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HAVANA — Alejandro Fonseca stood in line for several hours outside a bank in Havana hoping to withdraw Cuban pesos from an ATM, but when it was almost his turn, the cash ran out. He angrily hopped on his electric tricycle and traveled several kilometers to another branch, where he finally managed to withdraw some money after wasting the entire morning. “It shouldn’t be so difficult to get the money you earn by working,” the 23-year-old told The Associated Press in a recent interview. Fonseca is one of an increasing number of frustrated Cubans who must grapple with yet another hurdle while navigating the island's already complicated monetary system — a shortage of cash. Long queues outside banks and ATMs in the capital, Havana, and beyond start forming early in the day as people seek cash for routine transactions such as buying food and other essentials. Experts say there are several reasons behind the shortage, all somehow related to Cuba's deep economic crisis, one of the worst in decades. Omar Everleny Perez, a Cuban economist and university professor, says the main culprits are the government's growing fiscal deficit, the nonexistence of banknotes with a denomination greater than 1,000 pesos (about $3), stubbornly high inflation and the nonreturn of cash to banks. “There is money, yes, but not in the banks,” said Perez, adding that most of the cash is being held not by salaried workers but by entrepreneurs and owners of small- and medium-size business who are more likely to collect cash from commercial transactions but are reluctant to return the money to the banks. This, Perez says, is either because they don’t trust the local banks or simply because they need the pesos to convert into foreign currency. Most entrepreneurs and small business owners in Cuba must import almost everything they sell or pay in foreign currency for the supplies needed to run their businesses. Consequently, many end up hoarding Cuban pesos to later change into foreign currency on the informal market. Converting those Cuban pesos to other currencies poses yet another challenge, as there are several, highly fluctuating exchange rates on the island. For example, the official rate used by government industries and agencies is 24 pesos to the U.S. dollar, while for individuals, the rate is 120 pesos to the dollar. However, the dollar can fetch up to 350 Cuban pesos on the informal market. Perez notes that in 2018, 50% of the cash in circulation was in the hands of the Cuban population and the other half in Cuban banks. But in 2022, the latest year for which information is available, 70% of cash was in the wallets of individuals. Cuban monetary authorities did not immediately respond to AP's emailed request for comment. The shortage of cash comes as Cubans grapple with a complex monetary system in which several currencies circulate, including a virtual currency, MLC, created in 2019. Then, in 2023 the government announced several measures aimed at promoting a “cashless society,” making the use of credit cards mandatory to pay for some transactions — including purchases of food, fuel and other basic goods — but many businesses simply refuse to accept them. Making things worse is stubbornly high inflation, meaning more and more physical bills are needed to buy products. According to official figures, inflation stood at 77% in 2021, then dropped to 31% in 2023. But for the average Cuban, the official figures barely reflect the reality of their lives, since market inflation can reach up to three digits on the informal market. For example, a carton of eggs, which sold for 300 Cuban pesos in 2019, these days sells for about 3,100 pesos. All while the monthly salary for Cuban state workers ranges between 5,000 and 7,000 Cuban pesos (between $14 and $20). “To live in an economy that, in addition to having several currencies, has several exchange rates and a three-digit inflation is quite complicated,” said Pavel Vidal, a Cuba expert and professor at Colombia's Javeriana University of Cali.

