imagined my entire future with, and someone who brought so much happiness into my life. “When I think of her, I don’t want to only remember the way we lost her,” he said. “I want to remember the girl who was always laughing. The girl who could make a joke during the most serious moments. The girl who was playful, funny, charismatic, and impossible not to love. I want to remember her beautiful smile, her laugh, her energy, and the way she could make an ordinary day feel special just by being herself. “I loved her more than she probably ever truly understood,” he said. “I would have given anything to see her one more time, hold her one more time, and tell her again just how much she meant to me.” According to ABC News, Gonzales was posthumously promoted to private first class. Angel Rampersad, 28 The Pentagon announced that Sgt Angel S Rampersad, 28, of Ozone Park, New York, was also “believed to have been killed in action” during the attack at the Muwaffaq Salti airbase. The Pentagon said Rampersad was assigned to 1st battalion, 57th air defense artillery regiment, 52nd air defense artillery brigade, 10th army air and missile defense command in Ansbach, Germany. In a statement on social media, Pesach Osina, a state assembly candidate in the district where Rampersad lived, said that Rampersad was “truly a gift to everyone who knew her”. “She never sought attention or recognition,” Osina said. “She simply wanted to serve, protect others, and do her duty with courage and humility.” “Since learning of this tragedy, I have remained close to Angel’s mother, Carol Acevedo, her father, Basdeo Rampersad, and their family,” he added. “There are no words that can ease the pain of losing a child, but our entire community stands beside them during this unimaginable time.” Deonne Jinkins, who is also in the US army, told the Guardian she met Rampersad in 2024 while they were stationed in Germany, and that the two were introduced through mutual friends and quickly became friends. “We just hung out like every weekend,” Jinkins, 22, said. “She truly was an angel. She was just the sweetest person ever.” Jinkins, who said that Rampersad had a “radiant smile”, recalled that on her birthday in 2024, she didn’t really have any plans or that many friends around, and said that Rampersad took her out for dinner, and “we went out, and we just had fun”. “I’m gonna miss her so much, so much,” she added. Kathy Hochul, New York’s governor, said in a statement that “Sgt. Rampersad lived a life of courage and selflessness. May we honor her memory, remember her sacrifice, and keep all who loved her in our prayers.”