News Wrap: Texas high court grants AG Paxton’s request to pause abortion ruling

John Yang:

Good evening, I'm John Yang. An unusual abortion rights case in Texas has taken a turn. The state Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that would have allowed a pregnant woman whose fetus has a fatal diagnosis to get an abortion despite some of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws.

The one-page order stresses that it is not a ruling on the two sides' legal arguments and that the case remains undecided. Lawyers for Kate Cox, the 31-year-old mother of two in the case, say they fear that justice delayed for the at-risk pregnancy will be justice denied.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton asked for the pause, saying that abortion while the case is pending, could not be undone. Cox says she wants another child but her doctors say carrying the fetus to term or inducing labor could risk serious complications including infertility.

Israel hit targets across the Gaza Strip today as its war with Hamas entered its third month. Israel ordered an evacuation of the central part of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says nearly 18,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war. Israeli officials claimed that 7,000 of them are militants, and at least 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers have been killed, most of them in the initial Hamas attack on October 7.

An Israeli hostage is reported to be among the dead. Hamas said 25-year-old Sahar Baruch was killed in a failed Israeli rescue mission. The Israeli military only says that two soldiers were seriously wounded in a rescue attempt that didn't free any hostages.

On the final weekend of the United Nations COP28 climate conference, nations are clashing on long-standing disagreements over a global reduction in the use of fossil fuels. There are reports that the head of the powerful oil cartel OPEC urged its member nations to reject any language calling for a reduction of fossil fuels. And China, the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases, won't say whether it would agree to reductions in the use of oil, gas or coal. The summit is to end on Tuesday.

And ending weeks of speculation, two-way baseball superstar Shohei Ohtani says he's signing with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Reports say the 10-year deal is worth $700 million. That's a North American sports record. Ohtani, who excels both as a hitter and a pitcher, had spent the last six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani had elbow surgery in September and doctors say he should be ready to go for next year's opening day.

Still to come on PBS News Weekend, South American neighbors feud over an area rich in oil and gas, and Harvard professor Claudia Goldin on her Nobel Prize-winning work studying women in the labor market.