Kerry In Cairo, Dads Should Read To Kids, Future Of Space Exploration

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Forty-five years ago, man set foot on the surface of the moon for the very first time, ushering in a new era of space exploration. But with no plans for future launches, what does the future hold for space exploration today? Rob Ferrett’s guest talks about what we could see in the years and decades to come. Plus, as Kerry heads to Cairo, Rob speaks with a Middle East expert about the influce that the U.S. has in the region. Then he finds out why dads specifically are encouraged to read aloud to their kids.

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  • Challenges Await Kerry As He Joins Israel-Gaza Peacemaking Efforts, Says Expert

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cairo on Monday, where he joined diplomatic efforts to craft a cease-fire agreement to end a 14-day conflict between Israel and Gaza.

    Officials in the U.S., Israel and the Arab League have expressed support for an Egyptian-proposed cease-fire agreement. An expert on the peace process, however, said a cease-fire brokered solely by Egypt is unlikely to succeed.

    “The Egyptians alone won’t cut it this time,” said Aziz Abu Sarah, the executive director of the Center for World Religions, Diplomacy, and Conflict Resolution at George Mason University. “For people in Hamas, Egypt is not seen anymore as an honest broker, and so the Arab country they seem to trust at the moment is Qatar.”

    Hamas is currently in negotiations with Qatar. Abu Sarah noted that Turkey might also get involved.

    Kerry will not engage with Hamas directly, since the U.S. government considers the group a terrorist organization. In the past, U.S. officials have negotiated with Hamas indirectly through Egypt and Qatar.

    “These groups have always had more influence, so it is in some ways better to talk to Qatar or Egypt than to talk to Hamas directly,” said Abu Sarah.

    According to Abu Sarah, both Israel and Hamas are likely in favor of a cease-fire, but the difficulty will lie in crafting an agreement that both parties can point to as a victory.

    “Both sides are going to push for their population to believe that they got what they wanted, but that is very unlikely,” said Abu Sarah. “That is the trick of the negotiations going on now.”

    For Hamas, according to Abu Sarah, one indicator of success would be the opening of the 12-kilometer-long Raffah border between Israel and Egypt that was closed “indefinitely” in August of last year. For Israel, success would be the ability to tell its population that the tunnels from Gaza into Israel have been destroyed and that there won’t be any more rocket attacks.

    What Abu Sarah sees as a major challenge to the process is that neither Israelis nor Palestinians know very much about each other.

    “If you don’t know those on the other side it’s so much easier to justify hatred, because you don’t know them and you stop believing that they are equally human beings just like you,” he said.

    Israel launched a ground invasion of Gaza last Thursday after 10 days of Hamas rocket attacks and Israeli air raids. Twenty-five Israeli soldiers and more than 500 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed since the ground offensive began.

  • As Kerry Heads To Egypt, What Influence Does U.S. Have In Israel/Gaza Conflict?

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry left Washington for Cairo Monday to join diplomatic efforts pushing for a peace agreement between Hamas and Israel. Middle East expert Aziz Abu Sarah weighs in on how much influence the United States actually has in the conflict.

  • Why Dads Should Read To Kids

    Pediatricians want parents to read to kids, and new research suggests that doing so can have a particularly big impact on learning and literacy. The researcher shares her findings and possible explanations.

  • 45 Years After Moon Landing, What Does The Future Hold For Space Exploration?

    45 years ago, man set foot on the surface of the moon for the very first time, ushering in a new era of space exploration. But with no more Apollo missions being conducted or space shuttles being launched, what does the future hold for space exploration? A writer talks about what we could see in the years and decades to come.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Chris Malina Producer
  • Aziz Abu Sarah Guest
  • Lynne Vernon-Feagans Guest
  • Andrew Lawler Guest

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