Friday morning news: April 7, 2023

Rockets fired at Israel » Israeli rockets slammed the Gaza Strip overnight after militants fired a barrage of rockets into Israel on Thursday. 

In a televised address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "I made it very clear that our enemy shouldn’t test us.”

Israeli officials say militants fired 34 rockets from southern Lebanon yesterday. The country’s aerial defense system shot down 25 of them.

Lebanese officials say the rockets originated in a region controlled by the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

House subpoenas former Manhattan DA » House Republicans are investigating Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg for what they say is a politically motivated prosecution of former President Trump. And they’re calling a key witness. WORLD’s Josh Schumcher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan has subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz to testify. Pomerantz led the Manhattan DA’s probe into the former president’s finances. He wanted prosecutor Alvin Bragg to file charges against the president sooner and resigned last year in protest of what he considered an unacceptable delay.

Jordan’s committee said “Pomerantz’s public statements about the investigation strongly suggest that Bragg’s prosecution of Trump is politically motivated.”

Jordan’s committee says Bragg is trying to interfere in a federal election. Bragg charges that federal lawmakers are wrongly wading into a state’s legal matter.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Biden review of Afghanistan » The Biden administration says the deadly and chaotic troop pullout from Afghanistan was former President Donald Trump’s fault.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby spoke to reporters Thursday about the findings of an internal review.

JOHN KIRBY: While it was always the president’s intent to end that war, it is also undeniable that decisions made and the lack of planning done by the previous administration significantly limited options available to him.

The White House released a 12-page summary of its review, which takes little responsibility for its own actions.

President Biden ordered the withdrawal, which took place in August of 2021, seven months after Trump left office.

Former President Trump set the wheels in motion for the pullout, but Republicans note that Biden never hesitated to reverse other Trump policies. And they say Trump cannot be blamed for the disastrous handling of the withdrawal.

Bill Roggio with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said failures in Afghanistan span multiple administrations.

BILL ROGGIO: But President Biden should not be pointing the finger at President Trump.

Thirteen US service members and more than 100 Afghans were killed at the Kabul airport as the American military left.

TN House » Political drama in Tennessee where the Republican majority in the state House has voted to expel two Democratic lawmakers from the legislature.

They voted to oust Rep. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson after they broke House rules with an unruly protest in the well of the chamber.

Jones heard there shouting into a bullhorn as gun control activists joined in. That followed a mass shooting last month at a Christian school in Nashville.

A third Demcoratic lawmaker who participated in the protest survived a vote to remove her.

Republicans says the move was a response to serious misconduct. Critics charge it was political retaliation.

Idaho abortion » In Idaho, a new law protects unborn children and pregnant minors from abortion trafficking. WORLD’s Lillian Hamman has more.

LILLIAN HAMMAN, REPORTER: Idaho Governor Brad Little signed the first law against abortion trafficking this week.

Under the law, an adult could get two to five years in prison for helping a minor cross state lines to get an abortion or obtain abortion pills. Parents can also sue that adult with some exceptions.

Planned Parenthood says the law may violate the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees interstate travel.

The law only affects the in-state segment of the trip to an out-of-state abortion provider.

A court case over whether doctors can refer patients for out-of-state abortions might have an effect on the new abortion trafficking law.

For WORLD, I’m Lillian Hamman.

France protests » Protesters in France are renewing their call for President Emmanuel Macron to scrap his new pension bill which raises the national retirement age from 62 to 64.

French labor union representative Sophie Binet said Macron cannot govern against the opinion of the people. Talks between union leaders and the government were unsuccessful on Wednesday.

The government says the change is necessary to keep the pension fund from going broke.

Macron pushed the bill through parliament without a vote last month.

I'm Kent Covington. 

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet. Plus, answering the question, why is the news so heavy? This is The World and Everything in It.

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