5 things to know for April 10: Severe weather, Abortion ruling, Presidential debates, Gaza, Forever chemicals

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Federal authorities are investigating Boeing after a whistleblower alleged the company took shortcuts when manufacturing its 787 Dreamliner jets. This comes as the plane maker faces intense scrutiny over several mid-flight incidents and a steady erosion of the company’s quality standards. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On with Your Day. A potent storm is unloading torrential rains and fierce winds on parts of the Southeast US. Over 30 million people across the region are under a severe storm threat today, while flood watches are in effect for more than 13 million people from Texas to Georgia amid heavy downpours, according to the Storm Prediction Center. Baseball-sized hail has been reported in Texas and at least one tornado overnight ripped through Raymond, Mississippi, about 20 miles west of Jackson. Along with the severe storm threat, meteorologists anticipate potential flash floods in parts of eastern Texas, northern Louisiana and western Mississippi, where isolated rainfall totals could exceed 6 inches. The Arizona Supreme Court ruled Tuesday the state must adhere to a 160-year-old law banning all abortions except in cases when “it is necessary to save” a pregnant person’s life. The law can be traced to as early as 1864 — before Arizona became a state — and was codified in 1901. It carries a prison sentence of two to five years for abortion providers — and it puts Arizona among the states with the strictest abortion laws in the country, alongside Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, where bans exist with almost no exceptions. The case is the latest high-profile example of the battle over abortion access that has played out across several states since the US Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade in June 2022. Five of the major US television networks have banded together to draft a letter urging President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump to commit to participating in televised debates ahead of the 2024 election. According to a draft of the letter, NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox News and CNN urged the presumptive nominees “to publicly commit to participating in general election debates” to share “their visions for the future of our nation.” Biden has not publicly committed to debating Trump, although he has not ruled it out. “It depends on his behavior,” Biden said in March. Trump has said that he will debate “anytime, anywhere anyplace.” However, the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee has a proven track record of flagrantly violating debate rules, hurling insults at his opponents, and making false claims. President Biden offered one of his sharpest rebukes of Israel’s handling of the war in Gaza, describing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the conflict as a “mistake” and calling for a halt to the fighting. “I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Univision in an interview. The president’s comments add to mounting US criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza. Still, Netanyahu on Tuesday emphasized that “no force in the world” would stop Israeli troops from entering Rafah, where about 1.5 million Gazans are sheltering. Netanyahu said a date was set for Israel’s planned offensive but the Biden administration has dismissed it as bluster fueled by Netanyahu’s tenuous political standing at home, officials told CNN.