Author: PolitCens

Chicago — A Grammy-winning rapper, progressive activists and a leader of an afterschool squash program are part of the eclectic mix of possible candidates lining up for Chicago’s first school board elections this fall.

America’s third-largest city has long been an outlier with a mayor-appointed board overseeing its public schools, and it took years of advocacy and legislative squabbles to reach this point. But the messiest part is likely yet to come.

The historic November races are part of a multi-year transition that is hard to explain to voters. Special interest groups are taking notice. And questions loom about how the new 21-member board, triple the current size, will govern.

“This is not a political race, this is a movement,” said rapper Che “Rhymefest” Smith, who is among dozens of hopefuls who filed fundraising paperwork. “Everyone in this city has a responsibility to the children who are going to be served.”

Potential candidates are circulating petitions while educating voters about the inaugural contests. Many are parents, advocates and former educators making their first foray into politics, navigating a steep learning curve with little name recognition or cash.

While legislators approved an elected board in 2021, the logistics, including political maps, weren’t settled until March. The board won’t be fully elected until 2027.

Residents, divided into 10 sprawling districts, will vote for board members to take office next year. The mayor will then appoint 10 other board members from smaller subdistricts along with a citywide president. In 2026, voters will elect all 21 members, eventually for four-year terms.

“It takes almost a flow chart to figure it out,” said Adam Parrott-Sheffer, a former principal touting his experience to run in the same South Side district as Smith.

Conversations with potential supporters involve more explanation on process than issues, he says.

Parent Kate Doyle, who founded a nonprofit, hopes to represent a North Side district. After knocking on hundreds of doors, she found one person, a teacher, who fully understood what’s coming.

Chicago’s Board of Education — which passes a $9 billion budget, confirms a CEO and approves policies and contracts — was created by state legislators in 1872. After many versions, a seven-member board was instituted in 1999. The roughly 325,000-student district, serving largely low-income Black and Latino children, has grappled with budget cuts and dwindling population.

Interest in elected representation gained momentum after former Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed over 50 schools in 2013.

The Chicago Teachers Union, among the groups pushing the change, deems it a voting rights issue.

“An elected school board brings people from those spaces that have been neglected and disinvested to a table where they have some agency,” said CTU President Stacy Davis Gates.

Over 90% of school boards are elected, according to the National School Boards Association. Few school districts have recently changed from an appointed school board to an elected one, leaving Chicago without a roadmap.

One fellowship program through National Louis University is trying to ease Chicago’s transition with training for potential board members. Most of the 22 current fellows enrolled hope to get on the November ballot. They’re learning how to engage with the public and tactics for group decision making.

“If this program can shorten that learning curve a little bit, that could have a really positive tremendous impact on the students in the city,” said Bridget Lee, who oversees the program.

Candidates face numerous hurdles, including a truncated campaign season.

The jobs, which district officials estimate require up to 30 hours of time weekly, are unpaid, limiting who can afford to run. At least 1,000 signatures are required to get on the ballot, more than double the number for aldermanic and some congressional candidates with paid political operations.

Anusha Thotakura, a 25-year-old activist with the progressive Citizen Action Illinois, collected 600 signatures in a district that includes wealthy and low-income neighborhoods.

“This board presents a lot of hope for people about having accountability,” she said.

Smith fanned signed petitions on the dining table at his great-grandmother’s South Side home where he lives.

“In Chicago, this is money,” the 46-year-old joked. Still, he’s putting $80,000 into his bid and has written a campaign song titled “Optimistic.”

“People see a rapper and there’s a stigma to it,” said Smith, who made an unsuccessful 2011 City Council run. “I’m here to break stereotypes.”

Voter turnout in school elections is typically under 10%, according to the NSBA. The presidential contest is expected to help, though Chicago’s March primary turnout was the lowest in years at roughly 26%.

That adds weight to endorsements, including from the influential teachers’ union. Competition to get them is fierce.

One possible candidate, Yesenia Lopez, unveiled her campaign with Congressman Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s backing before her campaign disclosure paperwork was filed.

Jesus Ayala, 32, hopes to run in the same Southwest Side district. He works at MetroSquash, a sports complex offering mentorship and other student programs through the racquet sport.

“When you have a congressman announcing someone’s candidacy, it feels like an elected official trying to appoint someone to the board,” he said.

Elsewhere, outside organizations have poured money into down-ballot school elections, making them proxy votes for controversial national issues. During Los Angeles’ 2017 board races, unions and pro-charter school groups spent $15 million.

In Chicago, charter schools groups are already getting involved.

Paul Vallas, a former superintendent and failed candidate for Chicago mayor, started a political action committee that could back candidates. Parents advocating to restore school bus service, which the district cut amid driver shortages, hosted the first candidate forum.

“The wild card in all of this is: Will there be national issues that are tangentially related that will bleed into the race?” asked Michael Ford, a University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh professor.

District officials have offered few details about how the board will operate. One thing raising eyebrows is its size.

“They are creating conditions for a lot of political infighting, more opportunities for deal brokering, things that have been synonymous with Chicago politics,” said Jonathan Collins, a Columbia University political scientist.

