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Jerusalem — An aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Sunday that Israel had accepted a framework deal for winding down the Gaza war now being advanced by U.S. President Joe Biden, though he described it as flawed and in need of much more work. In an interview with Britain's Sunday Times, Ophir Falk, chief foreign policy adviser to Netanyahu, said Biden's proposal was "a deal we agreed to — it's not a good deal but we dearly want the hostages released, all of them." "There are a lot of details to be worked out," he said, adding that Israeli conditions, including "the release of the hostages and the destruction of Hamas as a genocidal terrorist organization" have not changed. Biden, whose initial lockstep support for Israel's offensive has given way to open censure of the operation's high civilian death toll, on Friday aired what he described as a three-phase plan submitted by the Netanyahu government to end the war.  The first phase entails a truce and the return of some hostages held by Hamas, after which the sides would negotiate on an open-ended cessation of hostilities for a second phase in which remaining live captives would go free, Biden said. That sequencing appears to imply that Hamas would continue to play a role in incremental arrangements mediated by Egypt and Qatar - a potential clash with Israel's determination to resume the campaign to eliminate the Iranian-backed Islamist group. Biden has hailed several ceasefire proposals over the past several months, each with similar frameworks to the one he outlined on Friday, all of which collapsed. In February he said Israel had agreed to halt fighting by Ramadan, the Muslim holy month that began on March 10. No such truce materialized. The primary sticking point has been Israel's insistence that it would discuss only temporary pauses to fighting until Hamas is destroyed. Hamas, which shows no sign of stepping aside, says it will free hostages only under a path to a permanent end to the war. In his speech, Biden said his latest proposal "creates a better 'day after' in Gaza without Hamas in power." He did not elaborate on how this would be achieved, and acknowledged that "there are a number of details to negotiate to move from phase one to phase two." Falk reiterated Netanyahu's position that "there will not be a permanent ceasefire until all our objectives are met." Netanyahu is under pressure to keep his coalition government intact. Two far-right partners have threatened to bolt in protest at any deal they deem to spare Hamas. A centrist partner, ex-general Benny Gantz, wants the deal considered. Hamas has provisionally welcomed the Biden initiative. "Biden's speech included positive ideas, but we want this to materialize within the framework of a comprehensive agreement that meets our demands," senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan told Al Jazeera on Saturday. Hamas wants a guaranteed end to the Gaza offensive, withdrawal of all invading forces, free movement for Palestinians and reconstruction aid. Israeli officials have rejected that as an effective return to the situation in place before Oct. 7, when Hamas, committed to Israel's destruction, ruled Gaza. Its fighters precipitated the war by storming across the border fence into Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. In the ensuing Israeli assault that has laid waste to much of the impoverished and besieged coastal enclave, more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed, Gaza medical officials say. Israel says 290 of its troops have died in the fighting. 

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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran's hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad registered Sunday as a possible candidate for the presidential election, seeking to regain the country's top political position after a helicopter crash killed the nation's president. The populist former leader's registration puts pressure on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In office, Ahmadinejad openly challenged the 85-year-old cleric, and his attempt to run in 2021 was barred by authorities. The firebrand, Holocaust-questioning politician's return comes at a time of heightened tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program, its arming of Russia in its war on Ukraine and its wide-reaching crackdowns on dissent. Meanwhile, Iran's support of militia proxy forces throughout the wider Mideast have been in increased focus as Yemen's Houthi rebels attack ships in the Red Sea over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Ahmadinejad is the most prominent candidate to register so far. Speaking after his registration, he vowed to seek "constructive engagement" with the world and improved economic relations with all nations. "The economic, political, cultural and security problems are beyond the situation in 2013," Ahmadinejad said, referring to the year he left the presidency after two terms. After speaking to journalists in front of a bank of 50-odd microphones, Ahmadinejad said, his finger in the air: "Long live the spring, long live Iran!" Before his arrival at Iran's Interior Ministry, his supporters chanted and waved Iranian flags. They quickly surrounded Ahmadinejad, 67, shouting: "God is the greatest!" He descended the stairs at the ministry, showing his passport as is custom to dozens of photographers and video journalists on hand for the registration process. As a woman processed his candidacy, he sat, turned to the journalists, nodding and smiling for the cameras. He was expected to give remarks after concluding his registration. An election is planned June 28 to replace Khamenei's hard-line protégé President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May along with seven other people. Former parliament speaker Ali Larijani, a conservative with strong ties to Iran's former relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani, has already registered, as has former Iranian Central Bank chief Abdolnasser Hemmati, who also ran in 2021. Who else will seek to run remains in question. The country's acting president, Mohammad Mokhber, previously a behind-the-scenes bureaucrat, could be the front runner because he has already been seen meeting with Khamenei. Also discussed as a possible aspirant is former reformist President Mohammad Khatami, but, as with Ahmadinejad, whether he would be allowed to run is another question. The five-day registration period will close Tuesday, and the Guardian Council is expected to issue its final list of candidates within 10 days. That will allow for a shortened two-week campaign before the vote in late June. Ahmadinejad previously served two four-year terms from 2005 to 2013. Under Iranian law, he became eligible to run again after four years out of office, but he remains a polarizing figure even among fellow hard-liners. His disputed re-election in 2009 sparked massive "Green Movement" protests and a sweeping crackdown in which thousands of people were detained and dozens were killed. Abroad, he became a caricature of Western perceptions of the Islamic Republic's worst attribute, questioning the Holocaust, insisting Iran had no gay or lesbian citizens and hinting Iran could build a nuclear weapon if it chose to do so. But Ahmadinejad remains popular among the poor for his populist efforts and home-building programs. Since leaving office, he's raised his profile via social media and written widely publicized letters to world leaders. He's also criticized government corruption, though his own administration faced graft allegations and two of his former vice presidents were jailed. Khamenei warned Ahmadinejad in 2017 that his standing for office again would be a "polarized situation" that would be "harmful for the county." Khamenei said nothing during Ahmadinejad's 2021 attempt, when his candidacy was rejected by the 12-member Guardian Council, a panel of clerics and jurists ultimately overseen by Khamenei. That panel has never accepted a woman or anyone calling for radical change to the country's governance. That panel could reject Ahmadinejad again. However, the race to replace Raisi has yet to draw a candidate with clear, overwhelming support from Khamenei. 

