Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing six people and inflicting damage across several regions of the country, Ukrainian officials said. Five of the dead were in Kyiv region outside the capital, where President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure, but also damaged residential buildings, schools and businesses. Fifteen people were injured. Zelensky said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions were also targeted in an attack that included around 430 drones and 68 missiles, most of which were downed by air defences. Later in the day, the governor of the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia, Ivan Fedorov, said a residential area of the city of Zaporizhzhia had been hit by Russian-guided bombs, killing one person and injuring three. Reuters Television footage showed emergency crews at work amid piles of rubble and twisted metal. Windows and frames on balconies were smashed. “The second attack was strong. The kitchen window flew out, as did those in the living room and bedroom, everything went into a roar. I ran and got slightly injured,” Olha Kiyashko, 65, told Reuters. “I’ve got no strength left. They took away our pension years — the years we could have lived on, the years we’d planned and counted on. All our health is gone.” Saturday’s strikes come as the Iran conflict has distracted international attention from a U.S.-backed peace push in the four-year war, which Kyiv says Moscow has no interest in ending. “Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine,” Zelensky wrote on X. He repeated his call for Kyiv’s partners to boost production of air-defense weapons, stocks of which have been diminishing as the U.S. and its allies in the Gulf have fended off Iranian strikes. Russia’s winter attacks on Ukraine have left swathes of major cities without power or heating, part of a campaign to weaken resolve as Moscow’s troops press a battlefield offensive and demand Kyiv cede more territory in the east. Ukraine’s forces have targeted Russian strategic infrastructure such as oil refineries, depots and terminals in long-range strikes. Ukraine’s Energy Ministry said on Saturday that consumers in six regions were without electricity after the overnight strikes and Russian shelling of frontline areas. “There’s no way Russia will stop,” said local resident Natalia Fetko, 57, whose building was damaged in the strike. “Nothing is enough for them.” Damage was recorded in four districts outside the capital, according to regional military administrator Mykola Kalashnyk. Saturday’s attack also prompted NATO member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace, but no violations were observed, Warsaw’s military said. In Moldova, on Ukraine’s western border, the Foreign Ministry denounced what it said was an intrusion by a Russian drone into its airspace in a border district, saying Moscow’s actions undermined regional security and posed a danger to its citizens. (Additional reporting by Yurii Kovalenko, Serhiy Chaliy and Alexander Tanas; Editing by Toby Chopra, Gareth Jones, Rod Nickel, Ron Popeski and Diane Craft)

North Korea fired more than 10 ballistic missiles into the sea on Saturday, South Korea’s military said, as the U.S. and South Korean forces conducted military drills and U.S. President Donald Trump renewed overtures towards Pyongyang for dialogue. The missiles were launched from an area near the capital Pyongyang, around 1:20 p.m. (0430 GMT) towards the sea off the country’s east coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. Japan’s coast guard said it had detected what could be a ballistic missile that fell into the sea. It appeared to have fallen outside Japan’s exclusive economic zone, public broadcaster NHK said, citing the military. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement on Saturday that it is aware of the missile launches and is consulting with allies and partners. “Based on current assessments, this event does not pose an immediate threat to U.S. personnel or territory, or to our allies,” the USINDOPACOM posted on social media platform X. North Korea has test-launched a wide range of ballistic and cruise missiles for more than two decades in a push to develop the means to deliver nuclear weapons, which it is believed to have successfully built. As a result, Pyongyang has been under multiple U.N. Security Council sanctions since 2006 but it remains defiant, despite severe obstacles they created to its trade, economy and defense. South Korea and Washington this week launched the annual major drills in South Korea, which they say are purely defensive, aimed at testing readiness against military threats from North Korea. Hundreds of U.S. and South Korean troops conducted river-crossing drills on Saturday with hardware including tanks and armored combat vehicles, overseen by the commander of their combined forces. The U.S. military has about 28,500 troops and squadrons of fighter jets stationed in South Korea. North Korea frequently displays its anger at such exercises, saying they are “dress rehearsals” for armed aggression against it by the allies. On Thursday, South Korea’s Prime Minister Kim Min-seok met U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington to discuss ways to reopen dialogue with the North. Trump is eager for any opportunity to sit down with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, South Korea’s Kim told reporters. (Reporting by Jack Kim, Sebin Choi, Heejin Kim in Seoul, Daewoung Kim in Yeoncheon, South Korea, Anton Bridge in Tokyo; Editing by William Mallard, Sergio Non and Chizu Nomiyama )

