Lighter winds Monday helped crews in South Carolina and North Carolina battle wildfires that caused evacuations and threatened hundreds of homes over the weekend. 

Hundreds of firefighters from across the state managed to keep the massive blaze in Horry County near Myrtle Beach from destroying any homes despite social media videos of orange skies at night and flames engulfing pine trees just yards away. 

The fire burned 6.5 square kilometers (2.5 square miles). It was the biggest fire in the area since a 2009 wildfire nearby did $42 million in damage and burned down about 75 homes.  

The danger wasn’t over Monday. Officials in all of South Carolina banned almost all outdoor fires, including burning yard debris and campfires. They told residents to call 911 if they see a neighbor setting a fire. 

“You can and will go to jail for starting a fire outdoors in South Carolina. Period,” Gov. Henry McMaster wrote on social media. 

Burn bans were also in place in western North Carolina. Some residents in Polk County remained evacuated from their homes as fire crews Monday morning set their own blazes to burn possible wildfire fuel to make it easier to contain a 480-acre (190-hectare) fire that was about 30% contained. 

Polk County is on the fringes of an area badly hit by Hurricane Helene last year. Fallen trees that have not been cleared are increasing the risk of fires across the region. 

In eastern North Carolina, nearly 80 mostly small wildfires were reported in Robeson County. Emergency officials said 15 structures were damaged, but they did not give specifics on the types of buildings. 

The North Carolina Forest Service reported more than 200 wildfires across the state Monday, although almost all of them were small and not threatening any structures. 

Officials across the Carolinas warned of poor air quality because of smoke. 

A drier-than-normal winter across the Carolinas combined over the weekend with high winds as a cold front without the usual rain that accompanies the weather systems in the South moved through the area to increase the fire danger. 

The area near Myrtle Beach is one of the most dangerous for wildfires in South Carolina as hundreds of years of decomposing vegetation creates peat, which when it dries out can burn for a long time. 

Pine trees and other waxy vegetation provide fuel for fires to rapidly spread in dry, windy conditions. 

Horry County’s population has doubled to 400,000 people over the past 25 years. Many of those newcomers have moved into neighborhoods being rapidly built right next to the oval Carolina Bays where the peat and flammable vegetation all grow together. Fires have been part of the natural landscape of the bays for centuries. 

Officials have not said what caused any of the fires. 
…

WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS — An Illinois man pleaded guilty Monday to killing seven people and injuring dozens more when he opened fire on a 2022 Independence Day parade in a Chicago suburb, a stunning development moments before opening arguments in his trial on charges of murder and attempted murder. 

Appearing in a Lake County circuit courtroom, Robert E. Crimo III, 23, withdrew his earlier not-guilty plea in the Highland Park shooting. 

Prosecutors initially charged him with 21 counts of first-degree murder — three counts for each person killed — as well as 48 counts of attempted murder. Prosecutors dropped the less serious 48 counts of aggravated battery before the start of the trial with jury selection last week. 

On Monday, Judge Victoria Rossetti read the charges to Crimo and asked questions to be sure he understood before any open plea was read to the court. He was sitting next to his lawyers wearing a dark suit. 

“Is that what you went over with your attorneys?” Rossetti asked. 

“Yes,” Crimo replied to the judge. 

He gave one-word answers, indicating he understood the charges. His mother, Denise Pesina, had a brief outburst at the news and was called up to the judge for a warning. 

“We’re going to move forward. You are not a party to this proceeding. If you would like to stay in the courtroom please have a seat and be quiet,” the judge said to her. 

She was allowed to stay. 

The judge said with the plea change, there would be no trial or further motions on the case. 

“He has knowingly and voluntarily waived those rights and pleaded guilty,” Rossetti said. 

Lake County prosecutors read the names of all those killed in the shooting and of those injured in the shooting, with the judge stopping to ask questions to make sure Crimo understood. 

They went over the substantial evidence, including his prints on the gun used in the crime, and statements to police admitting to the mass shooting. 

Sentencing will come April 23, but Crimo is certain to spend the rest of his life behind bars. Each count of first-degree murder carries a natural life prison sentence. 

Crimo did not further address the court or ask questions before leaving the courtroom. 

His defense attorneys declined comment ahead of the trial. 

Security was very tight for the proceedings at the courthouse in Lake County, with multiple bag checks and observers required to lock up their phones. The crowd at what was supposed to be opening statements included survivors and their family members. 

Jurors, who were chosen last week, had not even been let into the courtroom yet when the plea change happened. 

The trial that began Feb. 24 was expected to last about a month with testimony from survivors and police. Prosecutors had submitted thousands of pages of evidence, as well as hours of a videotaped interrogation during which police say Crimo confessed to the shooting. But the 24-year-old had then pleaded not guilty. 

