Loud & Clear

On today's episode of Loud & Clear, Brian Becker is joined by Jacqueline Luqman, the co-editor-in-chief of Luqman Nation, which hosts a livestream every Thursday night at 9:00 p.m. on Facebook, and Sputnik news analyst Walter Smolarek.Wednesday’s weekly series, In the News, is where the hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and puts them into perspective. Today they talk about the government shutdown, confirmation hearings for Trump’s Attorney General nominee, and more. Wednesday’s regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, is about nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show. Several U.S. troops have reportedly been killed in northern Syria in a bomb blast claimed by ISIS. Opponents of a U.S. withdrawal from the country, something long demanded by Syria’s sovereign government,