Speaker says U.S. House of Representatives will vote on foreign aid
Speaker Mike Johnson said he plans to Advancing long-stalled national security spending plans Aid to Israel, Ukraine and other U.S. allies will come this week, along with a bill to appease conservatives opposed to backing Kiev.
Johnson, a Republican, has been grappling for weeks over whether and how to move forward with critical aid to Ukraine, facing strong resistance from the far right in the conference. His announcement is the first concrete sign that he has chosen a path forward.
The path looks complicated. Johnson said he would piece together a legislative package that broadly mirrors, albeit in piecemeal form, the $95 billion aid bill the Senate passed two months ago. Lawmakers will vote separately on aid to allies such as Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, and then vote on another measure embodying policies popular with Republicans.
It’s unclear whether the complex strategy will succeed in the House, where Johnson has a slim caucus majority and a slim majority. Republicans are likely to try to block the package from coming to a vote, and even if they get the legislation passed, its success will depend on a complex bipartisan coalition passing it. The plan could jeopardize Johnson’s position as speaker, which is teetering under the threat of his ouster.
First day of Trump’s Manhattan trial
Former US president’s first criminal trial begins Yesterday in Manhattan, hundreds of citizens were summoned to potentially serve on a jury that will decide the fate of Donald Trump.
More than half of the first 96 potential jurors raised their hands and said they couldn’t be fair to Trump. The judge dismissed them out of hand.
The Manhattan case is one of four indictments He may be the only one of the Republican presidential candidates to go to trial before Election Day.
Trump could face up to four years in prison if convicted of falsifying records to cover up the sex scandal. He appeared in court looking alternately angry and exhausted. When he arrived, he called the case “an attack on America.” He seemed to doze off later.
For more information, Trial boosts presidential campaign Entering unknown territory; This is a glimpse inside the court and five key points From day one.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a delicate calculation. He must decide how to deal with Iran without appearing weak while trying to avoid alienating the Biden administration and other allies who have helped defend Israel despite their impatience with Netanyahu’s handling of the Gaza war.
An Israeli official briefed on cabinet discussions said the cabinet was weighing options, ranging from diplomacy to an imminent strike. But there was no immediate public statement from ministers or Netanyahu.
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The world’s coral reefs are in the throes of a global bleaching event expected to affect the largest number of coral reefs ever recorded.
Bleaching is caused by stressors, in this case extremely high ocean temperatures, which kill corals.Currently, more than 54% of the world’s coral area Experiencing bleach-level heat stress One expert said that number has increased by about 1% every week over the past year.
Salman Rushdie’s memoir explores mortality
In 2022, while the novelist Salman Rushdie was speaking at an event in New York, a knife-wielding man rushed the stage and stabbed him 10 times.
Rushdie talks about the attack in his memoir, “The Knife: Musings After an Attempted Murder,” published today, and credits his wife, poet and novelist Rachel Eliza Griffith, with helping him recover from the attack. recover from.This book differs significantly from his earlier third-person memoir “Joseph Anton” Rushdie told my colleague Sarah Lyle.
“This is not fiction,” Rushdie said. “I mean, when someone sticks a knife in you, that’s a very personal thing.”
learn more: Our critics say “knife” is “a clarifying book.” It reminds us of the threats facing the free world. “
