--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Thursday, July 1st. I'm Shamita Basu. Duarte Geraldino is out. 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: A Manhattan grand jury has filed criminal indictments against Donald Trump's company and its CFO, the Washington Post reports. Sources tell the Post the charges relate to allegations of unpaid taxes on benefits provided to Trump organization execs. The charges are to be unsealed today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg surrendered to authorities early this morning. This comes after long-running investigations into Trump's company by the Manhattan DA and New York Attorney General. Weisselberg has worked for Trump since the 80s. He's seen as the most important figure in the Trump organization outside of the Trump family.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Post explains that there are not charges expected for Trump himself or others close to him this week, but the indictment of Weisselberg could increase the pressure on him to cut a deal and testify against Trump.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can follow developments in this story through the day on the Apple News app.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: If you saw a video of Bill Cosby walking free yesterday, you might still be thinking, how did this happen? The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling to vacate his 2018 indecent assault conviction was surprising to a lot of people following the case.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: NBC News reached out to legal experts to explain what happened in one of the most high-profile criminal cases of the Me Too era. A former prosecutor tells NBC the ruling should not be interpreted as supporting Cosby's claims of innocence.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The decision goes back to a deal Cosby made with prosecutors in a previous civil case. He waived his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by agreeing to testify at that time. The court ruled that this was evidence that Cosby didn't think he would be criminally charged.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Some legal experts are blaming the prosecutors, both the former DA who made the deal with Cosby, saying he shouldn't have done that in the first place, and the ones who ultimately pursued the criminal case, violating Cosby's due process rights by using his past testimony against him.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One law professor tells NBC this ruling is so unique that it's unlikely to affect future high-profile sexual assault cases. She thinks it may actually make it less likely that prosecutors will make deals like the one Cosby got in the future.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: Today, China leader Xi Jinping marked the 100th anniversary of China Communist Party with a fiery speech. He said the country will not allow any foreign nation to bully or oppress it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This week also marks one year since China passed a national security law that has dramatically changed life in Hong Kong. CNN looks at the impact.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The law criminalized subversion, secession, terrorism, and foreign collusion. The maximum sentence is life in prison. The vague wording of the law has allowed it to be used to arrest people for a wide range of activities.
--:-- Shamita Basu: CNN reports that more than 100 people have been arrested under this law. That includes three leading pro-democracy activists who were sentenced to prison in December. Earlier this year, dozens of former lawmakers and opposition activists were arrested for, quote, subverting state power.
--:-- Shamita Basu: One of the most prominent arrests made in the past year was of Jimmy Lai, owner of the pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily. Just a few weeks ago, police officers raided the paper's headquarters, making arrests and freezing assets.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Days later, in a major blow to press freedom in Hong Kong, Apple Daily announced it was shutting down. This is a dramatic transformation for a place that has a long history of protest and independence.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Some residents have now seen enough. CNN reports that many have already left Hong Kong, bound for countries like Britain, Australia, and Canada, and waves of people are expected to follow.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: This week, something kind of unexpected happened in the music world. Billboard has the story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Someone on Twitter accused pop newcomer Olivia Rodrigo of lifting a guitar riff from an Elvis Costello hit. Take a listen for yourself. Here's Costello's 1978 Pump It Up. And here's Brutal by Olivia Rodrigo.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The surprising part comes next. There weren't bitter words or a multi-million dollar lawsuit. Costello responded by saying, yeah, that's how rock and roll works.
--:-- Shamita Basu: He said he was fine with it. In fact, he even referenced a Bob Dylan song that inspired his song, as well as a Chuck Berry single that influenced the Bob Dylan song. It was like he sketched out a little musical family tree.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And in another extremely chill move, Costello shared with his Twitter followers a cool mashup made by a DJ who mixed Costello's and Rodrigo's songs together. You can check out his Twitter to hear the Elvis Costello-approved remix.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And while you're there, check out some of our audio stories. We'll talk with you again tomorrow.
