--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Wednesday, June 8th. I'm Shamita Basu. 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.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, victims from the Buffalo and Uvalde shootings are on Capitol Hill urging lawmakers to do something to prevent the next mass shooting. Mia Cerillo appeared on video in a house hearing today. She's a fourth grader who was inside the elementary school classroom in Uvalde, where students and teachers were killed. She told the story of how she covered herself in her classmates' blood so the gunman would think that she was dead. She waited for an opening to call for help.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Her father, Miguel, was in Congress today to talk about how the shooting has affected their family. something needs to really change.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yesterday, in a Senate hearing on domestic terrorism, we heard from Garnell Whitfield Jr. His mom, Ruth Whitfield, was killed in Buffalo in the grocery store shooting that targeted Black people. His mother was 86 years old.
--:-- Shamita Basu: I ask every one of you to imagine the faces of your mothers as you look at mine and ask yourself, is there nothing that we can do? Is there nothing that you personally are willing to do to stop the cancer of white supremacy and the domestic terrorism it inspires? Because if there is nothing, then, respectfully, senators, you should yield your positions of authority and influence to others that are willing to lead on this issue.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The urgency of the moment demands no less. ABC News reports how a bill designed to combat domestic terrorism was blocked last month by Senate Republicans That bill would have created new government offices to monitor analyze investigate and prosecute domestic terrorism
--:-- Shamita Basu: Also yesterday actor Matthew McConaughey who from Uvalde visited the White House He said Uvalde is where he learned how to be a responsible gun owner. And he urged lawmakers to take action to prevent gun violence.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We need responsible gun ownership. Responsible gun ownership. We need background checks. We need to raise the minimum age to purchase an AR-15 rifle to 21. We need a waiting period for those rifles. We need red flag laws and consequences for those who abuse them.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many of the changes that he and others are calling for face a tough time getting enough Republican votes to pass. NPR reports that a bipartisan group of senators hopes to have a deal on legislation by the end of this week. But it's likely to be much narrower than many gun safety advocates want.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Strict new restrictions on weapons are not likely. Talks are focusing on school security measures and standards for gun storage. The key Republican senator in the negotiations, Texas Senator John Cornyn, has said that he's not in favor of expanding the scope of background check systems.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Fierce fighting is happening in Ukraine's east. The Ukrainian military says it is successfully holding back Russian forces in a key city, but Russia is increasing its military presence in the region. It says it has control of nearly all of one province in Ukraine's east.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can get a sense of how the war is changing by the weapons that they're using. The U.S. is now sending longer-range rocket systems to Ukraine's military. Retired General and CNN military analyst Wesley Clark explained what's important to understand about these weapons.
--:-- Wesley Clark: They're going to extend the battle space for Ukraine so Ukraine can hit deeper Russian targets inside Ukraine. also so that these systems can be moved further out of range of Russian artillery. So this is very important.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Ukrainian artillery is still outnumbered more than two to one by the Russian artillery. Vox explains why these weapons mean that we're seeing a very different war than the beginning of Russia invasion around 100 days ago
--:-- Shamita Basu: A military analyst explained that the fast-paced battles of February and March are giving way to what she calls a more grinding piecemeal conflict Long artillery for Ukraine gives it the ability to hold Russian forces back. These are weapons designed for long standoffs. A slower, grinding war could play to Russia's advantage.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A reduced pace of fighting gives it more time to resupply troops, which are now operating closer to Russia. Russia is in need of people power. And we know this from some recent reporting from the Wall Street Journal about low morale among Russian troops.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It analyzed military documents and spoke to Russian soldiers and their lawyers. And it found that hundreds of Russian troops have refused orders to fight in Ukraine. Some are fighting in court. This reporting looks at how this puts Russia's military in a tricky spot. If it doesn't punish soldiers who refuse orders, others might resist too.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But it has to do that without drawing attention to the problem, since that's bad for Russia's public image. Officials in Moscow did not respond to the journal's requests for comment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, thousands of British workers from dozens of companies started the world's largest pilot of a four-day workweek. They're still getting their usual paycheck, just for 80% of the hours. The companies that are taking part range from a fish-and-chip shop to major corporations.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's a test to see if workers can get as much done and be happier if they dramatically limit their working schedule. The idea is if you have less time to get your work done, you'll cut out any unproductive parts of your day and still clock out on time.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Joe Ryle is a leading campaigner for four-day work weeks. He told Good Morning Britain that when people work shorter, they work smarter. Wherever we've seen the four-day week trial, on the one hand, productivity seems to go up and so does workers' well-being on the other hand. So it's a win-win for both the worker and the employer.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The BBC spoke to some British workers that are already experimenting with a four-day workweek. One calls it life-changing. They're getting better sleep, it's better for their families, and productivity-wise, they're simply getting more done in less time.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The six-month trial follows experimentation with shorter workweeks around the world. Iceland trialed four workweeks for several years before the pandemic Workers there were productive They were happier with less burnout and stress
--:-- Shamita Basu: Later this year trials are set for countries including Spain Australia, Canada, and the U.S. Companies are having trouble finding and retaining workers during the pandemic, so many managers are much more willing to experiment with flexible schedules.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Researchers who are watching this large British trial will look at the impact on the bottom line for business and how it affects worker well-being. They're also interested in whether a shorter work week will affect gender equality and whether fewer workdays has positive environmental impact from less travel and energy use.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A major change for sports happened this week. The governing body for figure skating voted to raise the minimum age for senior competition from 15 to 17 to protect young skaters' health.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At the International Skating Union meeting, Olympic medalist Eric Radford spoke out. The life of an athlete is short and intense. Their experience in the short period of their lives sets the stage for the rest of their lives, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The decision will gradually raise the age to 17 by the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan. This comes after the doping controversy at the Beijing Olympics. Russian skater Kamila Valieva, who was 15 at the time of competition, had tested positive for a banned substance, and that threw the competition into chaos.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Many in the skating world raised questions about pressure on very young athletes to perform. and they renewed their calls for raising the age of eligibility. By the way, the investigation into that doping scandal is still ongoing, which means many of the world's top figure skaters, including those on Team USA, still don't know what medals they won in Beijing.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Because of Velieva's positive test, the results from the team event are on hold. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app, including coverage of yesterday's primary results. And when you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our News Plus partners.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