Dozens of people were wounded in the shooting in the suburb about 50 kilometers (30 miles) north of Chicago. The wounded ranged in age from their 80s down to an 8-year-old boy who was left partially paralyzed. 

Witnesses described confusion as the shots began, followed by panic as families fled the downtown parade route, leaving behind lawn chairs and strollers to find safety inside nearby businesses or homes. 

Authorities said Crimo perched on a roof and fired into crowds assembled for the annual Fourth of July parade in downtown Highland Park. 

The criminal case proceeded slowly for months, partly due to Crimo’s unpredictable behavior. In June 2024, when he was expected to accept a plea deal and give victims and relatives a chance to address him publicly, Crimo showed up to court in a wheelchair and rejected the deal, surprising even his lawyers. 

He also fired his public defenders and said he would represent himself. Then he abruptly reversed himself. 

As potential jurors were questioned last week, he sporadically appeared in court, at times refusing to leave his jail cell. 

Father charged, tried earlier

The trial came almost two years after his father’s case focusing on how Crimo obtained a gun license. 

In 2019, at age 19, Crimo was only allowed to apply for a gun license with the sponsorship of a parent or guardian. His father agreed, even though a relative had reported to police that his son had a collection of knives and had threatened to “kill everyone.” 

His father, Robert Crimo Jr., a onetime mayoral candidate, was charged in connection with how his son obtained a gun license. He pleaded guilty in 2023 to seven misdemeanor counts of reckless conduct and served less than two months in jail. 

He has attended his son’s hearings, sometimes making eye contact with him during court. He declined to discuss the case in detail ahead of the trial. 

“As a parent, I love my son very much,” he said. “And Bobby loves this country more than anyone would ever know.” 

Residents in the wealthy Highland Park community of roughly 30,000 set along Lake Michigan have mourned the losses deeply. Some potential jurors were excused because of their connections to the case. 

The victims killed in the shooting included Katherine Goldstein, 64; Jacquelyn Sundheim, 63; Stephen Straus, 88; Nicolas Toledo-Zaragoza, 78; Eduardo Uvaldo, 69; and married couple Kevin McCarthy, 37, and Irina McCarthy, 35. 

Survivors and their families have filed multiple lawsuits, including against the maker of the semiautomatic rifle used in the shooting and against authorities they accuse of negligence.
…

A French company that makes a key component in night vision systems used by some NATO countries announced Monday it is building a new factory in the United States amid a push for NATO members to increase their defense spending.

Exosens said the new factory in the northeastern state of Massachusetts is expected to begin operations in 2027, and is part of a $21 million overall investment that also includes expanded operations in Europe.

“The return of high-density combat has underscored the critical importance of night operation abilities as a key tactical advantage,” the company said in a statement.

Last week, Exosens announced a contract with a maker of night vision goggles in NATO member Finland.

Some information for this story was provided by Reuters
…

Crews battled wildfires in North and South Carolina on Sunday amid dry conditions and gusty winds and evacuations were ordered in some areas.

The National Weather Service warned of increased fire danger in the region due to a combination of critically dry fuels and very low relative humidity.

In South Carolina, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a state of emergency Sunday to support the wildfire response effort, and a statewide burning ban remained in effect.

Crews worked to contain a fire in the Carolina Forest area west of the coastal resort city of Myrtle Beach, where residents were ordered to evacuate several neighborhoods, according to Horry County Fire Rescue.

The South Carolina Forestry Commission estimated Sunday afternoon that the blaze was burning about 4.9 square kilometers (1.9 square miles) with 0% containment. No structures had succumbed to the blaze and no injuries had been reported as of Sunday morning, officials said.

The 410 personnel involved in the effort were expected to remain until the fire was contained, county fire officials said. Evacuations were expected to remain in place Sunday and officials warned residents in the Carolina Forest area to be prepared with go-bags and emergency plans if more evacuations were called in their neighborhoods.

In North Carolina, the U.S. Forest Service said fire crews were working to contain multiple wildfires burning on more than 161.87 hectares (400 acres) in four forests across the state Sunday. The largest, about 121.41 hectares (300 acres), was at Uwharrie National Forest, about 80.47 kilometers (50 miles) east of Charlotte.

The small southwestern town of Tryon in Polk County, North Carolina, urged some residents to evacuate Saturday as a fire spread rapidly there. On Sunday, officials said those evacuations remained in effect.

That fire was burning about 161.87 hectares (400 acres) Sunday afternoon, with 0% containment, according to the Polk County Emergency Management/Fire Marshal’s office. The North Carolina Forest Service was conducting water drops and back-burning operations on the ground, and area residents should expect a lot of smoke during those operations, officials said.

Officials have not said what caused any of the fires.
…

LOS ANGELES — “Captain America: Brave New World” kept falling but still hovered above all others at a weak weekend box office. 

