U.S. intelligence agencies pushing lawmakers to reauthorize a controversial set of surveillance tools are hoping to get a boost from a new report showing fewer U.S. citizens and residents are getting swept up in the agencies’ collection efforts.

The just-released report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence found that even as U.S. intelligence agencies are making greater use of collection authorities under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the number of U.S. persons — citizens or legal residents — being targeted has declined steadily.

Friday’s transparency report said there were only 49 court-approved surveillance or search orders for U.S. persons in 2022, down from 67 in 2021 and from 102 in 2020.

Additionally, the number of U.S. persons subject to law enforcement queries after they were swept up in foreign electronic surveillance, under what is known as FISA Section 702, also saw a “significant decline,” according to the report, despite an overall increase in the use of the authorities.

FBI abused access, say some

FISA Section 702 allows for the National Security Agency and the FBI to conduct electronic surveillance and data collection of non-Americans. But such efforts sometimes pick up information on U.S. persons, and that has been a point of contention for some lawmakers and civil liberties groups who argue the FBI has abused its access to the data.

According to the report, the number of non-Americans targeted under FISA Section 702 jumped to 246,000 in 2022, an increase of more than 13,600 from the previous year.

However, the ODNI’s records indicated the FBI searches of the data for information on U.S. persons dropped by almost 96%.

“This reduction occurred following a number of changes FBI made to its systems, processes and training relating to U.S. person queries,” the report said.

FBI Director Christopher Wray has similarly touted internal reforms, telling lawmakers last month that the bureau’s own data showed searches for U.S. citizens or their information under Section 702 had dropped 93% from 2021 to 2022.

“We are absolutely committed to making sure that we show you, the rest of the members of Congress and the American people that we’re worthy of these incredibly valuable authorities,” he said at the time.

Yet the FBI’s assurances, and the new report from ODNI, have done little to assuage lawmakers charged with reauthorizing the FISA Section 702 authorities before they expire at the end of the year.

“We need to pass substantive and meaningful reforms to help deter abusive behavior by the FBI in the FISA process,” Representative Mike Turner, House Intelligence Committee chairman, and Representative Darin LaHood, both Republicans, said in a statement Friday.

“We must protect the American people’s privacy and civil liberties,” they said. “Without additional safeguards, a clean reauthorization of 702 is a nonstarter.”

LaHood, who said last month that the FBI searched for his name in foreign data multiple times under FISA Section 702, has been leading a bipartisan working group charged with proposing meaningful reforms.

Lawmakers have also been joined by human rights groups, who argue the latest data show problems remain.

“While the new statistics show a decline, the total number of searches is huge even now, and the intrusion on Americans’ privacy is undeniable,” Patrick Toomey, deputy director with the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Security Project, said in a statement.

“FBI agents are sitting at their computers and subjecting Americans to warrantless ‘backdoor searches’ hundreds of times per day,” Toomey said. “After years of FBI surveillance abuses, it’s time for Congress to step in and require the constitutional gold standard: a warrant.”

‘A vital source of intelligence’

Despite such concerns, U.S. intelligence officials have repeatedly urged lawmakers to renew the collection authorities, arguing they are critical to protecting Americans at home and U.S. interests abroad.

NSA Cybersecurity Director Rob Joyce earlier this month called FISA Section 702 “a vital source of intelligence.”

“I can’t do cybersecurity at the scope and scale we do it today without that authority,” he told an audience in Washington.

A day later, CIA Director William Burns told an audience at Rice University in Texas that FISA Section 702 has become an indispensable tool in combating drug cartels sending fentanyl into the U.S.

U.S. intelligence officials have previously credited FISA Section 702 warrantless surveillance authorities with providing information crucial in launching the strike that killed al-Qaida terror leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
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The United States needs to speed up its diplomatic efforts in the Pacific island region in the face of Chinese competition, a U.S. diplomat said Friday, adding that he was sure President Joe Biden would be warmly welcomed there if he decided to visit.

Joseph Yun, a special presidential envoy who leads efforts to renegotiate U.S. agreements with three Pacific island states, was asked at a U.S. think tank about reports that Biden would make a brief stop in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on May 22 and the response from officials there.

“Obviously for the Pacific, I am sure they would welcome President Biden, if he were to go there,” Yun told the Hudson Institute. 

“I don’t think that decision has been fully made,” he said and added: “It is a good thing whenever heads of state get engaged on new issues.”

A spokesperson from the PNG prime minister’s office told Reuters on Thursday that Biden would stop in the capital, Port Moresby, for three hours on the way from a Group of Seven meeting in Japan to Australia to attend a summit of the Quad countries — the United States, Japan, India and Australia.

A Pacific islands source told Reuters that Biden was also expected to meet with more than a dozen Pacific islands leaders, but the White House National Security Council has not responded to request for comment on the plans. 

Yun said the level of Chinese engagement in the region was concerning. He described the Pacific island region as crucial to U.S. national security but also as having been neglected by the United States.

“So now we’re playing … a little bit of catch-up, I would say, and but you know, we need to accelerate our catch-up,” he said.

Yun has been leading talks to renew Compact for Free Association (COFA) agreements with the Marshall Islands, Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia under which the United States retains responsibility for the islands’ defense and gains exclusive access to huge strategic swaths of the Pacific. The deals are due to expire this year and next.

Yun said the “top line” agreements in the negotiations with the nations would provide them with a total of about $6.5 billion over 20 years.

He said he was very optimistic the agreements would be finalized and that the U.S. Congress would approve them in a short time but that there was still some hard work ahead. 
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U.S. Army officials say three soldiers are dead and a fourth was injured when two army Apache helicopters collided as they were returning from a training mission near Healy, Alaska, late Thursday.

The two AH-64 Apache helicopters were from the 1st Attack Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, at Fort Wainwright, outside Fairbanks, Alaska. The crash occurred about 128 kilometers southwest of there.

The Army statement said two of the soldiers were pronounced dead at the scene and the third died en route to Fairbanks Memorial Hospital. The injured solder is being treated at Memorial Hospital. The Army said the names of the deceased soldiers are being withheld while next of kin are notified. 

In the statement, 11th Airborne Division Commander Major General Brian Eifler said, “This is an incredible loss for these soldiers’ families, their fellow soldiers, and for the division. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families, friends and loved ones, and we are making the full resources of the Army available to support them.”

The statement said a team from the Army Combat Readiness Center in Fort Novosel, Alabama, will investigate the accident.

The crash is at least the second involving Apache helicopters in Alaska this year. In February, two soldiers were injured when their Apache crashed at Talkeetna Airport, in southern Alaska.

In March, nine soldiers died when two Army Black Hawk helicopters crashed in Kentucky. A month earlier, a Tennessee National Guard Black Hawk chopper crashed, killing two. 

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters. 
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The U.S. and Philippines Friday concluded nearly three weeks of annual military drills known as Balikatan in the south Pacific Ocean near the island chain nation.

In a news release, the U.S. military said nearly 18,000 soldiers from both nations took part in the drills, making them the largest in the 38-year history of the military exercises.

Balikatan means “shoulder-to-shoulder” or “sharing the load together,” in Philippine Tagalog dialect, a term becoming more appropriate in the past year as relations between the two longtime allies have improved since the election of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.   

