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      Alex Polikoff, Who Won a Marathon Housing Segregation Case, Dies at 98

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      He notched a victory in a Supreme Court decision against the City of Chicago in 1976. He then spent over 40 years making sure the ruling was enforced.Alex Polikoff, who won a landmark discrimination case before the Supreme Court in 1976 showing that the City of Chicago had segregated Black and white public housing residents, and who then spent decades fighting to make sure that the court’s will was enforced, died on May 27 at his home in Keene, N.H. He was 98.His daughter Eve Kodiak confirmed the death.Mr. Polikoff’s class-action lawsuit, known as Gautreaux after its lead plaintiff, Dorothy Gautreaux, ranks among the most important decisions in the history of civil rights litigation.Ms. Gautreaux, a public-housing resident, and her five co-plaintiffs claimed that the Chicago Housing Authority had systematically funneled Black residents into a small number of poorly constructed high-rise complexes, which became havens of crime and drug use.Such segregation was an open secret in Chicago, and the subject of decades of protest — Mr. Polikoff filed the case in August 1966, just months after the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. began his own grass-roots campaign to desegregate the city.But Chicago, under Mayor Richard J. Daley, pushed back. Dr. King left the city without success, while Mr. Polikoff spent a decade fighting the city in court. Ms. Gautreaux died in 1968, eight years before the case reached the Supreme Court.By then, the lawsuit had been combined with a similar suit against the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In oral arguments before the court, Mr. Polikoff squared off against one of his former classmates from the University of Chicago Law School: Robert H. Bork, the solicitor general.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Heat of Air India Crash Hinders DNA Identification, Agonizing Relatives

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      Three days after the crash, only 35 bodies had been handed over to relatives from an overall official death toll of 270.The intensity of the flames from the crash of Air India Flight 171 has made the identification of passenger remains a mammoth task, medical officials in India said on Sunday, as relatives of more than 200 victims waited outside a mortuary for a third day.The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner was carrying 125,000 liters, or more than 33,000 gallons, of fuel when it crashed on Thursday, a full load for a nearly 10-hour flight from Ahmedabad to Gatwick Airport near London.Senior health officials in Ahmedabad told a visiting delegation on Saturday that initial findings indicated that temperatures at the crash site had reached 1,500 degrees Celsius, or 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit, according to two people who attended the briefing. Such temperatures are more than enough to incinerate bodies.H.P. Sanghvi, the director of the forensic lab where most of the DNA samples are being sent, told the Indian news media that the damage to the bodies made collection and testing difficult.“These high temperatures affect the DNA present in various parts of the body,” Mr. Sanghvi said. “This process is very complex.”By Sunday evening, only 35 bodies had been handed over to relatives, among an overall official death toll of 270 from inside the plane and on the ground.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Trump’s Parade Drafted the Army Into a War of Images

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      After a week of stunning and sobering TV-news scenes, the brassy Trumpy production was a surreal viewing experience.Officially, the U.S. Army’s 250th anniversary military parade through Washington was meant to be a straightforward celebration of the service’s history.But as it played out on live TV Saturday, history was overwhelmed by the stormy present.The first complication was the fact that the Army shared a birthday with President Trump, making the military procession seem gift-wrapped for a leader who for years has had one on his wish list. To some, the spectacle smacked of the gaudy self-celebrations thrown by strongmen; to others, it was a symbol of resurgent American strength.Maybe at another time, the parade could have been the mundane, even dull bit of civic history that on the surface it was. But once conscripted into Mr. Trump’s war of imagery, a tank cannot be just a tank.The event also came at the end of a tumultuous week of shocking TV images. It came after the National Guard and Marines were deployed to Los Angeles to quell protests, over the objections of local leaders. It came after Senator Alex Padilla of California was forced to the ground and handcuffed after he tried to ask a question of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, at a news conference. It came after Mr. Trump gave a political-rally-like speech to cheering troops at Fort Bragg. On top of this were volleys of missiles between Israel and Iran and, on Saturday morning, the assassination of a Minnesota state lawmaker and the attempted murder of another.The result, as it rolled across our screens, was anything but an uncomplicated celebration. It was a split-screen presentation for a split country, in a world that seemed to be riven apart.The major broadcast networks did not carry the parade. CNN and MSNBC covered it on and off, along with the Middle East and Minnesota news, as well as the “No Kings” protests across the country that accused Mr. Trump of antidemocratic overreach.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      A Daunting Task for Democrats