MOSCOW — A Moscow court has detained another suspect as an accomplice in the attack by gunmen on a suburban Moscow concert hall that killed 144 people in March, the Moscow City Courts Telegram channel said Saturday.  Dzhumokhon Kurbonov, a citizen of Tajikistan, is accused of providing the attackers with means of communication and financing. The judge at Moscow's Basmanny District Court ruled that Kurbonov would be kept in custody until May 22 pending investigation and trial.  Russian state news agency RIA Novosti said Kurbonov was reportedly detained on April 11 for 15 days on the administrative charge of petty hooliganism. Independent Russian media outlet Mediazona noted that this is a common practice used by Russian security forces to hold a person in custody while a criminal case is prepared against them.  Twelve defendants have been arrested in the case, including four who allegedly carried out the attack at the Crocus City Hall concert venue, according to RIA Novosti.  Those four appeared in the same Moscow court at the end of March on terrorism charges and showed signs of severe beatings. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing. The court ordered that the men, all of whom were identified in the media as citizens of Tajikistan, also be held in custody until May 22.  A faction of the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the massacre in which gunmen shot people who were waiting for a show by a popular rock band and then set the building on fire. But Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have persistently claimed, without presenting any evidence, that Ukraine and the West had a role in the attack.  Ukraine denies involvement and its officials claim that Moscow is pushing the allegation as a pretext to intensify its fighting in Ukraine. 

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BANGKOK — While Myanmar’s rebel forces battle the military for control of a key border town in the east, another armed group has been closing in on a Chinese-funded oil and gas terminal in the west that could prove an even bigger prize. Since breaking off a cease-fire in November with the military regime that seized control of Myanmar in a 2021 coup, the Arakan Army has made steady battlefield gains across northern Rakhine state, also known as Arakan, in the country’s far west. “The AA has been extremely effective in winning a dominant position over most of the theater, although not all of it,” said Morgan Michaels, who runs the Myanmar Conflict Map at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, which is keeping close track of the fighting. The Arakan Army and local media say the group now controls eight of Rakhine’s 17 townships and one more in the neighboring state of Chin. Michaels, whose research includes verifying those reports, said the military still appears to control a few pockets in some of the townships the Arakan Army has overrun. “But the key point is that they have dismantled the interlocking defenses of the regime. And so even if there is some regime outpost left, they can just circumnavigate it, so they have freedom of movement in these places,” he said. “They can establish their administration, so they’re the dominant player there.” The Arakan Army is also on the offensive in three more townships including Ann, where the military bases its Western Command, and says it has been closing in on both the state capital of Sittwe and the port town of Kyaukphyu. Arakan Army spokespoerson Khine Thu Kha told VOA Thursday the group was preparing to take both towns soon. “We have surrounded Sittwe and Kyaukphyu,” he said. “Our objective is to regain all our ancestral lands. That means the whole Arakan.” A spokesman for the junta could not be reached for comment. Formed in 2009, the Arakan Army has quickly grown into one of Myanmar’s most powerful ethnic minority rebel groups. It aims to establish its own government over Rakhine, which once made up most of the former Kingdom of Arakan. Since 2021, it has been among the established rebel groups that have allied with a new crop of local militias seeking to oust the military regime. The Arakan Army was also a key player in a major rebel offensive in the northeast of Myanmar late last year. Dubbed Operation 1027, it handed the junta its worst string of defeats since the putsch. If the junta were to also lose Sittwe in the west, it would be the first state capital to fall to the resistance and make for a humiliating symbolic defeat but not a very strategic one, said Min Zaw Oo, who runs the Myanmar Institute for Peace and Security, a think tank that has also been tracking the conflict in Rakhine. Losing Kyaukphyu, on the other hand, would hit the junta hard strategically and financially, said Min Zaw Oo, who is also an adjunct fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. He said Kyaukphyu, which hugs Rakhine’s Bay of Bengal coast, hosts a military radar station and a major naval base with “significant value both militarily and monetarily.” Kyaukphyu is best known, though, for its billions of dollars’ worth of investment projects backed by Beijing, including the terminus of twin oil and gas pipelines that run from the coast across Myanmar to China’s landlocked Yunnan province. A deep-water port and special economic zone are also in the works. The route — part of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative — gives