On Wednesday, Marcos watched the exercises in person from an observation tower in the northwestern Philippine coastal town of San Antonio. That day U.S. and Philippines forces, working together, targeted, engaged and sank a decommissioned Philippines battleship.

Marcos has sought to improve relations with the United States that soured under his predecessor, former president Rodrigo Duterte, at least in part because of increased tensions with China regarding the disputed waters in the region.

A Philippines Department of Foreign Affairs spokesperson issued a statement Friday rebuking what she called China’s recent “highly dangerous maneuvers” earlier this week against the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) in the waters off Ayungin Shoal. The PCG was on a routine maritime patrol.  

The Ayungin Shoal – also known as the Second Thomas Shoal – is a submerged reef in the Spratly Islands. The coast guard reported that two Chinese Coast Guard (CCG) vessels “intercepted” them in the vicinity of the shoal and exhibited “aggressive tactics,” coming within 46 meters of the ship.  

The Chinese Foreign Ministry insisted the near miss was caused by the PCG, claiming it was the aggressor.  

Reuters reports China has claimed sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, an area that stretches more than 1,500 kilometers 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.

Tensions with China were mentioned during the closing ceremonies of the Balikatan exercises Friday. Philippines Armed Forces Chief of Staff Andres Centino noted the “strong results” of the exercises are more significant “given the current security environment and the real threats” that continue to evolve within the region.

President Marcos is scheduled to travel to Washington next week for meetings with U.S. President Joe Biden. Their defense alliance is expected to be high on the agenda.

Some information in this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence French-Presse.
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With the looming expiration next month of the pandemic-era Title 42 restriction on immigration into the United States along its southern border, the FBI is bracing for the fallout from an influx of border crossings.

The FBI processes DNA samples collected from migrants detained at the U.S.-Mexico border. FBI Director Christopher Wray told lawmakers Thursday he expects a “dramatic increase” in samples because of more border crossings.

In the first three months of fiscal 2023, the FBI handled more than 130,000 such samples, Wray said, adding that the number is expected to jump by about 30,000 a month once Title 42 is lifted.

“That gives you a sense of the pretty blistering pace that our folks are having to engage in to test all the samples,” Wray said during testimony before a House appropriations panel. “Time is of the essence because in many cases these are leading to and solving sexual assaults, homicides and other serious crimes.”

Since the start of the COVID-9 pandemic in early 2020, Title 42 has allowed U.S. immigration officials to expel nearly all migrants and asylum-seekers apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.

The controversial measure is set to expire May 11, raising concerns about a new wave of asylum-seekers arriving at the border.

The Biden administration has announced measures to stem the expected surge in border crossings, but Republicans say they’re inadequate.

Under a program launched in 2020, the U.S. Border Patrol has been collecting DNA samples from migrants taken into custody at the border as well as U.S. citizens and permanent residents arrested there on federal criminal charges.

The samples feed into the FBI’s DNA database, which is used by law enforcement to investigate violent crimes such as homicides and sexual assault.

Wray said the DNA samples tested by the FBI have been used in more than 220 criminal investigations, including more than 100 sexual assaults and a dozen homicides.

He said the FBI is working to boost its DNA testing capacity and asked Congress for an additional $53 million to keep pace with the expected surge in sample collections.
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The White House and a newspaper are denying there was collusion this week when a reporter asked U.S. President Joe Biden a question very similar to what was written on a card Biden held while facing journalists in the White House Rose Garden.

“We do not have specific questions in advance. That’s not something that we do,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre responded when asked at Thursday’s briefing about the president’s pocket card, titled “Question # 1,” which contained the name and photograph of Los Angeles Times correspondent Courtney Subramanian, along with a question: “How are YOU squaring YOUR domestic priorities — like reshoring semiconductors manufacturing — with alliance-based foreign policy?”

Close-up images of the notecard were captured by multiple news photographers in the Rose Garden.

Biden, alongside visiting South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, called first on Subramanian, who asked: “Your top economic priority has been to build up U.S. domestic manufacturing in competition with China, but your rules against expanding chip manufacturing in China is hurting South Korean companies that rely heavily on Beijing. Are you damaging a key ally in the competition with China to help your domestic politics ahead of the election?”

Biden responded with an extensive and nuanced comment on the topic.

‘It seems like there’s collusion’

Jean-Pierre explained the following day that Subramanian was one of two correspondents called on by Biden because California has the largest Korean American community of any U.S. state.

“We are mindful on who we pick and who we want to communicate out to,” added Jean-Pierre.

Her response did not satisfy the briefing room audience. Among those denied an opportunity to ask a follow-up question about the matter was Jon Decker, White House correspondent for Gray Television, whose career spans 16 White House press secretaries and five presidencies.

“I was just simply trying to ask her is it her contention that the question that everyone could read on that so-called cheat sheet was not similar to the question that was asked at the White House press conference? And it was similar,” he told VOA.

“I’ve never seen an instance where the president is being given a question from a reporter that covers the president at a pre-announced White House press conference,” Decker added. “It really reflects poorly on the White House press corps, and it reflects poorly on the White House for allowing that to happen. It seems like there’s collusion, and for the public that has distrust, skepticism and even disdain for the media, it doesn’t put us in a good light.”

The White House continued to rebuff inquiries following Thursday’s briefing.

“Karine addressed this very clearly and in-depth in the briefing room today,” responded principal deputy press secretary Olivia Dalton to VOA, which attempted to pursue the topic of presubmitted questions to the president.

Subramanian has not commented. Her newspaper issued a statement to inquiries from media organizations.

“Our reporter did not submit any questions in advance of the Q&A with President Biden,” said Hillary Manning, vice president of communications for the Los Angeles Times. Subramanian “is in regular contact with the White House press office seeking information for her reporting. You would have to ask the White House who prepared the document for the president and why they included that question.”

April Ryan, Washington bureau chief of The Grio, who refers to herself as the longest-serving black female journalist covering the White House, said while it is not unusual for presidents to have a card listing journalists who could potentially be called on, she had never seen one that contained a picture of the reporter and the “actual question itself.”

Ryan told VOA it is routine prior to news conferences for the president and his principals, who help him with messaging, to discuss potential questions but what occurred Wednesday seemed unprecedented.

Kayleigh McEnany, a press secretary in the previous administration of Donald Trump, on the set of Fox News on Thursday, said “it’s very unordinary to have the question as specific as semiconductors as they pertain to alliances written out and scripted for the president.”

A correspondent, who asked not to be named and covers the White House for a foreign broadcaster, told VOA: “It raises questions of not only President Biden needing a heads up to come up with answers but also transparency of how the White House chooses who gets to ask questions. It is frustrating for reporters who aren’t in their inner circle.”

Reagan, Bush, had a seating chart

The president of the White House Correspondents’ Association, Tamara Keith of National Public Radio, declined to comment on the issue. The association noted it has no involvement on who gets called on by presidents at news conferences.

During the administrations of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, the presidents had a seating chart to know where to find a sympathetic questioner, said Charles Bierbauer, who was CNN’s senior White House correspondent from 1983-93.

“The guessing game between the press and the White House has long been to figure out who might ask what of the president at news conferences,” he told VOA.

