1 of 2 | Employees of the National Election Commission take part in a campaign in Ilsan, just outside of Seoul, South Korea, 26 April 2026, to encourage voter participation in the June 3 general election. Photo by YONHAP / EPA
May 19 (Asia Today) — More than 60% of young South Koreans and college students do not trust elections or political opinion polls, according to a survey released ahead of the June 3 local elections.
The Korean Law Consumers Federation, a legal advocacy group, released the results Monday after surveying 1,201 young people and college students from 119 universities nationwide. The respondents had an average age of 23.4.
The survey found that 60.37% of respondents said they do not trust elections or political opinion polls, while 38.80% said they do.
Despite the distrust, 59.95% said they would definitely vote in the local elections, and 35.89% said they would try to vote.
Asked whether one vote can have an important effect on election results, 75.27% agreed, while 24.56% disagreed.
On early voting, 53.54% said there is a possibility of election fraud, while 40.30% said such claims are completely false.
The survey also asked about possible constitutional revisions. A total of 62.28% supported including language related to the May 18 Gwangju Democratization Movement in the Constitution, while 35.97% opposed the idea.
However, 91.01% opposed removing the word “freedom” from the Constitution.
The survey included 53 questions and was conducted with the help of student volunteers. It had a margin of error of plus or minus 2.83 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
Alex Fitzpatrick hit a sparkling seven-under-par 64 to seize a one-shot lead heading into the final round of the Truist Championship at Quail Hollow.
The 27-year-old younger brother of former US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick produced an inspired display, carding eight birdies to move to 14 under par and put himself in pole position for a maiden individual PGA Tour title.
Fitzpatrick leads Norway’s Kristoffer Reitan, who also posted a 64, by a single stroke.
It is just a fortnight since the Fitzpatrick brothers won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans pairs event, which secured a two-year tour card for Alex, who is ranked 120th in the world.
World number two Rory McIlroy, a four-time winner at this venue, suffered a frustrating Saturday, carding a four-over-par 75 to fall out of contention.
Starting the day two shots off the lead, Fitzpatrick surged forward with five birdies on the front nine.
Despite a stumble with a bogey at the 16th, he responded immediately by sinking an eight-foot putt for birdie at the par-three 17th to regain his narrow advantage.
“The one thing that I kind of did a really good job today was embracing everything that’s going on,” Fitzpatrick said.
“I had so much support out there, which was amazing.
“I would love to win. I would give a lot to win. But also if winning doesn’t happen, I would hope it would happen at some point. As long as I can go out and enjoy it, that’s all I can do.”
In contrast, McIlroy’s bid for another victory – following his triumph at The Masters last month – collapsed on a difficult afternoon in Charlotte for the man from Northern Ireland.
Six bogeys meant he slid down the leaderboard to one under par, leaving him 13 shots adrift of the leader.
American Cameron Young carded the lowest round of the day, a sensational eight-under 63, to sit alone in third at 12 under. Young, who won last week’s Cadillac Championship, had his only dropped shot at 18, where a wayward tee shot proved costly.
South Korea’s Sungjae Im, the halfway leader, sits at 10 under after a 70, alongside Denmark’s Nicolai Hojgaard whose 67 put him firmly in contention.
England’s Tommy Fleetwood remains in the hunt after a 70, sitting in a tie for sixth at nine under par alongside two-time major winner Justin Thomas.
Britain’s first gay surrogate parent, who co-owns Maldon and Tiptree football club, has “strenuously denied” grooming young men for sexual exploitation, a court heard
17:13, 08 May 2026Updated 17:13, 08 May 2026
Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 57, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Friday alongside his 32-year-old partner, Scott Drewitt-Barlow(Image: Getty Images)
Britain’s first gay surrogate parent has “strenuously denied” grooming young men for sexual exploitation, a court heard. Barrie Drewitt-Barlow, 57, appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Friday alongside his 32-year-old partner, Scott Drewitt-Barlow.
The men, both of Danbury, Essex, face multiple charges including rape, sexual assault, and modern slavery trafficking for sexual exploitation. The alleged offences, which are said to have taken place in Essex and Manchester between April 2013 and January this year, relate to four different men, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
The defendants are alleged to have “recruited” young men before grooming them and subjecting them to sexual assaults including rape, the court heard.
