--:-- Shumita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, April 24th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shumita Basu: On today's show, how Pope Francis spent his last days, a major sports betting scandal, and how the wealthiest people in the country got even richer last year. But first, more and more international tourists appear to be turning their backs on the idea of a vacation in the United States.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The number of tourists arriving in March fell by nearly 12 percent compared to March of last year, according to the National Travel and Tourism Office. We're seeing fewer tourists from Canada, Mexico, Central America, and Europe.
--:-- Shumita Basu: This was not expected. In fact, just last month, officials were predicting an increase in international travel this year. The Washington Post spoke to travel experts who pointed to a few reasons for the slump.
--:-- Travel Expert: President Trump's tariff policy has inflamed international tensions. And under his immigration policy, a number of foreign-born tourists have been detained, some even locked up for weeks.
--:-- Travel Expert: A German tourist spent more than six weeks in detention. An actor from Canada spent around two weeks in detention. She recounted the experience for NPR.
--:-- Actor: They handed me this little mat and this aluminum foil thing that you use as a blanket. You wrap it around yourself like a dead body because it's so cold in the cells and you just lay there. I laid on the cement floor for two days and no one told me what was going on.
--:-- Shumita Basu: A number of countries tightened their travel advisories as a result, warning travelers to expect scrutiny and comply with U.S. rules or face detention. But for some tourists, the risks of traveling here just don't feel worth it.
--:-- Sarah Coppett: In a recent survey by the travel news site Skift, nearly half of the people who responded across five different countries said they're less inclined to visit the U.S. right now, and 60 percent cited fear and anger for why they've canceled travel plans.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Skift's editor-in-chief, Sarah Coppett, told CNN a lot of the hesitation seems to center on Trump.
--:-- Sarah Coppett: We do get the impression that the beef here is really with the Trump administration, not the American people necessarily. But yeah, these high-profile incidents that have really gotten a huge amount of worldwide press don't do the United States any favors for its inbound travel market.
--:-- Shumita Basu: As the CEO of one hotel giant put it to Bloomberg, there's a lot of bad buzz around the U.S. right now. International travelers spent over $250 billion in the U.S. last year, and their vacation choices can make or break entire industries.
--:-- Goldman Sachs Analyst: Goldman Sachs estimates that in a worst-case scenario, reduced inbound travel and boycotts on U.S. goods could lead to almost $90 billion in lost revenue. And a handful of states will feel it the most, like Florida, California, New York, and Nevada.
--:-- Catherine Cortez Masto: Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat, recently expressed her frustration about this in a hearing on Trump's tariff policy with Trade Representative Jameson Greer.
--:-- Catherine Cortez Masto: So why don't you come talk to me in my office and let's talk about and put a plan together because these blanket tariffs are having an impact on tourism in my state and across the country.
--:-- Jameson Greer: I'm happy to come speak with you.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Forecasters had initially hoped that inbound travel to the U.S. would return to pre-pandemic levels by 2026. But at this point, they say that seems unlikely.
--:-- Shumita Basu: People around the world are mourning the loss of Pope Francis. Tens of thousands of mourners have gathered in Vatican City in recent days to pay their respects.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And there was such a strong turnout that the Vatican kept the doors open through the night last night at St. Peter's Basilica.
--:-- Shumita Basu: His final days were consistent with how he has spent his years in the papacy, in service, pastoring, giving blessings, and calling for peace.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: Francis had only recently gotten out of the hospital, where he spent 38 days battling a severe case of pneumonia. His doctors said they weren't sure he was going to survive.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: And when he was released in late March, they urged him to remain isolated in his residence for at least two months. But Francis was eager to return to his normal activities.
--:-- Joshua McElwee: The Pope is someone who enjoyed working and took his job as leader of the world's Catholics very seriously. So he chose to resume some of his duties.
--:-- Shumita Basu: He greeted Catholics who gathered in St. Peter's Square on Palm Sunday. On Holy Thursday, he went to a nearby prison to meet people there and told them he was praying for them and their families.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Days later, he prayed in front of the main altar at St. Peter's Basilica. And on Easter Sunday, he briefly met Vice President J.D. Vance, and he greeted the crowds of people who gathered in St. Peter's Square to celebrate the holiday.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And through one of his archbishops, he delivered his final Easter blessing, where he repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That sermon was his final address to the public. You saw a pope who looked okay, but certainly limited and perhaps straining to make a public commitment.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Pope Francis had been outspoken in his opposition to Israel's war in Gaza and repeatedly denounced the humanitarian crisis for Palestinians in the region.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In fact, The Wall Street Journal reports he maintained a near daily routine over the past 18 months of war, making regular calls to the only Catholic church in Gaza.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That's the Holy Family Church, where roughly 450 Palestinian Christians have sought refuge.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Each time he called, one of the first questions he would ask was, what did you eat today?
--:-- Shumita Basu: A parishioner at the church told the Wall Street Journal that his calls always made them feel less alone.
--:-- Father Gabriel Romanelli: The Pope's calls were a source of hope, particularly early in the war.
--:-- Father Gabriel Romanelli: The beginning of the war, the bombing was very, very hard. The people feel the abandonment. But the call of the Pope gave a hard sign of hope.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In his final phone call to the church on Saturday, Francis told the parish he was praying for them, and he told them he needed their prayers.
