Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. visited the White House Monday at a time of tension in the Indo-Pacific region. President Joe Biden said the U.S. commitment to the archipelago is “ironclad” amid enhanced military cooperation resulting in the Philippines granting the U.S. access to four more military bases. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House. Nike Ching contributed to her report.
…

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday said Russia must pull out of Ukraine, blistering Russia’s “killing of the children” and distancing himself from some in his Republican party who oppose additional major U.S. aid to Ukraine to stave off the Russian invasion. 

In Israel on his first trip abroad as speaker, McCarthy emphatically stressed his support for Ukraine and rejected a suggestion that he does not support sending military and financial aid to Kyiv. At a news conference, he also amplified his positions on other issues back home, including his demand for debt limit negotiations with President Joe Biden. 

“I vote for aid for Ukraine. I support aid for Ukraine,” McCarthy said, responding to a question from a Russian reporter. 

“I do not support what your country has done to Ukraine, I do not support your killing of the children either,” McCarthy told the Russian reporter, adding. “You should pull out.” 

He said, “We will continue to support — because the rest of the world sees it just as it is.” 

McCarthy touched down in Jerusalem leading a bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers, his first foray abroad as the new House speaker and the first to address the Israeli Knesset in 25 years. 

Domestic politics followed his trip overseas, and the Republican speaker said that he still has not yet heard a response from Democrat Biden about negotiations over the U.S. debt ceiling, which are tense as deadlines near for action to prevent big economic trouble. 

“The president still hasn’t talked to me,” McCarthy said, quipping that he feels “a little like Netanyahu,” referring to the Israeli Prime Minister who has yet to receive a call from the U.S. president. 

Later Monday, President Biden called McCarthy along with other congressional leaders and invited them to a May 9 meeting at the White House to discuss the nation’s debt ceiling, according to administration officials. 

House Republicans last week put an opening offer on the table, passing a sweeping package that would raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion into 2024 in exchange for a long list of spending restrictions and other conservative policy priorities that Democrats oppose. Biden has said he would veto the bill if it should be approved by the House and Senate. 

Biden had previously refused to engage in talks on the debt ceiling, saying it must be raised with no strings attached to prevent a potentially catastrophic default on the nation’s already accrued bills. 

McCarthy made it clear a so-called “clean” debt ceiling will not be possible with House Republicans. 

“We will not pass a debt ceiling that just raises it without doing something about our debt,” McCarthy said. 

The Republican leader, who was elected speaker in January after a tumultuous internal party battle, led the congressional delegation on a trip he has made many times before, often with Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the former Democratic House majority leader, who was again at his side. 

The trip came as Congress was soon to face again a request to send major aid to Ukraine. McCarthy will need to navigate Republican politics as the debate plays out, particularly from the Trump-aligned wing that has raised opposition to spending overseas to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s Ukrainian aggression. 

Early on as party leader, McCarthy had said there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine, but he has since insisted that as speaker he will back the U.S. effort against Russia even as he works to ensure oversight of American taxpayer money abroad. 

Democratic former speaker Nancy Pelosi recently looked back on her own historic trip to Kyiv last year, at the outbreak of the war, and said Ukraine and democracy “must win.” 
…

The Supreme Court said Monday it will decide whether to jettison a decades-old decision that has been a frequent target of conservatives and, if overruled, could make it harder to sustain governmental regulations.

The justices agreed to hear an appeal that takes aim at a 1984 case known as Chevron. The case involves the Chevron oil company, and the ruling says that when laws aren’t crystal clear, federal agencies should be allowed to fill in the details. That’s what agencies currently do — on environmental regulations, workplace standards, consumer protections and immigration law.

The court’s conservative majority already has been reining in federal regulators, including in last June’s decision limiting the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

But Chevron has been one of the most frequently cited high-court cases, and a decision limiting its reach or overturning it altogether could dramatically limit the discretion of federal officials to make regulations affecting a wide range of American life.

At least four conservative members of the court — Justice Clarence Thomas, Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Brett Kavanaugh — have questioned the doctrine. Gorsuch, as an appeals court judge, noted that court decisions “permit executive bureaucracies to swallow huge amounts of core judicial and legislative power and concentrate federal power in a way that seems more than a little difficult to square with the Constitution of the framers’ design.”

It takes four of the court’s nine members to agree to hear a case, but the court, as is its custom, did not reveal the vote breakdown.

One wrinkle in the current case is that only eight justices will participate. Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson is not taking part, presumably because she was on a panel of appellate judges that heard arguments in the case when it was at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

The court will not hear the case before the fall. Last week, the justices finished hearing arguments for the term that is expected to wrap up in June. They will spend the next two months issuing opinions before taking a summer break.

The specific case the court agreed to hear is part of a long-running fight between commercial fishing groups and the federal government over who pays for data collection and regulatory compliance. It stems from a lawsuit by a group of fishermen who want to stop the federal government from making them pay for the regulatory work.

The fishermen involved in the lawsuit harvest Atlantic herring, which is a major fishery off the East Coast that supplies both food and bait. Lead plaintiff Loper Bright Enterprises of New Jersey and other fishing groups have said federal rules unfairly require them to pay hundreds of dollars per day to contractors who inspect the fisheries. Lower courts have ruled against them.

The case is Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 22-451.
…

Almost a third of the nurses in the United States are considering leaving their profession after the COVID-19 pandemic left them overwhelmed and fatigued, according to a survey.

The survey of over 18,000 nurses, conducted in January by AMN Healthcare Services Inc., showed on Monday that 30% of the participants are looking to quit their career, up 7 percentage points over 2021, when the pandemic-triggered wave of resignations began.

The survey also showed that 36% of the nurses plan to continue working in the sector but may change workplaces.

“This really underscores the continued mental health and well-being challenges the nursing workforce experiences post pandemic,” AMN Healthcare CEO Cary Grace told Reuters in an interview.

The survey showed there are various changes needed, with 69% of nurses seeking increased salaries and 63% of them seeking a safer working environment to reduce their stress.

This comes at a time that hospital operator and sector bellwether HCA Healthcare Inc. indicated a recovery in the staffing situation.

While a shortage of staff in hospitals has been an issue for a couple of years, it gained traction globally in late 2021 and hit a peak early last year following a large number of resignations due to burnout.

The staffing crisis drove up costs at hospital operators, while boosting profits at medical staffing providers such as AMN Healthcare.
…

U.S. President Joe Biden’s announcement that he will run for reelection in 2024 has left voters in his own Democratic party divided and generated far less immediate enthusiasm from the party faithful than bids by other recent presidents seeking a second term.

“I wouldn’t say I was surprised, but my initial reaction was disappointment,” said Jamie Leff, a musician living in Houston, Texas. “He has an extremely low approval rating and he’s so old. It just feels like he’s not the proper person to be running the country.”

The 80-year-old Biden is the oldest American president to seek reelection.

“We young voters want to see big changes and progress,” Leff, 32, added, “and can he give us that? I’m not sure. But he is the sitting president, which means he’s probably our best option and so we need to support him.”

Leff isn’t alone among Democrats.

Less than half (47%) of Democrats said they wanted President Biden to run for reelection according to an April poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. Even so, a commanding 81% of Democrats polled said they would “at least probably support” Biden in the general election against a Republican opponent.

“It seems that Democratic voters — especially younger voters — are ready to move on to a new, exciting generation of politicians,” explained University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock.

“But do you know who most Democrats would want even less than an old president?” Bullock asked. “A Republican president — and especially Donald Trump president.”

An American gerontocracy?

“All politics in America kind of feels like a gerontocracy, doesn’t it?” asked Leff.

According to a recent survey by USA Today/Suffolk University, half of Americans said their ideal age for a president was between 51 and 65. Another quarter of respondents said their preference was a candidate who was no more than 50 years of age.

“I think there’s a desire among many of us to elect people who aren’t afraid to speak up and who don’t give a damn about old, antiquated rules,” Yasmeen Husain, a Democratic voter in New Orleans, Louisiana, told VOA.

Bullock said, “People look at Biden and ask if the Democratic party is a gerontocracy, propping up its oldest politicians but the Republican party’s most recent leader is only four years younger. I think it’s something that’s plaguing both sides.”

Bullock noted that younger Democrats in Congress are taking on leadership roles within the party, but he believes voters on both sides of the political spectrum want younger choices.

Jillian Streger, a Republican voter from Merritt Island, Florida, agrees.

“I really think Biden’s mental health is starting to decline,” she told VOA. “I don’t say that in a mean way, it just seems like he’s having trouble focusing and completing sentences.