Los Angeles has seven board members while Houston has nine. In New York, the panel is partially appointed and recently increased from 15 to 23.

Illinois state Sen. Rob Martwick, who championed an elected board, said more districts were created to curb the influence of outside money. More legislative changes could follow, including campaign finance and board pay.

“Now the responsibility of making our schools better is in your hands, can’t blame the mayor anymore,” Martwick said. “Look in the mirror.”
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U.S. and Chinese defense officials offered competing visions for Asia, even as they agreed to keep channels open during the three-day? Shangri-La security summit that wrapped up Sunday in Singapore, as VOA’s William Gallo reports from Seoul, South Korea. (Camera: William Gallo)
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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.”
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TAN TAN, Morocco — High-ranking military officials from the U.S. and its top African allies watched intently as dust and flames shot up from pieces of the Sahara Desert hit by tank and artillery fire. They looked up as pilots flew F-16s into formation. And they listened intently as Moroccan and American personnel explained how they would set up beachheads to defend the Atlantic coastline in the event of a potential invasion. 

The practice scenario was among those discussed during Africa Lion, the United States’ largest annual joint military exercise on the continent, which concluded Friday in Morocco. 

Over the past two weeks, roughly 8,100 military forces from nearly three dozen countries maneuvered throughout Tunisia, Ghana, Senegal and Morocco as part of the war games held this year as militaries confront new challenges in increasingly volatile regions. 

Generals from the United States and Morocco, which hosted the finale of the two-week event, celebrated Africa Lion’s 20-year anniversary and how partnerships between the U.S. and African militaries have expanded since it began. 

“This exercise has grown over the years since 2004, not only have the number of multinational service members that we train with, but also the scope of the training as well, which has expanded to more than just security,” said General Michael Langley, the head of the United States’ Africa Command. 

But despite the spectacle of live-fire demonstrations and laudatory remarks about partnerships by Langley and Colonel Major Fouad Gourani of Morocco’s Royal Armed Forces, parts of Africa are getting much more dangerous. 

The United Nations earlier this year called Africa a “global epicenter for terrorism.” Fatalities linked to extremist groups have risen dramatically in the Sahel, the region that stretches from Mauritania to Chad. 

Since 2020, military officers disillusioned with their governments’ records of stemming violence have overthrown democratically elected governments in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger and began distancing themselves from Western powers. 

From 2021 to 2024, militants killed more than 17,000 people across the three countries, according to data from the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project. 

The United States is holding steadfast to its strategy of coupling weapons assistance and intelligence sharing with initiatives designed to boost civilian populations and strengthen institutions. 

But it faces new competition. Decades after the end of colonialism, Africa has once again become absorbed in fighting among Great Powers, with Western influence waning and countries accepting more economic and military support from Chinese firms and Russian contractors. 

At Africa Lion, the U.S. military showcased part of what it offers countries facing instability inside and just beyond their borders. Besides tanks and bombers, the joint exercises included operations and practice in field hospitals, medical evacuations and humanitarian assistance. 

The exercise emphasized a “whole of government” approach to addressing the root causes of instability, ranging from climate change to displacement, rather than solely focusing on military might. 

“It’s important that we not only be associated with kicking down doors,” said Colonel Kelly Togiola, a command surgeon who helped set up a field hospital alongside Moroccan doctors as part of the exercise. “In times of crises, those relationships that matter.” 

That strategy differs from what’s being offered by Africa Corps, the descendent of the Russian state-funded private military company Wagner, whose leader Yevgeny Prigozhin died last year. Yet it’s come under scrutiny since military officers with a history of participating in training exercises have risen to positions of power after the ousters of democratically elected leaders in countries such as Guinea and Niger. 

Cameron Hudson, an Africa expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said regardless of how much the U.S. military broadens its efforts, its continued focus on counterterrorism will keep empowering military leaders throughout West Africa. 

“The nature of security assistance is that it’s much more visible, impactful and manipulated by the recipient for ill,” Hudson said. “When we come in with training and toys, we reinforce within societies these power dynamics that in the long run are not helpful to the consolidation of civilian democratic rule.” 

Despite training exercises like Africa Lion, U.S. military leaders face difficulties prolonging their partnerships in places they’ve long characterized as strategically critical. Countries such as Niger and Chad — which participated in Africa Lion — have embraced Russian trainers and paramilitaries and pushed for the withdrawal of U.S. troops. 

The U.S. military officials note their assessment of the threat of “malign” Russian and Chinese influence but say they can work in countries that accept assistance from geopolitical rivals. 

Curbing Russian influence while opposing the overthrow of democratically elected leaders hasn’t worked everywhere, especially as the U.S. military often attaches strings to how countries can implement training and weapons provided. 

U.S. law makes governments deposed in military coups ineligible for large portions of assistance, despite the military’s talk of equal partnership and noninterference. 
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SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — In 2021, the Biden administration turned down a meeting request with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, on a trip to Washington, snubbing the self-proclaimed “world’s coolest dictator” for fear a photo op would embolden his attempts to expand his power base. 

