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TOKYO (AP) — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and visiting US lawmakers reaffirmed their commitment to work together under a longstanding bilateral alliance on Saturday, amid heightened global tensions spanning the war in Ukraine to threaten from China and North Korea.

In a meeting over breakfast, the delegation, led by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, agreed with Kishida on the importance of maintaining a “free and open Indo-Pacific region,” according to the Foreign Ministry.

The six lawmakers’ visit follows their earlier stop in Taiwan, where they made a pointed and public declaration of their support for the self-governing island democracy, while issuing a warning to China. They met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on Friday.

China carried out military drills near Taiwan in protest of the delegation’s visit. Spokesperson Zhao Lijian said was prepared “to take strong measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Japan has long been nervous about China’s stance on Taiwan, but such views, especially among conservative politicians seeking a more assertive military, have heightened since the war in Ukraine. The question is sensitive because Japan’s pacifist constitution adopted after its defeat in World War II bans the use of force in international disputes. Japan keeps its overseas military operations to peacekeeping and humanitarian relief.

Officially, Japan does not recognize Taiwan but they maintain friendly relations. The question of whether the US would intervene in the case of a military invasion of Taiwan by China remains open. Analysts say Japan’s role in such a hypothetical situation is even more unclear because Japan houses a huge US military presence under the alliance.

Kishida told the representatives from Congress that the bilateral alliance superseded political party divisions, and sought their understanding on Japan’s role in working toward peace and prosperity in the region. Tokyo also asked for US support for ongoing efforts by Japan to bring home the Japanese who were abducted by North Korea decades ago, the ministry said. North Korea returned some of the abducted people in 2004.

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China is against any official exchanges between Taiwan’s government and other foreign governments because it claims Taiwan is part of its national territory and not an independent country. China and Taiwan split after a civil war in 1949.

The US delegation also includes Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas.

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Associated Press Writer Huizhong Wu in Taipei, Taiwan contributed to this report.

Wu is on Twitter https://twitter.com/huizhong_wu

Yuri Kageyama is on Twitter https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

The crew of three had been in space for 183 days, the longest-ever mission by Chinese astronauts.

Three Chinese astronauts landed in northern China on Saturday after 183 days in space, state broadcaster CCTV said, ending the country’s longest crewed space mission to date.

The two men and one woman – Zhai Zhigang, Ye Guangfu and Wang Yaping – landed safely in a small capsule shortly before 10am Beijing time (02:00 GMT) after spending six months on the Tianhe core module of China’s Tiangong space station.

“Shenzhou 13’s re-entry capsule successfully landed,” state broadcaster CCTV said.

Barred by the United States from participating in the International Space Station (ISS), China has spent the past 10 years developing technologies to build the Tiangong, the only space station other than the ISS.

The country aims to become a major space power by 2030 and rival the US and Russia. It has already landed a rover on Mars and sent probes to the Moon, and the country’s National Space Administration said it aims to launch a crewed lunar mission by 2029.

Live footage from CCTV showed the landing capsule in a cloud of dust, with ground crew who had kept clear of the landing site rushing in helicopters to reach it.

There was applause as the astronauts each took turns to report that they were “feeling good”.

The Shenzhou-13 was the second of four crewed missions to assemble the Tiangong, which means “heavenly palace”.

Wang became the first Chinese woman to walk in space last November, as she and her colleague Zhai installed space station equipment during a six-hour stint.

Mission commander Zhai, 55, is a former fighter pilot who performed China’s first spacewalk in 2008, while Ye is a People’s Liberation Army pilot.

The trio has completed two spacewalks, carried out numerous scientific experiments, set up equipment and tested technologies for future construction during their time in orbit.

The incoming Shenzhou-14 is expected to be launched in the coming months.

Astronauts will spend six months on the Chinese space station in future missions, according to the state broadcaster CCTV.

