Wednesday morning news - July 14, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington. 

Republicans, Democrats clash on Texas election reform bill » The already fiery debate over new election laws heated up once again on Tuesday as Texas Democrats fled the state to block new voting laws and the White House provided political cover.

Texas House Democratic Chair Chris Turner told reporters...

TURNER: More than 50 Democratic members of the Texas House have left Texas to stop Republicans from passing the latest iteration of their voter suppression legislation.

Without a two-thirds quorum, business in the state House grinds to halt.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said as soon as those lawmakers return to Texas—quote—“They will be arrested. They will be cabined inside the Texas state capitol until they get their job done.”

ABBOTT: I can and I will continue to call special session after special session after special session all the way up until election next year. So if these people want to be hanging out wherever they’re hanging out on this taxpayer paid junket, they’re going to have to be prepared to do it for well over a year.

President Biden joined Texas Democrats Tuesday in renouncing the state elections bill.

BIDEN: Some state legislators want to make it harder for you to vote.

Democrats said the new voting rules are based on “the myth of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election.”

Republicans say Democratic pushback is based on the myth of ‘voter suppression.”

Among the new measures that state Democrats oppose is a voter ID requirement for mail-in ballots. Republicans note that ID has been required for in-person voting for years.

Inflation jumps to 13-year high » Inflation struck again in the month of June. A new report from the Labor Department showed consumer prices jumped last month by the most in 13 years.

Prices increased in June almost 1 percent from May and about 5-and-a-half percent over the past year. That’s the sharpest 12-month inflation spike since 2008.

And you leave out volatile oil and gas prices, so-called core inflation rose 4.5 percent in the past year. That is the largest increase in 30 years.

The Fed and the White House are adamant that they believe the surge of inflation is temporary.

But what if they’re wrong? That’s the question some in Washington are asking. And that could make some of President Biden’s spending plans a tougher sell.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell...

MCCONNELL: Everybody’s talking about it; in grocery stories, in manufacturing, in businesses, nursing homes. Everybody’s experiencing inflation.

Rising prices also raise the prospect that the Fed could decide to act earlier than expected to pull back on its ultra-low interest rate policies.

Wildfires torch 10 Western states » Wildfires are still roaring across 10 Western states. The blazes have torched homes and forced thousands to evacuate.

The largest of the blazes is burning in rural southwestern Oregon. The Bootleg Fire has ravaged several hundred square miles, an area more than twice the size of Portland.

Public information officer Daniel Omdal…

OMDAL: We are under extreme weather conditions. The humidity is low. The fuels are highly flammable, and all those provide conditions for significant fire activity.

The fire has so far consumed more than 20 homes and structures.

Nearly 60 wildfires tore through bone-dry timber and brush on Tuesday from Alaska to Wyoming. Arizona, Idaho and Montana accounted for more than half of the large active fires.

Cuban security forces crack down on protesters » Cuban security forces are patrolling the country's streets after public protests in cities across the country over high prices and foot shortages.

Thousands have marched this week, shouting that they want their freedom from the socialist regime.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, said the government is now engaged in a violent crackdown on demonstrators.

RUBIO: No one in Cuba has guns except the military, so why are these repressive forces walking around with these rifles and people getting shot? They’re shooting people that literally are unarmed.

The government has reportedly arrested many protestors, some of whom disrupted traffic in the capital of Havana for several hours.

Many Americans marched in Miami on Tuesday in solidarity.

AUDIO: I applaud them because they’ve reached the tipping point where they said enough is enough.

The Cuban government claims an American social media campaign is responsible for the unrest.

Death toll rises from Iraq hospital fire » In Iraq, the death toll from a fire that swept through a hospital coronavirus ward has now topped 90. WORLD’s Kristen Flavin reports.

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: Anguished relatives buried their loved ones and lashed out at the government over the country's second such disaster in less than three months.

The death toll from the incident now stands at 92 according to Iraq’s state news agency. And health officials said scores of others were injured in the blaze that erupted Monday at al-Hussein Teaching Hospital in Nasiriyah.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi convened an emergency meeting and ordered the suspension and arrest of the health director in the province, the hospital director and the city's civil defense chief.

The government also launched an investigation into the cause of the fire.

In April, at least 82 people died in a fire at a Baghdad hospital that broke out when an oxygen tank exploded.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kristen Flavin.

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

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