A little more than three years later, it’s the United States that’s courting Bukele. A high-level delegation led by U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and senior White House and State Department officials, attended Bukele’s inauguration in San Salvador on Saturday to a second term. 

The visit caps a quiet, 180-degree shift in Washington’s policy toward the small Central American nation of 6 million that reflects how the Biden administration’s criticisms of Bukele’s strong-armed governing style have been overtaken by more urgent concerns tied to immigration — a key issue in this year’s U.S. presidential election. 

“They’ve realized what he’s been doing works,” Damian Merlo, an American adviser to Bukele who is registered to lobby on the Salvadoran government’s behalf, said in an interview from El Salvador. “If the U.S. is serious about wanting to address the root causes of migration, then Bukele is someone who has actually done it.” 

The 42-year-old Bukele, who was reelected with 85% of the vote, has been wildly popular at home for his frontal attack on powerful gangs, which has converted what was once the world’s murder capital into one of Latin America’s safest countries. The improvement in public security is credited with a more than 60% drop in migration from the Central American country to the U.S. since Bukele took office in 2019 — a stark contrast with a growing exodus of migrants from other parts of Latin America. 

“We conquered fear, and today are truly a free nation,” Bukele said in a speech Saturday to hundreds of supporters from the balcony of the National Palace after being sworn in for a second, five-year term. 

Cured of what he called the cancer of gang violence, he said that his next term would be devoted to strengthening El Salvador’s economy, vowing to apply the same independent, unconventional approach that has characterized his rule and won him admirers from conservatives throughout Latin America. 

“I’m not here to do what others think I should do. I’m here to do what’s best for our country,” he said. 

Until recently, Bukele’s crackdown on the gangs — as well as political opponents — had drawn fire from Washington. A state of emergency originally declared in 2022 and still in effect has been used to round up 78,175 suspected gang members in sweeps that rights groups say are often arbitrary, based on a person’s appearance or where they live. The government has had to release about 7,000 people because of a lack of evidence. 

After Biden took office, the U.S. sanctioned several of Bukele’s top aides on allegations of corruption and shifted foreign assistance from government agencies to civil society groups highly critical of Bukele. 

The about-face, observers say, started a little more than a year ago when Biden sent William Duncan, a career diplomat, to San Salvador as U.S. ambassador. Then, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Salvadoran Foreign Minister Alexandra Hill in Washington. Bukele, who in the past praised former U.S. President Donald Trump and cozied up to China, has also avoided direct confrontation. 

“Migration trumps everything else,” said Michael Shifter, a former president of Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. “The ideal Latin American partner would be effective in its security policy while respecting human rights norms and practices and cooperating with the U.S. on migration. But rarely do all these desirable things go together, which poses tough choices for U.S. policymakers.” 

The U.S. State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

But Ricardo Zúniga, a retired U.S. diplomat who handled migration talks with Central America in the early days of the Biden administration, said that Washington may come to regret its recent embrace of Bukele. 

“Bukele will be in power for many years to come, so you need to have a working relationship,” he said. “But you also have to be clear eyed. This is an authoritarian government ruled by a single party that is not sympathetic to U.S. strategic interests.” 
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WASHINGTON — Congressional leaders have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to deliver an address the Capitol, a show of wartime support for the longtime ally despite mounting political divisions over Israel’s military assault on Gaza.

The invitation from House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, along with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, has been in the works for some time. No date for the speech was set.

Leaders said the invitation was extended to “highlight America’s solidarity with Israel.”

“We invite you to share the Israeli government’s vision for defending democracy, combatting terror and establishing a just and lasting peace in the region,” they wrote.

A speech by Netanyahu would almost certainly expose election-year divisions in the U.S., where a growing number of Democrats have turned away from the right-wing prime minister, while Republicans have embraced him.

Johnson first suggested inviting the Israeli leader, saying it would be “a great honor of mine” to invite him. That came soon after Schumer, who is the highest ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S., had delivered a stinging rebuke of Netanyahu. Schumer said in the speech that Netanyahu had “lost his way” amid the Israeli bombing campaign in Gaza.

Even so, Schumer had said he would join in the invitation because “our relationship with Israel is ironclad and transcends any one prime minister or president.”

The Israel-Hamas war, now in its seventh month after the October 7 terror attack by the Palestinian militant group, has caused widespread concerns in the U.S. and abroad over Israel’s conduct and the extensive civilian death toll.

As Israel pushes into Rafah in Gaza, the International Criminal Court has accused Netanyahu and his defense minister, along with three Hamas leaders, of war crimes — a largely symbolic act but one that further isolates the Israeli leader.

President Joe Biden in supporting Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas lambasted the ICC’s case against Netanyahu, but he has nevertheless grown critical of Israel’s war plans and has pressed for assurances of humanitarian aid.

