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ALEXANDRIA, Virginia — On one side of the classroom, students circled teacher Maria Fletcher and practiced vowel sounds. In another corner, children read together from a book. Scattered elsewhere, students sat at laptop computers and got reading help from online tutors. For the third graders at Mount Vernon Community School in Virginia, it was an ordinary school day. But educators were racing to get students learning more, faster, and to overcome setbacks that have persisted since schools closed for the COVID-19 pandemic four years ago. America's schools have started to make progress toward getting students back on track. But improvement has been slow and uneven across geography and economic status, with millions of students — often those from marginalized groups — making up little or no ground. Nationally, students made up one-third of their pandemic losses in math during the past school year and one-quarter of the losses in reading, according to the Education Recovery Scorecard, an analysis of state and national test scores by researchers at Harvard and Stanford. But in nine states, including Virginia, reading scores continued to fall during the 2022-23 school year after previous decreases during the pandemic. Clouding the recovery is a looming financial crisis. States have used some money from the historic $190 billion in federal pandemic relief to help students catch up, but that money runs out later this year. "The recovery is not finished, and it won't be finished without state action," said Thomas Kane, a Harvard economist behind the scorecard. "States need to start planning for what they're going to do when the federal money runs out in September. And I think few states have actually started that discussion." Virginia lawmakers approved an extra $418 million last year to accelerate recovery. Massachusetts officials set aside $3.2 million to provide math tutoring for fourth and eighth grade students who are behind grade level, along with $8 million for literacy tutoring. But among other states with lagging progress, few said they were changing their strategies or spending more to speed up improvement. Virginia hired online tutoring companies and gave schools a "playbook" showing how to build effective tutoring programs. Lisa Coons, Virginia's superintendent of public instruction, said last year's state test scores were a wake-up call. "We weren't recovering as fast as we needed," Coons said in an interview. U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has called for states to continue funding extra academic help for students as the federal money expires. "We just can't stop now," he said at a May 30 conference for education journalists. "The states need to recognize these interventions work. Funding public education does make a difference." In Virginia, the Alexandria district received $2.3 million in additional state money to expand tutoring. At Mount Vernon, where classes are taught in English and Spanish, students are divided into groups and rotate through stations customized to their skill level. Those who need the most help get online tutoring. In Fletcher's classroom, a handful of students wore headsets and worked with tutors through Ignite Learning, one of the companies hired by the state. With tutors in high demand, the online option has been a big help, Mount Vernon principal Jennifer Hamilton said. "That's something that we just could not provide here," she said. Ana Marisela Ventura Moreno said her 9-year-old daughter, Sabrina, benefited significantly from extra reading help last year during second grade, but she's still catching up. "She needs to get better. She's not at the level she should be," the mother said in Spanish. She noted the school did not offer the tutoring help this year, but she did not know why. Alexandria education officials say students scoring below proficient or close to that cutoff receive high-intensity tutoring help and they have to prioritize students with the greatest needs. Alexandria trailed the state average on math and reading exams in 2023, but it's slowly improving. More worrying to officials are the gaps: Among poorer students at Mount Vernon, just 24% scored proficient in math and 28% hit the mark in reading. That's far lower than the rates among wealthier students, and the divide is growing wider. Failing to get students back on track could have serious consequences. The researchers at Harvard and Stanford found communities with higher test scores have higher incomes and lower rates of arrest and incarceration. If pandemic setbacks become permanent, it could follow students for life. The Education Recovery Scorecard tracks about 30 states, all of which made at least some improvement in math from 2022 to 2023. The states whose reading scores fell in that span, in addition to Virginia, were Nevada, California, South Dakota, Wyoming, Indiana, Oklahoma, Connecticut and Washington. Only a few states have rebounded to pre-pandemic testing levels. Alabama was the only state where math achievement increased past 2019 levels, while Illinois, Mississippi and Louisiana accomplished that in reading. In Chicago Public Schools, the average reading score went up by the equivalent of 70% of a grade level from 2022 to 2023. Math gains were less dramatic, with students still behind almost half a grade level compared with 2019. Chicago officials credit the improvement to changes made possible with nearly $3 billion in federal relief. The district trained hundreds of Chicago residents to work as tutors. Every school building got an interventionist, an educator who focuses on helping struggling students. The district also used federal money for home visits and expanded arts education in an effort to reengage students. "Academic recovery in isolation, just through 'drill and kill,' either tutoring or interventions, is not effective," said Bogdana Chkoumbova, the district's chief education officer. "Students need to feel engaged." At Wells Preparatory Elementary on the city's South Side, just 3% of students met state reading standards in 2021. Last year, 30% hit the mark. Federal relief allowed the school to hire an interventionist for the first time, and teachers get paid to team up on recovery outside working hours. In the classroom, the school put a sharper focus on collaboration. Along with academic setbacks, students came back from school closures with lower maturity levels, principal Vincent Izuegbu said. By building lessons around discussion, officials found students took more interest in learning. "We do not let 10 minutes go by without a teacher giving students the opportunity to engage with the subject," Izuegbu said. "That's very, very important in terms of the growth that we've seen." Olorunkemi Atoyebi was an A student before the pandemic, but after spending fifth grade learning at home, she fell behind. During remote learning, she was nervous about stopping class to ask questions. Before long, math lessons stopped making sense. When she returned to school, she struggled with multiplication and terms such as "dividend" and "divisor" confused her. While other students worked in groups, her math teacher took her aside for individual help. Atoyebi learned a rhyming song to help memorize multiplication tables. Over time, it began to click. "They made me feel more confident in everything," said Atoyebi, now 14. "My grades started going up. My scores started going up. Everything has felt like I understand it better."

