--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 8th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shemitah 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.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: A new bipartisan Senate report on the January 6th Capitol insurrection is out, and it focuses on intelligence, communication, and leadership failures that day. These failures left Capitol Police officers on the ground, exposed and begging for help.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: NBC News reports key intel about potential threats didn't reach Capitol Police leadership. The report also points to issues where different U.S. security and law enforcement agencies were not fully cooperating with each other.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: The report makes several recommendations. It suggests an overhaul of the leadership structure that oversees capital security. It also suggests a way for Capitol Police to request immediate help from the National Guard. And it calls for more scrutiny into whether federal agencies are ready for future threats.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: There are some questions the report doesn't answer. NBC says it's unlikely to end the debate over the need for an independent commission to investigate the events of January 6th. A bill to create one was blocked by Senate Republicans last month.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Hundreds of people in more than a dozen countries were arrested in a vast operation that targeted organized crime. The news broke overnight. CNN is reporting.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The announcement came with a surprising modern twist. The FBI and Australian Federal Police were able to bust these suspects by reading their communications on a messaging app. And what these people didn't know was that the app they were using, which they thought was encrypted, was actually run by the FBI.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Investigators say they had full access to messages for nearly three years. The app is called Anam. It was part of an elaborate trap to lure suspects into what they thought was a fully secret environment. And you could only get this app on phones sold through illegal markets.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: People took the bait. Investigators say some really high people in the organized crime world endorsed using this app. See, smart gangsters are careful when they talk to each other, just in case they're being monitored. They use fake names, they use code words, anything to make it harder for law enforcement to figure out what they're talking about.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: But the users on this app were crystal clear. They thought it was encrypted, so they were naming names and speaking openly about murder plots and drug deals. The result was a goldmine for investigators. Thousands of police officers all over the world have been digging into this information.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And the latest arrests and drug seizures, they may just be the beginning.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Summer jobs like scooping ice cream or lifeguarding are ways that teenagers can make money and hopefully learn a thing or two. And this year, teens are getting a special kind of lesson. How to drive a hard bargain. Many businesses aren't able to find enough workers right now, so they're throwing money at teens.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Historically, teenagers have been willing to work for less than adults. The Wall Street Journal breaks down what exactly is happening with our labor market. The demand for all workers is so strong that teens now have more employment options.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: They're getting higher pay and more flexible schedules. That's a big shift from last year. Back then, a record low of only about 20% of older teens were working. Now, that number is about 33%.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The journal talks to one person who owns a Mexican restaurant in Arizona who closed up for up to two days a week because he just couldn't find enough workers. Now that schools are out, he's offering a $200 bonus and relying on teenagers to keep the chili con carne moving.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: And he says he's had to be much less picky than he was in the past. Just showing up on time for the job interview might be good enough to get a job offer.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So typically, many jobs geared towards teens are in the retail, leisure, and hospitality sectors. Taken together, they can account for around two of teen work. But those numbers were from when the world was normal. Last summer, so much of the economy was shut down, so the opportunities were scarce.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Much the same was true for other common teen gigs at summer camps and pools. But now, as lockdowns end, teens are signing up, clocking in, and making a killing.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: For the past 25 years, the United States has dominated the Summer Olympics, winning the most medals of any country. And a big reason for that is America's colleges and universities train young athletes in the run-up to the Games.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: But now many schools are trying to cut costs because of the pandemic, and they're shrinking their athletics departments. That means the pipeline to the Olympics is at risk. And with it, U.S. dominance at the Summer Games.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: First thing you need to understand is that college sports in the U.S. act kind of like the minor leagues for the Olympics. As the LA Times points out, other top competitor countries don't do it like we do.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: China, Russia, and Germany, they use specialized training academies. Here in the U.S., the NCAA teams provide student-athletes with coaching, training facilities, and tons of resources like nutritionists and sports psychologists.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: And in this way, it sort of becomes a game of numbers since the network of colleges in this country is massive. The U.S. Olympic team can choose from thousands of candidates every four years.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: For decades, the higher education system has helped to identify and develop talent like sprinters Carl Lewis and Michael Johnson and volleyball star Misty May-Trainor. One Olympic executive says 80 percent of America's summer Olympic athletes come from colleges.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: But now many schools are trying to cut costs. They're downsizing their athletic departments. The LA Times reports, all across the country, hundreds of college-level teams have already been cut, including at prominent NCAA schools like Iowa, Minnesota, and Connecticut.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: One key point here is that the sports that are on the chopping block are mostly the ones that bring in big ticket and TV revenue like track, swimming, and gymnastics. But these are all sports in which the U.S. often wins medals.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now, to be clear, no one is predicting that the Tokyo Games will be affected by this trend. But if it's going to have an effect, we could see it pretty soon at the Games in 2024 and 2028.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Most people see and appreciate peacocks for their looks, but you ever heard one? Oh, that sounds somewhere in between a fire alarm and a car horn. Yeah, that's awful.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Imagine that outside your window every night when you're trying to sleep. Yeah, that is the problem that's facing some people in Southern California communities where peacocks are running wild.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: The Washington Post reports on the debate over what to do about this problem. Now, there was an earlier effort to catch and relocate these birds, but a disease outbreak in the poultry industry put that effort on hold.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: That gave the peacocks more room to roam, and they did so very loudly. You hear that? Fast forward to today and you walk around and you'll see gangs of peacocks walking around many towns in Southern California.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: They travel in packs on yards, roofs, and sidewalks. Their presence is dividing the community. Now, on top of the horrible noise they make, they can also be kind of destructive. When peacocks see their reflection in things like glass or even cars, they think that they're looking at a rival.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So they'll start pecking. Still, some people think they're beautiful creatures, that they liven up the community. And some people have been giving them food. Because of that, lawmakers have been debating a law that prohibits feeding the peacocks.
--:-- Shemitah 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.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Goodbye for now.
--:-- Shemitah Basu: Goodbye.