“But I think Republicans would do a lot better if we picked a newer, stronger candidate than Trump,” Streger continued. “He’s pushing voters away from our side, too.”

Former President Donald Trump announced last year he will seek to return to the White House.

Presidential accomplishments

Norma Rodrigues is a senior citizen who works as a translator in Miami, Florida. A Democrat, she acknowledges age will likely play a factor in Biden’s reelection bid.

“I had mixed feelings when I heard he was running for reelection,” Rodrigues told VOA. “His age is a concern because it means a higher probability of potential health issues, but also because of age prejudice that exists with some voters.”

She hopes, however, it’s not the most important factor.

“Despite age, I think he’s been a good president,” she said. “Biden doesn’t divide people or incite hate. I feel his conciliatory approach has brought respect and dignity, and that’s something this country has needed very badly after recent years.”

Independent voters, a critical bloc of the American electorate, helped Biden defeat Trump in 2020. Democrats are hopeful for a repeat of that support in 2024, and that Biden’s temperament will once again appeal to independents.

“Listen, he’s old and he stutters, which isn’t the best combo for impassioned speeches,” said Abby Rae Lacombe of Pennsylvania, an independent voter with anti-Trump leanings, “but I think he’s been really good at handling a whole lot of high-level crises.

“He guided us through COVID-19, he stood up for ‘proper’ interventionism against Russia without going too far, he’s managed to avoid a recession longer than most thought possible, and he handled a major security leak,” Lacombe said. “All of that, and our alternative is a fascist GOP, so I think the choice is clear.”

2024 matchups

Republican voters like Alberto Perez, from the rural town of Blairsville, Georgia, harshly grade Biden’s performance.

“I promised myself I would give him a year before I passed judgment,” Perez told VOA. “I ignored the mumbling and the incoherent sentences, and I still feel like his term has been a disaster. His departure from Afghanistan was a mess, his mandate that our hero nurses be vaccinated was tyrannical … and his war on gas companies has contributed to record inflation.

“The only policy I agreed with was the infrastructure bill he passed,” Perez added, “but progress has even been hard to see there.”

Political scientists like Bullock warned Biden might struggle to get credit from voters on accomplishments like the infrastructure bill because of how long it takes for many projects to reach completion.

But Robert Collins, a professor of Urban Studies and Public Policy at Dillard University in New Orleans, argues that a list of Oval Office accomplishments will likely not be the deciding factor in the 2024 presidential election.

“These days there are two proven ways to motivate people to the polls,” he told VOA. “There’s hope — but nobody has appealed to hope since Obama — and there’s also fear. A fear of what happens if the other guy or woman gets elected.”

Trump, Collins said, is an easy target for voters to fear.

“That’s why Biden beats Trump in early polling,” he said, “but Biden struggles against relative newcomer [Florida Republican Governor] Ron DeSantis. Would Democrats be better off in a matchup against DeSantis with someone other than Biden? We don’t know, and we won’t know.”

The reasons, Collins said, are twofold. One is that challenging an incumbent president for the nomination rarely succeeds and often harms the party in a general election. Democrat Jimmy Carter and Republican George H.W. Bush both fended off challenges from within their respective parties only to lose their reelection bids months later, Carter in 1980 and Bush in 1992. That history is likely to dissuade any would-be Biden challengers.

The other reason, according to Collins, is that Democrats don’t appear to have a deep bench of viable candidates beyond the current president.

“Vice President Harris was supposed to be the heir apparent,” he explained, “but it’s become obvious that she is — for whatever reason — very unpopular with voters. Even Democrats don’t seem to like her very much.”

Husain from New Orleans admits she was at first disappointed to learn that Biden was running for reelection. The more she thinks about it, however, the more she is warming to his decision.

“I wouldn’t say he’s the lesser of two evils because I do believe he’s inherently a good man,” she said, “and maybe against these Trump-like Republicans, that’s what we need. He’s our safest option, and that could be the best bet against the other side’s extremism.”
…

A nonprofit in Maryland is giving current and former prisoners a chance at a better life by training them to become auto technicians. VOA’s Julie Taboh has more. Videographer:  Adam Greenbaum         
…

The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation said Monday it had closed First Republic Bank and agreed a deal to sell its assets to JPMorgan Chase & Co and National Association, in what is the third major U.S. bank to fail in two months. 

JPMorgan bank was one of several interested buyers including PNC Financial Services Group, and Citizens Financial Group Inc, which submitted final bids on Sunday in an auction being run by U.S. regulators, sources familiar with the matter said over the weekend. 

A deal for First Republic, which had total assets of $229.1 billion as of April 13, comes less than two months after Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failed amid a deposit flight from U.S. lenders, forcing the Federal Reserve to step in with emergency measures to stabilize markets. Those failures came after crypto-focused Silvergate voluntarily liquidated. 
…

A widening manhunt for a Texas gunman who fatally shot five neighbors continued coming up empty Sunday as officers knocked on doors, the governor put up $50,000 in reward money and the FBI appeared no closer to catching the killer after nearly two days of searching with a team that has grown to hundreds of people. 

“I can tell you right now, we have zero leads,” James Smith, the FBI special agent in charge, told reporters while again asking the public for tips in the rural town of Cleveland, where the shooting took place just before midnight Friday.  

The search for the gunman near Houston has grown in scale: Authorities said that by Sunday evening more than 200 police from multiple jurisdictions were searching for Francisco Oropeza, many of them going door to door in hopes of any clues that would lead to the 38-year-old suspect. Local officials and the FBI also chipped in reward money, bringing the total to $80,000 for any information about Oropeza’s whereabouts.  

Oropeza is considered armed and dangerous after fleeing the area Friday night, likely on foot. San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers said authorities had widened the search area beyond the scene of the shooting, which occurred after the suspect’s neighbors asked him to stop firing off rounds in his yard late at night because a baby was trying to sleep.  

At a Sunday vigil in Cleveland, Wilson Garcia, the father of the 1-month-old, described the terrifying efforts inside his home by friends and family that night to escape, hide and shield themselves and children after Oropeza walked up to the home and began firing, killing his wife first at the front door. 

Another of Garcia’s children, 9-year-old Daniel Enrique Laso, was also killed. Garcia said he and two other people had gone to “respectfully” ask Oropeza to shoot his gun farther away from the house, which is on a street where residents say it is not uncommon for neighbors to unwind by firing off guns.  

Garcia said he walked away and called the police when Oropeza refused. It was 10 to 20 minutes later when he said he saw Oropeza loading his AR-style rifle while running toward the house.  

“I told my wife, ‘Get inside. This man has loaded his weapon,’” Garcia said. “My wife told me to go inside because, ‘He won’t fire at me. I’m a woman.’” 

Authorities have said at least five other people who were in the house at the time were uninjured. 

During the early hours of the search, investigators found clothes and a phone while combing an area that includes dense layers of forest, but tracking dogs lost the scent, Capers said. 

Authorities were able to identify Oropeza by an identity card issued by Mexican authorities to citizens who reside outside the country, as well as the doorbell camera footage. He said police have also interviewed the suspect’s wife multiple times. 

Police recovered the AR-15-style rifle that they said Oropeza used in the shootings. Authorities were not sure if Oropeza was carrying another weapon after others were found in his home. 

Capers said he hoped the reward money would motivate people to provide information and that there were plans to put up billboards in Spanish to spread the word.  

“We’re looking for closure for this family,” Capers said.  

By Sunday, police crime scene tape was removed from around the victims’ home, where some people stopped by to leave flowers.  

In the neighborhood, an FBI agent, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers and other officers were seen going door to door. One trooper stopped a red truck and asked to look inside before letting the driver continue on his way. 

Veronica Pineda, 34, who lives across the street from the suspect’s home, said authorities asked if they could search her property to see if he might be hiding there.  

She said she was fearful that the gunman had not yet been captured.  

“It is kind of scary,” she said. “You never know where he can be.”  

Pineda said she didn’t know Oropeza well but occasionally saw him, his wife and son ride their horses on the street. She said the family had lived there about five or six years and that neighbors have called authorities in the past to complain about people firing guns.  

The victims were between the ages of 9 and 31 years old and all were believed to have been shot from the neck up, according to authorities. All were believed to be from Hondurus.  

Enrique Reina, Honduras’ secretary of foreign affairs and international cooperation, said on Twitter that the Honduran Consulate in Houston was contacting the families in connection with the repatriation of remains as well as U.S. authorities to keep apprised of the investigation. 

