Transcript

3.12.26 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of Today's Washington Post for Thursday,
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March the twelfth of twenty twenty six. Your reader is
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Alis Stainer, with the reminder that RADIOI is for those
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blinded with other ways that make it difficult to read
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and hold printed material, and I will start with today's
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front page. Top left is a picture of a group
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of guests relaxing this week at a club in Dubai,
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a futuristic metropolitans where more than ninety percent of residents
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are foreigners, and the article is UAE an oasis of
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stability shaken by war. That is the front page left
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to the right of that in bold print, Nations open
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oil stock pot in bid to steady prices. Four hundred
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million barrels from energy agency measures come as war in Iran,
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rattle's Global economy and Iranian school was on US target list,
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possibly mistaken as a military site. That is below the
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four hundred million barrel below the fold on the far left.
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Baby left in Kart in nineteen seventy two meets with
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women who found her. The reunion gives her clarity about
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her origin story and helps her feel more connected. And
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to the right of that federal panel drops plan to
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revisit COVID vaccines. Kennedy Advisers had considered stopping m RNA recommendations.
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And below that article on the right, at the very
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bottom of the front page is a picture of a
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woman on what looks like very little snow because there's
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a lot of brown areas around it, but overlooking a
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town in the distance with mountains in the background. And
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it's a paral Olympics. A Paralympics magic Ama Alberts d'artier
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of Iceland competes Wednesday in the cross country ten kilometer
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intervals start sitting race at the twenty twenty six Winter
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para Olympics in Terresso, Italy. Oxana Masters of the United States,
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the most decorated American Winter para Olympian, won the race
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for her third gold in full events. Wednesday's feet allowed
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her to equal the three golds she won at the
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twenty twenty two Beijing Winter para Olympics. At first article,
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UAE and Oasis for Business and Partying faces war. Iranian
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airstrikes have shaken Persian golf countries, undermining their reputations as
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havens of wealth and stability and forcing them to take
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sides in a war they opposed. And there's a picture
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of smoke visible in the far background after debris of
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an intercepted Iranian drone hit an oil facility in Fajeria, UA,
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United Arab Emirates. That is seen from a historic fort
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on the fort looks like a fort. There's a parapet
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and area of along the palustrade.
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Speaker 2: With the.
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Speaker 1: Holes that you shoot through, steps leading down. A person
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on top of it studying the area around it. I
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have friends that have moved or were moving to Dubai,
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and I'm not sure they're going to be able to
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get there now. Rachel Chasen wrote this article out of Dubai.
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Black smoke rose above Dubai's International Airport Saturday morning after
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an Iranian drone struck near a terminal. That night, a
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boom reverberated across the Marina neighborhood as debris from another
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drone slammed into a high rise towel. By Sunday morning,
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the shrill blair of missile alerts rang out of mostly
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empty beach clubs. More than a week after the United
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States and Israel attacked Iran, killing its supreme leader. Persian
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Gulf nations continued to be targeted by waves of Iranian
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drones and missiles that showed few signs of letting up.
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The unprecedented assaulted shaped countries that transformed in recent decades
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from sparsely populated desert nations into globally renowned business and
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tourism centers, calling into their reputations as havens of wealth
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and stability, and forcing them to take sides in the
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war they publicly opposed. No place embodies the golf's success
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and the threats to it more than Dubai, a futuristic
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metropolis that is the most populous city in the UAE
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and where more than ninety percent of its roughly four
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million residents are foreigners. Dubai is a safe haven and
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a brand name and a role model, said Abduhalik Abdullah,
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as political science professor from the United Arab Immirates. Abdullah said,
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it has built itself this image that people aspire to.
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The image to that image is already there. The damage
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to that image is already there. The question is how
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permanent that damage is, he said, sitting in acquired of
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than usual shopping mall on Sunday. The transformation of golf
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countries such as the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar was
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made possible, in part by diplomatic hedging by their leaders,
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who remained friendly with Iran even as they formed partnerships
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with the West, including allowing US military bases to be
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constructed on their territory. The UAE, for example, signed President
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Donald Trump's Abraham Accords normalizing relations with Israel, but it
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also has been a key hub for Iranian business that
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balancing act analysts say appears to have reached its limit.
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Over the past nine days. Government statistics show that Iran
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has targeted the UAE with about twice as many drones
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and missile strikes as Israel. Dubai's airport and some of
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its most iconic landmarks have been hit, with the government
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reporting that barrages of projectiles continued to rain down across
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the nation Tuesday. Across the Gulf, the attacks continue, with
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Iran firing drones and missiles at Bahrain, Kuwait, Guitar and
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Saudi Arabia, their governments said Tuesday. In the UAE, authorities
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said they were responding to a fire after a drone
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attack on Roi's Industrial Complex, a massive energy hub where
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petrochemicals are refined.
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Speaker 2: Surprise is too nice a word.
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Speaker 1: We were shocked, Abdullah said, adding Iran for generations, was
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our neighbor for forty seven years under the Islamist rule.
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Speaker 2: It was a threat.
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Speaker 1: Now it's our enemy. Publicly, golf leaders have rejected confidence
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in their defense capabilities, noting that about ninety four percent
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of attacks have been intercepted. The UAE, for the past
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ten years has used a terminal high Altitude Area Defense
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THHAD system developed by US based Lockheed Martin, and for
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even longer has used the Patriot Missile Defense system to
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defend against lower altitude targets. Casualties have remained relatively low
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across the nation of eleven million, with four people killed
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in more than one hundred wounded since February twenty eighth.
