Extra, Extra
The Avert Locker: “The White House effort has included back-channel talks with Iran to urge restraint, blunt warnings to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to obstruct a cease-fire in Gaza, and the dispatch of a U.S. naval and air armada to protect Israel and other U.S. allies if deterrence fails.
The risk of a devastating regional war remains uncomfortably high. But White House officials said Tuesday they believe Biden’s efforts may be paying off.” David Ignatius in WaPo: Biden scrambles to defuse the ticking Iran-Israel time bomb. (It seems unlikely that things can be totally defused. But keeping things contained would be a hell of a job.)
+ Don’t Kyiv Home Without It: “Marushchak cannot drive. When I asked him why he hasn’t learned, he joked that if he had a license, he’d have long ago driven to Russia to try to bring back Ukrainian artworks that have, over the centuries, been taken from his country.” Ukraine’s death-defying art rescuers. “When Putin invaded, a historian in Kyiv saw that Ukraine’s cultural heritage was in danger. So he set out to save as much of it as he could.” Meanwhile, Ukraine launches rare cross-border attack into Russia.
+ Going Ro(gu)e: “The number of women getting abortions in the U.S. actually went up in the first three months of 2024 compared with before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade, a report released Wednesday found, reflecting the lengths that Democratic-controlled states went to expand access.”
+ Stupidity is a Health Issue: 31% of Republicans say vaccines are more dangerous than diseases they prevent. And climate change deniers make up nearly a quarter of US Congress.
+ Travel Bug: Think you’ve experienced some Summer travel delays? Consider this: Boeing Starliner astronauts have now been in space more than 60 days with no end in sight.
+ Felines with Feelings? “Cats are often considered aloof, independent and fickle in their affections. But, research suggests, they also show signs of grieving after the death of another pet in the same household – even when it is the family dog.” (Last night, one of my cats killed a mouse, brought it upstairs, and dropped it on my bed. To the extent this additional data is useful to researchers, I did not sense any grief.)
