--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Good morning. It's Monday, October 25th. I'm Duarte Giraldino. And I'm Shamita Basu.
--:-- 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.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: There are two unusual weather terms in the news right now. Bomb cyclone and atmospheric river. The systems those terms describe are causing dangerous weather for California, Oregon, and Washington.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Heavy rain is flooding neighborhoods. It's triggering mudslides that block roads. And blackouts. More than 100,000 homes and businesses don't have electricity.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: If you're wondering why we're calling it a bomb cyclone and not just a big storm, it's all about pressure. A bomb cyclone is when air pressure drops quickly as a storm becomes stronger.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You know that big L that you might see on a TV weather map sometimes for low pressure? In a bomb cyclone, that low pressure area is surrounded by powerful winds. And when that happens over water, it can lead to large swells and rough surf. Offshore waves can get up to 50 feet high.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Now, for the other term we're hearing, atmospheric river, NBC Los Angeles explains, this is a big, powerful movement of moisture in the atmosphere that flows with the wind. It can move more than 10 trillion gallons of water per day.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Imagine a river in the sky pushing up to 25 times as much water as the Mississippi River. You can't see it at first because the water starts as vapor. But once the vapor cools down, it becomes rain, lots of it, and it's now drenching the West Coast.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Atmospheric rivers are responsible for up to half of California's annual precipitation. It might sound like heavy rain would be a relief right now in a region that's been hit by severe drought, but land that's been scorched by wildfires is at risk of landslides when it gets soaked.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We already seen some of this stretches of road blocked off by piles of rocks trees and debris. The National Weather Service is now warning people in high areas to take shelter on the highest floor of their homes.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Sudan is apparently in the middle of a military coup. That's according to multiple news outlets. As of this morning, several top government officials have reportedly been detained by military forces.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The U.S. special envoy in the region tweeted, The U.S. is deeply alarmed at reports of a military takeover in the country.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: This unrest comes after months of economic distress and pro-democracy protests. Sudan had been transitioning to democracy following the 2019 ousting of former President Omar al-Bashir.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This is a developing story. You can follow the latest in the Apple News app.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: So adults in the U.S. are starting to get COVID boosters. But in the developing world, most people still haven't gotten even a first shot.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This fact is putting a spotlight on wealthy governments and vaccine manufacturers. Critics want to know whether they're doing enough to address a global public health crisis.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The Guardian looks at the numbers, which are pretty low. A coalition of groups including Amnesty International and Oxfam says out of the 1.8 billion doses that were pledged by wealthy countries, only 14 percent have actually been delivered to low-income countries.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Washington Post has details about how Pfizer cut its vaccine distribution deals and the controversy surrounding those contracts. Public Citizen is a consumer rights group. It recently got access to leaked Pfizer contracts, and it says Pfizer used its power to shift risk and maintained high levels of secrecy about its negotiations with governments.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Pfizer told The Washington Post confidentiality clauses are standard for these kinds of deals.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Public Citizen report says some contracts had language to block donations of Pfizer doses Some of these demands may have slowed vaccine rollouts. At least two countries walked away from the bargaining table and criticized Pfizer's terms, although they later reached an agreement.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: Another story in the Post highlights how tough it is for unused vaccines to be donated. Healthcare workers in Southern California had doses that were about to expire. They wanted to donate them to nearby communities across the border in Mexico, but the White House said no.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As the Post explains, the dose is a property of the federal government and Washington has to run donation efforts. What that means is the U.S. government is responsible for where the vaccines go and how they're used.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: If states or local governments start donating doses on their own, federal health officials worry. some of those shots might spoil in transit. This is why the doses that the Southern California doctors wanted to donate, well, they were instead thrown away.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A story from BuzzFeed News looks at how the Trump administration treated vulnerable immigrants. We spoke to reporter Hamed Aliziz.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The 60-year-old Honduran girl described us having crippled legs, an 11-year-old boy with severe epilepsy, and other people with severe medical conditions and disabilities were forced into a controversial Trump administration program called Remain in Mexico.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This program required asylum seekers to wait in Mexico until their day in a U.S. court. And that often meant spending time in dangerous conditions. Human rights activists say immigrants were kidnapped. They were attacked while living in camps.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: BuzzFeed explains why this is an important time to look at the impact of that policy. The Biden administration put a hold on Remain in Mexico, but a recent court decision means it on the verge of being restarted
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now this is a story based on a Department of Homeland Security report which BuzzFeed got its hands on The department did not immediately respond to a request for comment
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: The report says although people with physical or mental health issues were not supposed to be placed in the Remain in Mexico program, some border agents got confused about the rules. And in the end, some vulnerable migrants, people with heart conditions, cancer and major health problems, They wound up in situations they never should have been in.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Halloween is this weekend, and everything feels a little spookier, right? That creaking noise in the basement, the wind howling out your window.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: If you're a homeowner and Halloween has you a little bit on edge, you might want to do yourself a favor and keep it to yourself. Because if word gets out that your house might be haunted, that could have a serious impact on your property's value.
--:-- Shamita Basu: For example, did you know that New York is one of four states that have real estate laws that deal with paranormal activity? Vox has a news story out about the intersection of real estate and ghosts.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: It points to a famous case where a buyer found out that the home he wanted had a reputation for being haunted. He's sued to get his down payment back. And the state Supreme Court ruled in his favor. This is known as the Ghostbusters ruling, and it's become a staple of law school classes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, maybe this all sounds silly to you, or maybe you're one of around 20 percent of Americans who say they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost. Either way, this piece illustrates how intangible things like spookiness can have a real impact on home value.
--:-- Duarte Giraldino: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And while you're in the app, keep listening to hear narrated articles from our news plus partners. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
