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Tel Aviv/Washington, DC — Families of Americans killed and injured in Hamas’ October 7 terror attack in Israel are contemplating a lawsuit against North Korea for indirectly supplying the Palestinian militant group with weapons, according to an Israeli attorney representing the families. Weapons that Hamas used in its surprise attack on Israel were provided by North Korea “knowingly and intentionally,” said Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, an Israeli attorney and human rights activist who spoke with VOA’s Korean Service in Tel Aviv on December 27. “North Korea knows its weapons go to Iran, and Iran gives the weapons to Hamas,” Darshan-Leitner continued, adding that Pyongyang “never once warned Iran not to send the weapons to Hamas.” This makes North Korea “liable,” she said, explaining that she and her legal associates are considering filing a lawsuit in U.S. court against those countries that supported Hamas, such as Iran and North Korea, on behalf of American victims of the October 7 attack and their families.  More than 30 Americans, many of them dual U.S.-Israeli citizens, were killed in the attack that initiated the latest round of violence between Hamas and Israel. Darshan-Leitner is representing 10 Americans, including family members who lost their loved ones, as well as U.S. citizens who were injured or who incurred property damage in the attack. VOA’s Korean Service contacted the North Korean mission to the U.N. seeking a response to a possible lawsuit against the regime by the American victims of the Hamas attack, but it did not respond.   The attorney said she expects more U.S. victims to join the suit, including hostages seized in October if they return safely. “The burden is on us, the plaintiffs, to prove the case,” Darshan-Leitner said. “We are using experts who know a lot about North Korea, know how North Korean weapons wound up in the hands of Hamas.”   North Korean weapons have been found in Israel and Gaza since the attack on October 7. An Israeli military official said during a media tour in October that about 10% of the Hamas weapons recovered after the attack were made in North Korea. Lieutenant Colonel Idan Sharon-Kettler, deputy commander of the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) enemy equipment collection unit, told VOA’s Korean Service on December 28 in Tzrifin, Israel, that Hamas modified North Korea’s rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) to make them more powerful. “We see supplies coming from different countries, among them, North Korea,” said Sharon-Kettler at an IDF facility where recovered weapons were displayed. “The rockets that we find, even the ones that are produced inside Gaza or the ones that are produced in Iran — all of the RPG-7s, for example — are using parts that come from North Korea,” said Sharon-Kettler. He said the rockets were assembled with North Korean rocket engines, which give them capabilities to “penetrate heavy armor” and cause greater damage. Darshan-Leiter said the rockets give Hamas the ability to attack civilians without being inside Israel. “Once Israel built a fence around Gaza, Hamas terrorists can no longer go into Israel and carry out attacks inside,” she said. Before Hamas breached the border fence on October 7, “the only way that Hamas could kill Israeli people is by these rockets.” Normally, foreign states are immune from being sued in a U.S. court under the Foreign Service Immunities Act, unless an exception applies. But if a foreign state is listed as a state-sponsored terrorist group, U.S. citizens can bring a lawsuit against that country. In November 2017, North Korea was redesignated as a state sponsor of terrorism after being taken off the list in 2008. It was first designated in 1988 for blowing up a Korean Airline passenger flight in mid-air the previous year, killing all 115 people aboard. North Korea was sued a number of times over the past several years. The most notable was a suit brought against the regime by the parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who in 2017 died shortly after returning to the U.S. in a vegetative state following detention in North Korea. A judge from a D.C. federal court ruled in 2018 that Cindy and Fred Warmbier were entitled to $500 million in damages from North Korea. In October, a federal court in New York ordered the New York Mellon Bank to turn over to Cindy and Fred Warmbier approximately $2.2 million in frozen funds originally owned by a sanctioned Russian bank where North Korea’s Air Koryo kept an account. In another case, Americans who were injured and the family members of U.S. citizens killed in an attack at the Lod Airport in 1972 — now Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv — filed a complaint against North Korea in 2022. According to court documents, they are seeking damages from North Korea for its role in sponsoring the attack. The attack killed 26 people and injured 80 and was carried out by three members of the Japanese Red Army who were reportedly recruited by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The U.S. designated the group as a terrorist organization in 1997 but revoked the designation in 2001 when the group disbanded.

