The World and Everything in It: May 8, 2025

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

Tensions explode between two nuclear powers after India strikes Pakistan in retaliation. Where do things go from here?

SHEIKH: This is one nuclear flashpoint. There's nothing more flashier than this.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also the high price some parents are willing to pay to stand up for children and families.

And a visit to a school in Ukraine, where kids are learning lessons beyond the three R’s.

MOORE: We want the kids to try to understand what they're feeling and direct it appropriately.

And WORLD commentator Cal Thomas says it’s time college students learned a valuable lesson—about paying what they owe.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, May 8th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: Time for the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Trump VE day » Today is the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day. That's when Nazi Germany surrendered to Allied forces in World War II.

Cities from London to Moscow are holding parades and flyovers this week to celebrate.

And on Wednesday, President Trump signed a proclamation officially designating today as a day, for the United States to mark the occasion.

TRUMP: The United States has never joined in with the proper celebration of our own..

He says it was a victory that would not have happened without the United States.

Russia cease-fire? / Vance remarks » Russia is also celebrating. But authorities in Moscow say drone attacks by Ukraine disrupted preparations for the annual Victory Day military parade in Red Square.

Russia has said it planned a temporary unilateral ceasefire, and would halt attacks against Ukraine for 72 hours, to coincide with the celebrations.

The Kremlin has not accepted a US proposal for a 30-day truce. And Vice President JD Vance says Russia will have to be more flexible in negotiations to halt the war.

VANCE:  Right now the Russians are asking for a certain set of requirements, a certain set of concessions in order to end the conflict. We think they're asking for too much.

Speaking Wednesday at a security conference with European leaders, Vance added that he is not pessimistic about the prospects for a peace deal and that talks will continue.

By contrast, President Trump has expressed skepticism and frustration with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

U.S. Ambassador to China » Former Georgia Republican Senator David Perdue is the new U.S. Ambassador to China after taking the oath of office on Wednesday.

RUBIO: The duties of the office

PERDUE: The duties of the office

RUBIO: On which I am about to enter

PERDUE: On which I am about to enter

RUBIO: So help me God

PERDUE: So help me God

RUBIO: Congratulations. (applause)

Perdue is also a former executive with experience in global supply chains, including through Beijing.

The Senate confirmed Perdue with some bipartisan support on a vote of 67 to 29.

He assumes the role amid a major trade war with China. US and Chinese officials are set to meet this weekend to break the ice on trade talks.

Houthis latest » A new ceasefire deal between the United States and Iran-backed Houthi rebels does NOT include Israel.

That according to Reuters, citing a chief negotiator for the Houthi terror group.

President Donald Trump announced the agreement on Tuesday. He told reporters yesterday that time will tell whether the Houthis live up to their end of the bargain.

TRUMP: We honor their commitment—their word. They gave us their word that they wouldn't be shooting ships anymore and we honor that.

However, while the Houthis promise to end attacks against U.S. interests and commercial shipping will end, attacks on Israel remain fair game.

But GOP Congressman Brian Mast says U.S. security and Israel's security go hand-in-hand.

MAST: The president has been very clear: there needs to be an end to attacks on United States interests—our vessels. And Israel is one of our interests as well.

Mast said Israel is America’s—quote “largest vessel in the region.”

Fed chair remarks » Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says the Fed will continue to keep interest rates right where they are for now.

He told reporters once again the central bank will maintain a wait-and-see approach with President Trump’s reset of trade policy and other factors.

POWELL:  Depending on the way things play out, that could include rate hikes, sorry, rate cuts. It could include us holding where we are. We just are gonna need to see how things play out before we make those decisions.

The Fed this week kept its rate at 4.3% for the third straight meeting.

Powell said despite more uncertainty, the economy remains solid.

Many economists and Wall Street investors still expect the Fed will reduce rates two or three times this year.

Conclave begins » More than 130 Catholic cardinals are gathered at the Vatican for day-two of the Conclave as they work to select a new pope to follow the late Pope Francis.

Ceremonies heard there inside the Sistine Chapel.

The conclave officially began Wednesday with Catholic leaders hailing from 70 countries sequestered from the outside world.

The cardinals each took a vow of secrecy and gave up their cell phones. They will not communicate with no one until they’ve elected a new leader for the Church. 

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: India and Pakistan’s conflict over Kashmir. Plus, how one Christian school in Ukraine is helping students during the war.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday the 8th of May.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Up first, rising tensions between nuclear powers.

SOUND: [ROCKETS]

On Tuesday, India launched missiles into Pakistan. More than 20 people were killed.

