--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Monday, October 20th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, what's driving escalating U.S. military action in South America? A family tragedy changes state law to better protect autistic kids? And the priceless jewels stolen from the world's most famous museum?
--:-- Shamita Basu: But first, to Gaza, where the ceasefire had its first major test over the weekend, with both sides accusing the other of violations.
--:-- NPR's Rob Schmitz: Israeli forces carried out airstrikes in the southern part of Gaza in what they said was a response to an attack on its soldiers by Hamas fighters.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hamas fighters attacked Israeli soldiers with an anti-tank missile and with gunfire. And according to this official, these fighters did so beyond the so-called Yellow Line, where the Israeli military is currently positioned in Gaza after pulling back its troops from parts of the territory as part of the ceasefire plan a week ago.
--:-- NPR's Rob Schmitz: Two Israeli soldiers were killed, and Gaza health officials say dozens of Palestinians died in the territory on Sunday, some from Israeli airstrikes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Schmitz said that came as there are reports that Hamas has been carrying out deadly crackdowns against rival militias and clans in Gaza.
--:-- NPR's Rob Schmitz: Now, for its part, Hamas' military wing denies that they engaged with Israeli forces. And a Hamas official said the group is still committed to the ceasefire agreement and it's accused Israel of breaking it on several occasions in the past week.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So we're getting kind of a finger pointing from both sides as to who broke the ceasefire first.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As part of the ceasefire deal, 600 aid trucks a day are supposed to enter the enclave. But last week, Israel cut that number in half after Hamas did not return the remains of all the dead hostages.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The bodies of 16 remain unaccounted for. Hamas has said it's having difficulty finding some remains, but did hand over two additional bodies over the weekend.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As tensions flare between the two sides, a delegation from the U.S. arrives in Israel this week, which includes Vice President J.D. Vance, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Whitcoff, and Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law who the White House has described as a key negotiator in the ceasefire deal.
--:-- Robin Wright: The big challenge really lies ahead, and that is giving both sides a sense that there is something else beyond the ceasefire.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Still to be resolved, what a transitional government looks like, who pays for reconstruction, and whether Hamas will give up power and disarm.
--:-- Robin Wright: This is where we don't have the details of that. One of the problems with finding an alternative to Hamas is talking about technocratic Palestinians and others from the outside world that would be part of this Board of Peace, which would be chaired by President Trump.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So, you know, these are big, big, big questions. And just how does Hamas give up power? And how do you create an alternative idea that will attract Palestinians and help stabilize politically the Gaza Strip?
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now to what's driving the escalating U.S. military action in South America.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that another strike against a vessel took place in the Caribbean on Friday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is the seventh known attack of its kind since the beginning of September. And like the others, President Trump said they were targeting drug cartels.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Dozens of people have now been killed, leading some U.S. lawmakers, Democrats and a small number of Republicans to question the legality of the attacks.
--:-- Gisela Salim Payer: The administration was attempting to tie Venezuelan leadership directly to these boats.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And the administration has linked vessels to various drug groups that they regard as terrorist actors.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Recently, Hegseth compared a Colombian cartel to al-Qaeda and said they would be hunted and killed in the same way.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But CNN notes that historically, drug traffickers have been considered criminals with due process rights and have been arrested by the Coast Guard.
--:-- Gisela Salim Payer: The experts I spoke with in Venezuela, they don't doubt that there's some drug trafficking happening in Venezuela. But there is no evidence that these people who have been arrested for this are part of a centralized drug operation.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In a declassified report released in April, U.S. intelligence community analysts determined the regime does not operate directly with the Trenda Aragua gang.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, later fired the officials who signed off on it.
--:-- Elliott Abrams: The military presence in the Caribbean is too big for just hitting a few speedboats, though it is not big enough for an invasion of Venezuela.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So what's in the middle? What's in the middle, I think, is a pressure campaign meant to rattle the Venezuelan military and maybe crack the regime and see if it will finally fall.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Senate Democrats with the support of Republican Rand Paul are now trying to block the U from engaging in hostilities with Venezuela after Trump said he had authorized covert U action in the country.