Tens of thousands turn out in Pyongyang’s main square to enjoy light shows and art exhibitions in honor of Kim Il Sung.

North Korea celebrated the 110th anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il Sung on Friday with fireworks, a procession, and an evening gala in Pyongyang’s main square, with thousands of people in colourfull traditional dress singing and dancing.

Nuclear-armed Pyongyang usually uses the holiday – known as the Day of the Sun – to show off its latest weaponry.

But while this year’s event follows a flurry of weapons testing – three weeks ago the country carried out its first intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test since 2017 – there was no sign of the usual military parade.

Leader Kim Jong Un visited his grandfather’s mausoleum and attended a “national meeting and a public procession” in Pyongyang’s Kim Il Sung Square but gave no reported public remarks. A senior official spoke at the meeting, saying that North Korea would overcome all difficulties and always emerge victorious, state news agency KCNA reported.

State media aired live footage of an evening gala in the square after sunset on Friday, following concerts, art exhibitions, and ideological seminars.

There was also a light festival in the center of Pyongyang, with dancing fountains and decorated boats on the Taedong River, KCNA said.

The festival “artistically depicted” Kim Il Sung’s native home and “the sacred mountain of revolution, Mt Paektu,” KCNA said. Residents could take photos in front of arches lit with phrases such as ‘Pyongyang Is Best’ and ‘We Are the Happiest in the World’.

“I came to see the lighting festival with my daughter. Looking at it today, it’s really cool. The most impressive thing in particular is this one that says ‘self-reliance’,” Ri Bom Chol, a 40-year-old doctor, told an AFP news agency reporter in Pyongyang.

‘Love is forever’

Analysts, along with South Korean and US officials, had widely expected North Korea to mark the occasion with new weaponry, or even a test of the country’s banned nuclear weapons.

But there was no mention in state media of any military parade.

Seoul-based specialist site NK News said analysis of satellite imagery suggested that training was taking place at the Mirim military parade training base, with a few thousand troops marching in formation. Images from Planet Labs had also shown an increasing number of tire marks around a secure garage area for heavy weapons at the site, suggesting practice drives were taking place, it added.

Experts say April 25 – the anniversary of the founding of the North Korean army – is the next most likely date for the parade.

“Since the two anniversaries are just 10 days apart, it seems a bit difficult to hold a parade on both occasions,” Yang Moo-jin, a professor at the University of North Korean Studies in Seoul, told AFP.

Kim Il Sung died in 1994 but is the country’s ‘eternal president’, and his preserved body lies in state in a red-lit chamber at the Kumsusan Palace of the Sun on the outskirts of the capital.

North Koreans are taught from birth to revere Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il, and all adults wear badges depicting one or both men.

“As the days go by the yearning for the great leader is growing,” Ri Gwang Hyok told an AFP reporter in Pyongyang as they visited statues of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.

“Love is forever,” said 33-year-old Ri.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attended a massive civilian parade in the capital, Pyongyang, celebrating a milestone birth anniversary of his state-founding grandfather in which thousands marched in a choreographed display of loyalty to the Kim family , state media said Saturday.

The reports didn’t mention any speech or comments made by Kim during Friday’s event and it appeared the country passed its biggest holiday without showingcasing its military hardware, amid heightened tensions over its nuclear program.

Commercial satellite images in recent weeks have indicated preparations for a large military parade in Pyongyang, which could take place on the April 25 founding anniversary of North Korea’s army and display the most advanced weapons in Kim’s nuclear arsenal, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles.

There’s also expectation that Pyongyang will further escalate its weapons testing in the coming weeks or months, possibly including a resumption of nuclear explosive tests or test-flying missiles over Japan, as it attempts to force a response from the Biden administration, which is preoccupied with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a rivalry with China.

State media images showed Kim waving from a balcony looking over Kim Il Sung Square, which is named after his grandfather, as huge columns of people carrying red plastic flowers and floats with political slogans marched below.

