--:-- Shakar Suman: Good morning. It's Monday, July 17th. I'm Shakar Suman in Vrushamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: On today's show, a mass grave is the latest development in Sudan's brutal conflict, more fallout from the Supreme Court's affirmative action decision, and a pair of Wimbledon finals to remember. But first, climate change negotiations are underway between the United States and China.
--:-- John Kerry: [audio clip] It's clear from the science and the mounting evidence around the world that one of the most existential threats that we face that impacts every single member of Congress, every single family in our country, in the world, comes from the growing climate crisis. We're beyond just climate change, frankly. I don't refer to it as that anymore. It is only a massive crisis.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: People in China are, of course, also dealing with severe weather. CNN reports that Beijing is experiencing one of the hottest summers on record. Yesterday, one part of the country hit 126 degrees. Scorching heat has strained their power supply and caused rolling blackouts. Reservoirs are drying up. Crops and livestock are suffering.
--:-- Scott Perry: You want to have the American taxpayers, my constituents, that are having a hard time afford their groceries pay for a car buy a new home spend quadrillion to fix a problem that doesn't exist. And as a matter of fact, you might be exacerbating because it's unknown.
--:-- John Kerry: When Kerry told the congressman he was wrong, things got heated. Why do you think 195 countries in the world, they're prime ministers, they're presidents. Because they're grifting like you are, sir.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: That's a pretty shocking statement, that you believe that all the scientists in the world are grifters, honestly. Not all scientists agree with you, Mr. Sett. 98% of all the scientists in the world. Science isn't about agreement.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Even though expectations aren't high for Kerry's trip, it's the first time the two countries are engaging on this issue in nearly a year. And that's a big deal. The United States and China are the world's two largest polluters.
--:-- [Audio clip of a woman from Sudan] When the women tried to stop them, the militia men opened fire, killing her sister. She says in that clip, they shot her in the head and her wound was as big as my palm. That's when they left. I held my sister until she died.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Another woman told the story of being separated from two of her older children in the chaos trying to flee the country. With her three younger children remaining, she walked a long way to Chad. Along the way, she described a horror show: Dead Bodies Littered Along the Road.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: The UN has condemned the violence and warned about the humanitarian challenge of delivering aid under the circumstances. The lives of an estimated 13 million children are at risk. Aid workers say it becomes difficult to replenish water, food, and medicine.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Academic scholarships in America could receive a major overhaul. That's after the Supreme Court found it unconstitutional for colleges to consider race in the admissions process.
--:-- Douglas Belkin: The opinion does not mention academic scholarships, and this is a gray area, and it's being interpreted differently. So people are watching closely to see what happens.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Is Missouri and Kentucky, are they outliers, or is this the direction that other schools will follow in foregoing race when they dole out scholarships?
--:-- Douglas Belkin: A spokesperson from the University of Missouri says it will honor the scholarships for the upcoming school year, but will discontinue them moving forward.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Bell can talk to a Latina student who received $10,000 last year designated for racial minorities. She's unsure how she'll pay her tuition bill over the next few years if the scholarship is discontinued.
--:-- Douglas Belkin: The sense is that the rug has been pulled out from them, that they applied in good faith for scholarships that were targeting certain groups and that that's no longer part of the target. And they feel, I think, betrayed and very concerned that they'll lose their scholarships.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: And he says it's likely that more minority programs and on-campus spaces will come under fire. I think race-based scholarships is the second domino to fall in the affirmative action ruling. I think there probably going to be more lawsuits filed challenging things like internships by corporations that are targeting specific races. I don't know how it's going to turn out, but there's going to be a lot of friction around this issue moving forward.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Finally, Wimbledon came to a close this weekend with a king-making performance on the men's side and a surprising finish on the women's. Novak Djokovic lost in five sets to Carlos Alcaraz, who won his second Grand Slam title in less than a year.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Here's the moment he sealed it.
--:-- [Audio clip of Carlos Alcaraz]
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Alcaraz is only 20, and even Djokovic is in awe. After the match, he told reporters that the young Spaniard was a combination of the best parts of himself, Rafael Nadal, and Roger Federer. That's good company to keep.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: On the women's side, Marketa Vondrasova did something no one expected, not even herself. The tennis pro from the Czech Republic became the first unseated player to win at the All-England Club, beating world number six on Djibour.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Djibour, who is from Tunisia, became a crowd favorite after starring in Netflix's tennis documentary series Breakpoint, and has been on the precipice multiple times now, becoming the first woman of Arab descent and the first woman from Africa to win a major.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Here's what she said after the match.
--:-- [Audio clip of Marketa Vondrasova]
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Because this is very, very tough, but I'm going to look ugly in the photo, so it's not going to help. I think this is the most painful loss of my career.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: Vondersova's win shows that the field is wide open right now in women's tennis. She's the 14th woman to win a major tournament since Serena Williams won the 2017 Australian Open.
--:-- Vrushamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're listening in the News app right now, Bloomberg Businessweek takes a look at what the Barbie movie release might mean for Mattel's future. That's queued up to play next, and we'll be back with the news tomorrow.