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Speaker 2: In Iran.
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Speaker 1: By comparison, more than twelve hundred people have been killed
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by US Israeli attacks, according to state media. Some five
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hundred and seventy people have died in Israeli attacks and
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levernmen amid in exchange of strikes between Hasbellah and the
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Israeli military, and more than seven hundred and fifty thousand
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displaced by Israeli evacuation directives, according to local authorities. The
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region remains on edge, with no end to the war
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in sight, and the Gulf's vulnerabilities, including its reliance on
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imported food and desalinated water, acute.
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Speaker 2: Some residents of.
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Speaker 1: Dubai fled in the early days. Those who remain say
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they are both confident in their government and unsure about
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the end game.
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Speaker 2: We may be shaken, but.
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Speaker 1: Our foundation is solid, said Sharif Siliman, the chief revenue
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officer of Property Fonda, a real estate company at Kendzilo
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in the United States. Debris from a drone had left
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a mark on Seliman's patio. It has been built on
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resilient foundation, will surely sustain. Sigimun said he could not
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imagine the conflict continuing for more than a week. We
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are all in a wait and see mode, he said.
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Iranian President Masad de Pizinskian publicly apologized to Iran's neighbors
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on Saturday morning, saying in a recorded video message that
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attacks would stop unless strikes on Iran originated from the Gulf.
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But soon after, plumes of smoke rose above Dubai International
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Airport after an Iranian drone hit near a terminal. One
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of the most jarring scenes this week end, as the
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UAE was targeted with two hundred and twenty nine drone
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attacks and twenty six strikes by ballistic missiles, according to officials.
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Analyst said the apparent contradiction between Prziskian's remarks and the
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continued attax reflected discord with the Ram's government, which will
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now be led by Mojah Deba Cahamini or Hamini, son
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of the slain Supreme leader Ali Hamini. A Golf official
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who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the
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sensitivity of the military situation, said that country has the
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defense system it needs to continue to protect residents, but
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the official warned that a fragmented decision making environment could
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push the region into a wider confrontation that nobody can
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fully control. The Golf states have invested heavily in defense
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capabilities and contingency planning, and those systems are performing their purpose,
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but air defense alone cannot stabilize a region if the
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political tract collapses.
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Speaker 2: The official said.
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Speaker 1: So far, Golf leaders have defended themselves but have stained
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from joining the fight against Iran. The UAE, Abdullah said,
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is relying on its soft power to try to pressure
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the regime behind the scenes, including using diplomatic channels and
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threats of sanctions. Isfendarijar Batman jaghili Gi, chief executive of
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the Burs and Bizarre Foundation, an Iranian focused think tank,
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said at any moment, Iran could hit a certain target
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that it ends up being a tipping point for the
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golf to change its stance. But the wronger this goes on,
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the more unforgettable impact will become, and the more fully
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that image of the golf will be pierced. Already, in Dubai,
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a famously imaged conscious city that has become a global
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hub for influences, debates about the area, who controls it
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or raging. The UAE prides itself from being responsive to
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citizens and offering premier services, but it also famously repressive,
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punishing critics with jails and fines. In recent days, citizens
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were warned they could be arrested for taking or sharing
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photos of Iranian attacks for strike sites, which the government
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said could create public panic and harm national security. In
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the wake of the initial strikes, international coverage described frantic
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escapes and sometimes made Dubai to be a city under siege.
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Then there was a seemingly coordinated backlash by influencers who
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posted themselves dancing in parks and by pools, declaring, often
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with slow motion images of the country's leaders in dramatic music,
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that they were not scared because they felt protected. Reality
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is more nuanced, if still surreal. In Dubai's Old city,
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working class residents continue to go to work each day,
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although business is a fraction of what it was just
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the week before. Everything is perfect here, safe, secure, said
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Ikram Oldcock, twenty four, who is from Pakistan. See o'rak said,
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looking toward the sky, there's another plane flying. They wouldn't
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do that if it wasn't safe. At Dubai's iconic beach clubs,
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the partying over the weekend was a fraction of what
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it would usually have been. Club Doris said, but very
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much still going. There are ups and downs, but overall
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there's a feeling of calmness and safety, said Tirana mc cormack,
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an Australian business owner. Having drinks at the club on
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Sunday with her friends. She laughed at people keep asking
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whether she's getting paid this day. She feels safe. I
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am not, I wish, she said, adding that she generally
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feels confident in the country's leaders, but she also said
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that she's monitoring the news and is not opposed to
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leaving if the situation worsens. This city has also become
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a refuge from any fleeing other wars, for whom the
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current crisis still feels small. On Saturday night, three Eastern
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European friends were having dinner when a flash of light
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and low boom signaled that a high rise building a
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few blocks away had been hit. The women, two from
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Russia and one from Latvia, looked up recently, then continued
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sipping their wine. The next day, missile alerts were ringing
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out from cell phones on Kite Beach Euros Loved Mila
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thirty three, the general manager of a mostly empty club,
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smiled and shouted fifty percent discount as his employees laughed
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and continued their game of corn hole. This is the
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vibe killer of these messages, merely said, adding that he
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grew up when the US was bombing Serbia. War in
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Dubai doesn't feel like war, he said, adding that he
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did not wish to harm anyone, but wondered whether it
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might not be a bad thing for people here to
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see just a bit of what the rest of the
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region has experienced for years. Iranian school was on US
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target list may have been mistakingly chosen as a military site.