“I recall presidential aides gleefully telling us when they had anticipated every question. My pattern was to be prepared for the questions I knew I had to ask but always have kind of an offbeat question, too,” recalled Bierbauer, distinguished professor and dean emeritus at the College of Information and Communications at the University of South Carolina.

It is not uncommon for the White House to let a reporter know he or she will be called on during a news conference and to query the reporter about what they might ask, according to former CBS Radio White House correspondent Mark Knoller, who covered eight presidents from Gerald Ford to Trump.

“As a reporter, I always prepared questions on a number of subjects,” Knoller told VOA. “More often than not the White House knows what subjects a reporter is interested in based on questions at briefings and inquiries made previously to the press office. I can’t believe a reporter worth his or her salt would give a detailed question in advance.”
…

A Cold War-era law in Hawaii that allows authorities to impose sweeping restrictions on press freedoms and electronic communications during a state of emergency could soon be repealed by lawmakers over concerns about its constitutionality and potential misuse.

Those who are worried about the law, which allows a governor or mayor to suspend “electronic media transmissions” during a crisis, say that language could now also be interpreted to include social media posts, text messages and emails, as well as reporting by media outlets.

The Hawaii Association of Broadcasters says the existing law appears to be unique among all 50 states and violates the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment.

“We get into a situation where … somebody could suspend electronic media because they don’t like what’s being said about them,” said Chris Leonard, the association’s president, who also operates a radio station on the Big Island.

The law appears to date to 1951, when the Cold War pitted the U.S. against the Soviet Union and Hawaii was a U.S. territory, Leonard said. Hawaii became the 50th U.S. state in 1959.

At the time the law was apparently enacted, Leonard said, there were concerns about radio frequency transmitters being used to identify bombing targets.

Current state leaders haven’t invoked the law, but “Who knows who’s in office tomorrow?” he added.

Lawmakers in the state House and Senate have each passed versions of legislation to eliminate the decades-old rule and have a deadline this week to agree on language so the bill can move forward.

Christian Grose, a professor of political science and public policy at the University of Southern California, said the law “gives shockingly large amounts of power to the governor and mayors in ways that might be afoul of constitutional freedoms.”

“That’s sort of an unusual, almost authoritarian law that would allow such powers to be given to the governor or mayor,” Grose said.

Some do support leaving the law on the books.

James Barros, the head of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, said the law might still be needed to restrict electronic transmissions “that could trigger an explosive device or ignite volatile chemicals.”

The bill would eliminate the executive branch’s authority to take action that could save lives “based on a hypothetical restriction of free speech rights,” Barros said in written testimony.

The law was revised about a decade ago to its current form, which allows a governor or mayor to: “Shut off water mains, gas mains, electric power connections, or suspend other services, and, to the extent permitted by or under federal law, suspend electronic media transmission.”

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesperson Adam Weintraub said Tuesday the agency agrees technology has evolved beyond what existed when the law was originated. He said the agency hopes to get to a compromise that addresses the broadcaster’s association’s concerns about speech restrictions.

The Hawaii County Council on the Big Island discovered the law last year when it was reviewing its own county code to align it with state law.

Information has helped calm people and make decisions during the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano and the COVID-19 pandemic, Ashley Lehualani Kierkiewicz, a county council member, explained in testimony to state legislators.

“In times of emergency and natural disasters, the public needs more information — not less — and communication should flow through all possible channels as frequently as possible,” she said in written testimony.

It’s notable that Hawaii’s lawmakers are considering taking away executive power because the trend in the U.S. government and in some other states has been for the executive to amass power without legislators stopping them, Grose said.

“So the fact that Hawaii’s is doing this is big,” he said.
…

Political analysts say with both Turkey’s ruling and opposition parties pledging to improve ties with the United States ahead of next month’s national elections, there are hopeful signs for the bilateral relationship following years of tension.

Relations between Washington and Ankara went into a downward spiral following a coup attempt in Turkey seven years ago. Ties worsened after NATO ally Turkey decided to purchase an S-400 surface-to-air missile system from Russia in 2019, triggering sanctions and its removal from the U.S.’s F-35 fighter jet program.  

Ankara was also upset by the partnership between the United States and the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF, including the YPG fighting Islamic State rebels in Syria. Turkey views the YPG as an arm of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, which is considered a terrorist group by both Ankara and Washington.   

Turkey’s significance as a NATO ally has been boosted by the role it played following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but Turkey’s lingering ties with Moscow continue to concern the United States.   

Turkey’s return to F-35 program?  

In a manifesto announced ahead of the May 14 elections, Turkey’s ruling AK Party pledged to strengthen a strategic mechanism with the United States and ensure “concrete steps in line with security priorities are taken with regard to YPG, FETO and sanctions.” FETO is an acronym for the movement loyal to Fethullah Gulen, labeled by the Turkish government as “Fethullah Terrorist Organization” in the aftermath of the 2016 coup plot. Gulen, living in self-imposed exile in the United States, has denied allegations he was behind the coup attempt.

Turkey’s opposition bloc formed by six political parties has been more explicit about improving ties with Washington, promising that it will “advance the alliance relationship with the United States based on mutual trust” if it wins the election.

The lengthy declaration dubbed as a “Memorandum of Understanding on Common Policies” and published in January both in Turkish and English, promises to “take initiatives for Turkey to return” to the F-35 program.

Analysts speaking to VOA say that, no matter who wins the election, Turkey will have to deal with the presence of Russia’s S-400 system on its soil before it can return to the F-35 program.

The United States views the Russian system as a threat to the next-generation fighter jet as well as NATO aircraft operating over Turkey. 

“The big problem is the presence of the S-400. If that can be dealt with, either doing away with it or securing it so it does not pick up signals from the F-35, then something can be worked out,” says Jim Townsend, a senior follow at the Center for a New American Security in Washington. 

While the opposition does not make any explicit reference to the S-400s, the intent to return Turkey to the F-35 program in “coded language” indicates a will to resolve the S-400 issue, one expert argues.   

“Everyone knows the return to the F-35 program cannot happen unless the S-400 issue is resolved,” Alan Makovksy, from the Center for American Progress, told VOA, via Skype.  

Uncertain future of the bigger F-16 deal   

Earlier in April, the Biden administration notified Congress of a planned sale of software upgrades to Turkey for its current F-16 fleet. The deal valued at more than $250 million needs to be cleared through the formal approval process.  

The notification of the proposed deal came two weeks after the Turkish parliament approved Finland’s accession to NATO after holding it off for several months.  

A bigger defense package for new jets and modernization kits requested by Ankara, however, faces an uncertain future due to continuing opposition in the U.S. Congress.   

Experts believe Congress expects more assurances from Turkey. Among them are continuing on the de-escalation path with NATO ally Greece to ease tensions and taking meaningful actions to improve human rights.   

Ankara and Athens, locked in a deep-rooted feud in the Aegean Sea and eastern Mediterranean, have softened their tone following the devastating earthquakes that hit Turkey in February.  

“If there’s calm in the Aegean for several months and human rights changes after the elections, it would be a good start. That would be very significant for Congress,” said analyst Makovksy.   

Sinan Ulgen, director of the Istanbul-based Economic and Foreign Policy Research Center, voiced agreement.  

“If there is going to be a new era in Turkey where the government takes meaningful steps in terms of democratic standards and shows the will to build its relations with the West on more solid ground, I think that will positively affect the views in Congress,” he said in an interview with VOA. 

