Tuesday morning news - May 18, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington.

Israel unleashed another wave of airstrikes as war rages on » The Israeli military unleashed another heavy wave of airstrikes Monday on the Gaza Strip. Israel said it destroyed militant tunnels and the homes of nine Hamas commanders.

Hundreds have died in the rekindled war, now in its second week.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki on Monday underscored President Biden’s stance on the conflict.

PSAKI: He conveyed—stressed the need for Hamas to stop firing rockets into Israel and affirmed, again, Israel’s right to defend itself against terrorist attacks. As I would note from the reports, there have been more than 3,000 rockets that have been shot from Hamas ...

Israel has said it will press on for now with its counter-attacks against Hamas.

The White House says it will not pressure the two sides for a cease-fire. Instead, Psaki said the State Department is working quietly but diligently behind the scenes to bring an end to the fighting.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday condemned the pressure that other global powers are putting on Israel to end the conflict. He said he rejects what he called “an obscene moral equivalence.”

MCCONNELL: To say that both sides, both sides need to de-escelate downplays the responsibility the terrorists have for initiating the conflict in the first place.

The latest attacks destroyed the five-story building housing the Hamas-run Religious Affairs Ministry. Israel said that building housed the main operations center of Hamas' internal security forces. Israeli forces also killed a top Gaza leader of a terrorist group called Islamic Jihad.

Supreme Court to take up landmark abortion case » The Supreme Court is set to hear a landmark abortion case. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: Forty-eight years ago, the nation’s highest court barred the government from protecting babies from abortion if they were too young to survive outside the womb. On Monday, the justices agreed to revisit that decision by reviewing a Mississippi law that would replace the “viability standard” with a limit on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The rule allows exceptions for severe fetal abnormalities and medical emergencies.

Pro-life advocates hailed the case as an opportunity to allow hundreds of proposed state laws protecting babies to take effect.

With the addition of three new justices during the Trump administration, the Supreme Court appears to have a solid pro-life majority. Oral arguments in the case will likely begin in the fall.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Trial date set for officer charged in Daunte Wright shooting » A Minnesota judge set a trial date Monday in the manslaughter trial of a former police officer in the fatal shooting of a black man during a traffic stop.

Kim Potter made her first court appearance on Monday via videoconference. Hennepin County District Court Judge Regina Chu ruled that the case will proceed and set a tentative trial date of Dec. 6th.

Police in Brooklyn Center in suburban Minneapolis said Potter mistakenly fired her gun instead of her taser, killing 20-year-old Daunte Wright in his car last month.

Retailers, theme parks relaxing mask requirements » Target is the latest retailer to scrap its customer mask requirements, joining several other national chains as well as major theme parks. WORLD’s Leigh Jones has that story.

LEIGH JONES, REPORTER: After the CDC relaxed its guidance on face coverings last week, several major chains now say vaccinated customers are welcome to shop mask-free.

Target announced the rule change on Monday for customers and employees except where state or local orders still require them.

Other chains relaxing mask rules include Walmart, Sam’s Club, Costco, Trader Joe’s, Publix, and Starbucks.

Disney World and Universal Studios Orlando have also announced that vaccinated guests no longer need to wear masks outdoors, unless they’re on a ride or in line for one.

All of the businesses say they’ll rely on the honor system and will not ask customers for vaccination cards.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Leigh Jones.

Biden boosting world vaccine sharing commitment to 80M doses » President Biden said Monday that the United States will share an additional 20 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines with the world in the next six weeks, boosting its vaccine sharing commitment to 80 million doses.

He said his administration will work with other democracies across the globe.

BIDEN: We’ll coordinate an multilateral effort to end this pandemic. I expect to announce progress in this area at the G-7 summit in the United Kingdom in June, which I plan on attending. This is a unique moment in history.

Biden said as soon as the country has the vaccine inventory to immunize all Americans, his administration will turn more attention to attacking the virus worldwide.

The White House hasn't yet said exactly how it will share the vaccines or which countries will receive them.

The announcement comes on top of the administration’s prior commitment to share about 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine as soon as the FDA approves it for use. To date, the U.S. has shared about 4.5 million doses of AstraZeneca shots with Canada and Mexico.

I’m Kent Covington. For more top news, along with features, and commentary, visit us online 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.