News Wrap: Israel's Supreme Court says military must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men

In our news wrap Tuesday, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled the military must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men for mandatory service, Kenya’s president vowed to maintain calm after protesters stormed the nation’s parliament, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for two Russian officials and a New York judge partially lifted the gag order on Donald Trump from his hush money trial.

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Amna Nawaz: In the day’s other headlines: Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the military must draft ultra-Orthodox Jewish men for mandatory service. The unanimous decision ends decades of broad exemptions.

It also deals a political blow to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing coalition, which had long objected to this move. And it comes as Netanyahu’s defense minister, Yoav Gallant, is in Washington for meetings with Pentagon officials.

As the war grinds on in Gaza and fighting between Israeli forces and Lebanon-based Hezbollah intensifies, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said diplomacy is key to avoiding a second front.

Lloyd Austin, U.S. Secretary of Defense: Hezbollah’s provocations threaten to drag the Israeli and Lebanese people into a war that they do not want. Such a war would be a catastrophe for Lebanon and it would be devastating for innocent Israeli and Lebanese civilians.

Amna Nawaz: In the meantime, U.N. officials told Israel they will suspend aid operations in Gaza unless urgent steps are taken to protect humanitarian workers on the ground.

Kenya’s president has vowed to maintain calm — quote — “at whatever cost” after protesters stormed the nation’s Parliament today. Frustrations boiled over as legislators passed a finance bill that imposes new taxes. Television cameras that followed the protesters inside showed the seat of government ransacked and vandalized.

Outside, police fired live ammunition and hurled tear gas to disperse the crowds. Health officials say at least five people were killed. Both the U.S. State Department and United Nations have condemned the violence.

The International Criminal Court in the Netherlands issued arrest warrants today for two Russian officials. Former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and military Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov are charged with war crimes for targeting Ukrainian power plants. The pair are unlikely to be detained, as Russia doesn’t recognize the court’s jurisdiction.

Russia’s Security Council blasted the decision, calling it — quote — “part of the West’s hybrid warfare against our country.” A U.S. State Department spokesperson says the U.S. supports any and all prosecutions of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Matthew Miller, State Department Spokesman: So we have made clear that there have been atrocities committed by Russian forces in their illegal invasion of Ukraine and that there ought to be accountability for those atrocities. We support a range of international investigations into Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine, including the one conducted by the ICC.

Amna Nawaz: Meanwhile, European Union officials started membership talks with Ukraine today, as well as with Moldova. It’s a major milestone for both nations, though the talks could take years to wrap up. Ukraine hopes to be a full E.U. member by 2030.

A New York judge has partially lifted the gag order on Donald Trump from his hush money trial. The decision comes just days before the former president squares off against President Joe Biden in the first presidential debate. Trump can now comment publicly about the jurors and witnesses in the case. That includes his former lawyer Michael Cohen and adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

But he’s still barred from speaking publicly about court staff, including the judge himself, as well as the prosecution and their families. Trump’s lawyers vowed to challenge today’s decision, saying the gag order should be lifted completely.

Norfolk Southern withheld key information during the response to last year’s train derailment near East Palestine, Ohio. That is according to new findings by the National Transportation Safety Board. Dozens of cars fell off the tracks during the February 2023 crash, some containing toxic gases. Company officials advised firefighters to release those gases from several overheating cars to avoid an explosion.

That so-called vent-and-burn sent toxic smoke into the sky. At a hearing today, NTSB members addressed evidence that Norfolk Southern held back data that the cars were actually cooling after the crash and, as it turns out, an explosion was not imminent.

Thomas Chapman, National Transportation Safety Board: Had there been more thought given to the evidence that was available at the time, had there been more opportunity for contrasting views to be shared and discussed, I feel like we might still be here today talking about a derailment, but I don’t think we would be talking about a vent-and-burn. And I think it’s really unfortunate.

Amna Nawaz: The investigation also found that a trackside heat sensor failed to detect a burning wheel bearing ahead of the derailment. That wheel bearing is suspected to have caused the incident.

Oklahoma’s Supreme Court ruled today that a state board’s approval last year of the nation’s first religious charter school was unconstitutional. The decision comes after a coalition of parents and faith leaders sued to stop its establishment.

In its ruling, the court wrote — quote — “Under Oklahoma law, a charter school is a public school. As such, a charter school must be nonsectarian.” The case comes after recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that indicate a willingness to allow the use of public funds for religious entities.

There’s more rain in the forecast for parts of the Midwest already drenched by floodwaters. At least two people have died. In Minnesota, south of Minneapolis, county officials say a dam along the Blue Earth River already damaged will survive the flooding. Homes have been evacuated downstream, including this one left teetering as the ground beneath it erodes.

Residents could only watch and hope that their dwellings will survive.

Jenny Barnes, Flood Victim: And now the threat of our house, my family house, my — where I grew up, is threatened by the force of Mother Nature.

Amna Nawaz: Governors of Iowa and South Dakota say the flooding has damaged roads and bridges, forced hospitals to evacuate and left entire cities without power or safe drinking water. Officials have reported hundreds of water rescues, all this as the very same areas remain under heat warnings, many temperatures feeling 100 degrees or higher.

And on Wall Street today, tech stocks led the way amid broader caution ahead of some inflation data later this week. The Dow Jones industrial average fell by nearly 300 points. The Nasdaq rose by 220, and the S&P made more modest gains.