On Friday, Biden encouraged a three-phase deal proposed by Israel to Hamas militants that he says would lead to the release of the remaining hostages in Gaza and could end the war. He urged Israelis and Hamas to come to an agreement to release the remaining hostages for an extended cease-fire, arguing that Hamas is “no longer capable” of carrying out another large-scale attack on Israel as it did in October.

Biden called the proposal “a road map to an enduring cease-fire and the release of all hostages.”

It is unclear if Biden and Netanyahu would meet in Washington.

Spain, Norway and Ireland recently recognized a Palestinian state, a move that was condemned by Israel. Slovenia’s government also endorsed a motion to recognize a Palestinian state and asked the parliament to do the same.

Typically, a high-profile congressional invitation is issued jointly and in consultation with the White House. But in 2015, Netanyahu was invited to address Congress in a rebuff to then-President Barack Obama by a previous Republican speaker during disputes over Iran.

On Capitol Hill, the debates over the Israel-Hamas war have been pitched, heated and divisive, amplified during the college campus protests this spring, showing how the once ironclad support for Israel has weakened and splintered.

Republicans, including presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, have been eager to display their support for Netanyahu and expose the Democratic divisions over Israel.

More recently, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, became the highest ranking Republican elected official from the U.S. to deliver a speech before the Israeli parliament.
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SINGAPORE — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin tried to refocus attention on China’s threat in the Asia-Pacific region on Saturday, seeking to alleviate concerns that conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have distracted from America’s security commitments in the region.

Austin, who was speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore, met his Chinese counterpart, Dong Jun, on Friday in a bid to cool friction over issues such as Taiwan and China’s military activity in the South China Sea.

There has been increasing concern that Washington’s focus on helping Ukraine counter Russia’s invasion and support for Israel’s war in Gaza, while trying to ensure that the conflict does not spread, has taken away attention from the Indo-Pacific.

“Despite these historic clashes in Europe and the Middle East, the Indo-Pacific has remained our priority theater of operations,” Austin said in his speech, which appeared aimed at underlining the administration’s legacy in the region as President Joe Biden’s first term in office nears its end. Biden is running for reelection in November against former President Donald Trump.

“Let me be clear: The United States can be secure only if Asia is secure,” Austin said. “That’s why the United States has long maintained our presence in this region.” Austin underscored the importance of alliances in the region.

“And … peaceful resolution of disputes through dialogue and not coercion or conflict. And certainly not through so-called punishment,” Austin said, taking a shot at China. The speech took aim at Beijing’s actions in the region, including the South China Sea, without naming China for the most part.

In response, Chinese Lieutenant General Jing Jianfeng said the U.S. Indo-Pacific strategy was intended “to create division, provoke confrontation and undermine stability.”

“It only serves the selfish geopolitical interests of the U.S. and runs counter to the trend of history and the shared aspirations of regional countries for peace, development and win-win cooperation,” said Jing, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department of China’s Central Military Commission.

Some U.S. officials say Beijing has become more emboldened in recent years, recently launching what it described as “punishment” drills around Taiwan, sending heavily armed warplanes and staging mock attacks after Lai Ching-te was inaugurated as Taiwan’s president.

About $8 billion in U.S. funding is set aside for countering China in the Indo-Pacific as part of a supplemental funding bill passed by lawmakers.

Philippine President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Friday denounced illegal, coercive and aggressive actions in the South China Sea, a disputed ocean territory that China has been flooding with coast guard ships in recent months.

The Philippines, a sprawling archipelago with strong historical ties to the United States and close geographical proximity to China, is at the center of an intensifying power struggle between Washington and Beijing.

Austin said the harassment faced by the Philippines was dangerous and reiterated that the United States’ mutual defense treaty with Manila was iron clad. He said the aim was for tensions between Beijing and Manila not to spiral out of control.

“America will continue to play a vital role in the Indo-Pacific, together with our friends across the region that we share and care so much about,” Austin said.

Jing, the Chinese general, said these alliances contribute to instability in the region.

“It is natural for neighbors to bicker sometimes, but we need to resolve disagreements through dialogue and consultation rather than inviting wolves into our house and playing with fire,” he said.
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SINGAPORE — Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy arrived in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue conference on Saturday, where he planned to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and discuss support for his embattled country in an address to delegates. 

After arriving at the conference venue in a motorcade amid heavy security, Zelenskyy said in a statement on the social media platform X that he had come to gather support from the Asia-Pacific region for a peace summit planned for June 15-16 in Switzerland. 

“Global security is impossible when the world’s largest country disregards recognized borders, international law, and the U.N. Charter, resorts to hunger, darkness, and nuclear blackmail,” the statement said, referring to Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022. 

The statement said Zelenskyy planned to hold several meetings, including with Singaporean President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta, Austin, and Singaporean investors. 

A U.S. official said Zelenskiy and Ukrainian Defense Minster Rustem Umerov would meet Austin “to discuss the current battlefield situation in Ukraine and to underscore the U.S. commitment to ensuring Ukraine has what it needs to defend itself against ongoing Russian aggression.” 

The International Institute of Strategic Studies, which organized the security conference, said Zelenskyy would participate in a discussion session on Sunday entitled “Re-Imagining Solutions for Global Peace and Regional Stability.” 