Turkey, along with Hungary, has yet to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession. U.S. officials are urging Ankara to take action ahead of a NATO summit in July.   

Regardless of the outcome, analysts expect a positive step from Turkey on this following the elections, adding the opposition might have more flexibility if it wins.   

Upholding democratic values

Officials in the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden have underscored democracy as an important component of its foreign policy vision. Turkey was not invited to the Summit for Democracy two years in a row.  

“I think in terms of whoever wins this election, the party that has a stronger stand on supporting those values and principles will be a government that will be easier for us to work with,” said Jim Townsend.   

Sinan Ulgen argues that while the United States can work with democratic and undemocratic countries to advance its national interests, those relationships often differ in scope and depth.  

“Your position in the international system matters. A Turkey that positions itself among democratic nations would be advantageous not only in foreign policy but also in economy, foreign investment and technology,” he said.
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In a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress Thursday, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol told American lawmakers the 70-year-old alliance between their countries was stronger than ever. Earlier this week, Yoon and U.S. President Joe Biden agreed to strengthen nuclear cooperation in the face of increasing regional tensions. VOA’s congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson reports.
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U.S. cigarette smoking dropped to another all-time low last year, with 1 in 9 adults saying they were current smokers, according to government survey data released Thursday. Meanwhile, electronic cigarette use rose, to about 1 in 17 adults.

The preliminary findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are based on survey responses from more than 27,000 adults.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease and stroke, and it’s long been considered the leading cause of preventable death.

In the mid-1960s, 42% of U.S. adults were smokers. The rate has been gradually dropping for decades, due to cigarette taxes, tobacco product price hikes, smoking bans and changes in the social acceptability of lighting up in public.

Last year, the percentage of adult smokers dropped to about 11%, down from about 12.5% in 2020 and 2021. The survey findings sometimes are revised after further analysis, and CDC is expected to release final 2021 data soon.

E-cigarette use rose to nearly 6% last year, from about 4.5% the year before, according to survey data.

The rise in e-cigarette use concerns Dr. Jonathan Samet, dean of the Colorado School of Public Health. Nicotine addiction has its own health implications, including risk of high blood pressure and a narrowing of the arteries, according to the American Heart Association.

“I think that smoking will continue to ebb downwards, but whether the prevalence of nicotine addiction will drop, given the rise of electronic products, is not clear,” said Samet, who has been a contributing author to U.S. Surgeon General reports on smoking and health for almost four decades.

Smoking and vaping rates are almost reversed for teens. Only about 2% of high school students were smoking traditional cigarettes last year, but about 14% were using e-cigarettes, according to other CDC data.
…

From discussing nuclear war to belting out a beloved hit: South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s White House visit ended on a high note when he sang Don McLean’s “American Pie” to great applause.   

Yoon is on a six-day state visit to Washington, where he discussed with U.S. President Joe Biden on Wednesday “the end” of any North Korean regime that used nuclear weapons against the allies.   

But the two leaders had more cheerful topics on the agenda at the White House state dinner in Yoon’s honor later that day, with the South Korean leader — who is known at home to be something of a karaoke buff — sharing his love of American music.   

“We know this is one of your favorite songs, ‘American Pie,'” Biden said to Yoon, having pulled him up onto the stage at the end of the evening to listen to singers perform the classic.   

“Yes, that’s true,” the 62-year-old Yoon admitted, saying that he had loved the Don McLean song, released in 1971, since he was at school.   

“We want to hear you sing it,” said Biden.   

“It’s been a while but…” Yoon responded, offering only token resistance as he took the microphone.   

Yoon belted out the first few lines of the song a cappella, triggering rapturous applause from the crowd and delighting Biden and the First Lady.   

“The next state dinner we’re going to have, you’re looking at the entertainment,” Biden told the crowd, referring to Yoon.    

Then he turned to the South Korean president and said: “I had no damn idea you could sing.”   

Biden told Yoon that McLean could not be at the White House to join them but had sent a signed guitar, which the U.S. president gave to the South Korean leader.   

“Yoon literally tore up the stage and White House!” one Twitter user wrote in Korean in reply to a video of the president singing.   

“Yoon has revealed his hidden singing talent,” another commenter wrote, also in Korean, resharing the video.   

It is not Yoon’s first time singing in public.   

On the campaign trail in 2021, he appeared on the famous South Korean TV show “All the Butlers”, wowing its celebrity hosts with a sparkling rendition of the K-pop ballad “No One Else” by Lee Seung-chul. 
…

A U.S. Air National Guardsman accused of leaking classified military documents has a history of making violent threats, used his government computer to research mass shootings, and tried to destroy evidence of his crimes, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

In a 48-page filing, the Justice Department said 21-year-old Jack Teixeira should be detained pending trial, saying his violent rhetoric coupled with his apparent efforts to destroy evidence “compound his risk of flight and dangerousness.”

Prosecutors will present their arguments in favor of detention to a U.S. magistrate judge in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Thursday afternoon.

Teixeira’s lawyers have not commented on the case and are expected to argue at Thursday’s hearing that he should not be detained pre-trial.

The filing, which also contained photos of the suspect’s bedroom from the FBI’s search of his home, said that in July of 2022 he used his government computer to look up famous mass shootings using search terms such as “Uvalde,” “Ruby Ridge” and “Las Vegas shooting.”

During the search at his home, the FBI found a smashed tablet computer, a laptop and a gaming console inside a dumpster. In addition, prosecutors said they had unearthed evidence that Teixeira instructed other online users to “delete all messages.”

Teixeira was charged earlier this month with one count of violating the Espionage Act related to the unlawful copying and transmitting of sensitive defense material, and a second charge related to the unlawful removal of defense material to an unauthorized location.

If convicted, prosecutors said, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

The leaked documents at the heart of the investigation are believed to be the most serious U.S. security breach since more than 700,000 documents, videos and diplomatic cables appeared on the WikiLeaks website in 2010. The Pentagon has called the leak a “deliberate, criminal act.”

Prosecutors said in their detention memo that Teixeira in February 2022 began accessing hundreds of classified documents not relevant to his job and started posting some of the classified information on social media around December 2022.

“The damage the defendant has already caused to the U.S. national security is immense. The damage the defendant is still capable of causing is extraordinary,” the memo says.

The classified documents provided a wide variety of highly classified information on allies and adversaries, with details ranging from Ukraine’s air defenses to Israel’s Mossad spy agency.

Violent comments

Apart from the evidence that Teixeira tried to obstruct evidence and influence witnesses in the case, prosecutors said he has a troubled history dating back to his teenage years.

When he was 18, they said, his firearms identification card application was denied due to remarks he made while still in high school related to “weapons, including Molotov cocktails, guns at the school, and racial threats.”

He also made violent comments about murder on social media, including one post in November 2022 saying that if he could, he would “kill a ton of people” because it would be “culling the weak minded.”

On Feb. 10, 2023, Teixeira sought advice from a user about what type of rifle would be easy to operate from the back of a parked SUV against a “target on a sidewalk or porch,” according to the filing.

Prosecutors said they also found evidence that Teixeira admitted to others online that the information he was posting was classified.

In an exchange of chatroom messages included in the filing, Teixeira was asked whether the information he was posting was classified.