The FBI in Houston said in a tweet on Sunday that it was referring to the suspect as Oropesa, not Oropeza, to “better reflect his identity in law enforcement systems.” His family lists their name as Oropeza on a sign outside their yard, as well as in public records. Authorities had also previously stated that Garcia’s son was 8 years old, but the father and school officials said Sunday that the third grader was 9.  

A total of three children found covered in blood in the home were taken to a hospital but found to be uninjured, Capers said. He said they were staying with family members. 

FBI spokesperson Christina Garza said investigators do not believe those at the home were members of a single family. In addition to the young boy, the other victims were identified as Sonia Argentina Guzman, 25; Diana Velazquez Alvarado, 21; Julisa Molina Rivera, 31; and Jose Jonathan Casarez, 18.  

Garcia said they had called police five times between the time they asked Oropeza to shoot farther away and when the gunman entered their home. Capers said police got there as fast as they could and that he had three officers covering 700 square miles (1,800 square kilometers). 
…

President Joe Biden is set to host President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines for White House talks Monday as concerns grow about the Chinese navy’s harassment of Philippine vessels in the South China Sea. 

Marcos’ visit to Washington comes after the U.S. and Philippines last week completed their largest war drills ever and as the two countries’ air forces on Monday will hold their first joint fighter jet training in the Philippines since 1990. The Philippines this year agreed to give the U.S. access to four more bases on the islands as the U.S. looks to deter China’s increasingly aggressive actions toward Taiwan and in the disputed South China Sea. 

Meanwhile, China has angered the Philippines by repeatedly harassing its navy and coast guard patrols and chasing away fishermen in waters close to Philippine shores but which Beijing claims as its own. 

Before departing for Washington on Sunday, Macros said he was “determined to forge an ever-stronger relationship with the United States in a wide range of areas that not only address the concerns of our times, but also those that are critical to advancing our core interests.” 

Monday’s Oval Office meeting is the latest high-level diplomacy with Pacific leaders by Biden as his administration contends with increased military and economic assertiveness by China and worries about North Korea’s nuclear program. Marcos’ official visit to Washington is the first by a Philippine president in more than 10 years. 

The U.S. president hosted South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol for a state visit last week in which the two leaders introduced new steps aimed at deterring North Korea from launching an attack on neighbors. Biden is scheduled to travel to Japan and Australia in May. 

The two sides are expected to discuss the security situation and come out with new economic, education, climate and other initiatives as part of Marcos’ four-day visit to Washington, a senior administration official told The Associated Press. 

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to preview the visit, said Biden administration officials are looking to redevelop “habits of alliance building” with the Philippines as aspects of the historically complicated relationship have “atrophied” over the years. 

Increased Chinese harassment of vessels in the South China Sea have added another dimension to the visit. On April 23, journalists from AP and other outlets were aboard the Philippine coast guard’s BRP Malapascua near Second Thomas Shoal when a Chinese coast guard ship blocked the Philippine patrol vessel steaming into the disputed shoal. The Philippines has filed more than 200 diplomatic protests against China since last year, at least 77 since Marcos took office in June. 

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller on Saturday called media reporting on the encounters a “stark reminder” of Chinese “harassment and intimidation of Philippine vessels as they undertake routine patrols within their exclusive economic zone. We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct.” 

Close U.S.-Philippines relations were not a given when Marcos took office. The son and namesake of the late Philippines strongman had seemed intent on following the path of his predecessor, Rodrigo Duterte, who pursued closer ties with China. 

Before Marcos took office last year, Kurt Campbell, coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs on the White House National Security Council, acknowledged that “historical considerations” could present “challenges” to the relationship with Marcos Jr. It was an oblique reference to long-standing litigation in the United States against the estate of his father, Ferdinand Marcos. 

A U.S. appeals court in 1996 upheld damages of about $2 billion against the elder Marcos’ estate for the torture and killings of thousands of Filipinos. The court upheld a 1994 verdict of a jury in Hawaii, where he fled after being forced from power in 1986. He died there in 1989. 

Biden and Macros met in September during the U.N. General Assembly, where the U.S. president acknowledged the two countries’ sometimes “rocky” past. 

During their private meeting, Biden stressed to Marcos his desire to improve relations and asked Marcos how the administration could “fulfill your dreams and hopes” for that, according to the senior administration official. 

Marcos is also slated to visit the Pentagon, meet Cabinet members and business leaders and make remarks at a Washington think-tank during the visit. 
…

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” led ticket sales for the fourth straight weekend in U.S. and Canadian theaters with $40 million as the global haul for the Universal Pictures release surpassed $1 billion, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Nintendo videogame adaptation dominated the month of April in theaters, smashing records along the way. Over the weekend, it faced little new competition, though that will change next week when Marvel’s “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” kicks off the summer movie calendar and is expected to move Mario to the side. Studios spent the last week at CinemaCon in Las Vegas promoting coming blockbusters and promising big returns at the summer box office.

“The Super Mario Bros. Movie” was estimated to easily cross $1 billion in worldwide box office Sunday, making it the 10th animated film to reach that milestone and the first since 2019. With a domestic total thus far of $490 million, international sales are even stronger. The Illumination-animated release took in $68.3 million overseas over the weekend, pushing its international haul to $532.5 million.

Second place went to “Evil Dead Rise.” The horror sequel from Warner Bros. held well in its second week, especially for a horror film, dipping 50% with $12.2 million.

Among the weekend’s newcomers, the Judy Blume adaptation “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” fared the best. The Lionsgate release grossed $6.8 million in 3,343 locations, a decent start for the $30 million-budgeted coming-of age tale written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig (“The Edge of Seventeen”).

As expected, “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret,” about an 11-year-old (Abby Ryder Fortson) going through puberty, drew an overwhelming female audience. With stellar reviews (99% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and strong audience scores (an “A” CinemaScore), “Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret,” should play well through Mother’s Day.

Lionsgate also released the Finnish action movie “Sisu” in 1,006 locations. The film, about a prospector (Jorma Tommila) whose gold is stolen by Nazis, grossed an estimated $3.3 million. That was a solid result for the rare international film to receive a nationwide opening. Reviews have been good (93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) for writer-director Jalmari Helander’s film.

“Sisu” managed to surpass the weekend’s most heavyweight new release: “Big George Foreman: The Miraculous Story of the Once and Future Heavyweight Champion of the World.” The film, from Sony’s Christian production company Affirm Films, gives a faith-based twist to the sports biopic. But after getting dinged by bad review, it didn’t punch very hard, with $3 million in 3,054 theaters.

Nida Manzoor’s “Polite Society,” about a British-Pakistani high-schooler (Priya Kansara) with dreams of becoming a stuntwoman, debuted with $800,000 in 927 theaters. The Focus Features film, one of the standouts of January’s Sundance Film Festival, blends kung-fu with Jane Austen in a story about London sisters.

One of the weekend’s biggest successes was a familiar box-office force. The Walt Disney Co.’s rerelease of “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi” grossed $4.7 million in just 475 theaters. Disney put “Jedi” (the 1997 special edition version) back into theaters to commemorate the 1983 film’s 40th anniversary.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” $40 million.

2. “Evil Dead Rise,” $12.2 million.

3. “Are You There, God? It’s Me, Margaret,” $6.8 million.

4. “John Wick: Chapter 4,” $5 million.

5. “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi,” $4.7 million.

6. “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” $4.1 million.

7. “Air,” $4 million.

8. “Ponniyin Selvan: Part Two,” $3.6 million.

9. “The Covenant,” $3.6 million.

10. “Sisu,” $3.3 million.
    …

Minneapolis police arrested a man suspected of setting two fires that damaged mosques in the city last week as part of what the chief called “an attempt to inflict terror onto our Muslim community.”

Police Chief Brian O’Hara announced the arrest of 36-year-old Jackie Rahm Little early Sunday but didn’t provide details of how he was apprehended. He was charged with second-degree arson after the fires were set on April 23 and 24 and an arrest warrant was issued.

“Houses of worship should be safe places. Setting fire to a sacred facility, where families and children gather, is incredibly inhumane. And this level of blatant hatred will not be tolerated in our great city,” O’Hara said in a statement Sunday.

Leaders with the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations praised the arrest after the fires that had unnerved the Muslim community in the area.

“This arrest brings some relief to our community, which has been on edge for the past week,” said Jaylani Hussein, the group’s executive director. “We hope to learn more about the suspect’s motivations and any potential accomplices who may have incited these attacks on our houses of worship.”

One fire was set last Monday on the third floor of the Mercy Islamic Center. The center houses the Masjid Al Rahma mosque.

