--:-- Mark Garrison: Good morning. It's Monday, May 6th. I'm Mark Garrison in for Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Coming up, Brittany Greiner is now talking about her time in Russia, why so many American children are doing the adult work of caring for family, and Madonna draws a record crowd to the beach in Rio. But first to Gaza, where the Israeli military is ordering an evacuation of part of Rafah.
--:-- Mark Garrison: This is the southern city where more than a million civilians are sheltering. Israel has been threatening to invade for months. Its defense minister told Israeli troops in Gaza to expect intense action in Rafah soon.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was prepared to invade Rafah, regardless of whether a ceasefire deal is reached with Hamas. We will enter Rafah because we have no other choice. We will destroy the Hamas battalions there. We will complete all the objectives of the war, including the repatriation of all our abductees.
--:-- Mark Garrison: There were no breakthroughs in ceasefire negotiations over the weekend. There's a proposal on the table for a 40-day pause in fighting. Hamas would begin releasing hostages, and Israel would release some Palestinians from prison. Hamas wants a permanent ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops, which Netanyahu has rejected.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Thousands of people gathered in Israeli cities over the weekend to protest Netanyahu's actions, saying he's standing in the way of a hostage release. Demonstrators called for a ceasefire agreement and new elections.
--:-- Mark Garrison: The AFP spoke with a protester in Tel Aviv.
--:-- Mark Garrison: I think we should go for this deal, and I think we should go as fast as we can, because there is no time that is left. But with no ceasefire agreement, the fighting goes on.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Yesterday, Hamas launched rockets at a border crossing into Gaza. Israel says three of its soldiers were killed. It fired back and also closed the crossing. a key delivery point for humanitarian aid.
--:-- Mark Garrison: This comes as the director of the World Food Program says parts of Gaza are experiencing famine. Cindy McCain was on NBC.
--:-- Mark Garrison: There is famine, full-blown famine in the north, and it's moving its way south.
--:-- Mark Garrison: McCain's remarks are not an official declaration of famine, but she now the second high American aid official to acknowledge famine conditions in Gaza. Israel says it is letting more shipments in. But many international aid groups say that civilians need far more food and medicine than they getting.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Also Netanyahu faces criticism from the UN and press freedom groups for shutting down Al Jazeera's operations in Israel. Authorities raided its Jerusalem facility, seizing equipment, shutting down broadcasts, and blocking access to the news outlet's website.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Netanyahu claims its reporters are a threat to national security. Al Jazeera says the shutdown infringes on human rights and access to information. It's one of just a few international broadcasters providing on-the-ground coverage inside Gaza.
--:-- Mark Garrison: And in the U.S., student anti-war protesters are turning their attention to college graduations. Around 50 spoke out at the University of Michigan's commencement Saturday, chanting and unfurling Palestinian flags.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Disclose! Divest! We will not stop! We will not rest! Planes also flew overhead, one carrying a banner calling for a divestment from Israel. Another had a pro-Israel message.
--:-- Mark Garrison: More commencement ceremonies are coming up across the country this week.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Now to a story that we closely followed on the show. Russia's imprisonment and eventual release of Olympian and WNBA star Brittany Griner.
--:-- Mark Garrison: It's been just over two years since Russian authorities detained her at an airport. They found cartridges of cannabis oil in her bag. Those were legal where she lived, but restricted in Russia.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Greiner says she overlooked them while packing. A Russian court sentenced her to nine years in a notorious penal colony. Now she's talking in detail about what she experienced in a new memoir out tomorrow called Coming Home and an exclusive interview with ABC's Robin Roberts.
--:-- Brittany Greiner: Conditions were rough in the buildings. There was about 50, 60 women in my room, one bathroom, three toilets, no hot water, and a long farm-style sink where everybody is washing all types of body parts while I'm brushing my teeth.
--:-- Brittany Greiner: I got a foot right here. Another jail she spent time in wasn't any better. Griner is six foot nine. Her cell was seven by seven. The toilet was a hole in the floor. The bed was way too small for her. The mattress had a huge blood stain on it and they give you these thin two sheets.
