KAKANJ, Bosnia (AP) — Like most girls her age, Bosnian teenager Mirnesa Junuzovic splits her days into free time and time reserved for school and house chores. How she spends the former, however, makes her quite unique.
The 15-year-old Junuzovic takes daily, hourslong walks with her bull, Cobra, and trains the beast for traditional bullfights that have been organized in the country for more than two centuries.
Click to Gallery
Two girls look at a bull prior to the start of the bullfights in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Bulls fight during the bullfight competitions in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Mirnesa Junuzovic, center, leads her team and a bull Cobra toward the arena prior to the start of the bullfights in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A man prepares his bull prior to the start of the bullfights in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
An aerial view of bulls fighting during the bullfight competitions in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
“We walk for three or more hours every day, I talk to him and call him by different nicknames that I have for him,” Junuzovic said, adding: “I can always anticipate when he is going to rush or scrape at the ground.”
Junuzovic believes that she and Cobra share a special bond and insists that while they train and walk through the fields and forest around her rural home on the outskirts of Kakanj, the bull sometimes uses its horns to move tree branches and shrubs out of her way.
When somebody else approaches him, Junuzovic insisted, “his whole demeanor changes” and he starts snorting.
“But he never acts like that with me,” she rushed to say. "He knows that I take care of him. He is just like a human, except that he cannot talk.”
Bullfights in Bosnia are relatively mellow and bloodless affairs resembling a natural clash for dominance between male bulls in the wild. Almost every weekend during the summer months, rodeo-like corrals are set up in forest clearings or meadows around the country.
Thousands of people gather around these enclosures in village fair-like settings to watch bull-on-bull fights in which animals push each other and clash horns until one of them admits defeat by turning their tail and fleeing. The clash often lasts just a few minutes.
Before bulls enter the arena, inspectors check their horns and even cut off the tips if they are too sharp. They also check the animals’ anti-doping test results and make sure the bulls clash heads only if they want to.
Among the village folk in Bosnia, the love of bulls and bullfighting is installed in children at an early age. Attending the fights is often embraced as a family activity.
“This is a part of our tradition. We love it,” explained Muriz Spahic, who drove for more than 70 kilometers (around 45 miles) to watch bulls fighting last Sunday outside the village of Bijelo Polje in central Bosnia.
“My grandpa loves it, he is here with us today, I love it, my child loves it," he said, "We go to the fights together.”
In between the fights, the spectators fire up grills, roast meat, drink and dance to blaring folk music.
Fighting bulls of Bosnia have traditionally been trained by men, but women started joining the fray several years ago. Still, women in this field are rare and Junuzovic, who started training bulls at the age of 12, remains the youngest of the trainers.
Some of her school friends look down at her hobby and insist that it is “stinky,” she said. But those who she really cares about are “very supportive. They call to congratulate me every time we win.”
Bulls fight in different weight classes and Cobra, who weighs 620 kilograms (more than 1,360 pounds), is among the “lightweights.”
Cobra's winning streak, which began eight fights ago, continued in Bijelo Polje, where he scored his ninth victory of the 2025 bullfighting season.
The other bull “quit,” because he “was unprepared,” Junuzovic said.
Around half of the scheduled battles overall end with one of the animals leaving the ring without even trying.
“Still, we won and every victory counts,” she said with a big smile.
Two girls look at a bull prior to the start of the bullfights in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Bulls fight during the bullfight competitions in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
Mirnesa Junuzovic, center, leads her team and a bull Cobra toward the arena prior to the start of the bullfights in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
A man prepares his bull prior to the start of the bullfights in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
An aerial view of bulls fighting during the bullfight competitions in Bijelo Polje, Bosnia, Sunday, May 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Armin Durgut)
U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran has proposed negotiations after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic as an ongoing crackdown on demonstrators has led to hundreds of deaths.
Trump said late Sunday that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports mount of increasing deaths and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night.
Iran did not acknowledge Trump’s comments immediately. It has previously warned the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has accurately reported on past unrest in Iran, gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran cross checking information. It said at least 544 people have been killed so far, including 496 protesters and 48 people from the security forces. It said more than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
The Latest:
A witness told the AP that the streets of Tehran empty at the sunset call to prayers each night.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, addressed “Dear parents,” which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
—- By Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Iran drew tens of thousands of pro-government demonstrators to the streets Monday in a show of power after nationwide protests challenging the country’s theocracy.
