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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Thursday, March 2nd. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, U.S. intelligence weighs in on the Havana Syndrome mystery, what happens next for all those laid-off tech workers, and how reality TV is diving into the fine art world.
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<v But first, this week, the Biden administration is making new moves to crack down on child labor in America. Since 2018, the government has seen a nearly 70 percent increase in violations. Some of these kids are in very hazardous jobs>factories, slaughterhouses, assembly lines. Federal law bars kids under the age of 16 from working in most factories. And those under 18 are not allowed to do the most dangerous industrial jobs.
<v This comes in the wake of recent investigative reports telling the stories of children working in these conditions. "The New York Times" found dozens of migrant children employed in violation of the law. Many worked for companies that make goods for well-known global brands>the cereal that you eat for breakfast, the socks you're wearing.
"Reuters" has been looking into child labor law violations extensively over the last year. It's reported on young teenagers working in dangerous chicken processing plants in Alabama and children as young as 12 working at a metal stamping plant run by a company owned by Hyundai.
The majority of minors that "Reuters" found were from Central America, where poverty and violence has led to waves of migration. A record number of unaccompanied minors have entered the U.S. in recent years. Many are taken in by relatives, but "Reuters" reports, some are sucked into a dangerous network. Labor contractors illegally steer kids into jobs that are grueling and meant for adults. Long hours mean that many of them struggle in school or drop out altogether.
Following "Reuters'" reporting, Hyundai said it would sell its stake in the plant. The car maker's CEO recently said an audit of its direct suppliers shows that it's now complying with underage labor laws.
The Biden administration is pushing for more money to enforce these laws. And it wants stiffer penalties for companies that break them. Right now, the maximum penalty per child is just a little over 15,000 dollars.
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A long-awaited U.S. government intelligence report says that Havana Syndrome was not caused by an attack from a foreign enemy. "The Washington Post" has the story of this review, which has been years in the making. U.S. diplomats and intelligence officers reported unusual symptoms when working in Cuba and other U.S. offices around the world. Symptoms were first reported at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 2016.
I recently spoke with "The New Yorker's" Jon Lee Anderson. He's reported from war zones and conflicts around the world, and he spent time living in and reporting on Cuba. He's also one of the reporters on a recent "VICE" podcast series about Havana Syndrome. He told me about the intense suffering that some victims felt in the moment of their attack.
Jon Lee Anderson: Pain in the ears, pain in the head. A kind of overwhelming, paralyzing, anxiety-inducing, inexplicable moment of affliction in which you're held in the grip of something. You don't know what it is or where it's coming from.
There were theories that Russia or another government may have targeted Americans with some kind of energy weapon, or that the sickness was a side effect of surveillance tools that a foreign government might be using. But this new reporting from the CIA and other intelligence agencies dismisses those theories.
CIA director William Burns called the analysis one of the biggest investigations in the agency's history. He says the findings don't change the reality of the symptoms that government personnel and their families have had. Many have had long-term health problems.
Anderson told us, some victims had scarring on their brains.
Anderson: Some of them have, you know, incapacitating physical effects, a loss of balance, dizziness, nausea, insomnia, depression, in many an inability to concentrate. And then this scarring, which in some cases has actually affected their central nervous system and their brain functions, in some cases.
This report is the official government thinking on Havana Syndrome, but it may not be the last word. Victims say the findings don't track with their medical experiences. Attorneys for victims tell "The Post" that the report is incomplete and opaque. They're calling for more transparency and further investigation.
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Big Tech companies have laid off hundreds of thousands of people since the beginning of last year. "WIRED" looks at how some of them are using this difficult moment to start their own companies. The well-known startup accelerator Y Combinator says applications are soaring.
Starting a business can be exciting, but also tough. And right now, new founders are entering an especially tricky market. Higher interest rates and investor skepticism about tech companies can make it hard to raise money. But on the other hand, the broader economic picture has some positives. For many tech workers, it helps that they got pretty good severance packages. That gives them a little bit of time and space to try something new.
"The Washington Post" takes a slightly different angle into this. It looks at people who left tech jobs before the recent waves of layoffs and are just loving it. Some wanted to use their skills in different ways or see if they could turn their passion projects into full businesses.
"The Post" speaks to former tech workers who reinvented themselves as a skin-care company founder, a romance novelist and a craft-popcorn maker. The popcorn guy left a gig at Square to start his company Jerrypop. He says he's not planning to go back to software engineering. Dreaming up popcorn flavors like PB&J and habanero ranch has been an opportunity to let his creativity shine in ways that, he says, people directly appreciate.
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<v There seems to be a strange microtrend bubbling up in the world of reality TV. This one is not about love, it's not about food. Trust me, you would not guess it, so I'm just gonna tell you. These are reality competition shows about fine art. One is airing on both "MTV" and the "Smithsonian Channel" starting tomorrow. It's called "The Exhibit>Finding the Next Great Artist." Contestants compete for a 100,000-dollar prize and the chance to exhibit at the Hirshhorn Museum in D.C.
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MTV Announcer: See what it takes to make "The Exhibit." It's all part of MTV's new Friday nights after "Drag Race" at 9:00.
Contestant: Time to make some magic.
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Yes, "Drag Race" is the lead-in for the "Smithsonian's" new show. Pretty weird, right? But the museum hopes that it's gonna get new audiences excited about modern and contemporary art.
The other reality TV meets art show is a little different, and it's happening abroad. There is a blockbuster Vermeer exhibition going on at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam right now. And a new television show in the Netherlands challenges artists to compete against each other and recreate lost paintings by the Dutch master. Sometimes they only have a written description to go by. The show is called "The New Vermeer," and it's been a hit. The pilot drew strong ratings. And honestly, if you look at the paintings they're making, you'll get why. It might be a reality show, but the paintings they're making are real and they're seriously incredible.
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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.
We've got a narrated article coming up from "Fortune" about the impact of high insulin prices on Americans with diabetes. We pulled it from our archives because it’s newly relevant, with the news yesterday that Eli Lilly is going to cap insulin costs at 35 dollars a month for patients.
That’s cued up to play next, and I’ll be back with the news tomorrow.
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