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BATON ROUGE, La. — Thousands of Louisiana voters have already cast early ballots for congressional candidates in what soon could be the wrong districts. Alabama’s primaries are a week away, but the state could force a do-over for voting on U.S. House races. A new congressional map in Tennessee upended races that had been underway for months.

Republicans’ rush to gerrymander congressional districts across several Southern states after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling hollowed out the Voting Rights Act is confusing voters and creating logistical headaches for local election officials. The changes are hitting while primary season is in progress.

The chaotic upheaval to an election season that could determine which party controls the U.S. House is the latest fallout from an intensely partisan gerrymandering battle initiated by President Trump last year to protect Republicans’ slim majority.

The Supreme Court’s decision last month severely weakening the Voting Rights Act required Louisiana to reconsider a map drawn in 2024 with two majority minority congressional districts that elected Black representatives. The GOP-controlled Legislature could eliminate one or both in a state where roughly 30% of the population is Black.

The ruling also encouraged Republicans in Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee to consider eliminating four Democratic districts among them, three represented by Black lawmakers. Florida has a new map meant to cost Democrats four of their eight seats, out of 28.

In Louisiana, 66-year-old New Orleans resident Sallie Davis voted early last week. Her ballot allowed her to vote for Democratic U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, but a sign at her polling booth showed his race crossed off with a ballpoint pen. She was confused and frustrated — especially when a poll worker told her to go with what the sign seemed to convey. She’s now worried that her entire ballot will not be counted.

“I was supposed to believe a piece of paper with an X on it marking out the person I wanted to vote for,” she said, her voice breaking as she recounted her experience later. “I think I have been disenfranchised. I think my vote, that I just voted on, it’s not going to count or something. I think it’s illegal.”

Primaries postponed, deadlines compressed

Louisiana’s primary is on Saturday, and a week of early voting there began May 2, two days after the Republican governor declared an emergency and suspended congressional primaries to give lawmakers a chance to draw a new map.

Republican Secretary of State Nancy Landry’s office said nearly 179,000 primary ballots had been cast as of Friday, including about 53,000 absentee ballots returned by mail. She said the ballots included U.S. House races, but votes in those contests won’t be counted.

In Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee, Republicans justified pursuing new maps by saying that electing more Republicans would better reflect their states’ conservative values. Alabama lawmakers passed legislation Friday allowing a do-over of congressional primaries.

Alabama’s primary is May 19, and voting in congressional races will occur then as planned, but with the old districts. Those votes would end up not counting if a court allows the switch to different districts.

Mississippi held its primaries in March, but a federal court has ordered it to redraw its state Supreme Court districts, and Trump is pushing Republicans to redraw the state’s four congressional districts.

A special session of its Legislature is set for May 20. Renovations of the House chamber will force members to meet at the Old State Capitol, where, decades ago, Mississippi lawmakers passed Jim Crow laws suppressing Black voting.

“Modern-day voter suppression relies on election administration errors and chaos, and that’s what we’re going to see play out in all of these states,” said Amir Badat, a Jackson, Mississippi, voting rights attorney and activist.

Tennessee continues yearlong fight

Tennessee was the first state to enact a new map since the U.S. Supreme Court decision, but Trump’s push for redistricting started in Texas last year. Democrats countered in California and tried but ran afoul of the courts in Virginia.

Before Tennessee’s GOP-controlled Legislature passed a new map last week, the state’s elections coordinator told county officials in a memo what that would mean: reprogramming election systems, retraining poll workers and possibly adjusting precinct boundaries, meaning some voters’ polling places could change.

Tennessee’s congressional primaries still will be held Aug. 6 as planned, and candidates have until Friday to qualify for the ballot. Those who qualified previously will get a pass if they can run in a new district with the same number.

In South Carolina, lawmakers could move all the state’s June 9 primaries to August, or just the congressional races. While mail balloting is limited because the state requires an excuse to do it, more than 6,800 mail ballots already had been sent to voters — with 260 returned — as of Friday, according to the state Elections Commission.

Holding a separate election for congressional primaries would cost $3 million and the time for preparations would be compressed, Conway Belangia, the commission’s executive director, told lawmakers Friday.

“It will be difficult, but it will be possible,” he said.

Activists see problems ahead for voters

Michael McClanahan, president of the NAACP’s Louisiana State Conference, is hearing “total confusion” as voters call him and ask, “Is there an election?”

“People say, ’I ain’t going to vote because the governor’s suspended the election,’” he said. “But he didn’t, he only suspended one aspect of it.”

In Alabama, Senate Democratic leader Bobby Singleton said he has been fielding calls from public officials who also are confused.

“These are the people who are the head of elections,” he said. “They don’t know what to do.“

Voting rights activists see problems that arose in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2022, when Republican legislators divided the state’s capital city into three congressional districts to take a seat from Democrats, as a harbinger of what Memphis voters could face this year. A state report said more than 3,000 Nashville-area voters were assigned to incorrect districts and more than 430 cast ballots in the wrong races in the November 2022 election.

“It’s going to be really hard for the election commissions to be able to keep up with this short timeline,” Matia Powell, executive director of the voting rights nonprofit Civic TN, said during a conference call Friday with other voting rights activists in the South.

Some fear confusion will lead to distrust and apathy

Anneshia Hardy, executive director of Alabama Values, which provides support to voting and civil rights groups, said people will lose trust in elections if they believe the rules can change every two years.

“Once people stop believing that the process is stable and fair, disengagement is going to increase, and that’s one of the biggest dangers here,” she said. “Democracy doesn’t just depend on voting systems existing but really on people believing that their participation matters.”

At least a few Democratic voters who went to the Louisiana Capitol on Friday to protest the gerrymandering expressed doubt about whether they still have a political voice.

Davis came to the State Capitol in Baton Rouge and had a bullhorn with her for a protest in which she yelled, “Whose vote? Our vote!”

David Victorian, a 79-year-old Vietnam veteran from Baton Rouge, said: “I’m concerned for the survival of the democracy that we’re supposed to be living in.”

Hanna and Brook write for the Associated Press. Hanna reported from Topeka, Kan. AP writers Jeffrey Collins in Columbia, S.C., and Kim Chandler, in Montgomery, Ala., contributed to this report.

Voters in California may get a chance to remake the state’s open primary system in two years.

Political consultant Steve Maviglio filed an application Friday with state officials that seeks to alter California’s voting system by reverting to a traditional primary. Under the proposal, the top candidates from each party would advance to the general election in November.

The current system allows the top two candidates, regardless of party, to move on to the runoff. That has led to instances in which two Democrats or two Republicans have faced off in the general election.

The state’s gubernatorial election, for example, has prompted concern that two Republicans could shut out the Democratic candidates. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton have polled high in various surveys and are facing a large field of Democrats.