State Department — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is heading to the Middle East this week amid intense diplomatic efforts to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and increasing international pressure on Israel to reduce civilian casualties among Palestinians.  Blinken's visit would come as Israel's war with Hamas militants approaches its three-month mark.  Reuters cited a senior U.S. official and reported that Blinken will depart on Thursday for the Middle East, including a stop in Israel. Amos Hochstein, a senior adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, will also travel to Israel to work toward calming tensions between Israel and Hezbollah. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told reporters Blinken will hold meetings with Turkish officials on Saturday, according to local media.  Senior U.S. officials’ upcoming meetings in the Middle East come at a time when the risk of a broader regional conflict is escalating, despite the collective efforts of Western and regional powers to confine the Israel-Hamas war to the Gaza Strip.  Regional stability  The State Department said the United States remains “incredibly concerned” about the risk of the conflict spreading into other fronts, after the killing Tuesday of senior Hamas official Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut.  The Israeli army said it was on high alert for attacks by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. This follows a drone strike in Beirut that killed al-Arouri, who was closely associated with Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah. In a televised speech, Nasrallah said there would be a “response and punishment,” but he did not clearly declare that his forces would escalate attacks against Israel. The U.S. has sent a “very direct message to Hezbollah” and other entities in the region that “now is not the time to think of escalating further” since October 7, according to the State Department. Israel launched its offensive in Gaza shortly after the October 7 attacks by Hamas militants.  “You've seen us take deterrence steps to deliver that message. You've seen us take diplomatic steps to deliver it. We'll continue to deliver it,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a briefing on Wednesday.  The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has also voiced deep concern at any potential for escalation, while urging all parties to exercise restraint.  Earlier this week, Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned the Israeli strike that resulted in the death of al-Arouri, calling it a "crime" deliberately aimed at dragging Lebanon into a new phase of confrontations.  Both Hamas and Hezbollah are backed by Iran, whose militant allies in Syria, Iraq and Yemen have also been carrying out longer-range attacks against Israel.  Humanitarian aid  The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has warned that Gaza is becoming a public health disaster, and recent mass displacement across southern Gaza is fueling disease outbreaks.  More than 400,000 cases of infectious diseases have been reported since October 7, with some 180,000 people suffering from upper respiratory infections. There have also been more than 136,000 cases of diarrhea reported — half among children under the age of 5, according to OCHA.  The U.N. is collaborating with countries to facilitate humanitarian delivery, addressing the critical lack of hygiene and safe drinking water in Gaza.  In Washington, U.S. officials stated their opposition to forcibly removing Palestinians from Gaza. The U.S. is also working on a postwar road map for Palestinian territories.  “Gaza cannot, once again, serve as a launching pad for terrorist attacks against Israel,” Miller told VOA on Wednesday. “What we ultimately want to see is Gaza and the West Bank reunited under Palestinian leadership,” and “certainly there's no role for Hamas in that.”  Hostage release  Meanwhile, intense diplomatic efforts to retrieve the remaining hostages held in Gaza by Hamas militants continue. There are believed to be 129 people still held by Hamas or other militants in Gaza.  Last week, Egypt proposed a plan to end the current military conflict between Israel and Hamas militants, involving a cease-fire, a phased hostage release, and the formation of a Palestinian government of experts to administer the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Details of the plan were reportedly worked out with the Persian Gulf nation of Qatar and presented to Israel, Hamas, the United States and European governments. But the head of Hamas' political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, stated on Tuesday that the hostages will only be released on Hamas' terms.  The State Department said it’s a “top priority” for the U.S. government to bring all hostages home but declined to comment publicly on the negotiations.  Some material for this report came from Reuters.