The latest Disney-Marvel offering brought in another $15 million according to studio estimates Sunday, when most of Hollywood’s attention was on the Oscars. 

The Anthony Mackie-led “Captain America: Brave New World” opened strong at about $120 million on a three-day weekend last month, but plunged to $28.2 million last week in one of the most significant second-week drops for a Marvel movie. It’s earned $163.7 since its release. 

It was slammed by many critics and audiences, failing to bring the Marvel reset some had hoped for. That task now falls to May’s “Thunderbolts” and July’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps.” But “Captain America” will face little competition through March and could remain at No. 1 for a while. 

The weekend’s only significant new release, Focus Features’ “Last Breath,” earned just $7.8 million. The based-on-a-true-story adventure starring Woody Harrelson, Simi Liu and Chris Lemons is about a routine deep-sea diving mission that goes terribly wrong when a young diver is stranded some 300 feet below the surface. 

It got strong reviews, with Lindsey Bahr of The Associated Press praising the “white-knuckle experience” and “pure suspense and anxiety” it brings. 

At No. 3 was Oz Perkins’ “The Monkey,” which brought in $6.4 million for a two-week total of $24.6 million. It’s among the strongest openings for indie distributor Neon, whose film “Anora,” and its director Sean Baker could make a major mark at the Oscars later Sunday. 

“The Monkey” marks another successful low-budget collaboration between Perkins and Neon, whose “Longlegs” brought in $126.9 million globally last year. 

“Paddington in Peru” was fourth with $4.5 million in its third weekend for a total of $31.4 million. 

Top 10 movies by domestic box office 

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. 

1. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $15 million. 

2. “Last Breath,” $7.8 million. 

3. “The Monkey,” $6.4 million. 

4. “Paddington in Peru,” $4.5 million. 

5. “Dog Man,” $4.2 million. 

6. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $1.9 million. 

7. “Ne Zha 2,” $1.8 million. 

8. “Heart Eyes,” $1.3 million. 

9 “The Unbreakable Boy,” $1.2 million. 

1. “One of Them Days,” $925,000. 
   …

The need to end the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. The United States imposing tariffs on other countries, and the downsizing of the U.S. federal government. Those are some of the topics that President Donald Trump is expected to highlight when he delivers the first address of this second term in office to Congress this week. VOA’s Veronica Balderas Iglesias reports.
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SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — A U.S. aircraft carrier arrived in South Korea on Sunday in a show of force, days after North Korea test-launched cruise missiles to demonstrate its counterattack capabilities.

The arrival of the USS Carl Vinson and its strike group at the South Korean port of Busan was meant to display a solid U.S-South Korean military alliance in the face of persistent North Korean threats, and boost interoperability of the allies’ combined assets, the South Korean navy said in a statement.

It said it was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to travel to South Korea since June.

The deployment of the carrier is expected to infuriate North Korea, which views temporary deployments of such powerful U.S. military assets as major security threats. North Korea has responded to some of the past deployments of U.S. aircraft carriers, long-range bombers and nuclear-powered submarines with missile tests.

Since his Jan. 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump has said he will reach out to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un again to revive diplomacy. North Korea hasn’t directly responded to Trump’s overture but alleged U.S.-led hostilities against North Korea have intensified since Trump’s inauguration.

North Korea said Friday it test-fired strategic cruise missiles earlier last week to inform its adversaries of its military’s counterattack capability and the readiness of its nuclear operations. After watching the launches, the North’s fourth missile testing event this year, Kim ordered his military to be fully ready to use its nuclear weapons.

Experts say Kim won’t likely accept Trump’s overture anytime soon as he is now focusing on his support of Russia’s war against Ukraine with provision of weapons and troops. They say Kim could consider resuming diplomacy with Trump when he thinks he cannot maintain his country’s current booming cooperation with Russia.

Kim and Trump met three times from 2018 to 2019 during Trump’s first term to discuss the future of North Korea’s nuclear program. Their high-stakes diplomacy eventually collapsed due to wrangling over U.S.-led economic sanctions on North Korea. 
…

WASHINGTON — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday he had signed a declaration to expedite delivery of about $4 billion in military assistance to Israel.

The Trump administration, which took office on Jan. 20, has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel, Rubio said in a statement, adding that it “will continue to use all available tools to fulfill America’s long-standing commitment to Israel’s security, including means to counter security threats.”

Rubio said he had used emergency authority to expedite the delivery of military assistance to Israel, which is now in a fragile ceasefire in its war with Hamas, a U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

Hamas started the war with its terror attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, an attack which left 1,200 dead in Israel, mostly civilians, and took about 250 hostages. The Israeli military offensive has, since then, killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials, more than half of whom have been women and children.

The Pentagon said on Friday that the State Department had approved the potential sale of nearly $3 billion worth of bombs, demolition kits and other weaponry to Israel.