Democratic voters vastly outnumber Republicans in California, yet some political consultants said they feared there were so many Democrats running that voters wouldn’t coalesce around one candidate and the field would be split. Those fears have eased somewhat in recent months as some Democratic candidates advance from the pack.

The state’s top-two primary system has been in place since California voters passed Proposition 14 in 2010. The goal was to help end partisan gridlock in Sacramento and force candidates in primaries to appeal to a wider range of voters, rather than just those in their own party.

Proposition 14, as well as the state’s once-a-decade redistricting process, has led to some dramatic races, including the 2012 face-off between Democratic Reps. Brad Sherman and Howard Berman for a congressional seat in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. Amid aspersions and attack ads, the pair nearly came to blows at a community debate.

Maviglio described the ballot measure as a simple repeal of Proposition 14, and said he was inspired by the governor’s race.

“It was extremely scary to envision the November ballot for governor with Republicans on it,” Maviglio said.

The New York Times first reported on the ballot measure proposal.

A news release from Maviglio states that the proposed repeal of Prop. 14 “is fueled by concerns that California’s primaries are disenfranchising a majority of California voters by limiting choice to candidates from one party.”

A website for the effort includes criticisms of the current primary system by Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks and Ron Nehring, former chairman of the California Republican Party.

Maviglio’s ballot initiative proposes to appear on the 2028 ballot and take effect in 2030.

Talk of changing Proposition 14 has been swirling in Sacramento for months.

Secretary of State Shirley Weber told reporters at an unrelated news conference last week that she had voted years ago against Proposition 14. She questioned whether it had actually succeeded in creating more diversity.

“I did not like the open primary,” Weber said. “I didn’t think it would solve any problems. They had a list of problems it would solve, and none of those have been solved.”

Paris seeks to repair economic and security ties while countering rising anti-French sentiment across Africa.

French President Emmanuel Macron has started a tour of East Africa as Paris seeks to rebuild its influence on the continent after a series of setbacks, especially in its former West African colonies.

Macron began the three-country tour in Egypt on Saturday, which will also take him to Kenya and Ethiopia.

He will cohost a summit in English-speaking Kenya on Monday and Tuesday as France seeks to redefine its role in Africa, moving away from its postcolonial role towards closer cooperation.

The summit will bring together African leaders and business executives, with several agreements between French and Kenyan companies set to be signed during the visit to boost economic and commercial cooperation.

The “Africa Forward” summit will be the first in an Anglophone country attended by Macron since he took office in 2017.

The French president will wrap up his tour in Addis Ababa on Wednesday, where he will hold meetings with Ethiopian officials and take part in talks at the African Union headquarters on peace and security in Africa.

The tour is widely seen as a bid by Paris to repair economic and security ties and counter rising anti-French sentiment across parts of Africa.

Africa’s changing balance

France colonised large parts of West and Central Africa, and maintained excessive political and economic influence long after independence.

France, once widely accused of supporting unpopular leaders for strategic gain, is no longer the dominant foreign power it once was in Francophone Africa.

Across the continent, there is a growing push for more equal, win-win partnerships, tighter control over natural resources and broader alliances beyond traditional Western partners.

Sahel turning point

Anti-French sentiment has generally grown alongside political instability, military coups and rising competition from other international powers.

The sharpest rupture has come in the Sahel region, where Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger have seen coups followed by rapidly deteriorating relations with France.

French forces were subsequently expelled after years of military operations against armed groups that many local governments and segments of the public viewed as ineffective.

In the vacuum, the region’s military rulers have turned to new security partners, particularly Russia, highlighting France’s declining influence in the region.

Russian influence, including through the Wagner Group and its successor networks, expanded in part by exploiting anti-French sentiment.

Can Macron succeed in reshaping France’s Africa policy?

Macron is seeking to reshape France’s Africa policy, replacing traditional influence with what he calls partnerships.

He is also pushing for deeper cultural and educational cooperation focused on entrepreneurship, climate and youth engagement.

Such efforts are seen as France’s attempt to reinvent its postcolonial relationship with African states and compete with powers like China and Russia.

Paris is, in fact, trying to shift its Africa policy; questions over its influence on the continent, however, persist.

May 8 (Asia Today) — Samsung Electronics is expanding staffing for its Future Robotics Office as the company accelerates investment in robotics, one of its designated next-generation growth businesses.

The device experience division accepted internal applications for the robotics unit through Friday.

Samsung has identified robotics as a promising future business and has continued investing in the sector through mergers, acquisitions and internal development.

The Future Robotics Office was created in 2024 after Samsung became the largest shareholder in Rainbow Robotics, a South Korean robotics company. The unit was established to speed development of future robotics technologies, including humanoid robots.

During a conference call after its first-quarter earnings announcement, Samsung said the robotics unit, led by Oh Jun-ho, had built a foundation to catch up with leading companies in the field.

The company said it was also working to bring key parts production in-house and secure the ability to develop customized components. Samsung said it would pursue domestic and international partnerships and acquisitions while building its own technologies.

The hiring push comes as Samsung adjusts parts of its business in China, where profitability has weakened. The company recently decided to stop selling televisions and home appliances in China, while continuing businesses such as mobile devices, semiconductors and medical equipment.

The move reflects Samsung’s broader strategy of redirecting resources from weaker business areas toward new technologies and future growth engines.

Although Samsung’s device experience division is currently facing profitability pressure, the company is seeking to secure an early position in robotics, a market expected to expand in the coming years.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260508010001789

The ruling Democratic Party’s (DP) push to put a constitutional change to a national vote in the upcoming local elections fell through Friday as the main opposition People Power Party (PPP) continued to boycott a parliamentary vote on the proposal.

Shortly after Friday’s plenary session opened, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik announced that he will not put the amendment bill to a vote as the PPP warned it would launch a filibuster to block the proposal.

“I convened the plenary session again today in an effort to prevent the first constitutional amendment vote in 39 years from falling through,” Woo said. “But I believe further proceedings would be meaningless, seeing the (PPP) responding with a filibuster.”

The PPP boycotted a vote on the bill Thursday, leaving the unicameral parliament short of a quorum.

Cheong Wa Dae expressed regret over the National Assembly’s failure to pass the bill due to opposition from PPP lawmakers.

“The public will find it difficult to understand why they opposed even minimal constitutional changes aimed at safeguarding national security and democracy,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing, noting that there had been broad public consensus on the need to “reflect the lessons” of former President Yoon Suk Yeol’s Dec. 3, 2024, martial law attempt in the Constitution.

“We urge the National Assembly to continue the discussions on the constitutional amendment with a greater sense of responsibility during the second half and to keep the promise it made to the people,” she added.

