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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It’s Monday, September 18th. I’m Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today’s show… The connection between deadly flooding and record heat, America faces down problem gambling as sports betting becomes more common, and a look at the unusual ways striking actors are raising money for out-of-work colleagues.
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But first, let’s take a quick look at some major stories developing as we come out of the weekend.
The U.S. and Iran finalized a prisoner swap. This morning, five Americans who were held in Iran, were flown out of the country. They’re being exchanged for five Iranian prisoners. The deal also includes unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian oil money. The state will only be allowed to use the money for humanitarian purposes. Among the Americans is Siamak Namazi, the longest-held American citizen in Iran, who’s been detained since 2015.
In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton is now back on the job. He was acquitted on all charges Saturday after a two-week impeachment trial in the Texas Senate. Charges included bribery and misuse of office, related to Paxton’s relationship with a campaign donor. His legal troubles are far from over, though. Paxton still faces a federal investigation into his ties with the donor. And a trial on felony securities fraud could start in February. Paxton has broadly denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty to the fraud charges.
In national-security news, one of the U.S. military’s most advanced fighter jets, an F-35, is missing. There’s a search underway to prevent the technology on board from falling into the wrong hands. One of the jets went down near Charleston, South Carolina yesterday. The pilot ejected safely, but it’s not clear where the plane ended up. F-35s cost tens of millions of dollars apiece. The stealth technology makes it difficult for enemy forces to detect, but it also may be making it harder for search teams to find this missing fighter.
On to entertainment news, where several shows will not be on the air as planned today. “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “The Talk,” and “The Jennifer Hudson Show” are all postponing their season premieres. This is a reversal on plans to go forward without striking union writers. Talk shows are technically allowed to go on air if the hosts ad-lib without scripted material. But the Writers' Guild heavily criticized and picketed hosts who planned to do so. Barrymore has apologized and now says she will wait until labor issues are resolved.
And Climate protesters marched around the world over the weekend, ahead of world leaders gathering in New York for a series of U.N. meetings. Demonstrators called for President Biden to stop approving new oil and gas projects. In New York, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez spoke to protesters.
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The popular support for climate is starting to buckle and crack. That overall grip that the fossil fuel establishment has had on our politics. And that’s because of you.
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The protests were part of a week-long series, with hundreds of demonstrations in dozens of countries.
In Libya, the U.N. says the death toll from the flooding is more than 11,000 people. It’s one of the deadliest examples of flooding this year, but it’s certainly not the only one.
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From Brazil, to China, to Greece, to the United States, scientists tell “The Washington Post,” this falls in line with predictions that rising temperatures would lead to more extreme floods. And yet, they’re shocked at how many places are seeing torrential rain and floods this year.
It’s too early to tell how much each of these events is driven by climate change. But the connection between heat and floods has been established. And there’s a strong chance that this will be the hottest year on Earth, in nearly 200 years of record keeping. Scott Dance covers extreme weather for "The Post." He told us about how heat can make flooding worse.
Scott Dance: Warmer air holds more moisture and also warmer water is more prone to evaporation. So, we've just had this situation where storm clouds are just a little easier to form, a little more intense.
Extreme heat in the summer can also damage the soil’s natural ability to soak up excess water. That’s part of what happened in Libya. The hot summer led to dry, cracked soil that couldn’t absorb much water.
Land temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere may be dropping as summer ends, but that doesn’t mean the risk of dangerous storms is over. Many bodies of water are still reaching peak temperatures, and when storms feed on that warmer water, they can produce more intense rain. And Dance points out, El Niño, which typically brings wetter conditions, has not hit its peak.
Dance: So, the effect of that could be, you know, even more dramatic in the Southern Hemisphere summer when it gets hot down there and they start getting storms and heat waves.
Scientists tell Dance, because conditions are changing so quickly, it’s harder to make good predictions. But they say one thing is certain.
Dance: We have to prepare for and accept this changing reality, you know, ever increasing extremes, as long as the planet keeps warming.
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Football season is underway and it’s easier than ever for Americans to legally bet on sports. You used to have to go to Vegas or Atlantic City. But a 2018 Supreme Court decision tipped the scales in favor of sports betting.
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Since then, dozens of states approved plans for legal sports gambling. Now you can place bets online, even from your phone, without ever walking into a casino.
Dylan Scott from “Vox” told us that while the U.S. has embraced easy access to gambling, there hasn’t been enough planning to take care of problems that can come with it.
Dylan Scott: Everyone I talked to for this story was frustrated by how few resources are being devoted to research on gambling, problem gambling disorders, or to providing treatment for people who need it. So yeah, there isn't a federal agency that's dedicated to gambling addiction research the way that there is for drug abuse, for example.
The U.S. spends about $1 on treatment for gambling for every $320 it spends on substance abuse treatment. Many states that make money off gambling don’t use any of that revenue for gambling-addiction treatment. Scott told us, there’s a major conflict here. The more people gamble, the more money states make.
Scott: What incentive do they have to try to stop people from gambling if that's going to mean that they're going to make less money from their legal gambling revenue sources? If you do those things that have now gotten a government sanction and you develop a problem, you know, the kind of compulsive behavior that typifies problem gambling, it might be hard for you to get treatment because the government hasn’t spent nearly as much time on the treatment side of the ledger.
Scott points out that there’s not much evidence that legalizing gambling produces the kind of big economic gains that supporters claim it does. So, making it easier to gamble, without putting real safeguards in place, may be a dangerous wager for governments to make.
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We talked earlier on the show about the labor unrest in Hollywood. Writers and actors are the ones on strike. But production shutdowns mean that many other people in the entertainment business are also out of work. So, celebrities are running an unusual online auction to raise money for workers who’ve been affected by the strike.
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There’s a wide variety of possibilities, and they run from the mundane to maybe revealing some unexpected hidden talents. Adam Scott is offering to walk your dog. John Lithgow is offering to paint a portrait of your dog. The cast of "Bob’s Burgers" will compose an original song and sing it to you. Busy Philipps is on standby to go to a pottery class with you. Natasha Lyonne will help you solve a Sunday crossword. Now one of the hottest offerings so far is the chance to dine with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross. That was up to ten grand as of this morning.
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That’s just a sampling of what’s on offer. The eBay auction runs through the end of the week.
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, don’t go anywhere. We've got a narrated article coming up next from “New York Magazine.” It explores how adult friendships change among friends who have kids and friends who don’t. That’s cued up to play next, and I’ll be back with the news tomorrow.
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