海角大神

Russia launched a sweeping air assault on Ukraine. The attacks came after U.S. President Donald Trump cast doubt on Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 willingness to end the war. Ukrainian officials said three people were killed and four wounded Sunday in airstrikes in the Donetsk region. Another person was reported killed and a 14-year-old girl wounded in a drone strike in Dnipropetrovsk. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio called this week 鈥渧ery critical鈥� for efforts to end the war. 鈥� The Associated Press

The World Food Programme is running out of money. On Friday, it reported a shortfall of $698 million out of the nearly $800 million it says it needs to feed 7 million people from May through September. Donor states are reducing contributions. The shortage comes as conflicts escalate in Sudan and Gaza, which faces border closures. In Gaza, where another 51 people were reported killed in weekend airstrikes, groups say supplies will soon run out, and that thousands of children are malnourished. 鈥� Reuters, AP

Iran鈥檚 president visited survivors of a port explosion. Masoud Pezeshkian met Sunday with some of the 1,000 people injured in an explosion that rocked one of the Islamic Republic鈥檚 main ports, killing 40. The facility purportedly had been linked to an earlier delivery of a chemical ingredient used to make missile propellant. Iran鈥檚 military sought to deny the delivery of ammonium perchlorate from China. 鈥� AP

The Trump administration is reinstating foreign-student records. Some terminations in a Homeland Security database had appeared tied to minor legal issues, students鈥� lawyers said. The government announced the reversal in court Friday, after causing confusion for thousands of students around deportation risks.

This month, federal courts heard more than 100 lawsuits based on the terminations and issued more than 50 restraining orders, Politico reports. It remains unclear whether the State Department will restore students鈥� revoked visas. Those travel documents are separate from, but related to, their status. 鈥� Staff

Poll shows mixed views on U.S. immigration moves. About 46% of U.S. adults surveyed approved of President Donald Trump鈥檚 handling of immigration, in a poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. That鈥檚 nearly 10 percentage points higher than his approval rating on the economy and trade. About half of Americans said Mr. Trump has 鈥済one too far鈥� with deportations. About one-third called his approach 鈥渁bout right鈥�; about 2 in 10 said he has not gone far enough. 鈥� AP

Former U.S. Rep. George Santos was sentenced.聽The New York Republican had pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Mr. Santos admitted he deceived donors and stole the identities of nearly a dozen people to fund his congressional campaign. He served less than a year in Congress before being expelled in 2023. 鈥� AP

Sales for U.S. founding documents have surged. Editions of the Declaration of Independence, the Federalist Papers, and the U.S. Constitution are selling at their fastest pace since 2004, according to Circana, a market research group. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham has written introductions for two forthcoming books on the early documents. 鈥淥ne way to address ... what Saint Paul would call the 鈥榯ribulations鈥� of the present time,鈥� Mr. Meacham said, 鈥渋s to re-engage with the essential texts that are about creating a system that is still worth defending.鈥� 鈥� AP

Pierre Poilievre, once seen as a lock to become Canada鈥檚 next prime minister, and his fellow Conservatives hope to position themselves as the obvious choice to lead a country buffeted by domestic problems like a cost-of-living crisis, and by international ones like the global trade war with Donald Trump鈥檚 America. But they are now trailing in Canada鈥檚 federal elections. Their aim: to convince voters that Canadian conservatism is the solution to the Trump problem, rather than part of it.

At U.S. bases across the Atlantic Ocean, queries for Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and his staff are going unanswered, documents unsigned, and decisions delayed for weeks. Perceptions of disarray at the Pentagon have grown more urgent as Secretary Hegseth has fired several close advisers. 鈥淭here鈥檚 been no decisions because they鈥檙e dealing with staffing issues,鈥� says a senior U.S. military official in Europe, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. All this can feed allied nations鈥� concerns about U.S. military readiness to respond in a crisis.