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The strike killed at least one hundred and seventy five,
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many of them children, and has raised questions as to
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whether the military use of AI to identify targets was
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a factor. And there's a picture of the aftermath of
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the strike on a school in Minab, Iran last February
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twenty eighth, as a mural on the wall of a
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kid on the grass with butterflies and tulips painted all
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around him. People milling around the outside of the school,
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which is absolutely destroyed by Tera Kopp, Saud McKennitt, Meg Kelly,
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Alex Horton, and Susannah George. The Iranian elementary school building,
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where scores of children were killed as the US and
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Israel began their massive is aeriel A campaign, was on
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a US target list. It may have been mistaken for
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a military site, multiple people familiar with the strike told
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The Washington Post. The deadly attack occurred in the first
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few hours of the US Israeli war against Iran jost
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as parents were hurrying to the two story schoolhouse to
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take their kids home. To safety and killed at least
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one hundred and seventy five people, many of the children.
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According to Iranian state media, it is not clear why
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the building was hit, but one person familiar with the
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school strike said the building had been identified as a
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factory and had been an approved strike target. A second
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person familiar said there was an arms depot target located
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in the same area, and did not know if the
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United States hit the school by mistake or if US
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officials had the wrong intelligence and thought the building was
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the arms depot. Initially, there was some confusion on why
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it was on the target list, said a third person
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familiar with the strike. The individual would not go into
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further details, citing the military's ongoing investigation into the strike.
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Israel has said it did not have a role in
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the strike, and two Israeli officials told The Washington Post
18:55
that this specific targeting was not cross checked or discussed
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with the Isel defense forces before it took place. The
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Post spoke to more than a dozen people to report
19:07
the story in the United States and Israel, including those
19:11
familiar with the incident and a as role in the
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Iran operations, all of whom spoke on the condition of
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anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue. On Wednesday,
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The New York Times reported that a preliminary Pentagon investigation
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into the strike found that the United States was at
19:31
fault and that the incident may have been the result
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of using outdated targeting data. A US official and a
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person familiar with the targeting confirmed to the Post that
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the initial investigation appeared to indicate that the school strike
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was conducted by the US military. The mistaken strike was
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probably due to an intelligence error on the target location,
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the official said. The school used to be part of
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an Arra naval base and may still be affiliated with
20:03
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Core Navy, but it had been
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walled off since twenty fifteen, and separate entrances were also
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added between mid twenty fifteen and early twenty sixteen. According
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to a Post and expert analysis of satellite imagery, there
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is an outdoor play area that appears on Google Earth
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as early as twenty seventeen. There's a picture of that
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compound and within this compound drawing on the very far
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left is Naval Force compound walled and clinic walls Shahed
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Islam Clinic, but on the far right it simply says,
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and with a big area in between the primary school
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and playyard in yellow, and it's just one corner of
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the I would say the top northeast corner of the school.
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The complex is LAO changed again in twenty twenty two,
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an additional wall separating what is now a medical clinic
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from the other surrounding buildings. Satellite energy shows the locations
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of the school in clinic adjacent to, or even within
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the larger IRGC compound do not make them legitimate targets,
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experts have said. Human Rights Watch has called for a
21:28
war crime investigation on the attack. It is unclear whether
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there were casualties at the medical clinic. At a Pentagon
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News griefing Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth alleged that schools
21:42
in Iran were being used to launch attacks. The moors
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are desperate and scrambling like the terraced cowards they are.
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They fire missiles from schools and hospitals, deliberately targeting innocence.
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Speaker 2: Hegseth said.
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Speaker 1: Allow up requests for comment on Hegseth's claim that Iranians
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are firing missiles from schools. His office referred the post
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back to the Secretary's briefing remarks. On Sunday, a new
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video of the strikes posted to social media appeared to
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show a Tomahawk cruise missile, a munition fired by the
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US Navy, strike a building near the school. According to
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eight munitions experts who reviewed the footage, President Donald Trump
22:30
suggested Monday, without evidence that Iran itself may have attacked
22:34
the school with tomahawks, but whether it's Iran or somebody else,
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the fact that a Tomahawk a tomahawk is very generic.
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It sold to other countries. Trump said only a handful
22:48
of Allied nations have Tomahawk cruise missiles. Iran is not
22:52
among them. Israel also does not have tomahawks in its arsenal.
22:57
The attack has drawn international condemnation and is raising questions
23:02
as to how the school ended up being struck and
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whether the United States and Israel's use of AI in
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this conflict had a role. Both countries have leveraged the
23:13
technology to mass process intelligence and identify potential targets, enabling
23:18
their militaries to destroy thousands of sites in just days
23:23
of the ongoing operations. Israel has conducted more than six
23:28
thousand strikes on thirty four hundred targets. An IDF official
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told the Post US Central Command, which oversees US military
23:38
operations in the Middle East, had hit fifty five hundred
23:42
targets as of Wednesday. According to five people familiar with
23:48
the issue, both the Israeli and US militaries are using
23:51
Pallunteers mabon to conduct operations. MABN is a battlefield intelligence platform.
23:58
The US version is powered in part by Anthropics AI claud,
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the head of synthcome Edmio Brad Cooper, said Wednesday in
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the United States is leveraging a variety of advanced AI
24:13
tools to conduct the strikes. Cooper said these systems help
24:19
us sift through fast amounts of data in seconds, so
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our leaders can cut through the noise and make smarter
24:26
decisions faster than the enemy can react. Humans will always
24:31
make final decisions on what to shoot and what not
24:34
to shoot, and when to shoot, but advanced AI tools
24:38
can turn processes that used to take hours and sometimes
24:42
even days into seconds. Heg Seth was asked Bate to
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strike on sixty minutes on Sunday, he said, heg Seth, Well,
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we're still investigating and that's where I'll give it today.