The criminal complaint against Little states that surveillance footage showed him entering the center carrying a bag with a gasoline can inside. A short time later, a staff member spotted a fire near offices. It was extinguished before it could spread very far.

The other fire was Sunday night in the bathroom of the mosque in the 24 Somali Mall. Worshippers extinguished the fire.

The two mosques are less than a mile apart. O’Hara had said earlier that the department suspected the same person was responsible for that blaze.
…

The U.S. Homeland Security chief Sunday pledged to use existing U.S. immigration laws to process thousands of migrants expected to try to cross its southwestern border with Mexico starting May 12. That is when President Joe Biden’s administration ends its use of a law linked to the coronavirus pandemic to quickly expel undocumented arrivals for health reasons.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas told NBC’s “Meet the Press” show that when families arrive at the border, they “will be placed in immigration enforcement proceedings, removal proceedings. If they make a claim for relief, we will adjudicate that claim for relief swiftly.”

He said the outcome of the cases of the migrants seeking to remain in the United States could be resolved in “days or weeks. It is not going to [require] months and months,” and would be heard by immigration officials ahead of the backlog of 2 million existing immigration cases waiting to be settled in the U.S.

Mayorkas said if an unaccompanied child arrives at the border, “We follow the law and the law provides that we take custody of that child and we have 72 hours within which to transfer that child, that unaccompanied child, to the Department of Health and Human Services.”

“Then it is for the Department of Health and Human Services … to identify a relative or a sponsor in the United States, to whom they can transfer care of that child.” Mayorkas said. “We have, the law provides, for humanitarian relief for these children and we enforce that law.”

More than 2.4 million migrants have arrived at the U.S. border in the last year, many from Central American countries, but also from Caribbean nations, Africa, Ukraine and elsewhere. Many have been turned away, while others have escaped into the U.S. interior or assigned immigration court dates months and years into the future and released into the U.S.

Mayorkas laid out the scope of the problem facing the U.S. as migrants, many escaping poverty and political persecution in their homelands, attempt to flee to the world’s wealthiest country and a better life.

“This is a really tough challenge and has been, as we all recognize, for years and years,” Mayorkas said. “We are seeing a level of migration not just at our southern border, but throughout the hemisphere, that is unprecedented.”

“It is, I think, the greatest migration in our hemisphere since World War II,” he added.

When the coronavirus pandemic was deemed a widespread threat, U.S. law gave U.S. border officials the authority to quickly expel those crossing the Mexican-U.S. border to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. But those denied entry at the border often tried again and again to get into the United States, with no legal consequence.

Biden officials tried to end use of the coronavirus provision to keep out migrants to utilize the country’s normal migration laws, which calls for violators to be barred for five years from readmission to the U.S. But attorneys general in Republican-controlled states won court rulings that continued the health care-related migration decision until May 11.            

As a result, a new influx of migrants is expected starting May 12, even as existing migrant shelters in border towns and elsewhere in such large U.S. cities as New York and Chicago are overcrowded.

“Our approach is to build lawful pathways, cut out the ruthless smugglers, deliver lawful pathways so people can access humanitarian relief without having to take the dangerous journey from their home countries,” Mayorkas said. “And at the same time, if they arrive at our southern border in between ports of entry, we will deliver consequences.”

But he readily acknowledged “a broken immigration system” in the U.S., with Congress failing for decades to reform its migration laws.

“I just want to be clear that we are working within significant constraints,” he said. “We need people, we need technology, we need facilities, we need transportation resources, all of the elements of addressing the needs of a large population of people arriving irregularly at our southern border.”
…

Ghana has been encouraging African Americans to move to the West African nation since 2019, urging them to connect with their African roots and also to invest in the country. American Chaz Kyser has built a support system helping fellow African Americans, especially women, settle in Ghana, and to nurture their ideas for business. Senanu Tord reports from Accra, Ghana.
…

The White House Correspondents’ Association dinner — known for its fun albeit ferocious jabs at Washington — took a more solemn tone this year as President Joe Biden acknowledged the several American journalists under siege in authoritarian countries around the world.

“We are here to send a message to the country and, quite frankly, to the world: The free press is a pillar, maybe the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy,” Biden said in his speech.

The president and first lady Jill Biden, upon arriving at the Washington Hilton on Saturday, met privately with the parents of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who has been imprisoned in Russia since March. He was charged with spying, despite strong denials from his employer and the U.S. government. Some guests wore buttons with “Free Evan” printed on them.

Also among the 2,600 people attending the gala was Debra Tice, the mother of Austin Tice, who has not been heard from since disappearing at a checkpoint in Syria in 2012. U.S. officials say they operate under the assumption that he is alive and are working to try to bring him home.

“Journalism is not a crime. Evan and Austin should be released immediately along with every other American detained abroad,” Biden said. “I promise you, I am working like hell to get them home.”

The Bidens also made a beeline for Brittney Griner, the WNBA star and Olympic gold medalist who was detained in Russia for nearly 10 months last year before her release in a prisoner swap. Griner attended with her wife, Cherelle, as guests of CBS News.

“This time last year we were praying for you, Brittney,” Biden said to the basketball star.

The annual black-tie dinner drew a wide array of celebrities and media moguls to Washington, with parties being held across the capital. Among those in attendance were actor Liev Schreiber, singer John Legend and his wife, Chrissy Teigen, the model and television personality.

Actor and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger opened the dinner with a pre-taped video about the importance of a free and independent press, calling reporters an “ally of the people.” Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were seated on the stage along with comedian Roy Wood Jr., a correspondent for The Daily Show, who was the featured entertainer.

While Biden spent the majority of his speech focused on the issue of press freedom, he took time to take jabs at some of his most vocal political critics. The occasion is a familiar and comfortable one for Biden, who attended several of the dinners as vice president to Barack Obama. The Washington event returned last year after being sidelined by the pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Biden was the first president in six years to accept the invitation after Donald Trump shunned the event while in office.

But this year, he came not only as the commander in chief but as a presidential contender.

He started his punchlines with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, taking direct aim at a recent bill Republicans passed that would lift the debt ceiling in exchange for a series of budget cuts, including some of Biden’s key legislative achievements.

“The last time Republicans voted for something that hapless it took 15 tries,” Biden said, referring to the gruesome fight McCarthy endured to become speaker in January.

And he didn’t stop there, going after Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch about his age. “And you call me old?” he told the crowd.

Biden even made a couple of self-deprecating jokes, mostly surrounding criticism of his age as he mounts a second bid for reelection. “I believe in the First Amendment and not just because my good friend Jimmy Madison wrote it,” he said to a roaring crowd.

Wood, who took the stage after Biden, also zeroed in on the president’s age.

“We should be inspired by the events in France. They rioted when the retirement age went up two years to 64,” Wood said. “Meanwhile in America, we have an 80-year-old man, begging us for four more years.”
…

Attempts to ban books in libraries and schools in the United States nearly doubled last year to 1,269 from the prior year, the highest number of attempts in 20 years, according to a recent report from the American Library Association.

Books that have LGBTQ themes are the most likely targets, according to the report.

The issue of which books are in a library and school has become a flashpoint in communities across the U.S. with conservative lawmakers and groups saying they are turning to banning books to protect children from pornography. Civil liberty organizations, writers and librarians say book banning attempts are censorship.

In the midwestern state of Missouri, a new law that bans sexually explicit materials from schools has resulted in pulling books off the shelves. In the state of Florida, lawmakers recently passed three new laws related to controlling reading material.

In the northwestern state of Idaho, Republican lawmakers have introduced legislation that would remove the exemption public libraries currently have to existing laws that ban disseminating material harmful to minors.

One town in the state of Texas is considering going a step further — closing the public library.

‘A book’s never hurt anybody’

Llano is a rural town 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Austin, the state capital. There, officials are considering closing the library system after a federal judge overturned the local lawmakers’ decision to remove books.

“A book’s never hurt anybody,” according to J.R. Decker, who said his family has lived in Llano County for generations. “My government’s telling me the only thing they can protect my child from is books. They should be worried about gun violence and school safety.”

Decker was among the people who protested at a recent meeting regarding the library closure issue. Among those who spoke was Suzette Baker, a former Llano County librarian who says she was fired for insubordination after she refused to remove books.

“I would like to know how the ‘History of the KKK’ is pornographic? ‘How to be an Anti-Racist,’ how is that pornographic? It’s not,” she said at the hearing. “This is about taking away rights. This is not a communist nation. This is not a Nazi nation. You do not get to pick our reading material, it is ours.”

Book-ban supporter Rhonda Schneider spoke in support of banning certain books.