The administration notified Congress of those prospective weapons sales on an emergency basis, sidestepping a long-standing practice of giving the chairs and ranking members of the House Foreign Affairs and Senate Foreign Relations Committees the opportunity to review the sale and ask for more information before making a formal notification to Congress.

Friday’s announcements marked the second time in recent weeks that President Donald Trump’s administration has declared an emergency to quickly approve weapons sales to Israel. The Biden administration also used emergency authority to approve the sale of arms to Israel without congressional review.

On Monday, the Trump administration rescinded a Biden-era order requiring it to report potential violations of international law involving U.S.-supplied weapons by allies, including Israel. It has also eliminated most U.S. humanitarian foreign aid.

The Jan. 19 Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement halted 15 months of fighting and paved the way for talks on ending the war, while leading to the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel. 
…

NEW YORK — Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that he is running for mayor of New York City, relaunching his political career following a yearslong exile over sexual harassment accusations. 

In a 17-minute video announcing his campaign, Cuomo pitched himself as an accomplished moderate who could save a city that felt threatening and “out of control,” and who could navigate the delicate balance between working with Republican President Donald Trump and fighting him when necessary. 

“I am not saying this is going to be easy. It won’t be easy, but I know we can turn the city around and I believe I can help and that is why I announce my candidacy today for mayor of New York City today,” he said. 

The Democrat is expected to mount a formidable campaign, despite the scandal that forced his resignation from New York’s governor’s office in 2021. 

He takes on a large field of primary opponents with low name recognition plus an incumbent, Mayor Eric Adams. 

Cuomo enters the race with fundraising prowess, a record of accomplishments over his three terms as governor, and potential support among many of the same moderate voters who helped propel Adams to office. 

Yet it is unclear whether voters are willing to give Cuomo another chance following his remarkable downfall 3½ years ago, when he went from being hailed for his leadership during the onslaught of COVID-19 to being castigated for his behavior with women and questioned about his response to the pandemic. 

Adams, asked for comment by a Politico reporter after Cuomo’s announcement, welcomed the former governor to the race. 

“Come one, come all. Everybody should put their position forward. I have a great record to run on. We look forward to the campaign,” he said. 

Adams is also seeking reelection but is facing a tempest over the criminal case against him, and the U.S. Justice Department’s extraordinary effort to end the case over the objection of the prosecutors who brought the charges. 

An indictment said Adams accepted luxury travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from people who wanted to buy his influence, including a Turkish official and other foreign nationals. After Trump took office, a top Justice Department official ordered prosecutors to dismiss the charges so Adams could focus on assisting the president’s immigration agenda, while leaving open the possibly that the case could reemerge after the mayoral election. 

That dynamic led critics to claim that Adams had struck a deal to help with Trump’s immigration crackdown in exchange for legal salvation. 

Cuomo started in politics working for his father, former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, and later rose to become U.S. housing secretary under President Bill Clinton and New York attorney general before being elected governor in 2010. 

His national star power was highest during the coronavirus pandemic, when his televised daily briefings attracted admirers nationwide who saw him as a steady hand of leadership at a chaotic time. 

Women, though, began coming forward in late 2020 and early 2021, accusing Cuomo of misconduct. He faced a potential impeachment before he stepped down. 
…

The United States will deploy nearly 3,000 additional troops to its border with Mexico, bringing the total number of active-duty personnel there to around 9,000, U.S. Northern Command, or NORTHCOM, said Saturday.

Border security is a key priority for President Donald Trump, who declared a national emergency at the U.S. frontier with Mexico on his first day in office.

“Approximately 2,400 soldiers from elements of the 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT), 4th Infantry Division” will be sent to the border, along with “approximately 500 soldiers from the 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade,” NORTHCOM said in a statement.

“Tasks carried out by 2nd SBCT will include detection and monitoring; administrative support; transportation support; warehousing and logistic support; vehicle maintenance; and engineering support. Personnel will not conduct or be involved in interdiction or deportation operations,” it said.

Troops from the aviation unit will “assist in the movement of personnel, equipment, and supplies; and provide aerial medical evacuation capabilities,” NORTHCOM said.

“These deployments will bring additional agility and capability to further efforts to stop the flow of illegal migrancy and drugs at the southern border,” its commander, General Gregory Guillot, said.

The Trump administration has launched what it cast as a major effort to combat illegal migration that has included immigration raids, arrests and deportations, including via the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

Trump unveiled a surprise plan last month to hold up to 30,000 migrants at the base — a facility notorious for abuses against terror suspects detained after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — and U.S. forces have detained dozens of people there in recent weeks, many of whom have since been deported.
…

In Mexico, authorities reported that the delivery to the United States of 29 people linked to drug trafficking was possible through an unprecedented police operation, in which 20 aircraft and thousands of agents participated.

