Midday Roundup: Kurds capture American ISIS sympathizer

ISIS sympathizers. An American man captured by Kurdish forces in Syria claims he fled Islamic State territory after deciding he didn’t agree with the group’s ideology. Mohamad Khweis, a 26-year-old from Virginia, allegedly left the United States in December to join the militant terror group. He now says that was a bad idea. In a long but heavily edited interview broadcast on a Kurdish television channel, Khweis said he didn’t like life in Mosul, Iraq, because the religious training and all of the ISIS rules were too strict. It’s not clear what will happen to Khweis now. He was not previously on any terror watch lists, but the FBI is investigating. Meanwhile, an Iraqi-born Palestinian man has been charged in Chicago with providing material support to terrorists. Aws Mohammed Younis Al-Jayab, 23, of Sacramento, Calif., came to the United States as a refugee in 2012. In 2013, he traveled to Syria, where the government alleges he fought for Bashar al-Assad’s government. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Missile mission. North Korea fired a medium-range rocket into the sea off its eastern coast today, demonstrating its ability to threaten its neighbors and U.S. allies. The ballistic missile flew about 500 miles, too far to be one of the short-range rockets North Korea more commonly tests. Analysts say the medium-range rockets can fly far enough to reach Japan. The missile test is the first for a mid-range rocket since 2014. China, North Korea’s strongest ally, and Japan both condemned the rocket launch. North Korea is showing off its military capabilities after the United States imposed more sanctions following a recent nuclear test and a satellite launch. The communist country also is furious over joint military exercises launched on March 7 by U.S. and South Korean troops.

¡Bienvenido a Havana! President Barack Obama will travel to Cuba on Sunday, becoming the first U.S. president to visit the island nation in 90 years. The entire Obama family will make the trip, spending two days on a whirlwind tour. They plan to visit cultural sites, take in a baseball game, and have dinner at the Palace of the Revolution, where autocrat Raúl Castro holds court. Obama will make a speech in Havana, but the Cuban government has yet to approve its broadcast on national television. Despite the thaw in U.S.-Cuban relations, which Obama has said should improve conditions in the communist country, little has changed for those who oppose the Castro regime. In recent months, the government has rounded up dozens of dissidents. Most were released after a few days, and activists say the crackdown appears designed to chill any attempt at organized protests.

To the victor … Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., conceded the Democratic primary in Missouri to rival Hillary Clinton last night, saying he would not seek a recount in the razor-thin contest. Missouri voters went to the polls on Tuesday, but the totals were so close the race remained undecided for two days. No winner has been declared in the Republican race, with Donald Trump leading Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by less than 2,000 votes. Sanders conceded to Clinton with an even smaller margin—1,531 votes. The Missouri victory gives Clinton a clean sweep of Tuesday’s primaries, but Sanders still thinks he can catch her in the national race. “Secretary Clinton has done phenomenally well in the Deep South and in Florida,” he said. “That’s where she has gotten the lion’s share of votes. And I congratulate her for that. But we’re out of the Deep South now.” With the Democratic Party’s superdelegates, Clinton has a 758-delegate lead over Sanders heading toward this summer’s convention.

Bald baby. A bald eagle hatched this morning at the U.S. National Arboretum, a blessed event watched by thousands via a live internet feed streamed from a nest high in a tulip poplar tree. A second egg is expected to hatch sometime over the weekend. “This is an awesome chance to view nature as it happens,” said wildlife biologist Dan Rauch in the statement. “We’ll be able to follow the eagles from their first emergence to their first flight. This is real reality TV.” After the eaglet hatched, its parents promptly hid it from view by taking turns sitting atop of the nest. This pair of eagles set up their nest in Washington, D.C., in October 2014, the first time a nest was spotted in the arboretum since 1947. Last year, the eagles raised one eaglet together.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.