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Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, December 13th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show: A major climate summit deal comes in late, and with lots of criticism; Family members speak out about images of Palestinians stripped and blindfolded by Israeli military; And a new study shows how labeling food "vegan" might do more harm than good.
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Let's start with the climate summit, which ended in a chaotic, hours-long negotiation to make a closing deal. It almost didn't happen but it's here now. For the first time, the agreement explicitly calls for transitioning away from fossil fuels. But many environmental campaigners are disappointed because it falls short of committing to finally phasing out all oil, coal, and gas. The language in today's agreement is so vague that many countries could get away with taking minimal action. We spoke to "CNN's" International Climate Editor Angela Dewan. She was in Dubai as COP28 delegates argued over the language in the agreement. Talks went well into overtime. The whole summit was supposed to be over yesterday.
Angela Dewan: Well, it's been a long two weeks. And at the beginning, there were already a lot of concerns that there might be some influence by the fossil fuel industry on the outcomes of these talks.
No surprise, oil and gas producing nations, like Russia and Saudi Arabia, fought to water down the language in the final agreement. Developing countries also pointed out that it was unfair to ask them to cut back on cheap fossil-fuel energy when rich countries had been using it and doing most of the world's polluting for generations.
Also critical of this deal: island nations, though for different reasons. They say it doesn't go far enough, that it's merely an "incremental" change from "business as usual." And because they're already seeing the effects of rising waters, Dewan says delegates from island nations speak with a special moral force in these debates.
Dewan: They really are one of the most powerful voices at these annual climate talks. They're on the front line of the climate crisis, their entire way of life, their countries are at threat of sea level rise.
Dewan said that many climate scientists have been worried that global leaders aren't doing nearly enough to change energy use. And that means we're at great risk of exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming, a critical level.
Dewan: If we go past that, we know, the science shows, that life on earth is going to start struggling to adapt. This year has been the hottest on record so far, and we've seen what that does to the planet. We've seen deadly wildfires in Hawaii, we've seen floods in Europe, and these events are only going to get worse the hotter the planet gets.
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Now, let's take a quick look at some other major stories in the news
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The UN General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to demand an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. Only 10 nations voted against the measure, including the U.S. and Israel. The United States has consistently defended Israel against international critics. But the Biden administration is increasing its own criticism of Israeli military actions that are causing civilian deaths. President Biden said Israel is starting to lose the support of its allies, because of what he calls "indiscriminate bombing" of Gaza. Palestinian officials say 18,000 people have been killed in Israel's retaliation against Hamas's October 7th attack.
In other news, Biden met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Washington yesterday.
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President Volodymyr Zelenskyy: I want to discuss with the President how to strengthen aid, especially enhancing our air defense and ability to destroy Russia's logistics.
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Biden wants Congress to give Ukraine tens of billions of dollars in new aid. But several Republicans say any AID package also needs to address their demands around immigration. And some Republicans are also skeptical of sending more money to Ukraine.
Speaking of Congress, the balance of power could turn on a new ruling from New York state’s top court. It’ll allow the state to redraw its Congressional map. Democrats control the legislature there, so a new map could give Democrats the edge in more races. With Republicans just barely in control of the U.S. House now, any advantage parties get from redistricting could determine which party has control after next year’s election.
And Tesla is recalling more than two million vehicles. It’s over concerns that its autopilot system can be misused by drivers. The recall comes after a two-year investigation into crashes involving Tesla’s driver-assistance technology, which helps drivers with steering and braking but doesn’t make cars fully autonomous. Owners of the recalled vehicles will receive a free software update. Tesla didn’t immediately respond to "The Wall Street Journal" about the recall announcement.
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Let's return to the war in Gaza, where there's been a lot of attention on images of Palestinian men held by Israeli forces, stripped to their underwear, blindfolded, with their hands tied behind their backs.
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Israel says the detentions are part of searches for armed Hamas fighters. But many people in the photos have been identified by family members as civilians with no ties to militant groups. And they've been given little to no information about their conditions, whereabouts, or possible charges. According to international law, military forces are allowed to detain combatants, but civilians may only be arrested if absolutely necessary, and they must be charged within 48 hours or released.
Palestinian-American Hani Almadhoun told "NPR" he was shocked when he looked at the images and saw several of his family members, including his brother, his 13-year-old nephew, and 72-year-old father.
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Hani Almadhoun: They're a horror show, you know? You see these, and you think, like, oh, they must be some bad people or, you know? And then you see your brother there, just scared for his life, stripped close to naked, you know, in the blistering cold there, along with cousins and neighbors and friends you grew up with. And all of a sudden, it hits you, you know? You're, all of a sudden, you feel attacked.
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Almadhoun told "NPR" he was eventually able to speak with his brother about how he and hundreds of other men and boys were treated.
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Almadhoun: They keep him in the sand, and it's cold, and it's at night. Then around 2:30, they load him up again in the truck, the same way. Then they dropped him off. They told him to walk to Kemal Edwan Hospital. They did not give them their shoes. So, remember, they're walking in the broken ground, rubbles all around. It's about a two-to-three-mile hike. They did not have their clothes, and they kept him restrained in their arms. Anyway, he's a little bit bruised, scared, and a little bit with a very bad case of cold. But, you know, he is back safe.
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The Israeli military told "NPR" that the men were stripped in order to make sure they didn't have weapons. The military said it typically returns clothing. Almadhoun said that didn't happen in this case. He told "NPR," he worries about the long-term impact on kids, like his teenage nephew.
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Almadhoun: How do you think a child will feel in a few years when they remember their dad being humiliated, or their grandfather? And it's unfortunate because you feel like it's very personal, you know? I was too traumatized to look in the pictures closely to see like, Hey, where is my dad?
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If you want someone to choose vegan, don't call it "vegan." That's the insight from a new study that shows people are more likely to eat more fruit and veggies if you stress the health benefits of the diet, rather than just using words like "vegan" or "plant based."
The study asked people to choose between gift baskets with different labels. There were two kinds of baskets: Some had meat and dairy, some didn't. Only 20 percent of the participants chose baskets labeled "vegan." The ones labeled "plant based" were only a little bit more popular. But when the basket with vegan food was labeled "healthy" and/or "sustainable," the numbers jumped. More than 40 percent chose it over the meat and dairy basket.
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Researchers say there is a lesson in the data. Meat lovers are willing to try food that's potentially better for them and the planet. But they're less likely to try it if it's labeled "vegan."
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, we've got a Narrated Article from "The Atlantic" coming up next. It's an excerpt from Tim Alberta's new book on political divisions among American evangelical Christians. It's a topic he cares about a lot, as a Christian and as the son of an evangelical pastor. If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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