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The Daily Briefing

YOUR MORNING NEWS ROUNDUP

Tue Jul 18 2023

Nicole Fallert | Newsletter Writer

@nicolefallert

A Biden-Netanyahu reset?

U.S Vice President Joe Biden hands over a pen to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after their meeting at the Prime Minister's residence in Jerusalem, Tuesday, March 9, 2010.

Protests over legal reforms underscore US-Israel relations.

President Joe Biden welcomes Israeli President Isaac Herzog to the White House Tuesday amid ongoing concern about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's controversial plans to overhaul the country's judicial system. Also in the news: Abortion is legal again in Iowa (for now) and famous faces are picketing in Hollywood.

🙋🏼‍♀️ I'm Nicole Fallert, Daily Briefing author. Watch as this hairstylist-turned-butterfly-savior witnesses clusters of Monarchs in flight.

Now, here we go with Tuesday's news.

Israeli president at the White House, Netanyahu gets invitation

One day before Israeli President Isaac Herzog's White House visit Tuesday, President Joe Biden invited the country's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to the U.S. later this year in a move to address the troubled friendship between the longtime allies.

Tensions between Biden and Netanyahu have hit a critical point, driven in part by the months-long crisis in Israel over justice measures that will weaken the country's Supreme Court.

•	Netanyahu's judicial overhaul agenda has fueled months of demonstrations. A massive protest erupted in Tel Aviv over the weekend after the Knesset cleared a key hurdle last week to write the reforms into law.
•	The prime minister's office said Netanyahu spoke to Biden about the legislation he hopes to pass next week and his intention to gain public support for the overhaul by the summer recess.
•	But Tuesday began with fresh protests from Israelis who blocked highways and gathered outside Tel Aviv's stock exchange and military headquarters in the latest "day of disruption."

Israelis protest against plans by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to overhaul the judicial system in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

Oded Balilty, AP

Georgia court rejects Trump request to bar state from prosecuting him

Georgia's Supreme Court has rejected a request from former President Donald Trump to prevent officials from prosecuting him over his efforts to overturn his loss in the state's 2020 presidential election tally. The court unanimously refused a push from Trump's attorneys filed last week that argued a special grand jury report should be discarded and that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be halted from seeking charges. The state Supreme Court in its ruling this week said Trump's filing didn't have "the facts or the law necessary to mandate Willis's disqualification by this Court at this time on this record." Read more

•	Can Trump delay trials until after 2024 election?

More news to know now

•	Russia has pulled out of a Ukraine grain deal. What does that mean for food supply and prices?
•	More Americans have been rejected for loans just as they may be feeling tapped out.
•	An American woman kidnapped in Mexico has been released after eight months.
•	South Korea's death toll grows to at least 40 after experiencing the heaviest rain in decade.
•	On today's 5 Things podcast, hear about efforts to stop the flow of fentanyl across the border. Listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your smart speaker.

What's the weather today? Check your local forecast here.

Judge temporarily blocks Iowa's 'fetal heartbeat' law

Abortion is again legal in Iowa for up to 20 weeks of pregnancy after a Polk County judge temporarily blocked a law amid pending legal challenges. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed the "fetal heartbeat" law Friday afternoon, effectively banning nearly all abortions after doctors detect cardiac activity in the embryo. Abortion providers and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa sued last week, alleging that the law violates Iowans' inalienable rights and their rights to due process and equal protection under the Iowa Constitution. Now one of the questions in the current case is whether abortion merits additional protections under the Iowa Constitution. Read more

•	Pence supports banning abortions for nonviable pregnancies, backing stricter laws than his GOP rivals.

FDA approves new RSV drug

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug aimed at protecting infants and toddlers from respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV. The new drug called Beyfortus is the first of its kind likely to be widely available to everyone up to 24 months of age beyond a small population of immunocompromised children. The new drug prevents RSV lower respiratory tract disease in infants and children entering or during their first RSV season and is the second monoclonal antibody on the market. In the U.S., about 58,000 children younger than 5 are hospitalized for RSV each year and several hundred die. Read more

•	CDC report: People and animals are increasingly getting sick from toxic algae.

Just for subscribers:

•	Ohio is spending $1 million on eclipse security for 2024. What is it for?
•	''Recipe for death'': Record temps and U.S. policies contribute to migrant deaths on the border.
•	''The closest I've been to him'': 80 years later, a fallen soldier at last comes home.
•	American Annihilation: U.S. families face a unique danger – murder from within.

These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here.

CSU, nation's largest university system, mishandled claims

A constellation of failures at California State University contributed to the widespread mishandling of sexual misconduct claims and an erosion of trust among students, faculty and staff at the nation's largest four-year public university system, according to a written report released Monday by the law firm Cozen O'Connor. The report caps a yearlong, systemwide assessment of the university's Title IX practices, as well as its handling of discrimination, harassment and retaliation. It was commissioned by the school's Board of Trustees in March 2022 in response to an exclusive USA TODAY investigation which revealed how then-CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro ignored sexual harassment, bullying and retaliation complaints against a senior administrator. Read more

•	What to expect in the trial of Scott Shaw, a trainer accused of sexual abuse of San Jose State athletes.

Quick hits

•	Margot Robbie never thought she'd have ''empathy for a doll.'' Then she made ''Barbie.''
•	Taylor Swift has more No. 1 albums than any other woman in history.
•	An Australian sailor and dog were rescued after three months lost at sea.
•	An 1879 Lake Superior shipwreck was accidentally discovered by a Discovery Channel TV series.
•	There's a Sriracha hot sauce shortage — here's where to buy and substitutes to try.

Photo of the day: SAG-AFTRA takes to the picket lines

Famous faces joined fellow SAG-AFTRA members on the picket line Monday in New York and Los Angeles to support the striking actors' union. Kevin Bacon, who was among the recognizable faces picketing outside Viacom headquarters in New York, said his presence was about "seeing people out here and being aware that not all actors are super high paid actors, that they are working class people who are trying to make a living." Read more

Actor Kevin Bacon carries a sign on a picket line outside Paramount in Times Square on Monday, July 17, 2023, in New York.

Charles Sykes, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Nicole Fallert is a newsletter writer at USA TODAY, sign up for the email here. Want to send Nicole a note? Shoot her an email at NFallert@usatoday.com or follow along with her musings on Twitter. Support journalism like this – subscribe to USA TODAY here.

Associated Press contributed reporting.