President Lee Jae Myung earlier highlighted the need to amend the constitution in “phases” if necessary, saying the Constitution, which has remained unchanged for nearly 40 years since 1987, may now be outdated.

The proposed bill aimed to tighten the rules for declaring martial law, requiring the president to obtain parliamentary approval without delay and stipulating that if the National Assembly rejects the declaration or fails to approve it within 48 hours, the martial law will be immediately nullified.

It also sought to include the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju and the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests in the preamble. It currently states that the country inherits the spirit of the April 19 revolution in 1960, which overthrew South Korea’s first president, Rhee Syng-man, over election fraud.

The bill was jointly proposed by 187 lawmakers from the DP and five minor parties.

A constitutional amendment requires two thirds of votes from sitting lawmakers to be put to a national referendum for final approval by a majority of ballots cast.

South Korea is set to hold its quadrennial local elections on June 3.

Copyright (c) Yonhap News Agency prohibits its content from being redistributed or reprinted without consent, and forbids the content from being learned and used by artificial intelligence systems.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — An election-year redistricting movement has spread to South Carolina as Republicans attempt to redraw majority-Black congressional districts that have suddenly become susceptible because of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upending protections for minority voters.

Urged on by President Trump, South Carolina Republicans are attempting to redraw a district long held by a Black Democratic lawmaker in their quest for a clean sweep of the state’s seven congressional seats.

Lawmakers already are meeting in special sessions in Alabama and Tennessee in a bid to change their U.S. House districts. And Louisiana lawmakers are making plans for new congressional districts after the Supreme Court last week struck down the state’s current map.

The stakes are high for minority voters who stand to lose their preferred representatives and for any Republican lawmakers reluctant to follow Trump’s wishes. In Republican primary elections Tuesday, Trump-endorsed challengers defeated at least five of the seven Indiana state lawmakers targeted by Trump’s allies for refusing to support a congressional redistricting effort last year.

The Supreme Court’s recent ruling said Louisiana relied too heavily on race when creating a second Black-majority House district as it attempted to comply with the Voting Rights Act. The ruling significantly altered a decades-old understanding of the law, giving Republicans grounds to try to eliminate majority-Black districts that have elected Democrats.

The ruling revved up an already intense national redistricting battle ahead of a November midterm election that will determine control of the closely divided House.

Since Trump prodded Texas to redraw its U.S. House districts last year, a total of eight states have adopted new congressional districts. From that, Republicans think they could gain as many as 13 seats while Democrats think they could gain up to 10 seats. But some of the new districts could be competitive in November, meaning the parties may not get all they sought.

South Carolina to test its will for redistricting

Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn has represented South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District since it was redrawn to favor minority voters in 1992. He’s running for an 18th term. But it could get harder for him to win reelection if Republicans redraw his district.

Leaders in the state House and Senate said a redistricting effort needs to start with a two-thirds vote in each chamber. The issue could come up as soon as Wednesday. But if only a few Republicans aren’t on board, it can’t succeed.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey has warned that redistricting could backfire because of thin political margins, resulting in a second Democrat in the U.S. House. Massey told reporters Tuesday that he had a cordial conversation with Trump about redistricting, each laying out their concerns.

The state’s primaries are June 9 and early voting starts in three weeks.

Alabama looks at setting a new primary

The state House on Wednesday could debate legislation that would allow Alabama to hold a special congressional primary, if the Supreme Court clears the way for the state to change its U.S. House districts.

In light of the court’s ruling on Louisiana’s districts, Alabama officials have asked courts to set aside a judicial order to use a U.S. House map that includes two districts with a substantial number of Black voters. Republicans instead want to use a map passed in 2023 by the Legislature that could help the GOP win at least one of those two seats currently held by Democrats.

Alabama’s primaries are scheduled for May 19. If the Supreme Court grants the state’s request after or too close to the primary, the legislation under consideration would ignore the results of that primary and direct the governor to schedule a new primary under the revised districts.

Democrats denounced the legislation as a Republican power grab that harkens back to the state’s shameful history of denying Black residents equal rights and representation.

Republicans are “working to secure an electoral victory by taking Alabama back to the Jim Crow era, and we won’t go back,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell told a crowd gathered outside the Alabama Statehouse.

Tennessee plan targets Memphis district

Republican Gov. Bill Lee called Tennessee lawmakers into a special session to consider a plan urged by Trump that could break up the state’s lone Democratic-held U.S. House district, centered on the majority-Black city of Memphis. Republicans didn’t say much about the plan Tuesday.

But as the state Senate began work Tuesday, shouts of “shame, shame, shame” could be heard inside the chamber from protesters gathered in the hallways. On the chamber floor, state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, a Black Democrat from Memphis, called the redistricting “an act of hate.”

Martin Luther King III sent a letter to Tennessee legislative leaders expressing “grave concern” about the plan to divide Memphis, saying the move could undermine the work for voting rights carried out by his father, Martin Luther King Jr.

The candidate qualifying period in Tennessee ended in March, and the primary election is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Thousands had already voted in Louisiana

After last week’s Supreme Court decision, Republican Gov. Mike Landry postponed the state’s May 16 congressional primary to allow time for lawmakers to approve new U.S. House districts. State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican, said a redistricting committee he leads plans to hold a public hearing Friday.

Louisiana voters had already sent in more than 41,000 absentee ballots by last Thursday, when Landry suspended the House primaries, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. That’s about a third of all the absentee ballots sent out to voters. Around 19,000 were from registered Democrats, 17,000 from registered Republicans and the remainder belonged to neither party.

Democrats and civil rights groups have filed several lawsuits challenging the suspension of Louisiana’s congressional primary.

Collins, Loller, Chandler and Lieb write for the Associated Press. Chandler reported from Montgomery, Ala., Loller from Nashville and Lieb from Jefferson City, Mo. AP writer Jack Brook contributed to this report from New Orleans.

United States President Donald Trump has said that the US military operation to move stranded ships out of the Strait of Hormuz has been paused temporarily.

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday.

He said the decision was made “based on the request” of Pakistan and other countries and the “fact that Great Progress has been made toward a Complete and Final Agreement” with representatives of Iran.

“We have mutually agreed that, while the Blockade will remain in full force and effect, Project Freedom (The Movement of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz) will be paused for a short period of time to see whether or not the Agreement can be finalized and signed,” he wrote.

There was no immediate comment from Iran.

Trump’s announcement came as tensions escalated in the Gulf, with the US military saying it destroyed several Iranian boats in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as cruise missiles and drones. The United Arab Emirates said its air defences dealt with missile and drone attacks from Iran for a second day, while another commercial ship in the Strait of Hormuz reported being hit by an “unknown projectile”.

For its part, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a new map of the strait, with an expanded area of Iranian control, and warned vessels on Tuesday to stick to the corridors it has set or face a “decisive response”.