Click here for the full story in Spanish. 
…

Academy Award-winning actor Gene Hackman likely died on Feb. 17, the last day there was any activity on his pacemaker, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Friday. “According to the pathologist,” Mendoza said, “that is a very good assumption that was his last day of life,” nine days before investigators found his body.

The bodies of Hackman, 95, and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, 64, a classical pianist, were found, along with the dead body of one of their three dogs, Wednesday in their home in the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico.

The initial findings of autopsies on the couple revealed that Hackman and his wife both tested negative for carbon monoxide poisoning and “no external trauma” was reported to either of them.  Mendoza said, “There were no apparent signs of foul play.”

However, the couple’s “manner and cause of death has not been determined,” according to the sheriff. “The official results of the autopsy and toxicology reports are pending.”

Investigators have retrieved an assortment of prescription and over-the-counter medications, in addition to cellphones and records from medical diagnostics testing from the house.

“I’m pretty confident there is no foul play,” Mendoza said Friday on The Today Show. He said the autopsy results “will steer us in the right direction” in determining what happened to Hackman and his wife.

Without the autopsy, the sheriff said, it is difficult to determine how long the couple had been dead.

A search warrant affidavit issued Thursday said the circumstances surrounding the couple’s deaths were “suspicious enough in nature to require a thorough search and investigation.”

Mendoza told The Today Show that several doors around the house were unlocked and one door in the rear of the house was open. Earlier reports said the front door was open.

Hackman’s body was found near the rear of the house, while his wife’s body was found in a bathroom. The dead dog’s body was found in a dog crate, not far from Arakawa’s body. The couple had three German shepherds. The other two dogs were found alive and healthy at the property.

The search warrant affidavit also revealed that police called the Santa Fe Fire Department and the New Mexico Gas Company to Hackman’s residence, but no toxic fumes or leaky pipes were found on the grounds.

Storied career

Hackman had a lengthy career on stage and screen, including appearing in Broadway shows, on television and in more than 80 films.

He won an Oscar for best actor for his role in the 1971 film The French Connection and a best supporting Oscar for the 1992 film Unforgiven.

Hackman’s resume featured three other Oscar nominations, including his breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde in 1967 as well as I Never Sang for My Father in 1970 and Mississippi Burning in 1988.

His work crossed genres as he appeared in action movies, thrillers and off-beat comedies.

In addition to his award-nominated works, he was also known for roles in films such as The Poseidon Adventure, Young Frankenstein, Superman, Hoosiers, The Birdcage, and The Royal Tenenbaums.

His last film was Welcome to Mooseport in 2004.

His loss was immediately felt throughout the entertainment community as fellow artists praised him on social media. Director Francis Ford Coppola and actor Morgan Freeman were among those who posted their remembrances of the actor.

“The loss of a great artist, always cause for both mourning and celebration,” Coppola posted on Instagram. “Gene Hackman a great actor, inspiring and magnificent in his work and complexity. I mourn his loss and celebrate his existence and contribution.” Hackman starred in Coppola’s 1974 film The Conversation.

Freeman posted on Instagram: “One of the personal highlights of my career was bringing the French Film Gardé a Vue (Under Suspicion) to life with the incredibly gifted Gene Hackman. And of course… Unforgiven. Rest in peace, my friend.”

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.
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A White House meeting Friday between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, aimed at securing a deal that would give the U.S. rights to rare earth minerals in Ukraine, turned into an intense and heated exchange between the two leaders. The White House later confirmed that the mineral deal was not signed. White House Bureau Chief Patsy Widakuswara has this report.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to sign an executive order on Friday designating English as the official language of the United States, according to the White House.

The order will allow government agencies and organizations that receive federal funding to choose whether to continue to offer documents and services in languages other than English, according to a fact sheet about the impending order.

It was not immediately clear when on Friday that Trump planned to sign the order.

The executive order will rescind a mandate from former President Bill Clinton that required the government and organizations that received federal funding to provide language assistance to non-English speakers.

Designating English as the national language “promotes unity, establishes efficiency in government operations and creates a pathway for civic engagement,” according to the White House.

More than 30 states have already passed laws designating English as their official language, according to U.S. English, a group that advocates for making English the official language in the United States.

For decades, lawmakers in Congress have introduced legislation to designate English as the official language of the U.S., but those efforts have not succeeded.

Within hours of Trump’s inauguration last month, the new administration took down the Spanish language version of the official White House website.

Hispanic advocacy groups and others expressed confusion and frustration at the change. The White House said at the time it was committed to bringing the Spanish language version of the website back online. As of Friday, it was still not restored.

The White House did not immediately respond to a message about whether that would happen.

Trump shut down the Spanish version of the website during his first term. It was restored when President Joe Biden was inaugurated.

