Wednesday morning news: May 30, 2018

NoKo official in U.S. for talks » Signs increasingly indicate the U.S.-North Korea denuclearization summit is back on. 

The White House has made no official announcement, but Senior Adviser Kellyanne Conway said U.S. officials continue to work toward that end in North Korea.

CONWAY: The president sent over two delegations, one for logistics and one for more diplomatic purposes that are on the ground making the logistic preparations for June 12th, but as the president said, if it doesn’t happen June 12th, it could happen thereafter. 

A further positive sign, senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol traveled to New York Tuesday to discuss arrangements for the proposed meeting in Singapore between President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Kim is a former military intelligence chief and serves as vice chairman of the North Korean ruling party’s central committee. 

Trump canceled the summit last week over verbal clashes with North Korea but announced Friday the summit could still take place.

Israel strikes back in Gaza » Israeli warplanes dropped bombs in central Gaza on Tuesday after militants fired more than 25 mortar shells on southern Israeli communities.

Security officials in Gaza said the bombing targeted an Islamic Jihad militant training site. It was the largest single attack since the 2014 Israel-Hamas war.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli military said it intercepted a majority of the mortar shells and reported no casualties. 

NETANYAHU: [Speaking in Hebrew]

Israeli Prime Minister said his country takes a grave view of the attacks by Hamas and Islamic Jihad from the Gaza Strip.

Pompeo announces religious rights summit » The State Department has released its annual International Religious Freedom Report. 

Among many areas of concern, the report cited persecution of Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East, as well as Myanmar’s backlash against Muslims, causing nearly 700,00 of them to flee into neighboring Bangladesh last year. 

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo used the release to announce a special summit of government and religious leaders, the first ever Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom.

POMPEO: This ministerial we expect will break new ground. It will not just be a discussion group. It will be about action. We look forward to identifying concrete ways to push back against persecution and assure greater respect for religious freedom for all. 

That international summit is set for July 25th and 6th at the State Department.

Missouri Governor Eric Greitens announces resignation » Missouri Governor Eric Greitens is resigning. The Republican governor made the announcement on Tuesday, following accusations that he took a blackmail photo of his former mistress, and an investigation into alleged campaign law violations.

Greitens said the last few months have taken a toll on his family and friends.

GREITENS: The time has come, though, to tend to those who have been wounded and to care for those who need us most. So for the moment, let us walk off the battlefield with our heads held high. 

Before the announcement, the Missouri Legislature was in special session to consider impeaching the 44 year-old Greitens. He says his resignation will take effect on Friday.

Alberto claims two lives » Meteorologists downgraded Alberto to a tropical depression Tuesday, but it still dumped heavy rain on parts of the South.

National Weather Service Meteorologist David Roth says the storm has staying power and will make its rainy presence know for days along a northward track. 

ROTH: Expect it to cross Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana and cross western Michigan on its way across southeast Ontario and into Quebec. 

Alberto has caused two deaths. A television anchorman and a photojournalist covering the storm died Monday when a tree crashed onto their vehicle in North Carolina.

Study: Thousands may have died in Puerto Rico Storm » A report in the New England Journal of Medicine says nearly 4,600 people died in Puerto Rico following last year’s Hurricane Maria.

The Puerto Rican government’s official death toll is only 64. But critics say that count doesn’t take into consideration the people who died indirectly from inadequate medical care in the storm’s aftermath. 

The report shows the death rate in Puerto Rico was significantly higher in the three months after Hurricane Maria than during the same time a year earlier.

Puerto Rico’s power grid was down for months following the storm, hampering efforts to provide critical medical services such as kidney dialysis.

SCOTUS declines Arkansas abortion law case » A loss for Planned Parenthood at the Supreme Court. WORLD Radio’s Kristen Flavin as details. 

KRISTEN FLAVIN, REPORTER: The justices declined to hear a challenge to an Arkansas law that regulates how embryo-killing, or abortifacient, pills are administered. 

That leaves in place an appeals court ruling allowing Arkansas to enforce the law. It requires doctors who provide abortion pills to hold a contract with another physician with hospital admitting privileges in case of complications. 

Planned Parenthood of Arkansas is a major provider of abortion pills, but says it cannot find any Arkansas obstetrician willing to handle hospital admissions. 

Critics of the law say it could effectively end pill-induced abortions in the state. 

Reporting for WORLD Radio, I’m Kristen Flavin.

ABC cancels “Roseanne” over racist tweet » AUDIO: Roseanne theme

ABC has canceled its hit sitcom “Roseanne,” following a racially insensitive tweet Tuesday by the show’s star, Roseanne Barr. 

“Roseanne” had been off the air for 21 years before rebooting in March. Last week the show completed a successful season in which Barr’s character supported President Trump. 

ROSEANNE: How could you have voted for him, Roseanne? He talked about jobs, Jackie. He said he’d shake things up. I mean this might come as a complete shock to you, but we almost lost our house the way things are going. 

In her tweet, Barr made reference to former Obama presidential adviser Valerie Jarrett and the movie Planet of the Apes. 

She later apologized for the tweet, but ABC said in a statement, “Roseanne’s Twitter statement is abhorrent, repugnant, and inconsistent with our values, and we have decided to cancel her show.”

I’m Jim Henry. Up next: A discussion of President Trump’s pro-life record on Washington Wednesday. And later, WORLD founder Joel Belz on leadership we deserve. This is The World and Everything in It.

(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File) In this undated file photo provided on Saturday, May 26, 2018, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspects the construction site of the Wonsan-Kalma coastal tourist area in Gangwon-do, North Korea. 

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