“The library is a vital part of our community, but they said, ‘It’s a safe space for kids,'” said Schneider. “It is not a safe space for kids. These are all books that are currently on the shelf in the Llano Library.” Schneider read off a paper printout a list of books, in which two people spoke graphically about sexuality.

Llano resident Emmett McPherson did not get called upon to speak but said he also thinks the library is unsafe for children.

“The only reason I am for closing the library is because we haven’t gotten these books that are definitely pornographic moved to an adult section,” said McPherson. “I am willing to close the whole library to keep them out of my children’s hands.”

While some of the books cited at the meeting may be objectionable to some, they are not pornographic, said Texas Library Association Executive Director Shirley Robinson.

“So first of all, there is a legal definition of pornography,” said Robinson. “And there are never any materials in any library — school, public or academic — that would meet that legal definition of pornography.”

Texas book ban efforts

There are nearly 40 bills in this Texas legislative session relating to libraries, some of which include criminal charges against librarians, Robinson said.

Many book ban challenges in Texas began in 2021 after a lawmaker contacted libraries asking if they had any books among a list of nearly 850 titles, Robinson said. Many of the titles were LGBTQ-related or were written by or about people of color, she added.

“Librarians are leaving the profession because there is this threat of potential criminal prosecution or just harassment within their communities,” Robinson said.

One librarian who quit is Lee Glover, who was an elementary school librarian in the Houston, Texas, area. Her school started shifting book approval decisions to parents, instead of librarians, after an increase in book challenges.

“I already have a whole list of protocols I have to follow before I can put a book into the library,” she said. “But now they want me to have parents come and review them before I order them?”

It’s the students who are the losers in the book banning battle, she said.

“We are the lifeline for so many kids,” said Glover. ‘We are the ones who put books in kids’ hands that can’t see themselves reflected anywhere else.”

For now, the Llano County library system remains open. At its recent meeting, county commissioners voted to take the library closure “off the agenda,” while they appeal the federal order to return the books back to circulation. That decision is expected in the fall.
…

Ever since missionaries started building churches out of mud 400 years ago in what was the isolated frontier of the Spanish empire, tiny mountain communities like Cordova relied on their own resources to keep the faith going.

Thousands of miles from religious and lay seats of power, everything from priests to sculptors to paint pigments was hard to come by. Villagers instituted lay church caretakers called “mayordomos,” and filled chapels with elaborate altarpieces made of local wood.

Today, threatened by depopulation, dwindling congregations and fading traditions, some of their descendants are fighting to save these historic adobe structures from literally crumbling back to the earth they were built with.

“Our ancestors put blood and sweat in this place for us to have Jesus present,” said Angelo Sandoval on a spring day inside the 1830s church of St. Anthony, where he serves as mayordomo. “We’re not just a church, we’re not just a religion — we have roots.”

These churches anchor a uniquely New Mexican way of life for their communities, many of which no longer have schools or stores, and struggle with chronic poverty and addiction. But it’s becoming increasingly difficult to find the necessary resources to preserve the estimated 500 Catholic mission churches, especially since most are used for only a few services each year.

“When the faithful generation is gone, are they going to be a museum or serve their purpose?” said the Rev. Rob Yaksich, pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows in Las Vegas, New Mexico, which oversees 23 rural churches. “This old, deep-rooted Spanish Catholicism is experiencing serious disruption.”

‘It’s our job now’

In the hamlet of Ledoux, Fidel Trujillo is mayordomo of the pink-stucco San Jose church, which he keeps spotless even though few Masses are celebrated here regularly.

“Our ‘antepasados’ (ancestors) did a tremendous job in handing over the faith, and it’s our job now,” Trujillo said in the characteristic mix of Spanish and English that most speak in this region. “I much prefer coming to these ‘capillas’ (chapels). It’s a compass that guides where your heart really belongs.”

Each mission church is devoted to a particular saint. When New Mexico’s largest wildfire last spring charred forests less than 100 yards from San Jose church, and Trujillo was displaced for a month, he took the statue of St. Joseph with him.

“Four hundred years ago, life was very difficult in this part of the world,” explained Felix Lopez, a master “santero” — an artist who sculpts, paints and conserves saint figures in New Mexico’s unique devotional style. “People needed these ‘santos.’ They were a source of comfort and refuge.”

In intervening centuries, most were stolen, sold or damaged, according to Bernadette Lucero, director, curator and archivist for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe.

“Saints are the spiritual go-to, they can be highly powerful,” said Victor Goler, a master santero who just completed conserving the altarpieces, or “reredos,” in Las Trampas’ mid-18th century church.

On a recent Sunday at Truchas’ 1760s Holy Rosary church, Lopez pointed out the rich decorative details that centuries of smoke and grime had hidden until he meticulously removed them with the absorbent inside of sourdough bread.

“I’m a devout Catholic, and I do this as meditation, as a form of prayer,” said Lopez, who’s been a santero for five decades and whose family hails from this village perched on a ridge at 7,000 feet (2,100 meters).

Faith that support will come

For the Rev. Sebastian Lee, who as administrator of the popular Santuario de Chimayo complex a few miles away also oversees these mission churches, fostering local attachment is a daunting challenge as congregations shrink even faster since the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I want missions to be where people can taste culture and religiosity. They’re very healing, you’re soaked with people’s faith,” Lee said. “I wonder how to help them, because sooner or later one mission is not going to have enough people.”

The archdiocese’s Catholic Foundation provides small grants, and several organizations have been founded to help conservation efforts.

Exposed to rain and snow, adobe needs a fresh replastering of dirt, sand and straw every couple of years lest it dissolve.

That makes local buy-in and some kind of ongoing activity, even just funerals, fundamental to long-term preservation, said Jake Barrow, program director at Cornerstones, which has worked on more than 300 churches and other structures.

But with fewer priests and fewer faithful, taking some rural missions off the church’s roster might be inevitable, said the Rev. Andy Pavlak, who serves on the archdiocese’s commission for the preservation of historic churches.

Not everyone agrees. Running his hand over the smooth adobe walls he restored at the 1880s Santo Nino de Atocha chapel in Monte Aplanado, a hamlet nestled in a high mountain valley, Leo Paul Pacheco argued that the answer might hinge on the faith of future generations of lay people like him.

“They still have access to the same dirt,” Pacheco said as the adobe walls’ sand particles and straw sparkled in the sun. “They will provide.”
…

Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

US Immigration Officials Announce Border Plans as End of Title 42 Nears

The Biden administration on Thursday announced efforts to manage the flow of migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border as the end of a pandemic-era policy known as Title 42 nears. In a briefing with reporters, administration officials said they are opening immigration processing centers in Latin America to provide migrants easier access to legal pathways to the U.S., including the refugee admissions resettlement program, and prescreening for other programs such as parole, family reunification, or existing labor pathways. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story.

US Braces for More Migrant Crossings as Border Restrictions Set to End

The Biden administration is devising a strategy for the possible arrival of tens of thousands more migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border after the anticipated end of COVID-19 restrictions next month, scrambling to find potential holding centers, speed up deportations and increase processing of refugees abroad. Reuters has the story.

Encounters, Apprehensions, Expedited Removal: Border Enforcement Explained

U.S. immigration officials reported more than 2 million migrant encounters along U.S. borders nationwide in fiscal 2022. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection — often referred to as the CBP — releases border enforcement data monthly to explain what is happening. It includes apprehensions, encounters, and removals, among other actions. But what do those terms mean? Immigration reporter Aline Barros explains.

US Sends First Deportation Flight to Cuba Since 2020

The United States on Monday sent its first deportation flight to Cuba since 2020, months after Cuba agreed for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic to accept flights carrying Cubans caught in the U.S.-Mexico border. Story reported by Reuters.

Mexico Migrant Camp Tents Torched Across Border From Texas

About two dozen makeshift tents were set ablaze and destroyed at a migrant camp across the border from Texas last week, witnesses said, a sign of the extreme risk that comes with being stuck in Mexico as the Biden administration increasingly relies on that country to host people fleeing poverty and violence. The Associated Press reports.

VOA’s New Documentary Series, 52 Documentary: Here to Help

Ian Netupsky is an American volunteer in Ukraine. He went there as soon as the war started and left only once since then – for a short time to set up a nonprofit back in the U.S. He has been helping refugees, transporting supplies, food, medicine, etc. to the eastern Ukrainian territories under siege. His main reasons for volunteering are his kids – he wants to make sure they can continue living in a world with freedom and democracy. Ian is accompanied by his dog, Bear, who makes people around him smile and feel better. The film follows Ian on his missions to Kyiv and Kharkiv.

