--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, September 23rd. 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.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: We're following several important international stories as world leaders convened this week in New York for the U.N. General Assembly. We'll talk about how they acknowledged the flooding crisis in Pakistan in just a moment. But let's start with talks on Russia as Vladimir Putin mobilizes hundreds of thousands of troops and begins an illegal process to try to annex large parts of Ukraine.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: At yesterday's Security Council meeting, leaders gathered to discuss allegations of war crimes by Russian forces and how to hold Russia accountable. They called on Russia to end its nuclear threats. Notably, Russia's foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was absent from most of the meeting.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: But according to a senior official at the U.S. State Department, Russia, quote, felt the hot breath of world opinion.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Here's U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressing the meeting.
--:-- Antony Blinken: One man chose this war. One man can end it. Because if Russia stops fighting, the war ends. If Ukraine stops fighting, Ukraine ends. That's why we will continue to support Ukraine as it defends itself and strengthen its hand to achieve a diplomatic solution on just terms at a negotiating table.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Antony Blinken: Blinken criticized Russia's plans to annex parts of Ukraine through so-called referendums that begin today. It's a violation of international law. This is a diabolical strategy. Violently uprooting thousands of Ukrainians. Bus in Russians to replace them. Call a vote. Manipulate the results to show near-humanist support for joining the Russian Federation. This is right out of the Crimea playbook.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: World leaders at the U.N. this week also acknowledged the situation in Pakistan, where devastating floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains killed 1,500 people and destroyed villages, crops, and livestock.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: President Joe Biden spoke about Pakistan in his address to the Assembly on Wednesday. Much of Pakistan is still underwater, needs help. Meanwhile, the horn of Africa faces unprecedented drought. Families are facing impossible choices, choosing which child to feed and wondering whether they'll survive. This is the human cost of climate change, and it's growing, not lessening.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Officials in Pakistan are saying it could take anywhere from three to six months for the floodwaters to recede.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The flooding also brings increased risk of waterborne diseases. The Guardian has reporting on the tragic toll this is taking on children. Reporters there spoke with one dad who says all four of his daughters have fallen sick. Two have high fevers and their skin is literally peeling from wading through floodwaters for hours.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Nearly 600 children have died since the flooding started in June. According to UNICEF, around three and a half million children are in need of immediate aid.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's not much time to spare on the House calendar, and Democrats have a long list of legislation they want to bring to a vote before the midterms.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The timing here is key. Political wins can galvanize voters. There's also the possibility that Democrats will lose their narrow majorities, both reasons to try to speed through their agenda.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: As usual, they've still got to hammer out the government budget for the next year. But just this week, House Democrats passed a long-delayed funding package for policing and a bill that makes it harder to overturn certified presidential election results.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's another outstanding issue that hasn't gotten top billing but has broad implications. Should members of Congress be banned from trading stocks? A bipartisan group of Congress members thinks there should be a ban, and a bill could be up for a vote in the House as soon as this month.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's already a law on the books that lays out what Congress members are and aren't allowed to do. The Stock Act, passed in 2012. It says they can buy and sell financial assets as long as they don't trade on Insider information, and they're required to disclose transactions worth $1,000 or more within 45 days.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: But Insider investigated this issue for months and found dozens of lawmakers who violated the Stock Act. They found nearly 75 federal lawmakers held stock in companies like Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson, and many were buying and trading in the early days of the pandemic.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: At least 15 lawmakers who actively shape U.S. defense policy are also invested in military contractors. Many are invested in cryptocurrency, while government officials are debating how they should be regulated.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: And just last week, the New York Times put out a report finding that at least 97 current members of Congress or members of their families bought or sold financial assets that overlapped with their work.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: When asked for explanations, some Congress members claimed it was clerical error, mistakes made by accountants, or assets moved without their knowledge.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The penalty for violating the Stock Act is usually a $200 fine. Now, this new bill aims to change that by banning stock trading for Congress members and requiring them to put certain assets in a blind trust.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Democratic Representative Abigail Spanberger is one of the bill's co-sponsors. She told Yahoo News why she thinks the vote has been delayed.