--:-- Maria Corina Machado: It is on Maduro to stop this war by moving out and facilitating a transition to democracy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We do need the help of other countries and the leadership of President Trump to stop this war.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Over the weekend, it was reported that Maduro has also ramped up military exercises, urged civilians to help defend the country, and their defense minister warned people to, quote, prepare for the worst.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And now, as the national conversation around autism has brought attention to the kinds of resources, or lack thereof, some families have access to, reporting from the Washington Post highlights an issue that concerns many parents of young kids, wandering or eloping.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's the term used when someone with autism manages to slip away from a safe environment, often without anyone realizing right away.
--:-- Jasmine Golden: This was unfathomable for his parents because they had locked the house up. It had many bolts on the door. They couldn't really understand how he got out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But at the time, that wasn't really important.
--:-- Jasmine Golden: Dominique runs outside. They try to find Miles. This turns into a frantic 12-hour search.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It was after midnight when authorities found that Miles had drowned in a pond near his home.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So far this year, at least 75 children with autism have eloped and died. Last year, that number was 82, the highest figure since the National Autism Association started tracking cases more than 20 years ago.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Miles had managed to slip away from his preschool class more than 700 times, a number that his parents weren't aware of until the end of the school year, according to school records obtained by The Post.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Parents like the McMahons are really doing everything they can. And the McMahons had locked up their house. They even built a backyard fence that had a tarp over it so that he couldn't climb it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The McMahons had attempted to get Miles therapy for speech and social skills, but the pandemic made it hard to get in anywhere.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He was on waiting lists for close to two years before he was diagnosed with autism in 2023.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The McMahons were always most worried about Miles' constant attempts to flee.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And for the most part, it fell on them to figure it out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They've told me they feel isolated. They feel alone.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They have to learn not only how to be there for their child, but also how to address this very serious issue.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So really, even with all the efforts, it almost feels like an uphill battle a lot for these parents.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the year since Miles death the school system has introduced several changes including training their teachers and staff and developing a plan to prevent students from wandering.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Miles story and the death of another young boy from Maryland triggered a new state law that requires schools to tell parents when their child flees track the number of those instances, and have a plan to address it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: His family is now advocating for a law to require fencing around bodies of water in residential areas to keep kids out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Millions gathered for a second wave of organized No Kings protests against President Trump over the weekend.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Organizers said there were over two and a half thousand events planned for Saturday's mass demonstrations across the country, although a map from CNN showed large concentrations in states that Trump has targeted policies toward in recent months, including Illinois, California and New York.
--:-- Shamita Basu: ABC notes that the rallies were peaceful and that there had been no immediate reports of arrests.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Speaking on Sunday, House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a hate America rally.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Former Republican Congressman George Santos is out of prison after President Trump commuted the disgraced lawmaker sentence on Friday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Santos said his experience in prison was humbling and dehumanizing.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In a Sunday interview on CNN, Santos said he now has a new mission in life.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I told this to the president that I'd love to be involved with prison reform and not in a partisan way, in a real human ways, in a way that we affect it, that it helps society.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It helps these individuals rebuild their lives. And we have a better system with less incarcerated people.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Santos served 84 days of a seven year sentence in federal prison in New Jersey.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He pleaded guilty to wire fraud and identity theft in 2024.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He was elected to Congress in New York in 2022 and was ultimately expelled from the House by fellow lawmakers a little over a year later.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And on Sunday, Parisians and tourists alike were shocked to learn that the Louvre Museum was closed because thieves had run away with some of the crown jewels.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The BBC reports a group broke into the museum and within minutes had made off with priceless heirlooms.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They entered through a balcony near the River Seine using mechanical ladders, then used power tools to cut through window panes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Security footage described by French officials showed the thieves then entered calmly and smashed display cases containing the jewelry.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Items stolen included a royal sapphire necklace, a royal emerald necklace and matching earrings, as well as a crown worn by the wife of Napoleon III.
--:-- Shamita Basu: France appears to be going through a museum security crisis.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In September, the Natural History Museum in Paris lost $700,000 in gold, and robbers took $11 million worth of items from a French porcelain museum.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Vanity Fair profiles Jessica Buttafuoco, whose father Joey and his affair with a teenage girl in the 90s led to the attempted murder of her mother and a life of tabloid infamy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