If you have ever lived in a country that is not governed by a functional democratic system, you would probably notice that, by and large, its citizens hold a different standard for fairness and justice. For them, getting unmerited benefits through one’s connection to the powerful is entirely acceptable. In fact, forfeiting such a backdoor opportunity and going through proper channels is considered utterly foolish. However, it would be a mistake to assume that people in such a society are inherently dishonest. Since their culture does not stress the notion of fairness and justice as exercised in the United States, they find other ways to achieve the same end. Many practices in China can be considered fraudulent when judged by American standards. But there is one institution that remains untouched by corruption – the annual National College Entrance Exam. As long as I can remember, the process upholds the highest degree of integrity, standing as a startling aberration in Chinese culture. This is the area where one’s reward correlates with one’s performance irrespective of one’s connections and social status. The Annual National College Entrance Exam Why do the Chinese people behave so differently in this particular area? What drives them to overcome cultural norms and vigilantly guard the integrity of this examination process? Liu Jianhua/VCG via Getty Images Confucianism, the primary philosophy in Chinese culture, puts great emphasis on education. Confucius believed that knowledge provides the foundation for morality. The more knowledge one has, the deeper one’s moral conviction becomes. Accordingly, a government official who is intelligent and learned would govern more judiciously, for such an erudite person certainly holds a higher moral standard. In the 7th century, the Chinese government formally began to select its administrators using a vigorous and elaborate system called the Imperial Examination. Through this process, the brightest and the most knowledgeable men were chosen to serve in government posts. In reality, however, a person’s high intelligence and profound knowledge did not necessarily reflect his moral conviction, nor his ability to govern. There have been plenty of immoral and incompetent government officials in Chinese history. Nonetheless, success on the Imperial Examination, known as the Gaokao Exam, can change one’s destiny, especially for those from a lower social stratum. In a culture where bribery receives tacit consent, holding a government post opens up endless opportunities for personal gain. This was the primary reason for the creation of a national obsession with education. Eventually, education became the national identity. After the Imperial Examination was abolished in 1905, the annual National College Entrance Exam – though with a much broader purpose – took its place in cultural significance. It was only briefly interrupted during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76). The survival of this national identity is entirely contingent upon the integrity of the examination process. Should corruption occur, such as changing one’s score or using an imposter as a substitute, education would lose its objective measure and become culturally meaningless. Indeed, any dishonesty would pose a direct threat to the existence of the national identity. Consequently, any misstep in the process must be categorically eliminated. Considering that Chinese culture is based on intricate and complex relationships and is highly prone to corruption, the successful guarding of the examination process is by no means a small feat. VCG/VCG via Getty Images What Sets America Apart? What sets America apart from other nations? What is America’s national identity? As an immigrant from an authoritarian regime, I can unequivocally state that America stands for freedom, human rights, and equality under the law. This identity is protected and secured by our political system of a constitutional republic, within which the right of the citizen to participate in different electoral processes serves as the linchpin. However, America is not the only place that holds elections. I participated in an election in China during my senior year in high school in the 1980s. The whole process felt contrived and incongruent with the cultural environment I was in. Knowing very little about democracy and the value of voting, I simply followed the direction of the lady at the voting station who guided me to select the predetermined names. Authoritarian regimes can also call an election – and they often do – masquerading as lovers of democracy. But their process is only a sham, an exercise in fraud. What sets America apart is its electoral integrity, the cornerstone and prerequisite of our political system that safeguards our national identity – freedom, rights, and equality under the law. For over 200 years, our electoral system has seldom faced challenges. For most Americans, electoral fraud is not just downright wrong but unthinkable. Indeed, our relatively lenient election law, compared with many other nations, suggests that electoral integrity is so engraved in the hearts and minds of the American people that it is taken for granted. Consequently, any claim of large-scale electoral fraud comes across as incredibly conspiratorial, provoking cognitive dissonance and will be met with denials. Yet, electoral fraud does occur in America. Even before Covid, there were proven cases. A look at the 2018 congressional race in North Carolina shows the result was overturned by the state election board because of mail-in ballot fraud. In 2019, Elbert Melton, the mayor of Gordon, Alabama, was convicted of voter fraud and removed from office. And, of course, the electoral integrity of the 2020 election, in the midst of the Covid outbreak, still remains in question for many. The New Threat To Electoral Integrity Today we are facing yet another tangible threat. How can we prevent the illegal immigrants Biden’s open-border policy produced from participating in the voting process only granted to American citizens? The law that prohibits illegal immigrants from voting has not been strictly enforced. For instance, according to court documents, in Pennsylvania, an illegal immigrant who had been ordered to leave the United States was able to cast ballots in every presidential election since 2008. This is far from being an isolated case. The two million illegal immigrants the Trump administration has deported is still a small minority compared with the army of foreign voters the Biden administration intentionally let in. Today, they pose a substantial threat to electoral integrity. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images) The Safeguard America Vote Eligibility Act (SAVE America Act) is specifically designed to deal with this threat, prohibiting states from registering voters who are not American citizens, requiring voter ID at the point of voting, and eliminating mail-in ballots with a few exceptions. The bill has already passed the House vote and is currently in the Senate. Yet, Senate democrats rallying around Chuck Schumer vowed to kill it. If we fail to prevent electoral fraud from taking place, America would soon evolve into a nation no different from many other places where corruption, rather than law and order, marks the characteristics of the society. Citizens, ruled by a corrupt and unaccountable government, would live without freedom, rights, and the protection of law. America would lose her identity and cease to be America. The Chinese, who are culturally lenient towards bribery and cheating, have meticulously protected the integrity of their examination process in order to safeguard their national identity. Should we, who hold a higher standard of honesty, do less? American Identity Further, if the Chinese lost their national identity, the obsession with education, China would still survive. At most, they would have a reduced number of highly educated people. However, if America forsook our national identity, America would not survive. America would become just like any other nation where tyranny replaces freedom, scarcity substitutes for prosperity, and obedience is swapped for liberty. America as the “city on a hill” would vanish in history. Consequently, the threat of electoral fraud we are facing is not just an inconsequential blunder, but an existential threat to our nation, the equivalent of a foreign invasion. When the Japanese invaded China during WWII, the Chinese Communist Party of Mao and the Chinese Nationalist Party of Chiang Kai-shek temporarily joined forces in order to deal with their common threat. They recognized that if they allowed this threat to destroy their country, neither party would survive even though in peacetime they themselves had been rivals. American citizens have recognized the common threat we are facing. Gallup polls show that 83% of Americans support requiring proof of citizenship for first-time voter registration. Pew research also suggests that 83% of Americans are in favor of voter ID laws. These statistics reveal that SAVE America Act has received a wide range of support transcending political and ethnic barriers. Yet, in spite of the unity behind this bill, Senate Democrats – and a few Republicans – have been going all out to stop it, laying out various pretexts, such as discrimination against the poor who do not possess the required documents for proof of citizenship. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images The truth is that Democrats care little about the poor who are merely a useful tool in their power struggle. Neither do they care about Biden’s illegal population. Hiding behind egalitarianism is the real intention – using an illegal voting bloc to seize political power. Their willingness to sacrifice America in order to gain power is treasonous. Even ruthless Mao, a man responsible for the deaths of millions of Chinese, didn’t have the nerve to surrender his own country. Those who oppose this bill have managed to sink below the monstrous Mao. Today, whether you are left or right, blue or red, we are facing a common threat, and have a mutual self-interest in electoral integrity, without which our freedom and rights will vanish. And we, too, will vanish with it. At this crucial moment before the midterms, we must get behind President Trump and demand that the Senate pass the SAVE America Act to save America. * * * Chenyuan Snider was raised in Communist China and majored in Chinese language and literature in college. After immigrating to the United States and studying at Assemblies of God Theological Seminary and Duke Divinity School, she became a professor at Christian colleges and seminaries. She and her husband live in Northern California and have two grown children. The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