MEXICO CITY — Voters choosing Mexico's next president are deciding Sunday between a former academic who promises to further the current leader's populist policies and an ex-senator and tech entrepreneur who pledges to up the fight against deadly drug cartels. In an election likely to give Mexico its first woman president, nearly 100 million people are registered to vote in the race to replace outgoing President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. Voters will also elect governors in nine of the country's 32 states, and choose candidates for both houses of Congress, thousands of mayorships and other local posts. The elections are widely seen as a referendum on López Obrador, a populist who has expanded social programs but largely failed to reduce cartel violence in Mexico. His Morena party currently holds 23 of the 32 governorships and a simple majority of seats in both houses of Congress. Mexico's constitution prohibits the president's reelection. Morena hopes to gain the two-thirds majority in Congress required to amend the constitution to eliminate oversight agencies that it says are unwieldy and wasteful. The opposition, running in a loose coalition, argues that would endanger Mexico's democratic institutions. Both major presidential candidates are women, and either would be Mexico's first female president. A third candidate from a smaller party, Jorge Álvarez Máynez, trails far behind.  Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum is running with the Morena party. Sheinbaum, who leads in the race, has promised to continue all of López Obrador's policies, including a universal pension for the elderly and a program that pays youths to apprentice. Opposition presidential candidate Xóchitl Gálvez, whose father was Indigenous Otomi, rose from selling snacks on the street in her poor hometown to start her own tech firms. A candidate running with a coalition of major opposition parties, she left the Senate last year to focus her ire on López Obrador's decision to avoid confronting the drug cartels through his "hugs not bullets" policy. She has pledged to more aggressively go after criminals. The persistent cartel violence, along with Mexico's middling economic performance, are the main issues on voters' minds. The Mexican peso has strengthened against the U.S. dollar in recent years, mainly because of high domestic interest rates and a huge surge in money sent home by migrants. But the gross domestic product has averaged only about 1% growth per year under the current president. López Obrador claims to have reduced historically high homicide levels by 20% since he took office in December 2018. But that's largely a claim based on a questionable reading of statistics; the real homicide rate appears to have declined by only about 4% in six years. About 675,000 Mexicans living abroad are registered to vote, but in the past only a small percentage have done so. Voting is not mandatory in Mexico, and overall turnout has hovered around 60% in recent elections. That compares to turnout in recent U.S. presidential elections. An exception was in 2020, when the matchup between then-President Donald Trump and future President Joe Biden pushed U.S. voter turnout to 67%, its highest point in decades. Just as the upcoming November rematch between Biden and Trump has underscored deep divisions in the U.S., Sunday's election has revealed how severely polarized public opinion is in Mexico over the direction of the country, including its security strategy and how to grow the economy. Beyond the fight for control of Congress, the race for Mexico City — whose top post is now considered equivalent to a governorship — is also important. Sheinbaum is just the latest of many Mexico City mayors, including López Obrador, who went on to run for president. Governorships in large, populous states such as Veracruz and Jalisco are also drawing interest. Polls open at 8 a.m. and close at 6 p.m. in most of the country. The first preliminary, partial results are expected by 9 p.m., after the last polls in different time zones close.

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria's government is cracking down on illegal mining, making dozens of arrests of unlicensed miners since April for allegedly stealing the country's lithium, a critical mineral used in batteries for electric vehicles, smartphones and power systems. The recent arrests come as Nigeria seeks to regulate its mining operations of critical minerals, curb illegal activity and better benefit from its mineral resources. The clean energy transition, a shift away from coal, oil and gas and toward renewable energy and batteries has spiked global demand for lithium, tin and other minerals. Illegal mines are rife in the country's fledging industry as corruption among regulatory officials is common and the mineral deposits are located in remote areas with minimal government presence. Officials say profits from illicit mining practices has helped arm militia groups in the north of the county. In the most recent arrests in mid-May, a joint team of soldiers and police conducted a raid on a remote market in Kishi, in the country's southwestern Oyo State. Locals said the market, once known for selling farm produce, has become a center for illicit trade in lithium mined in hard-to-reach areas. The three-day operation resulted in the arrest of 32 individuals, including two Chinese nationals, local workers and mineral traders, according to the state government and locals. Loads of lithium were also seized. Jimoh Bioku, a Kishi community leader, said there had been "clandestine searches" for the mineral at remote sites tucked away in the bush in the past years by Chinese nationals before "they engaged people to dig for them and turned the market into a transit point." The community was "particularly worried about the insecurity that usually follows illegal mining and that was why we reported to the state government," he said. China is the dominant player in the global EV supply chain, including in Nigeria where China-owned companies employ mostly vulnerable people leaving Nigeria's far north — ravaged by conflicts and rapid desertification — to work in mining operations throughout the country. China's nationals and companies are frequently in the spotlight for environmentally damaging practices, exploitative labor and illicit mining. There have been at least three cases of illegal mining arrests involving Chinese nationals in two months. President Bola Tinubu has repeatedly blamed illegal mining for the worsening conflicts in the country's north and asked the international community for help to stop the problem, which provides armed groups with the proceeds needed to sustain and arm themselves. The Chinese Embassy in Abuja did not respond to an Associated Press request for comment on the arrests and claims of illegal operations. But in a statement last year following a report by The Times of London alleging Chinese miners were bribing militants for access, the embassy said it "always encouraged and urged the Chinese companies and nationals in Nigeria to abide by the laws and regulations of Nigeria." Nigeria is emerging as a new source of lithium in Africa as the world's