Immigration around the world

Dozens of Bodies Float Ashore in Libya After Migrant Boats Sink

At least 57 bodies have washed ashore after two migrant boats sank in the Mediterranean off towns in western Libya, a coast guard officer and an aid worker said on Tuesday. Reuters reports.

UN Refugee Agency: Mass Exodus From Sudan Could Trigger Regional Instability

The United Nations refugee agency is appealing to states next to conflict-ridden Sudan to keep their borders open to people seeking safety and protection. Since fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted April 15, tens of thousands of Sudanese have abandoned their homes in fear for their lives. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Report Recommends Major Immigration Reform in Australia

A government-commissioned report Thursday called for a thorough overhaul of Australia’s immigration system. According to the Migration Review, the system is outdated and does not meet the country’s current or future skills needs, and therefore requires a “long term and holistic” approach to find a solution. The report makes sweeping recommendations that will be considered by Australia’s left-leaning Labor government. Story by Phil Mercer.

Lithuania Legalizes Migrant Pushbacks

Lithuania’s parliament passed legislation Tuesday to make it legal to deny entry to asylum-seekers, the EU member’s latest move to fight illegal immigration from Belarus, to the dismay of rights activists. Story by AFP.

Migrants Walking Through Mexico Threaten Road Blockades

Around 3,000 migrants walking through southern Mexico in a mass protest procession threatened Monday to block roads or harm themselves unless the government agrees to talks or provides them with buses. The Associated Press reports.

News Brief

— The U.S. Department of Homeland Security so far in fiscal year 2023 increased removals and returns to 225,483, up from 170,896 over the same period in fiscal year 2022. The numbers are in addition to Title 42 expulsions on the U.S.-Mexico border, which reached 1,079,507 in that same timeframe.
…

The United States called Saturday for China to stop harassing Philippine vessels in the South China Sea, pledging to stand with the Philippines at a time of simmering geopolitical tension.

“We call upon Beijing to desist from its provocative and unsafe conduct,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

The Philippines accused China’s coast guard of “aggressive tactics” Friday following an incident during a Philippine coast guard patrol close to the Philippines-held Second Thomas Shoal, a flashpoint for previous altercations located 105 nautical miles (195 km) off its coast.

The Second Thomas Shoal is home to a small military contingent aboard a rusty World War II-era U.S. ship that was intentionally grounded in 1999 to reinforce the Philippines’ territorial claims. In February, the Philippines said a Chinese ship had directed a “military-grade laser” at one of its resupply vessels.

China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea with a “nine-dash line” on maps that stretches more than 1,500 km off its mainland and cuts into the exclusive economic zones of Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. An international arbitral ruling in 2016 dismissed that line as having no legal basis.

China’s foreign ministry said Friday the Philippine vessels had intruded into Chinese waters and made deliberate provocative moves.

The State Department said Washington “stands with our Philippine allies in upholding the rules-based international maritime order.”
…

“We thought we could die.”

The Russian invasion had just begun when Nancy Pelosi made a surprise visit to Ukraine, the House speaker then the highest-ranking elected U.S. official to lead a congressional delegation to Kyiv.

Pelosi and the lawmakers were ushered under the cloak of secrecy into the capital city, an undisclosed passage that even to this day she will not divulge.

“It was very, it was dangerous,” Pelosi told The Associated Press before Sunday’s one-year anniversary of that trip.

“We never feared about it, but we thought we could die because we’re visiting a serious, serious war zone,” Pelosi said. “We had great protection, but nonetheless, a war — theater of war.”

Pelosi’s visit was as unusual as it was historic, opening a fresh diplomatic channel between the U.S. and Ukraine that has only deepened with the prolonged war. In the year since, a long list of congressional leaders, senators and chairs of powerful committees, both Democrats and Republicans, followed her lead, punctuated by President Joe Biden’s own visit this year.

The steady stream of arrivals in Kyiv has served to amplify a political and military partnership between the U.S. and Ukraine for the world to see, one that will be tested anew when Congress is again expected this year to help fund the war to defeat Russia.

“We must win. We must bring this to a positive conclusion — for the people of Ukraine and for our country,” Pelosi said.

“There is a fight in the world now between democracy and autocracy, its manifestation at the time is in Ukraine.”

Looked beyond US borders

With a new Republican majority in the House whose Trump-aligned members have balked at overseas investments, Pelosi, a Democrat, remains confident the Congress will continue backing Ukraine as part of a broader U.S. commitment to democracy abroad in the face of authoritarian aggression.

“Support for Ukraine has been bipartisan and bicameral, in both houses of Congress by both parties, and the American people support democracy in Ukraine,” Pelosi told AP. “I believe that we will continue to support as long as we need to support democracy… as long as it takes to win.”

Now the speaker emerita, an honorary title bestowed by Democrats, Pelosi is circumspect about her role as a U.S. emissary abroad. Having visited 87 countries during her time in office, many as the trailblazing first woman to be the House speaker, she set a new standard for pointing the gavel outward as she focused attention on the world beyond U.S. shores.

In her office tucked away at the Capitol, Pelosi shared many of the honors and mementos she has received from abroad, including the honorary passport she was given on her trip to Ukraine, among her final stops as speaker.

It’s a signature political style, building on Pelosi’s decades of work on the House Intelligence committee, but one that a new generation of House leaders may — or may not — chose to emulate.

The new Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library this month, the Republican leader’s first foray as leader into foreign affairs.

Democrat Hakeem Jeffries took his own first trip abroad to as House minority leader, leading congressional delegations last week to Ghana and Israel.

Pelosi said it’s up to the new leaders what they will do on the global stage.

“Other speakers have understood our national security — we take an oath to protect and defend — and so we have to reach out with our values and our strength to make sure that happens,” she said.

‘A fight for everyone’

When Pelosi arrived in Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stood outside to meet the U.S. officials, the photo that ricocheted around the world a show of support for the young democracy fighting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

“The courage of the president in greeting us on the street rather than us just meeting him in his office was yet again another symbol of the courage of the people of Ukraine,” she said.

Pelosi told Zelenskyy in a video released at the time “your fight is a fight for everyone.”

Last year, in one of her final trips as speaker, Pelosi touched down with a delegation in Taipei, Taiwan, crowds lining the streets to cheer her arrival, a visit with the Taiwanese president that drew a sharp rebuke from Beijing, which counts the island as its own.

“Cowardly,” she said about the military exercises China launched in the aftermath of her trip.

Pelosi offered rare praise for McCarthy’s own meeting with Tsai, particularly its bipartisan nature and the choice of venue the historic Reagan library.

“That was really quite a message and quite an optic to be there. And so, I salute what he did,” she said.

In one of her closing acts as House speaker in December, Pelosi hosted Zelenskyy for a joint address to Congress. The visit evoked the one made by Winston Churchill, the prime minister of Britain, at Christmastime in 1941 to speak to Congress in the Senate chamber of a “long and hard war” at the start of World War II.

Zelenskyy presented to Congress a Ukrainian flag signed by frontline troops that Pelosi said will eventually be displayed at the U.S. Capitol.

The world has changed much since Pelosi joined Congress — one of her first trips abroad was in 1991, when she dared to unfurl a pro-democracy banner in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square shortly after the student demonstrations that ended in massacre.

After the long wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, it’s Russia and China that remain front of her mind.

“The role of Putin in terms of Russia that is a bigger threat than it was when I came to Congress,” she said. A decade after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989, she said, Putin went up.

“That’s where the fight for democracy is taking place,” she said.

And, she said, despite the work she and others in Congress have done to point out the concerns over China’s military and economic rise, and its human rights record, “that has only gotten worse.”
…

Hundreds of Americans fleeing two weeks of deadly fighting in Sudan reached the east African nation’s port Saturday in the first U.S.-run evacuation, completing a dangerous land journey under escort of armed drones.

American unmanned aircraft, which have been keeping an eye on overland evacuation routes for days, provided armed overwatch for a bus convoy carrying 200 to 300 Americans more than 800 kilometers to Port Sudan, a place of relative safety, U.S. officials said.

The U.S., which had none of its officials on the ground for the evacuation, has been criticized by families of trapped Americans in Sudan for initially ruling out any U.S.-run evacuation for those among an estimated 16,000 Americans in Sudan who wish to leave.

U.S. special operations troops briefly flew to the capital, Khartoum, on April 22, to airlift out American staffers at the embassy and other American government personnel. More than a dozen other nations have already been carrying out evacuations for their citizens, using a mix of military planes, navy vessels and on the ground personnel.

