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What’s next for Boeing after series of setbacks · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [MUSIC FADES IN]
• 0:05
  Gideon Resnick, Narrating: Good morning. It's Thursday, January 18th.
• 0:08
  I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today."
• 0:12
  On today's show, the challenges Boeing faces
• 0:15
  to rebuild trust after a panel blew off a jet in mid-flight…
• 0:19
  Why it feels like pretty much everyone is sick right now…
• 0:22
  And new data shows billionaires doubling their wealth.
• 0:30
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:34
  But first, let's quickly look at some major stories
• 0:36
  that are in the news.
• 0:38
  Pakistan says it launched a series of attacks inside Iran,
• 0:42
  a new escalation of regional violence.
• 0:45
  This comes after Iran hit targets in Pakistan.
• 0:49
  Both countries said they were targeting militants,
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  not the countries as a whole.
• 0:53
  But there are growing concerns that these tensions could lead
• 0:56
  to a much broader conflict.
• 0:59
  Also in the region,
• 1:00
  the U.S. launched another round of airstrikes on Houthis in Yemen.
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  It's the fourth wave of attacks in a week on the militant group
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  that's been targeting commercial ships in the area.
• 1:11
  All this as the war rages nearby in Gaza.
• 1:15
  Palestinian civilians are struggling to get by
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  with only a trickle of humanitarian aid getting in.
• 1:22
  Mobile phone and internet service has been out there for around a week,
• 1:26
  making it difficult for aid groups to communicate.
• 1:30
  And in Israel, families aren't sure when they'll see their loved ones
• 1:33
  who are held hostage in Gaza.
• 1:36
  Today is the first birthday of Kfir Bibas, who was taken on October 7th.
• 1:42
  He's believed to still be in captivity.
• 1:45
  Relatives marked his absence with a solemn birthday party this week.
• 1:49
  Yosi Shnaider told "Reuters" how it felt without baby Kfir.
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  [START THE SUN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Yosi Shnaider: We're marking a birthday to a kid that's not here.
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  We're making him a cake, we put balloons,
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  we put pictures and blessings and everything, and he's not here.
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  It's crazy.
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  [END THE SUN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:06
  Resnick, Narrating: Here in the U.S., congressional efforts to give new aid to Israel and Ukraine
• 2:09
  are in doubt.
• 2:11
  President Biden's meeting with congressional leaders
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  did not lead to a breakthrough.
• 2:15
  Some Republicans want tougher policy at the Mexico border
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  in exchange for a deal on foreign aid.
• 2:20
  After the meeting, House Speaker Mike Johnson made clear
• 2:23
  how important immigration issues are to his party.
• 2:26
  [START C-SPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:26
  Mike Johnson: I told the president what I have been saying for many months,
• 2:29
  and that is that we must have change at the border, substantive policy change.
• 2:35
  [END C-SPAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:36
  Resnick, Narrating: In legal news, a judge threatened
• 2:37
  to throw former President Donald Trump out of the courtroom yesterday.
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  While E. Jean Carroll testified in the civil defamation trial,
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  Trump repeatedly made disparaging comments about the case,
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  potentially loud enough for the jury to hear.
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  Trump was ultimately allowed to stay.
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  The trial will decide whether he has to pay additional damages
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  for defaming Carroll in 2019.
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  Also, Maine's top court is deferring a ruling
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  on whether Trump can be on the ballot in that state.
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  It says that the U.S. Supreme Court
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  should first rule on a similar case in Colorado.
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  There, the state's high court ruled
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  that Trump is ineligible to be on the primary ballot.
• 3:17
  [AMBIENT MUSIC FADES IN]
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  It cited the 14th Amendment ban on insurrectionists holding office.
• 3:31
  Ever since a panel of a Boeing 737 MAX 9 blew off mid-flight,
• 3:36
  the company has been in crisis.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  The FAA grounded Boeing planes for inspection,
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  and it's expanding the investigation to include manufacturing practices
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  both at Boeing and its partners, especially Spirit AeroSystems.
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  Julie Johnsson: They build about 70% of the plane for Boeing.
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  And picture 400,000 parts coming together, tightly sequenced and tightly scheduled.
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  It's like this intricate ballet.
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  Resnick, Narrating: "Bloomberg" senior aerospace reporter Julie Johnsson
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  and her colleagues wrote a story about the swirling questions
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  around the company right now.
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  Boeing has been under pressure before.
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  Hundreds died in 737 MAX crashes in 2018 and 2019.
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  The company agreed to pay $2.5 billion in a deferred prosecution agreement.
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  Boeing was once known for making the best planes in the world.
