Thursday morning news: April 25, 2024

Biden signs foreign aid » The first shipments of weapons and ammunition are already on the way to Ukraine after President Biden signed a long-awaited foreign aid package into law.

He told reporters on Wednesday:

BIDEN: I’m making sure the shipments start right away — for air defense munitions, for artillery, for rocket systems and armored vehicles.

It will be a desperately needed shot in the arm for a Ukrainian army forced back on its heels as it ran low on bullets to fire back at Russian troops.

But National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan cautioned it could get worse before it gets better.

SULLIVAN: They are still under severe pressure on the battlefield, and it is certainly possible that Russia could make additional tactical gains in the coming weeks.

Officials say it will take time to get weapons and ammunition into Ukraine and to the front lines in large enough numbers to shift the momentum in the war.

U.S. provides ATACMS to Ukraine » But Ukraine has already received one big military upgrade.

The United States weeks ago secretly provided the long-range ballistic missile systems to Kyiv known as ATACMS. Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Admiral Christopher Grady says they can disrupt Moscow’s plans in numerous ways.

GRADY: The ability of Russians to bring troop concentrations together to do any kind of counteroffensive that they may or may not be planning, the ability to get after deeply placed logistic nodes.

And Ukraine’s forces just used one of those systems to strike a deeply placed logistics hub, a military airfield in Crimea. They also targeted Russian troops in another occupied area.

Washington long resisted providing those long-range systems for fear of escalation.

SOUND: [Red Alert in Hebrew]

3. Israel 'moving ahead' with Rafah offensive » The words ‘Red Alert’ in Hebrew are broadcast in southern Gaza, followed …

SOUND: [Explosion]

… by an explosion.

The Israeli military has begun preparations to evacuate civilians ahead of a long-expected ground offensive of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Israel says the city is the last remaining Hamas stronghold and the ground operation is unavoidable.

The White House, though, opposes the planned offensive, saying it could worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.

Hamas hostage video » Meanwhile, Hamas has released video of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, a 23-year-old Israeli-American taken hostage by the terror group on October 7th.

State Department spokesman Vedant Patel says it’s a reminder of how the war began.

PATEL: It is Hamas that started this war. It’s Hamas that is continuing to hold hostages and has the ability to end it by releasing them. When it comes to this video, Hersh should be home with his family.

It’s not yet clear when the video was shot, but officials say an FBI hostage recovery unit is currently reviewing it.

University protests in U.S. and abroad » House Speaker Mike Johnson is calling on Columbia University’s president to resign if she can’t get the campus under control.

JOHNSON: Go back to class and stop the nonsense. Look, if we want to have a debate on campus about the merits of these things, let’s do that. But you can’t intimidate your fellow students and make them stay home from class.

Johnson met with Jewish students on campus, who say they fear for their safety amid ongoing protests.

Jewish leaders say some of the protests have been not just pro-Palestinian, but anti-Semitic.

The school moved classes online earlier this week with police arresting roughly 100 protesters on the Columbia campus in recent days.

And the protests have spread to campuses across the country and even around the world — as far away as Sydney, Australia.

Blinken-China » Secretary of State Tony Blinken is in China for three days of meetings with leaders of America’s top geopolitical rival.

BLINKEN:  President Biden and President Xi, when they met in San Francisco at the end of last year, agreed to cooperate to help prevent fentanyl and the ingredients that make it from getting the United States. We’ll be working on that.

But that’s just one of many thorny issues Blinken intended to tackle. Others include trade and Beijing helping to prop up Russia’s economy, taking much of the sting out of U.S. sanctions against Moscow.

And China will have a few complaints of its own, starting with the U.S. aid to Taiwan just approved in the new foreign aid package. Beijing insists the island is Chinese property.

SCOTUS Abortion » The Supreme Court is deciding whether a federal law on emergency medical treatment overrides Idaho’s protections for the unborn. WORLD’s Mark Mellinger has more.

MARK MELLINGER: The Biden Administration argues that federal statutes require hospitals that participate in Medicare to provide “necessary stabilizing treatment” anytime someone’s health is in danger.

The administration says that may include abortions, if a mother faces a health risk … even if it’s not life-threatening.

But Idaho Attorney General Raúl Labrador told reporters outside the courthouse:

Labrador: The Biden administration can't manipulate one life-affirming law in favor of another so they can override another law.

He says Idaho law already protects “the lives of every woman and every child.”

For WORLD, I’m Mark Mellinger.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Jews look to the past and the present in this year’s Passover celebrations. Plus, building warships in Mississippi.

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