A wide-ranging group of international mediators — including African and Arab nations, the United Nations and the United States — has only managed to achieve a series of fragile temporary cease-fires that failed to stop clashes but created enough of a lull for tens of thousands of Sudanese to flee to safer areas and for foreign nations to evacuate thousands of their citizens by land, air and sea.

Evacuees see dead in streets

Since the conflict between two rival generals broke out April 15, the U.S. has warned its citizens that they needed to find their own way out of the country, though U.S. officials have tried to link Americans with other nations’ evacuation efforts. But that changed as U.S. officials exploited a relative lull in the fighting and, from afar, organized their own convoy for Americans, officials said.

Without the evacuation flights near the capital that other countries have been offering their citizens, many U.S. citizens have been left to make the dangerous overland journey from Khartoum to the country’s main Red Sea port, Port Sudan. One Sudanese-American family that made the trip earlier described passing through numerous checkpoints manned by armed men and passing bodies lying in the street and vehicles of other fleeing families who had been killed along the way.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the convoy carried U.S. citizens, local people employed by the U.S., and citizens of allied countries. “We reiterate our warning to Americans not to travel to Sudan,” he said.

From Port Sudan, away from the fighting, the Americans in the convoy can seek spots on vessels crossing the Red Sea to the Saudi port city of Jeddah. U.S. officials also are working with Saudi Arabia to see if one of the kingdom’s naval vessels can carry a larger number of Americans to Jeddah.

U.S. consular officials will be waiting for the Americans once they reach the dock in Jeddah, but there are no U.S. personnel in Port Sudan, officials said.

American doctor stabbed

Two Americans are confirmed killed in the fighting that erupted April 15. One was a U.S. civilian whom officials said was caught in crossfire. The other was an Iowa City, Iowa, doctor, who was stabbed to death in front of his house and family in Khartoum, in the lawless violence that has accompanied the fighting.

In all, the fighting in the east African country has killed more than 500 people.

The U.S. airlifted out all its diplomats and military personnel and closed its embassy April 22. It left behind several thousand U.S. citizens still in Sudan, many of them dual-nationals.

The Biden administration had warned it had no plans to join other countries in organizing an evacuation for ordinary U.S. citizens who wanted out, calling it too dangerous.
…

A Texas man went next door with a rifle and began shooting his neighbors, killing an 8-year-old and four others inside the house, after the family asked him to stop firing rounds in his yard because they were trying to sleep, authorities said Saturday. 

San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers told reporters at the scene that authorities were still searching for 39-year-old Francisco Oropeza following the overnight shooting in the town of Cleveland, about 72 kilometers north of Houston. He said Oropeza used an AR-style rifle in the shooting. 

“Everyone that was shot was shot from the neck up, almost execution-style,” Capers said during an earlier news conference at the scene. 

Capers said there were 10 people in the house and that no one else was injured. He said two of the victims, all believed to be from Honduras, were found lying over two children inside. 

“The Honduran ladies that were laying over these children were doing it in such an effort as to protect the child,” according to Capers, who said a total of three blood-covered children were found in the home but were determined to be uninjured after being taken to a hospital. 

Capers said two other people were examined at the scene and released. 

The confrontation followed family members walking up to the fence and asking the suspect to stop shooting rounds, Capers said. The suspect responded by telling them that it was his property, according to Capers, and that one person in the house got a video of the suspect walking up to the front door with the rifle. 

Three of the victims were women and one was a man. Their names were not released. Capers said the victims were between the ages of 8 and about 40 years old. 

Authorities have previously been to the suspect’s home, according to Capers. “Deputies have come over and spoke with him about him shooting his gun in the yard,” he said. 

Capers said some of those in the house had just moved from Houston earlier in the week, but he did not know whether they were planning to stay there. 

The U.S. is on a record pace for mass killings this year, with at least 18 shootings since January 1 that left four or more people dead. The violence is sparked by a range of motives: murder-suicides and domestic violence; gang retaliation; school shootings and workplace vendettas. 
…

The U.S. Army on Friday said it was grounding its aviation units until they receive further training.

All Army aviators are grounded “except for those participating in critical missions,” the Army said in a statement.

The move comes after two helicopters collided in Alaska earlier this week, killing three soldiers and injuring a fourth.

In March, nine soldiers were killed in Kentucky when two Army Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopters crashed during a nighttime training exercise.

The Associated Press reports that all the training will take place during the month of May.

Army Chief of Staff James McConville said, “The safety of our aviators is our top priority, and this stand down is an important step to make certain we are doing everything possible to prevent accidents and protect our personnel.”
…

Every decision Assata Salim makes for her young son is important. Amid a spike in mass killings, questions of safety were at the top of her mind when choosing a school. Next on her checklist was the school’s culture.

Salim and her 6-year-old, Cho’Zen Waters, are Black. In Georgia, where they live, public schools are prohibited from teaching divisive concepts, including the idea that one race is better than another or that states are fundamentally racist.

To Salim, the new rules mean public schools might not affirm Cho’Zen’s African roots, or accurately portray the United States’ history of racism. “I never want to put his education in the hands of someone that is trying to erase history or recreate narratives,” she said.

Instead, Cho’Zen attends a private, Afrocentric school — joining kids across the country whose families have embraced schools that affirm their Black heritage, in a country where instruction about race is increasingly under attack. At Cho’Zen’s school, Kilombo Academic & Cultural Institute in an Atlanta suburb, photos of Black historical figures hang on the walls. And every single student and teacher identifies as Black or biracial.

In recent years, conservative politicians around the country have championed bans on books or instruction that touch on race and inclusion. Books were banned in more than 5,000 schools in 32 states from June 2021 to June 2022, according to free-speech nonprofit PEN America. Instructional bans have been enacted in at least 16 states since 2021.

Even when a topic isn’t explicitly banned, some teachers say the debates have caused them to back away from controversy. The situation has caused more Black families to leave public schools, opting for homeschooling or private schools that embrace their identity and culture. Public school enrollment of Black students between pre-K and 12th grade has declined each year measured in federal data since 2007.

“I think it is important to teach those harsh moments in slavery and segregation, but tell the whole story,” said Salihah Hasan, a teaching assistant at Kilombo Institute. “Things have changed drastically, but there are still people in this world who hate Black people, who think we are still beneath them, and younger children today don’t understand that. But that is why it is important to talk about it.”

Kilombo goes further, focusing on the students’ rich heritage, from both Africa and Black America. “I want him to know his existence doesn’t start with slavery,” Salim said of her son.

The private, K-8 school occupies the basement of Hillside Presbyterian Church just outside Decatur, an affluent, predominantly white suburb. Families pay tuition on a sliding scale, supplemented by donations.

Classrooms feature maps of Africa and brown paper figures wearing dashikis, a garment worn mostly in West Africa. In one class, the students learn how sound travels by playing African drums.

The 18-year-old school has 53 students, up a third since the start of the pandemic. Initially, more parents chose the school because it returned to in-person learning earlier than nearby public schools. Lately, the enrollment growth has reflected parents’ increasing urgency to find a school that won’t shy away from Black history.

“This country is signaling to us that we have no place here,” said Mary Hooks, whose daughter attends Kilombo. “It also raises a smoke signal for people to come home to the places where we can be nourished.”

Notably, the student body includes multiple children of public school teachers.

Simone Sills, a middle school science teacher at Atlanta Public Schools, chose the school for her daughter in part because of its smaller size, along with factors such as safety and curriculum. Plus, she said, she was looking for a school where “all students can feel affirmed in who they are.”

Before Psalm Barreto, 10, enrolled in Kilombo, her family was living in Washington, D.C. She said she was one of a few Black children in her school.

“I felt uncomfortable in public school because it was just me and another boy in my class, and we stood out,” she said.

Racial differences are evident to babies as young as three months, research has shown, and racial biases show up in preschoolers. Kilombo provides a space for kids to talk about their race.

“I’m Blackity, Black, Black!” said Robyn Jean, 9, while spinning in a circle. Her sister, Amelya, 11, said their parents taught them about their Haitian American heritage — knowledge she thinks all children should have. “I want them to know who they are and where they come from, like we do,” Amelya said. “But in some schools, they can’t.”

Last year, Georgia passed a bill known as the Protect Students First Act, which prohibits schools from promoting and teaching divisive concepts about race. Elsewhere, bills that restrict or prohibit teaching about race- and gender-related topics passed in states including Florida, Idaho, Iowa, Oklahoma, and Tennessee. In other states, such as Arkansas, restrictions have come via executive orders.