In Washington, DC, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the US has completed its offensive operations against Iran, dubbed “Operation Epic Fury”, and “there’s no shooting unless we’re shot at first”.

But Iran must “pay a price” for its efforts to control the strait, he said.

“The Straits of Hormuz do not belong to Iran. They don’t have a right to shut it down and blow up ships and lay mines,” Rubio said.

“Under no circumstances can we live in a world where we accept, ‘OK, this is normal – you have to coordinate with Iran. You have to pay them a toll in order to go through the Straits of Hormuz’. Not only is that unacceptable in the straits, you’re creating a precedent that could be repeated in multiple other places around the world.”

The maritime chokepoint, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s energy supplies normally pass, has been effectively sealed by Iran since the US and Israel launched their war on the country on February 28.

Following a ceasefire in April, the US imposed its own blockade on Iranian ports in a bid to compel Tehran to agree to Washington’s terms in peace talks mediated by Pakistan, including reopening the key waterway and halting all nuclear enrichment.

The closure of the strait has disrupted global trade, causing oil and fertiliser prices to soar and prompting fears of a global recession and a food emergency.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump told reporters at the White House that the US’s military and economic action was forcing Tehran to the negotiating table despite its defiant public stance.

“Iran wants to make a deal. What I don’t like about Iran is they’ll talk to me with such great respect, and then they’ll go on television. They’ll say, ‘We did not speak to the president’,” he said. “So they play games. But let me just tell you, they want to make a deal. And who wouldn’t? When your military is totally gone, we could do anything we want to them.”

Trump, who is facing mounting pressure at home as petrol prices rise ahead of crucial midterm elections, went on to say that Iran’s military had ‌been reduced to firing “peashooters”.

When asked what Iran would need to do to violate the ceasefire, Trump said: “They know what not ⁠to do.”

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, meanwhile, said that the renewed violence in the Strait of Hormuz does not constitute a breach of the four-week-old truce.

“American forces won’t need to enter Iranian waters. It’s not necessary. We’re not looking for a fight. But Iran cannot be allowed to block innocent countries and their goods from international waterways,” he said at the Pentagon.

“Right now, the ceasefire certainly holds, but we’re going to be watching very, very closely,” he added.

SACRAMENTO — The debate over immigration issues has reached a fever pitch nationwide, and Angelica Salas said it’s putting her employees at risk.

Salas, executive director of the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said her staff experiences harassment and death threats.

“They ask themselves, what if someone who disagrees with our work can find where I live, will my family be safe?” Salas said, addressing state lawmakers at a recent legislative hearing.”People begin to self-censor; they step away from their work and some leave the field entirely.”

Salas was speaking in support of Assembly Bill 2624, which would provide privacy protections for those facing harassment for working or volunteering with organizations that offer legal and humanitarian aid to immigrants. The bill would create an address confidentiality program, like the one already offered to reproductive healthcare workers, and prohibit people and businesses from selling or posting images or personal information about the protected individuals on the internet.

The measure has drawn ire from Republicans, who argue it could have a chilling effect on free speech and the media. Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (R-San Diego) dubbed it the “Stop Nick Shirley Act” and said it would prevent right-wing social media influencers like Shirley from conducting immigrant-related investigations in California.

Assemblymember Mia Bonta (D-Alameda), who authored the legislation, said the proposed law would help keep people safe — but several 1st Amendment experts this week told The Times the bill could have unintended consequences.

“There could be grounds for concern,” said Jason Shepard, a media law and communications professor at California State Fullerton. “It reflects a legitimate and important state interest in protecting people from harassment and threats. But at the same time, this bill punishes the publication of information.”

The legislation defines “personal information” as anything that identifies, describes or relates to the protected individuals, including their names, addresses, telephone numbers, physical descriptions, driver’s licenses, financial information, license plate numbers and places of employment.

Shepard said the potential new law could be applied unevenly, and the language could have a chilling effect on investigative journalism.

Given the polarized political environment, Shepard said the legislation also could prompt other groups to request similar protections, as those working in a range of professions are facing increasingly heated rhetoric or attacks.

“This is not unique to people who are working in immigration support services; this really could apply to anybody engaged in public debate today,” he said.

Carolyn Iodice, the policy director for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, known as FIRE, said the organization has noted an uptick in laws nationwide implementing privacy protections for those in certain professions.

She pointed to a statute enacted a few years ago in New Jersey that protects the addresses of judges, prosecutors and police officers. The law was used in 2023 to block an editor with New Brunswick Today from publishing an article about the police chief living two hours outside of the city.

“It was obviously newsworthy, but this officer was able to wield the law against this journalist, and that is the kind of thing we are worried about,” Iodice said. “When you think about handing what could be a huge number of people the ability to just block anything from being posted about them online — it could easily be abused.”

David Loy, the legal director for the nonpartisan First Amendment Coalition, said the measure would censor the free speech of all citizens, not just those who defamed or threatened immigrant aid workers.

“Someone might have a legitimate dispute with them and wants to refer to it online,” he said. “But they could then basically silence [that person] from referring to them on a Yelp review or Facebook posts that has nothing to do with threatening them — and that is going way beyond the narrow exceptions of the 1st Amendment.”

Loy said the coalition reached out to Bonta’s office and hopes to help tweak the bill.

Meanwhile, the legislation continues to face scrutiny from Republicans.

“We exposed CA Democrats for the ‘Stop Nick Shirley’ Act that silences citizen journalists who expose their fraud and corruption,” DiMaio wrote this week on social media.

Shirley released a viral video last year alleging fraud in Somali-run immigrant daycare centers in Minneapolis. He recently shared videos of himself in Sacramento confronting Democrats who support Bonta’s bill.

“The enemy is truly within,” Shirley wrote on Instagram. “When our politicians would rather protect fraudsters and illegal migrants, it’s time for us to stand up or face mass oppression from the traitors.”

Bonta dismissed the assertion that the bill is intended to deter journalists, stating in a news release that “right-wing agitators” and “ineffective legislators” were intentionally spreading misinformation.

Bonta spokesperson Daniel McGreevy said the bill has a straightforward goal of protecting immigrant service providers. He said the office is working to refine the legislation to address concerns and welcomes good-faith dialogue.

The bill is progressing through the state Legislature and most recently was referred to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

April 30 (Asia Today) — U.S. Rep. Young Kim on Tuesday pledged to work for the swift reauthorization of the North Korea Human Rights Act, which has lapsed for more than six years, vowing to serve as a “voice” for North Korean defectors.

Kim made the remarks while chairing a roundtable at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington attended by 11 North Korean defectors as part of North Korea Freedom Week.

“I will do my best to ensure the North Korea Human Rights Act is reauthorized as soon as possible in this Congress,” Kim said.

