Israel and Palestine's weekend attacks

It’s Monday, August 8. Welcome to the News Diet. Today I’m gonna talk about the weekend attacks between Israel and Palestine, China’s reaction to Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan, and the climate action bill passed by the Senate. Let’s be informed so we can get on with our day.

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Over the weekend, tensions between Israel and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad came to a head after Israel launched what they said were pre-emptive strikes in order to stop missiles from coming over from Gaza. Israel anticipated an attack in response to their arrest of militant leader, Bassam al-Saadi.

Reports on fatalities are said to be around 40 Palestinians that have been killed from Israeli fire, including civilians. And that Palestinian militants fired over 400 rockets at Israel, of which most were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome Defense system. 

As of yesterday, a ceasefire brokered by Egypt was appearing to hold up, where a UN Special Coordinator is said to be checking in on the prisoner al-Saadi. The Islamic Jihad is demanding his release as well as the release of a second prisoner. So far Israel has agreed to the give up the second, but is still discussing al-Saadi.

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Last week I talked about how Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, visited Taiwan as part of her Asian tour. And how this visit sparked a lot of discussion amongst the international community, because of the current tense relationship between Taiwan and China. China considers Taiwan as a part of it’s territory, but Taiwan considers itself to be an independent sovereign nation. China has made it very clear that anyone who sides with Taiwan here could face repercussions, although they haven’t been entirely clear on what exactly these repercussions would be. 

Now, Nancy Pelosi is the highest ranking American official to visit Taiwan since 1997, so China is considering this an overt sign of support for the Taiwanese regime, which they don’t like. So in response, the Chinese military for four days conducted drills in the Taiwan Strait, which is the space between mainland China and the island of Taiwan. It’s a distance of 110 miles long. The drills focused on land attacks and long-range airstrikes. They also performed drills around and even launched ballistic missiles over the island and into Japan’s exclusive economic zone, which means they landed within 200 miles from the Japanese coast and technically within their ocean territory. 

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said that several of the Chinese vessels and aircrafts did indeed cross what’s called the median line, which is an unofficial line that generally is honored as a border to not be crossed by each other’s militaries. It’s not legally recognized but conducting drills over this line is seen as a form of escalating tensions.

The US, Australia, and Japan issued a joint statement condemning China’s actions, accusing them of provoking. China responded by accusing the US of provoking, claiming that they’re just protecting their territory. 

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After months of negotiations, the Senate passed a bill that targets climate action, taxes, as well as drug prices. The legislation calls for $740 billion, where $369 billion of that is reserved for the climate spending portion, which makes it the largest expenditure by the federal government to reduce fossil fuel usage. The package is to be spread out over 10 years, and through tax credits is hoping to incentivize consumers to buy electric vehicles and for using renewable energy sources like wind and solar. The Biden Administration had previously set a goal for the US to cut gas emissions in half by 2030, so in eight years. The tax credits include $30 billion to speed up renewable energy infrastructures like solar panels, wind turbines, and batteries; $10 billion for new facilities, $500 million for critical minerals processing and heat pumps. $60 billion for disadvantaged areas affected by climate changes, $27 billion for the first so-called national “green bank”, which focuses on investments in clean energy products; and for fees on oil and gas companies for leaks.

The bill also now allows for Medicare, which is health insurance for people over 65, to negotiate with drugmakers on the cost of prescription medications. This will start with 10 drugs in the year 2026, and then will expand to include more drugs in following years. Opponents here are claiming that these plans may cut into drug company profits, potentially disincentivizing them to continue to invest in research and develop new drugs, which is a very arduous and expensive process. Proponents argue the high costs of some drugs needs to be intervened so consumers can have easier access to the drugs they need. Regardless, this package would be the largest expansion of federal health policy since the Affordable Care Act.

Other health care related legislation includes a cap on out-of-pocket costs for seniors at $2,000 a year, as well as free vaccines. And then lastly, it’s extending subsidies for Americans under the Affordable Care Act, making some plans free for lower-income participants. These programs began under the pandemic aid law, and are now being extended for an additional three years.

This bill will also raise minimum taxes on big corporations to 15%, and increase funding for the IRS with an investment of $80 billion, in hopes of strengthening the agency’s ability to accurately and effectively collect revenue via taxes. As you can imagine, supporters like the idea of a more effective agency, and opponents don’t like the idea of a more powerful IRS.

This bill has passed the Senate, and is now off to the House, who is expected to vote later this week.

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It’s Monday, August 8. And you’ve just been informed. Now it’s time to get on with your day. I’m Michele Carroll. Thanks so much for listening.

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https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/07/asia/taiwan-china-military-drills-intl-hnk/index.html

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/china-conduct-regular-military-drills-east-taiwan-strait-median-line-state-media-2022-08-07/

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/japan-protests-after-chinese-missiles-land-its-exclusive-economic-zone-2022-08-04/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exclusive_economic_zone

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/04/us/politics/sinema-inflation-reduction-act.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/07/us/politics/climate-tax-health-care-bill.html?name=styln-domestic-policy-bill&region=TOP_BANNER&block=storyline_menu_recirc&action=click&pgtype=Article&variant=show&is_new=false

https://www.dailywire.com/news/vp-harris-breaks-tie-senate-passes-democrats-inflation-reduction-act-climate-tax-and-spending-bill

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/how-the-15percent-us-minimum-corporate-tax-would-work/2022/08/05/5f8754ba-14cf-11ed-8482-06c1c84ce8f2_story.html 

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https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/palestinian-rockets-reach-west-jerusalem-third-day-gaza-fighting-2022-08-07/

https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/07/middleeast/israel-gaza-islamic-jihad-ceasefire-intl/index.html

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-august-7-2022/

https://www.foxnews.com/world/palestinian-islamic-jihads-rocket-barrages-israel-trace-irans-regional-tentacles-experts-say

https://news.yahoo.com/u-says-supports-israels-defend-213040451.html

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-08-07/ty-article/.premium/israel-agrees-to-discuss-release-of-islamic-jihad-prisoners-in-gaza-cease-fire-deal/00000182-799b-dce0-afee-fd9f870c0000