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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Thursday, October 27th. 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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It's that time in the midterm election cycle when reporters fan out across the country to ask voters how they're feeling. "The Washington Post" did this in an interesting way. They sent reporters to NFL stadiums in swing states and asked tailgaters what they're thinking about.
So let's start in Georgia, where the Senate race could determine which party controls Congress. Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock is up against Trump-endorsed Republican Herschel Walker. Georgia voters told "The Post" that the economy, the preservation of democracy, and abortion are the key issues driving their decisions. And remember, they're at a tailgate, so what you're about to hear is pretty noisy.
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Kina Morgan: Abortion's extremely important because it's really more so not about abortion itself, but about women having the same equal protections and freedoms as every other citizen in this country. I think the allegations against Herschel Walker just further validate the fact that he is not an appropriate candidate for Senate.
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Walker has campaigned against abortion rights. Recently, the mother of one of his children said he paid for her to get an abortion in 2009. Yesterday, a second woman made a similar accusation. Walker has said both allegations are not true.
In Ohio, where voters favored Trump in both 2016 and 2020, the Senate race between Republican J.D. Vance and Democrat Tim Ryan is tight. One person told "The Post," even though they voted for Biden in 2020, they're planning to vote Republican this time.
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Zak Baris: Due to Congress being right now at 50/50, basically, I would vote for J.D. Vance just because I do not want to see a Democratic agenda move forward. Because I think they've done everything wrong this term, within the last two years.
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In the Pennsylvania Senate race, voters will decide between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz, best known as a TV doctor. "The Post" found that opinions there generally fell along geographical lines. Suburban and rural voters mostly favored Republicans.
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Bob Smith: Definitely gonna vote for Oz. The crime's getting bad in every Democrat-run city.
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And voters from urban areas largely said they support Democrats.
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Steve Bland: I plan on voting for whoever's gonna be running in the Democratic Party and believes that the 2020 election was fair. I'm concerned about our democracy. That's the biggest issue for me.
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You can get much more midterms coverage in the Apple News app.
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There's heavy fighting happening in eastern Ukraine today. And in the south, Russia is reinforcing Kherson, where a coming battle could determine whether Putin's forces can hold out there.
One way to think about recent fighting is as Ukraine's attempts to take more Ukrainian land back from Russia before winter sets in. It's typically harder to capture territory in war than to defend it. And the brutal weather on the way will make advances even tougher.
"The Wall Street Journal" looks at all the ways that winter will change the battlefield. Some are obvious. The weather hurts troops' health and morale and calls for extra boots and socks. But some are more complicated.
For example, for Ukrainian forces, it'll be harder to hide. They often fire artillery and then move the weapons before Russia can counterattack. But in winter, Russian drones could see their tracks in the snow. And fewer leaves makes it harder to shelter in forests. Unlike Russians, Ukrainian troops may be able to rely on local support, sympathetic residents who can give them fuel or a place to stay.
As the "Journal" points out, winter battles have sometimes been decisive. In the Revolutionary War, George Washington rolled the dice on a risky crossing of the Delaware River during a Christmas snowstorm. It made a surprise attack possible, turning the tide of the fight against the British. Now in Ukraine, both sides will face new struggles in the cold weather. As a Ukrainian analyst tells the "Journal," land warfare is generally very difficult. Winter warfare is doubly challenging.
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Leaders across the globe say that they're racing to cut greenhouse gas emissions and slow down climate change. But a new report from the U.N. says they're not moving quickly enough.
According to the report, which was released Wednesday, the world is "nowhere near" hitting targets to reduce emissions, and the planet is on track to warm by an average of 2.5 degrees Celsius by the year 2100. That's one full degree higher than world leaders committed to in the 2015 Paris Agreement. If the world falls short of these goals, scientists predict more extreme weather events and possible species extinction.
U.N. Secretary General António Guterres has been vocal about the action he wants to see.
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António Guterres: We cannot wait until after 2030 to move away from fossil fuels, particularly coal, or to peak global emissions.
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This report landed as world leaders prepare to meet in Egypt next month for the annual U.N. Climate Change Conference. At last year's summit, countries vowed to step up efforts to reduce emissions. But the U.N. says only a handful submitted updated climate plans. The head of the climate office calls that "disappointing."
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<v It can be frustrating to hear reports about global setbacks in dealing with climate change. But there are stories of progress on reducing carbon emissions. Like this one about a daily routine for many American families>riding the school bus. Districts across the country are trying to make bus rides sound less like this:
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[DIESEL BUS ENGINE REVS]
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And more like this:
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[ELECTRIC BUS ENGINE WHIRLS]
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That is the sound of an electric bus. More schools are trying to phase out their diesel buses. Yesterday, Vice President Kamala Harris announced close to $1 billion in grants for school districts to buy thousands of electric buses.
A while back, "Popular Science" looked into how switching from diesel to electric buses could improve kids' health. Bus pollution can be linked to asthma and cardiovascular disease. And the risks are higher for low-income communities where children don't have as many options to get to school. Asthma rates for Black children are close to twice the rate of white children. And studies show that exposure to pollution can hurt students' performance in the classroom.
Federal money can help offset the higher upfront cost of electric buses. But savings on gas and maintenance could make them cheaper in the long run. Green transport advocates say it could be possible to switch all American school buses to electric by 2030.
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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 now, stick around. We've got a narrated article coming up next from "WIRED." It's about a pill that could make your dog live longer, and maybe you too, eventually. So enjoy that listen and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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