Proponents say the restrictions aim to eliminate classroom discussions that make students feel shame or guilt about their race and the history and actions of their ancestors.

The bills have had a chilling effect. One-quarter of K-12 teachers in the U.S. say these laws have influenced their choice of curriculum or instructional practices, according to a report by the RAND Corporation, a global policy think tank.

At Kilombo, daily instruction includes conversations about race and culture. Founder Aminata Umoja uses a Black puppet named Swahili to welcome her students, ask how they are doing and start the day with morals and values rooted in their African heritage.

The puppet might say: “‘Let’s talk about iwa pele. What does that mean?’ and then one of the children will tell us that it means good character,” said Umoja, who teaches kindergarteners through second graders.

Teaching life skills and values, Umoja said, has its roots in freedom schools started during the Civil Rights Movement, in response to the inferior “sharecropper’s education” Black Americans were receiving in the South.

The school follows academic standards from Common Core for math and language arts and uses Georgia’s social studies standards to measure student success. But the curriculum is culturally relevant. It centers Black people, featuring many figures excluded in traditional public schools, said Tashiya Umoja, the school’s co-director and math teacher.

“We are giving children of color the same curriculum that white children are getting. They get to hear about their heroes, she-roes and forefathers,” she said.

The curriculum also focuses on the children’s African heritage. A math lesson, for instance, might feature hieroglyphic numerals. Social studies courses discuss events in Africa or on other continents alongside U.S. history.

When she was in public school, Psalm said she only learned about mainstream Black figures in history, such as Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr. and Harriet Tubman. Now, she said, she is learning about civil rights activist Ella Baker, journalist Ida B. Wells and pilot Bessie Coleman.

Said Psalm: “Honestly, I feel bad for any kids who don’t know about Black history. It’s part of who we are.”
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An unprecedented bilateral nuclear declaration that Washington and Seoul just announced may not be enough to assuage South Koreans’ worries about a U.S. pledge to protect them from North Korea’s nuclear attacks as it was designed to do, according to experts.

U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol presented the Washington Declaration on Wednesday at a post-summit news conference.

With it, the U.S. agreed to “make every effort to consult with the ROK on any possible nuclear weapons employment on the Korean Peninsula” and reassured “the U.S. commitment to extended deterrence” using “the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear.” The ROK stands for South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

Extended deterrence is described by the U.S. military as the American commitment “to deter and, if necessary, to respond” to attacks on its allies and partners “across the spectrum of potential nuclear and non-nuclear scenarios.” This commitment is often described as providing a “nuclear umbrella” to those allies and partners.

Washington also agreed in the declaration to regularly deploy strategic assets such as nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) to South Korea.

Biden and Yoon also agreed to establish the Nuclear Consultation Group (NCG), a joint body that will meet regularly to discuss nuclear and strategic planning for contingencies in and around the divided Korean Peninsula.

The U.S. has a similar nuclear planning group within the multilateral body of NATO. But South Korea’s participation in U.S. nuclear planning through the newly announced NCG would be the first agreement Washington has made with a single non-nuclear state to let it in on its nuclear decision-making process.

At the press conference, Yoon said the NCG would raise extended deterrence to a new level.

He said, “Under the nuclear umbrella, our extended deterrence was a lot lower.” He continued, “Now it’s an unprecedented expansion and strengthening of the extended deterrence strategy under the Washington Declaration, which will create the NCG. The implementation and the response at this level has never thus far been this strong.”

Unresolved issues

The Washington Declaration and the NCG are “useful and productive steps,” according to Elbridge Colby, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Strategy and Force Development and the cofounder of The Marathon Initiative, a Washington-based institution focused on providing foreign and defense policy recommendations.

However, he continued, these developments “do not appear sufficient to address the fundamental quandary facing the alliance — the growth of North Korea’s nuclear and long-range missile program.” He added, “Washington and Seoul should be prepared to work together to come up with more dramatic measures to meet this very real and indeed growing challenge.”

The measures, while designed to deter North Korean attacks, do not address how the alliance aims to reduce North Korea’s provocations that have been increasing anxiety among South Koreans.

North Korea conducted a record number of ballistic missile tests last year and continued its launches this year, including three intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). In February it conducted what it said was a drill of a super-large multiple rocket launcher able to attack South Korea with tactical nuclear weapons.

In January, Yoon floated the idea of Seoul having nuclear weapons only to dismiss his remarks later, even though polls suggested that more than 70% of South Koreans would support their nation developing its own nuclear weapons or the return of nuclear weapons to the county. The U.S. withdrew nuclear weapons in 1991.

Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, said, “In the minds of Washington and Seoul, [the declaration] will mean they are strengthening deterrence and therefore security.”

He continued, “But seen from Pyongyang, this will likely be another sign that the United States and South Korea are a growing threat, and that North Korea will have to continue to develop more nuclear weapons to defend itself.”

He added, “This is a big dilemma — the dynamics of the two sides continuing to strengthen their capabilities to improve security also drives the decisions that will be seen to increase the risks. The deterrence wheel continues to turn and turn with no solution to the underlying problem.”

Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of the North Korean leader, vowed on Saturday local time to enhance Pyongyang’s “nuclear war deterrent” in response to the Washington Declaration. Referring to Biden as “an old man with no future,” without naming him, and naming Yoon while calling him “a fool,” Kim said the declaration “fabricated by the U.S. and south Korean authorities” will “expose” the “peace and security of Northeast Asia and the world … to more serious danger.”

Experts said the U.S.-South Korean alliance must consider greater regional threats from China as well as draw up bigger trilateral defense plans with Japan.

“The NCG is mainly focused on the Korean Peninsula, but it is important to understand that security coordination has to look at the broader regional picture to include coordination with Tokyo,” said Toby Dalton, co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

“It would be natural in that context to look broadly at perceived threats in the Indo-Pacific, to include those from China, and to discuss plans and capabilities,” he said.

Nuclear assurance and reliance

Dalton added the NCG “is largely about alliance cohesion and being responsive to ROK interests for stronger coordination on nuclear matters.”

Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said the same about the Washington Declaration establishing the NCG.

He said, “The main purpose was to reassure the South Korean government and the South Korean public that the U.S. is committed to extended deterrence to protect South Korea against North Korean nuclear and missile threats.”

He continued, “Deterrence is already very strong. [North Korean leader] Kim Jong Un knows that any attack on the South, whether conventional or nuclear, would be met with a very strong response from the ROK and from the U.S.”

At the press conference, Biden said, “A nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies or partners — is unacceptable and will result in the end of [the] regime, were it to take such an action.”

Under the renewed U.S. pledge to protect, South Korea agreed to have “full confidence in U.S. extended deterrence commitment” and “enduring reliance on the U.S. nuclear deterrent.” Seoul also agreed to abide by the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT).

Kristensen said, “The most important goal for the United States has probably been to try to dampen South Korean ideas about developing its own nuclear weapons.”

No nukes

By agreeing to rely on U.S. nuclear deterrence and follow its obligations under the NPT, Seoul effectively has renounced pursuing its own nuclear weapons program, according to experts.

At the same time, by reassuring its extended deterrence commitment, Washington dismissed a possibility of stationing U.S. nuclear weapons in South Korea.

“The Biden administration has made clear that nuclear weapons will not be deployed to South Korea, but that Seoul will be closely tied to planning efforts as well as how South Korean conventional capabilities will be integrated into any U.S. nuclear operation,” said Terence Roehrig, a professor of national security and Korea expert at the U.S. Naval War College.

“The big question is whether the Washington Declaration will quell the calls in South Korea for its own nuclear weapons, and that remains to be seen.”

Kristensen said, “The South might feel better for a while but will probably continue to express doubts about the security commitment.”

Joint nuclear body

In place of its own nuclear program, South Korea opted to participate in U.S. nuclear planning through the NCG, which experts said is a significant development that will increase Seoul’s say in American nuclear planning for contingences on the peninsula.

However, Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said a challenge is “the ability of the envisioned NCG to stay ahead of future North Korean military developments.”

He continued, “The U.S.-South Korea nuclear consultation group must demonstrate a capability to stay ahead of North Korea’s capability as they continue to expand.”

The scope of South Korea’s role in U.S. nuclear planning decisions would depend on how NCG agreements are implemented, including which agencies and who will be in charge, according to experts.

How much say South Korea has on U.S. decisions is “a question that can only be answered in the implementation of the agreement,” said Samore.

“We have the commitment from the U.S. to consult, jointly plan, exchange information. But we don’t know exactly how that will be translated into action until this consulting group is set up and begins to operate.”
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