--:-- Brittany Greiner: So you're basically laying on bars. I mean just the way you describe it in such great detail you were only allowed one roll of toilet paper that had to last you a month. There was like two three months where we didn get anything.
--:-- Brittany Greiner: She said she felt less than human at times and had suicidal thoughts in the early weeks of her detention. She also reflected on all of the people who helped her stay strong and survive. A caring cellmate, her lawyer in Russia, her WNBA teammates and fans. And her family, especially her wife, Sherelle.
--:-- Brittany Greiner: They're expecting their first baby. And Greiner told Roberts she hopes her story teaches their child how to persevere. Life happens and you're thrown a curveball. Sometimes it's a big curveball. And what you do in those moments defy who you are. And it shows your character.
--:-- Brittany Greiner: I just want them to know to always hold their heads high and walk with grace.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Millions of young Americans are serving as caregivers to family members. These are teenagers, sometimes younger, doing the difficult work of caring for sick and disabled parents and grandparents, sometimes siblings.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Wall Street Journal columnist Claire Ansboury explains how the adults in these children's lives may have chronic illnesses like MS or dementia. Some have mobility issues from serious accidents. And because in-home care is so expensive, many families have children doing labor, typically done by trained health care professionals.
--:-- Claire Ansboury: The range of care is everything from giving injections, administering medication, things like preparing meals, picking up the slack in the cleaning, the laundry. Sometimes these kids stay at home to care for a sibling when a parent has to work.
--:-- Claire Ansboury: Ansberry told us about a 12-year-old girl who stays up with her father at night because of his kidney disease. She sometimes falls asleep in class the next day. And Ansberry spoke with a 15-year-old boy whose mother uses a wheelchair. He gives his mom physical therapy three times a week and helps with other daily care.
--:-- Claire Ansboury: He said it's become his normal. Like he helps her brush her teeth, he helps her floss. If she's having difficulty eating, he will help her with her utensils.
--:-- Claire Ansboury: Even though it's become his normal, Ansboury says the teenager feels alone, like he's the only kid with these responsibilities. But an estimated 5.4 million children in the U.S. are caring for relatives.
--:-- Claire Ansboury: That's a sharp increase from two decades ago. Apart from the cost of hiring professionals there are also more child caregivers because the population is aging more parents work and more families live in multi households.
--:-- Claire Ansboury: And these kids are feeling the strain. One study found they were 15% more likely to experience ongoing sadness compared to kids who are not taking care of relatives.
--:-- Mark Garrison: You know, these kids need respite. You know, adult caregivers need respite from caregiving. And these are children who need respite from the caregiving just so they can be kids.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Because a lot of these kids worry about leaving the home. You know, one young girl was saying, you know, my friends want to go out for a walk. But I find that like after 20 minutes, I'm anxious to get home and make sure my mom's okay.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Finally, 1.6 million people saw Madonna play live over the weekend. She closed out her world tour with a free concert in Rio Saturday.
--:-- Mark Garrison: When she came out, the famed Copacabana Beach turned into a stage and a dance floor. Fans came to Brazil from around the world for the spectacle, with dozens of extra flights into Rio added to bring people in.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Many Madonna fans waited days to get prime spots to see her perform her greatest hits.
--:-- Mark Garrison: This is a beach that's hosted giant concerts before, from the Rolling Stones to Rod Stewart. The city put together a large response to handle the Madonna crowds, her largest ever.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Thousands of police deployed and firefighters sprayed water to keep people cool. Rio officials say the concert alone will have tens of millions of dollars in local economic impact.
--:-- Mark Garrison: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app, we've got a narrated article coming up next that, depending on your age, is either a history lesson or a trip down memory lane.
--:-- Mark Garrison: It's a look back at the pioneering online community Black Planet. It was founded in 1999, well before Facebook, even before MySpace. The Atlantic looks at how Black Americans created a place that was light years away from today's often toxic world of social media.
--:-- Mark Garrison: Black Planet was a place where people could talk politics and culture, learn to code, and fall in love. This piece looks at its legacy and lessons for us today.
--:-- Mark Garrison: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Mark Garrison: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
