--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Wednesday, December 20th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, how the war in Gaza is creating a new threat to the global economy, investigating sexual abuse accusations against Sean Combs, and Minnesota unfurls a brand new state flag. But first, Donald Trump is disqualified from appearing on the Colorado presidential primary ballot.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The state Supreme Court is barring him from running because it determined that he engaged in an insurrection on January 6th. The historic decision relies on language in the Constitution from 1868, just after the Civil War, meant to keep Confederate leaders from holding American office.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That text has never been used before to keep a presidential candidate off the ballot. Judges in other states are considering or have already heard similar legal challenges to Trump's campaign.
--:-- David Becker: This is unprecedented and in many ways unexpected. Every other court that has looked at this issue has decided not on the merits. They didn't rule that Donald Trump didn't engage in an insurrection, but they decided based on procedural grounds like standing or ripeness.
--:-- David Becker: Meaning that because he was just running for the Republican nomination and the Republican Party has a great deal of latitude in how it decides its nominees, that it wouldn't be right for them to rule on whether or not he could appear on the Republican primary ballot.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Colorado court's ruling was 4-3. The three justices who disagreed had different reasons, that Trump hadn't been charged with insurrection or convicted, or that the court lacked authority to decide the issue.
--:-- David Becker: Trump promises an appeal and a fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Becker says it'll be tough for the justices in Washington to avoid weighing in.
--:-- David Becker: This is a very important decision. We've never been here before. And I think this Colorado Supreme Court recognizing that stayed their own decision until January 4th of next year, giving the Trump campaign an opportunity to appeal to the United States Supreme Court.
--:-- David Becker: And then the United States Supreme Court could decide on whether to take it. It is not mandatory that they take this case. But I think almost everybody including myself thinks that it's almost a 100 percent likelihood that they will take on this case.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Global shipping is under attack, the latest fallout from the war between Israel and Hamas. CNN has an explainer on who's behind these attacks and what they're hoping to gain.
--:-- Shamita Basu: See, an enormous amount of global goods travel by ship through Egypt's Suez Canal, connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Seas. And the route passes by Yemen.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Lately, the Iran-backed Houthis, an armed rebel group in Yemen, have been firing on ships that go by. They say that it's part of a campaign to support Palestinians in Gaza.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Several shipping companies are now saying they'll avoid the area. That can mean sailing all the way around the tip of Africa. These longer and more expensive trips could drive up the price of goods and energy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Oil has already spiked as the route has gotten more dangerous. The attacks threaten sailors and could damage the global economy. So governments are taking new action.
--:-- Shamita Basu: U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the creation of a new multinational task force to secure the waters. That operation is bringing together more than a dozen countries from around the world to conduct joint patrols in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Houthis ramping up attacks on ships is just one way the Israel-Hamas war is turning into a wider conflict, much to the concern of global leaders.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It helps to get a brief reminder of how the Houthis position themselves politically. They are Shia Muslims who felt marginalized by the Sunni-dominated government in Yemen.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The dispute between them led to a full-on civil war. The Houthis managed to take over some territory, but Saudi Arabia backed the Sunni government and launched fierce attacks on Houthi rebels in 2015.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The UN says the war killed nearly a quarter million people, creating a mass humanitarian crisis.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There was a ceasefire in 2022 which has technically expired but so far there hasn't been a return to full conflict.
--:-- Shamita Basu: By attacking ships off the coast of Yemen the Houthis say they are sending a message to Israel and the rest of the world that they only relent if Israel allows more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Israeli officials have called for more global coordination to address the threat. And CNN points out this could be an issue that pulls the U.S. even deeper into this conflict.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Because the Houthis have effectively made themselves impossible to ignore.
--:-- August Brown: For people that kind of knew Sean Combs as this almost family-friendly star in some ways, you know, he co-hosted Live with Regis and Kelly before, and a lot of it was very, very shocking, and it kind of instantly called his entire legacy into question.
--:-- August Brown: Last month, singer Cassandra Ventura, better known as Cassie, filed a civil lawsuit against Combs, accusing him of physical and sexual abuse.
--:-- August Brown: Cassie had dated Sean Combs for many, many years over the course of the 2000s, and she sued him in civil court claiming, some really upsetting sexual and physical violence, that took place over the entirety of their relationship.
--:-- August Brown: Combs settled the suit within 24 hours, but Ventura's decision to go public opened the floodgates. Other plaintiffs have filed civil lawsuits against Combs accusing him of sexual assault and abuse.
--:-- August Brown: Combs has denied the allegations. Ventura and others were able to sue Combs because the New York Adult Survivors Act extended the statute of limitation for civil lawsuits.
--:-- August Brown: Brown's reporting reveals how many people in the industry knew that Combs had a violent history. One of the other co-founders of his record label, Bad Boy Entertainment, told the LA Times that Combs has a long track record of traumatizing women and that he used nondisclosure agreements and payoffs to prevent people from speaking out.
--:-- August Brown: Many of Combs' business partners have cut ties with him. Brown says we at a turning point in the entertainment industry.
--:-- August Brown: There is a culture shift that happening where people feel more empowered to speak up about this in a way that will have results and have some accountability.
--:-- August Brown: It may not affect everything. It may not be the justice that they're seeking. But I'm heartened to know that young people, especially young women, especially young women of color, that are, kind of subject to some of these things in making their way through the industry.
--:-- August Brown: There are like green shoots of being believed that weren't there even a decade ago. And that is really heartening to see. And it comes from them sharing stories with each other and speaking out collectively.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And in other news, it's not often that a state flag is up for a redesign, but the newly unveiled flag of Minnesota is the result of a long process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Lots of discussions and designs and feedback. There have been calls to change the flag going back decades. The old one had a caricature of an indigenous person. Also, it was busy and complicated.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Experts in the study of flags, which is called vexillology, argued that a good state flag should be simple enough that a child could draw it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In May, the state legislature passed a bill to formally start a redesign process. The new flag features an eight-pointed white star, referencing the state's motto, the Star of the North.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's on a blue background, representing the importance of the waters in a place that is nicknamed Land of 10,000 Lakes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The local artist, whose design is the basis of the new flag, calls it a rare privilege to be part of the state's history like this.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He says he hopes it'll bring unity and pride to Minnesota.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can see the new flag for yourself and all the stories we talked about in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next from The New Yorker.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It looks into an unusual legal doctrine that's resulting in long prison sentences, disproportionately affecting young and Black Americans.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow. Thank you.
