Reuters World News - Beyond 'rizz', Blinken's Israel gap and Texas abortion

Episode Date: December 8, 2023

Secretary of State Antony Blinken criticized Israel on civilian deaths in Southern Gaza. A Texas judge ruled in favor of a woman seeking an abortion, despite the state's restrictive access. Egyptians head to the polls. Plus, we talk to the head of Oxford Languages about 'rizz' and the other words that shaped the year. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today, a Texas judge grants a woman's request for an abortion, despite the state's restrictive laws. Blinken delivers his strongest public words yet to Israel. Egyptians head to the polls. And we talk to the president of Oxford languages about how 2023's word of the year came to mean so much more than charisma. It's Friday, December 8th. This is Reuters World News, bringing you every single. you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes every weekday. I'm Christopher Waljasper in Chicago. And I'm Kim Vinal in London. Israel is dealing with a terrorist adversary that intentionally

embeds itself with civilians. But again, Israel has an obligation to do everything possible to put a premium on protecting civilians and maximizing humanitarian assistance. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, delivering his strongest public criticism of Israel yet. He now says there is a gap between the government's declared intention to protect civilians in Gaza and the number of casualties. As the death toll soars and Israel renews its offensive in southern Gaza, the U.S. has recently upped pressure on its ally over civilian deaths. But it's stopped well short of any measures,

such as threatening to restrict military aid that might force Israel to listen. Israel says it must wipe out Hamas and is doing everything possible to get civilian, out of harm's way. Meanwhile, the Israeli military has responded to a Reuters investigation that determined its forces killed journalist Isam Abdallah in southern Lebanon. They say the incident took place in an active combat zone and is under review. A Texas judge has ruled in favor of a pregnant woman seeking an abortion. The idea that Ms. Cox wants desperately to be apparent and this law might actually cause her to lose that ability is shocking and would be a genuine miscarriage of justice.

That's Judge Maya Gira Gamble ruling in Travis County District Court. Lawyers for Kate Cox say that due to a genetic abnormality, she would likely have a miscarriage or stillbirth, and carrying to term could jeopardize her ability to to have more children in the future. Brendan Pearson covers health law. Brendan, what does this particular ruling mean for the Texas abortion ban more widely? Well, this particular ruling only applies directly

to this plaintiff, Kate Cox, and her specific pregnancy right now. So in that sense, it doesn't apply more widely to the Texas abortion ban. What it does do is show the kind of situations that arise, as a result of the ban. This is, as far as we know, the first time that a woman who is in immediate need of an abortion, according to her doctors, actually went to court to get an

order allowing her to get that abortion. So what this shows is that currently in Texas, if a woman's doctors believe she needs an abortion, they may not feel comfortable providing that abortion without an order from a court. And unless something else changes, that's a situation that might occur again. If this case doesn't change that access, what are abortion access proponents doing after this case? Cox's lawyers are also involved in a different case, which is challenging the abortion ban more broadly. And in particular, they're asking the Texas Supreme Court to rule that doctors can perform an abortion if it's necessary in their good faith medical judgment without fear of prosecution. So what they're looking for,

in this other case is an order that would make this kind of lawsuit that Cox brought unnecessary. Cox's lawyer at a press conference today said that this kind of situation where a patient has to bring a lawsuit to get an emergency medical procedure is sort of not viable as a long-term way of practicing medicine. Egyptians head to the polls for three days of voting starting Sunday. President Abdul Fata al-Sisi is set to sweep to a third term. in an election overshadowed by the war in neighbouring Gaza. Aidan Lewis is in Cairo.

So Cici's been in power as president for nearly a decade. He's been the victor in two previous elections. And in both of those elections, he won exactly 97% of the vote. So he's got a very kind of powerful machine behind him. He controls the levers of the state, which is organizing the elections and has the resources which other candidates or other figures in Egypt just simply don't have. He also has a backing, crucially, of the security services, primarily the military, which has gained even more influence than it had before under his rule.

What is the general consensus of the population in terms of what they would like to see happen? There's a very strong concern that Palestinians and the conflict in Gaza could spill over the border with Egypt into the Sinai Peninsula, and Egyptians want their leadership to show the strongest possible resistance and opposition to that happening whilst delivering aid through that border as far as possible to the people of Gaza. Cece has presented, that he's someone who can ensure stability and safety for the country in a very volatile region. The Oxford University Press have officially named Riz as the 2023 Word of the Year. In case you've been living under a rock, Riz is derived from charisma and soared into our vernacular after actor Tom Holland dropped it in an interview. But it's so much more than that.

Casper Grothwall is president of Oxford languages. So Casper, let's just start with what is the official Oxford definition for Riz? So our definition of Riz is the style, charm or attractiveness of someone, their ability to attract a romantic or a sexual partner. Do you think that anyone can use the word Riz? Like, do I need to have Riz to use the word Riz? Well, look, I think that one of the interesting things about RIS is it's so firmly rooted in youth culture right now in a way that when I use the term RIS, I don't think I can use the term RIS in a way that carries any RIS whatsoever. You know, it's got a lot of energy as a term. It's a word that really crackles. And part of it is just that it's fun to say.

Let's talk about some of the other top finalists for Word of the Year. We had prompt. obviously already a word, but in relation to prompting an AI, situationhip, a relationship, I mean, what I understand it to be, a relationship which is not a proper relationship, but more like a situation you got going on. Yeah, it's kind of undefined, a little bit of like that Facebook thing of, it's complicated. Oh, yeah. It's kind of, you know, it's neither here nor there. It's not being defined.

Okay. So we got situation ship. And I was surprised this one didn't win, Swifty. Yeah, Swifty. I must say Swifty had a lot of momentum as well. I mean, obviously this is a year where the fandom of Swifties really transcended from being a kind of a niche group or the way in which we see a lot of fandoms have their Reddit communities and they develop. but Swifties really transcended and moved into mainstream culture this year in a way that was notable. Is there any word which really stuck out to you personally which you thought, oh, that's cool?

Yeah, I mean, one word that did not make the short list was this idea of FOMM, F-O-O-M. I think it stands for fast... I've never heard of that. It stands for fast onset of overwhelming mastery. I know that sounds kind of grand. The fume, it's that idea of where AI suddenly increases in power really dramatically to the point where it tips over into artificial general intelligence and surpasses human capabilities. Several rockets exploded near the U.S. embassy in Iraq overnight.

Security forces say it's unclear what was being targeted or if there was damage. U.S. military bases in Iraq and Syria have seen more than 70 attacks. since mid-October. Hunter Biden is facing new criminal charges and 17 years in prison, this time for tax evasion. The Justice Department says he failed to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions on a lavish lifestyle. McDonald's is launching a rival to Starbucks and Duncan. It touts coffees, flavored ice teas and slushes as well as some breakfast offerings. Hey, welcome to Cosmix. What can I get for you today?

Around 10 Cosmix will open over the next year. The name Cosmix comes from an alien creature featured in a 1980s ad. That's it for today's episode of Reuters World News. We'll be back Monday with our daily headline show. To make sure you know what's going on in the world, listen in for 10 minutes every weekday. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast player or download the Reuters app.