Introduction
Sound: Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “It’s the responsibility of everyone to take steps to calm tensions rather than inflame them”
Jonathan: The Secretary of State has been trying to put out a major fire an on important trip this week. Angie is here with the details.
Plus – how did this tiny capsule go missing… and why is it so dangerous?
Those stories and more today on… Notice News.
Easing Tensions in the Middle East
Jonathan: Hey guys and happy Thursday from Notice HQ in Brooklyn, I’m Jonathan. Halfway across the world this week, Secretary of State Antony Blinken was in the Middle East with a very difficult mission: help reduce tensions between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
Our Washington correspondent Angie has more.
Angie: It’s a seemingly impossible task: getting Israel and Palestine to calm down after some of the worst violence there in years.
Sound: Secretary of State Antony Blinken: “There is no question that this is a very difficult moment.”
Angie: But that’s what Secretary of State Antony Blinken – our country’s number two diplomat just behind the president – has been trying to do this week.
On Monday, the secretary met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and on Tuesday, met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas – urging both sides to try and reduce tensions.
According to Reuters, January was the most deadly month there since 2015.
All of this is part of a decades-old conflict, stemming from the creation of the state of Israel as a home for Jewish people after the trauma of the Holocaust in 1948.
The creation of a new country angered the native population there, the Palestinians, who, until then, had been under British colonial rule.
Since then, Palestinians have been mostly confined to two regions – the Gaza Strip along the Mediterranean Sea and the West Bank to the west and north of Jerusalem.
The Palestinians have since pushed for their independence – something the U.S. supports – in what’s known as the two-state solution.
That’s something Israel opposes – and failing to come together on peaceful terms, the cycle of violence only continues.
Headlines
Jonathan: Here’s what else is making news right now.
Tyre Nichols was laid to rest on Wednesday in Memphis, Tennessee. Nichols died 3 weeks ago after being beaten by 5 police officers, who have all been charged with murder.
Sound: Tom Brady: “I’m retiring, for good.”
Jonathan: No really, he’s serious this time. Tom Brady again says he’s ending his 23-year career. we’ll see if he means it.
And – if you end up being a coach don’t ever, ever do this. That’s not a JV basketball player – that’s a 22-year-old coach who was caught impersonating a 13 year old player on the court. She was fired and it cost the team their season.
Lost Radioactive Capsule Found in Australia
Have you ever lost something really small – in a place that’s really big? That’s exactly what happened in Australia recently. This tiny radioactive capsule was lost in the massive Australian outback.
Yes — a radioactive capsule.
Smaller than a coin, it’s part of a gauge used to measure the density of iron ore inside a mine. But a few weeks ago, the gauge apparently broke apart in transit — and the capsule went missing. Authorities issued a radiation alert to the public because the capsule is filled with cesium-137, a radioactive byproduct of a nuclear reaction that can make you very sick.
Experts say the capsule emits the equivalent of 10 x-rays per hour, or about the amount of natural radiation we receive in an entire year just by walking around. For the past week, more than 100 people have been searching for this capsule along an 870 mile stretch of highway in the outback.
And, yesterday, they found it — six and a half feet from the road in a remote area away from people. The mining company said his company would be happy to reimburse the cost of the search, and they’re putting in place controls to keep this from ever happening again.
Conclusion
That’s it for today but you can learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on our website, noticenews.com.
I’ll will be back tomorrow with more from us, Notice News.