Vox Sentences: An Iran nuclear deal primer

1. We have a deal

EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif announce the nuclear deal at the Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne. (EU Council/Pool/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

• US, EU, and Iranian negotiators have arrived at a framework for a final deal on containing Iran's nuclear program, in exchange for the lifting of sanctions.

  [Vox / Amanda Taub]

• Here's the joint statement issued by EU's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, and Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif announcing the deal.

  [Vox / Katy Lee]

• The deal requires Iran to give up 97 percent of its enriched uranium and 70 percent of its centrifuges, allow International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors access to everything from nuclear sites to uranium mills to centrifuge plants, and limit itself to energy-grade uranium, not uranium enriched enough for use in weapons.

  [Vox / Max Fisher]

• In a press conference defending the deal, President Obama emphasized that he saw only two alternatives: doing nothing, and a war that wouldn't set Iran's nuclear program back as far as this deal (knock wood) will.

  [Vox / Zack Beauchamp]

• While the specificity of the framework surprised many, there are still issues to be worked out before a deal is finalized, such as how exactly sanctions will be lifted and what happens after 10 years, when the most stringent restrictions in the deal expire.

  [WSJ / Laurence Norman and Jay Solomon]

• Nuclear proliferation expert Mark Fitzpatrick: "We can't say it's a 'good deal', because there's no final agreement yet. But as a framework it's very good."

  [Mark Fitzpatrick]

• The Arms Control Association called it a "historic breakthrough."

  [NYT / Rick Gladstone and Isabel Kershner]

• BBC: "Mr Obama's statement was broadcast live by Iranian broadcaster IRINN — a very rare move in Iran, where TV channels are controlled by the state — and there are reports of celebrations in the streets of the capital Tehran over the breakthrough."

  [BBC]

• Reaction in Congress was mostly muted, with Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Bob Corker emphasizing that Congress should have a role in reviewing the deal but withholding judgment on its substance.

  [Washington Post / Mike DeBonis and Paul Kane]

• Others were more outspoken, with Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), a major sanctions proponent, saying, "Neville Chamberlain got a better deal from Adolf Hitler."

  [Niels Lesniewski]

• Here's Nick Baumann arguing that Neville Chamberlain actually got a pretty good deal from Adolf Hitler.

  [Slate / Nick Baumann]

• Though Congress is pushing for the administration to send it a deal for approval, Obama can unilaterally suspend most sanctions without talking to Congress at all.

  [Lawfare / Jack Goldsmith]

• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: "A deal based on this framework would threaten the survival of Israel."

  [Mark Regev]

2. 147 dead in Garissa

A Kenya Defence Forces soldier stands guard by the university campus in Garissa. (Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images)

• 147 people died after the al-Qaeda-aligned Somali militant group al-Shabaab attacked a university campus in Garissa, Kenya.

  [NYT / Isma'il Kushkush and Rukmini Callimachi]

• The attackers also took hostages, but Kenyan officials say all surviving students are now accounted for.

  [AP]

• A spokesperson for al-Shabaab told Reuters that the group "sorted people out and released the Muslims."

  [Reuters / Feisal Omar and Drazen Jorgic]

• Collins Wetangula, a student who survived the attack, told the AP, "If you were a Christian, you were shot on the spot. With each blast of the gun, I thought I was going to die."

  [AP / Tom Odula, Rodney Muhumuza and Khalil Senosi]

• Kenya sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to fight al-Shabaab, and has faced a number of attacks from the group since.

  [Vox / Katy Lee]

• The Kenyan government has identified an al-Shabaab operative named Mohamed Kuno — who has also gone by Mohamed Dulyadin (meaning "ambidextrous" in Somali) and Mohamed Mohamud — as the mastermind of the attack.

  [BBC]

• Al-Shabaab expert Stig Jarle Hansen tells Bloomberg's Ilya Gridneff the attack was "partly to get back at the Kenyan government, partly to show strength to Kenyan Muslims to gain recruits."

  [Bloomberg / Ilya Gridneff]

3. No marijuana churches for you

Indiana Gov. Mike Pence was grumpy on March 31, 2015, at the Indiana State Library in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

• Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R) has signed an amendment to the state's just-adopted Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) clarifying that it can't be a legal defense for discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• The RFRA law's passage spurred a firestorm of criticism from LGBT rights activists who argued that it could be used by employers as a way to justify anti-LGBT discrimination; many legal experts are skeptical of this interpretation of the law.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• But the changes don't ban actually discrimination against LGBT people — they just bar the RFRA from being used to justify such discrimination.

  [Indianapolis Star / Tony Cook, Tom LoBianco, and Brian Eason]

• In Indiana, as in most states, it's legal to fire or deny service to someone because they're gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• The CEO of Angie's List, a prominent Indiana-based business, expressed disappointment, saying that only a law banning discrimination outright would do.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• State Senate President Pro Tem David Long (R) said it was likely the legislature would take up full protections for LGBT people next year.

  [Indianapolis Star / Tony Cook, Tom LoBianco, and Brian Eason]

• Arkansas's legislature, facing a possible veto of their RFRA proposal from Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R), amended it to more closely to reflect the federal version and stave off discrimination concerns.

  [Chicago Tribune]

• The polling on measures like this is murky; people express opposition to anti-gay discrimination, but are more split when asked about "religious liberty" per se.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

• One thing is clear, though: Indiana's RFRA, amended or not, doesn't mean you can found a "First Church of Cannabis" and claim a religious exemption to smoke pot legally.

  [Vox / German Lopez]

4. Misc.

• Last night's The Americans was one of the best episodes of television I've seen in months, and Todd VanDerWerff has a great piece explaining why.

  [Vox / Todd VanDerwerff]

• This is definitely the most comprehensive piece you'll read about 2016 Republican contenders' atittudes toward dogs.

  [NYT / Jason Horowitz]

• Welcome to the world of credit card obsessives, who take out dozens of cards and concoct Byzantine schemes to earn mileage points.

  [Racked / Chavie Lieber]

• Speaking of which, indicted Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) really needs to be smarter about spending the American Express reward points with which he was allegedly bribed.

  [Vox / Matt Yglesias]

• Land value taxes are great, and it's encouraging to see folks like former Obama budget director Peter Orszag endorsing them.

  [Bloomberg View / Peter Orszag]

5. Verbatim

• "It is as if I’ve broken some unwritten law when I ask what they are looking for and am dissatisfied with the answer 'I don’t really like to put labels on things.' But putting labels on things are how people find the exit during a fire and make sure they’re adding vanilla extract to the cake instead of arsenic."

  [Medium / Alana Massey]

• "Not only do babies have a really rich knowledge of the world, but they can harness it to test hypotheses."

  [Aimee Stahl to Washington Post / Rachel Feltman]

• "No, I don’t do running, that’s for fucking squares."

  [Noel Gallagher to AV Club / Lily Moayeri]

• "I realize there’s something comically naive about treating the words that come from Mitch McConnell’s mouth as if they’re ideas he or anybody actually believes."

  [NY Mag / Jonathan Chait]

• "It would be like a grown-up 'Sesame Street,' except for the deadly road races, and the fact that the puppets have tattoos, guns, muscles, bald heads, and a ton of moving violations."

  [Boston Globe / Wesley Morris]

• "Spears was reprimanded for 'posing with a known criminal'—in this case Snoop Dogg, who has been charged several times with doing exactly what he constantly sings and talks about."

  [AV Club / Sean O'Neal]

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