--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Monday, April 12th. I'm Shamita Basu. Duarte Geraldino is off today. 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.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Iran says a blackout at its nuclear site is the result of a terrorist action, and it's pointing the finger at Israel. The incident raises the stakes for the U.S. in the region following recent indirect talks between America and Iran.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Though there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blackout, CNN points to widespread reporting in Israeli media, citing intelligence sources saying Israel was responsible for the incident.
--:-- Shamita Basu: All of this comes as the Biden administration has signaled it could be open to a new nuclear deal with Iran and other world powers. Just a few days ago, U.S. officials were in Vienna meeting with representatives from other countries to discuss possibly restarting negotiations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That would be a big shift. President Trump pulled the U.S. out of the previous deal and imposed new sanctions on Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been strongly opposed to a deal, citing the fear that Iran could develop nuclear weapons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Iran says its atomic program is for peaceful purposes. Meanwhile, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Israel for a meeting with Netanyahu. He's the highest-level U.S. visitor to Israel since the Biden administration took power.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A black man died after being shot by police in suburban Minneapolis yesterday. This happened just miles from the courthouse where the trial of former officer Derek Chauvin accused of killing George Floyd is taking place.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And it's adding new tension to a community that's already on edge. Police say it was a traffic stop. They pulled over Daunte Wright and found he had an outstanding warrant. When they tried to arrest him, he got back in the car, and that's when an officer opened fire.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The car went on for several blocks before hitting another vehicle. Wright was pronounced dead at the scene. Protests erupted in the area, bringing familiar scenes of police in riot gear clashing with demonstrators.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today is the third week of testimony in Chauvin's trial. The prosecution is expected to call its final witnesses, including another doctor.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Last week, prosecutors brought in medical experts, including the medical examiner who did the autopsy, to further their argument that Floyd's death was caused by Chauvin's knee on his neck.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The defense is seeking to raise doubts about this, blaming drugs found in his system and his underlying heart problems.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The votes are in. Amazon workers in Bessemer, Alabama, overwhelmingly voted against joining a union. The union is challenging the result.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The fight over organized labor is not over. Here's one pro-union Amazon worker shortly after the votes were counted.
--:-- Pro-Union Amazon Worker: This is just the spark that has started a fire across the United States. The labor union is alive and we will keep fighting.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, this renewed spotlight on labor protections is showing up in President Biden's infrastructure plan.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal has this reporting. The bill that Biden is proposing is called the Protecting the Right to Organize Act also known as the PRO Act.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It is pro. It would make it easier for gig workers and other independent contractors to unionize. It would also allow unions to collect dues from workers who choose not to join, which undercuts states' right to work laws.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, those who oppose this bill, which includes many Republicans and businesses like rideshare companies and franchisees, argue that the legislation would hurt economic growth.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And they also say it's unfair to force any worker to pay union dues.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Several key Democratic lawmakers have not yet expressed whether they support this bill.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Like so many of Biden's priorities, the PRO Act faces a steep uphill battle in the Senate.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Japanese golfer Hideki Matsuyama made history this weekend as the first man from an Asian country to win the Masters.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And he did it in a dramatic fashion, winning by just one stroke.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just line this up, make it roll, and he should make it. It's okay, well, no, not that stroke. He actually missed from just a few feet away.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But on his next putt, Matsuyama is Japan's first Masters champion.
--:-- Shamita Basu: ESPN tells the story of how the victory was a long time coming for Matsuyama.
--:-- Shamita Basu: His first visit to Augusta in 2011 almost didn't happen. Matsuyama is from the Japanese area that was hit by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He was a teenager at the time, and he nearly turned down that first Master's invitation, but eventually, he decided to play.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Ten years later, he is the champion. He says he felt the spirit of the people from his region cheering him on.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The other day, an obscure old painting was supposed to go on sale for just under two grand.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The auction in Madrid was not a big deal. It normally would not have made the news, even inside the art world.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But somebody had a hunch, and that hunch would lead to a race to solve a mystery with tens of millions of dollars on the line.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Guardian explains how it started when an auction house was about to sell a painting by an artist who was a known admirer of the famed Italian master Caravaggio.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Or that's what the auctioneers thought. What they didn't know was that a phone was ringing in Spain's culture ministry.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Experts from the Prado Museum were on the line, and they had reason to believe that the painting wasn't done by some follower of Caravaggio.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It could be from Caravaggio himself.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, the Spanish government had to move fast. They had an emergency meeting and decided to block the painting from leaving the country.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The auction house pulled it from sale, and experts from around the world started to weigh in.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Some of them say the painting of Jesus in this crown of thorns had key details that matched up with Caravaggio's previous works.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Others say it looks like a pretty convincing imitation.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now is when the real detective work begins, where experts will analyze it in person, searching every brushstroke for the hand of the master.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if they find it there, that canvas with the $1,700 price tag might actually be worth $175 million.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And while you're there, check out some of our audio stories.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We'll talk with you again tomorrow. Thank you.
