Tuesday morning news: April 16, 2024

House foreign aid funding » House Speaker Mike Johnson is making another push to approve foreign aid funding for U.S. allies. But after previous efforts failed, he’s shifting strategy. He told reporters last night …

JOHNSON: What I presented to the conference tonight is our play call on this. What we’ll do is bring to the House floor independent measures. We will vote on each of these measures separately.

The House is expected to vote on four separate measures, including aid packages for Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan.

A small group of Republicans scuttled a bill that would have funded aid for several U.S. allies at the same time.

He’s now hoping to squeeze the separate measures through the House’s political divides on foreign policy one at a time.

SOUND: [Iran protesters]

Israel Iran-response latest » Demonstrators in Iran chanting ‘Death to Israel’ as they celebrated an unprecedented direct attack over the weekend.

More than 300 Iranian missiles and drones rained down on the Jewish state. Israeli defenses were able to shoot down 99 percent of the incoming threats.

And Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi declared …

HALEVI: Iran will face the consequences for its actions. We will choose our response accordingly.

But some world leaders, including President Biden, are urging Israel not to strike back militarily for fear of a larger Middle East war.

BIDEN: We're committed to a cease fire that will bring the hostages home and preventing conflict from spreading beyond what it already has.

But Republicans say the White House is sending mixed messages. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Monday …

KIRBY: This is an Israeli decision to make, whether and how they’ll respond to what they did on Saturday, and we’re gonna leave it squarely with them.

Hamas rejects cease-fire » But some officials within the Israeli government also worry that striking Iran right now might mean taking the eye off the ball in Gaza.

Some Israeli leaders say destroying Hamas must remain the focus.

The terror group has rejected the latest ceasefire proposal drawing condemnation from U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

SUNAK: The conflict in Gaza must end. Hamas, which is backed by Iran, started this war. It is Israel's right, and indeed its duty, to defeat the threat from Hamas terrorists and defend its security.

Sunak also called for the world to invest in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Trump criminal lawsuit » The first ever criminal trial of a U.S. president is underway in New York City.

Jury selection began on Monday.

Prosecutors charge that Donald Trump falsified business records to cover up hush-money payments allegedly paid to cover up an extramarital affair. Trump says that encounter never happened. And he told reporters at the courthouse:

TRUMP: This is political persecution. This is a persecution like never before. Nobody’s ever seen anything like it. And again, it’s a case that should have never been brought.

The former president is facing 34 criminal counts.

He plans to testify in his own defense, but he won’t be allowed to talk about it publicly after a judge issued a gag order in the case.

Supreme Court Idaho trans protections » Idaho’s law protecting children from transgender treatments will stand, at least for now after a Supreme Court ruling on Monday. WORLD's Mark Mellinger has more.

MARK MELLINGER: Under the law, passed last year, physicians could spend up to a decade behind bars if they prescribe cross-gender hormones, puberty blockers, and other potential life-altering treatments to kids.

The liberal activist group, the ACLU convinced a court to temporarily block the law. But Idaho’s attorney general challenged the injunction, calling it too broad.

Five of the high court’s justices agreed, and will let the law stand while the injunction is appealed.

Under the court’s order, however, this ban will not affect the two teenagers who initially challenged it.

Looking ahead, the Supreme Court has yet to announce if it’ll consider the Biden administration’s challenge to a similar law in Tennessee.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Mark Mellinger.

Pakistan rain kills nearly 50 people » Authorities in Pakistan have declared a state of emergency after severe weather killed at least 49 people over the past few days.

Heavy rains have caused dozens of houses to collapse in the country’s northwest. And lightning struck several farmers as they harvested wheat.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said in televised remarks that he had ordered authorities to deliver aid and other relief to devastated areas.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: the logjam in federal financial aid. Plus, ice carving in Alaska.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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