The Golden Dome, What’s Going On In Gaza, & Google’s Big Day

Hello, readers – happy Wednesday! Today, we’ll be talking about the Golden Dome, the latest in Gaza, the next pandemic, sanctions, Covid vaccines, fracking, and Google’s announcements.

Here’s some good news: Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi, released a couple of weeks ago from ICE detention, crossed the graduation stage this week. Also, a memorial to the often forgotten LGBTQ+ victims of the Nazi regime has been unveiled in Paris.

“Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.” – Marie Curie

The Iron Dome But Make It Golden

Israel is protected from rocket attacks by its Iron Dome air defense system, a series of radar detectors and missile launchers designed to shoot down short-range rocket and artillery shells targeting the country. The U.S. has contributed at least $2.6 billion to the Israeli system, but now, Trump wants his own dome – and he wants to make it golden.

Yesterday, the president announced plans to begin building a similar air defense system in the U.S. The project will be named “Golden Dome,” will cost at least $175 billion, and is projected to take three years to complete. So it will probably cost taxpayers more than $200 billion, be done in seven years, and it definitely won’t be golden.

To cut off stories comparing the Golden Dome to Ronald Reagan’s failed Star Wars air defense initiative, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “The technology wasn't there. Now it is. And you're following through to say we will protect the homeland from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, drones, whether they're conventional or nuclear.” Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Palantir are slated to be among the main contractors involved in building out “the greatest dome of them all,” in Trump’s own words. 

Going Too Far In Gaza?

On Tuesday, U.N. humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher announced that up to 14,000 babies could die in Gaza over the next two days if Israel’s aid blockade continues, highlighting the devastating impacts of the country’s siege on Gaza. Fletcher described the food situation in Gaza as “catastrophic,” and called the five aid trucks that Israel allowed into Gaza on Monday “a drop in the bucket.” While the Israelis allowed 93 aid trucks into Gaza yesterday, the U.N. told the press that it was unable to actually distribute any of those resources as Israeli soldiers were blocking the food and medicine from getting into the U.N.’s Gaza warehouses.

Meanwhile, in a day full of airstrikes, the IDF killed at least 85 people according to Gaza’s health ministry – at least 38 of those dead were killed within a 30-minute timespan, said Palestinian medics, as Israel dropped bombs on a school building, a group of tents, and a family home.

The Israeli siege and growing bombing campaign seem to have finally jolted (some) Western countries into action after 20 months of conflict. Yesterday, the U.K. announced that it would suspend trade deal discussions with Israel and impose new sanctions on a group of extremist West Bank settlers. The day before, the U.K., France, and Canada issued a very rare public reprimand of Israel’s expanding campaign to take over Gaza, stating, “We have always supported Israel’s right to defend Israelis against terrorism, but this escalation is wholly disproportionate.” The trio warned of “concrete actions” if Israel doesn’t rein in its aggression. We’ll believe it when we see it.

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Pandemic! At The WHO

• It’s official: the whole world (minus the U.S.) has agreed on how to respond to the next global pandemic. National delegates at the World Health Assembly passed the World Health Organization (WHO) Pandemic Agreement yesterday, with WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus applauding the decision as “a victory for public health, science and multilateral action.”

• First, the elephant in the room (get it, because he’s a Republican?) – the reason that the U.S. is the sole country not involved in the pandemic agreement is because Trump unilaterally withdrew the country from the organization soon after his inauguration in January. As for the actual terms of the pandemic accord, it will ensure that key treatments are available worldwide by requiring participating drugmakers to donate 20% of their vaccines, medicine, and tests to the WHO, which will distribute the resources to countries in need. The most debated parts of the agreement, including a clause regarding rewards for countries that share data on new diseases that emerge in their territories, will be voted on at a later date.

Slapping On Sanctions

• While the U.K. and E.U. have largely watched the U.S.-Ukraine-Russia ceasefire negotiations from the sidelines, the Western allies dipped their toes into the discussion yesterday. On Tuesday, the U.K. announced a raft of sanctions on Russian entities “supporting Russia’s military machine, energy exports and information war, as well as financial institutions helping to fund Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.” Just a few hours later, the E.U. followed suit, slapping sanctions on Moscow’s “shadow fleet,” a network of ships that it uses to get oil exports around international sanctions.

• After Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of “trying to buy time in order to continue its war and occupation,” he applauded the European tariffs, posting that “It is important to severely restrict the Russian tanker fleet, which serves to finance killings, as well as all schemes that Russia uses to build up its military industry.” He added that Ukraine is “working with partners to put pressure on the Russians to behave differently. Sanctions matter, and I am grateful to everyone who makes them more tangible for the perpetrators of the war.”