Zelenskyy said on Wednesday that Russia is trying to disrupt the Switzerland peace summit, which he hopes will generate support for the withdrawal of Russian troops and the restoration of Ukraine’s 1991 borders. 

It is Zelenskiy’s second trip to Asia since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In May 2023, he attended the G7 meetings in Japan. 

Russia has begun renewed assaults against Ukrainian lines and has stepped up missile attacks in recent months. Russian troops have made small gains in Ukraine’s east and south, even as Kyiv’s allies accelerate shipments of ammunition and other arms. 

Russia has not attended the Shangri-La Dialogue since the invasion. 

The United States this year approved $61 billion for weapons for Ukraine, some of which — such as Patriot missiles and ATACMS precision ballistic missiles — have already arrived there.  

On Thursday, U.S. officials said U.S. President Joe Biden had assured Ukraine it could use U.S. weapons to strike targets across the border in Russia that were being used to attack areas around Kharkiv, a city in Ukraine’s northeast. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO members against allowing Ukraine to fire their weapons into Russia and on Tuesday again raised the risk of nuclear war. 

Sweden also approved a new security package this week worth about $1 billion, which included armored vehicles, and for the first time, airborne warning and control aircraft that can spot targets in the air at extreme distances. 

Austin, who spoke earlier on Saturday at the Shangri-La Dialogue, noted in his remarks that the support for Ukrainian forces pushing back against Russia’s invasion for more than two years showed that countries around the world could rally in the face of aggression. 

The Shangri-La conference, held annually in Singapore by the International Institute of Strategic Studies for the last 21 years, ends on June 2. 
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UNITED NATIONS — The United States and allies South Korea and Japan clashed with China and Russia Friday over North Korea’s latest satellite and ballistic missile launches and threats to use nuclear weapons that have escalated tensions in northeast Asia.

The scene was an emergency open meeting of the U.N. Security Council called after North Korea’s failed launch of a military reconnaissance satellite on May 27 and other launches using ballistic missile technology in violation of U.N. sanctions.

Since the beginning of 2022, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – the North’s official name – has launched over 100 missiles using this banned technology as it has advanced its nuclear weapons program. In response, the U.S. and its allies have carried out an increasing number of military exercises.

U.N. Assistant Secretary-General Khaled Khiari briefed the council meeting saying sovereign states have the right to benefit from peaceful space activities – but the DPRK is expressly prohibited from conducting launches using ballistic missile technology and its continuing violations undermine global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation treaties.

“We remain deeply concerned about growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula,” Khiari said. “There is a need for practical measures to reduce tensions, reverse the dangerous dynamic, and create space to explore diplomatic avenues.”

North Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Kim Song insisted that its satellite launches – and it had a successful one last November – are “the legitimate and universal right of a sovereign state” under international law and the Outer Space Treaty. He stressed that reconnaissance satellites are not only needed to strengthen its self-defense capabilities but to defend its sovereignty.

Kim told the Security Council that the “massive deployment of strategic assets and aggressive war exercises” by the United States on the Korean Peninsula and in the region have broken all records and destroyed the military balance.

This has turned the Korean Peninsula “into the most fragile zone in the world, fraught with the danger of outbreak of war,” he said, claiming that joint military exercises since the beginning of the year are “a U.S.-led nuclear war rehearsal.”

The DPRK ambassador said the Security Council shouldn’t waste time debating the legitimate rights of a sovereign state, but should direct its attention to putting an immediate end to the killing of civilians in Gaza, “which continues unabated under U.S. patronage.”

South Korea’s U.N. Ambassador Joonkook Hwang said it should be his country – not the DPRK – that should claim the right to self-defense.

He said the DPRK’s nuclear policy and its rhetoric “are getting increasing aggressive and hostile, and Pyongyang no longer views its nuclear arsenal as just a deterrent against the United States, “but instead as a means to attack my country.”

He quoted DPRK leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, saying two weeks ago that the only purpose of their tactical nuclear weapons “is to teach a lesson to Seoul.”

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood urged the Security Council to condemn the DPRK’s launches and hold it accountable for violating U.N. sanctions.

“But two council members, China and Russia, continuously block the Security Council from speaking against the DPRK’s behavior with one voice and makes us all less safe,” he said.

Wood also accused the DPRK of unlawfully transferring dozens of ballistic missiles and over 11,000 containers of munitions to Russia to aid its war against Ukraine, “prolonging the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”

He rejected as “groundless” and disingenuous” claims by the DPRK and its supporters on the council that its missile launches are a response to U.S.-led military exercises.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Anna Evstigneeva countered that “one of the key catalysts for the growing tensions in the region has been and remains the build-up of military activity by the U.S. and its allies.”

U.S.-led military drills against the DPRK and numerous other hostile acts with a threatening military component “are provoking countermeasures from North Korea, which is forced to take action to strengthen its national defense capacity,” she said.

Evstogneeva claimed “the unstable situation around the Korean Peninsula is of benefit to Washington, which continues to confidently and deliberately pursue the path of confrontation instead of dialogue.”