He responded: “Everything that ive been telling u guys up to this point has been.”

In Wednesday’s filing, prosecutors said: “There is no condition of release that can be set that will reasonably assure his future appearance at court proceedings or the safety of the community … He should be detained.”
…

U.S. President Joe Biden will briefly visit the Pacific islands nation of Papua New Guinea in May, a Papua New Guinea official said on Thursday, as Washington seeks to counter growing Chinese influence in the strategically important region. 

Biden will stop in the capital Port Moresby on May 22 for three hours on his way to Australia to attend the Quad leaders summit, a spokesperson from the PNG Prime Minister’s office told Reuters. 

A Pacific islands source told Reuters Biden is expected to meet with over a dozen Pacific islands leaders during his May visit to Port Moresby. 

The meeting would be a significant move in U.S. efforts to push back against Chinese inroads in the region, and follows Biden hosting Pacific island leaders at the White House in September. 

The Quad summit is being held in Sydney on May 24, with the leaders of India, Australia, Japan and the United States attending, Australia’s government has said. 

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is also expected to visit Papua New Guinea on May 21 for a two-day visit en-route to Australia, where he will meet the Pacific island leaders, Papua New Guinea’s government has previously announced. 

The PNG Post Courier newspaper reported on its front page on Thursday that the Biden stopover would be the first visit by a United States president to the resource-rich but largely undeveloped country of 9.4 million just north of Australia. 

The United States embassy in Canberra referred questions to the White House. The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. 

White House officials have been considering tagging on a Pacific islands stop to Biden’s travel to the G-7 in Japan and the Quad meeting in Australia, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

The United States last year stepped up its diplomacy and aid to the Pacific region after China struck a security deal with the Solomon Islands, and Beijing attempted but failed to forge a wider security and trade pact with 10 island nations. 

In a statement on Thursday, Fiji said its ministers for education, employment and women had met in Beijing with China’s foreign minister Qin Gang, and he had “highlighted the need to formalize the China – Pacific Island Countries relationship.”
…

A federal appeals court on Wednesday night moved former Vice President Mike Pence closer to appearing before a grand jury investigating efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election, rejecting a bid by former President Donald Trump’s lawyers to block the testimony.

It was not immediately clear what day Pence might appear before the grand jury, which for months has been investigating the events preceding the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol and efforts by Trump and his allies to subvert the election outcome. But Pence’s testimony, coming as he moves closer to entering the 2024 presidential race, would be a milestone moment in the investigation and would likely give prosecutors a key first-person account as they press forward with their inquiry.

The order from the three-judge panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was sealed and none of the parties are mentioned by name in online court records. But the appeal in the sealed case was filed just days after a lower-court judge had directed Pence to testify over objections from the Trump team.

A lawyer for Pence and a spokesperson for Trump did not immediately return emails seeking comment, and a spokesman for the Justice Department special counsel leading the investigation declined to comment.

Pence was subpoenaed to testify earlier this year, but lawyers for Trump objected, citing executive privilege concerns. A judge in March refused to block Trump’s appearance, though he did side with the former vice president’s constitutional claims that he could not be forced to answer questions about anything related to his role as presiding over the Senate’s certification of votes on Jan. 6.

“We’ll obey the law, we’ll tell the truth,” Pence said in an interview with CBS News’ Face the Nation that aired Sunday. “And the story that I’ve been telling the American people all across the country, the story that I wrote in the pages of my memoir, that’ll be the story I tell in that setting.”

Pence has spoken extensively about Trump’s pressure campaign urging him to reject Biden’s victory in the days leading up to Jan. 6, including in his book So Help Me God.

Pence, as vice president, had a ceremonial role overseeing Congress’ counting of the Electoral College vote, but did not have the power to affect the results, despite Trump’s contention otherwise.

Pence has said that Trump endangered his family and everyone else who was at the Capitol that day and history will hold him “accountable.”

“For four years, we had a close working relationship. It did not end well,” Pence wrote, summing up their time in the White House.

The special counsel leading the investigation, Jack Smith, has cast a broad net in interviews and has sought the testimony of a long list of former Trump aides, including ex-White House counsel Pat Cipollone and former adviser Stephen Miller.

Smith is separately investigating Trump over the potential mishandling of hundreds of classified documents at his Florida estate, Mar-a-Lago, as well as efforts to obstruct that probe.

It is not clear when either of the special counsel’s investigations will end or who, if anyone, will be charged.
…

House Republicans narrowly passed legislation Wednesday that would raise the government’s legal debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion in exchange for steep spending restrictions, a tactical victory for Speaker Kevin McCarthy as he challenges President Joe Biden to negotiate and prevent a catastrophic federal default this summer. 

Biden has threatened to veto the Republican package, which has almost no chance of passing the Democratic Senate in the meantime, and the president has so far refused to negotiate over the debt ceiling, which the White House insists must be lifted with no strings to ensure America pays its bills. 

But McCarthy’s ability to swiftly unite his slim majority and bring the measure to passage over opposition from Democrats and even holdouts in his own party gives currency to the Republican speaker’s strategy to use the vote as an opening bid forcing Biden into talks. The two men could hardly be further apart on how to resolve the issue. 

The bill passed 217-215. 

“We’ve done our job,” McCarthy said after the vote. “The president can no longer ignore” the issue and not negotiate with the House Republicans, he said. 

As the House debated the measure, Biden on Wednesday indicated he was willing to open the door to talks with McCarthy, but not on preventing a first-ever U.S. default that would shake America’s economy and beyond. 

“Happy to meet with McCarthy, but not on whether or not the debt limit gets extended,” Biden said. “That’s not negotiable.” 

Passage of the sprawling 320-page package in the House is only the start of what is expected to become a weekslong political slog as the president and Congress try to work out a compromise that would allow the nation’s debt, now at $31 trillion, to be lifted to allow further borrowing and stave off a fiscal crisis. 

The nation has never defaulted on its debt, and the House Republican majority hopes to maneuver Biden into a corner with its plan to roll back federal spending to fiscal 2022 levels and cap future spending increases at 1% over the next decade, among other changes. 

McCarthy worked nonstop to unite his fractious Republican majority, making post-midnight changes in the House Rules Committee in the crush to win over holdouts. 

Republicans hold a five-seat House majority and faced several absences this week, leaving McCarthy with almost no votes to spare. In the end, the speaker lost four Republican no votes, and all Democrats opposed. 

“This bill is unacceptable, it’s unreasonable, it’s unworkable, it’s unconscionable — and it’s un-American,” said Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York. “That’s why we oppose it.” 

Democrats derided the Republican plan as a “ransom note,” a “shakedown” and “an unserious bill” that was courting financial danger. 

But as McCarthy worked to shore up support, some of the most conservative rank-and-file Republican members who have never voted for a debt ceiling increase in their quest to slash spending said they were preparing to do just that, rallying behind the speaker’s strategy to push Biden to the negotiating table. 

The Treasury Department is taking “extraordinary measures” to pay the bills, but funding is expected to run out this summer. Economists warn that even the serious threat of a federal debt default would send shock waves through the economy. 