Ri Il Hwan, a member of the ruling workers’ Party’s Politburo, issued a call for loyalty during a speech, saying that North Koreans will “always emerge victorious” under Kim’s guidance. It appeared Kim didn’t deliver a speech during Friday’s event and state media didn’t mention any comments toward the United States or rival South Korea.

The parade came hours before thousands of young people performed a mass dance in the square as fireworks launched from a nearby riverbank lit up the night sky.

Kim Il Sung’s birthday is the most important national holiday in North Korea, where the Kim family has ruled under a strong personality cult since the nation’s founding in 1948. This week’s celebrations marking the 110th anniversary of his birth came as his grandson revives nuclear brinkmanship aimed at forcing the United States to accept the idea of ​​North Korea as a nuclear power and remove crippling economic sanctions.

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North Korea has opened 2022 with a slew of weapons tests, including its first flight test of an ICBM since 2017. South Korea’s military has also detected signs that North Korea is rebuilding tunnels at a nuclear testing ground it partially dismantled weeks before Kim’s first summit with then-US President Donald Trump in June 2018.

Kim Jong Un’s defiant displays of his military might are also likely motivated by domestic politics, experts say, as he doesn’t otherwise have significant accomplishments to trumpet to his people after a decade in rule.

His stated goals of simultaneously developing nuclear weapons and bringing economic prosperity to his impoverished populace derailed after the collapse of his second summit with Trump in 2019, when the Americans rejected North Korea’s demands for major sanctions relief in exchange for a limited surrender of its nuclear capabilities . The COVID-19 pandemic unleashed further shock on his broken economy, forcing him to acknowledge last year that the North was facing its “worst-ever situation.”

Sung Kim, the top US official on North Korea, is scheduled to visit South Korea next week for talks on the international community’s response to the North’s recent missile tests.

North Korea has recently resumed its trademark harsh rhetoric against its rivals. One of its international affairs commentators labeled US President Joe Biden as “an old man in senility,” while Kim’s powerful sister, Kim Yo Jong, called South Korea’s defense minister “a scum-like guy” and threatened to annihilate South Korea with nuclear strikes .

“Kim Jong Un’s stated goal of deploying tactical nuclear weapons, Kim Yo Jong’s recent threats toward Seoul and satellite imagery of tunneling activity at Punggye-ri all point to an upcoming nuclear test,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.“Additional missile launches are also expected for honing weapons delivery systems.”

Tens of thousands of displaced people have gathered for safety on a remote hilltop in Ituri province in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

They are seeking refuge from the persistent, violent attacks that have ravaged the region for decades.

Amidst the chaos are children who have been orphaned, forced from their homes, and made to witness horrific events.

Among those living in the hillside camp is a 14-year-old boy who arrived there alone after fleeing an attack. We’re calling him Blukwa to protect his identity.

Blukwa and his family had already run away from his home twice when an armed group attacked the camp they were living in.

“I was playing with my friends and I didn’t know where my parents had fled,” he said.

When the attack began, he and a friend ran to find safety, but his friend fell behind and was caught and brutally killed.

“I continued to run alone,” he said.

That attack left at least 12 dead, including six children.

After the attack, Blukwa made his way to the hillside camp alone.

He lived for weeks with another displaced family who took him in, until he was reunited with his family.

His mother, who had been told he was killed in the attack, was elated to see him still alive.

“I found out that it was his close friend [who was killed]. I was very happy to find my son,” she said, her voice full of emotion.

According to the United Nations, some six million people have been forced to flee their homes in DR Congo.

That is one of the largest populations of displaced people in the world, alongside places like Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria and Ukraine.

Most of the displaced are in the eastern provinces of South Kivu, North Kivu and Ituri.

There you will find rows of abandoned camps for displaced people, deserted due to attacks by armed groups – attacks which happen so often they have almost become routine.