largest producers, like Australia and Chile, are unable to fulfill the growing demand worldwide. But illegal activities thrive in Nigeria's extractive sector, denying the government due revenues, said Emeka Okoro, whose Lagos-based SBM Intelligence firm has researched illicit mining and terrorism financing in northern Nigeria. And the combination of conflict and climate change effects, such as once fertile land rapidly turning into useless arid sand in northern Nigeria, has produced a cheap workforce for mining sites. The arrests of "both Chinese nationals and young Hausa boys from conflict-affected regions underscore a troubling pattern," Okoro told the AP. "The socioeconomic strain stemming from conflict and the repercussions of climate change has given rise to a vulnerable demographic desperate for survival." To fight resource theft that causes losses of $9 billion to the government annually, according to the country's extractive industry transparency watchdog, the West African nation has set up a 2,200-strong "corps of mining marshals" earlier in the year. While existing law enforcement agencies are still combating the problem, the new corps is geared at curbing "the nefarious activities of illegal miners," said Segun Tomori, spokesperson for the solid minerals ministry. Before the Kishi raid, the mining corps arrested two trucks laden with lithium on the outskirts of the capital Abuja in April. Later that month, the corps raided a location in Karu, Nasarawa State, near Abuja, leading to the arrest of four Chinese nationals and the seizure of tons of lithium. Tomori said the cases are now in court. On April 22, a federal court in Ilorin, in the north-central region, convicted two Chinese nationals for illegal mining and sentenced them to a one-year jail term, although with an option of a fine. Nigeria has long neglected the solid minerals sector, which allows some communities like the northern-central town of Jos — which is tin-abundant — to depend on subsistence mining for their livelihood. For those communities where livelihood is tied to mining, Tomori said the government is encouraging artisanal miners there to form cooperatives and operate legally.

Give us 5 minutes, and we'll give you the world. Around the clock, Voice of America keeps you in touch with the latest news. We bring you reports from our correspondents and interviews with newsmakers from across the world.

washington — The White House sent an unofficial delegation to attend the inauguration of Taiwan’s new president on May 20. Richard Armitage, former deputy secretary of state, was among the delegates. VOA spoke with Armitage about his trip to Taiwan, U.S. support for the self-governing island, China’s aggression in the region and its ties with Russia. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity. VOA: During your visit to Taiwan, you met with the new president, Lai Ching-te, and other new government officials. What message did you bring to Taiwan? And what did you discuss there? Richard Armitage, former U.S. deputy secretary of state: The obvious message we brought to Taiwan was a bipartisan support for Taiwan's democracy. I had met Dr. Lai before. I had the opportunity to have dinner with him, discuss the situation in the region, and the pressures put forward by the mainland, and obviously also had lunch with [former President Tsai Ing-wen] where we could tell her how happy we were after her eight fantastic years of the presidency. And now she's going to be free. VOA: Three days after President Lai took office, China conducted the military drills encircling Taiwan and called them “a punishment for separatist acts.” How to interpret the military drills and China's message? Armitage: That type of exercise, punishment exercise, was expected. The inauguration speech of Lai was fantastic. And, in my view, Chinese probably understood one of the many things Dr. Lai said was China must quit intimidating Taiwan. And also, on the other hand, Lai said, we are open for dialogue on the basis of mutual respect and dignity, thereby putting Taiwan on the high road. And I think China was not expecting it, didn't know quite how to respond. So, they did, as they usually do, by a heavy-handed bullying activity. VOA: Given China's growing military might and its proximity to Taiwan, what kind of position does it put the U.S. in in terms of defending Taiwan? Armitage: Taiwan’s geographic position in the world is the definition of tyranny by proximity, and Taiwan has to live with this. But while China is busy bullying Taiwan, if you look around the world, more and more people are speaking up for Taiwan, even in the WHA [World Health Assembly]. Many people spoke up for Taiwan, I believe, more than ever before. China has not understood that the more China bullies Taiwan, the more international support comes to Taiwan. VOA: Do you think Taiwan should upgrade its military assets? Or what kind of military assets do you think Taiwan should have to deter China's aggression? Armitage: First of all, Taiwan has to concentrate on what we've seen is effective in Ukraine - drones, things of that nature, sort of unconventional, asymmetrical warfare. Air defense, Patriot missiles, things of that nature. And hopefully, the monies that the U.S. Congress voted for Taiwan defense will be used wisely and well. But ultimately, Taiwan has to come up with a way to come up to 100% manning level for their soldiers. The report submitted to the LY [Legislative Yuan] by Taiwan this week shows Taiwan is at about 80% of their needs. So, I think, this means more and more women should come into the force. More and more Taiwan citizens have to be able to respect those who choose to serve for the defense of Taiwan. VOA: Russia's President Vladimir Putin recently visited China after he began a fifth term. How concerned are you about the deepening ties between Russia and China? Armitage: I'm concerned. Because when I look at Russia and China, I also see North Korea and Iran. And facing those four in Asia is a new situation we haven't had before. So, am I concerned? Yes. Am I overly concerned? No. My understanding is, Putin was not entirely pleased with what happened on his trip to Beijing. He didn't get everything he wanted. VOA: Do you hope that China can do more to actually help solve the conflict in the region? Armitage: You're talking about Ukraine? I certainly would like to see China live up to what should be her responsibility for an area of conflict that worries the whole world. But I don't see China in a hurry to do it. China always says that "We always respect territorial integrity and sovereignty," and here, Russia has violated the sovereignty of Ukraine, and China - silent. VOA: The Philippines now is facing a more increasingly assertive China in its behavior and actions in the region. What do you make of China's behaviors in the region? Armitage: China, first of all, has always said, "No one's going to have joint patrols to assist Philippines." They were wrong. China has not clearly understood that in our mutual defense treaty between the United States and the Philippines, Scarborough Shoal, Second Thomas reef, these are areas that fall under our responsibilities. China has to be