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New fears of famine in Gaza as war rages · Apple News Today

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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  Mark Garrison, Narrating: Good morning, it's Thursday, January 4th.
• 0:07
  I'm Mark Garrison, in for Shumita Basu.
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  This is "Apple News Today."
• 0:11
  On today's show, deadly food shortages in Gaza,
• 0:15
  24 predictions for 2024
• 0:18
  and how a 13-year-old became the first human to beat Tetris.
• 0:25
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
• 0:28
  But first, let's take a brief look at some other major stories in the news.
• 0:32
  A judge has revealed a list of names that came up in court proceedings related
• 0:35
  to Jeffrey Epstein.
• 0:37
  Some of the high-profile names include Prince Andrew, Bill Clinton
• 0:40
  and Donald Trump.
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  Like many of the names revealed, there's no suggestion of any wrongdoing
• 0:44
  on the part of Clinton or Trump.
• 0:46
  Clinton has said in the past that he was not aware
• 0:48
  of Epstein's abusive behavior and cut ties with him a while back.
• 0:53
  There is an allegation in the documents that Prince Andrew inappropriately touched
• 0:56
  a woman.
• 0:57
  In the past, he's denied wrongdoing.
• 0:59
  He did settle a lawsuit with a woman who said she was a victim of abuse.
• 1:05
  In other legal news,
• 1:06
  the U.S. Department of Justice is suing Texas
• 1:08
  over its new immigration laws.
• 1:10
  The bill recently signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott
• 1:13
  allows local law enforcement
• 1:14
  to arrest people who enter the country illegally.
• 1:17
  The Justice Department says this is unconstitutional
• 1:20
  because enforcing immigration law is the federal government's business.
• 1:23
  Abbott previously said he's ready to fight for the law all the way
• 1:26
  to the U.S. Supreme Court.
• 1:29
  In New Jersey, the killing of Imam Hassan Sharif
• 1:31
  is under investigation.
• 1:33
  He was shot outside his Newark mosque yesterday.
• 1:36
  Authorities don't yet have a motive or suspect.
• 1:39
  Essex County Prosecutor Ted Stephens talked about the early stages
• 1:42
  of the investigation.
• 1:44
  [START NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:44
  Ted Stephens: It does not appear that the Imam was a victim of a biased crime
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  or that this is related to terrorism.
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  [END NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 1:51
  Garrison, Narrating: The state's attorney general says investigators wouldn't usually reveal
• 1:55
  that kind of information so soon,
• 1:57
  but they felt it was important to say now because of the national surge
• 2:00
  in hate crimes, especially against Muslims.
• 2:04
  And around 100 people are dead in Iran,
• 2:06
  following two explosions and a memorial for a general.
• 2:09
  Qasem Soleimani was killed by a U.S. airstrike in 2020,
• 2:13
  under orders from then-President Trump.
• 2:15
  [GENTLE MUSIC]
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  No group has claimed responsibility for the explosions.
• 2:30
  Let's turn now to the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where aid agencies are warning
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  that scarce food could lead to famine.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  A recent U.N. report said more than 90 percent of people in Gaza
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  are dealing with acute food insecurity.
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  And nearly every family is skipping some meals each day.
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  In a recent "PBS" story, the chief economist
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  of the U.N.'s World Food Program, Arif Husain,
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  said the level of suffering is beyond what he's witnessed
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  in two decades doing this work.
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  [START PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Arif Husain: I've seen Afghanistan, I've seen Yemen, I've seen Syria, I've seen South Sudan,
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  I've seen Northeast Nigeria, pretty much everywhere.
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  I've never seen something at this scale as is happening in Gaza and at this speed.
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  [END PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:14
  Garrison, Narrating: What's also striking, the numbers.
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  Husain tells "The New Yorker" that in the entire world right now,
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  there are about 700,000 people experiencing famine
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  or catastrophic hunger, and 80% of them are in Gaza.
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  "NBC News" recently reported on a camp
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  where tens of thousands of Palestinians are crowded in.
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  Amina Shamlakh Al-Rafi said her family was forced out of Gaza City,
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  and her husband was arrested by the Israeli military.
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  She's now trying to keep her children alive.
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  [START NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:42
  Amina Shamlakh Al-Rafi: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
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  [END NBC NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
• 3:46
  Garrison, Narrating: She says it's hard to provide food for her daughters without their father.
