--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Monday, March 29th. I'm Shamita Basu. And I'm Duarte Giraldino. 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.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The giant container ship in the Suez Canal has finally been set free. It took a combination of high tide, specialized engineers and teams of tugboats to get the ship unstuck from the sand, or as they say in the business, refloated.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The next step in getting traffic back to normal in this vital waterway is pulling the vessel out of the way to a spot where it can be inspected. Hundreds of giant ships have been waiting to get through the canal. This caused a backlog in global trade that could take days to clear. And as far as battles over responsibility and insurance claims go, it'll take far longer for them to be resolved.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Criminal justice system is on trial tomorrow. Chaining is in the courtroom, but America's on trial. That's Reverend Al Sharpton last night at a vigil. He was with George Floyd's family and friends.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today, opening statements begin in the trial of a former police officer charged with killing Floyd. His name is Derek Chauvin. Floyd's death last summer sparked mass protests, first in Minneapolis, then across the country.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: There's no question, race is at the heart of this cultural moment. But when it comes to the trial itself, it's not clear if race is going to be directly addressed.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Washington Post talks about what to expect to see in the courtroom. Chauvin is being charged in Hennepin County District Court with second and third degree murder, as well as second degree manslaughter.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now, for the prosecution, this case is expected to focus on the videotape, the one that was seen around the country and around the world. For about nine minutes, Chauvin had his knee on Floyd's neck as he gasped for air, including after an officer said he couldn't detect a pulse.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The defense is expected to argue it was not what Chauvin did that killed George Floyd. The likely tried to argue Floyd's underlying heart conditions combined with drugs that the autopsy found in his system caused his death.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Choosing jurors for this case was complicated. The Post says one thing that's worth noting here is that the judge did not choose to dismiss potential jurors for experiencing or acknowledging racial injustice.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now this is a more modern standard of what it means to be an impartial juror The court seemed to recognize the fact that this case is so high profile that video was seen by so many people and it impossible to expect jurors to have been completely unaffected by it
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This jury is also particularly diverse. Of the 12 jurors and three alternates, six are people of color. Census data shows Hennepin County is 74 percent white, so this jury is more diverse than the county.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yeah, but during the jury selection, Chauvin's defense attorney argued this case was not about race. The Post is suggesting, however, that the defense might try to call non-white character witnesses to testify on Chauvin's behalf.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And the thinking is that they're going to address racial questions without explicitly acknowledging them. One Georgetown law professor offered this analysis to The Post.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He said when it comes to public consciousness, this case is all about race, even if no one says it out loud in the courtroom.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: More than 100 peaceful protesters were killed by the military in Myanmar this weekend. At least six of them were children, according to local news reports and witnesses.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Saturday was the deadliest day the country has seen since the military overthrew the government nearly two months ago. And yet protesters continue to fill the streets through today.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And some of them are fighting back in a much more covert way. The Washington Post has an article that centers on one of those covert protesters. This is a 32-year-old woman that reporters are calling May.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, since the military took over, May has been playing a dangerous dual role. She's the wife of an army soldier and an active member of the resistance.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This story shows how the coup is pitting the country's powerful military against many civilians. These protesters, they're demanding a democratic government.
--:-- Shamita Basu: May told The Post that she uses her spotty Wi-Fi connection to document street protests and to give out relief funds to workers who are on strike.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: She's also helping police officers who are refusing to fire on protesters and are instead trying to flee the police force. She helps them and their families move into safe houses.
--:-- Shamita Basu: She says her husband doesn't know about how she's helping the resistance, and she knows that her actions are putting both of their lives at risk.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: May's story also brings us into the world of Myanmar's military through the lens of wives. This is a largely closed-off part of society. The Post describes it as a bubble where codes of conduct are enforced through propaganda and indoctrination
--:-- Shamita Basu: It a world where high officers and their families are at the very top of the food chain They flaunt lives of opulence and excess while many soldiers and their families live in poverty.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: May says members of the military and their families are fearful of speaking out. But if more of them do, that could be a turning point in the movement.
--:-- Shamita Basu: According to one expert on authoritarian regimes who spoke to the post, the uprising is unlikely to succeed unless there's a split within the military.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So today's a big day for Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama. It's the deadline for them to vote on whether to join a union.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This high-stakes battle could have an outsized impact on the future of business and labor in the USA. For decades, workers' rights advocates have been warning about the death of unions.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: That could all change today. Time magazine lays out what's at stake here. Now, workers at this plant aren't just organizing for better pay. Amazon employees in Bessemer start at $15 an hour, which goes a pretty long way there.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But workers want more protections for their well-being on the job. There have been complaints about the grueling pace of work and the lack of time for breaks, even to use the bathroom.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The workers say they feel like robots who are being managed by robots. If this organizing move is successful, it could lead to more collective bargaining efforts at Amazon and other U.S. companies.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If, however, the vote fails, it could embolden opponents of organized labor, and that could discourage a lot of workers from taking on large companies in future labor fights.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The New Yorker has a good piece that takes a look at just how important and unusual this fight in Bessemer is. For one, it's pretty surprising to find Stacey Abrams and Marco Rubio on the same side of any fight.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But in this case, they are. Typically, Republicans don't support union drives. But Senator Rubio recently wrote an op-ed in USA Today saying he stands with the warehouse workers.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: He says Amazon has aligned itself against working class values, and he doesn't blame workers for wanting to unionize.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As Time explains, there's something else making this effort unique. This is all happening in a conservative state. Alabama has been unfriendly to unions in the past. It has right-to-work laws in place.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In theory, these laws weaken unions by allowing workers to opt out of joining unions or paying union dues. All of this can make organizing harder.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Time points out With Amazon being one of the largest private employers in the depending on how today vote goes we could see a resurgence in labor unions across the country Union membership in the private sector is only at 6 today
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: In 1960, it was around a third of the country's workforce. And that's why we're seeing so many national politicians weigh in here, including Senator Bernie Sanders, who headlined a rally in Alabama on Friday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And what you're doing is not only for yourselves and your kids and your Families, what you are doing is for workers all across this country.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Have you ever been that person who accidentally hit reply all on an email? It's okay. It's happened to the best of us.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're really unlucky, maybe you've even done it in a work setting that sent your accidental email to hundreds of inboxes.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: It can be really annoying for people and a waste of time. But we have a story about how one accidental reply all led to a surprisingly nice exchange between hundreds of strangers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This story comes from the Wall Street Journal. It all starts when a furniture company sends a mundane email to customers saying, your couches, the ones you ordered, will be delayed.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But instead of using the BCC field, hundreds of names were CC'd. You can guess what happens next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Someone accidentally replied all. A few other responses were sent to the whole group. But then a message came in that really changed the tone of what happens next.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: One woman said, hey, I'm single and I'm looking for a nice Jewish guy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yeah, props to Zoe. She really put herself out there on the group chain. She just said, look, I'm looking for love.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And suddenly people on this email chain rallied around her. No one was complaining about their couches anymore.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They were just giving constructive feedback and offering to set Zoe up on dates. Maybe it's the pandemic boredom or lack of socializing, but it was like an instant community formed.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: People told the Journal, it was just so nice to connect with strangers and have some random, spontaneous interactions. That was something the lockdowns largely took away from us.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Eventually, someone from the furniture company popped in to apologize and thank customers for turning this mistake into something really nice.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: They also wish Zoe luck, find and love. And the email group eventually decided to meet up in real life when the lockdown ends.
--:-- Shamita Basu: 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.