SINGH: The targets we had chosen were destroyed with great precision.

BROWN: India’s Defense Minister says the casualties were terrorists. Pakistan says they were civilians.

In response, Pakistan’s Prime Minister has authorized the army to take “corresponding actions.”

SOUND: [WOMAN CRYING AFTER ATTACK]

The latest strike by India comes in response to an April attack in Kashmir that killed 26 people. India blames Pakistani nationals.

Hot and cold conflict over the region dates back to 1947.

AUDIO: And now the time comes when we will redeem our pledge

REICHARD: That’s when India gained independence from Great Britain, and Pakistan and India were split into separate Muslim and Hindu countries.

They’ve fought multiple wars since, with the United Nations drawing a Line of Control in 1972. But the dispute continued

BROWN: And now both nations have nuclear weapons. Pakistan’s ambassador to the US has called on President Trump for help.

SHEIKH: This is one nuclear flashpoint. There's nothing more flashier than this in terms of the impact on a large chunk of humanity that any misadventure, any miscalculation, any war here can cause.

REICHARD: Joining us now to talk about it is Sumit Ganguly. He’s a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and professor emeritus at Indiana University, Bloomington.

BROWN: Sumit, good morning.

SUMIT GANGULY: Thank you.

BROWN: Sumit, tensions have been simmering for a couple of weeks. India paused a water treaty that Pakistan depends on, and Pakistan blocked its airspace to commercial flights from India. And now shots have been fired. Just how serious is this situation compared to previous standoffs?

GANGULY: Well, this is comparable to certain previous standoffs, but on this occasion, tempers are really frayed in India, particularly because of the sheer cruelty and brutality that was involved in killing the 26 tourists. They separated Hindus and Muslims in the most callous fashion, and then systematically shot all the Hindus. And this has really inflamed passions in India, which is forcing the government to some degree to act - that if the government doesn't act and demonstrate some resolve through actions which are visible, which are noticeable, which are measurable, they are going to be faced with an electoral backlash. // Pakistan, by the same token, cannot be seen as standing idly by. Its own population will want a pound of flesh, and so we are now locked into the possibility of an escalatory spiral.

BROWN: What does this mean for the United States? I mean, you know, what ties do we have with Pakistan and India that could be strained if indeed they go to war?

GANGULY: With Pakistan, our principal interest is that really is are two fold, one that Pakistan does not again return to dispersing nuclear material, particularly nuclear weapons technology, as it has done in the past. And the second is we do rely on Pakistan to some degree for Counter Terrorism cooperation.

As far as India is concerned, we have a multi-faceted relationship. It's an economic relationship, it's a strategic partnership, it's a diplomatic relationship, and also a substantial People to People relationship. For example, it's little known that there are 5 million people of Indian origin in the United States, many of whom are citizens. There's a million Americans working in India at the moment. So this is a multifaceted, deep relationship of considerable importance to both parties.

BROWN: Another nation watching closely is China…what would China stand to gain from Pakistan and India either coming to blows, or resolving their differences?

GANGULY: They have little to gain from India and Pakistan going to a war, except in so far that it might weaken India's military capabilities. India and China have a long standing border dispute. They see each other as rivals in Asia, and India has a substantial trade deficit with China like us, so China would only be happy in that some of India's military resources would be directed towards the western border, and if a war does occur, some damage would be done to India's military capabilities. So to that extent, China would be happy. But on the other hand, they do not want to see an escalatory spiral that even leads Pakistan to be tempted to use nuclear weapons, because that would be right on China's doorstep.

BROWN: Final question here, sir. Is there any other aspect of what’s going on in India and Pakistan that you think warrants more attention?

GANGULY: What warrants more attention is Pakistan's unwillingness to abandon its use of terrorist proxies to carry out its military strategy against India. During our military presence in Afghanistan, some Pakistani terrorist groups even attacked American forces. So we have a dog in this fight, and in any case, terrorism as a strategy has to be brought to an end, not just in South Asia, but on a global basis. This is unacceptable conduct.

BROWN: Sumit Ganguly is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution studying Indian relations with the United States. Thank you for your time today!

GANGULY: Thanks very much.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It: parental rights and free speech collide.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Two dads wanted to quietly protest a high school’s decision to let a male student identifying as female to play on their daughters’ soccer team. What happened next raises constitutional questions.

BROWN: Joining us now with the details is Steve West—attorney, former federal prosecutor, and writer on religious liberty for WORLD Digital.

REICHARD: Good morning, Steve.

STEVE WEST: Good morning, Mary.