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the order Friday.
…

U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration policy has raised expectations of mass deportations to Mexico. However, the shelters in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, that were prepared to receive hundreds of migrants are practically empty.  

Click here for the full story in Spanish. 
…

WASHINGTON — The number of migrants caught illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border in February is on pace to be at or near a record monthly low, a U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson and two other sources told Reuters.

The U.S. Border Patrol is on pace to have arrested around 8,500 migrants at the border in February as the end of the month nears, DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said. Two other sources said the monthly total would be at or near a record low.

President Donald Trump, a Republican, took an array of actions to deter illegal immigration after returning to the White House on January 20, saying a crackdown was needed after high levels of migration under his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.

Trump’s moves included implementing a sweeping ban on asylum at the border and surging military troops to assist border security.

The American Civil Liberties Union sued the Trump administration over the ban earlier this month, arguing it violated U.S. asylum law and international treaties.

The Trump administration also struck new agreements with Mexico and Central American countries to accept U.S. deportees from other nations and has sent some migrants to a camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

U.S. Border Patrol’s monthly enforcement statistics go back to 2000. The lowest monthly total on record is currently April 2017, when the agency arrested 11,127 at the start of Trump’s first term.

While the number of border arrests similarly dipped at the start of Trump’s 2017-21 presidency, they rebounded in the months and years that followed.

The February projection would be a steep drop from the 141,000 migrant arrests in February 2024 and down from 29,000 in January, according to U.S. government figures.
…

Anticipation is growing in Russia for a summit – yet to be scheduled – between U.S. President Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. On the streets of Moscow, many Russians welcome what they see as a thaw in relations with Washington, and what some hope is the beginning of the end of their country’s isolation from the West. Jonathan Spier narrates this report.
…

WASHINGTON — The U.S. FBI on Wednesday accused North Korea of being behind the theft of $1.5 billion worth of digital assets last week, the largest crypto heist in history.

“(North Korea) was responsible for the theft of approximately $1.5 billion in virtual assets from cryptocurrency exchange, Bybit,” the FBI said in a public service announcement.

The bureau said a group called TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was behind the theft.

It said they were “proceeding rapidly and have converted some of the stolen assets to Bitcoin and other virtual assets dispersed across thousands of addresses on multiple blockchains.”

“It is expected these assets will be further laundered and eventually converted to fiat currency,” the FBI added.

Lazarus Group gained notoriety a decade ago when it was accused of hacking into Sony Pictures as revenge for The Interview, a film that mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea’s cyber-warfare program dates back to at least the mid-1990s.

It has since grown to a 6,000-strong cyber-warfare unit known as Bureau 121 that operates from several countries, according to a 2020 U.S. military report.                 
…

US President Donald Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will be at the White House on Friday to sign an agreement granting the US access to Ukraine’s lucrative rare earth minerals. But Ukraine’s leader says a few outstanding issues remain. White House correspondent Anita Powell reports from Washington.
…

Special Agent Clint Hill, a member of the Secret Service detail assigned to protect President John F. Kennedy the day he was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, has died at age 93. VOA’s Kane Farabaugh, who interviewed Hill several times over the years, has the story.
…

Ukraine and the United States are set to sign a landmark minerals agreement, marking a significant step toward strengthening economic ties between the two nations. However, security experts tell VOA that concerns persist about the broader implications of the deal. 

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers approved the agreement Wednesday and U.S. President Donald Trump confirmed that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy will visit the White House on Friday to sign it.

The deal includes provisions for the co-ownership and management of a post-war reconstruction fund for Ukraine, to which Ukraine will allocate 50% of future revenues from the country’s natural resources.

The agreement states that the U.S. will maintain a “long-term financial commitment to the development of a stable and economically prosperous Ukraine.” 

The deal makes no direct reference to efforts to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, though, or about future security arrangements for the Eastern European country, apart from a single line: “The Government of the United States of America supports Ukraine’s efforts to obtain security guarantees needed to establish lasting peace.” 

While the deal aims to unlock Ukraine’s mineral wealth and bolster its economic recovery, security experts warn it may fall short in addressing Ukraine’s ongoing security challenges amid continued Russian aggression. 

American business perspective 

Andy Hunder, president of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine, explained to VOA by telephone that the deal aims to establish a new American-Ukrainian fund, focusing on state-owned enterprises and Ukraine’s rich subsoil resources, including gas, oil, and critical minerals.

A representative of American business in Ukraine, Hunder expressed optimism about the agreement’s potential impact: “We’re excited. Professional fund managers can turn these enterprises profitable very quickly. This is a win-win for both Ukrainian and American taxpayers,” he told VOA on Wednesday. 

Hunder said the fund could unlock profits rapidly by introducing professional management to Ukraine’s state-owned enterprises, which currently face mismanagement issues. 