She also dismissed claims that Russia is engaging in illegal military and technical cooperation with the DPRK as “absolutely unfounded.”

China’s U.N. Ambassador Fu Cong called the situation on the Korean Peninsula “highly tense, with antagonism and confrontation escalating,” and called on all parties to exercise restraint and avoid any actions or rhetoric that might increase tension.

He warned that a planned large-scale joint military exercise on the peninsula in August “practicing a scenario involving a nuclear war” will only increase tensions.

U.S. envoy Wood retorted that “the United States is in no way a threat to the DPRK,” stressing that the U.S. offer to reach out “an open hand” and hold talks with the DPRK without preconditions over the past few years “has been met with a clenched fist.” 
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THE WHITE HOUSE — Less than a day after U.S. President Joe Biden granted Ukraine authorization to strike inside Russia with American weaponry, Michael Carpenter, senior director for Europe at the National Security Council, spoke with VOA’s Iuliia Iarmolenko to discuss details of the new policy and explain what prompted the president’s reversal of a longstanding ban.

Carpenter, former U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, emphasized that U.S. policies barring Ukraine from using American-provided ATACMS, or long-range missiles, and other munitions to strike offensively inside Russia have not changed.

The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.

VOA: Could you provide details about this shift in policy? What is allowed and what are the limitations?

MICHAEL CARPENTER, SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR EUROPE AT NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL: This is in the context of the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region against Ukraine. Russians were striking targets in Ukraine from just across the border. And at that point, the Ukrainians came to us with a request to use U.S.-provided weapons to be able to hit back at the Russian weapons that were targeting Ukrainian villages and Ukrainian people and their homes. And so the president directed his national security team to look into this and directed them to change the guidance and to allow for the employment of U.S. provided weapons to be able to strike back. That guidance has now gone into effect.

VOA: Does it apply only to the Kharkiv region?

CARPENTER: This applies to counter-fire capabilities that are deployed just across the border. It does not apply to ATACMS or long-range strikes. This is meant to enable Ukrainians to defend themselves against what would otherwise be a Russian sanctuary across the border.

VOA: But in the Sumy region, would it be possible to do so there?

CARPENTER: As I said, this applies to enable Ukrainians to defend themselves. Yes, across the border for Russian attacks that are coming across, where otherwise Russians would enjoy a relative sanctuary on their side of the border.

VOA: What is the hope of the administration on how this policy shift might influence Ukraine’s position on the battlefield?

CARPENTER: Well, we have all long wanted to give Ukraine the capabilities that it needs defensively to push back on this aggressive onslaught on their territory. And we will continue to do that.

VOA: Do you expect, though, that this change in policy might influence the situation on a battlefield, such that Ukraine might have an upper hand in coming months?

CARPENTER: We endeavor to give Ukraine the capabilities over time to enable Ukraine to be able to defend its sovereignty against this aggression. And, yes, the types of weapons systems and the capabilities that we have provided, yes those have changed over time. The battlefield has changed over time. And we have reacted to what Russia has done. Don’t forget that Russia has also benefited from its partners. Principally Iran and North Korea. And we have therefore stepped up the contributions that we have made together with our allies and partners. And we continue to do so.

VOA: A couple weeks ago, Defense Secretary Austin said the United States is talking to allies in Europe about trying to get at least one more Patriot air-defense battery in place. Should we expect another battery directly from the United States as well?

CARPENTER: We are looking very carefully at what we could contribute to Ukraine’s air defense needs, which are very acute at this point in time. We’re talking with allies and partners. We’re talking around the world with various countries that we engage in. And I don’t have any announcements to make today, but I can assure you that this is an ongoing process where we are doing everything possible to unlock air defense capabilities for Ukraine.

VOA: I’d like to talk about the upcoming July NATO summit in Washington. Secretary of State Antony Blinken this week said that we’ll see “very strong deliverables for Ukraine” at the summit. Is there a consensus among allies about what those deliverables might look like? And should Ukraine expect the invitation to start accession talks?

CARPENTER: Secretary Blinken is in Prague right now to talk about the nature of the deliverable for Ukraine, the nature of the support that will be provided in the aftermath of the Washington summit. We think it’s going to be very robust. This will be essentially a bridge to [NATO] membership, so that when Ukraine does in the future receive an invitation — now, there is no consensus for an invitation now, at the Washington summit — but when conditions permit and when there is that consensus and Ukraine does gain entry to the NATO alliance, we want to make sure that Ukraine is fully capable on day one of being able to deter and defend and also is fully interoperable with NATO and is able to essentially participate in all the benefits but also undertake the responsibilities of being a member of the alliance from day one. So, we’re looking out to build out those capabilities and that support through this package of measures that is currently under discussion among NATO allies in Prague as we speak right now.

VOA: President Biden is meeting today with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at the White House. What role does President Biden hope Belgium can play in using Russian frozen assets to Ukraine’s benefit?

