--:-- Shumita Basu: Good morning. It's Wednesday, May 17th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shumita Basu: On today's show, understanding Ukraine's potential battle plan to counterattack Russia, the ugly truth behind the slogan, "we buy ugly houses," plus scientists clear up a hot debate about the color of the sun. But first, let's look at some major stories in the news.
--:-- Shumita Basu: North Carolina is banning most abortions after 12 weeks of pregnancy. Last night, the Republican-controlled legislature overrode a veto of the bill by the state's Democratic governor. It's less restrictive than other state laws passed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, but it will reduce access in the state and beyond.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In the months after the Supreme Court ruling, North Carolina saw the single highest increase in abortions of any state. It's a sign that people in neighboring states with more restrictive laws were traveling to North Carolina for the procedure. Also, a federal appeals court will hear arguments today in a case involving the abortion pill Mifepristone.
--:-- Shumita Basu: In April, a federal judge in Texas issued a ruling suspending the FDA's approval of the drug decades ago. That was put on hold while the case proceeds. The three judges hearing it today were all appointed by Republican presidents. They have supported abortion restrictions in the past.
--:-- Shumita Basu: So it's a big week for abortion policy. The other major national issue right now is the debt ceiling. The White House and Congress need to make a deal very soon to avoid a default. President Biden met with top congressional leaders yesterday, including House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
--:-- Shumita Basu: You know, we only have 15 days really to go. We've got to find a way that we can curve our spending, raise our debt limit, and also grow our economy. Comments after the meeting were a mix of optimism and expectations management, with recognition that both sides are still far apart.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Biden says he'll end his G7 summit trip early to create more time for talks. I'm postponing the Australia portion of the trip and my trip to my stop in Papua New Guinea in order to be back for the final negotiations with congressional leaders.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And finally, yesterday was an election day in several states. You can get the key takeaways on the races in Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Florida in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Let's move on now to international news and the war in Ukraine today. The country is assessing damage after a major attack by Russia. Ukraine says it shot down multiple missiles yesterday.
--:-- Shumita Basu: There were reports that the Russian attack may have damaged a U.S.-made Patriot missile system. But Ukraine's military says that no Patriot system was destroyed. That's one of the most advanced air defense systems, and keeping it working will be critical to protecting Ukrainian territory.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And the country doesn't just want to play defense. It wants to take back control of Ukrainian land occupied by Russia. An expected spring counterattack has been reported for a while now, but Ukraine still appears to be getting ready.
--:-- Shumita Basu: President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke recently to the European Broadcasting Union through an interpreter. We can advance with what we've got and I think we can be successful, but we will lose a lot of people. I think that is unacceptable. We need to wait. We need a bit more time.
--:-- Shumita Basu: The Times of London looks at how Ukraine is preparing and how some of the training and weapons from Western allies could be used in a counteroffensive. A full brigade recently wrapped up training in Sweden on some of the most powerful weapons in Ukraine's arsenal, including Leopard 2 tanks and the Archer artillery system.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That brigade is now back in Ukraine. Ukraine also has new, game-changing, long-range weapons. Storm Shadow cruise missiles can travel at least 155 miles, capable of hitting Russian targets far beyond the front lines. They're already striking Russian command centers.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Ukraine is also attacking Russian energy supplies and ammunition storage. These types of attacks are called shaping operations. They often come ahead of major troop movements. And Zelensky continues to ask allies for F-16 jets, which could provide air cover for soldiers as they advance.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Ukraine reportedly has up to 220 troops prepared for this counteroffensive. The Times details possible attack routes that Ukraine's military might take and the challenges that come with each. You can see it mapped out on the Apple News app.
--:-- Shumita Basu: There's a billboard that you might have seen along America's highways. It's bright yellow with a cartoon caveman and a website address in big, bold print. We Buy Ugly Houses dot com. Those are ads for Homevestors of America.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And an extensive investigation by ProPublica has some shocking stories about how the company finds homeowners in desperate situations and convinces them to sell quickly. If you want a sense of how serious the revelations are, consider what the company did before the story came out.
--:-- Shumita Basu: CEO David Hicks called an emergency meeting to alert franchise operators about the reporting. He said, "Our goal is to bury it." ProPublica got a recording. When this article comes out, I want to encourage you, please don't click on it.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Homevestors calls itself America's number one home buyer. It promises owners quick cash and a fast sale. Reporter Anjanette Damon told us that some franchise owners use predatory tactics. While they say that they target the home, often these houses are owned by people in desperate situations or vulnerable people.
--:-- Shumita Basu: And in some cases, were talked into selling their house or deceived into selling their house. And a lot of them got a price much lower than perhaps they could have gotten if they had acted a little bit differently.
--:-- Shumita Basu: ProPublica's reporting found people targeted by Homevestors tend to be elderly, sick, and close to poverty. Damon told us about Corrine Casanova. At the age of 82, she decided to move to an assisted living facility and contacted Homevesters to sell her house.
--:-- Shumita Basu: She had dementia, and her family says she wasn't capable of making such a big decision. And yet, Damon told us a Homevesters franchise owner got Casanova to sign a contract to sell her house in one day for about two-thirds of its value.
--:-- Shumita Basu: She actually passed away 19 days after signing that contract. And her family didn't know that this sale had happened, that this contract had happened. When they found out, they called and said, "Look, our mom suffers from dementia. There's no way that she could have understood what she was signing. We want to back out."
--:-- Shumita Basu: Her son David had the time and resources to fight back, but many who sell to Homevesters come to regret it and have trouble defending themselves. Franchisees often use aggressive tactics to get people to sign deals and later prevent them from backing out.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Homevesters says it doesn't target or discriminate. The company says the transactions uncovered by ProPublica represent only a small fraction of their overall business, and that it had already taken action in some of those cases.
--:-- Shumita Basu: It says it's investigating others that reporters uncovered. Here's a deceptively tricky question. What color is the sun? Most people would probably say yellow or white.
--:-- Shumita Basu: Well, what if I told you the sun is actually green? Yep, it's green. Or at least that's how it would appear if your eye could handle looking at it.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That's how a NASA scientist explains it to the Washington Post. The color of the sun was the subject of a fun, low-stakes debate that spread through social media recently. Is it white? Is it yellow? Red? Orange?
--:-- Shumita Basu: Turns out we're all wrong, and we're all kind of right. According to the people at NASA, the reason that the sun looks white to some people is because it's so bright. Our eyes just can't process the color.
--:-- Shumita Basu: For people who see yellow, it has to do with our atmosphere and how light is scattered. That's also why you see a deep red color during the sunset, when the light has to pass through a thicker atmosphere.
--:-- Shumita Basu: There's also the fact that each of us can perceive color a little bit differently. As one color scientist tells The Post, all this debate over the sun's color ultimately reveals more about us than the sun itself.
--:-- Shumita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, stick around for another story about space.
--:-- Shumita Basu: We've got a narrated article coming up next from Popular Science. It's about a group out of Copenhagen that wants to launch a person into space in a DIY rocket. It's raising questions about the potential dangers of private space explorations.
--:-- Shumita Basu: That's queued up to play for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