More Mixed Nuts

• Trump proposal to repatriate Ukrainians, Haitians would use foreign aid funds (WaPo, $)

• Sea level rise will cause ‘catastrophic inland migration’, scientists warn (Guardian)

• Oil industry funded Girl Scouts and British Museum to boost image, evidence suggests (Guardian)

• Second man charged over fires at homes linked to PM (BBC)

• Iran leader casts doubt on US nuclear talks, saying Tehran won't stop enrichment (ABC)

• Romanian election loser George Simion to challenge results in court (Politico)

Shoot Your Shot (Like, Soon, Because They’re Going Away)

• Yesterday, the Trump administration announced that it will limit approval for seasonal Covid shots to seniors and others at high risk while the FDA works to gather more data on everyone else. The FDA said it will continue to use a streamlined approach to make jabs available to adults 65 and older, as well as children and younger adults with at least one high-risk health problem.

• It’s a major shift from the previous federal policy, which recommended an annual shot for all Americans six months and older. In the paper and a subsequent online webcast, the FDA’s top vaccine official said more than 100 million Americans should still qualify under the new guidance. Meanwhile, companies will have to conduct large, lengthy studies before vaccines can be approved for healthier people.

What The Frack?

• A new analysis found that Colorado oil and gas companies have pumped at least 30 million pounds of secret chemicals into the ground over the past year and a half without making legally required disclosures. Chevron, the world’s third-biggest fossil-fuel company by market cap, operates more than half of the non-compliant wells. The state requires operators and their suppliers to list all chemicals used in drilling and extraction, but even though operators have fracked 1,114 sites, chemical disclosures have not been filed for 675 of them (over 60%). 

• To drill wells and extract minerals, fossil fuel operators pump huge volumes of pressurized liquid into the earth to fracture bedrock, stimulating the release of trapped oil and gas. Numerous studies show that these fluids can contain toxic chemicals like formaldehyde, as well as PFAS. In a truly uncomfortable (but helpful) analogy, John Spear, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines, compared fracking to emptying a syringe filled with mayonnaise into your thigh.

More Nuts In America

• Trump tells House GOP not to "f**k around" with Medicaid (Axios)

• US congresswoman charged with assault outside immigration centre (BBC)

• F.B.I. Closes Unit That Policed Compliance With Surveillance Rules (NYT, $)

• US sends 68 migrants back to Honduras and Colombia in first voluntary deportation (AP)

• Trump administration to allow work to continue on $5bn New York wind farm (Guardian)

Alphabet’s AI Soup

• Google is going all-in on AI. At its I/O developer conference yesterday, the tech monopolist announced that it would be introducing a new tab to its search engine — next to the “Images” and “News” tabs, you should soon expect to see an “AI Mode” button. Clicking it will allow users to interact with Google’s massive library of search results through an AI chatbot. Because we haven’t had dozens of LLM-bots shoved down our gullets already.

• At the conference, Google was happy to remind people that much of the technology that’s behind the current AI infestation was actually developed behind its doors — the executives at the company were just too slow to adapt the tech into usable products, allowing OpenAI to become the AI juggernaut it is today. “We invented a lot of this stuff for search,” said Nick Fox, Google’s knowledge and information products head. 

• “In the past, search would have been limited to, ‘if there’s a piece of information out there, I can deliver it back to someone.’” Fox said. “But what’s amazing about these models is they have the ability to reason, to transform, to connect dots across, to synthesize, to do all these other things that go beyond information retrieval to this notion of intelligence.” Besides returning the usual results to you, AI Mode will also feature the ability to do deep searches and will also feature the ability to purchase concert tickets or hotel reservations on your behalf. That all sounds very promising until you remember that Google’s AI was telling people to literally eat rocks just a few months ago, until the company’s human workers hand-tweaked multiple harmful “AI Overview” search pages.

More Loose Nuts

• New Orleans jail employee arrested, accused of helping mass escape of inmates (ABC)

• Bees face new threats from wars, street lights and microplastics, scientists warn (Guardian)

• Chess grandmaster Magnus Carlsen forced into draw in showdown against "the world" (CBS)

• Stolen Jim Morrison graveside bust found by chance after 37 years (BBC)

• SAG-AFTRA files unfair labor practice charge over use of AI to make Darth Vader's voice in Fortnite (AP)

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Team Thoughts

Kayli - Of course he needs the dome to be gold. I still remember that apartment of his…

Marcus - So many jokes about the Golden Dome but I don’t think I can publish them here…

Editor In Chief: Kayli Woods

Head Writer: Marcus Gee-Lim

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