10 things you need to know today: July 14, 2023

Sen. Tommy Tuberville walking through a darkened hall in Washington, D.C.

President Biden called Sen. Tommy Tuberville's hold on military promotions 'bizarre'

(Image credit: Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Jump to category:

1. FDA approves 1st over-the-counter oral birth control tablet
2. Biden says Tuberville must lift 'totally irresponsible' blockade of military nominations
3. North Korea defends intercontinental ballistic missile launch
4. Jared Kushner, Hope Hicks reportedly testified before grand jury
5. Hollywood actors go on strike, joining writers guild
6. Secret Service closes White House cocaine source investigation with no suspects
7. Lisa Marie Presley died of complications from past surgery, coroner says
8. WHO says aspartame is a 'possible carcinogen' but safe in moderation
9. India launches lunar rocket in increasingly crowded moon race
10. Tucker Carlson reportedly creating Twitter-based media company

published 14 July 2023

1. FDA approves 1st over-the-counter oral birth control tablet

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it had approved norgestrel birth control tablets for over-the-counter sales, a first in the U.S. The FDA said consumers will be able to purchase the oral contraceptive at drug stores, convenience stores and grocery stores, as well as online. The medicine, branded as "Opill," is expected to be available in early 2024, its manufacturer, Perrigo, told The New York Times. While no price for the medication has been announced, Frederique Welgryn, Perrigo's global vice president for women's health, said the company is committed to making Opill "accessible and affordable to women and people of all ages." Norgestrel was initially approved for prescription use by the FDA 50 years ago.

President Biden said Thursday that Sen. Tommy Tuberville's (R-Ala.) hold on more than 270 military promotions is "totally irresponsible" and "bizarre." Tuberville's obstruction, in protest of the Pentagon's policy of helping service members travel out of state for abortions, has left the Marine Corps without a Senate-confirmed commandant, and other branches of the military will soon be in the same boat. "I would be willing to talk to him if I thought there was any chance of him changing this ridiculous position," Biden told reporters in Finland. "I expect the Republican Party to stand up and do something about it." Tuberville and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke by phone Thursday afternoon. Earlier Thursday, Austin told CNN that the blanket hold on nominations "is a national security issue" and "a readiness issue" and Tuberville "must lift the holds."

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During a rare appearance at the United Nations on Thursday, the North Korean envoy defended the country's recent launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, telling the Security Council it was intended to "deter dangerous military moves of hostile forces and safeguard the security of our state." North Korea, which has been under UN sanctions since 2006 because of its missile and nuclear programs, last spoke at a Security Council meeting in December 2017. The latest North Korean launch was on Wednesday, when the country fired a missile that landed in the Sea of Japan. The Security Council has not reached a consensus on how to handle the launches, as both Russia and China think sanctions should be eased.

Jared Kushner and Hope Hicks have both testified in front of the grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, people familiar with the matter told CNN on Thursday. Kushner is Trump's son-in-law and served as a senior White House aide, while Hicks was one of Trump's White House communications directors. Kushner and Hicks appeared before the grand jury in June, and Kushner testified that it was his impression Trump truly thought the election had been stolen from him, a person briefed on the matter told The New York Times. There was no widespread voter fraud in the election.

Actors represented by SAG-AFTRA went on strike at midnight on Friday, joining an ongoing strike by the Writers Guild of America as Hollywood grapples with the changes in business and technology from online streaming and artificial intelligence. Talks with the Hollywood studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), broke down early Thursday, when the current contract expired. All work on SAG-AFTRA TV and film projects has halted, and the actors guild, which represents about 160,000 performers, instructed members not to promote finished projects, go to awards shows, or attend film festivals during the strike. The stars of "Oppenheimer" walked the red carpet at the London premier Thursday night, then left. Actors will start picketing Friday morning. The last double writers-actors strike was in 1960.

The Secret Service has closed an investigation into who left a baggie of cocaine in a lobby at the White House after it was unable to find viable fingerprints or DNA on the package or identify who might have left the cocaine through surveillance footage, the agency said Thursday. "Without physical evidence, the investigation will not be able to single out a person of interest from the hundreds of individuals who passed through the vestibule where the cocaine was discovered," Secret Service officials said in their report. The cocaine was found July 2 in a storage area where visitors taking tours leave their cellphones before entering the West Wing. President Biden and his family were at Camp David at the time.

Lisa Marie Presley, the only daughter of Elvis Presley, died of a small bowel obstruction tied to a previous weight-loss surgery, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner's office reported Friday. Presley died Jan. 12 after an apparent cardiac arrest. Her cause of death, "sequelae of small bowel obstruction," is a "known long-term complication" of bariatric surgery, the examiners report said. Presley had a history of forgetfully taking prescription medication more than once, and her toxicology report showed "therapeutic levels" of oxycodone and other medicines, but they did not contribute to her death, the report said, adding that Presley had complained of stomach pains before she died.

The World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said Thursday that the popular sweetener aspartame is a "possible carcinogen," based on recent studies that suggest it may be linked to a higher risk of liver cancer. But another WHO agency, the Joint Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA), said it is not changing its guidance that people can safely consume about nine to 14 cans of aspartame-sweetened diet soda a day. "Our results do not indicate that occasional consumption should pose a risk to most consumers," Francesco Branca, director of the department of nutrition and food safety at the WHO, said Wednesday. But the risk isn't zero and heavy aspartame consumers should probably cut back, he added, and everyone would be better off drinking water and eating naturally sweet food like fruit.

India launched its Chandrayaan-3 lunar mission early Friday, in its second attempt to land a robotic spacecraft on the lunar surface. The Chandrayaan-2 mission ended in failure after the lander had thruster problems and crashed into the lunar surface in 2019. This mission, a sort of do-over, will attempt to land an improved module on Aug. 23 or 24, for a two-week period of thermal, seismic and mineralogical exploration. China is the only other country that has successfully landed a robotic lander and rover this century, though several countries have similar moonshots lined up, including Japan and Russia in August. Japan's Ispace attempted to land a spacecraft on the moon in April, but it crashed.

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson and Daily Caller publisher Neil Patel are seeking investors for a new media company that will use Twitter as a main source of distribution, The Wall Street Journal reported. Carlson and Patel, who were college roommates and cofounded The Daily Caller, are reportedly looking to raise hundreds of millions of dollars. The media company would use Twitter to post a mix of videos for paid subscribers and all Twitter users. A Carlson spokesman told the Journal they don't want to use YouTube because they feared YouTube would censor the content. Carlson is still under contract with Fox News, which pulled his show in April. Fox sent him a cease and desist letter in June when he started posting videos on Twitter. Carlson responded through a lawyer that he wouldn't "be silenced by anyone."

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