Mexico City — Mexican authorities have rescued 31 migrants, including women and children, who were kidnapped over the weekend in the northern Mexican state of Tamaulipas, officials announced on Wednesday. Presidential spokesperson Jesus Ramirez confirmed the rescue on social media platform X, formerly Twitter. "They are already in the hands of the authorities and are undergoing the appropriate medical examinations," he added, along with a photo that showed men, women and children, including one holding a stuffed animal. The migrants were "safe and sound," Mexican Interior Minister Luisa Alcalde wrote on X, citing information from the state's governor. Gunmen snatched the migrants on Saturday from a bus on a highway in the municipality of Reynosa, close to Mexico's border with the United States. The bus was destined for Matamoros, across from Brownsville, Texas. Mexican Security Minister Rosa Icela Rodriguez said earlier on Wednesday that the kidnapped migrants were from Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras and Mexico. Honduran Foreign Minister Enrique Reina later posted on X that there were six Hondurans among the group, including three teenage girls, whose statements were being taken by Mexican authorities. Colombia's consulate in Mexico City said four Colombian nationals were also part of the group. Asylum-seekers and human rights activists have for months been warning of an escalating kidnapping crisis in the Tamaulipas border region, especially in Reynosa.   The area is the site of an ongoing conflict between two factions of the powerful Gulf Cartel, known as the Metros and the Scorpions, according to a former security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. He said migrant smuggling and trafficking has become the most lucrative illicit industry in the region. Earlier in the day, Rodriguez said the kidnapping was "unusual" due to the large number of victims, although it's not uncommon for migrants to be pulled off buses and kidnapped in Mexico. Usually, the migrants are forced to beg their relatives to pay ransom money.   She added that authorities were tracking the cellphones of the migrants in efforts to find them. In May last year, 49 migrants, including 11 minors, were released after being kidnapped in the south of Mexico while traveling by bus to the U.S. border.   A record number of migrants traveled across Central America and Mexico in 2023 aiming to reach the United States, fleeing poverty, violence, climate change and conflict.

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washington — Scientists have found a way to help Alzheimer's drugs seep inside the brain faster — by temporarily breaching its protective shield. The novel experiment was a first attempt in just three patients. But in spots in the brain where the new technology took aim, it enhanced removal of Alzheimer's trademark brain-clogging plaque, researchers reported Wednesday. "Our goal is to give patients a head start," by boosting some new Alzheimer's treatments that take a long time to work, said Dr. Ali Rezai of West Virginia University's Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, who led the study. At issue is what's called the blood-brain barrier, a protective lining in blood vessels that prevents germs and other damaging substances from leaching into the brain from the bloodstream. But it also can block drugs for Alzheimer's, tumors and other neurologic diseases, requiring higher doses for longer periods for enough to reach their target inside the brain. Now scientists are using a technology called focused ultrasound to jiggle temporary openings in that shield. They inject microscopic bubbles into the bloodstream. Next, they beam sound waves through a helmetlike device to a precise brain area. The pulses of energy vibrate the microbubbles, which loosen gaps in the barrier enough for medications to slip in. Prior small studies have found the technology can safely poke tiny holes that seal up in 48 hours. Now Rezai's team has gone a step further — administering an Alzheimer's drug at the same time. Some new Alzheimer's drugs, on the market or in the pipeline, promise to modestly slow worsening of the mind-robbing disease. They're designed to clear away a sticky protein called beta-amyloid that builds up in certain brain regions. But they require IV infusions every few weeks for at least 18 months. "Why not try to clear the plaques within a few months?" Rezai said, his rationale for the proof-of-concept study. 3 patients, 1 drug, 6 months His team gave three patients with mild Alzheimer's monthly doses of one such drug, Aduhelm, for six months. Right after each IV, researchers aimed the focused ultrasound on a specific amyloid-clogged part of each patient's brain, opening the blood brain-barrier so more of that day's dose might enter that spot. PET scans show patients' amyloid levels before and after the six months of medication. There was about 32% greater plaque reduction in spots where the blood-brain barrier was breached compared to the same region on the brain's opposite side, researchers reported in the New England Journal of Medicine. This pilot study is elegant but too tiny to draw any conclusions, cautioned Dr. Eliezer Masliah of the National Institute on Aging. Still, "it's very exciting, compelling data," added Masliah, who wasn't involved with the research. "It opens the door for more extensive, larger studies, definitely." More testing on horizon Rezai is about to begin another small test of a similar but better proven drug named Leqembi. Eventually, large studies would be needed to tell if combining focused ultrasound with Alzheimer's drugs makes a real difference for patients. Masliah said it's also important to closely check whether speedier plaque reduction might increase the risk of a rare but worrisome side effect of these new drugs — bleeding and swelling in the brain. Alzheimer's isn't the only target. Other researchers are testing if breaching the blood-brain barrier could allow more chemotherapy to reach brain tumors, and ways to target other diseases.

