Today's top stories, with context, in just 15 minutes.
On today's podcast:
1) Iran kept up missiles and drone attacks on Arab Gulf states and Israel overnight, after the US floated a proposal to end a war that’s wreaked havoc across the Middle East and in global markets. Saudi Arabia intercepted a drone in the east of the country, while a strike targeting Kuwait set ablaze a fuel tank at its main airport. Iranian media said more missiles were fired at Israel. There were no reports of casualties in any of the incidents. The US sent Iran a 15-point plan, which Pakistan delivered, according to people familiar with the matter, highlighting the urgency within the Trump administration to resolve the conflict it started as the economic toll mounts. The details remain unclear, though President Trump has publicly signaled that any peace agreement would have to include a prohibition on Iran ever obtaining a nuclear weapon or enriching radioactive material for civilian purposes. Iran has yet to comment on the proposal. Trump, when he first announced talks with the Islamic Republic on Monday, implied he hoped to get an agreement by Friday. That may be difficult given the wide gaps that remain between the sides, with several Iranian officials saying the country isn’t ready to negotiate and that Trump is merely trying to calm markets and push down oil prices.
2) A system designed to help air-traffic controllers monitor vehicles and airplanes on the ground failed to alert personnel at LaGuardia Airport before an Air Canada Express jet collided with a fire truck late Sunday evening, killing the two pilots. An analysis found the system, known as ASDE-X, issued no alert to the two controllers in the tower due to “the close proximity of vehicles merging and unmerging near the runway,” US National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said during a press conference on Tuesday. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey fire truck involved in the crash also wasn’t equipped with a transponder that would have helped pinpoint its location, Homendy said. The Federal Aviation Administration last year encouraged airports with ASDE-X to voluntarily equip their vehicles with special transmitters to “improve airfield safety.”
3) Senate Democrats have rejected the latest offer from President Trump and Republicans to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security and end a lengthy shutdown that has snarled airport security checkpoints and threatened to ripple through an economy already roiled by the Iran war. The Republican plan does not include any of the policy proposals Democrats have insisted on in their fight to overhaul Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics following the killings of two protesters in Minneapolis by agents earlier this year. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer told reporters his party would send a counter-offer to Republicans, which would include changes to immigration enforcement.

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