--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, May 12th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, why the U.S. is closely watching Turkey's presidential election, the search for accountability in the killing of Palestinian-American journalist Shirin Abu Akleh, and the supply chain magic that gets all those Mother's Day flowers delivered.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But first, let's take a quick look at some big stories in the news.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A debt ceiling meeting between President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is postponed until next week.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are signs that shifting today's meeting could mean that behind the scenes, their staffers may be closer to striking a deal.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Both McCarthy and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer signal that progress is happening in closed door talks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Still, the clock is ticking for a possible U.S. default if they can't reach an agreement.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today at the G7 summit in Japan, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen talked to Bloomberg about the importance of raising the debt ceiling.
--:-- Janet Yellen: What global markets and American households and businesses need to see is that we have a Congress that's committed to paying the bills that we've incurred as a consequence of our legislation, that we're not a deadbeat country.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's switch now to U.S. immigration policy, where strict new border regulations are now in effect.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As we've talked about on the show this week, the pandemic-era border policy, Title 42, is over.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As of today, there are new rules on asylum meant to deter attempts to cross the border illegally.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The LA Times reports, in the hours leading up to midnight last night, migrants gathered near ports of entry at the southern border, hoping to enter the U.S.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In other news, a federal judge says that a ban on selling handguns to 18- to 20-year-olds is unconstitutional.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The new opinion says that since people can vote and serve in the military at 18, they're entitled to similar Second Amendment protections as people 21 and older.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's the latest chapter in the current fight over putting in new age restrictions for gun purchases.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In New York City, there are now criminal charges in the death of an unhoused man on the subway earlier this month.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Prosecutors say Daniel Penny committed second manslaughter when he put Jordan Neely in a chokehold killing him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Penny lawyers say he never meant to hurt Neely and that Neely threatened Penny and other passengers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We are two days away from an election in Turkey that'll affect American foreign policy, the war between Russia and Ukraine, the global economy, and more.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan faces his biggest challenge in 20 years.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Like the U.S. and its allies, Turkey is a NATO member.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But Erdogan has much tighter control over his country than typical NATO leaders.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And in many ways, he has steered the nation closer to Russia.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's division in Turkey over whether it's drifting too far from the U.S. and the West.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's one opening for his main challenger, Kamal Kilishtaroglu.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Also, Erdogan has been criticized for his government's response to the deadly earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Tens of thousands of Turks died.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The relief response was very late and flawed when it arrived.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Really took a toll on people's perception of Erdogan and how he has run the country for the last two decades.
--:-- Onur Ant: It is a referendum on many things that Erdogan stands for.
--:-- Onur Ant: And I think the single most important issue that people will be voting on on Sunday is Turkey's economy.
--:-- Onur Ant: Turkey's economy boomed in the early Erdogan years, and that made him popular.
--:-- Onur Ant: But over time, he's consolidated power in ways that worry some Turks and international observers.
--:-- Onur Ant: Erdogan slowly and gradually turned into a strongman of some sort.
--:-- Onur Ant: Turkey's democratic institutions and traditions took a backstab in some of the state institutions, went backwards, be it economic institutions, regulatory bodies.
--:-- Onur Ant: And since 2018, all executive power have been concentrated in Erdogan's office.
--:-- Onur Ant: And in recent years, economic growth stalled and prices soared.
--:-- Onur Ant: In the States, the Fed worries about inflation higher than 2%.
--:-- Onur Ant: Last year in Turkey, inflation topped 80%.
--:-- Onur Ant: Consumer price increases have become even more pronounced in the last two, two and a half years after the pandemic.
--:-- Onur Ant: Than they were before.
--:-- Onur Ant: Everything from the cost of food to cars houses rents they just quadrupled in a couple of years.
--:-- Onur Ant: And this is not a figure of speech.
--:-- Onur Ant: Very soon, those families who are struggling to pay for food will have their say at the polls.
