Where this was said
Intro & U.S.-Iran Ceasefire Pause
At 0:26 · chapter starts 0:00
Libby Casey opens the broadcast from Washington with the most pressing international story of the morning: a pause in U.S.-Iran hostilities that the two sides are already describing very differently. U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Mike Waltz told NBC that the halt is designed to give 'talks some space' — a carefully worded diplomatic signal. But Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Bahrai pushed back hard, saying mediators were only passing messages and that Iran had neither entered negotiations nor requested any return to talks. [1] — Jane Arraf "The U.S. is calling its pause in attacks on Iran a diplomatic window. Iran is calling it exactly nothing — its foreign ministry says there …" The gap between those two framings is itself the story. Making things more complicated, Iran's Yemeni allies — the Houthi rebels — didn't pause anything: they struck Saudi oil infrastructure over the weekend to solidify their control over Bab el-Mandeb, a critical global shipping strait, demonstrating that the regional conflict has dynamics well beyond the U.S.-Iran bilateral ceasefire.
The U.S. is calling its pause in attacks on Iran a diplomatic window. Iran is calling it exactly nothing — its foreign ministry says there are no negotiations and Iran never asked to return to talks. Meanwhile, the Houthis didn't get the memo, striking Saudi oil infrastructure over the weekend to tighten their grip on the Bab el-Mandeb shipping lane.
The U.S. says a halt in hostilities is meant to give diplomatic talks some space, though Iran denies any formal negotiations are underway.
Yemen's Houthi rebels struck Saudi oil assets over the weekend to reinforce their control over the Bab el-Mandeb shipping lane.
Maine Democrats nominated Troy Jackson, a progressive state lawmaker and former logger, to replace Graham Plattner who dropped out after rape allegations.
Maine Democrats needed a new Senate candidate fast, and they found one in Troy Jackson — a former logger, longtime state lawmaker, and Bernie Sanders ally. Sanders endorsed both Plattner and Jackson and campaigned with both. Jackson's progressive platform is already energizing Democratic voters and pulling independents ahead of a fight with Susan Collins, who is seeking a sixth term.
