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Análisis por Stephen Collinson, CNN

El presidente Donald Trump volvió a ceder y extendió el alto el fuego con Irán.

Sus críticos se burlan de otro TACO (“Trump siempre se acobarda”) este martes después de que el presidente cediera en otra línea roja personal días después de advertir que “no habría más Sr. Buen Tipo” si la República Islámica no capitulaba.

Pero la burla estaría más justificada si un presidente pusiera en riesgo más vidas iraníes y estadounidenses al redoblar la apuesta en lo que parece una guerra imprudente, simplemente para preservar su imagen de tipo duro.

Una pregunta inquietante sobre la guerra de Vietnam que el futuro senador John Kerry planteó a la Comisión de Relaciones Exteriores del Senado en 1971 parece pertinente aquí: “¿Cómo se le pide a un hombre que sea el último en morir por un error?”.

Sin embargo, la rectificación de Trump generó nuevas dudas sobre sus habilidades de liderazgo en tiempos de guerra, en un día en que Irán se negó a presentarse a las conversaciones en Islamabad destinadas a poner fin a las acciones armadas, lo que dejó al vicepresidente J.D. Vance esperando en casa.

Trump escribió en Truth Social que había suspendido los ataques estadounidenses a petición de Pakistán para permitir que Irán presentara una propuesta y hasta que las conversaciones concluyeran de una forma u otra.

También argumentó que el proceso era complicado porque el liderazgo iraní estaba “seriamente fracturado”.

CNN informó que altos funcionarios consideran que el viaje de Vance a Pakistán para las conversaciones era poco útil. Creen que Irán no respondió a las propuestas estadounidenses porque sus líderes aún no han llegado a un consenso sobre su postura ni sobre el alcance de las negociaciones relativas a las reservas de uranio del país.

Un factor que complica la situación podría ser que el nuevo líder supremo, Mojtaba Jamenei, se encuentre oculto y, por lo tanto, no pueda transmitir instrucciones claras, según las fuentes.

Esto es posible, pero también podría ser una estrategia interesada para encubrir la rectificación de Trump. Las dudas sobre la autoridad de los diplomáticos iraníes para negociar siempre ensombrecen las conversaciones con la República Islámica.

Además, podría poner de manifiesto la incoherencia de la estrategia estadounidense, dado que las divisiones en el liderazgo iraní se agravaron con los atentados israelíes que eliminaron a altos funcionarios con la influencia política necesaria para cerrar acuerdos.

La retórica del presidente no puede ocultar la conclusión más importante del martes: su estrategia de usar amenazas de una fuerza militar estadounidense abrumadora para obligar a Irán a rendirse en las negociaciones ha fracasado en repetidas ocasiones.

Por lo tanto, dentro de Irán, debe parecer que las amenazas de escalada militar de Trump carecen de credibilidad.

Irán también esperó la decisión del presidente estadounidense sobre si asistiría a las conversaciones propuestas en Islamabad, lo que le permitió proyectar una imagen de fortaleza.

Incluso, la aversión de Trump a una guerra mayor sugiere que Irán podría haber recuperado parcialmente su facultad de atacar a los estados del Golfo y, por ende, su capacidad de disuasión estratégica.

“No importa lo que diga el presidente, el vicepresidente o el secretario de guerra. No tiene ninguna influencia en los cálculos iraníes”, declaró Danny Citrinowicz, exjefe de la rama de la inteligencia militar israelí para Irán, a Jim Sciutto en CNN International.

“Desde el punto de vista de los iraníes, ellos tienen la ventaj

By Jen Christensen, CNN

(CNN) — The American Lung Association calls it a “grim indication of the deterioration of air quality nationwide”: Bangor, Maine, is the last city standing on all three of its “cleanest cities” lists.

Bangor has zero days of unhealthy ozone and short-term particle pollution, and some of the lowest year-round concentrations of dangerous particle pollution in the country, according to the association.

Typically, the association’s annual “State of the Air” report has at least one other city making all three lists. In some years, it’s had several. But this year’s report, published Wednesday, has the Queen City of the East – home of horror author Stephen King and the mythical birthplace of lumberjack Paul Bunyan – standing alone.