“Ukraine has the second highest number of state-owned enterprises in the world, many of which are being managed, or some are being mismanaged, by the Ukrainian state. So, I think we get new professional fund managers into these entities, and this is where you could seal profits and turn them around very, very quickly,” he said.  

Hunder revealed that discussions about Ukrainian economic potential were high on the agenda between the two countries in 2024, “[s]tarting when Senator Lindsey Graham came in March and May of 2024, and we have looked into this, and we see opportunity.”  

“To take advantage of this opportunity, the war must end, and this deal, in his view, is a step toward a peaceful solution. I think this is really what the new administration under President Trump is focusing on — finding ways to stop the killing of Ukrainians by the Russians. We do expect a ceasefire this year, in 2025, and now is the time when Ukraine will present the biggest opportunity, the largest recovery, and the reconstruction of a nation in Europe since World War II,” he said to VOA. 

Roman Opimakh, former general director of the Ukrainian Geological Survey. agrees the deal could benefit both countries.

It will help the U.S. to diversify its rare metal supply and “decrease dependence on China,” he said. For Ukraine, he said, the deal could enable post-war re-industrialization and economic growth. We can renew the industrial potential of our country and actually increase the role of Ukraine globally,” Opimakh said by phone.  

While the deal indicates strong U.S. interest in Ukraine’s economic future, security experts caution that it is not a comprehensive solution to Ukraine’s security challenges. 

Former defense minister Andriy Zagorodnyuk, now the chairman of the Center for Defense Strategies in Ukraine, told VOA in a phone call the deal has broader implications: “The U.S. framed this deal as a demonstration of vested interest in Ukraine, signaling support for Ukrainian stability. Investments of this scale serve as anchor investments, potentially attracting more resources to Ukraine’s economy.”  

Zagorodnyuk cautioned that economic ties are “not enough” to guarantee Ukrainian sovereignty in the face of Russian aggression. To deter future attacks, Ukraine needs military power — either on its own or in partnership with NATO and European allies, he stated to VOA.   

“We recognize that Russia might be attempting to manipulate the situation and convey to Trump’s administration that even if they continue their aggression for any reason, they would still respect American interests or something like that,” he said.   

Asked by VOA what Ukraine needs from the U.S. for long-term security, Zagorodnyuk said ideally, the country would have NATO. However, “if NATO isn’t an option, there should be a package that enables Ukraine to defend against aggression. This package must be robust, and that strength needs to be clear to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin,” he said. 

Agreement details  

According to VOA sources, who cannot be named because they are not authorized to speak about the matter, negotiations concerning the details of the deal continued right up to the Cabinet ministers’ meeting late Wednesday afternoon, Kyiv time. 

According to news reports, Ukraine negotiated more favorable terms than the U.S. originally proposed, bringing down an initial U.S. demand for a $500 billion claim on its natural resources.  

The deal does not include explicit U.S. security guarantees, which Kyiv had originally sought. The U.S. will maintain decision-making authority within the fund under its own legal framework, with ownership terms to be defined in later agreements. 

Geopolitical ramifications 

Despite praising the agreement as a step toward strengthening Ukraine’s economy, Trump sparked controversy recently by labeling Zelenskyy a “dictator” without elections and pressuring him to finalize the deal quickly. The U.S. administration has described the deal as a way for the U.S. to recover tens of billions of dollars in military aid sent to Ukraine.  

The question remains whether this economic partnership also can foster lasting peace and stability in Ukraine.
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Ukrainian officials said Wednesday a Russian drone attack killed at least one person and injured two others in the Kyiv region.

Kyiv Governor Mykola Kalashnyk said on Telegram that the attack also damaged five houses and four multi-story residential buildings.

Fragments from destroyed drones damaged apartment buildings, a university building, and a theater in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, the regional governor said Wednesday.

Ukraine’s military said Wednesday it shot down 110 of the 177 drones that Russian forces used in their latest overnight attacks.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday its air defenses destroyed 130 Ukrainian drones, more than half of which were shot down over the Krasnodar region located along the Black Sea.

Krasnodar Governor Veniamin Kondratyev said on Telegram that the attacks damaged homes in three districts but did not hurt anyone.

Russian air defenses also shot down drones over Russia-occupied Crimea, the Sea of Azov, the Black Sea and Russia’s Bryansk and Kursk regions, the Defense Ministry said.

Some information for this story was provided by Reuters
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Apple shareholders rebuffed an attempt to pressure the technology trendsetter into joining President Donald Trump’s push to scrub corporate programs designed to diversify its workforce. 

The proposal drafted by the National Center for Public Policy Research — a self-described conservative think tank — urged Apple to follow a litany of high-profile companies that have retreated from diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives currently in the Trump administration’s crosshairs. 

After a brief presentation about the anti-DEI proposal, Apple announced shareholders had rejected it. In a regulatory filing submitted Tuesday evening, Apple disclosed that 97% of the ballots cast were votes against the measure. 