Defence barrister Oliver Snodin said the allegations against Barrie and Scott Drewitt-Barlow are “strenuously denied” by them both. Flanked by custody officers, the defendants, wearing hooded sweatshirts, spoke only to confirm their personal details.
The two men were remanded into custody to appear at Chelmsford Crown Court on June 5. Prosecutor Serena Berry said: “Barrie Drewitt-Barlow is in a relationship with Scott Drewitt-Barlow… they are what could be termed to be celebrities, who live multi-million [pound] lifestyles and have featured in many documentaries and reality TV shows.
“They own the Maldon and Tiptree football club, and they have other businesses in the Essex area and also abroad in other countries.
“It is alleged they have both targeted young males, they have recruited them, they have befriended them, they have groomed them. They have invited them to their home and other premises.”
Barrie Drewitt-Barlow became Britain’s first gay surrogate parent in 1999 and made a name for himself in the media. He was due to be in ITV reality show Up The Jammers.
The charges follow co-ordinated searches at premises in Danbury, Maldon and Braintree on Wednesday, Essex Police previously said.
He is charged with three counts of sexual assault on a male, four counts of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
Scott Drewitt-Barlow is charged with one count of sexual assault on a male, one count of rape of a man 16 or over, and two counts of arranging or facilitating travel of another person with a view to exploitation.
Essex Police are appealing for information on the case and ask witnesses to contact them using the major incident public portal (MIPP) on their website, or by calling 0800 051 4526, or 0207 126 7612 internationally.
One by one, chatty teenagers in jeans walked across the stone patio that Ronald Reagan built by hand to ring the bell at the former president’s coastal mountain ranch. Nancy Reagan tugged on that same rope decades ago to call her husband home for lunch when he was out horseback riding or working in the stable.
On a bright fall day, the Virginia-based Young America’s Foundation shuttled in nearly 100 teenagers from 46 different states for a three-day conference at Rancho del Cielo, hoping to summon Reagan’s spirit.
They were not there for a history lesson.
Instead, YAF leaders gave the high school students gathered at the late president’s properties modern-day pointers on what it means to be a Republican, and tips for fending off what the group views as the other side’s indoctrination.
The foundation promotes itself as a political counterweight to the liberal thought that its supporters say courses through American colleges, and spends millions every year to fund YAF clubs and seed conservative activism on campus.
The Young America’s Foundation, born in the politically turbulent late 1960s, has become one of the most preeminent, influential and controversial forces in the nation’s conservative youth movement, backed by $65 million in assets largely underwritten by the wealthiest of the modern-era hard right.
Though a force in the conservative movement for decades, the foundation’s aggressive and confrontational tactics have become a beacon of right-wing empowerment during the rise of President Trump. Rancho del Cielo has allowed the foundation’s reach to transcend generations, aided in large part by growing reverence for Reagan among young Republicans.
The nonprofit works to keep alive bedrock conservative principles by teaching them to students around the country, and boasts 400 chapters at high schools and colleges, including 70 in California. Its alumni include U.S. Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and Trump administration policy advisor Stephen Miller, who is from Los Angeles.
“Professors tend to be more liberal,” said Burt Folsom, a frequent speaker at the conferences and a history professor at Hillsdale College in Michigan. “Often government is an employer of professors, and they tend to see government in a very favorable light — as the solution to problems.”
The high school students here broke into small groups and scribbled lists of what they considered true conservative ideals on white boards. One circle made quick work of its task: a strong national defense, Christian values, limited government, anti-abortion, informed patriotism and capitalism.
When a few students suggested adding “constitutional rights,” the foundation’s Spencer Brown encouraged them to think more broadly.
“A lot of people, particularly liberals, think government is the one who gives them rights — as opposed to God-given rights,” Brown explained.
Afterward, when the groups gathered to compare their lists, foundation President Ron Robinson told the students that the words they use to express their conservative beliefs are essential. For instance, he said, instead of saying they support “capitalism,” it would be better to use the phrase “free enterprise” or “entrepreneurship.” “Capitalism,” Robinson said, is disparaged by leftists and does not poll well.
“The terminology battle is very important,” he added.
