A Debate Over Damage to Iran's Nuclear Program But Ceasefire Holds
Our episode last week brought on two policy experts: Jonathan Panikoff, from the Atlantic Council, and Rachel Brandenburg, from the Israel Policy Forum, to help us make sense of the US attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities, the ceasefire that has managed to hold (everyone please knock on wood), and what the path forward may look like for Iran, Israel, and any future US-Iran nuclear deal. It was a doozy so we did y'all a favor and split it up into three parts on YouTube: Seena & Travis assessing the ridiculous language being used to describe the conflict; our interview with Jonathan, and our interview with Rachel. Please give them all a listen if you haven't already.
Some good news - no new wars broke out over the weekend. Some bad news - super shitty things are still happening. Here's a quick round-up of some other things happening around the world.
Violent Crackdown Against Protests in Kenya
Marking one year since large-scale anti-tax protests swept Kenya, thousands again took to the streets last week to protest police brutality and government corruption. Protestors were met with significant force as police fired tear gas, water cannons, and bullets at the demonstrators. At least 16 were killed. Kenya's Interior Minister claimed : “There is no police officer who committed any excess yesterday, they foiled a coup and they deserve our defense. And warned, "[police] don’t carry guns as toys.” No word yet if the LAPD is sending new recruits to train in Kenya.
Israel Orders More Evacuations of Gaza
Trump continues his toothless calls for a ceasefire but Israel keeps expanding its attacks in Gaza forcing more Palestinians to evacuate. So no new wars, just an escalation of an old already barbaric one. Still never seen an action movie where the hostages get rescued by carpet bombing the place where hostages are being held. But I guess that'd make for a pretty bad movie!
Russia Continues Upping Attacks on Ukraine
Speaking of old illegal wars that refuse to end, it seems like everyday the headline on the Russia-Ukraine war is something along the lines of Insane Amount of Bombs, the Most Ever, Dropped on Ukraine Last Night. Let's please not get used to this.
Trade Updates
Canada agreed to drop a tax on US tech companies so negotiations on a trade deal could continue, while the US deal with the EU appears to be moving much slower than promised and the "agreed to" deal with China seems increasingly vague. So basically we're on track for 90 deals in 90 days, right?
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