The outcome vindicated Apple management’s decision to stand behind its diversity commitment even though Trump asked the U.S. Department of Justice to look into whether these types of programs have discriminated against some employees whose race or gender aren’t aligned with the initiative’s goals. 

But Apple CEO Tim Cook has maintained a cordial relationship with Trump since his first term in office, an alliance that so far has helped the company skirt tariffs on its iPhones made in China. After Cook and Trump met last week, Apple on Monday announced it will invest $500 billion in the U.S. and create 20,000 more jobs during the next four years — a commitment applauded by the president. 

Tuesday’s shareholder vote came a month after the same group presented a similar proposal during Costco’s annual meeting, only to have it overwhelmingly rejected, too. 

That snub didn’t discourage the National Center for Public Policy Research from confronting Apple about its DEI program in a pre-recorded presentation by Stefan Padfield, executive director of the think tank’s Free Enterprise Project, who asserted “forced diversity is bad for business.” 

In the presentation, Padfield attacked Apple’s diversity commitments for being out of line with recent court rulings and said the programs expose the Cupertino, California, company to an onslaught of potential lawsuits for alleged discrimination. He cited the Trump administration as one of Apple’s potential legal adversaries. 

“The vibe shift is clear: DEI is out, and merit is in,” Padfield said in the presentation. 

The specter of potential legal trouble was magnified last week when Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier filed a federal lawsuit against Target alleging the retailer’s recently scaled-back DEI program alienated many consumers and undercut sales to the detriment of shareholders. 

Just as Costco does, Apple contends that fostering a diverse workforce makes good business sense. 

But Cook conceded Apple may have to make some adjustments to its diversity program “as the legal landscape changes” while still striving to maintain a culture that has helped elevate the company to its current market value of $3.7 trillion — greater than any other business in the world. 

“We will continue to create a culture of belonging,” Cook told shareholders during the meeting. 

In its last diversity and inclusion report issued in 2022, Apple disclosed that nearly three-fourths of its global workforce consisted of white and Asian employees. Nearly two-thirds of its employees were men. 

Other major technology companies for years have reported employing mostly white and Asian men, especially in high-paid engineering jobs — a tendency that spurred the industry to pursue largely unsuccessful efforts to diversify.

 
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U.S. consumer confidence plunged in February in its biggest monthly decline in more than four years, a business research group said Tuesday.

The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index dropped from 105.3 in January to 98.3 this month, the largest month-to-month decline since August 2021.

With U.S. consumer spending accounting for about 70% of the world’s largest economy, the three major stock indexes on Wall Street all fell on news of the report. The tech-heavy NASDAQ dropped by more than a percentage point.

The Conference Board said in a statement, “Views of current labor market conditions weakened. Consumers became pessimistic about future business conditions and less optimistic about future income. Pessimism about future employment prospects worsened and reached a 10-month high.”

Separately, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent contended Tuesday that the U.S. economy is more fragile under the surface than economic indicators suggest, and he vowed to “reprivatize” growth by cutting government spending and regulation.

In his first major economic policy address, Bessent told a group at the Australian Embassy in Washington that interest rate volatility, enduring inflation and reliance on the public sector for job growth have hobbled the American economy, despite general national economic growth and low unemployment.

Bessent blamed “prolific overspending” under former President Joe Biden and regulations that have hindered supply-side growth as the main drivers of “sticky inflation.”

“The previous administration’s over-reliance on excessive government spending and overbearing regulation left us with an economy that may have exhibited some reasonable metrics but ultimately was brittle underneath,” he said.

Bessent said that 95% of all job growth in the past 12 months has been concentrated in public and government-adjacent sectors, such as health care and education, jobs offering slower wage growth and less productivity than private-sector jobs.

Meanwhile, he said jobs in manufacturing, metals, mining and information technology all contracted or flatlined over the same period.

“The private sector has been in recession,” Bessent said. “Our goal is to reprivatize the economy.”

Consumers had appeared increasingly confident heading toward the end of 2024 and spent generously during the holiday season. But U.S. retail sales dropped sharply in January, with unusually cold weather throughout much of the U.S. taking some of the blame.

Retail sales fell 0.9% last month from December, the Commerce Department reported last week. The decline, the biggest in a year, came after two months of robust gains.

With inflation remaining a concern for consumers and uncertainty about President Donald Trump’s plan to impose new or stiffer tariffs on imports from other countries, policymakers at the country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve, have taken a cautious approach on whether to further cut its benchmark interest rate.

The Fed left its key borrowing rate alone at its last meeting after cutting it at the previous three.

“Consumers’ confidence has deteriorated sharply in the face of threats to impose large tariffs and to slash federal spending and employment,” Pantheon Macroeconomics chief Samuel Tombs wrote in a note to clients.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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