Eastern DR Congo is home to hundreds of different armed groups, who have wreaked havoc in the region for almost 30 years. Among the most notorious are Codeco, M23 and the Islamic State-affiliated ADF.

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The conflict is fuelled by a complex web of factors including ethnic disputes, political instability, and the battle for the country’s vast mineral wealth.

Neighboring countries like Rwanda have been accused of conspiring with some rebel groups but Rwanda has denied this.

Business interests have also been blamed for fueling the violence.

Last month the United States sanctioned Belgian gold dealer Alain Goetz and a number of associated companies for allegedly smuggling hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of gold out of DR Congo.

The US said this illicit trade was funding armed groups threatening peace and security in the country. Mr Goetz denied the claims.

In an effort to curb the violence, DR Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi declared a siege, essentially martial law, in North Kivu and Ituri nearly a year ago.

However, this has done little to suppress the unrest in the region.

In recent weeks the attacks have escalated, prompting a new wave of people to flee their homes.

Dozens of civilians have been killed, as well as government soldiers and nine UN peacekeepers.

Amid the escalating violence, the head of Unicef, Catherine Russell, visited Blukwa’s camp in Ituri.

She described the shock of seeing the sprawling camp in the middle of the verdant, hilly landscape as she flew in.

“The camp is huge and is in such a remote area, but that was purposeful because everyone thinks it’ll be safer and further away from the groups who could attack it,” she said.

Up to 50,000 displaced people now reside at this camp where water is scarce, there is limited sanitation and no access to healthcare. The conditions are dire, but leaving carries an even greater risk. Even leaving to look for food growing in the surrounding hills can be a death sentence as armed groups are known to attack those who venture too far, despite the presence of UN peacekeepers at a nearby base.

But amid the chaos, Blukwa still finds time to live out his childhood.

“When I’m free, I go play football,” he said. “We collect the bags and ropes to make a football. Sometimes we also play card games.”

His dream is to one day become a doctor.

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Republican Governor Greg Abbott had ordered extra inspections of trucks, leading to 30-hour wait times and protests.

Texas will stop carrying out extra inspections of trucks arriving at the United States’ southern border with Mexico, Governor Greg Abbott has said, after the US state reached an agreement with neighboring Mexican states.

The agreement calls for the Mexican border state of Tamaulipas to increase security efforts focusing on illegal border crossings and drug smuggling, Abbott and Tamaulipas Governor Francisco Garcia Cabeza de Vaca said on Friday during a joint news conference.

Last week, Abbott ordered state authorities to conduct “enhanced safety inspections” of vehicles as they cross from Mexico into Texas in order to uncover smuggling of people and contraband.

The move snarled traffic, with some truckers reporting wait times of more than 30 hours to cross the border into the US, and prompted protests that shut down several commercial crossings in Texas and New Mexico.

Abbott, a Republican running for re-election in November, has been in a battle with the Biden administration over US immigration policy – ​​and the inspections began after the Department of Homeland Security announced that a pandemic-era restriction would be lifted on May 23.

That policy, known as Title 42, has effectively sealed the border to most asylum seekers, allowing US authorities to rapidly turn people away without giving them a chance to apply for protection in the United States.

Since the order was invoked in March 2020 under then-President Donald Trump, more than 1.7 million Title 42 expulsions have been carried out.

Abbott had called the enhanced truck inspections a “zero tolerance policy for unsafe vehicles” smuggling refugees and migrants and said Texas would take several steps in response to the end of the asylum restrictions.

He also has chartered buses to carry refugees and migrants from Texas to Washington, DC, to send a message to Biden, with the third bus arriving on Friday, according to the governor’s office and news reports.

But pressure was building on the governor to end the inspections of trucks from Mexico as gridlocked worsened and frustrations mounted.

The American Trucking Association called the measures “wholly flawed, redundant and adding considerable weight on an already strained supply chain” while Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, a Republican fellow, said the additional checks would “quickly lead to $2.00 lemons, $5.00 avocados and worse “.

