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War in Middle East: Biden urges Israel to have a plan to protect civilians during military operation against Hamas in Gaza. Ceasefire agreement and release of hostages in exchange for halt to fighting discussed. Fed cautious about cutting interest rates due to potential inflation risks. Collapse of Atlantic ocean currents could put Europe in deep freeze, cause worldwide weather changes. Concerns over AMOC stability and potential catastrophe. Senate leaders emphasize importance of U.S. aid to Ukraine in pushing back against Putin. You're listening to IRIS, the Iowa radio reading information service for the blind and print disabled. Welcome to today's reading of the Council Bluffs Daily Nonparallel for Monday, February 12th. I'm Maggie Rafferty from Drake University, and here is our first story. Starting off with the news, our first headline is War in Middle East Biden Pressed Israel on Rafah, R-A-F-A-H. The title of the article reads, Operation Must Include Credible Plan to Protect Civilians, by Nahid Jobain and Sammy Magdy from the Associated Press. Rafah, Gaza Strip, Israel should not conduct a military operation against the Hamas militant group in the densely populated Gaza border town of Rafah without a credible and executable plan to protect civilians. U.S. President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, N-E-T-A-N-Y-A-H-U on Sunday, the White House said. It was the most forceful language from the President on the possible operation. Biden, who last week called Israel's military response in Gaza over-the-top, also sought urgent and specific steps to strengthen humanitarian aid. Israel's Channel 13 television in the conversation lasted 45 minutes. Discussion of the potential for a ceasefire agreement took up much of the call. A senior U.S. administration official said, and after weeks of diplomacy, a framework is now pretty much in place for a deal that could see the release of remaining hostages held by Hamas in exchange for a halt to fighting. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, A-N-O-N-Y-M-I-T-Y, to discuss negotiations acknowledged that gaps remain, but declined to give details. The official said military pressure on Hamas in the southern city of Khan Yunis in recent weeks helped bring the group closer to accepting a deal. Netanyahu's office declined to comment on the call. Hamas al-Aqsa, A-L-A-Q-S-A television station earlier quoted an unarmed Hamas official as saying any invasion of Rafah would blow up the talks mediated by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar. And then there's a picture attached to the headline with the caption reading, A Palestinian mourns Sunday after a relative was killed during an Israeli bombing attack in Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza Strip. It's by Adele Hanna from the Associated Press, and it shows a man crying into what looks like a child wrapped in a white blanket, and there's a bunch of people around him. Our next story has the title, Why the Fed Isn't Ready to Cut Interest Rates Yet, by Christopher Rugeber, R-U-G-E-B-E-R from the Associated Press. Washington, from Wall Street traders to car dealers to home buyers, Americans are eager for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates and lightening the heavy burden on borrowers. The Fed is widely expected to do so this year, probably several times. Inflation is measured by its preferred gauge rose in the second half of 2023 at an annual rate of about 2%. The Fed's target yet last week, several bank officials underscored that they weren't ready to pull the trigger just yet. Why, with afflation nearly conquered and the Fed's key rate at a 22-year high, isn't now the time to cut? Most of the Fed's policy makers have said they're optimistic that even as the economy and the job market keep growing, inflation pressures will continue to cool. But they also caution that the economy appears so strong that there's a real risk that price increases could strike again. And some are worried that if they cut rates now and inflation re-accelerates, then the Fed could be forced into an about-face and have to raise rates again. History tells many stories of inflation head fakes, and Tom Barkin, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, in a speech Thursday. There is an image for this article, and the caption reads, The television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange displays the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates January 31st. And it shows a bunch of people working in the Stock Exchange, and right behind them, there's a television of the news, and the headline reads, Our next story is titled, Study Ocean System Closer to Collapse, by Seth Bornstein from the Associated Press. An abrupt shutdown of Atlantic ocean currents that could put large parts of Europe in a deep freeze is looking a bit more likely and closer than before as a new complex computer simulation finds a cliff-like tipping point looming in the future. A long-worried nightmare scenario triggered by Greenland's ice sheet melting from global warming still is at least decades away, if not longer, but maybe not the centuries that it once seemed, a new study in Friday's Science Advance finds. The study, the first to use complex simulations and include multiple factors, uses a key measurement to track the strength of vital overall ocean circulation, which studies show is slowing. A collapse of the current called the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC, would change weather worldwide because it means a shutdown of one of the key climate and ocean forces of the planet. It would plunge northwestern European temperatures by 9 to 27 degrees Fahrenheit over the decades, extend Arctic ice much further south, turn up the heat even more in the southern hemisphere, change global rainfall patterns, and disrupt the Amazon, the study said. Other scientists said it would be a catastrophe that could cause worldwide food and water shortages. We are moving closer to the collapse, but we're not sure how much closer, said study lead author Rene van Westin, a climate scientist and oceanographer at Utrecht University in