Robinson also told students that Social Security was a Ponzi scheme and narrated a slide show on media bias against conservatives, showing them Time and Newsweek magazine covers with headlines disparaging Trump and other Republicans.
It was just one of the many dire warnings the students received. They were urged to stand up for their beliefs and challenge the liberal point of view of their instructors — all part of a more unyielding, confrontational approach that’s much more intense than was seen in Reagan’s political era.
Top, August 1985 photo of President Ronald Reagan and wife, Nancy, talk to the news media on their ranch northwest of Santa Barbara. Right, 1982 photo of President Reagan and his wife Nancy take a ride at their ranch in Santa Barbara. Left, May 1992 photo former President Ronald Reagan, left, and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev talk during a Gorbachev’s visit to Reagan’s ranch California. (Associated Press)
The theme of political persecution ran through the weekend: by the media, college professors and high school teachers, Facebook and Twitter, and fellow students. Talks were held at both the ranch and its conference center, a mission-style building in Santa Barbara that’s about a 40-minute drive from the mountain estate.
Early in the conference, when students took turns introducing themselves, many said they were ostracized at school for their conservative beliefs, sharing stories of their experiences.
Caleb Walzak, a 16-year-old sophomore from Savannah, Ga., said he felt out of sync with the rest of his classmates.
“If you say anything that goes against any of their opinions at all, you are shunned from all social interaction whatsoever. Basically your life is ruined,” Walzak said. “Stuff that they believe in is not what America is. Conservative is what American really is.”
Greg Wolf of Santa Clarita, who joined his son Chapman during the weekend conference, sent two of his boys to Young America’s Foundation conferences while they were in high school.
Wolf, whose son Grant is active in the Young America’s Foundation chapter at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, says the program offers students lessons that are sorely lacking in school and popular culture, such as personal responsibility, limited government and self-reliance.
“We can see the culture moving away from American values,” said Greg Wolf, 56, who works in the entertainment industry.
Sarah Dowless, a senior from Wakefield, Va., said a feeling of political isolation is one of the reasons why she has attended six Young America’s Foundation conferences.
“I go to a school for the arts. It’s a great place, but it’s very liberal,” said Dowless, 16. She aspires to be a free-market economist.
“When I come here, I get to be around people on the same side.”
With its 688 acres of oak and manzanita trees and riding trails hidden in the Santa Ynez Mountains, Reagan’s ranch was a sanctuary from the pressures of the White House. There the former president cobbled together the ranch’s split-rail fence, bagged snakes slithering across the grounds, split firewood and took long horseback rides. The century-old, 1,200-square-foot adobe ranch house hosted world leaders, including Mikhail Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth, as well as the Reagan family’s Thanksgiving dinners.
While on a walking tour of the ranch, Marco Singletary, a soft-spoken high school senior from Joliet, Ill., said his interest in Reagan is what led him to the foundation conference in Santa Barbara. One of his high school teachers saw him reading “The Reagan Diaries” and suggested he look into the Young America’s Foundation.
Singletary, 17, said he gets along fine with his liberal friends, mostly because they don’t talk about politics. He also avoids speaking up in his economics and American history classes, he said, since he’d be inviting trouble.
“You’re literally wasting your breath. People just go based on what they see on Twitter,” he said. “Things have gotten so extreme that the middle ground is too far for either side.”
In recent years, the foundation has drawn attention for its sponsorship of a highly charged circuit of conservative speakers at universities across the country, setting off protests from Cal State Los Angeles to the University of Buffalo. Foundation officials cite the uproar as evidence of “triggered” liberals suppressing speech.
Last April, the foundation helped line up Ann Coulter to speak about immigration at UC Berkeley, the birthplace of the free-speech movement. The resulting outcry by university officials prompted Coulter to cancel her appearance.
Ben Shapiro one of the foundation’s stars on the college campus speaking circuit, has also been consistently targeted by student protesters, including at Berkeley over the summer.
High school students take a tour of the Reagan Ranch in the Santa Ynez Mountains. The Young America’s Foundation holds a three day conference for high school students in Santa Barbara that steeps them in conservative philosophy and empowerment in the memory of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
The foundation, which bought the ranch from the Reagans in 1998, sees it as a cathedral of conservatism, where the former president’s legacy is preserved and future generations are trained in free-market capitalism, individual liberty and the faith-based tenets of the American right.