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  Now there are big questions as to whether corners were cut
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  in order to boost the stock,
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  with criticism of moves like shareholder payouts and cost cuts.
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  Johnsson: So, you know, even subtly,
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  do those pressures trickle down to the shop floor?
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  I think that's one of the questions to be asked.
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  Resnick, Narrating: The FAA investigation could show that the problem
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  on that Alaska Airlines flight was an isolated issue.
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  Or it could reveal larger, more complicated and costly problems
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  for Boeing.
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  That would be a big blow
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  at a time when the company was starting to feel optimistic
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  about its future, Johnsson says.
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  She's watched Boeing work to rebuild after the deadly crashes.
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  Johnsson: It was starting to look like Boeing had its act together
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  and that 2024 was going to be the year
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  when finally they started to put some distance
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  between them and the tragedies and this horrible episode.
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  [AMBIENT MUSIC FADES IN]
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  And then, you know, within the span of a 20-minute flight,
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  it all came crumbling down.
• 5:43
  Resnick, Narrating: If it feels like you or everyone you know has been sick recently, you're not alone.
• 5:48
  We are in the midst of a surge of the flu, RSV, and COVID.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Health correspondent Pien Huang reported on this for "NPR."
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  [START NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Pien Huang: Most of the country has been having high or very high respiratory virus levels,
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  according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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  And this is pretty common after the holidays,
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  when people have been traveling, seeing loved ones,
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  and sharing their respiratory viruses along the way.
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  [END NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 6:13
  Resnick, Narrating: But it's not just travel.
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  A lot of Americans are behind on vaccines.
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  The CDC says fewer than half of adults have gotten flu shots this season.
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  And just 17% of Americans eligible for the latest COVID shots
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  have gotten those.
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  This is also the first respiratory virus season
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  where a vaccine for RSV has been available.
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  Older patients and infants are eligible for it.
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  A lot of parents say they want it, but it's been hard to find.
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  As far as COVID, the current variant is known as JN.1,
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  which has contributed to a recent jump in hospitalizations and deaths.
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  But "NPR" says it's possible that things are stabilizing.
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  [START NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Huang: So COVID numbers started climbing in November
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  and accelerated through December.
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  But the good news
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  is that the most recent CDC data show that we may be turning a corner.
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  You know, the doctor's visits and hospitalizations, they're still high,
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  but they've been stable,
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  or in some places, they're starting to decrease.
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  [END NPR ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 7:14
  Resnick, Narrating: These three illnesses combined, COVID, the flu and RSV,
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  are putting pressure on hospitals across the country.
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  Some are now requiring masks again.
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  Meanwhile, the "LA Times" spoke with disease experts
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  who say if you think you might have COVID,
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  you might need to test a few times to be sure.
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  Some patients are testing negative
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  on day one and day two after having symptoms,
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  but then they're testing positive on day four or so.
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  That lag may be because our immunity has built up over time.
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  [AMBIENT MUSIC FADES IN]
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  And of course, the best advice for your health
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  is to stay current on your shots and stay home if you're feeling sick.
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  Finally, a recent study says that the world's five richest men
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  have doubled their wealth since 2020,
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  including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett.
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  The numbers come from the anti-poverty charity Oxfam,
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  which put them out
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  as billionaires and global business and political leaders meet in Davos.
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  Danny Sriskandarajah, the CEO of Oxfam Great Britain,
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  talked about the data on the BBC.
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  [START BBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Danny Sriskandarajah: Just over the last two years,
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  billionaires have gotten richer than the previous 14 years put together.
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  So, you know, here we are at a time of a global crisis
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  when so many people are finding their lives more vulnerable.
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  They're worried about rising living costs, unemployment.
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  But the global economy seems to be working really well for the richest
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  who are getting eye-watering levels of accumulation.
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  [END BBC ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 8:50
  Resnick, Narrating: And over the same span of time,
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  some five billion people have gotten poorer.
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  Oxfam says the massive wealth gap means policy changes
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  are needed to close it.
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  It supports caps on CEO pay and taxes on wealth and excess profits.
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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  Oxfam says if current trends continue,
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  the world could have its first trillionaire within a decade.
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  But poverty will go on for centuries.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
• 9:23
  And if you're already listening to the News app right now, stick around.
• 9:26
  We've got a narrated article coming up next from "Vanity Fair"
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  about the greatest gymnast of all time, Simone Biles.
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  She reflects on the ups and downs of her career,
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  the future of USA Gymnastics,
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  and the passion projects that she's pursuing outside of the gym.
• 9:41
  If you're listening in the Podcasts app,
• 9:43
  you can follow "Apple News+ Narrated" to find that story.
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  Enjoy listening, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]