CARPENTER: Belgium is a great NATO ally. They’re a member of the EU. They’ve had the presidency of the European Union. They play a very important role. And President Biden, as he does with every single European leader, will underscore our partnership in support of Ukraine. Now, Belgium plays a particular role in terms of Russian sovereign assets, and we will be discussing how we can use the proceeds from those immobilized Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine.

VOA: It appears President Biden is likely to skip the Ukraine peace summit that’s going to be happening in Switzerland. Is it a sign that the administration doesn’t believe that this summit can produce some important results?

CARPENTER: So, first of all, I don’t have an announcement for you today on who will participate for the United States. We will have senior-level participation there, no doubt. … But we will look to use the opportunity of this Swiss peace summit to underscore support for Ukraine, for its sovereignty, for its territorial integrity, for the principles of the U.N. Charter. And as wide a participation as possible that will underscore worldwide support for Ukraine and its effort to defend itself.   
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little washington, virginia — The United States, Japan and South Korea “strongly oppose” any unilateral attempts to change the status quo in the Indo-Pacific waters and “strongly condemned” North Korea’s recent launches using ballistic missile technology.

This joint statement followed a meeting of senior officials in historic Little Washington, Virginia, on Friday.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell hosted Japan’s Vice Foreign Minister Masataka Okano and South Korea’s Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong Kyun at his farmhouse, nestled in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains near Washington.

The three allies recognized the importance of “opposing unlawful maritime claims in the South China Sea” and reaffirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

“There is no change in our basic positions on Taiwan, and we call for the peaceful resolution of cross-strait issues,” the joint statement said.

On Friday, the three countries, along with several others, voiced their “resolute opposition” to the continued transfer of arms from North Korea to Russia and vowed to impose costs on those involved in the “unlawful transfer of arms” for use in attacking Ukraine.

Last week, the three countries announced unilateral sanctions against Russian ships and North Korean personnel to counter their illicit transactions.

The State Department’s second-highest-ranking diplomat told reporters he thought China, which still maintains close ties with North Korea, also has concerns.

“I think they, too, have some anxieties about the steps North Korea has taken with respect to providing dangerous military equipment to Russia,” Campbell said during a joint news conference at his farmhouse.

The trilateral dialogue, a key deliverable from the historic 2023 Camp David summit involving the leaders of the three countries, reaffirmed cooperation on economic security, critical and emerging technologies, and maritime security.

When asked if the leaders of the three countries would meet on the margins of the NATO summit in Washington July 9-11, Campbell said that convening a second leaders summit was “among the highest priorities” for the remainder of this year.

The high-level talks unfolded against the backdrop of North Korea’s provocations, Russia’s war on Ukraine, the imperative of maintaining peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, and the need to provide humanitarian aid to civilians in Gaza.

“We have more shared interests, and we have more shared agendas. So, if we work together, we can produce more relevant and efficient result[s],” Japan’s Okano said.

The latest trilateral talks followed North Korea’s launch of suspected ballistic missiles toward its eastern sea on Thursday, reported by South Korea’s military.

The launches occurred shortly after the country’s unsuccessful attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite and after North Korean dropped balloons containing feces and garbage on South Korea’s busy streets and public areas.

“These actions will only solidify our resolve to strengthen security cooperation,” said South Korea’s Kim.

“All of us know North Korea continues to violate multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and threatened the region with its nuclear and missile program,” he added. 

“Any kind of aerial object, certainly, we would find destabilizing and provocative, and we continue to consult closely with the Republic of Korea and Japan against these kinds of malign and destabilizing behaviors,” State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a briefing Thursday.

“We condemn the DPRK’s May 29th ballistic missile launch,” he noted, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The high-level talks also took place amid other regional and global challenges, including recent large-scale military drills by China following the inauguration of Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te, as well as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Friday’s talks followed the recent revival of a high-level dialogue among China, Japan and South Korea after almost five years. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended a summit Monday in Seoul.

“We welcome renewed diplomacy between China, Japan and South Korea,” Campbell told VOA after receiving a “deep and sincere” debrief from his Japanese and South Korean counterparts.  

“We welcome the steps towards increasing dialogue and discussion on the critical matters of Northeast Asia,” he added.

Former U.S. intelligence officials and analysts said the alliance among Washington, Tokyo and Seoul was especially crucial amid rising military threats from the People’s Republic of China.

James Fanell, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former director of intelligence and information operations for the U.S. Pacific Fleet, said, “Given the current military threats from the PRC, as exemplified by last week’s large-scale drills near Taiwan, and the ongoing rapid military buildup, all three nations should break free from incremental changes and adopt a much more assertive approach to regional security.”

Others told VOA that countries in the region are not only worried about the economic fallout from any type of war, citing the importance of maintaining the status quo of the Taiwan Strait as an international waterway, but they also are very concerned about immediate Chinese threats following a potential forcible takeover of Taiwan.  

“If China were to take Taiwan by force, then Chinese forces would be that much closer to their outlying territories. Especially in Japan, there’s a fear that this would be the first step toward Chinese seizure of some of the southwestern islands,” said Jennifer Kavanagh, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

On Friday morning, Campbell met with South Korea’s Kim for a bilateral discussion.