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SINGAPORE — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday urged countries to participate in the June 15-16 peace summit in Switzerland. Zelenskyy, in his keynote speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, emphasized diplomacy’s role in maintaining Ukrainian efforts in the war with Russia, now in its third year. "Not so long ago, it seemed that the world would always be fragmented, but we saw that most nations truly desire and are capable of cooperation, at least as far as collective security is concerned," he told hundreds of foreign government officials and delegates at the regional security dialogue. He stressed how support from countries around the world has helped Ukraine to maintain its defense capabilities amid aggressive attacks launched by Russia while rescuing some Ukrainian children who had been taken to Russia. "Diplomacy does more when it truly aims to protect life, [and] together with partners, we are defending life and rules-based world order," he said, adding that Ukraine’s experience has helped to restore "effective diplomacy," which has led to the peace summit in Switzerland. "We are moving into the Global Peace Summit so every leader and every country can show their commitment to peace," he said, stressing that the global majority can ensure that "what is agreed upon is truly implemented" with their involvement in the summit. While reiterating the importance for countries around the world to remain "united" and act in "complete harmony," Zelenskyy also expressed his disappointment in some countries’ absence from the peace summit. "We are disappointed that some world leaders have not yet confirmed their participation in the peace summit, [and] unfortunately, there are also attempts to disrupt the summit," he said, adding that these attempts would deny the world the opportunity to "decide on war and peace." Zelenskyy’s remarks came as Ukraine continues to experience heavy Russian bombardment. Ukrainian officials told local media outlets that an overnight Russian attack involving 100 missiles and drones targeted the country’s power grid and injured at least 19 people across the country. It also follows China’s decision to skip the peace summit. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told reporters May 31 the summit has not met the conditions proposed by China, which is that both Russia and Ukraine should take part in the meeting. "There is an apparent gap between the meeting’s arrangement and what China stands for as well as the universal expectation in the international community," she said, adding that China has shared its concerns with relevant parties while vowing to keep promoting peace talks in its own way. Several European leaders, including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron, have expressed concerns in recent months about China’s support for Russia’s war efforts and urged Beijing to use its influence to facilitate a peace process. Western countries have also repeatedly warned about China’s ongoing support for Russian war efforts against Ukraine. In May, the British defense minister said that intelligence showed evidence of Chinese lethal aid to Russia. During his keynote address Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister Dong Jun reiterated that China has not provided weapons to either party in the Ukraine war and strictly controls the export of dual-use items. "We stand firmly on the side of peace and dialogue," he said. However, when asked to elaborate on China’s plan for the peace process in Ukraine during the Q&A session of his keynote speech, Dong skipped the question and used his time to repeat China’s objection to Taiwan’s efforts to seek independence. Zelenskyy told a press conference that while the United States has confirmed its "high-level" participation in the peace summit and has been encouraging countries to attend, China has been asking countries "not to attend the summit." "These are two different approaches,” he said. When asked what he hopes to achieve by coming to Singapore, Zelenskyy said he wants to secure more support from Asian countries and hopes to let Asian countries understand what is happening in Ukraine. "We want Asia to be involved in the peace summit and if we see Asian leaders attend the peace summit, we will know that my trip has succeeded," he said, adding that he has not had any interaction with the Chinese delegation. While he said he does not expect Ukraine to receive defensive support from China, Zelenskyy said he hopes China will support Ukraine’s efforts to ensure nuclear and food security in the world. "It'll be great if China supports and helps to solve these two issues," he told journalists. Some analysts say Dong’s reluctance to elaborate on Beijing’s plan for peace processes in the war shows it does not consider part of its core interests. "They don’t think it’s a good topic for them, so they are just not going to talk about it," Ray Powell, a fellow at Stanford University's Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, told VOA on the sidelines of the Shangri-La meeting. Powell said that while part of Zelenskyy’s goal may be trying to rally more countries to join the peace summit, he may have difficulty convincing some Indo-Pacific countries to become more involved in the Ukraine War. "Some Indo-Pacific countries’ immediate concerns don’t go that far out so I think Zelenskyy may just be thinking about keeping certain countries that have been supportive of Ukraine’s cause at the United Nations close and try to make his case to those governments," Powell said. Zelenskyy said that by joining the event, countries can involve their people in global affairs and unite the world against one war.  

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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.

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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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