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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Thursday, October 19th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today's show…
The dangerous water crisis in Gaza…
The enormous challenges facing migrant mothers in New York City…
And where the Speaker of the House race could go from here.
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But first, more on the deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza, with hundreds reported dead. Palestinian officials blame an Israeli air strike. Israel denies this, saying that the hospital was hit by mistaken rocket fire from Palestinian militants. After reviewing available evidence so far, the consensus of U.S. intelligence is that Israel is not responsible. But there's a lot of information that's not clear, and there's been limited access to the site for independent analysts. It may be a long time before we know what happened. And no matter how strong the evidence ultimately is, the damage caused by the early blame-trading is already done.
President Biden visited Israel yesterday. He urged the country to think carefully about its actions responding to Hamas's attacks.
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President Joe Biden: Justice must be done. But I caution this while you feel that rage, don't be consumed by it. After 9/11 we were enraged in the United States. While we sought justice and got justice, we also made mistakes.
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Biden also announced a deal with Israel to allow aid to enter Gaza from Egypt.
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Biden: People of Gaza need food, water, medicine, shelter. Today I asked the Israeli cabinet, who I've met with for some time this morning, to agree to the delivery of life saving humanitarian assistance to civilians in Gaza, based on the understanding that there will be inspections and that the aid should go to civilians, not to Hamas.
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And Biden promised $100 million to support Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Egypt controls the Rafah Crossing into Gaza, and helps Israel maintain its blockade on the area. It's the only way in that's not under full Israeli control.
In past conflicts, this crossing has been used to deliver aid to Gaza and allow medical evacuees to leave. But not this time. Thousands of tons of aid have piled up on Egypt's side of the border as politicians negotiated access. But they can't move in until repairs are done on critical roads damaged by Israeli airstrikes. The first trucks are expected to make deliveries Friday at the earliest.
On the same day as Biden's visit, the UN Security Council held a vote on calling for a pause in fighting to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza. The United States vetoed the resolution. The U.S. ambassador said it was unacceptable because it didn't mention Israel's right to self-defense. Historically, the U.S. has often used its veto power to block UN resolutions seen as against Israeli interests.
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Let's spend a little time on one aspect of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the dwindling water supply after Israel cut off water and power last week.
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No power means Gaza's desalination plants can't operate. It can't keep sewage treatment and disposal running either. Tanks of safe drinking water are scarce and unaffordable to many. That means families in Gaza are forced to consume unsafe water to survive. They're at severe risk of dehydration, and diseases including cholera and dysentery.
The UN's Juliette Touma talked to “NBC” about what's happening.
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Juliette Touma: We're talking about 2 million people in the Gaza Strip who do not have water. And water is running out, and water is life and life is running out of Gaza.
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The science magazine “New Scientist” looks at how Gaza was already facing a water crisis even before the latest conflict. The problem is the isolated area doesn't have a reliable source of surface water. There's water underground, but it's been depleted by Gaza's neighbors, including Israel. What's left is dangerously polluted. The UN says, 97% of Gaza's groundwater doesn't meet global health standards.
Infrastructure has been heavily damaged by past attacks from Israel. And the years-long blockade by Israel has meant restrictions on deliveries of water pumps and other vital equipment to maintain basic infrastructure. So, people in Gaza have heavily relied on small desalination plants and tanks of water trucked in. But under Israel's shutdown, both of those are cut off. The aid deal we talked about earlier can help, but it's not coming quickly enough for all the thirsty and suffering Gaza families.
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Now, a story about a crisis here in the United States: the many migrants coming here to escape violence and poverty abroad, and the challenge that's creating for cities where they arrive. And a warning, this story mentions sexual violence. Earlier this week, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced new limits on how long families with children are allowed to stay at any single shelter. After 60 days, they will now have to leave and reapply. More than 100,000 migrants have come to New York City over the last year and the city says it's struggling to house them all.
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“NPR” recently spent time talking with several new immigrant mothers, from Chad and Venezuela, about the challenges they face. Some made the difficult journey to the U.S while pregnant.
One of the women, Roukhaya, a doctor from Chad, told “NPR,” she left as soon as she learned that she was pregnant with a girl. She worried that her daughter would be targeted for female genital mutilation, like she was.
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Roukhaya: [SPEAKING SPANISH]
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She told “NPR,” "I don't want that for my daughter."
“NPR” spoke with Dr. Natalie Davis, at Bellevue Hospital's women's health center, about migrant patients she's cared for.
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Dr. Natalie Davis: I've met moms who are pregnant as a result of a rape that they experienced during their migration, which is just so difficult. They're carrying a baby that, you know, is a product of a horrible trauma that they had along the way.
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Some hospitals feel strained dealing with the influx of new patients. But Dr. Davis said, the work is too important to slow down.
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Davis: These women, they are so strong. They've made it here, they've survived, and this child is kind of a new chance for hope, a new life in a new country. And that kind of keeps me going.
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As for Roukhaya, her daughter is now just a few weeks old. Their family's future in the United States is uncertain. Along with more than one million other people, they're waiting for processing to be considered for asylum, and they need permanent shelter. But she tells “NPR,” she's determined to keep going for her daughter.
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[SPEAKING SPANISH]
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She says: "For her, I will do everything. Everything possible."
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Before we go, let's quickly look at some other stories in the news.
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The House is still without a speaker. Republican Jim Jordan failed again to get enough votes from his own party to win the role. So, now what? Jordan can keep trying to change people's minds. It took the last Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, 15 rounds of votes to get the gig. It's also possible that lawmakers cut a deal to give more power to the temporary Speaker Patrick McHenry. That way the House could get on with business while the GOP tries to find consensus on a speaker.
Abroad, Russia has detained another American journalist. Alsu Kurmasheva, an American and Russian citizen, was stopped from leaving Russia. She works for the U.S. government funded Radio Free Europe, which says she should be released immediately. Russia says she failed to register as a foreign agent. She was visiting the country because of a family emergency. Another journalist, “Wall Street Journal” reporter Evan Gershkovich, has also been detained for months.
In business news, Netflix is raising prices of its basic and premium service in the U.S. The streamer's latest earnings report shows that it's been adding subscribers worldwide. That's in part because of a crackdown on password sharing. Netflix also recently rolled out a cheaper option that includes ads, which is helping draw customers.
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And in sports, the Las Vegas Aces are the new WNBA champions. They beat the New York Liberty by a single point yesterday. The Aces are the league's first back-to-back title winners in more than 20 years.
You can find WNBA coverage and all the day's big stories in the Apple News app.
And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around to hear a Narrated Article from “Elle magazine.” It's a pre-championship story about the Las Vegas Aces, and how the team has transformed the WNBA.
If you're listening in the Podcasts app, you can follow Apple News+ Narrated to find the story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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