Kim stresses urgency of reauthorization, shifts from English to Korean

Kim opened the meeting in English, noting that she has been involved in North Korea human rights issues for more than 30 years, including 21 years as a congressional staffer and later as an elected lawmaker.

After listening to defectors’ testimony, she switched to Korean without an interpreter, appearing to emphasize her commitment more directly.

“The most important thing from what you said is that we must work together to reauthorize the North Korea Human Rights Act,” she said in Korean.

She highlighted that a key component of the legislation is funding for broadcasting into North Korea.

“Broadcast resources are essential,” Kim said, noting that transmissions into North Korea have weakened, including those from outlets such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America.

“I will be your voice and speak with my colleagues to ensure the act is reauthorized,” she said.

Susan Scholte, head of the North Korea Freedom Coalition and the Defense Forum Foundation, said Sen. Tim Kaine is preparing to introduce a Senate version of the bill corresponding to the House legislation.

Kim says human rights conditions worsening despite greater information access

Kim said North Korea’s human rights situation has not improved over decades and has in some respects worsened.

“Even after decades, nothing has changed,” she said. “If anything has changed, it is that North Korean people now know more about the outside world than ever before, while crackdowns on external media have reached unprecedented levels.”

She argued that any meaningful change in North Korea must come from within, driven by the spread of information.

“If regime change happens, it must come from inside,” Kim said. “It should begin with people like those here who share information through broadcasting.”

Defectors recount hardships, escapes and role of outside information

Defectors at the roundtable shared personal accounts of life in North Korea and their paths to escape.

One defector said he came to understand the reality of the regime after listening to foreign radio broadcasts, which ultimately influenced his decision to flee.

Another described being detained in Russia after drifting into its waters while fishing and later seeking help from human rights groups after exposure to South Korean media via USB devices.

Others recounted losing family members to starvation, enduring forced labor and being trafficked into China before eventually reaching South Korea.

One defector said she had been forcibly repatriated to North Korea eight times and was separated from her young child, whose fate remains unknown.

Survey shows role of broadcasts, concerns over China surveillance

Kim Ji-young, head of Free North Korea Radio, presented survey results of 75 defectors who arrived in South Korea after 2022.

She said 66% reported accessing foreign broadcasts at least once a week, which inspired aspirations for freedom and motivated their escape.

All respondents said North Korea’s so-called “three major repressive laws” reflect fears of regime instability and efforts to maintain authoritarian control.

Kim also raised concerns about defectors in China, including cases in which children born to North Korean women and Chinese fathers are left stateless, as well as reports that Chinese authorities use artificial intelligence-based facial recognition to track and repatriate defectors.

One participant said she has avoided traveling to China due to fears of abduction or poisoning, adding that South Korean authorities have advised her against visiting.

U.S. lawmaker calls for stronger joint efforts

Rep. James Moylan said the United States and South Korea should strengthen cooperation to bring about meaningful change in North Korea without another decades-long delay.

In an interview with Voice of America, Moylan said radio broadcasting is an effective tool for change, adding that increased access to information, combined with support from advocacy groups and the United States, can help drive transformation.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260430010009822

Fuel costs more. Food is harder to get or afford. Jobs are disappearing. Remittances are drying up.

These are the consequences of the United States-Israel war on Iran – felt not only in the Middle East but also in the fields and homes of Africa and Asia.

Countries in the Global South are particularly vulnerable to the economic fallout because of their dependence on imports from the Gulf.

The United Nations warned that the conflict could push as many as 32.5 million people globally back into poverty.

The war is weakening economies that were already fragile. Governments are scrambling, and international aid is becoming scarce.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the Strait of Hormuz closure will hit crop yields, UNDP chief warns.

The Iran war will push more than 30 million people back into poverty, with the knock-on effects of the conflict likely to increase food insecurity in the coming months, the United Nations has warned.

Disruption to fuel and fertiliser supplies due to the ongoing blocking of cargo vessels through the Strait of Hormuz has already lowered agricultural productivity and will hit crop yields later this year, the UN’s development chief said on Thursday.

“Even if the war would stop tomorrow, those effects, you already have them, and they will be pushing back more than 30 million people into poverty,” said Alexander De Croo, administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

He also warned of other fallouts of the United States-Israeli war on Iran, including energy shortages and falling remittances.

Much of the world’s fertiliser is produced in the Middle East, and one-third of global supplies passes through the Strait of Hormuz, where Iran and the US are jostling for control.

The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week warned that a prolonged crisis in the strait could lead to a global food “catastrophe”.

India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and Egypt are among the countries most at risk, according to the FAO.

“Food insecurity will be at its peak level in a few months – and there is not much that you can do about it,” De Croo said.

Straining humanitarian efforts

The knock-on effects of the Iran conflict have already wiped out 0.5 percent to 0.8 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP), according to De Croo, who noted, “Things that take decades to build up, it takes eight weeks of war to destroy them.”

De Croo, the former prime minister of Belgium, also warned that the Middle East crisis is straining humanitarian efforts in other parts of the world, with the sector already facing funding cuts.

The US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which began on February 28, have also choked up key humanitarian aid routes, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world’s worst crises.

“We will have to say to certain people, really sorry, but we can’t help you,” De Croo said. “People who would be surviving on help will not have this, and will be pushed into even greater vulnerability.”

WASHINGTON — Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger met privately with President Trump and administration officials Wednesday to press for federal support and yet-unpaid wildfire recovery funding as the region continues to rebuild from the 2025 fires.

“This afternoon we met with President Trump and Administration officials to advocate for families who lost everything,” Bass and Barger said in a statement. “We had a very positive discussion about FEMA and other rebuilding funds as well as the support of the President to continue joining us in pressuring the insurance companies to pay what they owe — and for the big banks to step up to ease the financial pressure on L.A. families.”

Barger said the two leaders had a “high-level discussion” with the president in the Oval Office, sharing stories about what fire survivors are experiencing day to day. She added that “we left details behind with the President,” but did not specify whether Trump made any funding or policy promises during the meeting.

“First and foremost, today’s meeting was to thank the President for his initial support of infusing federal resources to expedite debris removal, as well as his recent tweet about insurance companies, which have already proven fruitful,” she said in a statement provided to The Times.

Bass was similarly reserved about the discussions, telling reporters that “we will follow up with the details,” but signaled progress is being made on federal support.

“I think what’s important is that we certainly got the president’s support in terms of, you know, what is needed, and then the appropriate people were in the room for us to follow up. And that was Russ Vought, who is the head of the Office of Management and budget,” Bass told KNX on Wednesday.

The meeting comes on the heels of a yearlong standoff between California leaders and the Trump administration over wildfire recovery funding, disaster response and whether the federal government should have a say in local rebuilding permitting.