In exchange for raising the debt limit by $1.5 trillion into 2024, the bill would roll back overall federal spending and: 

Claw back unspent COVID-19 funds. 
Impose tougher work requirements for recipients of food stamps and other government aid. 
Halt Biden's plans to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans. 
End many of the landmark renewable energy tax breaks Biden signed into law last year. It would tack on a sweeping Republican bill to boost oil, gas and coal production. 

A nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis estimated the Republican plan would reduce federal deficits by $4.8 trillion over the decade if the proposed changes were enacted into law. 

In the Senate, leaders were watching and waiting. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said House passage of the legislation would be a “wasted effort” and that McCarthy should come to the table with Democrats to pass a straightforward debt-limit bill without GOP priorities and avoid default. 

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell, who stepped aside to give McCarthy the lead, said the speaker has been able to unite the House Republicans. 

Now, he said, Biden and McCarthy must come to agreement. Otherwise, he said, “we’ll be at a standoff. And we shouldn’t do that to the country.” 
…

A former Harvard University professor convicted of lying to federal investigators about his ties to a Chinese-run science recruitment program and failing to pay taxes on payments from a Chinese university was sentenced Wednesday to supervised release and ordered to pay more than $83,000 in restitution and fines.

Charles Lieber, 64, was sentenced by Judge Rya Zobel in U.S. District Court in Boston to time served — the two days he spent in jail after his arrest — two years of supervised release — the first six months in-home confinement — a $50,000 fine and $33,600 in restitution to the IRS, which has been paid.

Lieber, the former chair of Harvard’s department of chemistry and chemical biology, was convicted in December 2021 of filing false tax returns, making false statements and failing to file reports for a foreign bank account in China.

“We are grateful for the court’s ruling,” said Lieber’s attorney, Marc Mukasey. “We think it was the appropriate decision so that Charlie can keep up his fight against his severe health issues.”

Mukasey said his client has a form of incurable blood cancer. Prosecutors had recommended three months in prison, a year of probation, a $150,000 fine and restitution to the IRS of $33,600.

Prosecutors said Lieber knowingly lied to Harvard and government agencies about his involvement in China’s Thousand Talents Plan, a program designed to recruit people with knowledge of foreign technology and intellectual property to China, to enhance his career — including the pursuit of a Nobel Prize — and benefit financially.

Lieber denied his involvement during questioning from U.S. authorities, including the National Institutes of Health, which had provided him with millions of dollars in research funding, prosecutors said.

Lieber also concealed his income from the Chinese program on his U.S. tax returns, including $50,000 a month from the Wuhan University of Technology, some of which was paid to him in $100 bills in brown paper packaging, according to prosecutors.

In exchange, they say, Lieber agreed to publish articles, organize international conferences and apply for patents on behalf of the Chinese university.

Lieber’s case was one of the most notable to come out of the U.S. Department of Justice’s China Initiative, started during the Trump administration in 2018 to curb economic espionage from China.

But in February 2022 under the current administration, a decision was made to revamp the program and impose a higher bar for prosecutions after a review based on complaints that it compromised the nation’s competitiveness in research and technology and disproportionally targeted researchers of Asian descent.

Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen said at the time the department will still “be relentless in defending our country from China,” but would not use the China Initiative label, in part out of recognition of threats from other nations including Russia, Iran and North Korea.

The federal government ended up dismissing multiple cases against researchers or had them thrown out by judges.
…

Disney sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday over the Republican’s takeover of its theme park district, alleging the governor waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” after the company opposed a law critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”

The suit, filed in Tallahassee, was filed minutes after a Disney World oversight board appointed by DeSantis voted to void a deal that placed theme park design and construction decisions in the company’s hands.

It’s the latest conflict in an ongoing feud between DeSantis, a Republican expected to run for president, and Disney, a powerful political player and major tourism driver in Florida.

The dispute with Disney has drawn significant criticism from the governor’s White House rivals and business leaders who view it as an extraordinary rejection of the small-government tenets of conservatism.

The fight began last year after Disney, in the face of significant pressure, publicly opposed a state law that bans classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”

As punishment, DeSantis took over Disney World’s self-governing district and appointed a new board of supervisors that would oversee municipal services in the sprawling theme parks. But before the new board came in, the company pushed though an 11th hour agreement that stripped the new supervisors of much of their authority.

The DeSantis board on Wednesday said Disney’s move to retain control over their property was effectively unlawful and performed without proper public notice.

“Disney picked the fight with this board. We were not looking out for a fight,” said Martin Garcia, chair of the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, adding “bottom line, what our lawyers have told us, is factually and legally what they created is an absolute legal mess. It will not work.”

DeSantis has also vowed additional retribution, with proposals to enhance state oversight of the resort’s rides and monorail, as well as a suggestion to build a prison nearby.

Disney has said all agreements made with the previous board were legal and approved in a public forum. Disney CEO Bob Iger has also said that any actions against the company that threaten jobs or expansion at its Florida resort was not only “anti-business” but “anti-Florida.”
…

The FBI is reporting a slight decline in the number of “active shooter” incidents last year but says the tally still surpassed the levels seen in most of the last five years.

The FBI defines an active shooter as “one or more individuals actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a populated area” such as a school or night club.

Not all shootings are counted as active shooter incidents by the FBI. Excluded are cases of self-defense, gang violence, drug violence, and domestic disputes.

In a report released on Wednesday, the FBI said it counted a total of 50 active shooter incidents in 2022, down from 61 the previous year.

But that number is still 67% higher than five years ago when there were 30 active shooter incidents in the country.

“While we see a decrease from 2021 to 2022, we see over time, over the past 20 years since we’ve been reporting on active shooter incidents, and certainly in the last five years, there has been an overall increase in this number,” a senior FBI official said during a press call with reporters.

The biggest increase in recent years came in 2021, when the number of active shooter incidents jumped from 40 to 61, according to the report.

Although fewer people died in active shooter incidents in 2022 than in 2021, the total casualty count — deaths and injuries combined — was higher last year than the year before.

The shootings caused a combined 313 casualties, including 100 killed and 213 wounded, up from 243 in 2021, including 103 people killed and 140 wounded, the report said.

Last year’s casualty count was the highest in five years, the report said.

According to the report, 13 of the 50 incidents last year resulted in mass killings, defined as four or more people shot dead in a single incident.

Not everyone agrees on what constitutes a mass shooting, however. The Gun Violence Archive uses a broader definition that encompasses incidents with at least four victims, either injured or killed. By this definition, the non-profit tallied 646 mass shootings last year, more than ten times the number reported by the FBI.

In its report, the FBI singled out four incidents that claimed the most lives or inflicted the most injuries last year.

On May 24, a gunman entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, opening fire on students and staff. Nineteen children and two adults were killed.

It was the deadliest school shooting since 2012, when a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.

Ten days before the Uvalde massacre, another gunman entered a supermarket in a predominantly African American neighborhood of Buffalo, New York, killing ten people and injuring three.

The two incidents with the highest number of injuries but fewer deaths occurred in Highland Park, Illinois, and Colorado Springs, Colorado.

On July 4, a gunman perched atop a commercial building fired into an Independence Day parade crowd, killing seven and wounding 48 others.

On November 19, five people were killed and 28 others wounded when a gunman opened fire in an LGBTQ club.

The FBI says it tracks active shooter incidents to give law enforcement agencies and the public a baseline understanding of the problem.