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But what I will emphasize to you and to the
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world is that unlike our adversaries, the Iranians, we never
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target civilians Hexsass. The office referred questions about the school
25:10
strike and whether AI had a rolled to the US
25:13
Central Command. Sent Kam declined to come in, citing the
25:17
impending investigation a terrifying sound. At least one hundred and
25:24
seventy five people, including scores of elementary school aged children,
25:28
were killed in the attack on the Sazia Tiabib Elementary
25:34
School in Monab around on February twenty eighth, the day
25:38
the United States and Israel began war operations across the country.
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The strike took place around ten forty five am local time,
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the governor of Hermosagon Province told the semi official Iranian
25:53
news agency Tasnim, around an hour after the US and
25:58
Israel commenced bombing and missile strikes. Satellite imagery taken around
26:03
fifteen minutes earlier shows no damage to the complex. Videos
26:08
showing multiple columns of smoke billowing near military base in
26:12
Minab in Iran South began to circulate on social media.
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Speaker 2: By noon.
26:18
Speaker 1: Abdullah Charenonic Pack forty one had arrived at the school
26:23
around twelve twenty eleven twenty am, after receiving a call
26:28
ten minutes earlier asking parents to come pick up their children.
26:32
He said he was waiting outside the front door for
26:35
his two young children, watching one of the teachers call
26:39
of the parents when the attack began. We heard a
26:43
terrifying sound. It was the sound of a missile. I
26:46
don't know exactly what it was, and it hit the school,
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Karinia Pack said in a phone interview conducted in the
26:54
presence of a local media organization with government ties. Corinia Pack,
26:59
who didnfied himself as a government worker in a municipal office,
27:03
said the force of the blasts knocked him off his
27:06
feet and sent him flying back through the air. Five
27:09
or ten seconds later, there were two more blasts, he said.
27:13
In all, Karenia Pack said he heard three or four
27:16
large explosions, at least four plumes of smoke or visible
27:21
in a video of the immediate aftermath, filmed near the
27:24
school's entrance and verified by the Post. As he stood
27:29
up dazed, Karinia Pac noticed he couldn't hear anything and
27:33
that his forehead was covered in blood. I went back
27:37
toward the school entrance, but it wasn't there anymore. It
27:40
had collapsed. Karinia Pack said. He climbed through the rubble
27:45
to try to reach students trapped on the second floor,
27:47
but couldn't help them down. There were three of the
27:50
girls up there, crying, covered in blood, and there was
27:53
also fire, he said. Parents and rescuers dug for hours
27:59
through the rubble of the first floor. Not a single
28:02
one of the kids we pulled out was alive. Their
28:05
bodies were torn apart and burned, he said. Grinea Pak
28:10
was also unable to find his son's age seven and eight,
28:15
in the debris.
28:17
Speaker 2: He was later called.
28:18
Speaker 1: In to a morgue where his older son's body was intact,
28:22
but he identified the younger boy only by the shoes
28:25
he had been wearing. His body was unrecognizable. AI generated
28:31
targets as both militaries prepared for the start of operations,
28:36
The United States and Israel spent thousands of hours identifying
28:41
sites to strike in building massive target list. The IDFs
28:45
said many of those locations were generated from Israeli intelligence.
28:50
Two people familiar with the planning, one Israeli and one American,
28:54
told the Post. On the US side, the defense intelligence
28:59
agents he maintains a target database containing thousands of potential
29:05
enemy locations, each of which is assigned a basic Encyclopedia
29:11
or b E number. Each target is assigned an agency
29:15
that is responsible for maintaining and updating information and intelligence
29:19
for that specific B number. In this case, it was
29:23
probably either the responsibility of Synthcom's intelligence staff or J
29:28
two or the DIA to make updates, said another person
29:32
familiar with the military's targeting process. Synthcom has many DIA
29:38
analysts embedded within it to support operations, the person said,
29:43
but the sheer volume of data and targets that were
29:46
moving through the database could have overwhelmed that staff. The
29:50
person familiar said. Teams of intelligence analysis work off of
29:56
large data sets of potential military target st old back years,
30:01
and conditions that change on the ground may not be
30:05
noticed or documented. A US defense official said hundreds of
30:10
additional locations were added to the targets set in the
30:13
weeks right before the attack, but it is not clear
30:17
if the school was among those, said another person familiar
30:21
with the planning. While Israel has said it did not
30:25
conduct the strike, it is not clear whether intelligence Israel
30:29
provided to the United States to identify our targets had
30:33
a role. We've checked multiple times and have found no
30:38
connection between the IDF and whatever happened in that school
30:43
in Minab. IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadab Shashani total reporters
30:49
in Israel on Sunday. On the U S side, targets
30:53
for Operation Epic Fury were identified by a Pallanteer's MAVEN
30:58
Smart System, sophisticated military planning tool that takes in data
31:03
from surveillance, logistics, senses, and intelligence and can create a
31:09
dashboard for commanders to inform their decisions. As building for
31:18
a potential strike in Iran was underway, Maven suggested targets
31:23
issued precise location coordinates and prioritize those targets according to Importance.