The previous day, Campbell held an inaugural vice ministerial meeting with his Japanese counterpart, Okano, to focus on infrastructure development cooperation in other countries. That initiative is widely viewed as a key part of the two allies’ strategy to counter China’s influence in Southeast Asia and beyond.

The next trilateral vice foreign minister-level dialogue will be held in Seoul in the second half of this year.
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U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump says the Biden administration engineered his criminal convictions in New York to gain an advantage in this November’s election. President Joe Biden says the justice system should be respected. VOA Correspondent Scott Stearns reports.
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— Ugandan authorities objected Friday to new U.S. sanctions over what the United States calls significant corruption and gross human rights violations, saying the sanctions target parliament Speaker Anita Among and other officials who backed the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Law.

On Thursday, the U.S. State Department placed travel and financial sanctions on Among for what it called significant corruption tied to her leadership position. 

Others sanctioned were ministers Amos Lugolobi, Agnes Nandutu and Mary Goretti Gitutu for allegedly misusing public resources and diverting materials from Uganda’s neediest communities. 

Ugandan State Minister for Foreign Affairs Oryem Okello argued that all the ministers who were sanctioned are currently facing Ugandan courts of law, which have yet to find rule on the cases.

The sanctions also target Lieutenant General Peter Elwelu for his role in clashes between Ugandan security forces and a local militant group that resulted in the deaths of over 100 people.  

However, Okello said the U.S. government’s action is really targeting Among. 

“My belief is that this is an insult and undermines our judicial system,” Okello said. 

“The sanctions are unjust. They are punitive,” he said. “They are bullish because they know that we cannot do anything against it. And it’s just deliberate to punish the speaker for her role and leadership to fight LBGTQ and homosexuality in Uganda.”

The U.S. State Department said it stands with Ugandans advocating for democratic principles, a government that delivers for all its citizens and accountability for actions committed by those who abuse their positions through corruption and gross violations of human rights. 

Ugandan political analyst Mary Anne Nanfuka said that those people targeted by the sanctions are not acting on their own and that sanctions never work as a deterrent.    

“I see that these Western countries want to pander to their electorate,” Nanfuka said. 

“They know very well that they need the government to cooperate with them in certain areas. So, once push comes to shove, they will let it pass. Yes, it’s a gesture, but no, we are still not impressed,” she said. 

Chris Obore, the head of public affairs in the Ugandan parliament, said the corruption allegations are political and vendetta-driven, otherwise they would have targeted the entire Ugandan cabinet. 

The State Department specifically mentioned a giveaway of iron roofing sheets that were meant for a poor community but were instead shared by top government members among themselves.  

“It is a sign of their latent anger against the speaker for presiding over the anti-homosexuality law,” Obore said. “It is clear that the U.K., U.S., Canada have been putting pressure when that law was being debated here. Because it is not about iron sheets. How did the speaker personally benefit from those iron sheets when public schools that were roofed are there?” 

Okello said Uganda will engage U.S. government officials and get to the bottom of how the State Department decided to approve the sanctions.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday called on Hamas militants to agree to a new offer from Israel on releasing hostages in exchange for a Gaza cease-fire, saying this is the best way to begin winding down the deadly conflict. 

“With a cease-fire, that aid could be safely and effectively distributed to all who need it,” Biden said. 

“As someone who’s had a lifelong commitment to Israel, as the only American president who has ever gone to Israel at a time of war, as someone who just sent the U.S. forces to directly defend Israel when it was attacked by Iran, I ask you to take a step back, think what will happen if this moment is lost,” he said. “We can’t lose this moment.” 

A hostage proposal put forward earlier this year called for the release of sick, elderly and wounded hostages in Gaza in exchange for a six-week cease-fire that could be extended to allow for more humanitarian aid to be delivered into the enclave. 

The proposed deal fell apart earlier this month after Israel refused to agree to a permanent end to the war as part of the negotiations and ramped up an assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza. 

Hamas said on Thursday it had told mediators it would not take part in more negotiations during ongoing aggression but was ready for a “complete agreement,” including an exchange of hostages and prisoners if Israel stopped the war. 

Talks mediated by Egypt, Qatar and others to arrange a cease-fire between Israel and the Islamist movement in the Gaza war have repeatedly stalled, with both sides blaming the other for the lack of progress. 

A U.S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan would meet on Friday with diplomats from 17 countries who have citizens held hostage in Gaza by Hamas. 

Israel will not agree to any halt in fighting that is not part of a deal that includes the return of surviving hostages, a senior Israeli security official said Friday. 

Overshadowing Biden was an Israeli airstrike in Rafah on Sunday that killed 45 Palestinians. 

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Tuesday that recent Israeli ground operations in Rafah would not prompt a U.S. withdrawal of more military aid. 

Palestinian health authorities estimate more than 36,280 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel attacked the enclave in response to an October 7 Hamas assault in southern Israel. The Hamas attack killed around 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. 
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