But the message has changed since Reagan’s day, and the mission isn’t just being carried out at Rancho del Cielo. The foundation has drawn heated criticism for its speaker circuit at college campuses around the country, enlisting conservative provocateurs such as Coulter, Dinesh D’Souza and author Robert Spencer of Jihad Watch, a website that has often been accused of Islamophobia.
Robert Spencer, director of Jihad Watch, speaks to high school students at the Young America’s Foundation high school conference at the Reagan Ranch Center in Santa Barbara in September.
At the Reagan conference center, Spencer told the students that the Koran teaches Muslims to “kill nonbelievers,” and warned that they will be shunned as Islamophobes at school and in the media if they criticized the religious text as the genesis of Islamic terrorism.
The foundation expanded in size and influence over the last two decades after two other activist conservative groups merged into the nonprofit organization: the late William F. Buckley’s Young Americans for Freedom, a cadre of dedicated college-age students once known as the shock troops of the Republican Party, and the right-leaning National Journalism Center.
Fueling the Young America’s Foundation are its prominent backers — and its stuffed war chest. The foundation reported assets of more than $65 million in 2015 and received over $34 million in contributions and grants that year, according to IRS records. It spent more than $21 million that year on conferences, salaries, speakers, fundraising and other costs associated with the foundation and ranch.
The foundation also paid Stephen K. Bannon, ousted Trump political strategist and former head of far-right website Breitbart News, more than $500,000 between 2010 and 2012 to produce three films, including two documentaries on the Reagan Ranch.
Donors over the years have included Amway billionaires Richard and Helen DeVos, the in-laws of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, as well as conservative billionaires Charles and David Koch. Fullerton orthodontist Robert Ruhe, who died in 2013, bequeathed $16 million to the Young America’s Foundation.
Reagan himself became a major supporter of the foundation while still in the White House. When Young America’s Foundation took over the ranch in the late 1990s, the former first lady expressed delight over how it would be used.
“We hope that our ranch will be a spark for many bright young Americans in the years ahead,” Nancy Reagan said.
1 of 4 | Rep. Young Kim, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, leads a roundtable with 11 North Korean defectors at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington on Tuesday. Photo by Asia Today
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.
Guardians fan Evelyn Moore got a pretty cool souvenir from Monday’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays — a two-run home run ball hit by Cleveland second baseman Daniel Schneemann.
The 11-year-old softball player from New Philadelphia, Ohio, almost got the ball right after Schneemann hit it in the bottom of the fifth inning.
But, as seen in video footage that quickly went viral on social media, a man appeared to snatch it away as Evelyn was trying to pick it up near the rail in the left-center field stands at Progressive Field.
He eventually gave it to her, however, and now the girl’s mother wants folks on social media to leave him alone.
“This man’s life shouldn’t be ruined over this,” Nikki Moore-DeVore said. “Jokes and memes are one thing, but it’s getting excessive. It’s too much.”
Moore-DeVore said her family — which also includes her husband, Jon DeVore, and her son, Theo Moore, 9 — attend several Guardians games a year. They sit in the outfield stands, where Evelyn — an avid baseball fan and baseball card collector — likes to take her glove down to the rail and try to persuade Cleveland outfielders to toss her a ball.
Video of Schneemann’s home run shows the ball flying over the left-center field wall, where a bearded man wearing a throwback Cleveland Indians hat and T-shirt tried to catch it in the air. Instead, it bounced off his hands toward the rail to his left.
Cleveland Guardians’ Daniel Schneemann, right, is greeted at the plate by teammate David Fry after hitting a two-run home run in the fifth inning of a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Monday in Cleveland.
(Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)
Evelyn ran down from her seat two rows up, dropped to the ground and attempted to secure the ball in front of her. The man ran over and also dropped to the ground next to her, starting a brief struggle for control of the ball.
The man eventually emerged triumphantly.
“I did not really see how the ball came over to us. I just saw it bounce in our direction and my daughter go down to get it,” Moore-DeVore said. “And I saw the scuffle kind of from behind, but I couldn’t see much of the hands or anything like that. I just saw the shoulders shifting around.