31:29
The pairing of Mabon and Claude is created a tool
31:32
that is speeding the pace of the campaign, reducing around's
31:35
ability to counter strike and turning weeks long battle planning
31:39
into real time operations. Two people familiar with its use
31:43
told the Post the AI tools also evaluate a strike
31:48
after it is initiated. It is unclear to what extent
31:54
this system is being used to conduct US Israeli joined operations, however,
31:59
or whether the mere system being used as the US version,
32:03
which uses Claude to process classified information and is currently
32:08
the subject of a lawsuit between Anthropic and the Trump administration.
32:13
Anthropic has insisted that it must maintain guardrails of a
32:18
Claude's use forbidding the technology from being used in fully
32:22
autonomous weapons or domestic mass surveillance. The administration has said
32:27
that Anthropics of objections constitute a supply chain risk and
32:34
is in the process of replacing Claude with rival AI
32:37
tools in its network. In the lawsuit filed Monday, lawyers
32:42
representing Anthropic argued that within hours of the challenged actions. Moreover,
32:48
the Department reportedly launched a major air attack in Iran
32:53
with the help of the very same tools that are
32:56
made by Anthropic and are the subject of the challenge actions.
33:01
Citing media reports, both Anthropic and Pallunteer declined to comment
33:07
for this article. Vetting the list in US military operations, targets,
33:14
whether generated by AIL about other methods, require vetting and
33:18
sign off by humans. There is a long standing process
33:22
by which targets get nominated, reviewed by legal advisors, and
33:26
approved for strike. A for senior defense official told the
33:31
Post that approval usually usually done at the three star
33:36
commander level, but could go higher depending on a target sensitivity.
33:42
It is as yet unclear who ultimately approved to zero
33:47
Tayaba Elementary School as a target. The United States for
33:51
decades developed plans and targets for a potential war with Iran,
33:56
a former offense official told the Post, cautioning against leaping
34:01
to the conclusion that the school strike involved MABN or
34:05
generative AI. The former official said, if it the facility
34:10
wasn't already on the target list, I would be surprised,
34:14
but given the speed and scale of Operation Epic Fury,
34:19
those older targets may not have received updated vetting. According
34:23
to three people familiar with how the US military's vetting
34:27
process works, the United States has been surging analysts to
34:32
vet targets as the ground conditions rapidly change. I've been
34:39
pretty vocal since early mayven days that feeding current and
34:43
accurate data into your model is your biggest challenge, said
34:47
retired Air Force Lieutenant Jack Shanahan, who led the Pentagon's
34:52
early efforts to integrate AI into its war fighting in
34:56
twenty seventeen. As the the war increases, and the pressure
35:02
to find more target increases. There have to be checks
35:06
and balances in place to assure that the targets being
35:10
nominated for strike are legitimate targets and you can catch
35:15
it any mistakes that might lead to civilian casualties and
35:18
collateral damage. That's what targeteers are paid to do, said Shanahan,
35:25
who is now an adjunct Senior Fellow at the Center
35:30
for a New American Security think tank. It's tragic this happened,
35:36
and it shouldn't happen again. And anybody who thinks AI
35:40
is going to magically solve the fog and friction of
35:43
war is lying to you.
35:46
Speaker 2: Shanahan said.
35:49
Speaker 1: Nations agreed to release oil reserves as war and around
35:54
hits global economy. Your International Energy Agency that it would
36:00
carry out its largest ever release of oil reserves, four
36:05
hundred million barrels. And there is a picture of tankers
36:10
bobbing up and down as they line up in the
36:14
straits of Harmo's as seen from Mina l Fair the
36:18
UAE on Wednesday. And I see one, two, three, three
36:26
big ones and a couple of smaller ones in the
36:30
water by Rachel Chasen Evan helper Shahim Salamaka and tarak
36:38
kopp out of Dubai. The International Energy Agency on Wednesday
36:44
announced that it would carry out its largest ever release
36:47
of oil reserves, four hundred million barrels, in a bid
36:51
to control spiking energy prices caused by the United States
36:55
Israel war against Iran, which shows no signs lowing as
37:00
it ends its twelfth day. The plan, aimed at stabilizing
37:05
oil prices that have soared since the United States and
37:09
Israel attacked Iran on February twenty eighth, came as Iranian
37:13
leaders declared they were widening their assault on countries in
37:18
the Persian Gulf, aiming to raise the economic price of
37:22
the US Israeli military campaign to oust the government in Tehran.
37:27
About a third of global emergency stockpiles will be depleted
37:31
once the IEA's thirty two members released the reserves, a
37:37
decision that the organization's executive director, Fati Barol said was
37:43
made to address challenges in the oil market that are
37:47
unprecedented in scale. Oil markets are global, so the response
37:53
to major disruptions needs to be global too, Barol said
37:57
in a statement or early after and in Wednesday, the
38:01
price of Brent oil futures and international benchmark was up
38:05
more than five percent to about ninety two ninety two
38:09
dollars and fifty cents a barrow on Monday. At one
38:12
point it had rocketed to nearly one hundred and seventeen dollars.
38:17
Israel and the United States continued to strike around on Wednesday,
38:21
and Iran appeared to dig in, declaring on state media
38:25
that it had launched its most intense wave of operations
38:29
against Israel. Aaran also fired drones at Saudi Arabia, Guitar
38:36
Kuwait and the United Arab Emmerants, including two that landed
38:40
near Dubai International Airport, and announced that banks and other
38:44
businesses it sees as tied to the US and Israel
38:48
now would be targeted. As Iran expanded its retaliatory strikes.