very careful. Look what's happened in the last year: People who were not very interested historically, in security terms, in the Taiwan Strait have all of a sudden become very interested. Canadians, French, Germans, British and always the United States, we’re all patrolling around the area. It’s been brought about by China. It wasn't brought about by the Philippines, wasn't brought about by Taiwan. It wasn't brought about by Japan. It's because of the behavior of China. VOA: Among all the areas of conflict, which area do you think poses the biggest threat to the U.S. leadership in the world? Armitage: Probably the Russia attack on Ukraine, because we [the U.S.] are so invested in Ukraine. ... But I think any foreign policy specialist in the U.S. would not try to rank things in order of importance. Our attention, our interests are global. And therefore, to put one situation above another is to invite problems in those areas that are not number one. If you remember in 1950, our secretary of state famously said that Korea was outside the defense perimeter of the United States. And what happened? Several months later, North Korea invaded. So, I would say it's bad business to try to put anything in an order. Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

STOCKHOLM, Sweden — The teacher's opening question to students in Stockholm is blunt: "Has joining NATO increased the threat to Sweden?" Sweden became the Western military alliance's 32nd member in March. The abrupt end to the Scandinavian country's 200 years of neutrality following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and officials' warnings about the Russian threat to Sweden itself, worry many. Teenagers are no exception. Masai Björkwall helped design a national program to educate students on the history and geopolitics of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization after students at Viktor Rydberg Junior High School earlier this year anxiously asked if war might come to Sweden. Their fears had been sparked by comments from the country's top military commander and the civil defense minister that there was a risk of war and that Swedes must prepare. The statements spread quickly, and the national children's help line reported an increase in questions about war. Sweden's last war ended in 1814. "Of course we have to deal with the students' worries about risk for conflict and war, and explain why we joined. We have had the policy of neutrality for so long, several hundred years," Björkwall said. "So I have to teach about what has happened in the world, what has changed that made us change our policy." For teens unfamiliar with NATO, war and world politics, Björkwall's new syllabus seeks to demystify topics his students see online. One lesson included a discussion of the implications of NATO's Article 5, the alliance's collective defense clause under which an attack against one ally is considered an attack against all allies. The discussion stressed that the clause doesn't lead to an automatic military response. Student Linnea Ekman didn't see any increased threat, pointing out that Article 5 does not require sending troops. Another student, Edith Maxence, was concerned about the world becoming more divided as Sweden takes sides. "I feel safe that Sweden is with NATO, but I feel unsafe that (...) it might start a war," said the 14-year-old. She isn't alone. Children's Rights in Society, which runs the national child help line, has seen increasing numbers of calls from children asking whether NATO membership increases the risk to Sweden. Callers rarely asked about war before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the secretary-general of BRIS, Magnus Jägerskog, said that nearly 20% of calls were about war in the week after military chief Micael Bydén and Civil Defense Minister Carl-Oskar Bohlin made their comments in January highlighting the risk. Addressing such concerns is where the program Björkwall helped design comes in. Together with UR, a publicly funded civic education agency that creates educational content for teachers and students, he and others produced a series of video programs on NATO along with teaching materials. Launched in March, these programs have now reached an estimated 100,000 Swedish children. For his final-year students, Björkwall has a more challenging question: Should Sweden align with authoritarian countries? He uses as examples Turkey and Hungary — NATO allies that delayed Sweden's membership for months after Nordic neighbor Finland had joined. The class is divided, with nearly half of the students unsure. "We found it hard to make one conclusion," said 15-year-old Adam Sahlen but acknowledged that "the military gets stronger and better if we cooperate with others, especially Turkey for example." Björkwall said he's careful to avoid advocating one position over another: "I want them to be mature, democratic citizens that can vote consciously later on."

ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria adopted a new national anthem Wednesday after lawmakers passed a law that replaced the current one with a version dropped nearly a half-century ago, sparking widespread criticism about how the law was hastily passed without much public input. President Bola Tinubu's assent to the law comes a day after it was approved by both chambers of Nigeria's National Assembly, which is dominated by the governing party. The federal lawmakers introduced and passed the bill in less than a week, an unusually fast process for important bills that usually take weeks or months to be considered. The Arise, O Compatriots anthem being replaced had been in use since 1978, when it was introduced by the military government. The anthem was composed at a time when the country was reeling from a deadly civil war and calls on Nigerians to "serve our fatherland with love and strength" and not to let "the labor of our heroes past (to be) in vain." The new version that takes immediate effect was first introduced in 1960 when Nigeria gained independence from Britain before it was dropped by the military. Titled Nigeria We Hail Thee, it was written by Lillian Jean Williams, a British expatriate who was living in Nigeria at the time. The new anthem was played publicly for the first time at a legislative session attended by Tinubu, who marked his one year in office as president Wednesday. Many Nigerians, however, took to social media to say they won't be singing the new national anthem, among them Oby Ezekwesili, a former education minister and presidential aspirant who said that the new law shows that the country's political class doesn't care about the public interest. "In a 21st Century Nigeria, the country's political class found a colonial National Anthem that has pejorative words like "Native Land" and "Tribes" to be admirable enough to foist on our Citizens without their consent," Ezekwesili posted on X. Supporters of the new anthem, however, argued it was wrong for the country to have adopted an anthem introduced by the military. "Anthems are ideological recitations that help the people to be more focused. It was a very sad development for the military to have changed the anthem," public affairs analyst Frank Tietie said.