--:-- Onur Ant: And what they decide about Erdogan will have impact well beyond Turkey.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One year ago this week, Palestinian-American journalist Shirin Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Israeli military's chief spokesperson issued its first apology for the killing in a CNN interview yesterday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The country still maintains Abu Akleh was shot accidentally.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Her colleagues at Al Jazeera don't accept that explanation, and many don't think the U.S. has pushed hard enough for accountability.
--:-- Shamita Basu: No one in the Israeli military has been prosecuted, and the defense forces have not announced disciplinary action.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Because she was American, the FBI is investigating, but reportedly hasn't interviewed key witnesses.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Abu Akhla's colleagues spent the last year investigating her death and pushing for accountability.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Sharif Abdel-Kadus told CNN's Christian Amanpour about what they uncovered in their award-winning documentary called Fault Lines.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: Shadeen and her colleagues wearing their press gear were walking up the street.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: We hear a burst of gunfire, about six shots.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: That's when the producer Ali Samoudi is shot in the shoulder.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: And we see the last shot of Shadeen alive, crouching by a tree.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: Eight seconds later, there's another burst of gunfire of seven shots.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: And one of those is the fatal one that killed Shadeen.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: He says the pauses in between rounds of gunfire suggest that the shooting was intentional.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: Moments later, this bystander, a resident, tries to help Shadeen and pull her, and again, he is targeted.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: So this shows that this wasn't errant gunfire.
--:-- Sharif Abdel-Kadus: This was deliberate targeting.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At Al Jazeera's headquarters in the West Bank, Abu Akhla's office is now a memorial.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Her colleagues decorated it with flowers, portraits, and tributes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They gathered this week at a church in Jerusalem, alongside Abu Akhla's family, to honor her memory.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Her niece, Lina Abu Akhla, spoke to NBC.
--:-- Lina Abu Akhla: For us justice is having the soldier who killed her held accountable.
--:-- Lina Abu Akhla: For the entire chain of command to be held responsible for killing Shirim.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is what we want.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Sunday is Mother's Day.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's a big day for brunches, greeting cards, remembrances, and, of course, flowers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The CEO of 1-800-Flowers calls it the Super Bowl of their industry.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's bigger for them than Valentine's Day.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That company alone will deliver around 23 million flowers for Mother's Day.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And getting them there requires careful coordination between delivery companies, florists, and farms around the world.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A new Wall Street Journal video has an inside look at their massive operation.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The CEO, Chris McCann, says it takes a lot of planning.
--:-- Chris McCann: Preparation for a major holiday like Mother's Day really began a year ago, when we would work with all of our suppliers to say, here's what we're thinking of designing, how does that match your growing cycle?
--:-- Chris McCann: From the moment a flower leaves a farm, it's a race against time.
--:-- Chris McCann: No one wants a wilted bouquet.
--:-- Chris McCann: That's why at every stage of handling, refrigeration is key, from distribution centers to delivery trucks.
--:-- Chris McCann: The faster you can get that cut flower down to about 33, 34 degrees and then maintain that temperature, you suspend life and you can really extend the vase life.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The company says the most popular flower choice for Mother's Day is roses.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Or you can go with what I assume is the least popular choice, a Venus flytrap.
--:-- Shamita Basu: My brother and I sent one to our mom a few years ago, thinking it was fun and different.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I recommend it for moms with a sense of humor and maybe a house spider problem that needs solving.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can watch the whole video for yourself on the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And check out our weekend interview show, In Conversation.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, I talked to historian Matthew Connolly about the U.S. government's culture of secrecy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He argues that way too many documents are being labeled classified.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And that's dangerous in several ways.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At the top, there's the idea that we're going to control this system, and we're only going to have the most sensitive, most important information classified at that level.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But the way it actually works is that you have millions of people who are keeping secrets for their own reasons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Enjoy the weekend.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I'll be back with the news on Monday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Thank you.
