Tuesday morning news: June 11, 2024

AUDIO: 14 votes in favor, 0 votes against. The draft resolution has been adopted.

UN resolution, Blinken » The U.N. Security Council on Monday overwhelmingly approving a Gaza cease-fire proposal put forward by the United States.

Russia abstained from the vote but didn’t block it.

U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield:

GREENFIELD:  Hamas can now see that the international community is united, united behind a deal that will save lives and help Palestinian civilians in Gaza start to rebuild and heal.

The White House says Israel has already signed off on the deal, which would be rolled out in three phases.

The first phase includes a complete and immediate cease-fire including the release of some hostages still held by Hamas.

GREENFIELD:  In the second phase, upon agreement of the parties, there would be a permanent end to hostilities in exchange for the release of all other hostages still in Gaza and a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

And phase three would include a multi-year reconstruction plan for Gaza with Hamas returning the remains of all deceased hostages.

UN vote reaction » Secretary of State Tony Blinken has returned to the Middle East and is urging regional governments to apply pressure to Hamas to accept the deal.

BLINKEN: If you want a cease-fire press Hamas to say yes. If you want to alleviate the terrible suffering of Palestinians in Gaza, press Hamas to say yes. If you want to get all the hostages home, press Hamas to say yes.

Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan said there’s reason to doubt whether an enduring cease-fire is possible long-term …

HASSAN: In the past, as you know, Hamas has broken cease-fires, uh, and, uh, not, uh, complied with their end of the agreement. It's imperative, though, uh, that we continue to work to get this negotiated ceasefire, get more hostages back, get that critical humanitarian aid into Gaza.

SOUND: [Hostage rescue]

Hostage rescue » And Israeli Defense Forces have released dramatic new footage of a hostage rescue mission over the weekend that brought four Israelis home.

SOUND: [Hostage rescue]

Israeli troops heard there bursting into an apartment building in central Gaza and engaging Hamas militants in a firefight.

Orit Meir, the mother of one of the hostages, told reporters yesterday she didn’t believe the news at first. Until she went to the hospital to see her son.

MEIR: I screamed, I was so happy and all the people gathered around me and we went to the room, we packed and we came home and they sang 'Am Israel Chai, am Israel Chai' (the people of Israel are alive) and they danced there, all the people around me. It was so…so excited.

The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry claims more than 270 Palestinians died amid that rescue operation.

Al-Jazeera denies reporter affiliation » Meanwhile, the Al Jazeera news network is denying claims that one of its reporters was hiding hostages in his home. Journalist Abdullah Al-Jamal died in the raid.

Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem bureau chief issued a statement saying that Al-Jamal has never worked for the outlet. But the Israeli Defense Forces call him a Hamas terrorist and posted a screenshot of what they say is Al-Jamal’s reporter bio taken from Al Jazeera’s website.

Ukraine strikes/F-16s at foreign bases » Moscow has renewed its warning that it could attack bases inside NATO countries if they’re housing F-16s for Ukraine. WORLD’s Mark Mellinger has more.

MARK MELLINGER: Four NATO allies are set to provide over 60 F-16s in the coming months. And Ukraine says it may store some of those jets in NATO countries to protect them from Russian strikes.

But a key member of Russia’s parliament is parroting previous threats from Vladimir Putin that any bases hosting Ukrainian jets could become legitimate targets for Moscow’s forces.

Meanwhile, Ukraine has, for the first time, successfully struck Russia's most advanced fighter jet hundreds of miles behind the front lines in Russia.

The attack on the Su-57 fighter comes after Ukraine’s allies gave the green light to use Western long-range weapons for limited cross-border defensive strikes.

For WORLD, I’m Mark Mellinger.

Apple enters AI race » Apple is diving into the AI race, teaming up with OpenAI’s ChatGPT to create “Apple Intelligence.” That means big technology updates are coming soon to Apple products.

The company says among the new features, Siri will be smarter and more useful and users will be able to create their own custom emojis.

AUDIO: Simply type in a description of the emoji you want. How about a smiley face with cucumber eyes, or something random, like a squirrel DJ?

Sound there from the company’s rollout video. The new features will arrive in free software updates to iPhones, iPads, and Macs this fall.

Apple’s trying to catch up to early AI leaders Microsoft and Google.

Hunter Biden trial » Members of a jury in Delaware are huddling behind closed doors this morning working to reach a verdict in Hunter Biden’s federal trial on firearms charges. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN: Lawyers for both sides wrapped up closing arguments on Monday.

The defense rested without calling Hunter Biden to the stand.

Defense attorney Abbe Lowell said the prosecution did not prove its claims that Hunter lied on a firearms purchase form when he said he was not using illegal drugs. And Lowell told jurors that they had Hunter’s “life in [their] hands.”

But Prosecutor Derek Hines told the jury, “You don’t have his life in your hands. Was he an addict? Did he know he was an addict when he filled out that form?”

He added that “Choices have consequences and that’s why we’re here.”

For WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Activist shareholders pressure Google to suppress pro-life clinics. Plus, getting a job after jail time.

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