LONDON — Even as he prepared to embark for the battlefields of Normandy, Pvt. Mervyn Kersh was summoned by his commanding officer and threatened with arrest. Why, the officer demanded, had Kersh refused to eat his army rations of canned beef and vegetables, subsisting only on canned peaches? Was he trying to make himself so weak that he would be unfit to fight in France? Kersh, then 19, was indignant. "I said that was the last thing I wanted to do,'' Kersh told The Associated Press. "I'm Jewish. I didn't eat anything that wasn't kosher as far as I could help it.'' The officer dropped the charge and Kersh was soon on board a landing ship approaching the Normandy coast with artillery shells from Allied ships and German shore batteries screaming overhead. The sense of adventure turned to fear, Kersh recalled, and he sought comfort from a pocket edition of the Book of Psalms before landing in France a few days after D-Day, which on June 6, 1944. Kersh will return to France next week for ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings and the Battle of Normandy that followed. It's expected to be one of the last big events commemorating the campaign to end the Nazis' grip on Northern Europe, with the dwindling number of surviving veterans now approaching or past their 100th birthdays. Growing up in a Jewish family in south London during the 1930s and '40s, Kersh, now 99, was doubly motivated to defeat Adolf Hitler. In addition to the threat to Britain and the bombing that killed almost 30,000 people in the capital, there was the knowledge that the Nazis were slaughtering Jews across Europe. "I could almost say it was a crusade, if that's not the wrong word," Kersh said. "To me, this had a purpose. It wasn't just a game or passing the time. … It was to put the Germans out of action as long as possible." "We knew what was happening. (We) didn't know the extent of it, but we knew they had gas chambers. They were killing people, shooting them, hanging them." That motivation translated into an above average level of military service for British Jews during World War II. About 70,000 Jews, or 18% of the Jewish population, served in the U.K. armed forces during the war, compared with 11% for the population as a whole. Both Britain and the U.S. benefitted from large Jewish populations that were highly motivated to defeat Nazi Germany and provided a pool of recruits who had valuable language skills and other knowledge that the Allies needed for the war effort, said Rob Citino, a retired senior historian at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. Henry Kissinger, for example, was born in Germany, fled to London with his family, then moved to New York where he was drafted into the U.S. Army. Kissinger served in counterintelligence during the advance into Germany, helping to arrest saboteurs and Gestapo secret police operatives. "If there's ever a soldier who is going to fight with spirit in the field against the Nazis, of course it would be a Jewish American or an Anglo Jewish citizen of the British Isles," Citino said. Assigned to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps, Kersh's role in the invasion was to help ensure a steady flow of vehicles — everything from motorcycles to 48-wheel tank transporters — to British Army units fighting their way to Berlin. Advancing across Europe, he saw for himself what the war had meant for Jews. There were the people in Bayeux, France, who came out of hiding to hear a rabbi deliver a service for Jewish troops, and in Brussels, two black-hatted men told Kersh how they had spent four years in one tiny room, surviving on the meager rations a neighbor shared with them. But it was at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp that he saw the true horrors of the war. British troops liberated the camp on April 15, 1945, finding 60,000 starving prisoners and thousands of unburied bodies. When Kersh arrived in the area a few weeks later to await a transfer, he visited the camp. He wasn't allowed to enter because of the danger of typhus, but outside the gates he met skeletal former prisoners still wearing their striped prison uniforms. Kersh tried to help, collecting chocolate rations from other soldiers and passing them onto the survivors whose eyes lit up at the sight of food they hadn't seen for years. But that act of kindness makes him pause almost 80 years later. "I found out afterwards that that was the worst thing you could give starving people," he said. "How many died from that? I don't know. But I didn't know it at the time.'' After his years in the army, including a stint in Egypt after the war, Kersh found his dream of becoming a retail store manager blocked by employers who thought he was too old to join a training program at the age of 22. He ultimately found success pioneering the market for fake fur coats and as a writer. But in recent years, his vocation has become visiting schools and community groups to tell his story, reminding younger generations about the dangers of antisemitism and what can happen if world leaders don't stand up to tyrants. The French government in 2015 awarded Kersh the Legion d'Honneur, the country's highest order of merit, for his participation in the Normandy campaign. And five years later, then U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson honored Kersh for his "tireless efforts" to reach out to young people. Eight decades after he rolled onto Gold Beach in a tracked personnel carrier, Kersh is the first to admit that he had an easier path than the men who splashed through the surf facing a fusillade of gunfire and mortar shells in the days before him. And he recognizes that he is being feted in part because he's one of the last men standing from the campaign to liberate Europe. But that makes it all the more important to him to tell the story. "When I go back, each time I go back, and look at the military cemeteries, I just think how lucky I am, because I've got the choice of going home again," he said. "And they haven't. They just lost their lives, but it was for something worthwhile, if that's any compensation."

