--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Wednesday, January 8th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamit Dabassu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: On today's show, how your social media feeds might change soon. The U.S. declares a genocide in Sudan, and two unlikely TV sitcoms are teaming up. But first, President-elect Trump talked yesterday about expanding the United States in what seems like an implausible way, seizing control of the Panama Canal and Greenland.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And he told reporters he hasn't ruled out using military force or economic coercion to do so. I can't assure you, you're talking about Panama and Greenland. No, I can't assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: During his first term, you might remember that Trump also floated the idea of buying Greenland. That was strongly rejected by Denmark. Greenland is a former colony of Denmark and became a formal territory of the kingdom in the 1950s.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So Greenland is subject to the Danish constitution, and any changes to its legal status would require a constitutional amendment. So purchasing has never really been on the table. Any military efforts would cause greater backlash.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It sounds impossible and ridiculous to even talk about, but if that were to happen, there would obviously be global outrage. That's Politico reporter Seb Starchevich, who's been following these developments from Brussels.
--:-- Seb Starchevich: Denmark and the US are both members of NATO. It's just not realistic in my personal opinion. But if that were to happen, there would obviously be global outcry, global outrage, but it would be unprecedented.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: All of it begs the question, why does Trump want to control Greenland so badly? Greenland occupies a unique geostrategic position between the U.S. and Europe. It's a gateway to the Arctic, and it's also really rich in minerals and rare earths.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It also already hosts a U.S. military base. Trump has repeatedly said that Greenland is vital to American security interests. Neither Greenland nor Denmark want this to happen, to be clear. And Greenland is not for sale.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In fact, there's a growing movement in Greenland for independence. Here is one member of Greenland's parliament talking with CNN. Greenland should be Greenlanders' decision on what kind of state we would like to be and also who we should cooperate with.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: As all of this drama has played out, Trump's son, Donald Jr., was on a trip to Greenland. He claimed it was a personal visit with no government business involved. But the president-elect revealed on social media later that his representatives were part of Don Jr.'s entourage.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Let turn now to Meta and its decision to eliminate the company fact program. These changes will affect billions of users on Facebook and Instagram.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Here Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaking on Tuesday explaining the move. The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech. So we're going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.
--:-- Mark Zuckerberg: Now, instead of traditional fact-checkers, the company will rely on community notes, similar to those found on X and Wikipedia. That involves users, not trained fact-checkers, adding context and fact-checks to posts, photos, and other content.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Zuckerberg attributed the change in Meta's content moderation policies to the shift in the political environment. And observers have noted the system was never without its issues. Meta's fact-checking system has been controversial for years.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Ben Goggin is a technology editor with NBC News. In the last several years, Republicans have been highly critical of Meta and how they've fact-checked different news outlets and content creators.
--:-- Ben Goggin: Republicans have alleged that Meta's fact-checking system and third-party partners are biased against Republicans. Users may also expect to see changes to the type of content they see on Meta platforms.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The social media giant had previously attempted to limit political posts. That will no longer be the case. Now, Meta says they don't want to be involved in that decision-making, so they are going to be pulling back on their restriction.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So people can expect to probably see more political content in their feeds as a result of this. Here's how Zuckerberg put it. We're going to simplify our content policies and get rid of a bunch of restrictions on topics like immigration and gender that are just out of touch with mainstream discourse.
--:-- Mark Zuckerberg: What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it's gone too far.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Recently, Dana White, the UFC president and Trump ally, also joined Meta's board. Zuckerberg is far from the only big tech CEO to make recent attempts at forging a warmer relationship with President-elect Trump.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Leaders from companies like Apple, Meta, Amazon, and OpenAI have pledged a million dollars apiece for Trump's inaugural committee, some from their personal checkbooks, others from company coffers.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Meta's announcement comes in the context of CEOs across the spectrum of industry really coming to Trump and literally offering him money and favor and, you know, kissing the ring, as some people have said.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And Meta's move has largely been contextualized by this type of business favor towards Trump, or at least trying to earn his favor.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The United States says a genocide is taking place in Sudan and accuses the Rapid Support Forces a paramilitary group of murdering children including infants quote on an ethnic basis.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The State Department also says the group has targeted women and girls with sexual violence since the start of the country's civil war that broke out in April of 2023.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The conflict has led to a widespread famine and the world's biggest refugee crisis. More than 11 million people are displaced, according to the United Nations.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Along with the State Department's announcement, the Treasury Department issued sanctions against RSF's leader, and seven companies in the United Arab Emirates that are accused of supplying the RSF with money and weapons.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: NPR's West Africa correspondent Emmanuel Akinwotu has been reporting on the war for months. He explained the scale of the famine recently to NPR.