38:54
Three commercial ships traveling near the Strait of Hormus were hit,
38:58
and Turan declared that the vital global shipping passage was
39:02
fully under its control. And here is a photo of
39:06
the MAJORI Nari, a Bangkok tanker on fire in the
39:13
water with lifeboats on either side of it. It was
39:18
a Thai cargo ship struck and set ablaze in the
39:21
Strait of Hamu's on Wednesday analysis said that Iran was
39:27
moving to increase pressure on President Donald Trump and Israeli
39:31
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The Tube acted largely without soliciting
39:36
the direct support of allies and have not proved provided
39:41
any clear endgame for their joint military operation, which is
39:46
now engulfed the entire Middle East, other than to say
39:50
they intend to topple the Iranian regime. It's about inflicting
39:55
direct damage on the US and global economy, said Yasmin Farouk,
40:00
the Golf and Arabian Peninsula Project director for International Crisis Group.
40:07
While the Golf remains focused on defense and defending its airspace,
40:12
Baruk said the attacks could reach a point where some
40:17
Persian golf nations might want to take military action against Iran, but.
40:21
Speaker 2: If they did not.
40:22
Speaker 1: If they did so, she added, that would be with
40:25
each other and the Europeans before Israel or the United States.
40:30
Yoel Goazinski, a senior researcher and head of the Golf
40:33
research field to the Institute for National Security Studies, a
40:38
research group based at Tel Aviv University, described Iran strategy
40:43
as one of elettric Iran is putting more and more
40:48
pressure on the energy market, so it isn't just hitting
40:51
the Golf countries but Europe, Asia and the United States,
40:55
and that pressure is working, Gazanski said. He said that
41:00
Golf countries had tried as much as possible through mediation
41:05
to avoid the war, but found that mediation and hedging
41:09
has its limits, and that they found those limits. Traffic
41:14
and the Straits of Hormuz, a narrow shipping lane that
41:17
is transit point for about twenty percent of the global
41:21
oil supply, had already slowed to a trickle because of
41:25
Iran's threat to sink vessels. The disruption has had a
41:29
cascading impact on world markets. Oil prices have soared to
41:34
heights not seen since the pandemic and threatened to push
41:38
average gasoline prices in the United States above four dollars
41:42
per gallon. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,
41:46
General Dan Kane, said the United States was looking at
41:50
a range of options to protect the Strait of Himuz.
41:54
Last week, Trump promised to use US Navy to escort
41:58
oil tankers through the strait, but the plans might not
42:02
include escorts, at least not immediately, because the US focus
42:06
for now is on taking out Around's navy and its
42:10
stores of ballistic missiles and drones, the source of its
42:14
power over the waterway, a US official said. The official
42:18
spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive operations.
42:23
There are thousands of threats, including deeply buried munitions and
42:28
drone storage sites, that the United States has now begun
42:32
to hit with bombers carrying two thousand pound munitions.
42:35
Speaker 2: It is also hitting mobile.
42:37
Speaker 1: Launch sites with smaller guided munitions, the US official said,
42:42
cautioning that the process would take time. So far, the
42:47
US military has struck more than fifty five hundred targets
42:50
and destroyed sixty Iranian warships, the commander of US Central Command,
42:56
Admiral Brad Cooper, said on the recorded video post did
43:00
to social media Wednesday, since Kam said Tuesday that its
43:04
forces had eliminated multiple Iranian naval vessels, including sixteen mine layers,
43:12
which US officials have said are endangering shipping near the
43:16
Strait of Hamus United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, a monitoring
43:22
agency that is part of the British Royal Navy, said
43:26
three ships were hit by unknown projectiles Wednesday. One was
43:31
a cargo ship traveling north of Oman, another was a
43:35
bulk carrier hit north of Dubai, and the third was
43:39
a container vessel struck near Ras Al Karuma in the
43:43
United Arab Emirates. Two of those ships, a Liberia flagged
43:48
vessel and the other Thai flag, were hit after they
43:52
disregarded warnings, according to Iranian state media. As leaders reacted
43:57
with alarm to the surge and energy prices, French President
44:02
Emmanuel Macrom on Wednesday afternoon convened a video conference of
44:07
leaders of the Group of seven Advanced to E Economies
44:12
to discuss the economic consequences of the war in the
44:16
Middle East, particularly the energy situation, and measures to mitigate it.
44:21
The impact of the oil release from the emergency stockpile
44:25
could be limited because moving oil eight of reserves is
44:29
logistically complicated and time consuming. At a time when the
44:33
daily flow of oil has been reduced by roughly twenty
44:36
million barrels per day, the releases expected to backfill just
44:40
a small fraction of that amount. In Japan, Prime ministers
44:45
Indeed Takeshi announced late Wednesday that fifteen days worth of
44:49
private sector stock piles and one month's worth of national
44:53
reserves would be released. Japan maintains one of the Earl's
44:57
largest strategic oil reserves, covering approximately two hundred and fifty
45:02
four days. The total amount to be released is expected
45:06
to be the largest ever for the country, around eighty
45:09
million barrels. Takashi said that with tankers effectively unable to
45:15
pass through the Strait of Hormus, crude oil imports are
45:19
expected to decline significantly. She said Japan has an exceptionally
45:26
high dependence on the Middle East compared with other countries,
45:29
and is therefore likely to be heavily effected if oil
45:34
prices continue to rise. Takashi said she plans to issue
45:38
government subsidies to bring the nationwide average retail price down. Meanwhile,
45:43
the crisis escalating among Gulf state producers, which are running
45:47
out of places to store their crude. They are being
45:50
forced to ramp down operations and may have to shut
45:53
some facilities altogether until shipping routes reopen. It has a
45:58
domino effect as the operations cannot be quickly resumed, ramping
46:04
them back up takes weeks, potentially adding to the chaos
46:08
and oil markets. The strikes on the commercial vessels occurred
46:12
the same day that around Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened
46:16
to attack economic centers and banks in the region that
46:21
have ties in the United States and Israel. A government
46:24
linked news agency released a list of companies that it
46:28
said could be targets, including Google, Microsoft, and Pallantel. In Dubai,
46:34
the UAE's Gtsei metropolis, many employers have encouraged staff to
46:39
work from home, and a wave of residents have left
46:42
the city. Those who remain exchanged d worried calls and
46:46
WhatsApp messages Wednesday afternoon, as news spread that are Ran
46:51
planned to target businesses, Several banks and US tech companies
46:56
in the UAE ordered employees to evacuate their out according
47:01
to an individual briefed on the security situation, who spoke
47:05
on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized
47:08
to talk to the media. Other instructed staff to work
47:12
from home for the remainder of the week as a precaution.
