Wednesday morning news: August 14, 2024

U.S. approves weapons sales to Israel » The U.S. has approved $20 billion dollars in arms sales to Israel. But with the threat of an Iranian attack on Israel looming, the new weapons won’t come quickly enough to make an immediate difference.

Missiles, tank ammunition, high explosive mortars, and 50 F-15 fighter jets are among the military supplies included. But the sale is aimed at shoring up Israel for the long term, and the contracts will take years to fulfill.

Meantime, with Israel facing a possible Iranian attack and mired in a war in Gaza with Hamas, the U.S. is working to reduce conflict on all fronts. Pentagon Press Secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder…

RYDER: The U.S. remains intensely focused on de-escalating tensions in the region, while also remaining focused on securing a ceasefire as part of a hostage deal to bring all of the hostages home, and to end the war in Gaza.

The U.S. has ramped up its military resources in the Middle East this week so it’ll be ready to defend Israel against an Iranian attack.

Russia withdrawing some forces from Ukraine » The Wall Street Journal reports Russia is withdrawing some of its military forces from Ukraine so it can respond to Ukraine’s offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

A Ukrainian commander says his forces now control 390 square miles in that region.

Senators Lindsay Graham and Richard Blumenthal visited Kyiv this week to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

As he congratulated Zelenskyy for keeping his country strong during the 2.5-year war, Graham called the Kursk offensive bold, brilliant, and beautiful.

GRAHAM: They were predicting in Washington that Kyiv would fall in four days, the whole country would fall in three weeks. Well, (clears throat), they were wrong.

He added the Biden Administration needs to give Ukraine the weapons it needs to win the war.

U.S. officials didn’t say how many troops Russia is shifting away from Ukraine, and they also say they’re not sure yet how significant the move is.

MO, AZ will vote on enshrining abortion » Add Missouri and Arizona to the list of states putting abortion on the ballot this November.

In both those states, proposed constitutional amendments allowing abortion until fetal viability garnered enough signatures to go before voters in the fall.

Contrary to God’s standard that no mother has the right to take the life of her unborn child, Tori Schafer of the ACLU of Missouri told WDAF…

SCHAFER: It’s about who is in charge of your personal medical decisions. We know that Missourians, regardless of their personal feelings about abortion, want these decisions to be with women and families, not politicians.

Similar amendments will be up for a vote in at least a handful of other states this fall, including Florida, Nevada, and New York.

Indiana AG drops abortion privacy lawsuit » It’s the final chapter of a story that got a lot of attention after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. As WORLD’s Travis Kircher explains, Indiana’s attorney general has dropped a lawsuit, accusing the state’s largest hospital system of violating patient privacy.

TRAVIS KIRCHER: Last week a federal judge approved Attorney General Todd Rokita’s request to dismiss the lawsuit he filed last year.

That lawsuit accused Indiana University Heath and IU Healthcare of failing to protect the privacy rights of a 10-year-old rape victim.

That victim traveled from Ohio to Indiana to receive abortion drugs.

Her story was eventually reported by The Indianapolis Star and became a flashpoint in the abortion debate days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

The doctor who shared her story maintained that she provided no information that would have made it possible to identify the child.

Rokita’s office says he based his decision to drop the lawsuit on subsequent actions taken by IU Health to resolve the complaint.

For WORLD, I’m Travis Kircher.

SOUND: [Wind in Puerto Rico]

Ernesto ramping up, battering Caribbean » Tropical Storm Ernesto battered the northeast Caribbean, and it’s not over yet.

Forecasters say Ernesto is strengthening to a hurricane today, as the center of the storm passes just north of Puerto Rico on its way to Bermuda.

They’re warning about waves as high as 20 feet in Puerto Rico along with widespread flooding and possible landslides.

Puerto Rico Governor Pedro Pierluisi:

PIERLUISI: We are particularly warning tourists and our own population to stay away from the ocean. Ocean conditions, particularly in the north and eastern part of Puerto Rico are going to be very dangerous.

The storm sent street vendors scrambling to secure their belongings and maintain generators.

VENDOR: [SPEAKING IN SPANISH]

This street vendor says her shop is open for now. But she doesn’t know for how long.

Puerto Rico’s national guard is visiting flood-prone areas and checking on older people.

Google rolls out Pixel 9 release early » Artificial intelligence is coming to your pocket. And the race to bring it to you first is heating up.

Google rolled out its new lineup of AI-powered Pixel smartphones yesterday.

Here’s Google’s vice president of product management, Brian Rakowski:

RAKOWSKI: The new Pixel 9 phones are the only smartphones in the world built specifically to connect you to Google’s AI models, both in the data center and directly on your device. We have four new phones, including the gorgeous new Pixel 9 and the reimagined Pixel 9 Pro Fold.

The rollout comes two months earlier than expected. Analysts say that’s because Google wanted to get it to you first, before that other smartphone producer, Apple.

I’m Mark Mellinger.

Straight ahead: Why two radical House Democrats lost their primaries on Washington Wednesday. Plus, World Tour.

This is The World and Everything in It.

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.