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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Thursday, December 7th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today's show…
Israel's use of American-made weapons in Gaza…
Why it's so hard, and expensive, to say goodbye to the International Space Station…
And President Biden talks to Anderson Cooper about grief.
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In Gaza, the humanitarian crisis is growing worse by the day, as Israel expands attacks. UN Secretary General António Guterres took the rare step of invoking Article 99, which he's never done before. It's a move taken only in situations where there's a grave threat to "international peace and security.” A UN spokesperson calls it the most powerful tool the Secretary General has, and that Guterres hopes it'll put pressure on the UN Security Council and the entire international community to call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Top Biden administration officials are urging Israel to do more to protect civilians. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the military should avoid tactics that don't protect innocent lives.
Lloyd Austin: This kind of a fight, the center of gravity is the civilian population. And if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat. So I have repeatedly made clear to Israel’s leaders that protecting Palestinian civilians in Gaza is both a moral responsibility and a strategic imperative.
But a new report from Amnesty International says that U.S.-made weapons were used in multiple Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, where 43 civilians were killed, including 19 children. The human-rights organization said there was no evidence of any legitimate military targets at the sites. The U.S. State Department is reviewing the report. Israel's military says the research is flawed; that it is targeting Hamas and taking measures to minimize civilian casualties.
<v The Israeli military is pointing civilians towards a digital map that divides Gaza into hundreds of sections. Israel says it'll post updates to that map and indicate zones where the military won't operate and direct civilians there. But aid workers say the map is confusing and difficult to use, especially when the internet is frequently cut off. One called it a "macabre game of Battleship." And with or without a map, those on the ground say, "no place is safe" in Gaza right now. Here's James Elder, with UNICEF>
James Elder: Given the catastrophe children are enduring right now, the only safety in Gaza is for the hell to stop raining down from the sky. Only a ceasefire can save the children of Gaza.
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Now, let's take a look at some other major stories in the news.
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A Senate bill to provide new aid to Israel and Ukraine has failed an early test. Republicans blocked it, saying any new spending also needs to include more money for U.S. border security. Senator Bernie Sanders voted with Republicans for a different reason. He doesn't want to send more money to Israel because of humanitarian concerns. Even if Senators do make a deal, the bill would have an uncertain future in the House. There Republican focus on the border is stronger, and there are several skeptics of U.S. aid to Ukraine.
And staying in the House, former speaker Kevin McCarthy is leaving. He'll step down later this year, in the middle of his current term. McCarthy says he'll stay involved with Republican politics. His exit means California will have to hold a special election to fill his seat. Several Republicans are leaving their House seats, and George Santos has been expelled. That could all make it harder for the party to hang on to its slim House majority in 2024.
In Las Vegas, three people are dead after a shooting at the University of Nevada campus. The suspect was shot dead by police. Assistant professor Roberto Lovato spoke to “NBC” as evacuations were going on.
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Roberto Lovato: We were all on lockdown and some of us were actually on our way to the student union right next door and some of our faculty was in that building and some of our students were there.
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The deadly shooting happened on a day when Senate Republicans moved to stop a bill that would've banned assault-style weapons.
And there are serious new allegations about music mogul Sean Combs. A new lawsuit accuses him and others of raping a 17-year-old girl in 2003. It's the fourth sexual assault allegation he's faced in the last month. He settled one case. Combs has denied the allegations.
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For nearly 25 years, the International Space Station has been a symbol of scientific progress and international partnership. It's one of the few places where the U.S. and Russia collaborated extensively. It brings together astronauts from around the world for cutting-edge research.
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But the space station's days are numbered. The ISS will soon be retired. That's in part because NASA is putting more focus on getting humans back to the moon. And, eventually, on Mars. And figuring out how to get this massive structure out of orbit safely is where things get tricky. After all, the ISS is larger than a football field and weighs 420 metric tons. NASA says it could cost a billion dollars to bring it down.
“Scientific American” spoke with space experts about a few options NASA is considering. One option is something called "uncontrolled de-orbit." Basically, just let it drop out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere on the way back to Earth.
But space-safety experts point out that the debris could be dangerous to people on Earth. Falling space junk has never been a big risk for Earthlings before. But we've never de-orbited something as big as the ISS. So, it's hard to know for sure what would happen.
<v The safest way to move forward, according to NASA officials, would be to send a custom-built vehicle - kind of like a tow truck - to attach to the space station and guide it down to its final resting place in the southern Pacific Ocean, away from populated areas. That's still a big challenge because of all the unpredictable variables in the atmosphere. It's not clear how much Russia will help. And the pressure will be on, because, as one observer put it>the whole world will be watching when the ISS makes its final descent.
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The phrase "mourner-in-chief" has sometimes been used to describe the responsibility American presidents have to console people during times of national tragedy. When President Biden has been tasked to play that role, he often talks about his own experience with grief. His first wife Neilia and infant daughter Naomi died in a car crash in 1972. He lost his son, Beau, to cancer in 2015.
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Biden recently sat down for an interview with “CNN's” Anderson Cooper, for Cooper's podcast about loss and grief, called "All There Is."
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President Joe Biden: You gotta confront it, get a deal with it, look at it, understand it, and decide I'm moving on because I have another purpose in life. My two children are alive, my grandchildren, my wife, my… whatever it is, it's not welcoming grief, it's facing it.
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Eventually, Biden says, something switches. And you start to remember lost loved ones with smiles instead of tears.
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Biden: That's when you know you're going to make it. The time will come. But you gotta face it. But it's hard as hell. And like I said, the thing I mean this from the bottom of my heart, my word as a Biden, I think it's critical that people understand that they're always going to be with you.
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For Cooper, the podcast is a deeply personal project. He's the only living member of his immediate family. His father Wyatt died when he was 10 years old. His older brother, Carter, died by suicide, when Cooper was in his early 20s. His mother, Gloria Vanderbilt, passed away in 2019.
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It’s a very moving listen, which is why a few months ago, I invited Anderson to talk with me on Apple News In Conversation. We spoke about what he’s learned so far speaking with people about death and grieving, and how our relationships with the people we’ve lost can keep evolving, even after they’re gone. And there’s also some really thoughtful advice on how to talk about loss, or help someone you love who’s going through it. If you're listening in the Apple News app, our conversation is queued up to play for you next. And I’ll be back with the news tomorrow.
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