Friday morning news: April 21, 2023

NATO » NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg made a historic visit to Kyiv yesterday.

JENS STOLTENBERG: Let me be clear, Ukraine’s rightful place is in the Euro-Atlantic family. Ukraine’s rightful place is in NATO.

It was Stoltenberg’s first visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded.

He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and discussed a multi-year support initiative for Ukraine. Several NATO members this week have committed to sending Kyiv more battle tanks and ammunition.

Ukraine first applied for NATO membership in 2008, but cannot join unless all existing member states agree.

DMITRY PESKOV [Speaking Russian]: It will be a serious, significant threat to our country.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov saying Ukrainian membership in NATO would pose a threat to Russian national security.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin has said he invaded Ukraine partly to prevent it from joining the military coalition.

Russian Spy Boats » Meanwhile Nordic broadcasters say Russian spy boats have been spotted in the waters around their countries. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER: A joint investigation by public broadcasters’ from several Nordic countries found at least 50 Russian spy ships combing the waters of the North Sea for ten years mapping communications cables and wind farms.

Intelligence officials say Russia is pinpointing targets to sabotage in the event of a conflict with the West.

An explosion damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines in the Baltic sea last year. Many have pointed the finger at Russia for the sabotage, but the culprit has not been definitively identified.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Weather » People from Texas to Wisconsin are recovering from tornado damage brought by spring storms.

At least three people died on Wednesday after eight tornadoes hit Oklahoma.

Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee, Oklahoma, sustained damage to some campus buildings. No one was hurt, but some students were displaced from their dorms.

University President Heath Thomas:

HEATH THOMAS: This is the most significant natural disaster in the history of OBU. That’s 113 years.

More storms are expected in the southeast this weekend.

Transgender bills » A bill to protect female athletes is on its way to the U.S. Senate after passing yesterday in the House. The legislation would prevent male student-athletes from playing on girls and women’s teams.

Cambry Ankenbauer is a multi-sport high school athlete from North Dakota.

CAMBRY ANKENBAUER: It wouldn’t be fair to females if we made them compete against males. We have men’s sports for men, and women’s sports for women.

The federal Title IX law bars discrimination based on sex in federally funded education settings. This bill would clarify that to comply with Title IX and receive federal funding… schools must base their definition of sex on biology when it comes to sports.

House Majority Leader Steve Scalise:

STEVE SCALISE: The whole intention of Title IX was to create more opportunities for women to compete in sports. And yet, it undermines the very fabric when you say a biological man can just play in a women’s sport if they choose to.

Meanwhile, North Dakota’s governor signed a law yesterday to protect minors from transgender treatment.

Wyoming abortion » The first facility to offer chemical and surgical abortion in Wyoming is now open. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN: Just under a year ago, an arson attack delayed the opening of the Wellspring center in the city of Casper. The fire caused nearly $300,000 dollars in damages.

Wyoming has several pro-life laws that have been temporarily blocked by a state judge.

Until Wellspring’s opening, only drug-induced abortions were available in Wyoming at one other facility.

Procedures are scheduled to begin at the new abortion center next week.

For WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Sudan U.S. troops » The United States is positioning its troops for a possible evacuation of its embassy in Sudan.

National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby:

JOHN KIRBY: The Pentagon did announce that they are moving forward to preposition some military forces and capabilities. Nearby, just for contingency purposes.

Two rival military groups have been fighting in Sudan for almost a week. The violence has wounded more than 300 people and injured thousands more, many of them civilians.

Leaders on both sides have refused to negotiate, and attempts at cease-fires have repeatedly failed.

Starship » SpaceX is investigating what caused one of its rockets to explode about ​​four minutes after liftoff.

Still, the company said it considered the test launch of its Starship rocket yesterday a success.

Timothee Pourpoint is an aeronautics professor at Purdue University.

TIMOTHEE POURPOINT: That’s what it takes. It takes a test, one test, to start and then a few more and eventually perfect the system.

Starship is the most powerful rocket ever built, and it is planned to be part of NASA’s Artemis moon landing mission in 2025. The nearly 400-foot craft was launched in South Texas, and flew about 24 miles before it exploded when the booster failed to completely separate from the rocket.

SpaceX says some of the craft’s engines failed during the test, which triggered the flight termination system.

5th arrested in Alabama shooting » Police in Alabama have arrested two more people in connection with a mass shooting at a 16-year-old’s birthday party. The shooting killed four people and wounded 32 more people.

Here’s what Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sgt. Jeremy Burkett told reporters earlier this week:

JEREMY BURKETT: We're going to continue to do exactly what we've been doing. We're going to be very careful with everything that we say, with everything that we do, because we absolutely are going to stay focused on the families and the victims.

Three other suspects are already in custody.

I’m Paul Butler.

Straight ahead: Katie McCoy returns for this week’s Culture Friday conversation. And George Grant considers “over-thinking” on this month’s Word Play.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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