This year’s report offers a wealth of details about the shooters, the time and location of the shootings, and the types of weapons used in the assaults.

Among the report’s key findings:

Of the 50 shooters, 47 were male. They ranged in age between 15 and 70 years old. Four shooters wore body armor, while two acted as snipers.
In nearly half of the incidents, the shooter had a known connection to the location, the victim or both.
In the incidents, the shooters used a total of 61 weapons, including 29 handguns, 26 rifles, three shotguns, and three unknown firearms.
The 50 active shooter incidents occurred in 25 states and the District of Columbia, with Texas reporting six incidents, more than any other state.
The shootings took place in seven types of locations, including open spaces, commercial buildings, residences, educational facilities, government buildings, houses of worship, and a healthcare facility.

For 2021, FBI highlighted an emerging trend involving “roving active shooters,” or gunmen who shoot in multiple locations.

That trend was observed in 2022 as well, the senior FBI official said without giving a number.
…

In return for a greater decision-making role in U.S. contingency planning in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack, South Korea has agreed not to pursue its own nuclear weapons program.

The United States and South Korea are set to announce the agreement Wednesday, as President Joe Biden hosts his South Korean counterpart President Yoon Suk Yeol at the White House for a state visit to celebrate the two countries’ 70th year of bilateral relations and discuss the two allies’ future relationship.

The “Washington Declaration,” is the result of a series of steps negotiated over many months and designed to reaffirm U.S. deterrence commitments to the Republic of Korea, a senior administration official said in a Tuesday briefing to reporters.

Under the deal, the official said Seoul will “maintain its non-nuclear status and continue to abide by all the conditions of its signatory status to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.” The NPT, which South Korea ratified in 1975, prohibits states-parties from developing nuclear weapons.

The two countries will also establish the U.S. – ROK Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), a “regular bilateral consultation mechanism that will focus on nuclear and strategic planning issues and will give our ROK allies additional insight in how we think about planning for major contingencies,” the official added. Beyond greater information sharing, Seoul will have a greater voice in the deliberations of U.S. weapons deployment, he said.

The NCG mechanism is similar to how the U.S. coordinated its nuclear deterrence decisions with some NATO allies during the Cold War.

Growing doubt

The U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty, signed in 1953 at the end of the Korean War, commits Washington to help South Korea defend itself, particularly from North Korea. But as Pyongyang moves rapidly with its nuclear weapons program, including developing missiles that can target American cities, there has been growing doubt among South Koreans on whether Washington would risk its own safety to protect Seoul and whether Seoul should continue to rely on U.S. “extended deterrence,” a term also known as the American nuclear umbrella.

Giving South Korea a greater say in U.S. strategic deliberations is a necessary step to address the country’s increasing sense of vulnerability in the face of a nuclear threat from Pyongyang, said Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korea policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. Through the Washington Declaration, the Biden administration is trying to demonstrate that its pledge to defend South Korea is “credible and rock-solid,” Snyder told VOA.

In January, Yoon told his defense and foreign ministry officials that if the threat posed by North Korea “gets worse,” his country may “introduce tactical nuclear weapons or build them on our own.”

Seoul walked back Yoon’s comments following an international backlash. However, the narrative of South Korea having its own nuclear deterrence capability has become more mainstream in the country’s national security discourse.

A 2022 poll by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations showed that 71% of South Koreans say their country should build its own nuclear weapons.

More muscular deterrence

The U.S. official said the deal would mean enhanced integration of South Korean conventional weapons into U.S. strategic planning, and a more muscular approach to deterrence through increased war games and deployments of military assets including U.S. nuclear ballistic submarine visits to South Korea, which has not happened since the early 1980s.

Go Myong-hyun, a research fellow at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies, a prominent conservative think tank in Seoul, told VOA that the creation of the NCG mechanism and additional deployment of assets will be considered a win for the Yoon government.

While the White House is currently opposed to positioning nuclear assets, including tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea, regular visits by a U.S. nuclear submarine amount to “hinting at a dedicated nuclear submarine option, which could be fully fleshed out in the next round of discussions between the two allies,” Go added.

The creation of the NCG does not mean the group will be deciding when Washington will launch nuclear strikes, another senior administration official said. She emphasized that the decision for nuclear use is “the sole authority” of the U.S. president.

China reaction

China, which has long seen North Korea as a buffer against U.S. influence in the region, is expected to react strongly to additional deployment of U.S. assets, particularly in light of simmering tensions between Washington and Beijing over Taiwan and various other thorny issues.

“We are briefing the Chinese in advance and laying out very clearly our rationale for why we are taking these steps,” the U.S. official said, adding that Washington has been “disappointed” Beijing has not been able to influence its ally Pyongyang to halt its “many provocations.”

The official said the administration has urged Kim Jong Un’s government to return to dialogue. “They have chosen not to and instead have taken a series of increasingly provocative and destabilizing steps,” he said.

North Korea has conducted at least 13 missile launches this year alone, including three intercontinental ballistic missile launches. Pyongyang insists they are a response to expanded U.S.-South Korea military drills that it sees as rehearsals for an invasion.

VOA’s Anita Powell and William Gallo contributed to this report.
…

U.S. President Joe Biden will pull out all the stops Wednesday when he hosts South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol at a pomp-filled state dinner to cap a day grounded by serious discussions.     

White House officials say the leaders will discuss the threats posed by an increasingly bold North Korea, how the two nations can cooperate economically, and ways to counter an increasingly powerful China among other issues.  

Presidents Biden and Yoon will hold a news conference after their discussions.   

Yoon will also speak before Congress while he is in Washington.

Yoon’s visit marks 70 years of U.S.-South Korea relations.    

While Yoon and Biden talk, the White House says their wives will visit the National Gallery of Art in Washington “in celebration of their shared appreciation of the arts and the continuing friendship between the two countries.” 

Tuesday, Biden, Yoon and their wives paid a solemn visit to the Korean War Memorial on the National Mall in Washington.   
…

U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns presented his credentials to Chinese President Xi Jinping this week, more than one year after Burns arrived in Beijing. While the U.S. State Department downplayed the implication of the delay, some analysts said it reflects “the frozen nature” of current US-China diplomatic ties.

In a tweet on Tuesday, Burns said: “I presented my credentials to President Xi Jinping in the Great Hall of the People. It is an honor to represent the United States as Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China.”

Burns arrived in China in March 2022. He was among 70 ambassadors whose credentials Xi received on Monday.

During the ceremony, Xi noted the Chinese government will “provide support and convenience for ambassadors to perform their duties,” adding China is ready to “expand mutually beneficial cooperation” with people of other countries on the basis of “equality.”

When asked about the delay, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told VOA: “That’s a question for the Chinese MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs]. I will let them speak to their schedule on how they have their diplomats present credentials.”

“I don’t think so. … I’m not going to speculate,” Patel said when asked if it’s a retaliatory move by the Beijing government amid the strained U.S.-China relationship.

The presentation of credentials (formerly called Letter of Credence) is usually arranged upon arrival at a new post, according to the U.S. State Department Foreign Affairs Manual.

“There is no question Beijing was sending a message,” said Dennis Wilder, an assistant professor of Asian studies at Georgetown University.