Denver, Colorado — Former President Donald Trump on Wednesday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a ruling barring him from the Colorado ballot, setting up a high-stakes showdown over whether a constitutional provision prohibiting those who "engaged in insurrection" will end his political career. Trump appealed a 4-3 ruling in December by the Colorado Supreme Court that marked the first time in history that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment was used to bar a presidential contender from the ballot. The court found that Trump's role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol disqualified him under the clause. The provision has been used so sparingly in American history that the U.S. Supreme Court has never ruled on it. Wednesday's development came a day after Trump's legal team filed an appeal against a ruling by Maine's Democratic Secretary of State, Shenna Bellows, that Trump was ineligible to appear on that state's ballot over his role in the Capitol attack. Both the Colorado Supreme Court and the Maine secretary of state's rulings are on hold until the appeals play out. Trump's critics have filed dozens of lawsuits seeking to disqualify him in multiple states. He lost Colorado by 13 percentage points in 2020 and does not need to win the state to gain either the Republican presidential nomination or the presidency. But the Colorado ruling has the potential to prompt courts or secretaries of state to remove him from the ballot in other, must-win states. None had succeeded until a slim majority of Colorado's seven justices — all appointed by Democratic governors — ruled last month against Trump. Critics warned that it was an overreach and that the court could not simply declare that the Jan. 6 attack was an "insurrection" without a judicial process. "The Colorado Supreme Court decision would unconstitutionally disenfranchise millions of voters in Colorado and likely be used as a template to disenfranchise tens of millions of voters nationwide," Trump's lawyers wrote in their appeal to the nation's highest court, noting that Maine has already followed Colorado's lead. Trump's new appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court also follows one from Colorado's Republican Party. Legal observers expect the high court will take the case because it concerns unsettled constitutional issues that go to the heart of the way the country is governed. All the parties to the case have urged the court to move quickly. Trump's lawyers on Wednesday asked the court to overturn the ruling without even hearing oral arguments. The lawyers representing the Colorado plaintiffs have urged oral arguments but also seek a vastly accelerated schedule, calling for a resolution by next month. Colorado's primary is March 5. Sean Grimsley, an attorney for the plaintiffs seeking to disqualify Trump in Colorado, said late last month on a legal podcast called "Law, disrupted" that he hopes the nation's highest court hurries once it accepts the case, as he expects it will. "We have a primary coming up on Super Tuesday and we need to know the answer," Grimsley said. The Colorado high court upheld a finding by a district court judge that Jan. 6 was an "insurrection" incited by Trump. It agreed with the petitioners, six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters whose lawsuit was funded by a Washington-based liberal group, that Trump clearly violated the provision. Because of that, the court ruled he is disqualified just as plainly as if he failed to meet the Constitution's minimum age requirement for the presidency of 35 years. In doing so, the state high court reversed a ruling by the lower court judge that said it wasn't clear that Section 3 was meant to apply to the president. That's one of many issues the nation's highest court would consider. Additional ones include whether states such as Colorado can determine who is covered by Section 3, whether congressional action is needed to create a process to bar people from office, whether Jan. 6 met the legal definition of insurrection and whether Trump was simply engaging in First Amendment activity that day or is responsible for the violent attack, which was intended to halt certification of Democrat Joe Biden's victory. Trump held a rally before the Capitol attack, telling his supporters that "if you don't fight like hell, you're not going to have a country anymore." Six of the U.S. Supreme Court's nine justices were appointed by Republicans, and three by Trump himself. The Colorado ruling cited a prior decision by Neil Gorsuch, one of Trump's appointees to the high court, when he was a federal judge in Colorado. That ruling determined that the state had a legitimate interest in removing from the presidential ballot a naturalized U.S. citizen who was ineligible for the office because he was born in Guyana. Section 3, however, has barely been used since the years after the Civil War, when it kept defeated Confederates from returning to their former government positions. The two-sentence clause says that anyone who swore an oath to "support" the Constitution and then engaged in insurrection cannot hold office unless a two-thirds vote of Congress allows it. Legal scholars believe its only application in the 20th century was being cited by Congress in 1919 to block the seating of a socialist who opposed U.S. involvement in World War I and was elected to the House of Representatives. But in 2022, a judge used it to remove a rural New Mexico county commissioner from office after he was convicted of a misdemeanor for entering the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. Liberal groups sued to block Republican Reps. Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene from running for reelection because of their roles on that day. Cawthorn's case became moot when he lost his primary in 2022, and a judge ruled to keep Greene on the ballot. Some conservatives warn that, if Trump is removed, political groups will routinely use Section 3 against opponents in unexpected ways. Biden's administration has noted that the president has no role in the litigation. The issue of whether Trump can be on the ballot is not the only matter related to the former president or Jan. 6 that has reached the high court. The justices last month declined a request from special counsel Jack Smith to swiftly take up and rule on Trump's claims that he is immune from prosecution in a case charging him with plotting to overturn the presidential election, though the issue could be back before the court soon depending on the ruling of a Washington-based appeals court. And the court has said that it intends to hear an appeal that could upend hundreds of charges stemming from the Capitol riot, including against Trump.