China a way to import oil and gas that avoids the Malacca Strait between Malaysia and Indonesia, a potential chokepoint if a conflict were to break out between China and the United States. Additionally, the pipelines are a vital part of Myanmar’s oil and gas industry, the military regime’s main source of revenue. Should the junta fail to hold Kyaukphyu, Michaels said, “they would lose access to the pipeline terminus, so this has economic and also diplomatic implications for its relationship with China if it doesn’t control this major asset. So, in that sense it would be quite a significant loss for the regime.” Min Zaw Oo said the oil and gas industry may be bringing in as much as a fifth of the heavily sanctioned regime’s current earnings and that Kyaukphyu’s loss would be “a huge hit,” possibly “worse than Myawaddy.” The town of Myawaddy sits on eastern Myanmar’s border with Thailand, straddling the main trade route connecting the two countries, and earns the junta valuable tax revenue off the roughly $1 billion in annual trade that passes through. The Karen National Liberation Army, another ethnic minority rebel group, appeared to take control of the town earlier this month before pulling back in the face of a counteroffensive by the military and allied militias. Given Kyaukphyu’s importance to China, Michaels and Min Zaw Oo say Beijing will likely be putting pressure on the junta and the Arakan Army to agree to a new cease-fire or truce at least around its projects there, possibly one that leaves the junta in charge of the port and splitting the profits with the rebels. China is the junta’s main weapons supplier, along with Russia, and it is widely believed to be a major source of arms, ammunition and other vital supplies for some of the country’s ethnic minority rebels, including the Arakan Army. “It’s very likely that Chine will not be happy if there’s fighting in Kyaukphyu, so they may have already communicated [this] to the Arakan Army,” said Min Zaw Oo, noting that there has been relatively little fighting around the port town itself. Khine Thu Kha would not tell VOA what, if any, talks the Arakan Army has had with China about its Rakhine projects but insisted that the group’s policy was to protect all foreign investments across the state. The Chinese Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Chinese Embassy in Myanmar did not reply to VOA’s requests for comment.

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SYDNEY — The Asian Development Bank holds its annual meeting in Tbilisi, Georgia, next week, with discussions on climate change and the world’s aging population high on the agenda. The four-day summit, starting Thursday, marks the first time that the ADB’s 68 members have gathered for a meeting in Georgia, which joined the multilateral development bank in 2007. “Georgia sits at the crossroads of Europe and Asia,” said Shalini Mittal, a principal economist for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit. “This meeting signifies ADB's agenda of bridges to the future where technology and expertise from the West can be used to enhance structural reforms in Asia,” Mittal told VOA. Alongside numerous panel discussions and a keynote speech from ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa, finance ministers from Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries Japan, China and South Korea will also meet on the sidelines. “Given the geopolitical uncertainty with the Ukraine-Russia war and tensions in Asia with China’s problematic relations with its neighbors, I think the meeting is taking place at a crucial time,” said Jason Chung, a senior adviser with the Project on Prosperity and Development at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It provides an additional path to have meaningful discussions on global economic issues,” Chung told VOA. Climate change stressed The issue of climate change is set to headline proceedings at the conference, with the ADB now marketing itself as the climate bank for the Asia-Pacific region. The bank pledged a record $9.8 billion of climate finance in 2023, supporting developing countries to cut greenhouse emissions and adapt to extreme conditions as global warming continues. “Storm surges, sea level rise, heat waves, droughts, and floods — all our countries suffer from all of the imaginable impacts of climate change,” said Warren Evans, who, as senior special adviser on climate change in the ADB president’s office, acts as the institution’s climate envoy. The bank says that the Asia-Pacific region was hit by over 200 disasters last year alone, with many of them weather related, a problem that shows no sign of letting up. “Right now, there's a heatwave in Bangladesh that is causing severe impacts. Schools are closed, they're seeing a drop in agricultural productivity, hospitals are getting overloaded with people with heatstroke,” Evans told VOA. “Mortality rates are going up and, of course, women and children are the most vulnerable to those impacts,” he said. While much of the Asia-Pacific region is extremely vulnerable to climate change, it is also a huge driver of the phenomenon. The region contributes more than half of global carbon dioxide emissions, with a heavy reliance on coal as a source of energy, according to the ADB. To try to reach net zero targets, many Asia-Pacific nations require huge investment to convert to clean energy