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea launched hundreds of more trash-carrying balloons toward the South after a similar campaign a few days earlier, according to South Korea's military, in what Pyongyang calls retaliation for activists flying anti-North Korean leaflets across the border. Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, about 600 balloons flown from North Korea have been found in various parts of South Korea. The balloons carried cigarette butts, scraps of cloth, waste paper and vinyl, but no dangerous substances were included, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said Sunday. The military advised people to beware of falling objects and not to touch objects suspected to be from North Korea but report them to military or police offices instead. There have been no reports of injuries or damage. In Seoul, the city government sent text alerts saying that unidentified objects suspected to be flown from North Korea were detected in skies near the city and that the military was responding to them. The North's balloon launches added to a recent series of provocative steps, which include its failed spy satellite launch and and a barrage of short-range missiles launches that the North said was intended to demonstrate its ability to attack the South preemptively. South Korea's military dispatched chemical rapid response and explosive clearance teams to recover the debris from some 260 North Korean balloons that were found in various parts of the country from Tuesday night to Wednesday. The military said the balloons carried various types of trash and manure but no dangerous substances like chemical, biological or radioactive materials. Some of the balloons were found with timers that suggested they were designed to pop the bags of trash midair. In a statement on Wednesday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, confirmed that the North sent the balloons to make good on her country's recent threat to "scatter mounds of wastepaper and filth" in South Korea in response to leafleting campaigns by South Korean activists. She hinted that balloons could become the North's standard response to leafletting moving forward, saying that the North would respond by "scattering rubbish dozens of times more than those being scattered to us." South Korea's Unification Ministry said Friday that North Korea must stop the provocations — also including its missile launches and other acts — or face unspecified "unbearable" consequences. South Korea's military has said it has no plans to shoot down the balloons, citing concerns about causing damage or the possibility that they might contain dangerous substances. Firing at balloons near the border would also risk triggering a retaliation from the North at a time of high tensions. "(We) decided it was best to let the balloons drop and recover them safely," Lee Sung Joon, spokesperson of South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff, said during a briefing Thursday. North Korea is extremely sensitive about any outside attempt to undermine Kim Jong Un's absolute control over the country's 26 million people, most of whom have little access to foreign news. In 2020, North Korea blew up an empty South Korean-built liaison office on its territory after a furious response to South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. In 2014, North Korea fired at propaganda balloons flying toward its territory and South Korea returned fire, though there were no casualties. In 2022, North Korea even suggested that balloons flown from South Korea had caused a COVID-19 outbreak in the isolated nation, a highly questionable claim that appeared to be an attempt to blame the South for worsening inter-Korean relations.

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SINGAPORE — Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun Sunday issued a stern warning on Taiwan and the South China Sea at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore. During his 40-minute-long keynote speech, Dong accused Taiwan’s government under the ruling Democratic Progressive Party, which favors highlighting Taiwan’s sovereignty, of "pursuing separation [from China] in an incremental way" while external forces continue to sell arms to Taiwan and maintain "illegal" official contacts with Taiwan. "What they are doing is to embolden Taiwan independence separatists in an attempt to contain China with Taiwan," he told a room full of delegates from dozens of countries, warning that these moves will push Taiwan into "a dangerous situation." He reiterated that China’s handling of the Taiwan issue is entirely its internal affair and that Beijing remains committed to achieving unification with Taiwan through peaceful means. "Anyone who dares to separate Taiwan from China will only end up in self-destruction," Dong warned, adding that the People’s Liberation Army remains committed to taking actions to curb attempts to pursue Taiwan independence. Dong’s comments came a week after China launched a two-day, large-scale military exercise encircling Taiwan, which Beijing said was a move to "punish" Taiwan President Lai Ching-te for the messages he conveyed through his inauguration speech on May 20, during which he emphasized that neither side of the Taiwan Strait is subordinate to the other. During his Saturday keynote speech to the forum, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin only briefly mentioned the Taiwan issue, reiterating that Washington is committed to upholding the status quo across the Taiwan Strait. In a remark viewed as an indirect reference to China’s large-scale war games around Taiwan, Austin highlighted the importance of resolving disputes through dialogue rather than coercion or "punishment." "[Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war of aggression is a glimpse of a world where tyrants trample sovereign borders, a world where peaceful states live in fear of their neighbors, and a world where chaos and conquest replace rules and rights," he said. Some analysts said Dong’s warning over Taiwan reflects Beijing’s concerns about the trajectory of Taiwan’s development under the leadership of Lai Ching-te, who Beijing has repeatedly characterized as a separatist. "In Beijing’s view, Lai is more provocative, and I think Dong’s warning shows that his administration will have a hard time ahead," Zhou Bo, senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in China, told VOA on the sidelines of the meeting. In his view, he said, Beijing will prioritize forceful responses to any development in Taiwan that they view as "provocative." "Each response from China might create a new status quo that neither Washington nor Taiwan wants to see," Zhou said, adding that it is in Taiwan’s interest not to be so provocative. Reiterating China’s interest in the South China Sea In addition to the Taiwan issue, Dong reiterated China’s commitment to uphold what it sees as its South China Sea interests. While claiming that the sea has "seen overall stability," Dong, without naming the Philippines directly, said a certain country has broken bilateral agreements and its promises due to support from external forces. That country "has made premeditated provocations and created false scenarios to mislead the public," he said. Additionally, he accused the Philippines of allowing a certain country to deploy a mid-range missile system to the region, indirectly aiming the criticism at the United States, which placed a mid-range capability missile system on northern Luzon in April as part of joint military exercises. He argued that Manila’s move would endanger the security and stability of the region. "China has exercised great restraints in the face of such infringements and provocations," Dong told the foreign delegates, warning that there is a limit to Beijing’s restraint and hoping the country, naming the Philippines, could return to the right track of dialogue and work with other countries to make the South China Sea more peaceful. In contrast to Dong’s solemn message to the Philippines and the United States on Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Lloyd Austin highlighted the importance of ensuring the freedom of navigation in the South China Sea that is permitted under international law. "The harassment that the Philippines has faced is dangerous, pure and simple," he said during his keynote speech on Saturday. "We all share an interest in ensuring that the South China Sea remains open and free." Some analysts say Dong’s emphasis on Taiwan and the South China Sea reflects his desire to reiterate China’s position on these issues that Beijing views as its core interests. "His tough stance is aiming at what Beijing views as Taiwan independence forces and the possible interference by external forces," Lin Ying-yu, a military expert at Tamkang University in Taiwan, told VOA by phone. Throughout the course of the three-day conference, the Chinese military held three press conferences, a stark contrast to the lack of interaction with the media from the United States or other Western countries. Lin said these efforts reflect Beijing’s desire to increase the Chinese military’s engagement with the outside world, which is one of the goals that China has set for its military since 2010. The Chinese military is "showing some relatively soft side during the press conferences while adopting a tough tone during his speech," he told VOA, adding that such strategies show Beijing’s desire to amplify its positions and ideas in front of an international audience. Despite their differences on issues concerning Taiwan and the South China Sea, Zhou from Tsinghua University said he thinks the United States and China still want to prioritize the importance of maintaining an open line of communication through the Shangri-La Dialogue. "The relationship between Beijing and Washington can never be a smooth one, and since the communication in Singapore is between the two militaries, they are more cautious and they want to stress the importance of open communication," he told VOA. In his view, he said, the primary goal of the 75-minute meeting between Dong and Austin on the sidelines of the conference on May 31, was to prevent the bilateral relationship between Beijing and Washington from "sliding into confrontation." "We have different views about the nature of this relationship but the consensus is not to let our competition slide into a confrontation," Zhou said.