--:-- Shumita Basu: His funeral is on Saturday, and more than 170 heads of state or government are expected to attend, including President Trump, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, and the president of Francis' native country, Argentina.
--:-- Shumita Basu: He will be the first pope in over a century to be buried outside of the Vatican.
--:-- Shumita Basu: He asked to be buried at the Papal Basilica of St Mary Major just a few miles away, writing in the instructions for his burial that he had always entrusted himself to the Virgin Mary.
--:-- Shumita Basu: He requested a simple tomb with a one inscription: Franciscus.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And in roughly two weeks, the process for choosing a new pope, known as Conclave, will begin.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Papal analysts expect that Francis' influence will be heavily felt in that process, in large part because four out of every five votes in Conclave will be cast by Cardinals he elevated.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Tonight is the NFL Draft, the league's marquee event of the offseason.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And if you're into it, you can, in some places, bet on who might be the number one pick and other things.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The draft is a unique event to gamble on. Some bookmakers even call it a nightmare.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That's because, unlike winners being decided on the field, there's a chance that someone knows the outcome of the draft before it happens.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And that brings us to our next story from The Athletic, about a major scandal in the world of sports betting and what it says about this increasingly popular and lucrative industry.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The Athletic looks at this sprawling federal investigation into a high-profile incident of match-fixing in the NBA.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: It all started when sports betting monitors noticed some unusual betting activity around Jontae Porter, a little-known center who at the time was playing for the Toronto Raptors.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: He worked with several co-conspirators to make sure they would bet on certain outcomes. Now, he couldn't fix entire games, but he could control his own stats.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: So what he did in his January 27, 2024 game is that he claimed he had an eye injury, which allowed him to leave the game early and not come back.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: And so that the people who are betting on him, if they bet, hey, he'd have fewer than this many points, fewer than this many rebounds, fewer than this many assists, they all won their winnings.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: Right. And then when he played in the March 20, 2024 game, he told them he would leave the game with an illness.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: And we're not talking about small sums of money on the line here. According to government filings, one wager was more than $100,000, which would have resulted in a payout of more than $1 million.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: The FBI was notified, Porter was banned from the NBA, and he and three other people have pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: Getting an NBA player to admit that he was manipulating his own performance to help other people bet on his prop bets a decade ago would have been a tremendous scandal for the NBA, right? Like that eats at the very integrity of sports.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: And since then, the scope of the federal investigation has expanded into college sports as well.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: Five schools are being investigated by the federal government for their possible ties to the scheme. And Vorkunoff reports that at least seven schools are believed to have drawn attention from the NCAA.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: Now, match-fixing has always been a part of sports. But with sports gambling now legal in 38 states plus Washington, D.C., Vorkunoff points out that various regulators, sportsbooks, and professional leagues are better equipped to catch when potential fixing is going on.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: And Vorkunoff says the investigation into the Porter scheme has posed a really vexing question.
--:-- Mike Vorkunov: One of the things that everyone is trying to really reckon with is whether this happened because sports gambling is so much more ubiquitous or if this was caught because sports gambling is now legalized.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Ukrainian officials say an overnight Russian attack on Kyiv killed at least nine people and injured dozens, calling it the biggest attack on the Ukrainian capital this year.
--:-- Shumita Basu: This comes as negotiations to end the war in Ukraine have reached a serious point of contention.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Yesterday, President Trump expressed frustration with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky over his rejection of a U.S. proposed peace plan.
--:-- Shumita Basu: A U.S. delegation that included Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff abruptly canceled a meeting in London that was seen as a make-or-break moment in talks.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Zelensky rejected the administration's plan that would see Washington recognize Russian sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula, a Ukrainian territory that Russia has occupied since 2014.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In recent days, the U.S. has threatened to walk away from the process altogether, as Ukraine sees the currently proposed deal as too favorable to Russia.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Staying with the Trump administration and an interesting 48 hours regarding the economy, on Monday, the CEOs of big box retailers, including Walmart and Target, privately warned the president that while prices remain steady for now, his tariff policy could eventually cause prices to go up, shelves to empty, and supply chains to be disrupted.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That's when Trump started to turn the dial down, indicating tariffs on China would be lower than the current 145 percent.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And acting on the advice of the Treasury and Commerce Secretaries Tuesday, Trump began backing down on his threats to fire Federal Reserve Chief Jerome Powell.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Markets rallied and the dollar surged as a result of Trump's shifting messages.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Axios notes, however, this all comes as polls show for the first time in Trump's political life, most voters disapprove of his handling of the economy.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And finally, last year, the rich got richer by a whole lot.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The Wall Street Journal reports $1 trillion of wealth was created in 2024 for the 19 wealthiest American households.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That's more than the value of Switzerland's entire economy. It's the biggest one-year increase in wealth for these households.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Surging stock prices in 2024, coupled with already sizable gains in 2023, supercharged wealth creation for this very small group.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The journal notes, despite those figures, it's very volatile. And that's because so much of this money is tied up in stocks.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Meaning, as President Trump's trade war continues, some of this net worth can swing by billions a day.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The richest people in the country now control a record share of American wealth.
--:-- Shumita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Mother Jones has the story of how one of the country's biggest for-profit hospital companies, Stewart Healthcare, is bankrupt and responsible for countless mistreated patients, all because of the system's private equity owners.
--:-- Shumita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