47:15
Come nightfall in Dubai, missile alerts again were blaring from
47:20
residence phones, urging them to take shelter amid a potential
47:24
wave of missiles. I'm going to read this heartwarming story
47:29
because it has Kentucky ties. Baby left in shopping cart
47:34
in nineteen seventy two reunites.
47:37
Speaker 2: With women who found her.
47:40
Speaker 1: Rita Marshall and Darley and Gilland found the baby in
47:43
a parking lot at Ohio Mall hours after she was born,
47:49
and there is a picture of the two of them
47:52
at the hospital visiting the young abandoned baby. In nineteen
47:57
seventy two, Sidney Page. Rita Marshall had just unlocked her
48:03
car when she noticed a shopping cart resting against the
48:06
front fendom. Inside was a brown paper bag and it
48:11
was moving. I didn't know what to think, Marshall said. Marshall,
48:16
then twenty, had just seen an evening film with her
48:19
friend and co worker Darlene Gilland twenty three at Westgate
48:24
shopping Center in Fairview Park, Ohio. It was August twentieth,
48:29
nineteen seventy two. Marshall couldn't make out what was inside
48:34
the bag. She stepped closer and bent down. That's when
48:38
I saw the baby's face, Marshall said.
48:41
Speaker 2: I was shocked.
48:42
Speaker 1: She called over Gilland, who was equally stunned to see
48:46
a newborn baby. The child was wearing a yellow onesie
48:50
and was wrapped in a blue blanket. She was swallowed
48:54
really tight, giland recalled she was perfect, lying there as
48:59
calm as could be. And there is a picture of
49:01
some articles in the paper that I can't read because
49:04
it's not really an article. Marshall stayed with the baby
49:09
while Gillan sprinted back to the theater to call police.
49:12
Within minutes, five patrol cars arrived. Officers peppered the women
49:17
with questions, then they rode in the back of a
49:20
patrol car to the hospital with the baby. She got
49:23
examined there. Gillan said she was beautiful and healthy. Doctors
49:29
told them the baby was about two or three hours
49:31
old when she was left in the shopping cart. Gilan
49:34
and Marshall both believed the baby's mother had spotted them
49:38
and thought they were a safe pair with whom to
49:41
leave the child. I think we were being watched. They
49:44
were looking for the right people, Marshall said, noting that
49:48
there were two apartment buildings behind the parking lot and
49:51
that perhaps the mother was observing from there. It was
49:55
just the right time and the right place, Gilan said.
49:59
Next is a picture of a birth certificate baby Heather Westgate,
50:04
Heath Westgate Infant's name, female, nineteen seventy two, August the twentieth,
50:11
mother's full name in urs seven pounds three ounces from
50:18
the hospital, the women went to a police station to
50:21
follow a report. The following day, they returned to the
50:24
hospital to visit the baby, who was temporarily named Jean Westgate,
50:31
Jane after one of the nurses who looked after her,
50:34
and Westgate after them. All we got to say goodbye,
50:38
Gilliam said, adding that they were told the baby we'd
50:41
be taken to social services and eventually adopted. They said
50:46
they called the next day to find out what happened
50:49
to the child, but were given no information. As the
50:53
women moved through life, they never forgot about the baby girl.
50:56
Speaker 2: Both said I thought about her a lot.
50:59
Speaker 1: I was always when how she wound up and if
51:01
she was okay, said Marshall, who saved all the newspaper
51:05
articles written about the unexpected delivery. That's been one of
51:09
the biggest moments of my life. Gillan said, she was
51:12
always in the back of my mind. Still they never
51:15
expected to meet her again, and there's a picture of
51:18
her in a basket, kind of like baby Moses, wrapped
51:21
up in the back of a car.
51:24
Speaker 2: After more than.
51:25
Speaker 1: Five decades, though they did The baby, whose name is
51:30
now Pearl Marshall, was adopted by a Cleveland couple. By coincidence,
51:35
she shares a last name with Rita Marshall. Both Pearl
51:40
Marshall and her younger brother were adopted. She said their
51:43
parents were always open about their adoption from the very beginning.
51:48
It's been part of who I am. Pearl Marshall said.
51:52
Her story was first reported by News five in Cleveland.
51:56
She grew up in Rockville, Maryland, where she attended Magruda
51:59
High School. She loved arts and crafts, enjoyed family trips
52:03
and holidays with extended relatives. I was certainly cared for,
52:08
she said. Although she felt loved by her adopted parents,
52:12
Parra Marshall said she was curious about where she came from.