--:-- Abigail Spanberger: I think there perhaps a hesitance towards change. It's one that the American people want to see overwhelmingly. And it's one that bipartisan legislators across the political spectrum recognize a need to make this change. And this is a popular proposal with voters across the board.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: A recent Fox News poll found that 44 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of Republicans are strongly in favor of a stock ban for Congress members and their families.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has said a vote will happen before the end of September, it's unlikely that the Senate will vote on their version of this bill until after the midterms.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Tonight, Roger Federer will play his last match. It's the end of an incredible and incredibly long career in tennis. He first broke into the top 20 as a teenager, and he became the oldest number one player in the history of men's tennis in 2018 at the age of 36.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: He holds 20 Grand Slam titles, and he was the subject of that now legendary David Foster Wallace article that coined the phrase a Federer moment to describe the way he reliably delivers these shocking, near impossible plays.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's Chris Almeida, a staff editor at Sports Illustrated. Now, a lot of people talk about the fluidity of Federer's game, the one-handed backhand, a style of play that's often drawn comparisons to a ballet dancer.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Chris Almeida: But Almeida said that Federer's reputation as a good person is a critical part of his legacy, too. Federer was well known as being the guy who would just always be around, always be accommodating, always try to basically never big time anyone.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Chris Almeida: And in a sport like this, where some of the big figures have gotten extremely, extremely big, I think it's really quite something that it never seemed to really go to his head.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: His retirement coincides with that of another tennis giant, Serena Williams. Professional tennis will look so different without the two of them, but Almeida thinks it's in a good place going forward, with rising talents like 19-year-old U.S. Open winner Carlos Alcares.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: As for Federer himself, here's what he told CNBC International about his last match.
--:-- Roger Federer: Of course it will be emotional at the very end. Look, it has to be. I was always an emotional player, and maybe we'll see more of that. I don't know. I'm just hoping that I will get through the match somehow.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find more coverage of the match later on tonight in the Apple News app.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: OK, we've got one more sports story for you because right now, baseball is having a huge moment. We have the chance right now to witness history happening. This is otherworldly. It feels like baseball magic.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's Katie Nolan, a commentator for Apple TV Plus Friday Night Baseball. And what she's talking about there are two players who are on the verge of hitting major milestones.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The first is Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals. He's close to hitting his 700th career home run after 22 seasons in the majors.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Only three players in the history of baseball belong to the 700 club. And you know their names, Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron and Babe Ruth.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's three names that, like, if you had to name three baseball players and you had barely watched any baseball in your life, you'd probably name those three.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: So he has a chance to become the fourth guy to do that. And he'll be attempting to do it at the age of 42 in his final season.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The other player on the verge of a milestone is New York Yankees star outfielder Aaron Judge, who's just too shy of 62 home runs.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: That would break the American League record set by Roger Maris over six decades ago.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, there's been some debate online about whether breaking this record would make Judge the true home run king.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: So there's no debate in the American League with the record. But if you're going for Major League Baseball record or National League record, there's a little bit of controversy there.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The controversy being that technically three other people have hit more home runs in a season. Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, and Sammy Sosa.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: But their accomplishments are considered tainted by some because it was during baseball's steroid era.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Wherever you may stand on that debate, if Aaron Judge can do it today, it'll be the high note at the end of a huge year for him.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Yankees made him an offer at the beginning of the season. He didn't like it. He thought he was worth more. Now he's out here proving that he's worth a lot more.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, Nolan will have one of the best seats in the world tonight. She'll be live in the booth broadcasting for Apple TV Plus during tonight's game.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: And check out our weekend interview show, In Conversation. This week, I talk with Sarah Heppala at Texas Monthly, who reported on the history of the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: One thing we talked about was pay. And so as they're on best-selling calendars, as they're on the love boat, etc., they're still making $15 a game.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: And amazingly, this goes through the 80s. It doesn't change until the late 90s.
--:-- [Discussion continues]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Enjoy that weekend listen. I'll be back with the news on Monday.