Iranian state television showed images of demonstrators thronging Tehran toward Enghelab Square in the capital.
It called the demonstration an “Iranian uprising against American-Zionist terrorism,” without addressing the underlying anger in the country over the nation’s ailing economy. That sparked the protests over two weeks ago.
State television aired images of such demonstrations around the country, trying to signal it had overcome the protests, as claimed by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier in the day.
China says it opposes the use of force in international relations and expressed hope the Iranian government and people are “able to overcome the current difficulties and maintain national stability.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday that Beijing “always opposes interference in other countries’ internal affairs, maintains that the sovereignty and security of all countries should be fully protected under international law, and opposes the use or threat of use of force in international relations.”
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz condemned “in the strongest terms the violence that the leadership in Iran is directing against its own people.”
He said it was a sign of weakness rather than strength, adding that “this violence must end.”
Merz said during a visit to India that the demonstrators deserve “the greatest respect” for the courage with which “they are resisting the disproportional, brutal violence of Iranian security forces.”
He said: “I call on the Iranian leadership to protect its population rather than threatening it.”
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday suggested that a channel remained open with the United States.
Esmail Baghaei made the comment during a news conference in Tehran.
“It is open and whenever needed, through that channel, the necessary messages are exchanged,” he said.
However, Baghaei said such talks needed to be “based on the acceptance of mutual interests and concerns, not a negotiation that is one-sided, unilateral and based on dictation.”
The semiofficial Fars news agency in Iran, which is close to the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, on Monday began calling out Iranian celebrities and leaders on social media who have expressed support for the protests over the past two weeks, especially before the internet was shut down.
The threat comes as writers and other cultural leaders were targeted even before protests. The news agency highlighted specific celebrities who posted in solidarity with the protesters and scolded them for not condemning vandalism and destruction to public property or the deaths of security forces killed during clashes. The news agency accused those celebrities and leaders of inciting riots by expressing their support.
Canada said it “stands with the brave people of Iran” in a statement on social media that strongly condemned the killing of protesters during widespread protests that have rocked the country over the past two weeks.
“The Iranian regime must halt its horrific repression and intimidation and respect the human rights of its citizens,” Canada’s government said on Monday.
Iran’s foreign minister claimed Monday that “the situation has come under total control” after a bloody crackdown on nationwide protests in the country.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran’s foreign minister alleged Monday that nationwide protests in his nation “turned violent and bloody to give an excuse” for U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene.
Abbas Araghchi offered no evidence for his claim, which comes after over 500 have been reported killed by activists -- the vast majority coming from demonstrators.
Araghchi spoke to foreign diplomats in Tehran. The Qatar-funded Al Jazeera satellite news network, which has been allowed to work despite the internet being cut off in the country, carried his remarks.
Iran has summoned the British ambassador over protesters twice taking down the Iranian flag at their embassy in London.
Iranian state television also said Monday that it complained about “certain terrorist organization that, under the guise of media, spread lies and promote violence and terrorism.” The United Kingdom is home to offices of the BBC’s Persian service and Iran International, both which long have been targeted by Iran.
A huge crowd of demonstrators, some waving the flag of Iran, gathered Sunday afternoon along Veteran Avenue in LA’s Westwood neighborhood to protest against the Iranian government. Police eventually issued a dispersal order, and by early evening only about a hundred protesters were still in the area, ABC7 reported.
Los Angeles is home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran.
Los Angeles police responded Sunday after somebody drove a U-Haul box truck down a street crowded with the the demonstrators, causing protesters to scramble out of the way and then run after the speeding vehicle to try to attack the driver. A police statement said one person was hit by the truck but nobody was seriously hurt.
The driver, a man who was not identified, was detained “pending further investigation,” police said in a statement Sunday evening.
Shiite Muslims hold placards and chant slogans during a protest against the U.S. and show solidarity with Iran in Lahore, Pakistan, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/K.M. Chaudary)
Activists carrying a photograph of Reza Pahlavi take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House, in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Activists take part in a rally supporting protesters in Iran at Lafayette Park, across from the White House in Washington, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Protesters burn the Iranian national flag during a rally in support of the nationwide mass demonstrations in Iran against the government in Paris, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