Netherlands. We are heading towards a tipping point. When this global weather calamity, grossly fictionalized in the movie The Day After Tomorrow, may happen is the million-dollar question. Whether we unfortunately can't answer at this moment, van Westin said, he said it's likely a century away, but still could happen in his lifetime. He just turned 30. It also depends on the rate of climate change we are including as humanity, van Westin said. The United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, a group of hundreds of scientists that gives regular authoritative updates on warming, said it has medium confidence that there will not be a collapse before 2100 and generally downplay disaster scenarios. But van Westin, several outside scientists in a study last year say that may not be right. Stefan Rammstorf, head of Earth System Analysis at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Research in Germany, was not part of the advance research, but called it a major advance in AMOC stability science. The new study adds significantly to the rising concern about AMOC collapse in the not too distant future. Rammstorf said in an email, we will ignore this at our peril. University of Exeter climate scientist Tim Lenton, also not part of the research, said the new study makes him more concerned about a collapse. An AMOC collapse would cause so many ripples throughout the world's climate that are so abrupt and severe they would be near impossible to adapt to in some locations, Lenton said. There are signs showing the AMOC collapse in the past, but when and how it will change in the future is still uncertain. In U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, oceanographer Wei Cheng, who wasn't a part of the research, The AMOC is a part of an intricate global conveyor belt of ocean currents that move different levels of salt and warm water around the globe at different depths and patterns that helps regulate Earth's temperature, absorb carbon dioxide, and fuels the water cycle, according to NASA. When the AMOC shuts down, there's less heat exchange across the globe, and it really impacts Europe quite severely, Van Westing said. The engine of this conveyor belt is off the coast of Greenland, where, as more ice melts from climate change, more freshwater flows into the North Atlantic and slows everything down, Van Westing said. In the current system, cold, deeper, fresher water heads south past both Americas and then east past Africa. Meanwhile, saltier, warmer water coming from the Pacific and Indian Oceans pushes past the southern tip of Africa, veers to and around Florida, and continues up the U.S. east coast and on to Greenland. The Dutch team simulated 2,200 years of its flow, adding in what human-caused climate change does to it. They found an abrupt AMOC collapse after 1,750 years, but so far are unable to translate that simulated timeline to Earth's real future. Key to monitoring what happens is a complicated measurement of flow around the tip of Africa. The more negative that measurement, the slower AMOC runs. This value is getting more negative under climate change, Van Westing said. When it reaches a certain point, it's not a gradual stop, but something that is cliff-like, he said. The world should pay attention to potential AMOC collapse, said Joel Hershey, H-I-R-S-C-H-I, division leader at the United Kingdom's National Oceanography Center. But there's a bigger global priority, he said. To me, the rapidly increasing temperatures we have been witnessing in recent years and associated temperature extremes are of more immediate concern than the AMOC shutting down, Hershey said, he or she. The warming is not hypothetical, but is already happening and impacting society now. There's a picture attached to this article as well, and it's just a pretty picture of the ocean and some people in it. It's by Bob Edme, E-D-M-E, from the Associated Press. Our next story's title reads, Ukraine-Israel Aid, Senate Closer to Deal. Rare weekend vote comes as Trump allies and House double down, by Mary Claire Delonick and Stephen Groves from the Associated Press. Washington. As a growing number of Republicans oppose U.S. aid to Ukraine, the Senate's leaders are arguing in strong terms that the money is crucial to pushing back against Russian President Vladimir Putin and maintaining America's global standing. In the capital for a rare weekend session, the Senate voted again to move forward with the assistance as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DNY and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky issued stark warnings about the consequences of abandoning longtime U.S. allies in Europe. Today, it's no exaggeration to say that the eyes of the world are on the United States Senate, McConnell said. Our allies and partners are hoping that the indispensable nation, a leader of the free world, has the resolve to continue. Sunday's 67-27 vote to move forward on the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other countries comes as foreign president Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination, is trying to kill the assistance and has escalated his attacks on the NATO military alliance. Trump posted on a social media platform over the weekend that the U.S. should consider loaning Ukraine money, not giving it to them, saying that the United States of America should be stupid no longer. And the former president said Saturday at a campaign rally in South Carolina that Russia should be able to do whatever the hell they want to NATO members who do not meet their defense spending targets. He recounted a story he has told before about an unidentified NATO member who confronted him over his threat not to help them. While McConnell has made Ukraine a top issue, an increasing number of members in his GOP conference have followed Trump's lead and are opposing the aid, which Senate leaders have been trying to pass for months. Without mentioning Trump by name, McConnell said in his opening remarks Sunday that American leadership matters and it is in question. Schumer said that if America doesn't assist Ukraine, Putin is all too likely to succeed. The Senate is pushing through several procedural votes on the slimmed-down package after an attempt to pair it with legislation stemmed in migration at the U.S. border collapse. Objections from Republicans adamantly opposed to the aid have delayed quick action, forcing the weakened votes as negotiations continue. I can't remember the last time the Senate was in session on Super Bowl Sunday, Schumer said as he opened the session, but as I've said all week long, we're going to keep working on this bill until the job is done. Senators were still trying to negotiate a deal on Amendment Sunday, but it was uncertain whether they could come to an agreement that would move up a final vote. If there continue to be objections, a final vote could come midweek. Our next story's headline reads, Milestone Marked by Tension. 