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Good afternoon and welcome to your afternoon news update from AP. Today,President Donald Trump extends new threats to Iran’s civilian infrastructure; a birthright citizenship case arrives at the Supreme Court this week; and in South Sudan, a prophet’s sacred stick helps fuel a violent struggle for political power.

UP FIRST

A portrait of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is seen as smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanon on Monday. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Live updates: Trump extends new threat to Iran’s civilian infrastructure, if deal not reached 'shortly'

Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, including desalination plants, if a deal to end the war with Tehran is not reached "shortly." The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,900 people in Iran, over 1,200 people in Lebanon, 19 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians and soldiers on land and sea in the Gulf region. Read more.

TOP STORIES

The birthright citizenship case at the Supreme Court hits close to home for this immigrant mother

An Argentine emigre in Florida quickly got her newborn son a U.S. passport last year. During a legal fight over Trump’s executive order to deny citizenship to children born in the U.S. to people in the country illegally or temporarily, the passport was tangible evidence the baby is American. The Supreme Court hears arguments over the order's fate Wednesday in a New Hampshire case. The 14th Amendment and federal law have been widely understood to make citizens of everyone born in the country, with narrow exceptions. Every court that's ruled has found Trump's order illegal and prevented it from taking effect. Read more.

In South Sudan, a prophet’s sacred stick helps fuel a violent struggle for political power

In a tribal battle fought over a century ago, according to oral history, a prophet in South Sudan raised his stick and summoned a thunderbolt that killed a crowd of fighters from a rival tribe. The prophet's dang, as the sacred stick is known, was never again wielded so magically. Yet the memory of it as a dangerous weapon now plays a role in the latest cycle of violence in the world’s youngest nation. The dang has emerged as a contentious relic in the quarrel between South Sudan President Salva Kiir and opposition leader Riek Machar, who took ownership of the stick years ago. Read more.

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