On Wednesday, the White House also slammed the inspections, saying they were unnecessary and had disrupted food and automobile supply chains, driving up prices when inflation is already soaring in the US.

The US-Mexico border is crucial to the American economy and more of it is in Texas — roughly 1,931km (1,200 miles) — than any other state. The US last year imported $390.7bn worth of goods from Mexico, second only to China.

Meanwhile, a delegation of US government officials will travel to Panama next week to discuss migration, as the Biden administration seeks to dissuade people from heading towards the border when Title 42 ends.

The delegation will include Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, the State Department said on Friday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a chilling Friday warning, raised the possibility of a nuclear or chemical attack on his war-torn country by Russian President Vladimir Putin while issuing a global call for support.

“Not only me — all of the world, all of the countries have to be worried because it cannot be real information, but it can be truth,” Zelensky declared in a CNN interview as the Russian invasion of Ukraine approached the end of its second month.

“Chemical weapons, they should do it, they could do it,” he continued. “For them, the life of people, nothing. That’s why. We should think not be afraid, not be afraid but be ready.”

US officials have warned that Putin, already mired in a conflict lasting much longer than expected against the outmanned Ukraine, could deploy tactical nuclear weapons in the war.

The Russian strongman’s regime sent a two-page formal diplomatic note Friday to the United States and NATO warning their military support of Ukraine could produce “unpredictable consequences.”

The missive followed President Biden’s approval of $800 million in US military aid for Ukraine, money expected to fund an upgrade in its weapons systems.

Earlier this week, Finland and Sweden reached an important step toward a possible NATO membership as the Finnish government issued a security report to lawmakers and Sweden’s ruling party initiated a review of security policy options.

Russia, for its part, warn the two European Union nations against joining NATO, with officials saying it would not contribute to its stability in Europe. Officials said Russia would respond to such a move with retaliatory measures that would cause “military and political consequences” for Helsinki and Stockholm.

For Iryna Kurowyckyj, an East Village resident from Ukraine, the Putin threat appeared far from international grandstanding.

“I’m afraid for the whole of Europe, and I’m afraid for the whole continent,” she said. “He has more nuclear weapons than anyone else. He knows he has the power. With his nuclear weapons, he can scare the whole world.”

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Russian-born Maxim Mikitin, 33, was similarly concerned about the coming days as the world waits on Putin’s next move.

“He’s staying in the same line with Khadafy and Hussein right now, a classic dictator,” said the musician now living in Williamsburg. “The problem is they have a lot of nukes … He does not understand that it’s going to be a game with no end.”

Zelenskyy spoke as Russia’s Defense Ministry vowed to increase its missile attacks on Ukraine, where more than 900 murdered civilians were found in the area outside Kyiv. The head of the city’s regional police force said corpses were turning up on a daily basis, buried in mass graves or beneath rubble caused by Russian bombing, with 95% executed by gunshots.

But Zelenskyy told CNN the issue went beyond the fate of his nation: “That is not a question for Ukraine, not only for Ukraine but for all the world, I think.”

Reports indicated Ukrainian officials were expecting an escalation in the fighting over the coming weeks. US officials have warned about the possibility that Putin could unleash the nuclear option in Ukraine if backed into a corner.

“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low yield nuclear weapons,” he said. CIA Director Bill Burns on Thursday.

Ukrainian officials celebrated the sinking of a key Russian warship with a pair of missiles. According to US officials, the guided-missile cruiser Moskva went down on its way back to port — forcing its crew of 500 to evacuate.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov tweaked the invaders in a Friday tweet.

“A ‘flagship’ Russian warship is a worthy diving site,” he wrote. “We have one more diving spot in the Black Sea now. Will definitely visit the wreck after our victory in the war.”

But Russian shelling continued to take a devastating toll on the invaded nation. A 7-month-old child was one of seven people killed by shelling in the area of ​​Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city. Officials said another 34 residents were wounded by the bombing.