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      More from our inbox:A Loyalty Oath for Federal Workers?Principled Republicans Mark Peterson/ReduxTo the Editor:In “The Democrats’ Problems Are Bigger Than You Think” (column, June 6), David Brooks challenges the Democrats to do two things: define the central problem of our time and come up with a new grand national narrative.The first is easy: The central problem of our time is the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which removed longstanding campaign finance regulations. There is no way our government can become a government of the people when wealthy elites can buy representation.And the Democrats can ignore the second suggestion. No political party needs to create a new grand narrative. What it needs to do is to listen to the people and encourage and help those people voice their concerns and needs. Then the party needs to figure out how to best meet and pay for those concerns and needs.If money’s role in our elections can be addressed quickly, then a centrist and realistic narrative can be forged — and it should include an equitable tax policy. We are more in need of a reform of brackets and deductions in our tax system than we are of a new grand narrative.Elizabeth BjorkmanLexington, Mass.To the Editor:I agree with the view articulated by David Brooks that nothing short of a revolution in consciousness will allow us to wrest control of our future from the MAGA movement. What we need right now is a vision of the future that doesn’t involve just dismantling structures and undoing what’s been done (much of which is good), but also creating new belief systems.This will involve coming to terms with the fact that capitalism has failed the world in very serious and fundamental ways, producing a planet that is being torn apart by migration caused by civil war, climate disaster, inequality and starvation. These problems cannot be rejiggered from what already exists, because the system itself no longer recognizes the needs of the vast majority of its inhabitants.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      An American Fight With Mexico Won’t Go Well

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      Amid days of unrest in Los Angeles, with police officers firing beanbag rounds, protesters waving Mexican flags and the Trump administration sending in thousands of soldiers in what it called a mission to secure the streets, influencers on the Trumpist right started to lay the blame south of the Rio Grande.The loudest voice was that of the activist and author Charlie Kirk, who posted a misleading video for his millions of followers on social media under the headline “Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum is a bigger threat to America than Vladimir Putin.” As he put it, “This woman, the president of Mexico, is talking about leading an uprising in the interior of America.”People say a lot of crazy things online, but the argument appeared to get the attention of Kristi Noem, the homeland security secretary, who echoed it on Tuesday at the White House. “Claudia Sheinbaum came out and encouraged more protests in L.A., and I condemn her for that,” Ms. Noem told reporters. “She should not be encouraging violent protests that are going on.”In fact, the opposite is true. Ms. Sheinbaum, the 62-year-old Mexican president, was quick to speak out against any violence in Los Angeles. “The burning of patrol cars seems more an act of provocation than of resistance,” she said on Monday. “We should be clear: We condemn violence wherever it comes from.”Ms. Sheinbaum has been a reliable partner to Washington since she took power last Oct. 1, putting pressure on drug cartels and their human smuggling networks and giving President Trump one of his few clear wins by helping reduce the flow of undocumented migrants and fentanyl heading north. She has helped ease bilateral tensions over trade and tariffs while, unlike other world leaders, managing to avoid personal confrontations with Mr. Trump.The argument that Ms. Noem and Mr. Kirk are making is not only wrong, it’s also dangerous. It encourages the hawks in Washington who want to unleash unilateral military strikes against cartels in Mexican territory. Deploying drone strikes and Special Forces operations south of the border might appeal to Mr. Trump’s supporters but it would not defeat the cartels, which are sprawling criminal networks with many thousands of affiliates, including some in the United States. It could torpedo the relationship with Mexico, which is proud of its sovereignty, rendering it politically impossible for Ms. Sheinbaum to continue to cooperate with Washington. A fully combative relationship with Mexico, as commentators like Mr. Kirk are gunning for, would almost certainly worsen problems over trade and cartels and inflame additional protests in the United States, as well as in Mexico.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Sharing the Secrets of Travel

