Monday morning news - July 11, 2022

For WORLD Radio, I'm Paul Butler. 

Biden mulling public health emergency for abortion access » President Biden says he’s thinking about declaring the efforts of some states to protect unborn lives a public health emergency.

That would free up taxpayer dollars to promote abortion.

And Biden on Sunday called on pro-abortion activists to continue rallying against pro-life laws.

BIDEN: Keep protesting. Keep making your point. It’s critically important.

His remarks came two days after he signed an executive order on abortion access.

The order spelled out instructions to the departments of Justice and Health and Human Services. He wants those agencies to try and ensure access to abortion-inducing drugs and to protect women’s ability to travel across state lines to end a pregnancy.

And Vice President Kamala Harris Sunday again called for legislation to expand abortions nationally.

HARRIS: But we also need Congress to act, because that branch of government is where we actually codify, which means put into law.

But Virginia’s Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin said this matter should not be decided in Washington.

YOUNGKIN: The Supreme Court’s decision, I agree with — that this is a decision for states to make by elected officials.

Youngkin has called for legislation to protect unborn children after 15 weeks of pregnancy in Virginia.

Russia missile strikes kill 15 » In Ukraine, dozens of emergency workers dug through the rubble of three more apartment buildings on Sunday after more Russian missiles struck civilian targets.

AUDIO: [Vyatcheslav Koltsovytch speaking in Ukrainian]

The missile strike killed 15 people.

Vyatcheslav Koltsovytch with the State Emergency Service in Donetsk, says two of the buildings have partially collapsed and workers are frantically searching for survivors.

AUDIO: [Vyatcheslav Koltsovytch speaking in Ukrainian]

Donetsk governor Pavlo Kyrylenko, says the Russian missiles were truck-mounted rockets.

The residential buildings were in Chasiv Yar, a town of about 12,000 in the Donetsk region. Moscow last week suggested that Russian forces might scale back attacks for now to rest and regroup. But Ukraine’s government says the shelling from Russian forces remains relentless.

Sri Lanka » The president of Sri Lanka says he will step down next week after a public uprising over his government’s handling of the country’s economic crisis.

Protesters stormed the homes of the president and prime minister and say they don’t plan on leaving until the leaders have formally stepped aside.

Under the country’s constitution, if both leaders resign, the speaker of parliament would temporarily take over as acting president.

Lawmakers would then elect a new leader to serve the remaining two years of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s term.

Japan election » Members of Japan’s LDP party placed paper roses next to names on a wall chart at party headquarters on Sunday. Each rose indicated a victory in the upper house of Parliament. WORLD’s Josh Schumaher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: The LDP won a vast majority of seats in the upper house, giving control of the government to the party of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe was assassinated on Friday while campaigning. Police arrested a suspect at the scene.

Security was tight during the final stage of the campaign on Saturday. Candidates avoided fist-bumping or standing close to voters.

The victory will likely guarantee current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida three more years to push policy agendas, including beefing up national and reforming the country’s pacifist constitution.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

CBP clears horseback border agents of whipping accusations » Customs and Border Protection has announced that after a long investigation, they found no evidence whatsoever that border patrol agents on horseback whipped migrants at the border in the Del Rio sector.

Those accusations made big headlines last year.

But the agency is disciplining four of those agents for alleged administrative violations, working in an unsafe manner and unprofessional conduct.

Some had criticized the Biden administration for publicly treating the matter like a scandal without all the facts. And Republican GOP John Katko accused the administration of trumping up violations to save face.

KATKO: They had to do something to justify the fact that they were found innocent of the charges of strapping, whipping people. They weren’t.

Meantime, the state of Texas has begun conducting its own border enforcement operations, picking up illegal migrants within the state and returning them to the border. But it’s unclear what happens once they’re back in Border Patrol custody.

Thor: Love and Thunder tops weekend box office » At the weekend box office, another big Marvel blockbuster hits the big screen.

TRAILER: The old ex-girlfriend. What’s it been like three, four years? Eight years, seven months and six days, give or take.

Thor: Love and Thunder scored a big debut with $143 million over the weekend domestically. That’s a bit below the expectations of some, but a big opening nonetheless.

And Minions fever is still going strong. The Rise of Gru finished second with another $46 million.

I’m Paul Butler. For more news, features, and analysis, visit us at wng.org. 

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.