California leaders, led by Gov. Gavin Newsom, have accused the Trump administration of withholding billions in critical wildfire aid, prompting a lawsuit over stalled recovery funds. Officials allege political bias in the delay of billions of dollars from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Newsom visited Washington in December. When he made his rounds on Capitol Hill, he met with five lawmakers, including three who serve on the Senate and House appropriations committees, to renew calls for $33.9 billion in federal aid for Los Angeles County fire recovery.

But the governor said he was denied a meeting with FEMA and would not say whether he had attempted to meet with Trump to discuss the issue.

Bass, meanwhile, appears to have found a path to the president on a subject that has been paramount for her community.

The fruitful meeting comes after Trump lobbed insults at the mayor at a news conference earlier this year, where he called her “incompetent” for how she handled last year’s wildfire recovery efforts. He alleged that under Bass’ leadership, the city’s delay in issuing local building permits will take years when it should have taken “two or three days.”

California officials, including Newsom, have urged the Trump administration to send Congress a formal request for the $33.9 billion in recovery aid needed to rebuild homes, schools, utilities and other critical infrastructure destroyed or damaged when the fires tore through neighborhoods more than 15 months ago.

What Bass and Barger’s meeting with the president ultimately produces remains to be seen.

The billions in recovery aid have not yet materialized, but the meeting could potentially give those discussions new momentum.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment about the meeting.

Earlier this month, Trump criticized insurance provider State Farm on Truth Social for its handling of the devastating Los Angeles County wildfires. He accused the insurance giant of abandoning its policyholders when tragedy struck.

“It was brought to my attention that the Insurance Companies, in particular, State Farm, have been absolutely horrible to people that have been paying them large Premiums for years, only to find that when tragedy struck, these horrendous Companies were not there to help!” Trump wrote.

But the rebuke didn’t come out of the blue. It stemmed from a controversial February visit to Los Angeles by Trump administration officials.

Trump tapped Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin in an effort to strip California state and local governments of their authority to permit the rebuilding of homes destroyed in the Eaton and Palisades fires.

Within the week, Zeldin was in Los Angeles, bashing Newsom and Los Angeles officials at a roundtable with fire victims and reporters, saying that residents were suffering from “bureaucratic, red tape delays and incompetency” and that leadership was “denying them … the ability to rebuild their lives”.

During the trip, officials heard direct complaints from local leaders and fire victims about insurers being slow, restrictive and insufficient with their claim payouts.

After these meetings, Trump directed Zeldin to investigate the insurers’ responses. State Farm, facing roughly $7 billion in fire-related claims, is also under formal investigation by California’s insurance commissioner over its handling of the crisis.

Despite tensions with the administration, Bass and Barger appeared confident that progress was being made on the insurance and funding issues.

“Our job is to fight for our communities,” their joint statement concluded. “When it comes to this recovery, our federal partners are essential, and we are grateful for the support of the President.”

In a letter to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, the three governments say Israel is violating ‘human rights’.

Spain, Slovenia and Ireland have urged the European Union to debate suspending its association agreement with Israel, saying the bloc can no longer remain “on the sidelines” as conditions worsen in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Lebanon.

Speaking before a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Tuesday, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said the three countries had formally requested that the issue be placed on the agenda.

“Spain, along with Slovenia and Ireland, has requested that the suspension of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Israel be discussed and debated today,” Albares said.

“I expect every European country to uphold what the International Court of Justice and the UN say on human rights and the defence of international law. Anything different would be a defeat for the European Union,” he added.

In a joint letter sent last week to EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, the three governments said Israel had taken a series of measures that “contravene human rights and violate international law and international humanitarian law”, adding that it breached the 1995 agreement that outlines political, economic and trade relations between the EU and Israel.

They said repeated appeals to Israel to reverse course had been ignored. The ministers pointed to a proposed Israeli law that would impose the death penalty by hanging on Palestinians convicted in military courts, describing it as “a grave violation of fundamental human rights” and a further step in the “systematic persecution, oppression, violence and discrimination” faced by Palestinians.

They also cited the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions there were “unbearable”, with continuing violations of the ceasefire agreement and insufficient aid entering the territory.

The letter warned that violence in the occupied West Bank was also intensifying, with settlers acting “with absolute impunity” alongside ongoing Israeli military operations, causing civilian deaths.

“The European Union can no longer remain on the sidelines,” the ministers wrote, calling for “bold and immediate action” and saying all options should remain on the table.

The three countries argued Israel was in breach of Article 2 of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, which ties relations to respect for human rights. An earlier EU review had already found Israel was failing to meet those obligations, they said, adding that the situation had deteriorated further since then.

During a donor conference in Brussels, Kallas said the estimated cost of rebuilding Gaza had risen to $71bn.

Ireland and Spain first pushed for a review of the agreement in 2024, but the effort failed to win enough backing from member states supportive of Israel. A later Dutch-led initiative succeeded in triggering an EU assessment, which concluded Israel had “likely” breached its obligations under the pact.

Possible trade measures, including suspending parts of the relationship, were later discussed but not implemented after Israel pledged to significantly increase humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

Occupied Territories Bill

Ireland is also seeking to revive its Occupied Territories Bill, first introduced in 2018, which would ban trade in goods and services from illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including the West Bank. Progress has stalled despite unanimous backing in the lower house of parliament, the Dail.

Meanwhile, Spain and Slovenia have moved to curb trade with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank following sustained public protests and growing political pressure. In August last year, Slovenia banned imports of goods produced in Israeli-occupied territories, becoming one of the first European states to take such a step.

Spain followed later that year with a decree banning imports from illegal Israeli settlements, with the measure coming into force at the start of 2026.

All three countries formally recognised the State of Palestine in May 2024, in what was widely seen as a coordinated diplomatic move aimed at increasing pressure for a two-state solution.

April 19 (Asia Today) — North Korea launched multiple ballistic missiles on Saturday, just 11 days after its previous test, in what analysts describe as an effort to expand and demonstrate its nuclear delivery capabilities.

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles were fired around 6:10 a.m. from the Sinpo area on the country’s east coast and flew about 140 kilometers over the East Sea.

The launch site, near a key submarine facility, has raised the possibility that the weapons could be linked to submarine-launched ballistic missile development, though officials said further analysis is needed.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff said it is assessing the missiles’ specifications and whether they were launched from land or underwater.

Sinpo is home to North Korea’s main submarine shipyard, where vessels such as the “Kim Gun-ok Hero” submarine have previously been unveiled.

Recent satellite imagery cited by the North Korea-focused outlet 38 North indicated that another submarine had been moved to dry dock, suggesting possible preparations for additional testing.

Yang Wook, a research fellow at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies, said the relatively short flight distance raises questions about whether a full submarine-based launch was conducted.

