May 20, 2021: Israel and Gaza, House approves Capitol probe, Abortion in Texas, U.S travel changes, and South China Sea

1. Diplomatic moves towards a ceasefire in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict gathered pace after President Joe Biden called for a de-escalation.

2. The U.S. House of Representatives voted to create an independent commission to probe the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by former President Donald Trump’s supporters. One in six Republicans defied party leaders’ attempts to block it.

3. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law a ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion bill that bans the procedure after about six weeks of pregnancy and grants citizens the right to sue doctors who perform abortions past that point.

4. The Biden administration weighs changes to sweeping travel restrictions that bar much of the world’s population from coming to the United States.

5. China said a U.S. warship illegally entered its territorial waters in the South China Sea and was expelled by its forces, an assertion the United States denies.