European authorities are investigating an overnight explosion that struck a Jewish school in Amsterdam, the latest in what officials say is a troubling string of Islamic attacks targeting Jewish communities across the West. The blast struck the exterior wall of a Jewish school in the Buitenveldert neighborhood, widely regarded as the Dutch capital’s modern Jewish quarter and home to synagogues, kosher restaurants, and religious schools. Authorities said the explosion caused minor structural damage, charring part of the outer wall and damaging a rainpipe, but no injuries were reported. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema condemned the incident as a deliberate act of intimidation against the city’s Jewish population. “This is a cowardly act of aggression towards the Jewish community,” Halsema said, adding that additional security will be deployed around Jewish institutions throughout the city. Dutch police say investigators have obtained images of the suspect believed to have detonated the device, though no arrests have been announced. The incident comes amid a surge of antisemitic attacks in Europe. Earlier this week, an explosive device ignited a fire at a synagogue entrance in Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ second-largest city. Police later arrested four teenage suspects nearby after officers spotted a vehicle driving erratically near another synagogue. In Liège, Belgium, a synagogue was also struck by an explosion earlier in the week, an attack local officials described as antisemitic. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten said the Amsterdam bombing would prompt renewed security consultations with Jewish leaders. “There must be no place for antisemitism in the Netherlands,” Jetten said in a post on social media. “I understand the anger and fear and will quickly engage in talks with the Jewish community. They must always feel safe in our country.” The European incidents come as authorities in the United States are also grappling with a series of threats and attacks linked to extremist ideologies targeting Jewish institutions. However, the trend of antisemitic and general Islamist violence was not contained to just Europe. In Michigan, a gunman rammed a vehicle into Temple Israel, the largest Reform Jewish congregation in the United States, before opening fire. The attacker was killed in a shootout with armed security, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which described the incident as a targeted act of violence against the Jewish community. Authorities said the synagogue’s security team engaged the attacker after he drove a vehicle through the building’s entrance, sparking a fire and filling parts of the synagogue with smoke. No congregants were killed, though one security guard was injured after being struck by the attacker’s vehicle. The Michigan attack came shortly after a separate act of terrorism at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, where a gunman identified as Mohammad Bailor Jalloh opened fire inside an academic building. Three people were wounded and one later died from their injuries. Officials said Jalloh, a former National Guard soldier previously convicted of supporting the terror group Islamic State, was killed at the scene. Then earlier in March, there was an attempted bombing in New York City in which two suspects deployed improvised explosive devices outside Gracie Mansion during competing protests. Authorities said the devices contained triacetone triperoxide, or TATP, an explosive compound frequently used in terrorist attacks. According to investigators, the suspects allegedly admitted they were inspired by ISIS propaganda. The case has been taken over by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Security officials have warned that Jewish institutions remain frequent targets for extremists, particularly during periods of heightened geopolitical tension involving Israel and Iran. For Jewish communities in Amsterdam and beyond, the latest explosion underscores fears that synagogues, schools, and community centers remain symbolic targets for violent actors. Authorities say the investigation into the Amsterdam attack remains ongoing.

A Georgia prosecutor said Friday that he has dropped the vehicular homicide charge against a teenager who struck a high school teacher with his car during a late-night prank gone wrong. Hall County Prosecutor Lee Darragh confirmed the dismissal to NBC News. The family of Jason Hughes, 40, the math teacher at North Hall High School who was killed, had previously said they wanted the charges dropped, The Daily Wire previously reported. “This is a terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students,” the family said in a statement to The New York Times last week. “This would be counter to Jason’s lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children.” Darragh also dismissed reckless driving, criminal trespass, and littering charges against Jayden Wallace, 18, as well as criminal trespass and littering charges against four other 18-year-olds who were participating in the prank. The Wallace family attorney said the situation was “an extremely sad and devastating accident,” not a crime, according to NBC News. He also thanked Hughes’ wife for her “remarkable compassion and spirit of forgiveness in the face of the tremendous loss of her husband.” Hughes, a father of two, died on March 6 after being run over by a teen driver who was there with other students toilet-papering his trees. Hughes slipped near the car because of rain and was accidentally struck by the vehicle, according to NBC News. The teens stopped immediately and tried to administer first aid, but Hughes died of his injuries. The prank was a tradition at the school, Hughes’ family told ABC News in a statement. Hughes knew the students were coming and was excited to catch them. “The family wants to make clear that they knew these kids and they loved them, and these kids loved the Hugheses,” the family said. “This was not a malicious act.” A GoFundMe for the Hughes family has raised almost $490,000 as of Saturday. “We are thankful for the outpouring of prayers and support as we grieve the loss of Jason,” the family told ABC. “We ask that you continue to pray for our family and also for the students involved in the accident along with their families. Please join us in extending grace and mercy to them as Christ has done for us.”