alternatives. One way that the ADB is tackling this issue is through a program targeting coal-burning power plants, a major contributor to emissions. “With private sector partners and sovereign funding, we're refinancing coal-fired power plants in order to be able to close them down early,” Evans said. The ADB's "energy transition mechanism" uses private and public capital to refinance investments in coal-fired power, allowing power purchase agreements to be shortened and plants to be closed as much as a decade earlier than planned. The financing is also used to fund clean energy projects to generate the power that would have come from the coal plant. The project looks to replace these plants with clean energy alternatives, ensuring that power is generated more sustainably. A coal-burning power plant in Indonesia’s West Java is set to become the first to be retired early under the initiative. “The communities that are impacted will have support, allowing people to find new jobs or to get social welfare,” Evans said.   Aging population in Asia During the Tbilisi summit, the ADB will also launch a major report on aging population, which also affects member countries’ economies. According to the bank, 1 in 4 people in the Asia-Pacific region will be over 60 by 2050, close to 1.3 billion people. “The speed of aging is very quick in Asia, because of the rapid progress in the social development that has taken place in the region,” said Aiko Kikkawa, a senior economist for the ADB’s Aging Well in Asia report. Researchers have investigated the implications of this demographic transition, with Kikkawa finding that the Asia-Pacific region is currently “unprepared” for aging populations. “Large numbers of older people do report a substantial disease burden, lack of access to decent jobs or essential services, such as health and long-term care, and even lack of access to pension coverage,” Kikkawa told VOA. The ADB has pledged to help to improve the lives of older people across the Asia-Pacific region, by supporting the rollout of universal health coverage and providing infrastructure for ‘age-friendly cities’ that are more accessible for older people. Poverty to be addressed While much of the focus in Tbilisi will be on climate change and aging populations, the ADB’s core edict remains to eradicate extreme poverty in its many developing country members. That task has become even more challenging in an environment of high inflation and growing government debt. However, Chung, the former U.S. director of the ADB, told VOA he believes that this goal should be at the center of discussions in the Georgian capital. “The ADB should focus on its core mission of alleviating poverty and creating paths for economic growth in the developing member countries. “While climate risk is important, I think given the state of uncertainty, it is important to provide support to create economic conditions for growth,” he told VOA.

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NEW YORK — Students protesting the Israel-Hamas war at universities across United States, some of whom have clashed with police in riot gear, remained defiant Saturday and vowed to keep their demonstrations going, while several school faculties condemned university presidents who have called in law enforcement to remove protesters. As Columbia University continues negotiations with those at a pro-Palestinian student encampment on the New York school's campus, the university's senate passed a resolution Friday that created a task force to examine the administration's leadership, which last week called in police to clear the protest, resulting in scuffles and more than 100 arrests. Although the university has repeatedly set and then pushed back deadlines for the removal of the encampment, the school sent an email to students Friday night saying that bringing back police “at this time" would be counterproductive, adding that they hope the negotiations show "concrete signs of progress tonight.” As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza, protesters nationwide are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict. Some Jewish students say the protests have veered into antisemitism and made them afraid to set foot on campus. The decisions to call in law enforcement, leading to hundreds of arrests nationwide, have prompted school faculty members at universities in California, Georgia and Texas to initiate or pass votes of no confidence in their leadership. They are largely symbolic rebukes, without the power to remove their presidents. But the tensions increase pressure on school officials, who are already scrambling to resolve the protests as May graduation ceremonies near. California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, gave protestors who have barricaded themselves inside a building since Monday until 5 p.m. Friday to leave and “not be immediately arrested.” The deadline came and went. Only some of the protesters left, others doubled down. After protesters rebuffed police earlier in the week, the campus was closed for the rest of the semester. In Colorado, police swept through an encampment Friday at Denver's Auraria Campus, which hosts three universities and colleges, arresting some 40 protesters on trespassing charges. Students representing the Columbia encampment, which inspired the wave of protests across the country, said Friday that they reached