--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Wednesday, March 24th. 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: There's a lot of political mudslinging going on right now over what's happening with migrants at the U.S. southern border. To put things into perspective, here are some facts.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Number one, this month, according to The Washington Post reporting, the number of children coming to the U.S. without their parents is on pace to reach an all-time high.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Number two, the crossing of large numbers of unaccompanied minors isn't entirely new. The Obama and the Trump administrations faced similar challenges, fueled by the same underlying reasons, things like political instability, crime and natural disasters in Central America.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And number three, it's really hard to deter immigration, or at least to do it in a humane way. President Obama deported millions of people. He also opened these family residential centers that are so controversial right now. This is where ICE detains people who apply for asylum.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And even when word got out about these controversial centers, migrants still came. President Trump tried to clamp down by separating migrant children from their parents. That didn't reduce the numbers in the way the administration expected.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: He then pressured Mexico to arrest and turn back migrants before they even made it to the U.S. border. And during the pandemic, Trump used a public health order known as Title 42 to close the border to non-essential travel. At that point, the number of crossings plunged.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But eventually, those numbers ticked back up again in his final month in office. So right now, the Biden administration is trying to convince would-be migrants the border is closed. And it's doing this by turning away most of the adults and families who try to cross over.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But here's where things get complex. The administration says it wants to be more humane in part by giving kids who arrive alone the option to pursue a humanitarian case to stay in the U.S.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: We will not expel into the Mexican desert for example three orphaned children whom I saw over the last two weeks. We just won't do that. That's not who we are.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The Washington Post explains the problem now is the administration does not seem prepared to handle these large numbers of children.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Shelters for kids at the border are packed. There are around 5,000 kids stuck in border patrol facilities that are not meant for children. The chronic conditions in these facilities tell the story of a clogged system at the border.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And now the Biden administration faces a humanitarian problem that's both old and new.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: If you've been paying attention to U.S. national soccer over the past few years, you know how successful the U.S. team is. In 2015, they won the World Cup. The United States of America are the 2015 World Cup winners.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And again, four years later. For the fourth time, the United States of America are crowned champions of the world. Yes, the United States is dominant. And I am talking about the women's team. The men's team, not so hot.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: They didn't even qualify for the last World Cup. Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Carly Lloyd, these women are all now household names, and yet they're getting paid far less than their male counterparts, which is why soccer star Megan Rapinoe is on Capitol Hill today to try to make the case for equity.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today, by the way, is also equal payday. So it's a good time to bring more attention to equity in sports. ESPN has some quick background.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The U.S. women have been in a long legal battle with the U.S. Soccer Federation demanding equal treatment. And not only do they bring in more revenue than the male players, they also get more eyeballs.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the 2019 World Cup, approximately 14.3 million U.S. viewers tuned in to watch the final game. That's nearly 3 million more viewers than the men's final got the year before.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In that legal battle, these women settled in order to get better travel accommodations and more personnel But they still fighting for better pay and doubling down on this argument in the court of public opinion They gotten now celebrities and sponsors to champion their cause
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just listen to fans chanting in the stadium after their 2019 World Cup victory Do you hear them? They're chanting equal pay, equal pay. Have you ever been to a sporting event where that's what people are chanting?
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now the women's team has also got politicians on their side. Earlier this month, two congresswomen introduced a bill that would make sure the women athletes get paid the same as the men.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In the New Testament, there's a story about John the Baptist that comes up several times. He's preaching to his followers about the coming of Jesus and says he is not fit to remove Jesus's sandals.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Well, if you look down at the feet of some of the people who are preaching today, you won't see sandals, but you might see $800 Yeezys.
--:-- Shamita Basu: $800 when I hear that phrase, my eyes bulge. You know, the Washington Post has this story. It's about a guy named Ben Kirby who first noticed pastors wearing these expensive shoes back in 2019.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Kirby's a young evangelical, and he was wondering, how the heck can they afford clothes that cost as much as many people pay for rent? When did preaching get so lucrative?
--:-- Shamita Basu: Right, so Kirby started sharing pictures of preachers on Instagram, along with price tags for each piece of clothing they had on. And the account was called Preachers and Sneakers.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: He quickly gained hundreds of thousands of followers. Oh, and it's not just sneakers. Kirby was also posting about one Seattle preacher who was wearing a $3,600 Gucci jacket or a Miami pastor who was wearing a $2,500 crocodile skin belt.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Kirby tapped into questions that have been dogging American Christianity for decades now. Is it okay to get rich while preaching the teachings of Jesus Christ? What kind of message does it send when church leaders make double what your average congregant is making?
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now one of the things that stood out in the story to me was how one reverend told the Post Pastors started shifting away from suits towards jeans and Jordans first to make a theological statement to try to reach younger congregants But then it went on to become a status statement.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's not just clothes. It's also about the preacher's side hustles. Some people sell books or albums. Some are motivational speakers, and they rub shoulders with the rich and famous.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now, Kirby says it's not like he wants Christians to abandon fashion. He just thinks there should be more transparency about what pastors do with their income.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Over the past year, the average cost of building a new home has gone up by about $24,000. And there are a few different reasons for this price jump.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But one is actually so small, It fits on your fingernail. I'm talking about beetles. This is a story that shows the connections between climate change and your wallet.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yes, specifically, the beetle is called the mountain pine beetle. Quartz explains it's lived in forests in Canada for decades now, where cold winters usually kept them in check.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But scientists believe that the warming climate is allowing these beetles to live longer and to reproduce more quickly. And because the beetles are living longer, their numbers soared, causing an infestation in the forest.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They destroyed millions of acres, damaged the wood that we rely on to build our homes. You know, the United States used to get about 17 percent of its lumber from British Columbia.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So now the beetles damaged a key source of wood. Pandemic shutdowns at sawmills made things even worse. And all this was happening while the need for lumber was rising because people wanted to build or renovate their homes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And the result of all of this is that lumber prices have jumped up 180% in a year. This is a story of supply, demand, and how a little insect can have a big impact.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And while you're there, check out some of our audio stories. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Goodbye for now.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Goodbye.
