Podcasts Editor Jack Garland and Podcasts contributor Reese Dahlgren discuss the war in Israel, the primaries in New Hampshire and more. News Editor Catherine Hamilton joins the show to discuss a Daily Bruin News article.
Jack Garland: Today is January 26. And you are listening to This Week by Daily Bruin Podcasts. Every Friday on this show, we recap the biggest news of the week. I’m Jack Garland, the Podcasts editor, and today I’ll be the international news correspondent.
Reese Dahlgren: Hi, I’m Reese, and I’m the national news contributor.
JG: And today for the first time we’re joined in studio by the News editor of the Daily Bruin, Catherine Hamilton. Welcome, Catherine.
Catherine Hamilton: Hi, guys. Happy to be here.
JG: So we have some updates about the two major wars that are going on right now: the one in Israel and the one in Ukraine. We’re going to start with updates on the war in Gaza and then the wider tensions in the Middle East. So the majority of Israeli military operations are now focused in the south of Gaza and the city of Khan Yunis. And previously the Israeli government said that the south and Khan Yunis in particular were safe areas for Gazans to flee. Now it seems to be the epicenter of the war. The Israeli Defense Forces, or IDF, say that the city is now encircled by their troops. On Tuesday, the IDF reported to have suffered their largest losses in a single day since the war began. They lost 21 soldiers after a rocket-propelled grenade hit a building that the IDF was wiring with explosives.
RD: Why were there explosives there in the first place?
JG: That’s a great question, Reese. So Israel has started creating what is being called a buffer zone surrounding Gaza that is about one kilometer wide. They say that this area is meant to protect Israeli territory from attacks launched from within Gaza. Secretary of State Blinken has said that the U.S. opposes the creation of a permanent buffer zone and that civilian infrastructure in Gaza should be spared from demolition.
RD: And what’s the latest update?
JG: Yesterday, the U.N. said that one of their facilities in Khan Yunis sheltering Gazans was hit by tank shells, killing 12 and injuring more than 75. The IDF denies the attacks, but it had previously stated that Hamas had command and control centers in the area. The U.S. has, of course, condemned the attack on the U.N. facility, noting the essential work that the U.N. is doing in Gaza amidst this dire humanitarian situation. And the US is calling on a thorough investigation by Israel.
RD: Is there any update on Israel’s intention in Gaza after the war?
JG: So last Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated his opposition to a two-state solution. A two-state solution would involve creating a new country in Gaza and the West Bank for Palestinians. And the U.S. has supported such a proposal. The Israeli government hasn’t put forward any real plans for what life in Gaza will look like after the war. They’ve only said that Israel will take control of security in Gaza indefinitely, which appears to many as a pledge by Israel to reoccupy Gaza following the war.
RD: It sounds like things aren’t getting better. How does this affect us here?
JG: You’re right, things don’t appear to be getting better. And everything going on right now is reminding us of how terrible and how messy wars are. You know, the creation of the buffer zone is endangering the future of Gaza and also led to the death of these Israeli troops. And the hit on the U.N. facility, you know, could have been an accident, but it’s still inexcusable. And both of these events highlight the senseless death that occurs during war. It reminds us of how important it is to take steps to avoid war whenever and wherever possible.
RD: The war in Gaza sparked this conflict in the Red Sea where you’ve seen the Houthis and Yemen exchanging fire with us. What’s the latest there?
JG: Yeah, so the U.S. and U.K. have continued to strike targets in Yemen. The targets are launch sites for Houthi rockets. Since the beginning of the war in Gaza, the Houthis, a militia group that controls parts of Yemen, has attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea to pressure Israel into a ceasefire. Since the attacks began, the U.S. and U.K. have struck various targets within Yemen that are Houthi control centers. President Biden has admitted that the U.S. strikes aren’t stopping the Houthis, but he’s pledged that the U.S. will continue.
RD: And you mentioned earlier about the war in Ukraine as well. What are the updates there?
JG: There were some developments in Ukraine this week that also reminds us of the senseless deaths that occur during war. Russian forces have claimed that Ukraine shot down a Russian military plane that Russia was using to transport 65 Ukrainian prisoners of war. Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied that it shot down the plane. And obviously Ukraine wouldn’t shoot down a plane that they knew were carrying Ukrainian prisoners, but there’s a chance that they made a mistake. Also, there were 27 people killed in a shelling attack in a market in Donetsk city. The Ukrainian city was first seized by Russian forces in 2014 and has been under Russian control ever since. It’s unclear who’s responsible for the shelling, and both sides have denied being responsible for the attack.
RD: Well, this is a lot of upsetting news, and my heart goes out to everybody involved in these wars. Did anything positive happen around the world this week?