an impasse with administrators and intend to continue their protest. After meetings Thursday and Friday, student negotiators said the university had not met their primary demand for divestment, although there was progress on a push for more transparent financial disclosures. “We will not rest until Columbia divests,” said Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a fourth-year doctoral student. In the letter sent to Columbia students Friday night, the university's leadership said, “We support the conversations that are ongoing with student leaders of the encampment." Columbia President Minouche Shafik faced significant criticism from faculty Friday but retained the support of trustees. A report by the university senate’s executive committee, which represents faculty, found Shafik and her administration took “many actions and decisions that have harmed Columbia University.” Those included calling in police and allowing students to be arrested without consulting faculty, misrepresenting and suspending student protest groups and hiring private investigators. “The faculty have completely lost confidence in President Shafik’s ability to lead this organization,” said Ege Yumusak, a philosophy lecturer who is part of a faculty team protecting the encampment. In response, university spokesperson Ben Chang said in the evening that “we are committed to an ongoing dialogue and appreciate the Senate’s constructive engagement in finding a pathway forward.” Also Friday, Columbia student protester Khymani James walked back comments made in an online video in January that recently received new attention. James said in the video that “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and people should be grateful James wasn’t killing them. “What I said was wrong,” James said in a statement. “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification.” James, who served as a spokesperson for the pro-Palestinian encampment as a member of Columbia University Apartheid Divest, was banned from campus Friday, according to a Columbia spokesperson. Protest organizers said James' comments didn’t reflect their values. They declined to describe James’ level of involvement with the demonstration. Police clashed with protesters Thursday at Indiana University, Bloomington, where 34 were arrested; Ohio State University, where about 36 were arrested; and at the University of Connecticut, where one person was arrested. The University of Southern California canceled its May 10 graduation ceremony Thursday, a day after more than 90 protesters were arrested on campus. The university said it will still host dozens of commencement events, including all the traditional individual school ceremonies. Universities where faculty members have initiated or passed votes of no confidence in their presidents include Cal Poly Humboldt, University of Texas at Austin and Emory University.

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KYIV, Ukraine — Russia launched a barrage of missiles against Ukraine overnight, in attacks that appeared to target the country’s energy infrastructure. Meanwhile, Russia said its air defense systems had intercepted more than 60 Ukrainian drones over the southern Krasnodar region. Ukraine’s air force said Saturday that Russia had launched 34 missiles against Ukraine overnight, of which 21 had been shot down by Ukrainian air defenses. In a post on Telegram, Minister of Energy Herman Halushchenko said energy facilities in Dnipropetrovsk in the south of the country and Ivano-Frankivsk and Lviv in the west had been attacked and that an engineer was injured. Private energy operator DTEK said four of its thermal power plants were damaged and that there were "casualties," without going into detail. Earlier this month Russia destroyed one of Ukraine’s largest power plants and damaged others in a massive missile and drone attack as it renewed its push to target Ukraine’s energy facilities. Ukraine has appealed to its Western allies for more air defense systems to ward off such attacks. At a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on Friday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the U.S. will provide Ukraine with additional munitions and gear for its air defense launchers. Further east, a psychiatric hospital was damaged and one person was wounded after Russia launched a missile attack overnight on Ukraine’s second-largest city, Kharkiv. Photos from the scene showed a huge crater on the grounds of the facility and patients taking shelter in corridors. Regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said a 53-year-old woman was hurt. In Russia, the Defense Ministry said Russian air defense systems had intercepted 66 drones over the country’s southern Krasnodar region. Two more drones were shot down over the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula. The governor of the Krasnodar region, Veniamin Kondratyev, said that Ukrainian forces targeted an oil refinery and infrastructure facilities but that there were no casualties or serious damage. The regional department of the Emergency Situations Ministry reported that a fire broke out at the Slavyansk oil refinery in Slavyansk-on-Kuban during the attack. Ukrainian officials normally decline to comment on attacks on Russian soil, but the Ukrainian Energy Ministry said Saturday that two oil refineries in the Krasnodar region had been hit by drones.