“Given the 140-kilometer range, it is unclear whether this was a full SLBM test, but the location suggests it could be part of efforts to verify repeated launch capability,” he said.

If confirmed as an underwater launch, the test would mark North Korea’s latest step in diversifying its nuclear delivery systems, following demonstrations involving land-based missiles and sea-based platforms in recent weeks.

Under its latest defense development plan, North Korea has been expanding a range of strategic capabilities, including short-range ballistic missiles, hypersonic weapons, cruise missiles and solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile engines.

Analysts say the timing may also reflect broader geopolitical considerations. With the United States focused on conflict in the Middle East, North Korea could be seeking to exploit a perceived security gap while reinforcing its deterrence posture.

Some experts also suggest the launch may be intended to strengthen Pyongyang’s bargaining position ahead of potential diplomatic engagement tied to an expected visit by President Donald Trump to China next month.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260420010005867

Field Marshal Asim Munir leaves Tehran while premier Shehbaz Sharif heads home from Turkiye amid hopes of another round of US-Iran talks.

Pakistan’s army chief and the prime minister have wrapped up separate diplomatic visits aimed at advancing efforts to end the United States-Iran conflict, with Field Marshal Asim Munir leaving Tehran and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif returning from Turkiye.

Munir met Iran’s leadership and peace negotiators during a three-day visit to Tehran, a Pakistani military statement said on Saturday.

The visit demonstrated Pakistan’s “unwavering resolve to facilitate a negotiated settlement… and to promote peace, stability and prosperity,” the military said ahead of expected US-Iran talks in Islamabad in the coming days.

Munir held talks with the country’s president, foreign minister, parliament speaker and head of Iran’s military central command centre.

Parliament Speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, led the Iranian delegation to Islamabad for peace talks with the US last week, the highest level face-to-face contact between Washington and Tehran in decades.

Those talks ended without agreement, and a ceasefire is due to expire on April 22.

But diplomacy has continued, with Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, visiting Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkiye to push the peace process.

His three-country trip concluded on Saturday, with Sharif and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar departing a diplomacy forum in Antalya, according to statements from both officials.

“I leave Antalya [Turkish city] with fond memories and a renewed commitment to further strengthening the enduring fraternal bonds between our two nations, and to continuing our close cooperation to advance dialogue and diplomacy for lasting peace and stability in the region,” Sharif posted on X.

The flurry of diplomacy comes as further negotiations are expected in Pakistan in the coming days as Islamabad intensifies contacts with regional and global leaders in an effort to sustain momentum towards a US-Iran deal.

Pressure for a deal between the two countries has grown after Iran reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz, hours after its reopening following the start of a ceasefire in Lebanon. Tehran accused the US of violating a deal to reopen the strategically important waterway.

Donald Trump has said a second round of talks with Iran could be held in Pakistan in the coming days. The New York Post reported that Trump praised Munir, saying he was “doing a great job”.

Reporting from Islamabad, Al Jazeera’s Kamal Hyder said Munir landed back home on Saturday as Pakistan prepared for another round of US-Iran talks expected “within the next few days”.

“We have also seen a lot of praise from the Trump administration on social media, praising the Pakistani leadership. So all eyes are on Islamabad. Serious differences remain, but there is a flurry of diplomatic activity and a hope and expectation that some sort of breakthrough may happen,” he said.

April 13 (Asia Today) — Chung Eui-sun said robotics and artificial intelligence will be central to Hyundai Motor Group’s future growth, as the company plans to invest $26 billion in the United States by 2028.

Hyundai Motor Group aims to expand beyond its traditional automotive business into “physical AI,” integrating robotics and AI into real-world industrial applications.

In an interview with Semafor published Saturday, Chung said robotics and physical AI are key to the group’s evolution beyond mobility, adding that the company is working to develop robots that collaborate with humans.

The chairman reiterated a human-centered AI robotics strategy introduced earlier this year and confirmed plans to deploy humanoid robots in manufacturing by 2028. The company intends to build an annual production capacity of up to 30,000 units by 2030.

The initiative includes the use of humanoid robots developed by Boston Dynamics, which is affiliated with Hyundai Motor Group.

Chung said robotics and AI will play a growing role in improving manufacturing efficiency and product quality as customer demands evolve. He added that integrating innovation into real-world applications will enable collaboration between humans, robots and AI to enhance productivity.

He also underscored the strategic importance of the U.S. market, calling it a key foundation for long-term resilience and sustainable growth.

The group has invested about $20.5 billion in the United States over the past 40 years and plans to increase that figure to $26 billion by 2028, he said. The company is also advancing software-driven manufacturing innovation through its U.S. production operations.

To address global uncertainty, Chung said the company is pursuing a strategy that combines global expansion with localization, citing shifts in regulations, supply chains and customer demand across regions.

He also reaffirmed Hyundai’s commitment to hydrogen energy, saying rising demand driven by AI infrastructure and data centers makes hydrogen a critical alternative energy source.

The company is expanding its hydrogen ecosystem under its HTWO brand, covering production, storage, transportation and utilization.

Chung emphasized that hydrogen and electric vehicles are complementary technologies, adding that offering diverse energy options will be key to competitiveness in the energy transition era.

He cited quality and brand trust as the foundation of the group’s competitiveness, noting that Hyundai, Kia and Genesis sell more than 7 million vehicles annually across more than 200 countries, supported by 16 global production facilities.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260413010003703

Nneka Ogwumike is coming home in a strong endorsement of the Sparks’ vow to succeed during the upcoming season.

Ogwumike, a 10-time WNBA All-Star, spent the first 12 seasons of her career with the Sparks after she was drafted No. 1 overall by the franchise in 2012.

But Ogwumike left two seasons ago as the Sparks were struggling to win and signed with a Seattle Storm team with talent capable of pushing for a championship, a female coach and state-of-the-art facilities.

While she was gone, the Sparks replaced coach Curt Miller with Lynne Roberts, traded for All-Star guard Kelsey Plum and broke ground on a new practice facility in El Segundo.

Ogwumike posted a 45-second video on social media Friday morning that indicated her intention to return to the Sparks. Free agents are free to sign with new teams Saturday, when the Sparks are expected to officially announce her return.

“It was always ‘see you later,’ now I’ll see you soon,” Ogwumike wrote in the post.

She did not post any contract terms, and they have yet to be reported.

Chiney Ogwumike, an ESPN analyst, longtime Spark and Nneka’s sister, broke the news on X, posting: “10x WNBA All-Star and 2016 MVP Nneka Ogwumike intends to re-sign with the Los Angeles Sparks.

“She previously played 12 seasons in LA and ‘is looking forward to returning home.’”