“And then she got up empty-handed, and people started booing. The guys sitting in front of me were like, ‘That was her ball!’ My husband was booing. He was not happy, but we didn’t want to ruin the game.”
Evelyn also was upset by the turn of events, her mother said, “but she didn’t cry.”
“She actually took it like a champ,” Moore-DeVore said. “Every inning, she still went up to the rail to try to get one of the players to throw a ball to her. She didn’t give up.”
Meanwhile, Theo approached the man to request he return the ball to his sister. Moore-DeVore said her son told her the man politely refused.
“I was just proud of him for going over there and taking it upon himself to try to help his sister,” Moore-DeVore said.
The Rays broadcast of the game showed the incident involving Evelyn and the man, with the announcers taking the girl’s side. On social media, fans shared the video and shamed the man for his behavior, with some looking to make his identity public.
Later in the game, Rays sideline reporter Ryan Bass visited the family at their seats and presented both kids with baseballs.
That’s when Evelyn became emotional.
“She cried happy tears,” her mother said. “I think she just felt seen. The incident made her feel small, and Ryan made her feel seen.”
“We had to make it right,” Bass wrote, adding in a separate post: “We got the chance to make a sweet little girl’s night. There’s nothing better. Kindness is free. Always remember that.”
Before the bottom of the eighth inning, Evelyn went down to her usual post at the rail to try to persuade an outfielder to toss her a ball. She returned with the home run ball from three innings earlier.
“She came back with the biggest smile on her face: ‘Mom, he gave it back to me!’” Moore-DeVore said. “The guys in front of me were like, ‘yeah, he’s, like, getting a lot of social media flack.’ … I’m sure he realized eventually that it was probably the wrong action to take, just not good etiquette.”
In return, Moore-DeVore said, Theo offered the man — whose name has not been revealed despite the internet’s attempts — one of the balls that Bass had given him and his sister.
“He respectfully declined,” she said, “so my son gave it to another kid.”
Moore-DeVore said both of her kids are “on cloud nine” over how everything turned out — and she wants everyone else to get over it as well.
“I don’t want this one moment to ruin this guy,” she said. “And my kids, they wouldn’t want that. They’re sweet kids. I feel like, if kids their age can forgive and offer him a peace offering, grown adults and other fans can, too.”
Now his playing days are done, Ramsey is aiming to make it as a coach.
He has most of his qualifications and has already had a taste of senior management, having taken charge of his boyhood club Cardiff City for three games at the end of last season as they were relegated from the Championship.
Having since been a part of Wales head coach Craig Bellamy’s staff in an unofficial capacity, Ramsey is being touted for a bright future.
“[I]100% want to go into coaching. That’s something that really excites me,” he says.
“I had that experience with Cardiff and loved it, even though the circumstances were difficult. I felt like I got a really good reaction from the team.
“I’ve been in the Welsh camps now with Bellers and his incredible staff as well, and I’ve worked with Cardiff’s Under-18s.
“We’ll just have to see which opportunities may arise soon and we’ll go from there.”
First, Ramsey has a marathon to run.
Ceri Menai-Davis, who has run the London Marathon before, reckons Ramsey has raised more than £25,000 for his charity – and that is before you count donations for Sunday’s race.
They have been friends for more than a decade and Ramsey’s shows of support for the charity – as well as his fundraising – include the butterfly symbol he used as a goal celebration during his career.
On Sunday, the most powerful reminder of Hugh’s life will be his father’s huge physical effort – and his son’s shoes draped around his shoulders.
“He was the most amazing, brave, courageous young boy,” Ceri says. “The reason I do marathons is, just before Hugh died, I stupidly put myself in for a marathon in 2021.
“I never thought I’d get in but I got in, started training for it and Hugh never got to see me run that marathon because I did it two weeks after he died, and we buried him the next day with my medal.
“Last year I carried a 22-kilo rucksack, which was the weight Hugh was when he passed away. That was to display what grief weighs on you as a parent.
“This year, with Hugh’s shoes, he walked into hospital in these shoes and sadly never came out. I wanted him to cheer me on when I did it in 2021 but sadly he never did.
“I did Paris with his shoes. He never got to see Paris so I showed him the Eiffel Tower and we had a chat all the way round. In London, he’ll be there with me on my shoulders and we’ll cross the finish line together.”