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BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA — Argentine judges on Wednesday suspended labor law changes that form part of a decree of sweeping economic reforms and deregulation announced by the country's new libertarian president, Javier Milei. The CGT trade union body had challenged the changes, which technically took effect last Friday, on grounds that they erode basic worker protections such as the right to strike and parental leave. Judges of Argentina's labor appeals chamber froze elements of Milei's decree, which, among other things, increased the legal job probation period from three to eight months, reduced compensation in case of dismissal and cut pregnancy leave. Judge Alejandro Sudera questioned the "necessity" and "urgency" of the decree Milei signed on December 20 — just days after taking office — and suspended the measures until they can be properly considered by Congress. Some of the measures, Sudera added in a ruling distributed to the media, appeared to be "repressive or punitive in nature," and it was not clear how their application would aid Milei's objective of "creating real jobs." The government can appeal Wednesday's ruling. Thousands took to the streets last week to protest the reforms of self-proclaimed "anarcho-capitalist" Milei, who won elections in November with promises of slashing state spending as Argentina deals with an economic crisis, including triple-digit inflation. The CGT has called a general strike for January 24. “Rebuilding the country” The measures have drawn heated debate among jurists about their constitutionality and are the subject of several court challenges. When he announced his decree, Milei said the goal was to "start along the path to rebuilding the country ... and start to undo the huge number of regulations that have held back and prevented economic growth." The decree changed or scrapped more than 350 economic regulations in a country accustomed to heavy government intervention in the market. It eliminates a law regulating rent, envisages the privatization of state enterprises and terminates some 7,000 civil service contracts. Latin America's third-biggest economy is on its knees after decades of debt and financial mismanagement, with inflation surpassing 160% year-on-year and 40% of Argentines living in poverty. Milei has pledged to curb inflation but warned that economic "shock" treatment is the only solution, and that the situation will get worse before it improves. Won election resoundingly The 53-year-old won a resounding election victory on a wave of fury over the country's decades of economic crises marked by debt, rampant money printing, inflation and fiscal deficit. Milei has targeted spending cuts equivalent to 5% of gross domestic product. Shortly after taking office, his administration devalued Argentina's peso by more than 50% and announced huge cuts in generous state subsidies of fuel and transport. Milei has also announced a halt to all new public construction projects and a yearlong suspension of state advertising. Argentines remain haunted by hyperinflation of up to 3,000% in 1989 and 1990 and a dramatic economic implosion in 2001.