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Lausanne, Switzerland — The head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, has backed the World Anti-Doping Agency in a row over its handling of positive drug tests by 23 Chinese swimmers. "We have full confidence in WADA and the regulations and that WADA have followed their regulations," Bach told AFP in an exclusive interview Friday at the committee's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. WADA has faced criticism since media reports last weekend revealed that the Chinese swimmers tested positive for heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ) -- which can enhance performance -- ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The swimmers were not suspended or sanctioned after WADA accepted the explanation of Chinese authorities that the results were caused by food contamination at a hotel where they had stayed. The head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, has called the situation a "potential cover-up" with the positive tests never made public at the time. Bach stressed that WADA was run independently, despite being funded by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and he said he had learned of the positive tests via the media. The IOC was awaiting the results of a new investigation ordered by WADA on Thursday, but Bach said the Chinese swimmers could compete at the Paris Olympics this year if cleared. "If the procedures are followed, there is no reason for them not to be there," the 70-year-old former German fencer added. 'Iconic' Paris The Paris Games are set to be important to "revive the Olympic spirit" after the last COVID-affected edition in Tokyo in 2021 saw sport play out in empty stadiums, Bach said. The hugely ambitious opening ceremony being planned by French organizers remains one of the biggest doubts, with infrastructure for the Games either already built or on track. Instead of a traditional parade through the athletics stadium on the first night, teams are set to sail down the Seine on a flotilla of river boats in front of up to 500,000 spectators. Worries about a terror attack have led to persistent speculation that the ceremony might need to be scrapped or scaled back dramatically. "The very meticulous, very professional approach (from French authorities) gives us all the confidence that we can have this opening ceremony on the river Seine and that this opening ceremony will be iconic, will be unforgettable for the athletes, and everybody will be safe and secure," Bach said. Recent grumbling from Paris residents and negative media reports were typical of the run-up to any Olympics, he said, and also a symptom of broader anxiety. "It's part of our zeitgeist because we are living in uncertain times. And there are people who are skeptical. Some are even scared. Some are worried about their future," the IOC president said. Diplomatic tightrope As with previous Olympics, international politics and diplomacy are set to intrude on the world's biggest sporting event. Bach reiterated his support for the IOC's policy of excluding Russia from the Paris Games over the "blatant violation" of the Olympic charter when it annexed Ukrainian sporting organizations. A small number of Russian athletes will be able to compete as neutrals in Paris, providing they have not declared public support for the invasion of Ukraine or are associated with the security forces. Any Russian athlete that expressed political views on the field of play, including the "Z" sign that has come to symbolize Russian President Vladimir Putin's war, could be excluded. "Immediately a disciplinary procedure would be opened and the necessary measures and or sanctions be taken," Bach said, adding: "This can go up to immediate exclusion from the Games." Addressing Israel's military campaign in Gaza, he said between six and eight Palestinian athletes were expected to compete in Paris, with some set to be invited by the IOC even if they fail to qualify. Bach dismissed any suggestion that the IOC had treated Russia differently over its invasion of Ukraine compared with Israel and its war in Gaza. "The situation between Israel and Palestine is completely different," he said. He said he had been even-handed in his public statements on Ukraine, the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 and the subsequent Israeli invasion of Gaza. "From day one, we expressed how horrified we were, first on the seventh of October and then about the war and its horrifying consequences," Bach said. Palestinian militants from Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, resulting in the deaths of about 1,170 people, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures. Israel's retaliatory military campaign to destroy Hamas has killed 34,356 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Bach is in the last year of what should be a second and final four-year term according to IOC rules. But some IOC members have suggested changing the organization's statutes to enable him to stay at the helm -- an issue he declined to address. "The IOC Ethics Commission has given me the strict recommendation not to address this question before the end of (the) Paris (Olympics) and I think they have good reasons for this," he said.