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      Plus, the latest on the manhunt for the Minnesota gunman.Good morning. Here’s the news you need to start your day:Manhunt: The authorities are searching for a suspect they say assassinated a Minnesota state representative and wounded a state senator.Middle East: Israeli jets attacked Tehran’s main fuel depot, while dozens of Iranian missiles rained down on Israel.Shows of force: Tanks paraded through Washington as anti-Trump protesters marched in cities across the U.S.We have more on these stories below. But first, a renowned travel writer reflects on his role sending tourists to quiet corners of the world.A torii gate outside a shrine in Kyoto.Hiroko Masuike/The New York TimesHidden gemsI spent September traveling by myself along the length of Japan, from Nagasaki to Tokyo. I spent some of the hottest days of the late summer lying in the forested onsens of Mount Aso and eating sushi with strangers in Tokyo. I walked dozens of kilometers every day, sweating under cloudless skies.Along the way I visited Kyoto, a city steeped in both history and novelty. I had a plan to see the sights: the hundreds of torii of Fushimi Inari, the bamboo forest of Arashiyama. I did not expect that I would spend much of my time in one little bar filled with an eclectic mix of regulars, who pointed me to the city’s hidden gems. This bar made my whole trip.It’s every right of a travel writer to share with you the name of this bar. But should I?For 30 years, the writer Pico Iyer lived near a different, noiseless Kyoto. In an essay for today’s Travel section, he wrote about the difficult choice between sharing the secrets of his chosen home or protecting the quiet city from being trampled by tourists:“What’s a travel writer to do? The very premise of the job is to tell you about attractive possibilities that you might not otherwise know about. But as those little-known jewels become better known, readers grow understandably indignant (that quiet and reasonably priced cafe is suddenly unquiet and unreasonably priced), while locals wonder how much to curse the onslaught of visitors and how much to try to make the most of them.”The various signs warning foreigners away from private residences made clear that my presence in Kyoto was an inconvenience. Posters on crowded buses encouraged tourists to please take the train instead. When I walked among the crowds of Kiyomizu, I felt less like a traveler and more like a body in a mob.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Police Clash With Protesters After Anti-Trump Rally in Downtown Los Angeles

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      With the downtown facing an 8 p.m. curfew, the Los Angeles police began using tear gas and crowd-control munitions to break up protests after issuing a dispersal order.Blacki Migliozzi/The New York TimesTensions flared between protesters and police in downtown Los Angeles on Saturday as a major demonstration against the Trump administration gave way to yet another night of smaller but raucous protests against recent immigration raids.With the city’s downtown area facing an 8 p.m. curfew, the Los Angeles police began using tear gas and crowd-control munitions to break up protests after issuing a 4 p.m. dispersal order. Officers on horseback forced hundreds of people away from a federal building downtown, where a crowd had gathered, chanting at a line of National Guard troops guarding the structure as helicopters circled overhead.“Shame on you! Shame on you!” the demonstrators shouted, as the troops stood at attention. In several posts on X, the Los Angeles Police Department accused protesters of throwing rocks, bottles and fireworks at officers. Law enforcement also said that “outside agitators” had blocked a portion of a street with fencing and other materials.After a series of militarized immigration raids ignited protests in downtown Los Angeles and several other nearby suburbs, President Trump commandeered 2,000 members of the National Guard over the governor’s objections and sent them to Los Angeles. After California officials pushed back, the president deployed another 2,000 National Guard troops along with 700 U.S. Marines.Richard Fausset/The New York TimesLocal authorities said they had the situation handled and needed no backup, but the president said that the city was out of control and that the military was needed to safeguard federal property and agents. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Mayor Karen Bass of Los Angeles have accused Mr. Trump of staging the immigration raids in an intentional attempt to inflame Californians and manufacture a crisis in a state that he regards as a hotbed of opposition and a place that allows illegal immigration.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Like School Shootings, Political Violence Is Becoming Almost Routine

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      Threats and violent acts have become part of the political landscape, still shocking but somehow not so surprising.The statements of shock and condolences streamed in eerily one after another on Saturday after the assassination of a Minnesota lawmaker and her husband, and the attempted murder of another lawmaker and his wife.“Horrible news,” said Representative Steve Scalise, who was shot at a baseball game in 2017. “Paul and I are heartbroken,” said former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whose husband was bludgeoned with a hammer in 2022. “My family and I know the horror of a targeted shooting all too well,” said former Representative Gabby Giffords, who was shot in the head in 2011.Still more came from Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania (arson, 2025), Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan (kidnapping plot, 2020) and President Trump (two assassination attempts, 2024).“Such horrific violence will not be tolerated in the United States of America,” the president said.And yet the expanding club of survivors of political violence seemed to stand as evidence to the contrary.Bullet holes in the door of State Senator John Hoffman’s home in Chaplin, Minn., on Saturday.Tim Gruber for The New York TimesIn the past three months alone, a man set fire to the Pennsylvania governor’s residence while Mr. Shapiro and his family were asleep inside; another man gunned down a pair of workers from the Israeli Embassy outside an event in Washington; protesters calling for the release of Israeli hostages in Boulder, Colo., were set on fire; and the Republican Party headquarters in New Mexico and a Tesla dealership near Albuquerque were firebombed.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More