Axios

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) said Thursday that Ukraine will not receive any more funding if Republicans retake control of Congress in the upcoming midterm elections, per the Hill.

Driving the news: "Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine," Greene said at a Trump rally in Iowa. "Our country comes first."

North Korea fired four short-range ballistic missiles from its west coast Saturday, further escalating tension with the U.S. and South Korea, per AP.

Driving the news: The missiles flew about 80 miles into the country’s western sea around noon local time, AP reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed civilian evacuations in the Kherson region as Russia seems to be preparing to retreat from the area, Reuters reports.

Why it matters: This is the first time Putin has publically endorsed evacuations from the city.

Deaths caused by alcohol increased 26% during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Friday shows.

The big picture: That’s the highest rate recorded in at least 40 years, the study’s lead author, Merianne Spencer, said per AP.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with Chinese leaders in Beijing on Friday, and raised the war in Ukraine, increasing tensions between Beijing and Taiwan, and human rights abuses in Xinjiang, but focused largely on business with China.

The big picture: Scholz's trip to China, the first among EU leaders since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, has raised concerns among his coalition partners and other EU members that it could send a confusing signal about how Europe's largest economy plans to deal with Beijing, as the bloc increasingly toughens its stance on China.

The Biden administration announced a new $400 million military assistance package for Ukraine on Friday.

The big picture: The U.S. has now committed more than $18.2 billion in security aid to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion earlier this year, per the U.S. Department of Defense.

The new round of efforts to slow China's access to semiconductor technology the U.S. announced last month went further than many people expected. And the Biden Administration isn't slowing down, with more restrictions seen as likely.

Why it matters: The tech industry once drove a wider movement to tie the world's economies together. Now it's becoming a victim of larger forces that are tearing them apart.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said about 4.5 million residents were temporarily without power on Thursday night due to Russian military attacks.

Of note: That number equates to over 10% of Ukraine's pre-war population.