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 Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty ImagesKHARKIV, Ukraine—After months of infighting on Capitol Hill, President Joe Biden has finally been able to sign off on a huge new $61 billion military aid bill for Ukraine. Delays to the bill, which got bogged down in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, were widely blamed for impacting Kyiv's ability to defend itself from Russian advances.
After its passage last week, some members of the House waved Ukrainian flags while others cheered in celebration that Ukraine will soon receive new weapons ahead of Russia's expected counteroffensive. Signing it into law at a White House ceremony on Wednesday, Biden promised the arms shipments would begin immediately and hailed what he called "a good day for world peace."
The reaction here, near the front lines of the war, felt very different.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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The $6.1 billion for Micron, to shore up the domestic supply of semiconductors, comes after a key union endorsement and passage of an aid bill central to the president's foreign policy agenda.
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In one meeting, Biden and others sprang a surprise effort to persuade Speaker Johnson to pass the aid package
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 Hannah McKayHamas released a video of American-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin on Wednesday, as Israel's brutal military campaign in Gaza passes its two hundredth day, with dozens of hostages still missing.
Goldberg-Polin was among those in attendance at the Nova Music Festival, only a few miles away from Israel's border with Gaza. In the video, Goldberg-Polin is missing his left hand and arm below the elbow, which is consistent with a report that his arm was blown off while trying to throw grenades out of a bunker while he and other attendees hid from insurgents.
While the video is undated, Goldberg-Polin said that he'd been abandoned by the Israeli government for "almost 200 days." As of Wednesday, the hostages were kidnapped 201 days ago.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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The bipartisan bill includes $60.8 billion for Ukraine; $26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza; and $8.1 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
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 Reuters/Paul MorigiRep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-NJ) died Wednesday, succumbing to complications from a heart attack he suffered earlier this month, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday. He was 65.
Payne had been unconscious since his heart attack on April 6, which his office said stemmed from diabetes.
He was in the middle of his sixth term in Congress, representing Newark and parts of Essex, Hudson, and Union Counties.
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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 CNNHouse Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA), speaking to CNN right after his cold reception by pro-Palestine Columbia University student protesters, said he wasn't surprised by the situation, since he was there to essentially issue a reprimand.
Johnson told Erin Burnett that he and the other Republican lawmakers who joined him on campus had a message for the students.
"I'm not surprised that they didn't welcome our visit, because we're calling out their activities," Johnson said. "The point we tried to make today is that this is not who we are as Americans. This is not an expression of the First Amendment. This is not an exchange of ideas. This is threats and intimidation of violence against Jewish students for who they are, for their faith, and that's a terrible trend that's going on in the country right now."
Read more at The Daily Beast.
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U.S. aid to Taiwan, a new TikTok law, and Beijing's ties with the Kremlin are at the forefront of this week's visit.
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Assistance for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan is paired with legislation to impose fresh rounds of sanctions on Iran and Russia and a measure that could lead to a ban on TikTok in the United States.
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