Monday morning news: April 30, 2018

Migrant Caravan Reaches U.S. » A remnant of the Central American migrant caravan marching through Mexico reached the U.S. border near San Diego Sunday. 

Some 200 of the migrants, men, women and children, tested U.S. asylum procedures, claiming persecution in their home countries of El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras. Osman Salvador was one of them— 

SALVADOR: The only thing I would tell Mr. Trump is to have a conscience and to look at all the people and the way they suffer, because the people, they’re coming from those countries, they’re not doing this for pleasure. They face danger and extortions and they’re looking for a better life.

But California Republican Congressman Darrell Issa says not all claims of persecution are legitimate.

ISSA: And if there are real asylum seekers that have a valid claim and a reason to come to the United States, great, but it’s a fraction of these people and it habitually is. 

Border patrol agents warned the migrants that they could face separation from their children and possibly months in detention centers as they are processed under U.S. immigration law.

Defund Planned Parenthood rallies » A prayer for the unborn in Morristown, New Jersey Saturday—

AUDIO: Today I commit myself, never to be silent, never to be forgetful of the unborn.

More than 70 pro-life groups rallied at nearly 150 sites across the country over the weekend, urging President Trump to defund Planned Parenthood.

The nation’s largest abortion business receives about 430 million taxpayer dollars annually. Efforts to defund Planned Parenthood have stalled in Congress.

But demonstrators want Trump to take a new tack, using his executive authority to revise Title 10 rules to block abortion providers from receiving federal money.

In Aurora, Illinois, Eric Scheidler with the Pro-Life Action League told demonstrators: 

SCHEIDLER: They can make a rule change and take that money away next week if they choose to do it. They need to feel our demand that they do that because there are some people in the administration that are reluctant to do that. 

The change could cost Planned Parenthood $80 million annually.

Defunding Planned Parenthood was one of Trump’s campaign promises during the 2016 election. 

Alfie Evans Mourned » Alfie Evans, the sick toddler at the center of a legal battle over his treatment in Britain, died over the weekend. WORLD Radio’s Kent Covington has more.

KENT COVINGTON, REPORTER: Alfie died on Saturday, five days after doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool cut off Alfie’s life support. The boy’s parents lost appeal for the right to take their son to a hospital that would continue his treatment. The 23-month old boy suffered from a degenerative neurological condition.

The Italian government granted Alfie citizenship and supported his transfer to a hospital in Rome. Pope Francis also made public appeals on the boy’s behalf. But it was all to no avail.

In Alfie’s final days, his father Tom Evans said he was working with doctors at the hospital to give his son “dignity and comfort” and he thanked the staff for their “professionalism.”

Tom wrote on Facebook Saturday: “My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings at 2:30.  

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Kent Covington.

T-Mobile, Sprint to Merge » T-Mobile and Sprint have agreed to merge in an all-stock transaction— after weeks of talks between the two companies.

When the markets closed Friday, T-Mobile was worth $55 billion and Sprint $26 billion.

A T-Mobile statement says the new company will retain the T-Mobile name and headquarters in Bellevue, Washington. It will also spend nearly $40 billion over three years building a nationwide 5G network. 

The merger would make the new company the nation’s third largest mobile carrier, behind Verizon and AT&T.

Federal regulators must still approve the move.

Weekend Box Office » Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War shattered opening weekend box office records. 

AVENGERS TRAILER: Fun isn’t something one considers when balancing the universe … but this does put a smile on my face.

PG-13 rated Avengers: Infinity War earned an astonishing $250 million domestically and $630 million worldwide in its first weekend.

That broke the previous domestic opening record of $248 million set by Star Wars: The Force Awakens in 2015.

I’m Jim Henry. Straight ahead: the three branches of government meet at the Supreme Court. This is The World and Everything in It.

(AP Photo/Luis Gutierrez) Central American migrants traveling with the annual migrant Stations of the Cross caravan march in favor of migrants’ rights and against the policies of U.S. President Donald Trump, in Hermosillo, Mexico, Monday, April 23, 2018.

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