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“Enraging”: Meet Abbey Crain, IVF Patient in Midst of Treatment Derailed by Alabama High Court

Reproductive health and medical groups are asking the Alabama Supreme Court to rehear the case in which the justices ruled frozen embryos should be considered children. The decision sent shockwaves through the world of reproductive medicine regarding potential effects on access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments. We speak with Abbey Crain, a journalist and artist who had been undergoing IVF treatments for nearly two years when the court made its ruling.

“The Zone of Interest”: Oscar-Nominated Film Producer on the Holocaust, Gaza & “Walls That Separate Us”

Ahead of the 96th Academy Awards, we’re joined by James Wilson, producer of the Oscar-nominated film The Zone of Interest, who raised Israel’s assault on Gaza in his BAFTA Award acceptance speech last month. The film follows the fictionalized family of real-life Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss as they live idyllically next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Narco-State: U.S.-Backed Fmr. Honduran Pres. Juan Orlando Hernández on Trial in NY for Drug Trafficking

Federal prosecutors in New York have rested their case against former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, who is accused of turning the Central American country into a narco-state. Hernández is on trial for cocaine trafficking and weapons charges and is the first former head of state to stand trial in the United States since Panamanian dictator and U.S. ally Manuel Noriega was also tried on drug charges after a U.S.-led ouster. Prosecutors accuse Hernández, a longtime U.S.

Haiti: Ariel Henry’s U.S.-Backed “Criminal Regime” Faces Gang Uprising; U.N. Set to Deploy Kenyan Police

Haiti is under a state of emergency after the country’s gangs freed thousands of people from the country’s largest prisons and are reportedly uniting to bring down Haiti’s de facto Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who has yet to return to the country since he traveled to Kenya last week to discuss a deal to bring a U.N. force of 1,000 Kenyan police to the island. “It is a desolation that we are feeling.

“Enraging”: Meet Abbey Crain, IVF Patient in Midst of Treatment Derailed by Alabama High Court

Reproductive health and medical groups are asking the Alabama Supreme Court to rehear the case in which the justices ruled frozen embryos should be considered children. The decision sent shockwaves through the world of reproductive medicine regarding potential effects on access to in vitro fertilization and other fertility treatments. We speak with Abbey Crain, a journalist and artist who had been undergoing IVF treatments for nearly two years when the court made its ruling.

Report from Rafah: U.S. Airdrops Food to Gaza While Arming Israel to Drop Bombs

The death toll from Israel’s assault on Gaza has surpassed 30,000 as health officials say at least 16 Palestinian children have died in recent days from starvation and dehydration. UNICEF is warning the number of child deaths will likely “rapidly increase” unless the war ends. As Palestinians desperately seek aid being withheld by Israel, officials have accused Israeli forces of attacking crowds gathered to retrieve the little humanitarian supplies entering the besieged territory.

“Just Being Racist”: Biden & Trump Push Anti-Immigrant Policies in Dueling Border Visits

Joe Biden and Donald Trump both visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday, where the two leading presidential candidates each pitched anti-immigration measures to further militarize the border and restrict asylum. Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked a new Texas law set to go into effect that would give police the power to arrest migrants they suspect of entering the U.S. without authorization.

Israel Kills 104 Palestinians Waiting for Food Aid as U.N. Expert Accuses Israel of Starving Gaza

In Gaza City, at least 104 Palestinian refugees were killed Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid. “This isn’t the first time people have been shot at by Israeli forces while people have been trying to access food,” says the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who accuses Israel of the war crime of intentional starvation.

Sen. Merkley: McConnell Paralyzed the Senate & Turned Supreme Court into “Far-Right Legislature”

As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announces he will step down as the Senate’s Republican leader after 17 years — the longest term in Senate history — we speak with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who says, “McConnell’s legacy has been one of obstruction.” He describes McConnell’s “aggressive” use of the filibuster, the topic of Merkley’s new book, Filibustered!: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, as having “broken the cycle in which government can function.

“Just Being Racist”: Biden & Trump Push Anti-Immigrant Policies in Dueling Border Visits

Joe Biden and Donald Trump both visited the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas on Thursday, where the two leading presidential candidates each pitched anti-immigration measures to further militarize the border and restrict asylum. Meanwhile, a federal judge blocked a new Texas law set to go into effect that would give police the power to arrest migrants they suspect of entering the U.S. without authorization.

Israel Kills 104 Palestinians Waiting for Food Aid as U.N. Expert Accuses Israel of Starving Gaza

In Gaza City, at least 104 Palestinian refugees were killed Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid. “This isn’t the first time people have been shot at by Israeli forces while people have been trying to access food,” says the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who accuses Israel of the war crime of intentional starvation.

Sen. Merkley: McConnell Paralyzed the Senate & Turned Supreme Court into “Far-Right Legislature”

As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announces he will step down as the Senate’s Republican leader after 17 years — the longest term in Senate history — we speak with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who says, “McConnell’s legacy has been one of obstruction.” He describes McConnell’s “aggressive” use of the filibuster, the topic of Merkley’s new book, Filibustered!: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, as having “broken the cycle in which government can function.

The Leader of Today’s Republican Party

Editor’s Note: Washington Week With The Atlantic is a partnership between NewsHour Productions, WETA, and The Atlantic airing every Friday on PBS stations nationwide. Check your local listings or watch full episodes here.  
The race to become the Senate’s top Republican is already under way. Mitch McConnell made the surprise announcement this week that he will step down from his role as Senate minority leader in November—ending his tenure as the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S.

Israel Kills 104 Palestinians Waiting for Food Aid as U.N. Expert Accuses Israel of Starving Gaza

In Gaza City, at least 104 Palestinian refugees were killed Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire on a crowd waiting for food aid. “This isn’t the first time people have been shot at by Israeli forces while people have been trying to access food,” says the U.N.’s special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, who accuses Israel of the war crime of intentional starvation.

Sen. Merkley: McConnell Paralyzed the Senate & Turned Supreme Court into “Far-Right Legislature”

As Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell announces he will step down as the Senate’s Republican leader after 17 years — the longest term in Senate history — we speak with Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley, who says, “McConnell’s legacy has been one of obstruction.” He describes McConnell’s “aggressive” use of the filibuster, the topic of Merkley’s new book, Filibustered!: How to Fix the Broken Senate and Save America, as having “broken the cycle in which government can function.

Clarence Thomas’ new clerk was accused of racist rhetoric. Enter right-wing revisionism

For a young law school graduate, securing a Supreme Court clerkship is like being a first-round draft pick in the NFL or NBA draft. Each of the nine justices can appoint four clerks per one-year term, and it’s a golden ticket. Former SCOTUS clerks often land at elite law firms with signing bonuses of up to $500,000, and eventually a federal judgeship, or a top academic or political position.

Some of Justice Clarence Thomas’ law clerks have gained notoriety after they left the post.

Senate Republicans kick off their food fight for next leader

The fight to succeed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is on, with the “Three Johns”—Texan John Cornyn, South Dakota’s John Thune, and Wyoming’s John Barrasso— lining up against the MAGA wing of the party to determine the future of the Republican conference. 

In the war of the Johns, Cornyn was first out of the gate to announce his bid and has been aggressively pursuing the top spot.