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Middle East problems pile up for Biden · Apple News Today

• 0:00
  [INTRO MUSIC BEGINS]
• 0:05
  Yasmeen Khan, Narrating: Good morning. It's Tuesday, January 30th.
• 0:08
  I'm Yasmeen Khan, in for Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
• 0:12
  Coming up, how conflict abroad
• 0:15
  could impact America's economy and politics,
• 0:18
  why tens of thousands of Black doctors disappeared from the U.S.,
• 0:23
  and fans are strategizing how to get Taylor Swift
• 0:26
  from her concert in Tokyo to the Super Bowl.
• 0:32
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:34
  First, more on the drone attack
• 0:36
  that killed three American Army reservists in Jordan.
• 0:40
  U.S. officials say air defenses failed to stop it
• 0:43
  because it was mistaken for an American drone
• 0:46
  that was returning to base at the time.
• 0:48
  The administration says it will retaliate for the strike,
• 0:51
  which it blames on a militia linked to Iran.
• 0:55
  It's not the only Iranian ally in the region
• 0:57
  Americans have been dealing with.
• 0:59
  The U.S. has also launched attacks on Houthi targets in Yemen.
• 1:03
  This is in retaliation for repeated attacks on commercial ships
• 1:07
  passing by Yemen to go through the Suez Canal.
• 1:10
  The Houthis say they're protesting Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza.
• 1:15
  Some ships have decided it's too dangerous,
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  and they've been taking massive detours,
• 1:20
  going all the way around South Africa, adding thousands of miles to their routes.
• 1:25
  Data shows the average global cost of shipping containers
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  has more than doubled in the past month.
• 1:31
  "Politico"'s Meredith Lee Hill reports on how the Biden administration and allies
• 1:36
  are concerned about potential political fallout here at home.
• 1:40
  [START POLITICO ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:40
  Meredith Lee Hill: Lawmakers, especially Democratic lawmakers,
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  some of them themselves in tough races this fall,
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  are hugely worried about the kinds of consequences
• 1:51
  that a larger conflict in the Middle East could have,
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  both immediately militarily but also the economic fallout
• 1:59
  that would ripple through global trade and also eventually for U.S. voters.
• 2:05
  [END POLITICO ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:06
  Khan, Narrating: It's hard to overstate how important the Suez Canal is.
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  It accounts for up to 15% of global trade.
• 2:13
  And when that's choked off and ships have to reroute, shipping costs go up.
• 2:18
  And eventually, these costs can get passed along to consumers
• 2:21
  in the form of higher prices for food and other goods.
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  This comes at a time when there are many positive signs in the economy.
• 2:29
  Inflation in the U.S. has moderated, economic growth is solid,
• 2:33
  and last month, consumer sentiment was up 13%.
• 2:37
  Democrats worry about losing all these gains.
• 2:40
  [START POLITICO ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 2:41
  Hill: These increasing attacks,
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  it's hitting really just at the worst time for Democrats in particular,
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  because they are trying to show progress with the economy.
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  And these recent attacks
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  only threaten to serve as one more disruption to global trade
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  after supply chains have really worked themselves out a little bit
• 3:01
  in recent months since the pandemic.
• 3:03
  [END POLITICO ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:04
  Khan, Narrating: The White House is concerned that the incidents could disrupt
• 3:07
  everything from energy prices to the cost of groceries.
• 3:11
  [START POLITICO ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:11
  Hill: Prices, both for the insurance and for the shipping itself,
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  has shot up dramatically as a result of this.
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  There is an immediate impact
• 3:19
  just to the flow of goods getting through this region.
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  Fleets have had to essentially reroute major global shipping routes,
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  which is hugely disruptive,
• 3:29
  both in the region and also to the United States.
• 3:31
  [END POLITICO ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:32
  Khan, Narrating: And Houthi attacks could go on for a long time.
• 3:35
  Despite a series of extensive air assaults by the U.S. and allies,
• 3:39
  and a larger naval presence,
• 3:41
  [AMBIENT MUSIC FADES IN]
• 3:41
  Houthis continue to target commercial ships.