REICHARD: Well, tell us, what’s going on with this case?

WEST: We’ve all heard a lot about how unfair it is for males to play on girls’ teams— laws and lawsuits trying to rein it in. The Trump administration has even stepped in to oppose this. Yet this is not a case directly about protecting girls’ sports. It’s about something even more basic: you know, the constitutional right to express disagreement with a policy. It’s about free speech. Here it’s not even about noisy disagreement or waving protest signs. It’s about two fathers who decided to stage a silent protest after they learned that a male on an opposing team would be playing against their daughters at a high school soccer match. They simply wore pink wristbands decorated with two black X’s to symbolize female chromosomes.

REICHARD: And I take it school officials did not like that.

WEST: They did not. They intervened, and asked a police officer to assist. The two men were told by the officer to remove the wrist bands, and when they refused, the district banned them from games. So then, aided by the Institute for free speech, the fathers filed a federal lawsuit last year, and then last month, a federal judge sided with the school and denied a motion by the two parents to block the school’s ban.

REICHARD: I mean that seems to be a fairly extreme ruling, no?

WEST: I think so. There’s a 1969 Supreme Court ruling, Tinker v. De Moines, that the fathers relied on. Tinker, who was a student who was 13 years old at that time, and other students were suspended for wearing black armbands to protest the Vietnam War. The court ruled for the students, concluding that school officials couldn’t censor student speech unless it materially and substantially disrupts the educational process. In other words, it has to be a big deal. And it didn’t do that. Even though it did get students talking. Well, the judge here didn’t buy it but said the parents targeted the male student and their speech could be viewed as harassment. That’s in spite of the fact that adults typically are accorded higher speech rights than are students, and what disruption did occur could be viewed as the result of the intervention by school officials. The parents said that this was viewpoint discrimination—that’s the short of it.

REICHARD: Well right, that when the school makes a big deal, that’s where the disruption occurs, and that was the argument. But I’m guessing the judge didn’t buy that so that’s not the end of the story.

WEST: It’s not the end. The parents have appealed, and the U.S. Department of Justice has sided with them and will file a friend-of the-court brief with the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. So stay tuned.

REICHARD: Alright, let’s move to a second case out of Maine. This one involves a custody dispute, and that is not generally a First Amendment concern. So what’s going on there?

WEST: You’re right, and we’re not used to religious liberty concerns coming up in custody battles. But this case attracted the attention of Liberty Counsel after a Maine state court judge stripped a mother, Emily, of her right to bring her child up in her Christian faith by taking her to church at a local Calvary Chapel. That’s a church most will recognize as evangelical in nature and a part of a loose affiliation of churches that grew out of the original Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, California. That one was pastored by Chuck Smith and featured in the film, Jesus Revolution. So, no one would contend the church is a cult—no one, perhaps, save the judge in this case. But the father, Matt, after watching some sermons online, didn’t like what he heard—Biblical teaching on heaven, hell, spiritual warfare, and Christ’s second coming. He said all this was psychologically damaging to his daughter. After a hearing, the judge agreed.

REICHARD: That seems a bit extreme. What reason did the judge give?

WEST: She relied on the testimony of an expert on cults who said that because of the way the church was organized, because of its teachings, and the charisma of its pastor, attending the church was damaging to the daughter. She said it was teaching “fear mongering, paranoia, and anxiety.” And that was it. No more Calvary Chapel. So now it’s being appealed to the Maine Supreme Court. And in the meantime, the dad is in charge of the daughter’s religious upbringing.

REICHARD: Now, this isn’t how these things typically go, is it?

WEST: Not at all. As contentious as custody issues can be, most parents work out who will be responsible for the religious upbringing of the child, or they share it. Courts are ill-equipped to do that, and this case demonstrates that. You know, at best, the ruling shows a deep misunderstanding of church and religion. And at worst, it demonstrates hostility to religion that offends what a judge believes is an enlightened morality.

REICHARD: Finally, then some good news …

WEST: Well right, I’m always thankful for that. The Supreme Court ruled a couple years ago that Philadelphia couldn’t condition the participation of Catholic Social Services in foster care on its agreement to work with same-sex couples. Yet some states interested in pushing an LGBTQ agenda have tried another tactic: and that’s finding foster or adoptive parents who won’t support a child’s gender identity or same-sex attraction unfit for parenting. That’s the battle Oregon mom Jessica Bates continues to fight.