JG: Yes, there was a bright spot in international news this week. The first mass malaria vaccination campaign is now underway in Cameroon. They’re offering free vaccines to infants under six months old. There are about 600,000 malaria-related deaths in Africa every year, and about 80% of those are children. So this campaign will certainly bring down that number, and 20 other countries are planning on rolling out their own programs later this year. So Reese, now moving to national news. What is the top story from this past week?
RD: Yeah, so on Tuesday, former President Donald Trump won the New Hampshire primary for the GOP, while President Biden won the Democratic primary despite not having his name on the ballot. As the 2024 primary elections kicked off earlier this month, both parties are heading into the next 10 months of state primaries – with interesting starts for the Republican Party. For the Republican Party, Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis dropped out of the race of the weekend, moving to endorse Trump. The latter managed to win over former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in New Hampshire on Tuesday night with 55% of the votes in his favor and 43% for her, according to the Associated Press. The loss for Haley may present challenges for her future in the presidential race. Despite not winning, Haley plans to continue her bid in the South Carolina primary.
JG: And what do these two primary results mean for the Democratic and Republican parties?
RD: So as for the Democratic Party, President Biden won the New Hampshire primary without his name on the ballot. This year, the Democratic National Committee changed its traditional plans of seeing the New Hampshire primary first to see the official primary in South Carolina. Since New Hampshire wouldn’t move its primary due to a state law indicating it should go first, they continued with the election anyway, and Biden nevertheless won in New Hampshire as voters in the state show their loyalty to him through the write-in effort – as he decisively won, beating Dean Phillips by 44 points. Biden is already the de facto nominee for the DNC. In a boost to his campaign, Biden has since received endorsement from the United Auto Workers after speaking at a political convention in Washington and has plans to focus his campaign on key swing states in the Midwest. So we’ll see how it plays out for these candidates in the coming months.
JG: And for the Republican Party?
RD: The positive result for Trump and New Hampshire has shown that his following will support his presidential campaign endeavors. Trump’s consecutive wins in New Hampshire and Iowa put him in a dominant position in the Republican Party.
JG: And what’s the Bruin angle here? How do these primaries affect UCLA students?
RD: So as election season continues, we’ll look forward to the upcoming primary results. California’s primary results are expected to be announced on March 5. For the greater UCLA community eligible to vote in this year’s primary, remember that every vote counts.
JG: And what else is going on around the country?
RD: On Tuesday, five universities – Yale, Brown, Columbia, Emory and Duke – settled a huge financial aid lawsuit, collectively paying over $100 million in settlements. Basically, these universities were accused of sidestepping federal antitrust laws and favoring wealthy applicants despite their need-blind admissions practices. Need blind basically means that the schools do not factor in students’ ability to pay when deciding their admission. However, these schools, among a total of 17 top universities in the U.S., have been accused of colluding to restrict financial aid packages and allegedly factored in student financial means when considering their application. Eight of the 17 universities have agreed to settle, which raises the question as to the scope of how much schools are willing to support their applicants and students financially. In another story, Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircrafts will soon take off on the runway again after the incident where a door panel ripped off of an Alaska Airlines plane earlier this month. However, the FAA has put a stop on Boeing’s production expansion for the time being but will allow their 737 MAX 9 planes to return to the skies in the coming days. Boeing still faces backlash for their quality control issues. CEO Dave Calhoun went to Capitol Hill this week to defend his company against safety control questions. Let’s hope that everyone will have smoother flying in the coming days.
JG: Yes, let’s hope that no more doors fly off of planes. Thanks for those updates, Reese. And now we’re going to turn to Catherine, who’s going to talk about a story from the Daily Bruin from this past week.
CH: Yeah, so the story I’m going to talk about this week actually happened on Thursday. It is about how the UC Board of Regents rejected the Opportunity for All campaign, which is a plan to hire students without legal immigration status. The regents had originally appointed a working group to look into this issue and figure out how to implement it. And they missed their self-imposed November deadline to come up with that plan, vowing to continue further study on the matter.
JG: So now that they’ve missed the deadline, what comes next?
CH: Yeah, so at the meeting, UC President Michael Drake said that the plan was not viable because of the potential legal ramifications and risks that the program could present for undocumented students and also the university. But apparently they are still looking to see other ways that they can implement an opportunity for undocumented students to work on UC campuses.
JG: And how have students reacted?
CH: Students have not been happy this week. Many students who support the Opportunity for All campaign went on a hunger strike to protest the regents’ upcoming decision because they assumed that it was not going to be in their favor. So this hunger strike was supposed to end on Thursday, but it is uncertain whether they will continue it because of the regents’ new decision.
JG: I’m sure the Daily Bruin will continue to cover the story. And you can track updates on the Daily Bruin website or the Daily Bruin newspaper. Thanks for coming on, Catherine.
CH: Thanks for having me.
JG: That’s all we have for this week. Thanks for joining us, and we will be back next Friday.
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