Keanu Reeves gushes over girlfriend, comedian Paul O’Grady dies, and more of today’s trending news

Israel’s prime minister has brushed aside criticism of his judicial overhaul plan from President Joe Biden. Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the matter was an internal Israeli issue and would not be influenced by outside pressure. It marks a rare bout of public disagreement between the two close allies, and reflects what has been a lukewarm relationship between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s new government. It also is the latest sign of cooling ties between Israel and the Democratic Party in the U.S. Following especially heavy protests, Netanyahu this week froze the overhaul plan and launched negotiations on a compromise with his political opponents.

Here’s some of what we know and don’t know about the deadly shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville. Six people were killed at the small, private Christian school on Monday after a shooter opened fire inside the 200-student school. Police say the shooting took place over about 14 minutes. The shooter was also killed. Police say that shooter Audrey Hale was a former student but that it was unclear whether Hale had any current affiliation with the school or was related to anyone there at the time of the shooting.

President Joe Biden says global leaders are “turning the tide” in stemming a yearslong backslide of democratic institutions. At his second democracy summit on Wednesday, Biden looked to spotlight hopeful advancements over the past year despite Russia’s war in neighboring Ukraine and U.S. tensions with China over its military and economic influence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond. Biden cited signs of progress across the globe, from Angola’s effort to create an independent judiciary, Croatia’s move to boost government transparency and the Dominican Republic’s anti-corruption steps. Biden also pointed to his stalled push for voting protections in Congress as evidence of his administration’s commitment to support democracy.

In the federal budget standoff, the majority of U.S. adults are asking lawmakers to pull off the impossible: Cut the overall size of government, but also devote more money to the most popular and expensive programs. Six in 10 U.S. adults say the government spends too much money, but majorities also favor more funding for things like infrastructure, health care and Social Security. The findings from a new poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research suggest efforts to shrink the government may be politically risky ahead of the 2024 elections.

A federal judge has ruled that former Vice President Mike Pence will have to testify before a grand jury in the federal probe into efforts by former President Donald Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election. That’s according to two people familiar with the ruling, who spoke on condition of anonymity because it remains under seal. The people said, however, that Pence would not have to answer questions about his actions on Jan. 6, 2021, when a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building as Pence was presiding over a joint session of Congress to certify the vote. Pence and his attorneys had cited constitutional grounds in challenging the subpoena.

The Senate has voted to repeal the decades-old congressional measure that greenlighted the 2003 invasion of Iraq. If approved by the House, the measure would end more than 20 years of authorization for U.S. presidents to use force in that country and return those war powers to Congress. The Iraq War ended years ago, and repeal is not expected to affect any current troop deployments. The bipartisan legislation would also repeal the 1991 measure that sanctioned the U.S.-led Gulf War. Lawmakers in both parties are increasingly seeking to claw back congressional powers over U.S. military strikes and deployments.

A federal judge has upheld approval of the Boy Scouts’ $2.4 billion bankruptcy plan. The plan would let the Texas-based organization keep operating while it compensates tens of thousands of men who say they were sexually abused as children while involved in Scouting. The ruling released Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Delaware rejected arguments that the bankruptcy plan wasn’t proposed in good faith. Opponents have said it improperly strips insurers and survivors of their rights. The plaintiffs say the staggering number of claims and other factors suggest the bankruptcy process was manipulated.

Vice President Kamala Harris has visited a site in Ghana where millions of enslaved Africans were held captive before they were loaded onto ships bound for the Americas. During her visit to Cape Coast Castle, Harris insisted on exploring past wounds. She skipped her prepared remarks to talk bluntly about the anguish “that reeks from this place,” and the horrors endured by the people who passed through its walls; mass kidnapping, sickness, rape and death. Those who lived were sold into bondage in the Americas. The nation’s first Black and South Asian vice president is the most high-profile member of President Joe Biden’s administration to visit Africa as the U.S. escalates its outreach to the continent.

Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys leaned heavily on experts to mount their defense about her 2016 ski collision with a 76-year-old retired optometrist who sued her years later. Her defense team chose to devote their final full day to call witnesses, they questioned four medical experts, who cast doubt on the extent of the injuries claimed by the man suing Paltrow. That man, Terry Sanderson, says that the movie star’s recklessness on the slope left him with four broken ribs and years of post-concussion symptoms. Paltrow’s defense team is expected to rest their case Thursday and send the decision to the jury.