REICHARD: Well, I’m still waiting to hear good news in that one…

WEST: Yes! Both Kansas and Arkansas recently passed legislation that protects religious families’ rights to participate in state and foster care adoption programs. Both state laws guard against exactly what happened in Oregon–shutting religious parents out of the child welfare system. These laws are a welcome attempt to preempt such moves by state social service agencies—even as lawyers continue to argue that such discrimination is unconstitutional. And these two midwest states are not the only ones protecting religious families. Fifteen states now offer some protection for discrimination against families or faith-based adoption providers.

REICHARD: That is the good news! Steve West writes about religious liberties for WORLD Digital. You can read his work at W-N-G dot O-R-G. You can also subscribe to his free weekly newsletter on First Amendment issues, called Liberties. Steve, always good to have you on. Thanks so much!

WEST: Thanks Mary!

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Ok, Myrna, you might want to step away for this one!

A man in Wisconsin opens a cage in his house, pulls out a deadly snake, and lets it bite him.

FRIEDE: (cage opens) Black Mamba.

A Black Mamba, then he does it again, with another species:

FRIEDE: PNG Taipan.

PNG Taipan. Now, don’t try this at home!

But meet Tim Friede. He’s voluntarily taken more than 200 bites from 16 of the deadliest snakes in the world…to help create a universal antivenom. Audio from CNN:

FRIEDE: I’m helping humanity.

Friede’s immune system is a scientific marvel…and he’s working with scientists who use his antibodies to create an antivenom. It’s a big deal, because every year, snake bites kill around 120,000 people, mostly in areas without access to treatment.

After one of his self-inflicted snakebites, Friede looked into the camera and said, very calmly:

FRIEDE: Thanks for watching.

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, May 8th.

Thanks for listening to WORLD Radio today! Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: supporting missionaries on the front lines.

Not everyone is called to go overseas. But many are called to it. In Ukraine, one man lives out that calling by running a school for missionary families. It’s his way of advancing the gospel, and it’s not been easy.

REICHARD: Here’s WORLD features executive editor Leigh Jones with his story.

SOUND: AIR RAID SIREN

LEIGH JONES: When air raid sirens go off outside Kyiv Christian Academy, Eric Moore and his staff usher children down to the basement safe room. Then they prepare for the likely fallout.

ERIC MOORE: If we have an air alert during lunch time, then by the afternoon, kids may be more hyper, or they might be less likely to engage with work.

It’s a common problem these days. But it’s not the kind of classroom challenge Moore imagined he’d be dealing with as he was growing up in South Dakota.

He was in high school when he first felt the call to foreign missions.

MOORE: I went on three different like missions trips, like overseas where I really felt like God grew me, and in terms of, you know, developing in my life spiritually.

But he planned to become a teacher, and spend his summers leading short-term mission trips.

God flipped that script.

MOORE: Instead of teaching kids and taking them on missions, I went to the mission field to teach the children of missionaries.

In 2007, Moore moved to Ukraine to teach math and science at Kyiv Christian Academy. Four years later, he met Victoria, a Kyiv native. They married, had two boys, and settled in to serving families at the school.

Things were just beginning to return to normal after the pandemic when rumors of a possible Russian invasion began to circulate.

MOORE: Some mission organizations began relocating their families outside of Ukraine, or at least getting them set up temporarily in cities closer to the border, like Lviv or Uzhgorod.

In the fall of 2021, the school had 150 students. By the time Russian tanks rolled across the border, about half the school’s families—including the Moores—had already evacuated.

They finished the school year online, with students connecting for virtual classes from all over the world.

MOORE: We had kids in, I mean, time zones from Korea to California, the long way around the world.

The lessons they learned during COVID came in handy.

But with so many staff and students out of the country, the school made the difficult decision not to reopen its Kyiv campus in the fall of 2022.

MOORE: On the one hand, it seemed like the right thing to do for a variety of reasons, financially and other other reasons, but you're taking on the risk of of not being able to restart it, or, you know, not knowing when you could.

For months, the school sat empty. Then several groups approached Moore with requests to rent or share parts of the building. A Ukrainian-language school needed classrooms. A church wanted the auditorium. A soccer league needed the fields.

Those partnerships allowed the school to reopen in 2023 with just 10 students, some of them from missionary families.

MOORE: And so it's been really, really encouraging to me that that already, even before the war is over, the school is serving missionary families again.

This year, the school has 35 students and a different set of challenges.

MOORE: If the night before, there was a missile attack or drone attack, and it just was really loud around that child's house at night, woke them up at night, in the morning, it may take them a lot longer before they're ready to engage and they're able to focus.

They might not be able to focus at all that day.

MOORE: So we, we began trying to implement the ideas of trauma-informed instruction into our, you know, into our classrooms.

