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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Friday, March 3rd. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, investigating broken corporate promises about recycling sneakers, new questions about Chinese support for Russia and Chris Rock gets ready to talk about the slap with a wide audience.
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But first…
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Unidentified Speaker: Verdict guilty. Signed by the forelady.
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It took a jury less than three hours to convict Alex Murdaugh of murdering his wife Maggie and his son Paul. A member of one of South Carolina's most prominent legal families, he was sentenced to life in prison this morning.
It's the end of a dramatic series of events involving multiple arrests, accusations of millions in financial fraud, drug trafficking, an opioid addiction, a fatal boat crash, the death of a housekeeper and Murdaugh attempting to fake a suicide to collect life insurance money. And that's just part of the story.
It all started in June of 2021 when Murdaugh called 911 to report that his wife and son had been shot to death near dog kennels at his family home. He told police he wasn't there when they were shot. During the trial, prosecutors played a Snapchat video his son captured before his death. It contradicted Murdaugh's story. And there was a moment that few expected before the trial.
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Alex Murdaugh: I'm Alex Murdaugh. M-U-R-D-A-U-G-H.
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He took the stand in his own defense. And Murdaugh finally admitted that his alibi was not true.
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Alex Murdaugh: And I lied about being down there. And I'm so sorry that I did.
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Murdaugh also confessed to stealing from his law firm and clients over a decade. He said it was to fund a $50,000 a week opioid addiction.
Prosecutors had the challenge of building a case almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. The guns were never found. They had no fingerprints or DNA linking Murdaugh to the murders. But they did have hundreds of pieces of evidence, from gunshot residue tests to cellphone data and that video his son took just before the murders. The prosecution introduced a theory called "family annihilation." It's when an outwardly successful person living a hidden life suddenly faces exposure and kills those closest to him.
The verdict seals the downfall of one of the state's most powerful families. When it was announced, Murdaugh's surviving son, Buster, who had testified in his father's defense, sat with his hand over his mouth. Murdaugh was handcuffed and taken away from the same courtroom where his father and grandfather prosecuted thousands of criminals.
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Secretary of State Antony Blinken met yesterday with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov at the G-20 summit in India. It's their first meeting since Russia invaded Ukraine.
It was brief, only about 10 minutes. Blinken said he told Russia to end the war. Elsewhere at the summit, most G-20 countries strongly condemned the war. Russia did not. The other notable dissent was China. Beijing's support for Moscow and the impact of that relationship on the Ukraine war is becoming more and more concerning to the U.S. and other western allies.
This week, Blinken warned China against providing "lethal military assistance."
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Antony Blinken: This would be a serious problem for us in our relationship with China. And I made clear that there would be consequences for engaging in those actions.
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China says it wants an end to hostilities, and it repeatedly points out that it's the U.S. that's sending lethal weapons to the battlefield in Ukraine.
"TIME" reports on how understanding China's support for Russia is complicated because many products it provides are what's called "dual-use." They could have civilian or military purposes. One example that "TIME" points to is aluminum oxide. China's exports of this to Russia have increased 25 times during the war. It can be used to make artificial hips, but it's also used for body armor. China's also sending more semiconductors, which can help make washing machines or tanks. It's hard to track what Russia does with Chinese goods once it has them, and that serves China's interests well. It can make money, boost its ties to Russia, but still claim that it's not providing direct military support to Moscow's war.
It's not clear how long China can have it both ways. The U.S. is reportedly talking with allies about tough sanctions if Beijing crosses a line of military aid to Russia.
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When a company pledges to recycle old products and use them for good, you want to believe that it's true. A recent "Reuters" investigation tested a corporate promise to turn the rubber soles of old sneakers into new playgrounds and running tracks. These journalists went as far as putting trackers in several pairs of donated shoes and filming as they traced their journey.
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Joe Brock: I'm gonna take this tracker, and I'm gonna sync it up with my phone. There it goes.
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None of the shoes ended up where they were supposed to go. But let's back up a bit. This recycling pledge was a joint effort between Dow, the giant American petrochemical company, and the Singaporean government. In the past, Dow has claimed that it makes valuable products from recycled plastic waste, but environmental groups have expressed skepticism. "Reuters" put trackers in 11 pairs of shoes. Some of them traveled far outside the country. Reporter Joe Brock went to a market in Indonesia, following the sound of the tracker.
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Joe Brock: And I can see that the signal is coming from inside. So, I'm gonna go in and see if I can find those shoes.
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Sure enough, they were there. "Reuters" found many of their tracked sneakers ended up with a second-hand goods export company.
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Joe Brock: They buy clothes and shoes from charities and export them to other developing countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia. The question is why shoes that were sent to be recycled would be sent to a commercial, for-profit trading company.
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When Brock asked why the shoes marked for recycling were being sold, a manager said there might've been a mix-up. After "Reuters" brought this to Dow's attention, the company launched an investigation. It now says as a result of the investigation, it's no longer working with that exporter. And Dow claims, two sports facilities in Singapore are using its recycled shoe materials. "Reuters" was unable to verify the projects, which are still under construction.
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You don't normally have to ask, "What time is it on?" when something is airing on Netflix. But this weekend is an exception.
Tomorrow night, Chris Rock will host a comedy special live, as in everyone will see it at the same time. That's a first for Netflix. It comes as the company is trying to fend off competition and boost viewers after a rocky year of layoffs and subscriber losses. That's right. The company that used to send you DVDs in the mail has looped all the way back around to invent live TV.
Now, this special is fascinating for another reason, which is timing. The Oscars are coming up in a week. And in this comedy special, Chris Rock is expected to talk about the infamous incident at last year's Oscars when millions of people watched as Will Smith slapped him across the face.
"The Wall Street Journal" looks at how Chris Rock has been preparing for this moment, workshopping material about the slap in recent performances. And it describes this as a truly rare thing: a stand-up special with a timely hook. If anything, it'll close the chapter on one of the more bizarre, unscripted, unbelievable moments in live television just in time for the next Oscars night.
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You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app, including coverage of the severe weather that's hitting America and the aftermath of heavy snow in parts of California.
And check out our weekend interview show, "In Conversation." After respected Las Vegas journalist Jeff German was killed last year, "Washington Post" reporter Lizzie Johnson was given an assignment to complete one of German's unfinished stories.
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Lizzie Johnson: He believed in the power of journalism and telling stories that mattered and holding power accountable. And to just have gotten the chance to do that for him, to carry the torch for him, I think that might be the most meaningful work that I've ever done.
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If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next. Enjoy the weekend, and I'll be back with the news on Monday.
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