52:16
She couldn't find any information, and her adoption records were sealed.
52:20
Lots of adopted friends would have fact sheets on their parents.
52:25
There was nothing on me. It didn't even occur to
52:28
me to search because there was no place to start.
52:31
Speaker 2: Marshall said.
52:33
Speaker 1: At times it pained her. Everybody seemed attached to this big,
52:37
beautiful family tree of humanity. Para Marshall said they knew
52:41
exactly where they were, and I was just kind of
52:44
floating off, disconnected on my own. She became a music
52:48
teacher at Greenacre School in North Bethesda, Maryland, before moving
52:52
to Los Angeles and later Berea, Kentucky. She married Jack Marshall,
52:58
who was also adopted. About ten years ago. Ohio unsealed
53:03
adoption records, including hers. Pearl Marshall's birth certificate did not
53:09
have the name of her mother old father. Her name
53:12
on the certificate was Jean Westgate and the blaze of
53:15
birth was Westgate Shopping Center. Years earlier, when she was
53:20
in college, her mother mentioned there was an abandoned baby
53:23
at that mall and that she had a hunch it
53:26
might have been Pearl. Since her birth certificate confirmed it,
53:30
Pearl Marshall and her husband started looking for old newspaper
53:34
articles about it. Their picture of old newspaper articles, Pearl
53:38
Marshall reached out to the Fairview Park Police Department in
53:42
twenty twenty three, asking whether they had information on the case.
53:46
They did not, but they passed along her request to
53:50
Chris H. Garrett, a local volunteer historical researcher. I just
53:55
started to pursue it, Garrett said, explaining that She was
53:59
hoping to track the found the two women who found
54:01
Pearl Marshall as a newborn, which proved challenging. People changed
54:07
their names, They may have them more than once or
54:11
no longer live in the area. Garrett come through school, property, death, marriage,
54:17
birth and criminal records. You've got to flip all the
54:20
pages in all the different records, she said. Soon Garrett
54:24
had a lead. She found Gilliam's adult son and called
54:27
him when she mentioned the abandoned baby in nineteen seventy two,
54:32
he knew exactly what she was talking about. She was
54:36
then able to track down Rita Marshall. That was a thrill.
54:40
It's the hunt that is fun, Garrett said. Both women
54:44
could recount the evening with complete clarity. The only detail
54:48
they had forgotten was what movie they had seen. Garrett
54:52
told Pearl Marshall that she had found the two women
54:56
and that she wanted to arrange a time for them
54:58
all to meet. It was very excited. Pe Marshall said.
55:03
It took nearly two years to plan a reunion, as
55:06
Pear Marshall was in the midst of moving with her
55:09
husband from Maria to Salem, Virginia, where she now works
55:14
at a public school and local church. She traveled to
55:17
meet the women into August at Fairview Park City Hall.
55:22
Both Rita Marshall and Gilliam live in northeast Ohio. They
55:26
were in touch but had not seen each other since
55:29
Gillian's husband's funeral eighteen years ago. As Pearl Marshall walked
55:34
into the room, the women immediately teared up. We were
55:38
all crying and hugging tightly. Gillen said, it's a miracle
55:43
our baby came home. Rita Marshall said, that's how it felt.
55:48
Pearl Marshall said she didn't expect to get the emotional
55:52
things so welcoming and bringing up the story and.
55:54
Speaker 2: What it meant to them. I wouldn't have known.
55:57
Speaker 1: Any of this, Pearl Marshall said. The women chatted for hours,
56:03
looking at photos and sharing stories about their lives. They
56:07
also went to the parking lot where Pearl Marshall was found.
56:11
Rita Marshall and Gillian both reinforced to Pearl that they
56:14
believed her mother loved her because of the way she
56:18
was dressed and taken care of so perfectly. She had
56:22
to have had so much love for her, and she
56:25
was concerned. Rider Marshall said Peara Marshall said she has
56:30
no resentment toward her birth mother. Every time I think
56:33
about it, I cry for her and how scared and
56:36
desperate she must have been. This was nineteen seventy two.
56:40
This was before safe surrender, before you could leave a
56:44
baby at a hospital of a fire department with no questions.
56:50
Pearl Marshall connected with her birth father through a genealogy's
56:54
site about two years ago, and she has developed a
56:58
relationship with him and her half sister, who was also
57:01
a music teacher. Before they got in touch, she said,
57:05
her father did not know she existed. They were warm
57:09
and welcoming with open arms, Pearl Marshall said, noting that
57:14
her adoptive parents support her efforts to learn more about
57:18
her roots. I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
57:22
Speaker 2: She still does not know.
57:24
Speaker 1: The name of her birth mother. I'd love to meet
57:27
her if she's still alive, and if she wants to
57:30
meet me, Pearl Marshal said. In the meantime, she said
57:35
meeting the women who found her as a newborn has
57:38
given her clarity about her origin story and helped her
57:41
feel more connected. Learning about people like Darlene and Reader
57:46
who thought about me every day. That made me realize
57:49
that we're all part of the family of humans. Pearl
57:53
Marshall said, it is hopeful, what a hopeful story to
57:58
end on. That just makes me feels so good. And
58:01
with that I do end today's reading of The Washington
58:04
Post for Thursday, the twelfth of March of twenty twenty six.
58:09
Speaker 2: Good morning, Mike, good to hear from you.
58:13
Speaker 1: Everybody, have a good day bybe