• Daily Pnut
  • Posts
  • Why New Orleans Is A Doomed City & The Ceasefire Is Showing Cracks

Why New Orleans Is A Doomed City & The Ceasefire Is Showing Cracks

Trump's New AI Policy & A Surprise Win For Modi

Author

Marcus Gee-Lim
May 05, 2026

In partnership with

Hi readers, happy Cinco de Mayo! Today we’re covering the fraying U.S.-Iran ceasefire, Canada buddying up to the E.U., a big win for Modi, why New Orleans should be evacuated, the fight over abortion pills, and Trump’s big AI shift.

“Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.” ― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

A Crappy Day For Ceasefires

Credit: U.S. Marine Corps | CENTCOM

Apparently, Mondays aren’t very fun for international ceasefires, either. Yesterday, the U.S.-Iran ceasefire was put through the wringer — Iran kicked off the week by claiming that its military had hit a U.S. warship with two missiles, forcing it to retreat from the Strait of Hormuz. While the U.S. has denied those claims, it’s hard to tell who’s telling the truth given all the bizarre back-and-forth surrounding this conflict.

Soon after that incident, missile alerts rang out over the U.A.E. for the first time since the ongoing ceasefire began three weeks ago. According to the U.A.E., its air defenses shot down 15 missiles and 4 drones launched by Iran in an attack on an oil facility in the eastern emirate of Fujairah. Emirati officials say that one drone caused a fire at the facility (injuring at least 3 Indian nationals), and the British military reported that two cargo vessels were ablaze off the country’s coast. Iran didn’t claim responsibility for the attacks, but did warn that the U.S. and the U.A.E.  “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.” How ominous.

The U.S., not wanting to be outdone, also tested the ceasefire — yesterday, the U.S.-led Joint Maritime Information Center claimed that it has opened up an “enhanced security area” in the Strait of Hormuz which is free of Iranian mines. U.S. Central Command has claimed that Navy destroyers and multiple U.S.-flagged civilian vessels have already passed through the area. CentCom also says that Iran tried to use cruise missiles, drones, and fast boats to block their passage, but U.S. helicopters apparently sank 7 of the Iranian military boats. “The U.S. commanders who are on the scene have all the authority necessary to defend their unit and to defend commercial shipping – as we saw and demonstrated earlier today,” said Admiral Brad Cooper.

Heading back stateside, the Trump administration has something hanging over its head. That something is the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which states that the president must receive Congressional approval for any conflict lasting more than 60 days. That deadline was passed last Friday, but Trump has claimed that everything is above water because of the barely-holding ceasefire. “On April 7, 2026, I ordered a two-week ceasefire,” Trump wrote in a pair of letters sent to each branch of Congress. “The ceasefire has since been extended. There has been no exchange of fire between the United States Forces and Iran since April 7, 2026. The hostilities that began on February 28, 2026, have terminated.” Critics of the war, meanwhile, are skeptical of that explanation, as the U.S.’s naval blockade on Iran could be considered an act of war.

The Jilted Lovers Political Community

  • It’s no secret that the U.S. has pushed away both Canada and the E.U. since Trump won the 2024 election. Now, those former allies are pulling closer together – yesterday, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney joined the European Political Community, a summit of European leaders being held in Armenia this year. He’s the first non-European head of government to be invited to the gathering.

  • “It is my strong personal view that the international order will be rebuilt, but it will be rebuilt out of Europe,” Carney said during the summit. “We are demonstrating not just the strength of our values in defending a rules-based international order, but also the value of our strength. The world is undergoing a rupture across several dimensions – integration is being used as a weapon by some and the rules are not constraining the hegemons.” In response to that shift, the former U.S. allies are taking a long hard look at their priorities – Europe has begun investing heavily in its defense sector, and Canada has begun opening up to increased trade with China over the past few months.

No More Monkey On Modi’s Back

  • Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has defeated one of his last remaining demons in Indian politics. In elections held on Monday, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a majority in the state assembly of Western Bengal – up until now, the state has remained an opposition stronghold even as the rest of India has increasingly voted in favor of the longtime prime minister.

