--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Tuesday, February 15th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. Each morning, hear about some of the most fascinating stories in the news and how the world's best journalists are covering them.
--:-- Shamita Basu: First, a quick update on Ukraine. Russia's military says it's pulling some troops back from near the Ukrainian border, but that may not meaningfully de-escalate tension yet. NBC reports, as of this morning, it's not clear how many troops may be withdrawing, and Moscow has made announcements like this before. Other Russian military exercises appear to be continuing. This is a fast-moving story, and you can find updates and analysis throughout the day on the Apple News app.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Donald Trump's accounting firm says 10 years of company financial statements are not reliable. The firm is now dropping the Trump Organization as a client. It's citing a conflict of interest. This is the latest major development in the New York Attorney General's investigation into the Trump family businesses. One aspect of that probe involves Trump's financial statements and how they valued assets. A key question is whether potential inaccuracies in those statements may have misled insurers or lenders.
--:-- Shamita Basu: CNN spoke to lawyers who say the accounting firm may have issued the warning because it had previously signed off on statements whose accuracy is now in question. The lawyers also tell CNN the accountants may be warning the documents could be unreliable as a way of protecting themselves. The Trump organization said it's disappointed that the accounting firm is splitting with the company. The organization also emphasized that the accountants say they do not conclude there are material discrepancies in the filings.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In new court filings the New York Attorney General office is arguing what Trump former accounting firm is doing only strengthens their case. It says this reinforces the argument that the court should order the Trump company and family to comply with subpoenas.
--:-- Shamita Basu: More and more families are choosing to deliver their babies at home. Time magazine reporter Tara Law explains how COVID is playing a role in that.
--:-- Tara Law: I think there was just this general sense that hospitals are fundamentally uncomfortable or not safe places during the pandemic. And there was also a concern that the environment would just be chaotic and it just wasn't the kind of place where you wanted to give birth.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The problem is insurance companies have not kept up with this trend. People who choose to deliver at home often find that they have to pay a lot of money out of pocket. Law spoke to one woman who was looking at a $9,000 bill. She and her husband asked their friends and their family to donate through their baby registry.
--:-- Tara Law: The vast majority of births happen in hospitals, and Black women are far more likely than white women to die from conditions related to pregnancy. That's part of why Black women are a big driver of growth in home births. One woman Law spoke with chose to deliver at home because she didn't feel like doctors heard her when she talked about the pain she felt. And I think, especially as a woman of color, that really raised a red flag for her that when she was giving birth, that maybe things would be worse if they weren't listening to her.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And a lot of people who choose home birth say that's what they're trying to avoid, having their voice left out. For a lot of people, it's very desirable to be in your own home and to be able to take control of your birth, to have a midwife who you've really built a relationship with in a setting where you're really comfortable and you can have people around you. And you can ensure that that midwife is someone who understands where you're coming from.
--:-- Tara Law: Insurance companies that cover little or no cost of home births often say it in part because hospitals are safer. But Law points out that research on this is not conclusive. Some even suggest that there can be health benefits to delivering at home. But the reality for many families is if they want to deliver at home, they'll have to pay for most or all of it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Can giving money to people who were incarcerated help prevent them from ending up back in prison? That's the question a guaranteed income program in Florida County is trying to answer. Vox reports on this unusual pilot.
--:-- Host: One thing that's important to understand here is, for states, incarceration is expensive. Locking someone up can cost tens of thousands of your tax dollars a year. Then there's the impact on families and communities if people end up back in prison. Children who can't be with their parents. For families, for communities, for local governments, there's a whole lot riding on keeping people from going back to prison.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is why some argue giving formerly imprisoned people some money could be a good investment. Here's how this pilot is structured. Only around 100 people total are part of this initial experiment. They get a first payment of $1,000, followed by $600 a month for the rest of the year. And there's no strings attached. They can spend the money however they want.
--:-- Host: Vox spoke to a man who's taking part in this pilot. And he says he used this money to cover court-ordered payments. He says it would have taken him months to pay that bill. And he also bought a scooter chair to help him get around, new socks, and gave his nephew some gas money.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is the first experiment of its kind to target formerly incarcerated people. But Momentum has been picking up for other types of guaranteed income. Stockton, California gave a small pool of people $500 a month. And those who were involved in that pilot had better mental health and were more likely to find a job. A lot of people are now watching this program in Florida to see if simply giving money to formerly incarcerated people leads to better results for them too.
--:-- Host: So keep this thought in mind: Happy managers lead to happy workers. That the central idea of a Harvard Business School class that's in high demand at the moment. After these MBAs graduate, they're going to be responsible for managing and retaining talented people. And with so many people in the U.S. quitting their jobs right now, future managers think it's important to understand workplace happiness.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Even if you're not an MBA, you might find some of these takeaways useful. The Wall Street Journal has the details.
--:-- Host: Now, this course argues that happiness is not just about luck or genetics. You can be happier if you make it a habit to focus on these four areas, family, friends, meaningful work, and faith or a life philosophy. Now, this is Harvard Business School, so it is framed in investing terms. They say these are four parts of a portfolio that you have to keep your eye on.
--:-- Shamita Basu: For example, with friendships, this course asks students to think about whether you've got transactional deal friends or real friends, which are people you don't really need, you just love. Happiness has been a staple of self-help books and greeting cards for a long time now. But what's novel here is that more and more companies are seeing happiness as an essential part of doing business.
--:-- Host: That's why Harvard can't fit all the MBAs who want to take this class. Many other business schools, they're also focusing on making sure students get soft skills alongside finance and economics. Stanford now has a course called Interpersonal Dynamics. It's nicknamed Tachifili.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This Harvard class is taught by the social scientist Arthur Brooks, and he's also a contributing writer at The Atlantic, where he writes a series called How to Build a Life, which covers everything from dating to art to procrastination. We picked out some of his recent pieces, which you can find on the Apple News app, along with all the stories we talked about today.
--:-- Host: And when you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News Plus partners. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