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CAIRO — Hamas said it had received on Saturday Israel's official response to its latest cease-fire proposal and will study it before submitting its reply, the group's deputy Gaza chief said in a statement. "Hamas has received today the official response of the Zionist occupation to the proposal presented to the Egyptian and the Qatari mediators on April 13," Khalil Al-Hayya, who is currently based in Qatar, said in a statement published by the group. After more than six months of war with Israel in Gaza, the negotiations remain deadlocked, with Hamas sticking to its demands that any agreement must end the war. An Egyptian delegation visited Israel for discussion with Israeli officials Friday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the conflict and return remaining hostages taken when Hamas fighters stormed into Israeli towns on October 7, an official briefed on the meetings said. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Israel had no new proposals to make, although it was willing to consider a limited truce in which 33 hostages would be released by Hamas, instead of the 40 previously under discussion. On Thursday, the United States and 17 other countries appealed to Hamas to release all of its hostages as a pathway to end the crisis. Hamas has vowed not to relent to international pressure but in a statement it issued Friday it said it was "open to any ideas or proposals that take into account the needs and rights of our people." However, it stuck to its key demands that Israel has rejected, and criticized the joint statement issued by the U.S. and others for not calling for a permanent cease-fire and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Friday he saw fresh momentum in talks to end the war and return the remaining hostages. Citing two Israeli officials, Axios reported that Israel told the Egyptian mediators on Friday that it was ready to give hostage negotiations "one last chance" to reach a deal with Hamas before moving forward with an invasion of Rafah, the last refuge for around a million Palestinians who fled Israeli forces further north in Gaza earlier in the war. Meanwhile, in Rafah, Palestinian health officials said an Israeli air strike on a house killed at least five people and wounded others. Hamas fighters stormed into Israeli towns on October 7, killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages. Israel has sworn to annihilate Hamas in an onslaught that the Hamas-controlled Gaza health ministry says has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians.

washington — About one-quarter of U.S. adults age 50 and older who are not yet retired say they expect to never retire, and 70% are concerned about prices rising faster than their income, an AARP survey finds. About 1 in 4 have no retirement savings, according to research released Wednesday by the organization that shows how a graying America is worrying more and more about how to make ends meet even as economists and policymakers say the U.S. economy has all but achieved a soft landing after two years of record inflation. Everyday expenses and housing costs, including rent and mortgage payments, are the biggest reasons why people are unable to save for retirement. The data will matter this election year as Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump are trying to win support from older Americans, who traditionally turn out in high numbers, with their policy proposals. Everyday expenses hamper saving The AARP's study, based on interviews completed with more than 8,000 people in coordination with the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, finds that one-third of older adults with credit card debt carry a balance of more than $10,000 and 12% have a balance of $20,000 or more. Additionally, 37% are worried about meeting basic living costs such as food and housing. "Far too many people lack access to retirement savings options and this, coupled with higher prices, is making it increasingly hard for people to choose when to retire," said Indira Venkateswaran, AARP's senior vice president of research. "Everyday expenses continue to be the top barrier to saving more for retirement, and some older Americans say that they never expect to retire." The share of people 50 and older who say they do not expect to retire has remained steady. It was 23% in January 2022 and 24% that July, according to the study, which is conducted twice a year. "We are seeing an expansion of older workers staying in the workforce," said David John, senior strategic policy advisor at the AARP Public Policy Institute. He said this is in part because older workers "don't have sufficient retirement savings. It's a problem and its likely to continue as we go forward." In the AARP survey, 33% of respondents 50 and older believe their finances will be better in a year. Based on the 2022 congressional elections, census data released Tuesday shows that voters 65 and older made up 30.4% of all voters, while Gen Z and millennials accounted for 11.7%. Biden has tried to court older voters by regularly promoting a $35 price cap on insulin for people on Medicare. He trumpets Medicare's powers to negotiate directly with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications. Trump, in an interview with CNBC in March, indicated he would be open to cuts to Social Security and Medicare. The former president said "there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements, in terms of cutting." Karoline Leavitt, press secretary for Trump's campaign, said in a statement to The Associated Press on Tuesday that Trump "will continue to strongly protect Social Security and Medicare in his second term." Candidates court senior voters A looming issue that will affect Americans' ability to retire is the financial health of Social Security and Medicare. The latest annual report from the program's trustees says the financial safety nets for millions of older Americans will run short of money to pay full benefits within the next decade. Medicare, the government-sponsored health insurance that covers 65 million older and disabled people, will be unable to pay full benefits for inpatient hospital visits and nursing home stays by 2031, the report forecast. And just two years later, Social Security will not have enough cash on hand to pay out full benefits to its 66 million retirees. An AP-NORC poll from March 2023 found that most U.S. adults are opposed to proposals that would cut into Medicare or Social Security benefits, and a majority support raising taxes on the nation's highest earners to keep Medicare running as is.

