Opposition leaders flee Venezuela. Five key opposition figures from the troubled South American country were “rescued” and brought to the United States, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said. They had sought refuge for 412 days in the Argentine Embassy in Caracas after the government of authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro issued arrest warrants accusing them of destabilizing the country. It’s unclear if Mr. Maduro was involved in the operation, but the group’s release could signal an attempt to appease Washington ahead of the expiration of an oil-exporting license. – Staff

A massive fentanyl trafficking operation in the U.S. is dismantled. Law enforcement officials reported this week that they had taken down one of the largest fentanyl trafficking operations in the country’s history, making 16 arrests and seizing millions of fentanyl pills. Authorities also seized more than 25 pounds of fentanyl powder and large amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine in last month’s operation. Six defendants who are in the U.S. illegally will face charges in U.S. courts. – Reuters
Related Monitor coverage: In December, we reported on how fentanyl gets into the country – and tracking it down once it’s inside.

The Federal Reserve keeps key interest rate unchanged. The agency didn’t yield to President Donald Trump’s demands to lower borrowing costs and said that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen. The Fed kept its rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting, after cutting it three times in a row at the end of last year. Many economists and Wall Street investors still expect the Fed will reduce rates two or three times this year, but the sweeping tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump have injected uncertainty into the U.S. economy and the Fed’s policies. – The Associated Press

The Tufts University student detained by ICE will be brought to Vermont. A federal appeals court on Wednesday granted a judge’s order to bring Rümeysa Öztürk from a Louisiana immigration detention center back to New England for hearings to determine whether her rights were violated. The order says she must be transferred by May 14. Ms. Öztürk has been detained in Louisiana since March 25 because of an op-ed she co-wrote last year criticizing the university’s response to Israel’s war in Gaza. – AP
Related Monitor coverage: The arrest of a Tufts University doctoral student by undercover agents has had a chilling effect on international students.

A $2.8 billion NCAA settlement will allow some revenue to flow to athletes. The settlement, awaiting final approval, would compensate athletes directly for the use of their name, image, and likeness. But replacing scholarship caps with roster limitations could leave walk-ons, partial scholarship earners, nonrevenue sport athletes, and high school recruits at risk. In particular, there are concerns about the potential impact on sports that feed U.S. Olympic teams. – AP

Throughout its history, Israel has protected itself through quick military campaigns. Now, amid the longest war since its founding, the Jewish state is eschewing its short-wars paradigm. Earlier this week, the hard-right government announced a plan to take and hold Gaza indefinitely to eradicate Hamas. As the military calls up tens of thousands of reservists – doctors and taxi drivers, university students and software engineers – resentment is growing among Israelis weary of conflict. 

Residents of the disputed territory of Kashmir huddled into safe shelters and bunkers Wednesday after India launched missiles against Pakistan. The strikes followed a terrorist attack two weeks ago in Indian-controlled Kashmir, which New Delhi blamed on Pakistani militants. Islamabad called the operation “an act of war” and vowed to retaliate. The situation marks the worst escalation between the neighboring nuclear powers since 2019. Washington and Beijing, among others, have called for calm.

It has now been more than two months since Israel halted all humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip. The resulting hunger crisis in the war-shattered Palestinian enclave is by design. Last month, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that “blocking this aid is one of the main pressure levers” it has against Hamas. Nine in every 10 residents of Gaza do not have enough to eat, and nearly 20% are facing famine conditions, according to the United Nations. Their struggle for survival is also a struggle against despair.

It is becoming a perennial source of scandal. From the Obama administration to the current Trump administration, senior government officials keep using commercial services to transmit highly classified information. Doing so constitutes a breach of judgment as much as security protocols. Why do they keep doing it? Some have argued that platforms such as the encrypted messaging app Signal are simply more convenient. But security experts warn that anything that is easier to use is, by default, easier to hack.

The White House budget proposal released last Friday calls for a nearly 25% cut in funding to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the federal agency that tracks weather cycles and climate trends. The Trump administration says the cuts would target climate research and grant programs that its supporters say fuel “climate alarmism.” Five former directors warned the decreases would hamper the agency’s ability to monitor seasonal rainfall patterns and extreme weather – information that keeps mariners safe and enables farmers to plan their crops.

They pick us up and dust us off, scrub us, feed us, set impossibly high standards for us – and above all else, they love us. Ahead of Mother’s Day weekend, five writers for The Home Forum honor the women who played a deeply foundational role in their lives.

Five months after their liberation from a dictatorship, most Syrians seem glad for one thing. Their country, despite predictions of it splintering into religious and ethnic parts, is still a country. For half a century, the authoritarian Assad family justified its harsh rule as the only way to keep a diverse Syria intact.

Yes, Israel has now taken control of chunks of Syrian territory. Other powers from Iran to Turkey to Russia want to direct the future of this pivotal Middle East nation toward their own interests. And twice in the last two months, serious violence by the country’s dominant Sunni Muslim Arabs has erupted against two minorities, the Druze and the Alawites.

Still, “If we look at the full picture,” Syria analyst Ghassan Ibrahim told Arab News, the absence of large-scale sectarian violence since the Dec. 8 liberation is “something promising, but requires a lot of work.”

Much of that work has been done by local activists reviving the relative coexistence that long prevailed in local communities between Sunnis, Druze, Christians, and other groups. During the 2011 uprising against the Assad regime, protesters chanted, “One, one, one! The Syrian people are one!” Many people particularly dislike a system of quotas in neighboring Iraq and Lebanon that divvies up government power by demographic groups, which has led to corruption.

“I hope that Syria will set a new precedent ... with a system that recognizes and represents differences politically, to break with this false alternative between oppressive unity and destructive factionalism,” Syria expert Peter Harling of the research company Synaps told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

After the recent bouts of violence in Druze and Alawite communities, local players and the government of interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa acted to calm tensions. Druze fighters were enlisted as members of Syria’s security forces to patrol their areas. Compensation has been promised to victims and justice to attackers. In Alawite villages after deadly attacks in March, a series of local meetings have brought together Sunnis and Alawites to repair misunderstandings and bring accountability to killers.

“If there is a mistake, we correct it together,” Hind Kabawat, the new minister for social affairs and labor, told The New York Times. “We learn together and we empower each other.”