• 3:52
  Now, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news.
• 3:56
  Global aid groups are calling for the U.S. and other countries
• 3:59
  to restore funding to the U.N. agency working in Gaza.
• 4:03
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 4:03
  Multiple countries cut off money
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  after Israel accused some of the aid group's workers
• 4:09
  of taking part in the October 7th attack by Hamas.
• 4:12
  The U.N. has fired several of the accused and is investigating.
• 4:16
  Aid agencies, including Oxfam and Save the Children,
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  say moves by the U.S., the U.K., Germany and others
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  to halt payments are a, quote, "reckless decision to cut a lifeline."
• 4:28
  The U.N. says the agency may have to stop humanitarian operations in Gaza
• 4:33
  in a few weeks if funding isn't restored.
• 4:36
  In sports, the U.S. figure skating team
• 4:39
  is set to receive gold medals from the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
• 4:44
  This follows the suspension and disqualification
• 4:47
  of Russian skater Kamila Valieva yesterday.
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  Russian skaters placed first in the competition,
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  but awarding of medals was on hold
• 4:55
  because Valieva tested positive for a banned substance.
• 4:59
  Bill Bach, former general counsel for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency,
• 5:03
  told "CBC News" it was a travesty that it took so long to resolve the case.
• 5:08
  [START CBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 5:08
  Bill Bach: We need to feel sympathy, however, for a generation of clean athletes
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  who have been repeatedly defrauded, and for Kamila Valieva,
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  a 15-year-old pawn in an evil, dystopian system.
• 5:21
  [END CBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 5:22
  Khan, Narrating: The Russian skaters could still get bronze medals.
• 5:25
  New numbers from the International Skating Union
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  put the Russians just ahead of the Canadians
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  after stripping out points earned by Valieva.
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  That opens up a potential legal challenge by Canada,
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  which could drag the process out even longer.
• 5:40
  Toyota is warning drivers of 50,000 cars
• 5:43
  to get immediate repairs because an airbag inflator could explode.
• 5:47
  The advisory covers some 2003-2004 Corolla and Corolla Matrix models.
• 5:54
  It also covers the 2004-2005 RAV4 with Takata airbag inflators.
• 6:00
  The inflators have been linked to more than two dozen deaths in the U.S.,
• 6:04
  plus hundreds of injuries.
• 6:06
  And in Pakistan, former Prime Minister Imran Khan
• 6:10
  has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for leaking state secrets.
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  This comes ahead of parliamentary elections next month.
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  Khan has said that Pakistan's government and army
• 6:20
  [GENTLE MUSIC FADES IN]
• 6:20
  conspired to remove him from power
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  and that his arrest was politically motivated.
• 6:31
  America is likely missing tens of thousands of Black doctors,
• 6:36
  maybe 35,000 of them.
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  It's the unfortunate consequence of a little-known document
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  that changed the trajectory of medicine in the U.S.
• 6:45
  [START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 6:45
  Dr. Uché Blackstock: The legacy of the Flexner Report
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  is that it resulted in a tremendous loss of Black physicians.
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  Many people don't know about the Flexner Report.
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  It was something that I only learned about as a practicing physician,
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  but it has had tremendously negative consequences
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  on the health of our communities.
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  [END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 7:04
  Khan, Narrating: That's emergency physician Dr. Uché Blackstock.
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  She recently wrote an essay in "The Washington Post."
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  It's adapted from her new book,
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  "Legacy, A Black Physician Reckons with Racism in Medicine."
• 7:16
  Dr. Blackstock explains that in the early 1900s,
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  a man named Abraham Flexner visited medical schools in the US
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  to assess the state of education.
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  He published a report
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  that set new standards for med schools across the country,
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  holding up Johns Hopkins as the standard-bearer.
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  The problem was Flexner held what Dr. Blackstock calls
• 7:38
  "strongly racist opinions."
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  He believed Black students should only be trained in hygiene
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  rather than in surgery, and that Black students should learn
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  to protect White people from common diseases.
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  The standards he outlined were virtually impossible for smaller,
• 7:53
  under-resourced Black medical schools to implement.