The Sparks last made the playoffs in 2020, and while they showed some potential last year, going 21-23 but fizzling out in the second half of the season, adding the 35-year-old veteran bolsters their push to take a big step forward into the playoff mix.

Adding the appeal of some of the talent already on their roster and a new $150-million practice facility scheduled to open next year, the Sparks are positioning themselves for a return to their winning ways.

The Sparks are expected to trade 2024 first-round pick Rickea Jackson to Chicago this weekend for guard Ariel Atkins, according to reports. Atkins, who turns 30 in July, is a two-time All-Star and five-time all-defensive player who had an important role in the Washington Mystics’ 2019 championship.

Sparks players cheer as WNBA President Lisa Borders hands the championship trophy to team owner Magic Johnson in 2016. Nneka Ogwumike was on the team that won the Sparks’ most recent title.

(Hannah Foslien / Getty Images)

That leaves the Sparks with just three other players — Plum, who signed a core contract, Cameron Brink and Sania Feagin — under contract. The Sparks extended qualifying offers to Rae Burrell, Julie Vanloo and Alissa Pili this week, essentially retaining their rights.

But Ogwumike is the kind of player whom the Sparks could build a competitive campaign around, especially playing alongside Brink in a potent frontcourt. With Plum and likely Atkins in the fold, the Sparks could use an upgraded ball-handler, unless they go with Plum at point guard and focus on bringing in another forward.

Forward Azura Stevens announced on social media she is not returning. The Sparks also lost starting point guard Julie Allemand to Toronto in the expansion draft last week.

Forward Dearica Hamby remains unsigned. She started 84 games in the last two seasons and was an All-Star in 2024 but likely is behind Ogwumike and Brink on the Sparks’ depth chart and might push for a bigger role with another team.

The Sparks don’t have a first-round draft pick, so they will need to pursue talent on the robust free-agent market or make another trade to bolster their backcourt. If they elect to go with Plum at point guard, they could start Burrell as a small forward after her strong offseason in the Unrivaled three-on-three league, but they still need more depth.

During the next seven days, the Sparks will have a chance to make moves to support a veteran core of Ogwumike and Plum alongside a rising star in Brink as they push to build a team that can make the playoffs.

Last season in Seattle, Ogwumike averaged 18.3 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 steals. Her departure was somewhat expected after Noelle Quinn was fired as coach following the Storm’s first-round playoff exit.

The president of the players association, Ogwumike played an essential role in the historic collective bargaining agreement the league and players agreed to in March, which led to the salary cap being raised to $7 million per team.

Nneka Ogwumike, photographed in downtown Los Angeles in 2019, is returning to the Sparks after two seasons in Seattle.

(Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

On Wednesday, speculation was rampant that Ogwumike might end up in Minnesota after a balloon company shared a video of a balloon sign that read: “Welcome Nneka,” but the forward clarified on Instagram that it was just a greeting welcoming her to a meeting with the Lynx, not an indication she was signing there.

With the majority of the league’s players free agents, teams have an opportunity to reinvent themselves this offseason. It seems likely that Seattle, with Skylar Diggins-Smith and Gabby Williams as free agents, could take a step back.

The forecast for expansion clubs Portland and Toronto, meanwhile, won’t take shape until they finish building their rosters.

The Sparks gave up the most points per game last season, 88.2, a flaw they hope to address with Ogwumike, the expected addition of Atkins and a full season of Brink, who has been limited by injuries to 34 games in her first two seasons after being drafted No. 2 in 2024.

The Sparks promised fans they would complete their rebuild and become title contenders again. Ogwumike’s return suggests she believes in the plan.

Police pushed back protesters in Venezuela’s capital as they demanded an increase to the minimum wage of 130 bolivars ($0.27) per month. Earlier this week, Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodriguez, promised ‘a responsible increase’ in salaries by May 1, but didn’t disclose the amount.

April 3 (Asia Today) — A once-quiet café district near Seoul Forest is rapidly transforming into a retail hotspot, drawing long lines of visitors as fashion platform Musinsa expands its presence in the area.

By late morning Thursday, more than 200 people were lined up along Atelier-gil in Seongdong District, even on a weekday. The crowd gathered for a pop-up event tied to Musinsa’s “Back to Seoul Forest” campaign, where musician Code Kunst drew attention by serving coffee in person.

“Seoul Forest is really popular these days,” one visitor in her 20s said. “I’ve been to Yeonmujang-gil many times, so now I’m coming here instead.”

The campaign invites visitors to explore 24 stores in the area, scanning QR codes to collect stamps. Participants who collect four stamps receive promotional items and can enter prize drawings, encouraging foot traffic throughout the neighborhood.

The initiative is part of Musinsa’s broader “Seoul Forest Project,” launched earlier this year to expand consumer activity beyond the already saturated Yeonmujang-gil in nearby Seongsu. The company aims to connect the two areas into a single retail corridor.

Local businesses say the change is already noticeable. A staff member at a nearby lifestyle store said customer traffic surged so quickly during the event that QR code stations had to be moved outside to manage demand, adding that the area attracts a particularly young customer base compared to other locations.

Until recently, the Seoul Forest area was dominated by cafes and restaurants, with relatively short visitor stays. The district has about 35 beverage shops and 91 dining establishments, and its closure rate last year exceeded the city average.

Musinsa saw this as an opportunity. While Yeonmujang-gil faces high rents and heavy foot traffic, Seoul Forest had lower visitor numbers – about 3,000 people daily, roughly one-quarter of nearby Seongsu’s café street – despite being within a 15- to 20-minute walk.

To reshape the district, Musinsa leased about 20 vacant storefronts last year and subleased them to emerging brands, lowering entry barriers for companies seeking offline expansion.

As a result, designer brands that were previously difficult to find in physical stores are beginning to cluster in the area. Several labels, including General Idea, Lookcast and Have a Whale, have opened locations within the past two months, filling previously empty spaces with new retail content.

Kim Young-min, a director at a women’s fashion brand operating in the area, said high rents in neighborhoods such as Seongsu and Hannam had delayed offline expansion plans. “Musinsa offered space here, which made it easier to open a store,” Kim said.

The layout of Atelier-gil has also contributed to the shift. Unlike the large industrial-style buildings in Seongsu, the area consists mainly of smaller structures, reducing initial investment costs and making it more accessible for emerging designers.

While some vacancies remain, Musinsa plans to attract about 20 brands to the area this year. Upcoming openings include specialty retail concepts focused on hats, footwear, children’s products and beauty.

The company said it aims to strengthen its identity within the broader Seongsu district while redefining Seoul Forest as a destination where visitors can explore, shop and experience a variety of content.

The effort is already reshaping the neighborhood, turning previously quiet streets into a growing hub of fashion and lifestyle activity.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

Original Korean report: https://www.asiatoday.co.kr/kn/view.php?key=20260403010001066