Michael Goldfluss, 33, of Williamsburg, said it was impossible to predict Putin’s behavior as the world holds its collective breath.

“It’s muddy waters, the guy is clearly unpredictable,” said the real estate worker. “My personal opinion is that he’s willing to do whatever it takes, no matter what the consequences to anyone.”

Four police cars were set on fire and at least four officers injured as protesters threw stones and attacked police cordons.

Four Swedish police officers and a member of the public were injured by counter-protesters demonstrating against a far-right group’s intention to burn a Quran in Orebro city in central Sweden on Friday.

Police said that four police cars were set on fire and at least four officers and one private individual were injured as protesters threw stones and large groups attacked police cordons and tore down riot fences.

It was the second day running that there had been a spell on the fringes of a rally by the anti-immigration and anti-Islamic far-right Stram Kurs (Hard Line) movement led by Danish-Swedish Rasmus Paludan.

The rally, which had received permission, was disbanded by police to calm the situation, and later Friday evening most counter-demonstrators had left the area, police said.

On Thursday, three police officers were taken to hospital after a riot broke out in the city of Linkoping on Sweden’s east coast, where a demonstration that included a Quran burning was planned. Two people were arrested at that demonstration.

“We live in a democratic society and one of the most important tasks of the police is to ensure that people can use their constitutionally protected rights to demonstrate and express their opinions,” Sweden’s National Police Chief Anders Thornberg said on Friday morning, reacting to Thursday’s events.

“The police do not get to choose who has this right, but must always intervene in case of violation,” he added in a statement.

Far-right leader Paludan has regularly been at the center of incidents in recent years. In November 2020, he was arrested in France and deported. Five other were arrested in Belgium shortly afterwards, accused of intending to “spread hatred” by burning a Quran in Brussels.

John Heilemann talks with Michael Beschloss, NBC News Presidential Historian, host of Fireside History with Michael Beschloss on Peacock/MSNBC, and author of ten books focusing on occupants of the Oval Office, about President Biden’s handling of the Russia-Ukraine war. In the wake of Biden’s declarations that Vladimir Putin cannot remain in power and should be tried for war crimes, Beschloss draws parallels between Biden’s morale clarity on the war and President Reagan’s denunciation of the Soviet Union as an “evil empire” back in 1983. also explains why, in his view, Biden’s political and personal backgrounds have made him uniquely suited to unify the NATO alliance and defend democracy against Russian aggression. Tune in to the full episode to learn about the ongoing risk of Russia deploying nuclear weapons and the lessons US decision-makers can take from the Cuban Missile Crisis, and how foreign policy crises have reshaped American presidencies, from World War II’s impact on the legacies of FDR and Truman to Vietnam’s stain on the record of Lyndon B. Johnson.

Video Duration 25 minutes 55 seconds 25:55

Rights groups have condemned the UK government agreement to send some undocumented migrants to Rwanda for processing.

Being smuggled from France to the United Kingdom by boat could earn you a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

This is the British government’s message to undocumented migrants making the dangerous voyage across the English Channel.

An agreement between the UK and Rwanda means single men will be flown to the African country to have their asylum claims processed there.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said action is needed to stop what he calls “vile people smugglers turning the Channel into a watery graveyard”.

Rights groups have compared to the agreement to Australia’s “offshore processing” policy, which they have condemned as cruel and illegal under international law.

So will the UK’s agreement work? And can the rights of migrants be protected?

Presenter:

Mohammed Jamjoom

Guests:

Maya Goodfellow – Academic at the University of Sheffield; author of Hostile Environment: How Immigrants Became Scapegoats

Natalie Hodgson – Assistant professor of law at the University of Nottingham

Emilie McDonnell – UK advocacy and communications coordinator at Human Rights Watch

Kolbassia Haoussou – Director of survivor at Freedom from Torture