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EAGLE PASS, Texas — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is leading about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit Wednesday to the Mexican border as they demand hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden's emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as Senate negotiators keep plugging away in hopes of a bipartisan deal. With the number of illegal crossings into the United States topping 10,000 on several days last month, the border city has been at the center of Republican Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, his nearly $10 billion initiative that has tested the federal government's authority over immigration and elevated the political fight over the issue. An agreement in the lengthy talks in Washington would unlock Republican support for Biden's $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities. In meetings, Senators Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona, James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, are trying to make progress before Congress returns to Washington next week. It is not known whether Johnson, who has called for "transformational" changes to border and immigration policies, would accept a bipartisan deal from the Senate. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has pointed to a House bill, passed in May without a single Democratic vote, that would build more of the border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers. Democrats said the legislation was "cruel" and "anti-immigrant," and Biden promised a veto. Nonetheless, the president has expressed a willingness to make policy compromises as the historic number of migrants crossing the border is an increasing challenge for his 2024 reelection campaign. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House staff have been involved in the Senate negotiations. "We've got to do something," Biden told reporters Tuesday night. He said Congress should approve his national security proposal because it also includes money for managing the influx of migrants. "They ought to give me the money I need to protect the border," he said. Administration officials have criticized Johnson's trip as a political ploy that will do little to solve the problem. "When they're at the border, they're going to see the magnitude of the problem and why we have said now for about three decades, their broken immigration system is in desperate need of legislative reform," Mayorkas told CNN on Wednesday. "So, we are focused on the solutions, and we hope that they will return to Washington and focus on the solutions as well." House Republicans contend that Mayorkas' management of the border has amounted to a dereliction of his duties and they are moving ahead with rare impeachment proceedings against a Cabinet member, with a first committee hearing on the matter scheduled for next week. Mayorkas told MSNBC he would cooperate with an inquiry. During parts of December, border crossings in Eagle Pass, as well as other locations, swamped the resources of Customs and Border Protection officials. Authorities closed cargo rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso for five days and shut down border crossings in the Arizona city of Lukeville. Authorities say the numbers of migrants eased over the December holidays as part of a seasonal pattern. The border crossings are reopening, and illegal crossings in Eagle Pass fell to 500 on Monday, according to administration officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Along the entire border, arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico fell to about 2,500 on Monday, from more than 10,000 on several days in December, officials said. Republicans, who see the high number of migrants arriving at the border as a political weakness for the president, are pressuring Biden and Democrats to accept strict border measures. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Tuesday that in a conversation with 81-year-old Biden, he made the case: "You can't do anything about how old you are, you can't do anything about inflation, but this is something that's measurable that you could claim credit for." McConnell also said he was approaching the talks with "optimism that somehow we will get this all together and we're giving it our best shot." Senate negotiators have focused on tougher asylum protocols for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, bolstering border enforcement with more personnel and high-tech systems, and enforcement measures that would kick in if the number of daily crossings passed a certain threshold. Murphy, the chief Democratic negotiator, said Tuesday that he hoped that "at some point, Republicans can take the offer that we've all been working on together in the room for a long time." He raised concern that the longer the talks draw out, the longer it leaves Ukraine's defenses hanging without assured support from the U.S. in the war with Russia. The Pentagon in late December announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid for Ukraine if Congress does not approve Biden's funding request. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts. Russia has unleashed a flurry of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in the new year. "The consequence of Republicans' decision to tie Ukraine funding to border is that the Ukrainians are already at a moment of real crisis," Murphy said.

EAGLE PASS, Texas — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson is leading about 60 fellow Republicans in Congress on a visit Wednesday to the Mexican border as they demand hard-line immigration policies in exchange for backing President Joe Biden's emergency wartime funding request for Ukraine. The trip to Eagle Pass, Texas, comes as Senate negotiators keep plugging away in hopes of a bipartisan deal. With the number of illegal crossings into the United States topping 10,000 on several days last month, the border city has been at the center of Republican Governor Greg Abbott's Operation Lone Star, his nearly $10 billion initiative that has tested the federal government's authority over immigration and elevated the political fight over the issue. An agreement in the lengthy talks in Washington would unlock Republican support for Biden's $110 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and other U.S. security priorities. In meetings, Senators Kyrsten Sinema, an Independent from Arizona, James Lankford, a Republican from Oklahoma, and Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut, are trying to make progress before Congress returns to Washington next week. It is not known whether Johnson, who has called for "transformational" changes to border and immigration policies, would accept a bipartisan deal from the Senate. Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, has pointed to a House bill, passed in May without a single Democratic vote, that would build more of the border wall and impose new restrictions on asylum seekers. Democrats said the legislation was "cruel" and "anti-immigrant," and Biden promised a veto. Nonetheless, the president has expressed a willingness to make policy compromises as the historic number of migrants crossing the border is an increasing challenge for his 2024 reelection campaign. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and White House staff have been involved in the Senate negotiations. "We've got to do something," Biden told reporters Tuesday night. He said Congress should approve his national security proposal because it also includes money for managing the influx of migrants. "They ought to give me the money I need to protect the border," he said. Administration officials have criticized Johnson's trip as a political ploy that will do little to solve the problem. "When they're at the border, they're going to see the magnitude of the problem and why we have said now for about three decades, their broken immigration system is in desperate need of legislative reform," Mayorkas told CNN on Wednesday. "So, we are focused on the solutions, and we hope that they will return to Washington and focus on the solutions as well." House Republicans contend that Mayorkas' management of the border has amounted to a dereliction of his duties and they are moving ahead with rare impeachment proceedings against a Cabinet member, with a first committee hearing on the matter scheduled for next week. Mayorkas told MSNBC he would cooperate with an inquiry. During parts of December, border crossings in Eagle Pass, as well as other locations, swamped the resources of Customs and Border Protection officials. Authorities closed cargo rail crossings in Eagle Pass and El Paso for five days and shut down border crossings in the Arizona city of Lukeville. Authorities say the numbers of migrants eased over the December holidays as part of a seasonal pattern. The border crossings are reopening, and illegal crossings in Eagle Pass fell to 500 on Monday, according to administration officials who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Along the entire border, arrests for illegal crossings from Mexico fell to about 2,500 on Monday, from more than 10,000 on several days in December, officials said. Republicans, who see the high number of migrants arriving at the border as a political weakness for the president, are pressuring Biden and Democrats to accept strict border measures. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told reporters in Kentucky on Tuesday that in a conversation with 81-year-old Biden, he made the case: "You can't do anything about how old you are, you can't do anything about inflation, but this is something that's measurable that you could claim credit for." McConnell also said he was approaching the talks with "optimism that somehow we will get this all together and we're giving it our best shot." Senate negotiators have focused on tougher asylum protocols for migrants arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border, bolstering border enforcement with more personnel and high-tech systems, and enforcement measures that would kick in if the number of daily crossings passed a certain threshold. Murphy, the chief Democratic negotiator, said Tuesday that he hoped that "at some point, Republicans can take the offer that we've all been working on together in the room for a long time." He raised concern that the longer the talks draw out, the longer it leaves Ukraine's defenses hanging without assured support from the U.S. in the war with Russia. The Pentagon in late December announced what officials say could be the final package of military aid for Ukraine if Congress does not approve Biden's funding request. The weapons, worth up to $250 million, include air munitions and other missiles, artillery, anti-armor systems, ammunition, demolition and medical equipment and parts. Russia has unleashed a flurry of missile and drone strikes on Ukraine in the new year. "The consequence of Republicans' decision to tie Ukraine funding to border is that the Ukrainians are already at a moment of real crisis," Murphy said.

Human rights groups and trusted media outlets have confirmed that Pakistan has been deporting Afghan refugees awaiting resettlement in the United States.

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration has once again renewed taxpayer-funded protection for former U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and one of his top aides, who have been the targets of persistent threats from Iran.  The State Department notified Congress late last month that the threats against Pompeo and Trump administration Iran envoy Brian Hook remain "serious and credible" and continue to warrant government-provided security details.  The notifications are dated December 19 but were not transmitted to Congress until December 22. They were obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday.  Tensions in the Middle East have soared since the outbreak of Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza and escalated further Wednesday after dozens of people were killed in blasts in Iran at a memorial service for Iran Revolutionary Guard commander Qassem Soleimani, who was assassinated in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad on January 3, 2020.  Pompeo and Hook were the public faces of the U.S. "maximum pressure" campaign against Iran after former President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. Iran has blamed both for the killing of Soleimani.  The notifications to Congress, signed by Deputy Secretary of State for Management Richard Verma, marked the 16th time the State Department has extended protection to Hook since he left office in January 2021 and the 13th time it has been extended to Pompeo.  The discrepancy arises because Pompeo, as a former Cabinet secretary, automatically had government security for several months after leaving office.  The AP reported in March 2022 that the State Department was paying more than $2 million per month to provide 24-hour security to Pompeo and Hook. The latest determinations do not give a dollar amount for the protection.  The notifications do not specifically identify Iran as the source of the threats, but Iranian officials have long vented anger at Pompeo and Hook for leading the Trump administration's policy against Iran, including designating the Revolutionary Guard Corps a "foreign terrorist organization," subjecting it to unprecedented sanctions and orchestrating the Soleimani assassination.