July 13, 2022 - PBS NewsHour full episode

Poland has some of Europe’s strictest abortion laws, and further curbs in recent years have led to mass protests. But many in the historically Catholic nation are staunch supporters of government policy. Now, in what is a European first, one activist in Poland is facing jail time for helping another woman terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Special correspondent Rosie Birchard reports from Warsaw.

A new statue unveiled Wednesday in the U.S. Capitol marks a historic first. Civil rights pioneer Mary McLeod Bethune is the first Black American to represent a state in Statuary Hall. Florida lawmakers voted to remove a statue representing a confederate general and replace it with one of Bethune. Her granddaughter, Evelyn Bethune, joins Lisa Desjardins to discuss.

Inflation in the U.S. is the highest in four decades and new numbers out Wednesday show no signs of letting up. The Labor Department reported consumer prices jumped 9.1 percent from last year. Gas prices, furniture, clothing, healthcare, groceries and cars also grew more expensive, while the core index rose 0.7 percent. Greg Ip of The Wall Street Journal joins Judy Woodruff to discuss.

President Biden arrived in Israel Wednesday, the beginning of a four-day Middle East trip that will also take him to Saudi Arabia. Much of his focus today was in Israel’s military, and regional cooperation against Iran. Biden also began his trip with a visit to a solemn site at Israel's national Holocaust memorial. Nick Schifrin reports.

A new coronavirus variant called BA.5 is fueling yet another wave of COVID infections across the globe. This week, the CDC said BA.5 is now the dominant strain in the U.S. accounting for more than 60 percent of cases. It is also the most transmissible variant to date. Dr. Eric Topol, founder and director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, joins William Brangham to discuss.

As the fighting in Ukraine continues, we take a musical journey to Odessa, Ukraine’s historic port city on the Black Sea. It is a personal vision of a Ukrainian-born pianist, Vadim Neselovskyi, who teaches at the Berklee College of Music in Boston. But it is also a deeper look at the city’s past and present amid war. Jeffrey Brown reports for our arts and culture series, "CANVAS."