--:-- Emmanuel Akinwotu: In August, famine was declared in what's the largest refugee camp in Sudan, in the western region of Darfur. But now it's been confirmed in three other refugee camps in the same proximity.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And overall, it's now five areas in Sudan, affecting about half a million people and counting. Nathaniel Raymond is an executive director at Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab.
--:-- Nathaniel Raymond: He described to Akinwotu what this actually looked like in one camp called Zamzam, where famine was first declared. Zamzam is in a condition called IPC-5, or Integrated Phase Classification 5, which is the highest level of food insecurity.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And children in particular have been dying from a lack of food. People are eating peanut shells, animal fodder, grasses. Watchdog organizations have said that tens of millions across the country are experiencing acute hunger.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The death toll from the war is unknown, but U.S. officials have estimated that about 150,000 people have been killed. This declaration of genocide does not mean, however, that the U.S. is supporting the Sudanese military in the war.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The U.N. also accuses their forces of committing war crimes. And some were quick to criticize the U.S.'s late response to the conflict.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Cameron Hudson, a former American diplomat and Sudan expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on social media, quote, this attempt to position the administration on the right side of history won't work.
--:-- Cameron Hudson: It's too late and too many people have died for that to happen. The U.S. has only declared a genocide six times before, since the end of the Cold War, including in Bosnia in 1993 and Rwanda in 1994.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And this comes two decades after the U.S. declared a genocide in Darfur in 2004 that left hundreds of thousands of people dead.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Before we let you go, a few other stories being featured in the Apple News app. A raging fire in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles forced residents to abandon their cars on the road and flee toward the ocean as homes were destroyed and smoke engulfed the area.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The fire came right down to the road and the fire department came up and said, get out of your cars now because the fires were right up against the cars.
--:-- Marsha Horowitz: That's what the fire department said. That's what they said. They said, get out of your cars now because the fires were right up against the cars.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Fueled by what officials called a life and destructive windstorm more than 1,200 acres had burned as of Tuesday afternoon.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Dramatic video from the scene showed whipping winds as flames consumed palm trees, and bulldozers had to be brought in to clear out deserted vehicles to make way for fire trucks.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Forecasts predicted dry and strong winds in the next few days, which could make the situation worse.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This is a fast-moving story, and you can follow along on the Apple News app for the latest updates.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Meanwhile, rescue efforts continue in Tibet, where a magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit a remote area in the foothills of the Himalayas on the Chinese-Nepal border near Mount Everest.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Chinese state media said Tuesday that more than 100 people are dead, with many more injured. Temperatures in the area were expected to fall into the low single digits as the rescue operation was underway.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Back in the U.S., a special service was held for former President Jimmy Carter in the Capitol, where a number of political figures from both parties eulogized his service to the country.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Ceremonies continue into tomorrow when a national day of mourning will be observed. That means that institutions like the post office and federal courts will be closed, along with the stock market.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Carter's National Funeral is scheduled for tomorrow at Washington National Cathedral.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And finally, you might have a favorite TV crossover event you remember, like when Steve Urkel showed up on Full House.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Well, ABC's Abbott Elementary and FX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia are about to take part in that tradition, with the first part of a crossover event tonight.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Both shows are set in Philly and our beloved comedies, but with very different vibes. It's Always Sunny features a group of degenerate friends largely set in a dive bar, and Abbott Elementary humorously portrays teachers working in an underfunded public school.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Here's Abbott Elementary creator Quinta Brunson talking to Jimmy Kimmel about how all of this came together.
--:-- Quinta Brunson: Rob McElhinney, who created Always Sunny, along with that team, something came up online and he kind of was like, someone said this seems like a sunny episode.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: He's like, this seems like an Abbott episode. And then we kind of connected over that. And then we really connected in person.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And I just get along with him and his team so well that we felt like we could actually do this.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The plot of the episode will find the Always Sunny gang at Abbott Elementary to perform community service. The Always Sunny episode will tell the rest of the story sometime later this year.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening to the News app right now, we have a narrated article coming up next from Rolling Stone.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It pulls back the curtain on the beloved American game show Jeopardy. It's evolved a lot since its debut in 1964, but kind of lost its way for a while after Alex Trebek's death.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The show struggled to find a new host before eventually tapping former champion Ken Jennings. He told Rolling Stone about the show's recovery and what gives it its staying power.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
