ICC orders for Israeli leaders; New rights for pregnant workers: NPR

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Today’s top stories

The International Criminal Court in The Hague is preparing to issue arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials. including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicted on charges related to the war against Hamas in Gaza, according to Israeli and international media reports. Israeli and foreign officials said The New York Times The ICC is also considering arrest warrants for Hamas leaders.

• NPR’s Peter Kenyon tells up first that if the ICC issues these orders, it would be the first time has issued arrest warrants against any Israeli officials. Under one order, ICC member states would be expected to arrest and hand over defendants to The Hague should they enter their territories. Kenyon says the organization could issue the orders this week. Israel and the United States are reportedly asking ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to postpone it or rule against it.
• Meanwhile, negotiating teams meet in Egypt today for another round of ceasefire talks. A senior Hamas official told NPR that the group is “still studying” Israel’s latest proposal.
• World Central Kitchen says it will resume operations in Gaza, Nearly a month after Israeli airstrikes killed seven of its staff.

Pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses across the United States show no signs of letting up. Police arrested nearly 300 people across the country over the weekend. This afternoon, students at Rutgers University in New Jersey plan to demonstrate. Like other campuses, Rutgers students are demanding that their school divest from companies that do business with Israel.

• NPR’s Brian Mann spent time inside the Columbia University camp. He says people were singing and praying and the atmosphere was calm. “Both sides here are clearly working to reduce tension,” she says. This is a big change from a week and a half ago, when the university called in the NYPD to break up the encampment with more than 100 arrests, helping spark this nationwide movement. See photos of the protests taking place throughout the country.

At least four people have died and at least 100 have been injured after tornadoes ripped through parts of the South and Midwest on Friday and over the weekend. The four deaths so far have occurred in Oklahoma, where Gov. Kevin Stitt has declared a state of emergency in a dozen counties. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds declared a disaster emergency in one county. His state was hit by at least a dozen tornadoes on Friday. In Nebraska, the Ponca Tribe reported that thunderstorms and tornadoes caused “significant damage” to their people and local businesses.

Dive deep

In the latest battle over abortion rights between Republican-led states and the Biden administration, 17 states are suing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). Here’s what you need to know:

• At the center of the issue is the Fairness for Pregnant Workers Act, approved in 2022 with bipartisan support. It requires employers with at least 15 employees to provide pregnant workers with things like extra bathroom breaks and time off for prenatal appointments.
• A new addition to the law includes abortion In the list of “related medical conditions,” employers must make reasonable accommodations, but not before collecting opinions and comments, including some 54,000 of those who opposed its inclusion.
• Arkansas and Tennessee are the two states leading the lawsuit. They say the implications for employers who violate the law would be dire, even in states where abortion is illegal.
• Meanwhile, the new rule has come into force. The EEOC has a guide for pregnant workers about their new rights under the law and how to file charges against their employers.

Image sample

In 2019, photographer Nour El Massry went viral for a photograph he took of a large terrace. in a historic building in Cairo’s Garden City neighborhood. Since then, the Cairo-based photographer, art director and film production designer has continued to post photographs of Egypt’s interiors, city streets and architecture on his Instagram account. Through his photography, he navigates the “chaos and overcrowding” of Cairo to capture scenes that “look like a dream.”

3 things you should know before you go

1. How did a genetically modified purple tomato variety emerge? End up in an organic, non-GMO seed company? The confusion has raised fears about the spread of genetically modified crops.
2. The Louvre Museum in Paris is considering moving the Mona Lisa to his own room underground. It currently shares a large room with other works of art.
3. The Biden administration has indefinitely delayed a ban on menthol cigarettes, prompting negative reactions from anti-smoking advocates. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra cited the controversy, especially within the black community, as justification for abandoning the proposed ban.

This newsletter was edited by Majd Al-Waheidi. Anandita Bhalerao contributed.