NEW DELHI — Voting has ended in India’s mammoth election with exit polls projecting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies will win a big majority in Parliament. Voters cast ballots on Saturday for 57 Parliamentary constituencies in the seventh phase of the polls that stretched over six weeks in the searing summer heat. All eyes are now on Tuesday, when votes will be counted for all 543 elected seats in the lower house of Parliament. As India uses electronic voting machines, results are expected the same day. The elections will test the popularity of 73-year-old Modi whose image of a strong leader and champion of Hindu nationalism has been boosted by a host of welfare measures for tens of millions of poor people during his decade in power. The BJP campaign was dominated by the Indian leader, who crisscrossed the country to hold over 200 rallies. Before elections got under way, the BJP was expected to cruise to an easy victory. The party had set a target of winning a supermajority by bagging 400 seats. According to exit polls broadcast by several television channels, the party along with its allies could win 350 seats or more, far ahead of the 272 needed for a simple majority. That would hand Modi a rare, third straight term in office. "It’s a litmus test for Mr. Modi. When elections started, it appeared to be a one-horse race. He appeared very invincible, very formidable and raised the bar very high," according to political analyst Rasheed Kidwai. Many observers had expected an opposition alliance of over two dozen parties that is challenging Modi of cutting into his party’s huge Parliamentary majority but exit polls projected that it would not be able to do so and showed the alliance trailing with around 150 seats. However, in the vast, diverse country, exit polls have not always been reliable. "The final numbers will depend on whether the BJP can hold ground in populous northern states where the party has secured huge success in the past," analyst Kidwai said. After polls closed on Saturday, Modi thanked voters and expressed confidence that the "people of India have voted in record numbers" to reelect the government. His comments came after he ended two days of meditation at the southernmost tip of India at a memorial for Hindu philosopher Swami Vivekananda -- images released by his party showed him clad in saffron robes with eyes closed and prayer beads in hand. The opposition’s hopes of making gains rest on tapping into growing resentment over high unemployment that faces the country’s huge youth population and rising prices. Congress Party leader, Rahul Gandhi, who was the face of the opposition campaign, focused his campaign on the need to create jobs and growing wealth inequality in the country and said the government’s policies have favored the rich at the expense of the poor.  The party has promised cash transfers to poor women and a guarantee of apprenticeships for college graduates. It has also raised concerns about democratic backsliding under Modi. The Congress Party has been marginalized over the last decade amid the BJP’s rise into a formidable political force under Modi – it only holds 52 seats in Parliament. "Much will depend on how the Congress Party and its allies perform in swing states like Maharashtra in the west, Bihar in the east and Karnataka in the south," according to Kidwai. The opposition faces a daunting task. To make significant gains it would also have to fare well in populous northern states, where the BJP is well entrenched and where its Hindu nationalist agenda resonates the most.  The BJP, on its part, hopes to expand its influence in some southern states where it has virtually no presence. The election campaign has been called one of India’s most divisive.  At rallies, Modi charged the Congress Party of being pro-Muslim and of planning to hand benefits reserved for lower caste Hindus to Muslims if it is voted into power – analysts said the polarizing rhetoric was a bid to shore up support among his Hindu base after voting got off to a lackluster start last month. In a letter on Thursday addressed to voters in Punjab, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accused Modi of indulging in the "most vicious form of hate speeches that are purely divisive in nature" during the campaign and accused him lowering the dignity of the Prime Minister's office. Punjab was among the seven states and one federal territory that voted on Saturday. Only India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, secured a third straight term in office. The winning party is expected to form the next government by mid-June before the term of the present Parliament ends.