The country’s air quality is dangerous for millions of Americans, the report says. Nearly half the population – about 152 million people – breathes unhealthy air and lives in a county that the association gives a failing grade for air pollution.

About 32.9 million people live in counties with failing grades for all three pollution measures, and people of color are more than twice as likely as White people to live in a community with a failing grade on all three.

Health dangers of pollution

Ozone and particle pollution are considered two of the most widespread and dangerous pollutants measured by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA defines particulate matter – also called particle pollution or soot – as a mix of solid and liquid droplets that float in the air. It can come in the form of dirt, dust or smoke. Coal- and natural gas-fired power plants create it, as do cars, agriculture, unpaved roads, construction sites and wildfires.

Particle pollution threatens human health because it is so tiny – a fraction of the width of a human hair – and can travel past the body’s usual defenses. When a person breathes these particles, they can get stuck in the lungs and move into the bloodstream, causing irritation and inflammation.

Even in the short term, particle pollution exposure can cause breathing problems or trigger a heart attack. Particle pollution is also considered a significant factor in premature death around the world, according to the World Health Organization. Exposure can raise the risk of conditions like certain cancers, stroke, Read more

By Nimi Princewill, CNN

Abuja (CNN) — For Mauro Rui Callado Cortêz, a Catholic lay teacher in Angola, the “unique opportunity” to see Pope Leo XIV in person was unmissable, even though serious illness should have confined him to bed.

“My visual contact with the Holy Father was a unique moment; it transmitted such a great physical and spiritual lightness that the feeling of satisfaction doesn’t end,” Cortêz told CNN about his experience of seeing the papal car pass by outside Luanda International Airport, shortly after Leo’s arrival on Saturday.

Angola was the third stop on an 11-day tour of four African nations that has prompted wide excitement among the faithful on a continent, which is home to around 20% of the world’s Catholics – but also disquiet in some quarters.

Critics have voiced concern that Leo’s decision to visit Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, both governed by long-serving leaders who maintain tight control over the Central African nations, has given tacit approval to authoritarian regimes.

The trip has been further complicated by a diplomatic dispute with the Trump administration regarding the pope’s stance on the Middle Eastern conflict.

The Pope has sought to downplay the perceived conflict, emphasizing that his trip to Africa focuses on peacebuilding and that he’s not seeking to “debate” the president.

Leo has taken a strong stance against corruption and the exploitation of Africa’s natural resources by foreign powers in his public addresses. He’s also advocated for peace and reconciliation in areas affected by conflict.

But the optics of the tour, which coincides with the first anniversary of the death of Pope Francis, Leo’s predecessor and a champion of the poor, remain troubling for many.

While in Africa, the pope has been greeted by sizeable crowds. In Bamenda, the center of a conflict between English-speaking separatists and the Francophone government in Cameroon, there was a festive atmosphere as Leo took part in a peace meeting and celebrated a Mass.

“We want peace, that is all we want,” said Pamela Nze ahead of the Mass. Earlier, Jamconfidence Masha waved a peace plant as she waited for the pope to arrive. She works as a clothes maker in Bamenda – her shop was destroyed during the conflict. She said the pope was bringing a message of “love, hope and unity.”

On Tuesday, on the flight from Angola to Equatorial Guinea, Leo paid tribute to Pope Francis, on the one-year anniversary of his predecessor’s death. He described Francis’s life as a “great gift” to the church and the world, emphasizing the late pope’s “closeness to the poorest, to the least (among us), to the sick, to children, to the elderly.”

A complicated tour

The trip, which concludes this week in Equatorial Guinea, began with a historic visit to Algeria on April 13, where Leo became the first pope to visit the predominantly Muslim nation. From there, he traveled to Cameroon, where he led a large Mass in Douala that drew over 100,000 attendees.

On Sunday in Angola, the pope addressed an audience of approximately 130,000 at two events, urging the nation to move beyond its longstanding divisions following a nearly three-decade war that ended in 2002.

Forty-four-year-old catechist Cortêz, who witnessed the visits of Pope John Paul II to his hometown, Huambo, in 1992 and Pope Benedict XVI to Luanda, the Angolan capital, in 2009, said he viewed Leo’s visit as “a great blessing” for the Southern African country, where Cat