Teachers are more understanding when a student acts out. And if they need a break, they have a place to go. Moore calls it the “calm down corner.”

MOORE: Like by my office, we have a chair with some different things. There's some posters that help them to identify their emotions, some things that they can just put in their hand to distract them, to help them to calm down.

Moore says everyone feels the strain of war.

MOORE: We also feel it as adults, and so we try to temper that in their presence, because we, we want the kids to try to understand what they're feeling and direct it appropriately.

Moore sometimes counsels students who are angry about what’s happening.

MOORE: When we have an air raid and someone says, I hate the Russians and and you say, Yeah, this is frustrating. I am frustrated too. This is not fair, and it's not right.

He reminds them that not all Russians are responsible for the war, just the leaders. And he reminds them that God loves the people who live in Russia, too.

Every day, Moore prays for safety, and for peace. And he leans on God’s promises.

MOORE: You know, there's quite a few verses that mention hope. … Jeremiah 29, God has plans for you. He's given you a hope and a future.

Hope for Moore, and for the school, means continuing to follow God’s call to support gospel work in Ukraine.

MOORE: And after this war, when those missionary families are able to come back, the school will be here again and part of that expansion of missionary efforts, missionary presence here. That's really what gives me, gives me hope that as Ukraine, you know, recovers and redevelops after this war, that KCA will be a beacon of Christian education in the international community, that it will be an example of God's faithfulness.

For WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

—With reporting from William Fleeson. For more on this topic, read Air raids and ABCs in WORLD Magazine.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, May 8th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard. It used to mean something when an individual had “good credit.” Here’s WORLD commentator Cal Thomas.

CAL THOMAS: Back in the day of telephone books, the Washington, D.C. Yellow Pages contained more than a dozen pages of “associations,” a code word for lobbyists. They included associations for tort reform, one for buses, and even an association for snack food.

I don’t recall an association that would lobby for students who refused to pay back their college loans. But there’s one now. It’s called “The Student Borrower Protection Center.” Its goal is what the name says: protecting students from an obligation to repay their part of an estimated $1.7 trillion dollars in student loan debt.

After a five-year suspension initiated by President Trump during COVID, the second Trump Administration has re-started the requirement that loans be repaid. The administration is also pressuring colleges and universities to persuade graduates and former students to repay their loans, saying if they don't, future students might not receive any loans.

The Wall Street Journal reports: “A far bigger group of schools is now at risk because so many students never resumed paying back their loans after a pandemic pause. [The Education Department says] nearly 10 million borrowers are either already in default or on the cusp… Within a few months, roughly a quarter of borrowers nationwide could be in default, meaning they are at least nine months behind on payments.”

If you are in default on a car payment, you risk repossession of the car. It’s the same with a mortgage payment. If you are late paying the IRS, it levies penalties, including wage garnishments and the seizure of property. Only when it comes to student loans are some people lobbying for so-called “forgiveness.” The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 that the Biden Administration did not have the constitutional authority to unilaterally forgive student debt. He tried anyway.

The Journal also reports that the Education Department has begun putting defaulted student loans in collections. Say that “almost 200,000 defaulted student-loan borrowers have begun getting notices that tax refunds and federal benefits could be withheld to pay back their debt as soon as a month from now.”

Presumably graduates are now working at jobs that pay enough for them to contribute at least token amounts to their debt. They could possibly work out a payment deal with the government. Even the IRS allows for such things, though it charges interest and penalties.

As the Trump administration and the Education Department get serious about student loans, many families are exploring non-traditional options for their highschool graduates. The high cost of higher education, along with the all too common one-sided liberal worldview, are two other reasons more are considering online courses. Distance learning programs spiked during the pandemic, but remain high. It’s safe to predict that those numbers could continue to rise.

“Good credit” used to mean paying bills on time, meeting obligations, and living within one’s means. It was an important measure of someone’s character. In our entitlement age, people who sign agreements when taking out a loan are effectively being told they shouldn’t be expected to keep their promises. What other responsibilities do they think they should be able to shirk? This is what happens when standards no longer matter.

I’m Cal Thomas.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Tomorrow: John Stonestreet returns for Culture Friday. And WORLD’s music reviewer Arsenio Orteza is back with a hearing of standout second albums, sophomore efforts that don’t disappoint. And, the inimitable George Grant takes on the perils of plurals in this week’s Word Play. That and more tomorrow.

I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio. WORLD’s mission is Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Psalmist writes: “Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol him, all peoples! For great is his steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord!” —Psalm 117

Go now in grace and peace.

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