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CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida — Last-minute computer trouble nixed Saturday's launch attempt for Boeing's first astronaut flight, the latest in a string of delays over the years. Two NASA astronauts were strapped in the company's Starliner capsule when the countdown automatically was halted at 3 minutes and 50 seconds by the computer system that controls the final minutes before liftoff. With only a split second to take off, there was no time to work the latest problem and the launch was called off. Technicians raced to the pad to help astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams out of the capsule atop the fully fueled Atlas V rocket at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Within an hour of the launch abort, the hatch was reopened. The team can't get to the computers to troubleshoot the problem until the rocket is drained of all its fuel, said Tory Bruno, CEO for the rocket maker, United Launch Alliance. Bruno said one of the three redundant computers located near the rocket at the pad was sluggish. All three must work properly to proceed with a launch, he said. Depending on what needs to be fixed, the next launch attempt could be as early as Wednesday. If it doesn't blast off this coming week, then that would be it until mid-June in order to move the rocket off the pad and replace batteries. "This is the business that we're in," Boeing's Mark Nappi said. "Everything's got to work perfectly." It was the second launch attempt. The first try on May 6 was delayed for leak checks and rocket repairs. NASA wants a backup to SpaceX, which has been flying astronauts since 2020. Boeing should have launched its first crew around the same time as SpaceX, but its first test flight with no one on board in 2019 was plagued by severe software issues and never made it to the space station. A redo in 2022 fared better, but parachute problems and flammable later caused more delays. A small helium leak in the capsule's propulsion system last month came on top of a rocket valve issue. More valve trouble cropped up two hours before Saturday's planned liftoff, but the team used a backup circuit to get the ground-equipment valves working to top off the fuel for the rocket's upper stage. Launch controllers were relieved to keep pushing ahead, but the computer system known as the ground launch sequencer ended the effort. "Of course, this is emotionally disappointing," NASA astronaut Mike Fincke, the backup pilot, said from neighboring Kennedy Space Center shortly after the countdown was halted. But he said delays are part of spaceflight. "We're going to have a great launch in our future."

DENALI NATIONAL PARK AND PRESERVE, Alaska — A Malaysian climber likely died of exposure and altitude-related illness earlier this week after sheltering for days in a snow cave with minimal survival gear near the top of Denali, North America's tallest mountain in Alaska, park officials said Saturday. Zulkifli Bin Yusof, 36, likely died Wednesday in a 5,974-meter elevation cave in Denali National Park and Preserve, park spokesperson Paul Ollig said Saturday. The National Park Service recovered his body Friday night, Ollig said. Yusof was part of a three-man climbing team, all of whom listed their address as the Alpine Club of Malaysia in Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, according to Ollig. Yusof's two partners survived. Park rangers first received an SOS message from the team at 1 a.m. Tuesday, indicating the climbers were hypothermic and unable to descend after reaching the Alaskan mountain's 6,190-meter summit. One of the men, a 48-year-old, was rescued Tuesday night after descending to a 5,243-meter-camp. He was described by the park as having severe frostbite and hypothermia. Late Thursday, the park's high-altitude helicopter pilot was able to drop a bag with survival gear near the snow cave and saw a climber waving at him, but strong winds prevented a rescue at that time, the park said. The other climber, a 47-year-old, was rescued Friday morning after days of cloudy, windy conditions. Two of the three men had previous experience on Denali, Ollig said. All three had previously climbed other high-elevation mountains, he said. The climber rescued Friday was medevaced to an Anchorage hospital for additional care and "was in surprisingly strong condition, walking on his own even, considering what he endured," Ollig previously said. The climber's name and additional information about him and the other survivor would not be released by the park. The other climber is also recovering at a hospital.

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BEIRUT — The militant Hezbollah group said it shot down an Israeli drone over southern Lebanon and fired rockets at an Israeli military base on Saturday, hours after Israeli drone strikes killed at least one person and wounded several others. Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters struck the Hermes 900 Kochav drone, saying such aircraft have been targeting militants and civilian homes. The exchange of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border has been intensifying over the past weeks with Israel's military push on Gaza's southern city of Rafah. The Israeli military said a surface-to-air missile was fired toward a drone operating in Lebanese airspace, adding that it was hit and fell in Lebanese territory. "The incident is under review," the military said. The Hermes 900 Kochav is a medium altitude, long-endurance drone that can carry four anti-tank guided missiles. Hezbollah said Saturday that its fighters also attacked an Israeli army base in the border town of Kiryat Shmona with Burkan rockets "scoring direct hits, igniting a fire and destroying part of it." Burkan rockets can carry a warhead that weighs between 300 kilograms and 500 kilograms. The Israeli army confirmed a rocket hit a military base in Kiryat Shmona, without giving details. Israeli media reported the rocket attack on Kiryat Shmona and released images showing significant damage to infrastructure. No casualties were reported. Earlier Saturday, an Israeli drone strike on a motorcycle near the southern Lebanese village of Khirbet Selm wounded two people, state-run National News Agency said. The agency reported another drone strike Saturday afternoon in a village near the southern city of Nabatiyeh. An Israeli airstrike on a house in the coastal village of Adloun killed one woman and wounded several others on Friday evening, the agency reported. Late Saturday night, Israel's warplanes attacked areas west of the northeastern city of Baalbek, slightly wounding two people and causing material damage, the agency said. Such strikes deep inside Lebanon and far away from the Israeli border have been rare since the latest round of fighting began nearly eight months ago. The Saturday night strike was about 100 kilometers from the Israeli border. Hezbollah began attacking Israeli military posts along the Lebanon-Israel border a day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out after the Hamas attack on October 7. Since then, tens of thousands of people have been displaced on both sides of the border. Over the past seven months, more than 400 people have been killed in Lebanon most of them fighters, but they also include more than 70 civilians and noncombatants. In Israel, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed since October. Since Hamas launched a terror attack October 7 on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages, Israel has embarked on an offensive to eliminate Hamas from Gaza. In recent weeks, Israel says its forces have killed 30,000 people, the majority of them combatants. The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza says nearly 36,300 people have died, most of them women and children, but does not estimate how many of the dead were combatants.