KIGALI, Rwanda — Rwanda says it's ready to receive migrants from the United Kingdom after British Parliament this week approved a long-stalled and controversial bill seeking to stem the tide of people crossing the English Channel in small boats by deporting some of them to the East African country. There is even a place ready and waiting for the migrants — a refurbished Hope Hostel in the vibrant upscale neighborhood of Kagugu, an area of the Rwandan capital of Kigali that is home to many expats and several international schools. The hostel once housed college students whose parents died in the 1994 genocide, this African nation's most horrific period in history when an estimated 800,000 Tutsi were killed by extremist Hutu in massacres that lasted over 100 days. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged the deportation flights would begin in July but has refused to provide details or say how many people would be deported. Rwanda government's deputy spokesperson Alain Mukuralinda told The Associated Press on Tuesday that authorities here have been planning for the migrants' arrival for two years. "Even if they arrive now or tomorrow, all arrangements are in place," he said. The plan was long held up in British courts and by opposition from human rights activists who say it is illegal and inhumane. It envisages deporting to Rwanda some of those who enter the U.K. illegally and migrant advocates have vowed to continue to fight against the plan. The measure is also meant to be a deterrent to migrants who risk their lives in leaky, inflatable boats in hopes that they will be able to claim asylum once they reach Britain. The U.K. also signed a new treaty with Rwanda to beef up protections for migrants, and adopted new legislation declaring Rwanda to be a safe country. "The Rwanda critics and the U.K. judges who earlier said Rwanda is not a safe country have been proven wrong," Mukuralinda said. "Rwanda is safe." The management at the four-story Hope Hostel says the facility is ready and can accommodate 100 people at full capacity. The government says it will serve as a transit center and that more accommodations would be made available as needed. Thousands of migrants arrive in Britain every year. After they arrive from Britain, the migrants will be shown to their rooms to rest, after which they will be offered food and given some orientation points about Kigali and Rwanda, said hostel manager Ismael Bakina. Tents will be set up within the hostel's compound for processing their documentation and for various briefings. The site is equipped with security cameras, visible across the compound. Within the compound are also entertainment places, a mini-soccer field, a basketball and a volleyball court as well as a red-carpeted prayer room. For those who want to light up, "there is even a smoking room," Bakina explained. Meals will be prepared in the hostel's main kitchen but provisions are also being made for those who want to prepare their own meals, he said. The migrants will be free to walk outside the hostel and even visit the nearby Kigali city center. "We will have different translators, according to (their) languages," Bakina added, saying they include English and Arabic. The government has said the migrants will have their papers processed within the first three months. Those who want to remain in Rwanda will be allowed to do so while authorities will also assist those who wish to return to their home countries. While in Rwanda, migrants who obtain legal status — presumably for Britain — will also be processed, authorities have said, though it's unclear what that means exactly. For those who choose to stay, Mukurilinda said Rwanda's government will bear full financial and other responsibilities for five years, after which they will be considered integrated into the society. At that point, they can start managing on their own.