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  As a result,
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  five of the seven Black medical schools in the U.S. shut down.
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  That meant many qualified Black students never got the chance to study medicine.
• 8:07
  [START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 8:07
  Blackstock: It's a tremendous loss in terms of just Black physicians,
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  and it contributes to the lack of diversity we have today
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  in Black physicians.
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  But those are also thinking about hundreds of thousands
• 8:17
  of Black patients that could have been treated,
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  students that could have been mentored, and areas of research
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  that could have been invested in had those Black physicians been trained.
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  [END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 8:27
  Khan, Narrating: She says less than 6% of American physicians
• 8:30
  identify as Black,
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  though Black people make up nearly 14% of the population.
• 8:36
  And she says with fewer Black doctors, it's not surprising
• 8:40
  that there are severe health disparities for Black Americans,
• 8:43
  everything from higher infant and maternal mortality rates
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  to Black men having the shortest life expectancy
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  of any demographic group.
• 8:51
  [START ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 8:52
  Blackstock: We know that when Black patients have Black physicians,
• 8:55
  they are more likely to leave that interaction feeling full, seen,
• 9:00
  heard, and appreciated.
• 9:02
  They are also more likely to follow their doctor's recommendations.
• 9:05
  We even had studies that show that even just having
• 9:08
  one primary care physician who's Black in a county
• 9:11
  can improve life expectancies for Black people living in that county.
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  [LAID-BACK MUSIC FADES IN]
• 9:16
  [END ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 9:25
  Khan, Narrating: Finally, now that the Super Bowl matchup
• 9:28
  is set between the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers,
• 9:32
  the nation has turned to a more vexing question:
• 9:35
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 9:36
  How will Taylor Swift make it to the big game
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  to cheer on Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce?
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  Here's the issue.
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  With her international Eras tour starting up again,
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  the NFL's most famous girlfriend will be performing in Tokyo
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  the day before the Super Bowl, which is taking place in Las Vegas.
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  Whether you are a Swiftie
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  or someone who just loves gaming out travel logistics with supreme efficiency,
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  this is the math problem for you.
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  It involves reviewing flight plans
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  and exploring the wonder that is the international dateline.
• 10:10
  Fans have been crunching numbers
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  and posting videos to TikTok, like this guy.
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  [START TIKTOK ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 10:15
  Kyle Philippi: Her last concert is February 10th at 6 p.m. Tokyo time.
• 10:20
  [END TIKTOK ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 10:20
  Khan, Narrating: Kyle Philippi there with a video on a travel itinerary
• 10:24
  that will get Swift to the game
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  and guarantee the moment from many fans' wildest dreams.
• 10:29
  [START TIKTOK ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 10:30
  Philippi: Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to see that kiss at the end of the Super Bowl.
• 10:34
  [END TIKTOK ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 10:34
  Khan, Narrating: "The Athletic" took a stab at a plan too.
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  Assuming that Swift wraps up her concert around 9.30 p.m. Tokyo time,
• 10:42
  she could land in Las Vegas at around 4 p.m. the very same day.
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  The extreme time difference works in her favor.
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  But one account manager of a private jet company
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  told "The Athletic" there's a little hitch in this possible plan.
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  [OUTRO MUSIC FADES IN]
• 10:57
  Landing slots in Las Vegas are booked up during Super Bowl weekend.
• 11:02
  But of course, if anyone can find a blank space at an airport
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  at the last minute, it's Taylor Swift.
• 11:11
  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
• 11:15
  And we want to introduce you
• 11:16
  to the Apple News Pick for Story of the Month.
• 11:19
  Every month, our editors are selecting
• 11:21
  a News+ article that they don't want you to miss.
• 11:24
  This one is from "Rolling Stone."
• 11:26
  It's the story of how one FBI agent went undercover for decades
• 11:30
  to take down human traffickers.
• 11:32
  If you're already listening in the News app right now,
• 11:35
  that's queued up to play for you next.
• 11:37
  If you're listening in the Podcasts app,
• 11:39
  follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story.
• 11:42
  And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
• 11:49
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]