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  She says they're dying of hunger, poverty and everything.
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  Adding to the crisis is the cold winter weather,
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  with temperatures dropping sharply.
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  Some people who fled their homes to escape Israeli bombs are now living
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  in makeshift camps that are not built for the climate.
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  Israeli attacks have already killed more than 22,000 Palestinians,
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  largely civilians.
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  And if the desperate food situation doesn't improve,
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  the U.N. says many more may die of starvation.
• 4:15
  [UPBEAT MUSIC]
• 4:25
  "Vox" is out with a story that caught our eye.
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  24 predictions for 2024.
• 4:30
  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  It covers politics, business, culture, sports and more.
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  Now, there's a lot of this kind of thing this time of year.
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  One thing that's different about these predictions,
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  they have some humility.
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  "Vox's" predictions come with probabilities.
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  For example, the prediction that Trump will win the White House
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  only has 55% certainty.
• 4:49
  Dylan Matthews: We're aware that we're going to be wrong about a bunch of things.
• 4:51
  Garrison, Narrating: That's senior correspondent Dylan Matthews.
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  Matthews: We were wrong a bunch of times last year,
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  but we're trying to become better forecasters
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  and hopefully that will make us better journalists.
• 5:01
  Garrison, Narrating: This year, he predicts inflation will settle down further in America.
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  Matthews: Some of the external factors like the Russian invasion of Ukraine
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  and some of the pandemic related disruptions are in the past now.
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  And so I think we're going to see a leveling off, tapering off of inflation.
• 5:18
  Garrison, Narrating: In domestic politics, "Vox" predicts Republicans will win
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  the Senate and Democrats will take the House.
• 5:23
  In global politics,
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  "Vox" predicts Benjamin Netanyahu will be unseated as Israel's prime minister,
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  Narendra Modi will win reelection in India
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  and Mexico will get its first female president
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  with the election of Claudia Sheinbaum.
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  Matthews: She is far and away in the polls the front runner
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  for the 2024 Mexican presidential election.
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  She's not as intensely charismatic.
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  She's-- she's a scientist, not a firebrand.
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  And so it'll be interesting to see how she does in office.
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  Garrison, Narrating: And in sports, "Vox" is paying attention to baseball star Shohei Ohtani.
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  "Vox" predicts he'll lead the MLB in home runs
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  and maybe break Barry Bonds's record.
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  Matthews: Yeah, I'm excited to see him try.
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  Garrison, Narrating: You can find all 24 predictions in the Apple News app.
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  [UPBEAT MUSIC]
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Finally, even if you're only a casual gamer,
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  you can probably recognize this theme song.
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  [TETRIS THEME MUSIC]
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]
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  Tetris is a simple game that people can pick up quickly,
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  which is why it's been popular for so long.
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  But there's a whole community of expert Tetris players who practice
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  for hours a day and play at high speed in tournaments around the world.
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  And recently,
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  a 13-year-old player has pulled off what none of them have done before.
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  He beat Tetris, getting so far into the game that it froze.
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  Willis Gibson is a serious gamer, so he keeps the camera rolling as he plays.
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  That means we can hear the moment he beat Tetris.
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  [START THE GUARDIAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  [TETRIS THEME MUSIC]
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  [MUSIC CUTS OUT]
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  Willis Gibson: [GASPS] Oh, oh my God. [GASPING HEAVILY]
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  [END THE GUARDIAN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
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  Garrison, Narrating: The Oklahoma teenager is the first human good enough to take Tetris
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  to its breaking point.
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  [MUSIC FADES IN]
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  Previously, only computers powered by AI have been able to do that.
• 7:19
  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
• 7:22
  And if you're listening in the News app right now,
• 7:24
  we've got a narrated article coming up next from "New York" magazine.
• 7:27
  Writer and editor Tom Scocca writes and narrates his own story
• 7:31
  about navigating America's complicated medical system
• 7:34
  to try and find answers for a debilitating and mysterious condition,
• 7:37
  and what we do when we can't reach conclusions.
• 7:40
  If you're listening in the Podcast app, follow Apple News+ Narrated
• 7:43
  to find that story.
• 7:45
  And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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  [MUSIC FADES OUT]