  • Currently, the BJP is slated to win 205 out of 294 seats in the state legislature, a resounding from past elections. Roughly 27% of Western Bengal’s population is Muslim, meaning the area isn’t too receptive to Modi’s Hindu nationalist party. The BJP managed to eke out a win by focusing on new welfare programs for the state’s women and Hindi populations. A late initiative to “clean up” voter lists also helped the party, as roughly three million voters in the state were essentially blocked from voting – Modi’s political rivals claim that the voter sweep disproportionately disenfranchised Muslims and migrant communities, who aren’t the BJP’s core supporters.

Additional World News

You think 4x faster than you type. Your IDE should keep up.

Wispr Flow lets you dictate prompts, acceptance criteria, and bug reproductions inside Cursor or Warp — with automatic file name and variable recognition. Say user_id, get user_id. Say useEffect, get useEffect.

Paste directly into GitHub, Jira, or Linear. Give coding agents the full context they need without typing a novel.

89% of messages sent with zero edits. Millions of developers use Flow daily, including teams at OpenAI, Vercel, and Clay. Free on Mac, Windows, and iPhone.

Hard Truths For The Big Easy

  • According to a new study, it’s time to give up on New Orleans. The research, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, indicates that climate change could leave New Orleans “surrounded by the Gulf of Mexico before the end of this century.”

  • The study used historical data to predict how climate change will affect parts of Southern Louisiana in the future. The data, drawn from a period of global warming 125,000 years ago (similar to the one we’re experiencing now), shows that Southern Louisiana will likely experience 3-7 meters (roughly 10-22 feet) of sea-level rise over the coming decades, which will cause the state’s southern shoreline “to migrate as much as 100km (62 miles) inland.”

  • “Even if you stopped climate change today, New Orleans’s days are still numbered,” said one of the paper’s co-authors. “It will be surrounded by open water, and you can’t keep an island situated below sea level afloat. There’s no amount of money that can do that.” The researchers say that the government needs to help the city’s 360,000 inhabitants move to higher ground in a managed transition process rather than letting climate change force them out.

Mifepristone Is Back On The Menu

  • Yesterday, the Supreme Court temporarily restored nationwide access to mifepristone, a widely-used abortion pill. The medication has been at the center of a legal battle for years at this point; last Friday, a lower court passed down a ruling that blocked abortion providers from prescribing and sending the pills, but Justice Samuel Alito reversed that decision (until May 11) with a one-sentence order.

  • The case in question involves the state of Louisiana and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In October 2025, Louisiana’s Republican government sued the FDA over an agency rule that allows nationwide access to mifepristone, claiming that the ability to access the drug violates Louisiana’s strict abortion laws. Alito has asked both parties to file briefs by Thursday, May 7 so that the Supreme Court can decide how to proceed with the case, meaning we might see the country crack down even harder on abortion access in the near future.

Additional USA News

 

Trump Wants To Peep At Models

  • The Trump administration is reportedly considering a major change in its approach to AI regulations. Yesterday, the New York Times reported that White House officials are discussing the establishment of a national working group on AI regulation — the group would consist of government officials and tech executives, who would work together to set up an official government review process for new AI models before they’re released to the public.

  • While anxiety around AI has only grown over the past few years, the White House has been pretty hands-off with the technology until now. According to the Times, the shift in tactics might be caused by Anthropic’s new Mythos AI model, which is apparently so good at coding that it can’t be released to the public due to massive cybersecurity concerns. The White House has, of course, refused to comment on the reporting, saying, “Any policy announcement ​will come directly from the president. Discussion about potential executive orders ⁠is speculation.”

Additional Reads

Peanut For Your Thoughts

A very interesting read about, well, how oil refineries work. How an Oil Refinery Works (Brian Potter)

Editor + Writer: Marcus Gee-Lim

Designer: Joe Stella