[MUSIC FADES IN]
Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Friday, December 1st. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, why so many Palestinians are detained in Israeli prisons, what a new cosmetics regulation law misses about toxic chemicals, and how a rare atmospheric phenomenon got an oddly ordinary name.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
But first, let's take a look at some stories we're following today.
The temporary truce between Israel and Hamas ended early this morning, and fighting has resumed in Gaza. The pause ended up being seven days long and resulted in the release of more than 100 hostages who were being held in Gaza in exchange for around 240 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. As of Thursday, Israeli officials estimate close to 143 hostages are still in Gaza.
In Washington, the House is expected to vote on a resolution later today to expel New York Republican Representative George Santos. The freshman member of Congress has ignored pressure from his Republican colleagues to resign. A recent Ethics Committee report found he used campaign funds to pay for personal purchases like Botox and trips to Atlantic City. He's separately pleaded not guilty to federal charges including wire fraud and money laundering. The House has only ever expelled five members in its history. Three for supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War, and two others convicted of federal crimes.
And in Montana, a federal judge has blocked a move to ban all use of TikTok in the state, after determining it would have violated free speech rights. The first-of-its-kind state ban was scheduled to take effect on New Year's Day. The push to ban TikTok in Montana has been closely watched as a bellwether for how other states might follow, especially in places where TikTok has already been banned on government-owned devices and networks.
[INTRIGUING MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Let's return now to the conflict between Israel and Hamas and talk about the Palestinians who've been released by Israel in the past week as part of the truce deal. We're starting to hear their stories of what it's been like to be held in an Israeli prison. Many of them were detained without trial or a charge, some for years.
"CNN" describes the two distinct justice systems Israel operates in the West Bank. Jewish settlers are subject to civilian courts, while Palestinians in occupied territories fall under the jurisdiction of Israel's military court system. That allows Israel to jail Palestinians indefinitely without charge in what's called "administrative detention." Israel argues, it's a security measure, to detain people not just for acts they're accused of committing but also potential future crimes. Human rights groups say it's a violation of international law. One Israeli human rights group estimates, out of the 7,000 Palestinians currently in Israeli prisons, roughly 2,000 are being held in administrative detention.
Fatima Shahin was part of the first wave of hostage-prisoner exchanges this week. She spent months detained by Israel and shared her story with "CNN."
[START CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Fatima Shahin: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
[END CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
She says her family was not allowed to visit.
[START CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Shahin: [SPEAKING THROUGH TRANSLATOR]
[END CNN ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Nour Odeh, a political analyst in Ramallah told "PBS Newshour," this is common. And this practice stretches back decades, meaning most Palestinian families know somebody who's spent time in Israeli prisons.
[START PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Nour Odeh: These experiences are very harsh. They're very lonely. There are no rights.
[END PBS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
One Israeli human rights group says, before Hamas attacked Israel in October, the number of Palestinians held by Israel in administrative detention had reached a 20-year-high.
[PRECUSSION MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
The Food and Drug Administration issues new guidelines all the time, but there's one area where they haven't made significant policy changes for about 85 years, regulating what's in our beauty and personal products.
Victoria St. Martin: A lot of the cosmetics and personal care products that you see on the shelves today, just are not regulated at all. You know, a lot of researchers call it the wild, wild west.
That's Victoria St. Martin, reporting on this for "Inside Climate News." She told us, some of that is set to change this month when the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act goes into effect.
But even with the FDA's increased authority, experts and public health researchers say the changes don't go far enough. They don't allow the FDA to require independent testing or ban the use of forever chemicals.
And the biggest hole in this new legislation, these advocates say, is that cosmetics companies are not required to prove their products are safe before they are sold to the public. Unsafe products can only be recalled once they've hit store shelves.
St. Martin: So beauty products in the United States are very loosely regulated, the EU for instance, bans over 2,000 chemicals in cosmetics. In the United States, 11 chemicals are banned.
The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics advised lawmakers on the new legislation. Their product testing found chemicals linked to cancer, asthma, reproductive problems, and hormone disruptions.
The FDA recently proposed a new ban on one type of toxic chemical used in hair relaxers. Formaldehyde can be found in more than 150 products, and they're marketed primarily to Black and brown women. These chemical straighteners have been linked to elevated risk for uterine, breast, and ovarian cancer.
Jeanette Toomer has been using chemical straighteners for more than forty years. She believes her stage 4 cancer diagnosis can be traced back to using hair relaxers. And she told St. Martin that she and many other women had no idea that the treatment could be associated with adverse health outcomes.
St. Martin: This underlying fear that I think every woman has. Of could these kind of things that seem very innocuous that we put on our bodies, that we use in our hair, that we use on our face, could they hurt us?
Until now, so much of the burden of determining whether or not a cosmetic product was safe fell on consumers. St. Martin told us she thinks that's changing.
St. Martin: I don't foresee another 85 years of nothing happening because the consumers today are becoming more and more educated and it's going to push our lawmakers to put the power back in the FDA's hands.
[ELECTRONIC MUSIC PLAYING]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Parts of the United States were treated to a rare, atmospheric phenomenon last night. The northern lights were visible from more than a dozen states.
The aurora borealis has a signature red or greenish glow. But if you saw purple and green instead there's a good chance you were actually looking at Steve.
Yes, I said Steve. That's the name of a different atmospheric phenomenon that's kinda having a moment right now. "USA Today" explains that a Steve has this distinct purple-pinkish arch, with bright green vertical stripes that look kind of like a picket fence.
So by now, you're probably wondering, "Why is this thing called Steve?" Well, technically the credit goes to a bunch of cartoon characters. In the 2006 movie "Over the Hedge," there's a scene where a group of animals encounters a hedge for the very first time. And they have no idea what it is, they're totally freaked out.
[START OVER THE HEDGE CLIP]
Animal 1: I'd be a lot less afraid of it if I just knew what it was called.
Animal 2: Let's call it Steve!
Animal 3: Steve?
2: It's a pretty name.
Animal 4: Steve sounds nice.
1: Yeah! I'm a lot less scared of Steve.
[END OVER THE HEDGE CLIP]
So, when this purple-y, pinkish, stripey-green phenomenon in the sky was first observed by a group of citizen scientists about 8 years ago, they were reminded of that scene in the movie. Hence, the name Steve stuck. They even found a way to make it work as an acronym. Steve officially stands for Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement.
And while Steves are a rare sight, you do have a slightly better chance of seeing one right now. We're now entering a period of enhanced solar activity, which means you might have a Steve sighting in your near future.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And check out our weekly interview show, "In Conversation." This week, my guest is "MSNBC" anchor Rachel Maddow. In her new book, she takes a deep dive into American history and the rise of fascism during the World War II era.
Rachel Maddow: The reason this, I feel like, is really helpful as history is because Americans before us faced something even more challenging than what we are facing today, and they won.
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.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]