Wednesday morning news - May 19, 2021

For WORLD Radio, I'm Kent Covington.

Gaza-fired rocket kills two in southern Israel as fighting continues » A rocket launched from Gaza killed two people in southern Israel on Tuesday.

That attack came as Israeli counter-attacks continue.

SOUND: AIRSTRIKE NATS

An airstrike Tuesday toppled a six-story building in the Gaza Strip.

SOUND: PROTEST NATS

Palestinians in the region staged a general strike in protest of Israeli military assaults. Dozens of Palestinians protested outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem's Old City before Israeli police fired water cannons and used other non-lethal force to disperse the crowd.

And violence erupted at protests in the West Bank. One protester was killed in clashes with Israeli troops. Two Israeli soldiers sustained gunshot wounds.

Global pressure is intensifying on Israel to wind down the fighting, including from the European Union. But Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijjarto told reporters Tuesday,

SZIJJARTO: You know, I have a general problem with these European statements on Israel. They are usually pretty biased. They do not put into consideration the security concerns of Israel and the Israeli people.

Since Gaza’s Hamas triggered the military conflict with rocket attacks more than a week ago, the Israeli military has launched hundreds of airstrikes targeting Hamas infrastructure and militants, but civilians are also among the dead.

Palestinian militants have now fired more than 3,000 rockets at civilian targets in Israel.

Some 200 people have died in the fighting.

McCarthy opposes commission to probe Jan. 6th Capitol » House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy said Tuesday that he won’t support a proposal to form an independent commission to study the Jan. 6 Capitol siege. WORLD’s Anna Johansen Brown has more.

ANNA JOHANSEN BROWN, REPORTER: McCarthy and other Republicans have pushed to have any such commission also investigate other violent acts ... including protests last summer in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.

McCarthy said the commission would be “duplicative and potentially counterproductive,” given the “shortsighted scope that does not examine interrelated forms of political violence in America.”

McCarthy's opposition all but ensures this week’s vote on the bipartisan bill to form the panel will have less Republican support in the House, and dims its chances in the evenly divided Senate.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Anna Johansen Brown.

Prosecutor says police shooting of Andrew Brown justified » A North Carolina prosecutor said Tuesday that sheriff’s deputies were justified in fatally shooting Andrew Brown Jr.

District Attorney Andrew Womble said Brown used his car as a “deadly weapon,” causing Pasquotank County deputies to use deadly force.

WOMBLE: Brown engaged in dangerous, felony level misconduct as he attempted to flee from law enforcement officers. The decision to flee, which Brown made on his own, quickly escalated the situation from a show of force to an employment of force.

Officers were serving drug-related search and arrest warrants on April 21st. Deputies approached Brown’s car with weapons drawn and ordered him to get out.

Womble said a deputy who tried to open Brown's car door was jerked over the hood when the car backed up, and the deputy's body was struck by the vehicle. That’s when deputies opened fire.

He said officers were already on high alert when they arrived based on Brown’s record, which includes convictions for resisting arrest.

WOMBLE: Additionally, Mr. Brown has assault, assault with the deadly weapon, and assault inflicting serious injury convictions.

While authorities have shown footage of the incident to Brown’s family, a judge has so far refused to release the video publicly because he didn’t want to harm an investigation.

Brown’s family released a statement calling Womble’s decision “both an insult and a slap in the face.”

Study shows Moderna, Pfizer vaccines still effective against variants » A new study shows that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines remain highly effective against coronavirus variants.

Researchers took blood samples from people who were fully vaccinated with one of those vaccines. They then exposed the samples to engineered particles that contained mutations found in major variants of the virus.

Chief medical advisor to President Biden, Dr. Anthony Fauci highlighted the study on Tuesday.

FAUCI: Individuals who are vaccinated with the MRNA, including elderly individuals, maintained binding and functional antibodies again against a wide range of variants.

Members of the task force said studies are ongoing to determine the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for younger children … and officials will likely have enough data to make a determination by the end of the year.

Monthly child tax credits begin in July » Most American families with children can expect to see a monthly bump in their bank accounts starting next month.

Speaking from the White House this week, President Biden announced,

BIDEN: On July 15th and the 15th of every month thereafter throughout the year, you will get deposited in your bank account half of your tax cut, at least $250 per child each month, a direct deposit into your account.

It’s actually a tax credit.

Most American parents will qualify for the child tax credit. For each child under 6 years old, qualified families will receive up to $300 per month. Between the ages of 6 and 17, each child will receive up to $250 per month.

The payments were included in the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

I’m Kent Covington. For more top news, along with features, and analysis, 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.