| Here are the top stories at the start of the weekend: - Trump clarifies his position on IVF treatments after Alabama's state Supreme Court rules frozen embryos are unborn children
- Western leaders, including the President of the European Commision, the Prime Minister of Canada, and the President of Italy, visit Kyiv two years to the day after the start of the invasion.
- Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State clearly indicates that the Biden administration considers settlements in the occupied West Bank to be illegal under international law
- The Odysseus lunar lander, which was previously announced to have landed successfully on the moon, "caught a foot" and tipped over during landing on Friday.
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| 1 | | Former U.S. President Donald Trump has clarified his position concerning IVF, pledging "strong support" for the legality of the procedure. The stand comes in response to the Alabama state Supreme Court's ruling that frozen embryos would be considered "unborn children" in the state last week. More: - The state Supreme Court ruling prompted multiple IVF clinics in Alabama to stop providing services, leading to a dramatic drop in IVF availability in the state.
- University of Alabama at Birmingham Hospital, the largest hospital in Alabama, announced on Friday that it will no longer ship frozen embryos inside or outside the state.
- "We want to make it easier for mothers and fathers to have babies, not harder! That includes supporting the availability of fertility treatments like IVF in every state in America," wrote Trump on social media.
- In response, U.S. President Joe Biden released a statement blaming Trump for the problems with IVF treatments in Alabama.
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| 3 | | Today marks the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an occasion that several Western leaders traveled to Kyiv to mark. Dignitaries including Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission President, Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada, and Giorgia Meloni, President of Italy, arrived in the city for meetings and to show solidarity. More: - Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022 after moves such as the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and providing covert support for separatist forces in Ukraine's east.
- Estimates have placed the number of civilian deaths in Ukraine at over 10,000 since the start of the invasion, while military deaths on both sides remain undisclosed.
- "More than ever we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally. Until the country is finally free," wrote von der Leyen on X after arriving in the city.
- "Remembering what Ukrainians have already done, you know that we can definitely do it. We are capable. We will succeed," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in a speech.
Zoom out: - Commentators around the world have also responded to the second anniversary with thoughts about the future development of the conflict, with many continuing to react to the Ukrainian withdrawal from Avdiivka last week.
- In the New York Times, Steven Erlanger and David E. Sanger write, "With the setbacks, and the failure of the Ukrainian counteroffensive, hope has just about collapsed that President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia will conclude anytime soon that he can make no further gains and should enter a serious negotiation to end the war."
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| 4 | | Anthony Blinken, the U.S. Secretary of State, said any new Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank would be "inconsistent with international law." His statement at a press conference in Buenos Aires marked a clear return to the longstanding U.S. policy on West Bank settlements, which former President Trump and his Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, departed from during his time in office. More: - Blinken's statement comes in response to an announcement that more than 3300 new settlements for Israeli citizens will be built in the West Bank.
- The West Bank was first occupied by Israel in 1967 during the Six-Day War. The Geneva Convention prohibits transferring a country's population to territory it occupies, and multiple international bodies, including the United Nations and the International Court of Justice, have found that Israel is in violation of the agreement.
- "Our administration maintains firm opposition to settlement expansion. In our judgment it only weakens, not strengthens Israel's security," said Bliken.
Zoom out: - Earlier in his Latin America trip, Blinken confronted Brazilian President Lula about his recent comments that labeled Israeli actions in Gaza as genocide and compared them to the actions of Nazi Germany during the Holocaust.
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| 5 | | After announcing a successful touchdown of their lunar lander on Thursday, U.S. space company Intuitive Machines said the lander had "caught a foot" and tipped onto its side during landing. The company's initial announcement had specified that the lander was "upright" on the lunar surface. More: - The lander, named Odysseus, still has functioning instruments and is maintaining communications with Earth. Intuitive Machines' CEO made clear that the craft's solar panels were oriented towards the sun and generating energy on Friday.
- Odysseus was the first U.S. craft to achieve a "soft landing" on the moon since 1972, and the first-ever such landing by a commercial enterprise.
- Reactions to the botched landing have emphasized the successful aspects of the mission, with U.S. President Joe Biden praising the NASA and Intuitive Machines team.
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| 6 | | French farmers disrupted an agricultural fair in Paris on Saturday, clashing with police, ahead of a planned visit by French President Macron. Farmer's protests have become more commonplace over the past months in Europe as a variety of frustrations drive the actions. More: - Farmers also protested in France earlier this month, using tractors to block highways and dumping manure on city streets.
- Those protests stopped after French policymakers announced a series of concessions to the farmer's demands, including making it easier to build reservoirs and compensating farmers when crops are lost to disease.
- Several issues are motivating the protests across the European Union, including the increased import of cheap grain from Ukraine and bureaucratic demands stemming from EU regulations.
- Many commentators have speculated that European farmers could form a large voting block for right-wing and eurosceptic parties in the EU elections later this year.
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 | Writer | | Adrian Pecotic is a Canadian writer and journalist. He has an MA in Philosophy from Georgia State University, and has written for outlets including NBC News, Foriegn Policy, and Psychology Today. | | This newsletter was edited by Megan LaBruna | |
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