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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Friday, February 17th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today". On today's show, Biden speaks out on UFOs, states argue over who should use less water, while the Colorado River is drying up, and why you should definitely plan to not lose your credit card anytime soon.
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But first... we go to Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis is making big moves related to education at all levels. He's rejecting a new AP African American Studies course, and even threatening to drop all AP classes in the state. He's also intensified attacks on diversity programs in higher education. Hundreds of protesters of his moves took to the streets in Tallahassee this week.
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Unidentified Speaker: What do we do?
Crowd: Stand up, fight back!
Unidentified Speaker: What do we do?
Crowd: Stand up, fight back!
Unidentified Speaker: What do we do?
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"MSNBC" talked with high school students considering a lawsuit against DeSantis over the AP course. Victoria McQueen says advanced courses open people's eyes.
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Victoria McQueen: We go deeper into history, and if we had the option to take African American history at the AP level, we also get that deeper knowledge that you don't get baseline, and that you have to find deep in the internet to get that information because it's not easily accessible at our schools.
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Another student considering suing the governor, Juliette Heckman, says a politician shouldn't have the last word here.
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Juliette Heckman: It's just part of history, and I think it's just upsetting that he can dictate what thousands of students are gonna learn. And I mean, we're the generation that is working to uproot all these systemic issues within our society. And, you know, they're uncomfortable topics. No one likes talking about those sorts of things, but they're necessary to understand how we are today and why things have led to where we are.
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There are more legal developments related to schools in the state. This is about the Florida law blocking education on gender identity and sexual orientation for students up to third grade. On Wednesday, a federal judge rejected a lawsuit challenging it.
As for those protestors we heard earlier, a change by DeSantis's administration will affect demonstrations at the state capital. A new rule expected to go into effect in March allows law enforcement to use more discretion to remove protestors from the Capitol building and charge them with trespassing. The ACLU in Florida calls it an attempt to "silence the public and chill speech."
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Many political analysts see DeSantis as a strong contender if he runs for president. So, these debates over education likely won't stay in Florida.
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Let's take a quick look at three other political developments. The Georgia grand jury investigating Donald Trump's election interference says one or more witnesses may have lied during the investigation. It recommends the Fulton County DA consider perjury indictments. The grand jury also unanimously found no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the state, the latest investigation to refute the claims of Trump. These revelations come from a partial release of the grand jury's report. More details may come out later.
In UFO news, President Biden is speaking out about the three flying objects recently shot down by American fighters. Unlike the Chinese balloon taken out earlier, Biden says the latest objects did not appear to be on spy missions.
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President Joe Biden: We don't yet know exactly what these three objects were, but nothing, nothing right now suggests they were related to China's spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from other, any other country.
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Biden says he expects to speak with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, but he makes "no apologies" for ordering the shootdown of the Chinese balloon. And Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman checked himself into a hospital for treatment for clinical depression. Senate colleagues have offered public support for him. Fetterman's wife, Gisele Barreto Fetterman, says she's "proud of him for asking for help and getting the care he needs."
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The outcome of a feud over the Colorado River will have major implications for tens of millions of people. Seven US states and Mexico depend on its water.
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Chronic overuse, decades of drought, and climate change have resulted in the river's largest reservoirs, Lake Mead and Lake Powell, falling to their lowest levels since they were filled. The Biden administration has called on surrounding states to make serious cuts to water use.
Ian James: And the complication is that the states don't agree on how to get to those reductions that are needed.
Ian James is an environmental reporter who focuses on water issues for the "Los Angeles Times."
James: And what that means is that all of the parties along the river, the water districts, the cities, the farming areas, are needing to rapidly adapt to having less water available.
Six states have proposed a plan for water reductions: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. They're calling on California, which uses the single largest share of the river, to shoulder a significant chunk. California submitted its own proposal. It wants other states, particularly Arizona, to give up more water.
A series of agreements stretching back about 100 years called "The Law of the River" gives California some priority water rights. Millions of Californians rely on the Colorado River for drinking water. And California farmers who grow food for the whole country count on it too.
James: The six states say that one fair way of doing it would be to start accounting for evaporation in the water that's lost from reservoirs and along the lower part of the river. California disagrees and says that that would be too drastically changing the rules at this point.
Making a deal won't be easy, but time is running short. Scientists worry about water levels getting so low that they reach a catastrophic situation known as dead pool.
James: There are growing risks that Lake Mead near Las Vegas could reach a dead pool level, at which point water would no longer pass downstream through Hoover Dam, which would cut off California, Arizona, and Mexico. And so, that has set off alarm bells about the need to make changes rapidly to prevent that type of a worst case scenario from occurring.
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If you are one of those people who are always losing their credit card, debit card, or wallet. be warned. It might take six weeks or more to get a new card. The reason is that tiny chip in the plastic. The ongoing global semiconductor shortage is leading to much longer waits for new cards.
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As "The Washington Post" explains, it comes down to how chip manufacturers prioritize customers. They make a lot more profit selling chips to computer and smartphone makers. Also, electric cars need twice as many microchips as gas-powered cars. So when there's a shortage, cheap little credit card chips are at the bottom of the priority list.
Manufacturers are projected to produce three billion cards this year. Big financial institutions like American Express, Chase, and Discover tell "The Post" they're not experiencing delays. But experts say credit unions and regional banks are having trouble producing enough new cards. One supply chain expert tells "The Post" that card delays will be a reality throughout this year.
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You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And check out our weekend interview show, "In Conversation." This week, I talk to Emily Stewart who covers business and economics for "Vox." She breaks down everything going on with the economy and she answers the question, is the economy actually doing pretty good right now?
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Emily Stewart: Yeah, I mean, I think the answer with a lot of caveats is kind of yes.
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We'll explain the caveats in that episode, which, if you're listening in the Apple News app right now, is queued up to play for you next. So, enjoy the weekend. And I'll be back with the news next week.
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