45th Anniversary Comes as Growing Turmoil Grips Mid-East Amid Gaza War. By Amir Vahat, V-H-D-A-T from Associated Press. Tehran, T-E-H-R-A-N, Iran. Iran marked the 45th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic Revolution on Sunday amid tensions gripping the wider Middle East over Israel's continued war on Hamas and the Gaza Strip. Thousands of Iranians marched through major streets in square decorated with flags, balloons, and banners with revolutionary and religious slogans. In Tehran, crowds waved Iranian flags, chanted slogans, and carried place cards with the traditional Death to America and Death to Israel written on them. Some burned U.S. and Israeli flags, a common practice in pro-government rallies. Processions started out from several points, converging at Azadi Square in the capital. State TV showed crowds in many cities and towns claiming that millions participated in the rallies across the country. The military displayed a range of its missiles, including the Qassim, Q-A-S-S-E-M, Salamani, S-O-L-E-I-M-A-N-E, and Sahih Ballistic Missiles, S-E-J-J-I-L. The Simorgh Satellite Carrier and drones at the square when people took selfies with them. During the celebrations, a paratrooper jumped from a plane while displaying a Palestinian flag. Many high-ranking Iranian officials attended the celebrations in Tehran, including hardline President Abraham Raisi, E-B-R-A-H-I-M-R-A-I-S-I. He addressed the crowds in Azadi Square and called on the United Nations, in a speech broadcast by State TV, to expel the Zionist regime as the crowds chanted death to Israel. Raisi also said, The bombing of Gaza has to be stopped as soon as possible. The commander of the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard, Corps General Mohamed Salami and General Esmail Ghani, the head of the Expeditionary Force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also took part in the celebrations, while the head of the Judiciary Body, Ghalam Hossin, was at the rally in the certain city of Isfahan. There was a heavy secretary presence in the major cities across the country. The anniversary came a month after a deadly attack by the extremist Islamic State group in the central city of Kermane left at least 95 people dead during the commemoration for prominent Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, whom the U.S. killed in a 2020 drone strike. Iran tried to blame the U.S. and Israel for the attacks on the Israeli defense in the Gaza Strip, continued. The Islamic Republic launched missile attacks on Iraq and Syria. It then struck alleged anti-Iran Sunni militant group, Jahish al-Aldi, targets in nuclear-armed Pakistan, which responded with its own strikes on Iran. Further raising tensions in a region inflamed by the Israel-Hamas war. Earlier in January, a drone attack killed three U.S. troops in Jordan, which an umbrella group for Iran-backed factions known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed. The U.S. said it held Tehran responsible. Iran threatened to decisively respond to any U.S. attack on the Islamic Republic. The Islamic Revolution began with widespread unrest in Iran over the rule of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah fled the country in January 1979. Ayodhla Rahula Khoami returned from exile and the government fell on February 11, 1979. We have a picture also with this story and the caption reads, Demonstrators burn a U.S. flag Sunday during a rally in Tehran commemorating Iran's 1979 Islamic Revolution. It looks like a parade with a bunch of Iranian flags and there's a bunch of people with their arms up celebrating with confetti and it shows the American flag on fire and I'm pretty sure the Islamic flag on fire as well. Our next story is titled, NATO Head Trump Putting U.S. Troops, Allies at Risk. Remarks on defense spending Russia set off uproar in Europe by Vanessa Guerra and Lauren Cook from the Associated Press. Warsaw, Poland, the head of the NATO military alliance, warned Sunday that Donald Trump was putting the safety of U.S. troops and their allies at risk after the Republican presidential frontrunner said Russia should be able to do whatever the hell they want to NATO members who don't meet their defense spending targets. Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security including that of the U.S. and puts American and European soldiers at increased risk, NATO Secretary General Jen Stoltenberg said. Speaking Saturday at a rally in Conway, South Carolina, Trump recalled how as president he told an unidentified NATO member that he would encourage Russia to do as it wishes in cases of NATO allies who are delinquent. You didn't pay, you're delinquent, Trump recounted saying. No, I would not protect you. In fact, I would encourage them to do whatever the hell they want. You've got to pay, you've got to pay your bills. Trump's remarks caused deep concern in Poland which was under the Russian control in past centuries and where anxieties are high over the war Russia is waging just across the Polish border in Ukraine. We have a hot war at our border. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Sunday voicing concerns about whether the United States will show full solidarity with other NATO countries in this confrontation. In a statement Trump's senior advisor Jason Miller said Trump would be able to more effectively force allies to increase their NATO spending than Joe Biden.
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