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How Iran is cracking down as protests intensify · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, October 5th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
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  Anti-government protests in Iran have picked up steam across the country.
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  Borzou Daragahi: There's this rare moment of solidarity. Women leading the way, but men also supporting them.
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  Borzou Daragahi is an international correspondent for "The Independent." He says these protests have brought people together across class divides, across ethnic divides, of all ages.
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  Daragahi: I've never seen anything like it in 20 years of covering Iran as a journalist.
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  Human rights groups say more than 130 people have died in recent protests. They were sparked when a woman named Mahsa Amini died in police custody after being cited for improperly wearing her hijab. But protesters are angry about long-standing issues, the oppression of women, the struggling economy.
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  The Iranian government has been cracking down on protestors, not just physically but also digitally, by blocking or slowing internet access. WhatsApp, Signal, Skype, and other platforms have been blocked at times.
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  Daragahi: And that prevents not only video of protests from getting out of the country, but it also prevents people from one side of town communicating and coordinating with people in another side of town, or one corner of the country from communicating with another corner of the country.
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  This is all part of the Islamic regime's playbook. In 2019, the internet was shut down for nearly two weeks during the last major anti-government protests. One tech analyst tells CNN that this internet blackout seems far more sophisticated and targeted. Activists say Western sanctions against Iran may have played a role in helping the regime get more control over the Internet. A human rights activist says sanctions-related restrictions on technology pushed Iran's government to develop its own internal network, which is easier to shut off. Last month, the U.S. government eased up on some sanctions and encouraged tech companies to help Iranians get online. But many in the country say it's not helping much yet.
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  As for where these protests are heading, Daragahi says yes, these protests are big, but ultimately he doesn't think they'll be able to go up against the power of the Iranian regime.
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  Daragahi: The regime has so much power and they've yet to use any of their tools, and the depth of their willingness to use violence is unfathomable. So they're gonna fight tooth and nail to the death. They are believers, they believe in what they're doing, and that makes them really dangerous. It's easy to say "Oh, they're corrupt, they're thieves." No, but they believe they're doing God's work.
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  The Oath Keepers trial underway right now is the biggest criminal trial yet to come out of the January 6th Capitol attack. And there are two unusual things worth understanding about this trial. One is what they're being charged with, seditious conspiracy. The second is their defense, which is based on a law from the 1800s.
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  Seditious conspiracy charges are rare, in large part because they're difficult to prove. Technically, it's two or more people working to overthrow or destroy the U.S. government by force. It was used in the Civil War era, not a whole lot since then.
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  In this case, federal prosecutors say Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and others attempted to use force to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election. That includes gathering weapons and planning for a civil war. Some people have already pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. Rhodes and others say they didn't do it.
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  "USA TODAY" looks at their unusual defense strategy, which Rhodes's own attorneys say has never been tested in court before. It uses the Insurrection Act, which dates back to the 19th century. The Act says that in extraordinary circumstances, the president has the power to command what's called an "unorganized militia," basically a civilian army. The Oath Keepers' defense argues that if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act, military planning would've been legally justified. And they say that since Rhodes believed that Trump would invoke the act, Rhodes's actions were legal.
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  Several legal experts told "USA TODAY" they didn't think this argument would stand up in court. For one, Trump never did invoke the Insurrection Act. But it is that obscure, old piece of law that may determine the outcome of the most important January 6th prosecution yet.
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  Baseball has a new name in the record books. It happened when the New York Yankees took on the Texas Rangers last night.
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  Commentator: High fly ball, deep left… There it goes! Sailing into history! He's done it!
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  That's Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hitting his 62nd home run of the season, breaking the American League record that he shared with baseball legend Roger Maris. The homer came just in time, with the MLB's regular season almost over.
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  Judge gave credit to Roger Maris Jr. and his family for their support as he chased the record.
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  Aaron Judge: Getting a chance to meet their family, they're wonderful people, and getting the chance to have my name next to someone as legendary as Roger Maris, Babe Ruth, those guys, is incredible.
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  There are a few National League players who hit more home runs in a single season, but many see those numbers as questionable, as they came during the game's era of steroid use. Maris Jr. said this week that he believes Judge should be recognized as the true "home run king."
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  We're gonna end with a story about cargo ships. Now, I know you think you've learned more than you've ever wanted to know about cargo ships and supply chain and blah, blah, blah. But hear me out, I promise this one of the most interesting articles I read all week. And, if it helps, there's also fast cars.
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  That's the sound of a Lamborghini, and dozens like it are at the bottom of the sea right now, along with around $400 million worth of rare cars. Maybe you heard about this one…
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  Reporter: The smoking ship is carrying roughly 4,000 vehicles. Among the cars, luxury rides worth millions of dollars, including 189 Bentleys and over 1,000 Porsches.
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  "Popular Mechanics" has a piece that tells the whole story of this wrecked cargo ship, which went down in rough seas after a fire onboard. The crew survived, but the luxury cars they were transporting did not. I learned a lot of stuff that I didn't know about the crazy journey that cars made overseas make.
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  The massive ships that they travel on are special freighters that they call "Ro-ros." That's because they're designed so that cars can be rolled on and rolled off. Once the cars are onboard, they need to be strapped down tight. If just one car breaks loose, it could cause a whole lot of expensive damage to other cars, and even throw the whole ship off balance. "Popular Mechanics" explains that when these freights are loaded to the max, they're prone to accidents. It documents multiple incidents where thousands more cars were lost.
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  There is so much more to this story, and if you're in the Apple News app right now, you can read the whole thing. Or just keep listening and a narrator will read it to you. We've got that story queued up for you next, right after the music ends. Enjoy the listen and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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