As 125% to 145% tariffs bite, trade between the United States and China is grinding to a halt. That鈥檚 inflicting an economic cost on everyone who makes the U.S.-China supply chain hum 鈥� Chinese factory workers, wholesalers, shipping agents, and 鈥� across the Pacific Ocean 鈥� American dockworkers, truck drivers, importers, and, ultimately, consumers. 鈥淥rdinary Chinese and American people 鈥� none of us want this,鈥� says Huang Youping, one of around 75,000 vendors in China鈥檚 biggest wholesale market for small goods. Her U.S. orders have all been canceled.

Antisemitism in the United States is surging to levels not seen in nearly half a century, according to a聽聽by the Anti-Defamation League. Over the past decade alone, incidents are up 893%. And though only 2% of the population is Jewish, Jews are targeted in聽more than two-thirds聽of religious hate crimes. Rabbi Sharon Brous, founder of a congregation in Los Angeles, told the Monitor this not only endangers Jews but endangers democracy. 鈥淎ntisemitism is always the canary in the coal mine for the evisceration of the rights and dignity of all people,鈥� she says.

At a recent town hall meeting, a gentleman鈥檚 tearful admission that he鈥檚 afraid of losing his Social Security got our columnist Ken Makin thinking. It鈥檚 not bureaucracy that lingers for Ken. It鈥檚 the sense of betrayal by the government that Americans feel 鈥� from the postslavery promises of Reconstruction to the waning protections from the Civil Rights Movement, he writes. One of the lesser-known failures of Reconstruction was the rise and fall of the Freedman鈥檚 Bank, which initially provided a place for formerly enslaved people to house their newfound earnings. Ken talked with author Justene Hill Edwards, who wrote a 2024 book on the bank, about the impact of that history today. 鈥淚 think what we are experiencing now is a real opportunity to help us rethink how we want our nation to be constructed,鈥� she said.

One unfailing test of a country鈥檚 civilization, Winston Churchill once stated, lies in the mood of the public toward the treatment of crime and criminals. In a Texas courtroom April 21 and 22, two women did something rarely seen in the current mood of the United States.

They forgave and then hugged a man who had killed their family members in one of the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

The first to forgive was Yolanda Tinajero, a Mexican American whose brother was killed in an El Paso Walmart by a white, anti-immigrant young man in 2019. After Patrick Crusius had pleaded guilty and was given multiple life sentences, the survivors and the families of the 23 victims gave impact statements in the courtroom. Most were angry, seeking retribution.

Ms. Tinajero, however, told the shooter, 鈥淎t first, I was very angry at you, but God helped me to suppress this anger with forgiveness. I feel in my heart to hug you very tight so you could feel my forgiveness, especially my loss. But I know it鈥檚 not allowed.鈥�

District Judge Sam Medrano then gave her permission to hug Mr. Crusius. He accepted despite the shackles on his hands. Then he listened for a minute while she quietly talked in his ear. The judge later said he had to turn away for a 鈥済ood cry.鈥�

The next day, Adriana Zandri of Mexico, whose husband was one of the victims, was permitted to hug the shooter and also forgave him.

Such acts of mercy may be a better way to end America鈥檚 cycles of mass shooting. Too often government relies on a rigid process of retribution and deterrence by incapacitation. At the least, these free acts of grace did contribute to the two women鈥檚 healing. And they say something about El Paso鈥檚 level of civilization.

As Ms. Tinajero told the shooter, 鈥淚 want you to see and feel all of us who have been impacted by your actions that have brought us all closer with God鈥檚 love, which shows you that this great city of El Paso is a very forgiving place to dwell in.鈥�

鈥淚f you would have come before to get to know our culture, you would have experienced what warm and good-hearted people us Hispanics are. We would have opened our doors to you to share a meal, breakfast, lunch or dinner 鈥� Mexican style. So, then, your ugly thoughts of us that have been instilled in you would have turned around.鈥