Burns was received with 69 other diplomats, showing China did not consider the U.S. emissary particularly special, he added.

“Beijing will probably try to excuse the tardiness of the ceremony by claiming that zero COVID had made it difficult. But no other U.S. ambassador has ever been treated as just another member of the diplomatic corps,” according to Wilder, who served from 2009 to 2015 as senior editor of the U.S. president’s daily brief.

On July 12, 2017, Xi accepted the credentials of then-U.S. Ambassador Terry Branstad two weeks after Branstad arrived in Beijing. The ceremony was personal as Xi and Branstad had first met in 1985 when Xi was a young agricultural official visiting Iowa. Branstad was Iowa governor at that time.

According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, ambassadors officially assume duties when their credentials are accepted.
…

Taiwan and the U.S. have signed two deals worth close to $420 million for maintaining fighter aircraft operated by the self-governing island that China considers its own territory.

Based on the agreement, around $323 million will be allocated for a parts contract that runs through March 2028, according to a local news report.

The smaller deal, which runs through June 2027, covers nonstandard parts and aviation materials. The deals were signed on Sunday.

Taiwan has relied on the U.S. for air defense capability to secure its airspace and prepare for a possible Chinese invasion. China has been ramping up military pressure in recent years to try to force the island to accept integration with mainland China.

Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on April 21 that Taiwan’s return to China is an integral part of the international order after World War II: “Once China’s land is recovered, it will never be lost again…anyone who plays with fire on the Taiwan issue will set himself on fire.”

The Washington Post on April 15 quoted confidential documents leaked from the Pentagon that Taiwan is unlikely to thwart Chinese military air superiority in a cross-strait conflict as its airfields and radar positions are all within the range of Beijing’s land-based missiles. According to the documents, just over half of Taiwan’s aircraft are fully mission capable and Taiwanese officials doubt the ability of their air defenses to “accurately detect missile launches.”

The documents also said Taiwan feared it could take days to move the planes to shelters, leaving them vulnerable to Chinese missiles.

Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense on April 16 said that the documents’ content did not conform to the facts.

Phillip Saunders, director of the Center for the Study of Chinese Military Affairs and distinguished research fellow at the National Defense University, told VOA Mandarin on April 20 at an event hosted by the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, that air defense is going to be a huge problem for Taiwan as its airfields and radar are all within range of China’s land-based missiles.

Saunders said, “I think the general assessment is Taiwan’s Air Force is going to be out of the fight pretty quickly because the airfields are going to be gone, and if the Air Force hits the sky, they’re within range of Chinese surface-to-air missiles based on the mainland.”

Harry Halem, a senior fellow at Yorktown Institute, a Washington, D.C., think tank, told VOA Mandarin in an email on April 20 that the Taiwanese’s biggest issue is geographic.

Halem said, “Taiwan is densely populated with large cities, making it a hellish urban combat area, but it’s also very small, and therefore, (in theory) easy to blanket with reconnaissance elements to identify enemy targets.”

“Another major vulnerability of Taiwanese aircraft is their ability to be hit on the ground in a Chinese missile first strike,” he said. “The leaks and other information indicate that Taiwan doesn’t have the hardened aircraft shelters to protect its air force if it is caught on the ground, and given the numbers of Chinese aircraft, Taiwan could simply get overwhelmed.”

Chieh Chung, a researcher at the National Policy Foundation, a Taipei-based think tank, told VOA Mandarin that one of the main challenges for Taiwan’s Air Force is that airfields and early warning radar in western Taiwan are highly vulnerable to Chinese sabotage.

He told VOA Mandarin in a phone interview on April 21 that Taiwan’s air defense system, including various long-range radar, is still operating smoothly, and the effectiveness of the entire joint air defense is quite good. For example, when China launches a ballistic missile, Taiwan’s early warning radar provide at least seven minutes of early warning to the relevant anti-missile units.

“But the problem is that most of the long-range radar that make up our air defense system are in fixed positions. It is very likely that the effect of these long-range radar (positions) will be reduced after China’s first few waves of long-range ballistic missile attacks. If it starts to decrease significantly, it will affect the success rate of anti-aircraft missile interception,” he said.

And China has more air power than Taiwan. According to Global Firepower and Forces, the Chinese military has over 3,000 aircraft and nearly 400,000 people in its air force. Taiwan has slightly more than 700 aircraft in total and more than 30,000 air force troops.

Eric Chan, senior strategist at the United States Air Force, told VOA Mandarin that the largest air threats to Taiwan might come from large swarms of unmanned aerial vehicles or short-range ballistic missiles. In an email on April 20, he said in an invasion scenario, China could attempt to use mass firepower to suppress Taiwan’s defenders, gain air superiority, and, thus, overcome the disadvantage of attacking into challenging terrain.

Losing air supremacy would have severe consequences for Taiwan. Halem said that unless the United States and its allies can help Taiwan regain air supremacy, Taiwan may lose a Taiwan Strait war.

Chan said the U.S. could work with allies to provide Taiwan with more air defense systems and missiles, creating a multilayered, integrated air and missile defense system.

Chung believes that the U.S. still needs to share early warning information to help Taiwan carry out fighter jet transfers and consider selling AGM-158C long-range anti-ship missiles to Taiwan to prevent Chinese aircraft from entering the waters east of Taiwan, as well as providing F-35 fighters to respond to China’s attacks on airfields and runways.

Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.
…

After weeks of hinting he would run for reelection, U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday formally announced his candidacy for 2024 in a three-minute video that drew a stark picture of what he believes is at stake: the very soul of America. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from Washington on the prospect of another election battle between Biden and his likely challenger, former President Donald Trump.
…

Former Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido arrived in Miami on Tuesday following a surprise visit to Colombia the previous day, where he had hoped to meet with participants at an international summit.

Guaido unexpectedly arrived in Colombia on the eve of the summit, organized by the government of leftist President Gustavo Petro with the aim of restarting stalled negotiations between Venezuela’s government and opposition politicians.

He boarded a plane in Colombia’s capital Bogota on Monday, just hours after saying on Twitter he had crossed into Colombia on foot.

“After 70 hours or more of travel I’m still very worried about my family and team,” Guaido told journalists after arriving in Miami, referring to threats he said they had received.

Guaido’s visit drew criticism from Colombian officials, with Foreign Minister Alvaro Leyva sayingon Mondaythat Guaido had entered the country inappropriately.

Colombia’s migration agency accompanied Guaido to Bogota’s airport to ensure his departure to the United States, the ministry said on Monday.

Leyva told journalists on Tuesday that Guaido was accompanied by some U.S. officials at the airport and his ticket was provided by the United States. The U.S. government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Just enter with your passport and ask for asylum. With pleasure it would have been offered. You don’t need to enter illegally,” Petro tweeted, adding that Guaido was offered transit permissions.

Guaido had said that he hoped to meet delegations in Bogota for the summit. He urged participants to speak for Venezuelans in exile, serving as “the voice [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro wanted to take from me.”

The Tuesday conference, set to be attended by representatives of 19 countries and the European Union, is meant to help restart the stalled talks in Mexico.

Guaido, a 39-year-old engineer, headed an interim government for nearly three years before being replaced as head of the opposition legislature at the end of 2022.

Guaido’s Popular Will party in a statement said it rejected his treatment by Colombia’s government.
…