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The human stories from the deadly migrant shipwreck · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, June 28th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show: What to know about the scorching temperatures in Texas and beyond, Starbucks makes changes following the fight with workers over Pride Month decorations, and how 50 million people just got a year or two younger this morning.
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  But first, we want to start with some standout international reporting on the deadly shipwreck that killed hundreds of migrants off the coast of Greece this month. As many as 750 people were on board. Barely 100 survived.
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  Louisa Loveluck is "The Washington Post's" Baghdad bureau chief. She's part of the team that talked to survivors in Greece, and relatives of those who died in Pakistan, Jordan, and Egypt.
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  Louisa Loveluck: We came to find that these were people who had really made this journey because they were responding to a crisis of hopelessness. They were, by and large, either fleeing war or serious economic crises at home, and they'd done this fundamentally believing that on the other side of this journey, difficult and dangerous as it was, that there would be a better life.
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  They were packed onto a rickety fishing boat operated by suspected human smugglers. Loveluck told us food and water were scarce. Pakistani passengers were treated especially harshly. Many were forced to travel in the hold below deck. She says, by the time people understood the danger they faced, it was too late to turn around.
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  Loveluck: They were treated like cattle. They say the smugglers were armed. Some had guns, some had knives. They were threatened, and so they had to continue.
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  She told us about Thaer Khalid al-Rahal, a refugee from Syria. He was going to Europe to earn money for a bone-marrow transplant for his four-year-old son, who has leukemia. Thaer and his family had been living in a refugee camp for a decade, waiting to be resettled. His son's diagnosis made him feel like he couldn't wait any longer.
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  Loveluck: He is believed to be one of the likely 500-odd people who died, who drowned at sea. His wife is left to organize a funeral without a body for him. And of course, the child's cancer treatment has had to continue.
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  Thaer's story was one Loveluck and her colleagues heard over and over. People needed to get to Europe to help their families, and the boat seemed like their only chance.
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  Loveluck: Speaking to the relatives of those who do appear to have died. It really seems to them that the people who took these boats felt they had no other option than to take it that day.
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  Human-smuggling rings take advantage of that desperation, often with deadly consequences. In this latest shipwreck, a group of suspects pleaded not guilty to trafficking charges in a Greek court.
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  Now to severe weather in multiple parts of the U.S. The Midwest is seeing poor air quality today because of the ongoing wildfires in Canada. Older residents are being warned to stay inside. At one point, Chicago had the worst air quality of any large city in the world.
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  Over in Texas and nearby states, people are being told to stay indoors for a very different reason: Extreme heat. Tens of millions of Americans have been under recent heat advisories. And the deadly heatwave is spreading and getting worse.
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  Meteorologist Jeff Berardelli told "PBS NewsHour" how climate change is making heat waves more intense.
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  Jeff Berardelli: In Texas specifically, we've seen an increase of around three to five degrees during the summertime. So, the baseline of these heat waves starts a lot higher. It's a lot easier to achieve heat waves nowadays.
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  "The Texas Tribune" reports on how dangerous heat waves are for incarcerated people. More than two-thirds of the state's prisons are not fully air-conditioned, a dangerous health risk for people inside. Incarcerated people have died in the heat, and taxpayers have paid millions of dollars in wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuits. "Tribune" reporting shows that state legislators have done little to fund much-needed air conditioning improvements.
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  The extreme heat and humidity is also putting a ton of pressure on the Texas power grid, which has faced catastrophic problems in recent years. The grid operator has asked residents to cut back on energy usage. But that's tough to do when you're sweating in triple-digit heat.
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  A Texas A&M climate scientist told the "Guardian" that parts of Texas may have the hottest June ever recorded. And this may not even be the worst of it. August is typically the hotter month.
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  Let’s take a quick look at some major business stories in the news today.
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  Starbucks says it’s coming out with clearer guidelines on how stores can decorate. This comes after disagreements between the company and some workers. Union organizers said the company limited employees’ ability to put up decorations celebrating Pride Month. Some workers went on strike, causing closures and disruptions at stores. The company said it was committed to the LGBTQ+ community and filed a federal labor complaint accusing the union of misrepresenting company policy, and provoking workplace tension. The union says it’s confident the complaint will be dismissed.
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  In a story that’s rocking the half-a-trillion-dollar digital ad market, "The Wall Street Journal" reports that new research shows Google violated video ad standards about 80% of the time. Adalytics, which is a digital advertising analysis firm, found that ads were loaded in a way that the audience couldn’t see them, or on sites that don’t meet standards. Some ad buyers say they want their money back. Google disputes the study.
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  And there’s a big change coming to one of the longest-running shows in television…
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  [START WHEEL OF FORTUNE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Audience: Wheel… of… Fortune!
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  [END WHEEL OF FORTUNE ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Ryan Seacrest will be the next host of the popular game show. He’ll take over from Pat Sajak, who’s retiring after the next season, his 41st. Seacrest is going to continue with his many other gigs, including “American Idol” and “New Year's Rockin’ Eve."
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  Today, people in South Korea woke up a year or two younger than they were yesterday. Does this sound like a plot of a time-traveling K-drama? Well, not quite.
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  A new law is now in effect that changes how age is calculated, putting it in line with international standards. "The Wall Street Journal" explains that previously, South Korea followed old traditions from East Asia, where babies are considered one year old at birth. Another year is added every January 1st. So, a baby who is born in late December would quickly be two years old, even though they'd only existed in the world for a few days.
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  China and Japan used to have the same system. They changed to the international standard decades ago. But South Korea held out. The "Journal" reports that a lot of people in South Korea are kind of relieved that they don't have to explain it to confused foreigners as much anymore.
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  One woman who spoke to the "Journal" is rolling back the clock from age 30 to age 28 this morning. She said she's thrilled, that it was kind of stressing her out to hear her parents say she was "too old to act like a child." She's happy to have a little more time in her 20s.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around for a narrated article about aging, this time we're talking about living longer. Popular Mechanics has the story of a famous biologist using big data to help extend people's lives.
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  So, sit back, enjoy listening to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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