--:-- Gideon Resnick: Good morning. It's Tuesday, May 28th. I'm Gideon Resnick in for Shamit DeBesu. Hope you had a nice long weekend. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Coming up, why voters' views on the economy have gotten so political. How Mexico's cartels are infiltrating the tortilla industry. And the good news and bad news about travel this summer. But first, a look at some major stories that are in the news.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The Biden administration is once again telling Israel it needs to take special care to protect civilians. This comes after a strike in Rafa started a fire in a refugee camp over the weekend. At least 45 people died, largely civilians.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: On PBS, Umm Mohammed al-Attar talked about surviving the attack. We were praying and we were getting our children's beds ready to sleep. Then we heard a very loud noise and fire erupted around us.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it a tragic mistake. Israel's military previously said it was an operation meant to be a precise strike on a Hamas compound. And Palestinians on the ground say Israeli attacks on Rafah have continued.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: First responders in Gaza say more people were killed overnight. And people on the ground say that Israeli tanks rolled into the center of Rafa for the first time today.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This is all taking place just days after the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to stop its Rafa offensive, though the court has no power to enforce that ruling.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Elsewhere, authorities in Papua New Guinea put a new evacuation order in effect for people in the path of a deadly landslide that's still active. Officials estimate that more than 2,000 people may have been buried in the disaster.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Aid supplies and recovery equipment have been slow to arrive because of how remote the area is.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In the U.S., more than 20 people in four states are dead after powerful thunderstorms and tornadoes ripped through big swaths of the country over the weekend.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The deadliest weather was in Arkansas and Texas. People were also killed in Kentucky and Oklahoma, and there have been widespread power outages.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: In legal news, closing arguments are today in former President Donald Trump's criminal trial in New York.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: After both sides finish, the judge will have instructions for the jury, and then they'll begin deliberations with Trump's fate in their hands.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: This will likely be the only criminal case against him that's decided before the election.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Politico senior legal affairs reporter Josh Gerstein told PBS why he thinks jurors could deliver a verdict this week.
--:-- Josh Gerstein: They've been stuck in that courtroom for long enough that I just don't see them wanting to drag this out. There's not, I think, a huge amount of factual dispute for them to sort of chew over.
--:-- Josh Gerstein: There are some issues of credibility to talk about, and there are a lot of legal issues to wrestle with. But it's not a question where they need to go through the evidence piece by piece.
--:-- Josh Gerstein: And in sports, the Boston Celtics are in the NBA Finals for the 23rd time after sweeping the Indiana Pacers last night.
--:-- Josh Gerstein: The Celtics will play the winner of the Minnesota Timberwolves-Dallas Mavericks series. Dallas leads, and the series could end as soon as tonight.
--:-- Josh Gerstein: As the games played out, the basketball world is remembering Hall of Famer Bill Walton, who died at 71.
--:-- Josh Gerstein: After winning two NCAA and two NBA championships, the 6'11 center went on to a successful broadcasting career.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's the economy, stupid. In 1992, Bill Clinton's presidential campaign headquarters had that posted on a sign, and it became a famous phrase.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It was a reminder to relentlessly focus on bad economic numbers under then-President George H.W. Bush. And that message helped Clinton win the White House.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But in this year's presidential election, Annie Lowry argues in The Atlantic, things are looking very different.
--:-- Annie Lowry: The economy remains an extraordinarily important issue. But I think that we're now in this world where it might be becoming somewhat less salient.
--:-- Annie Lowry: There's been a lot of discussion this year about how a lot of economic numbers, employment, prices, wages, show a very strong U.S. economy.
--:-- Annie Lowry: But at the same time, many polls indicate the positive data does not seem to be doing much for Biden with voters.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So what does it mean if an incumbent can't win with an economy like this if voters say it is their most important issue?
--:-- Annie Lowry: Lau reported over research on partisanship and voter perceptions to explore what's going on.
--:-- Annie Lowry: And her analysis is the growing polarization of Americans is totally transforming how the economy plays into elections or doesn't.
--:-- Annie Lowry: People kind of just make their mind up about the economy depending on their political persuasion.
--:-- Annie Lowry: It also means that a really good economy, it's not going to have the same effect on people's outlook. They're going to be less sunny about it because they're just not into what's happening politically.
--:-- Annie Lowry: So that kind of puts a lid on how good people think the economy is.
--:-- Annie Lowry: Because if it's a good economy during the Trump administration, Democrats just aren't going to like it. If it's a good economy during the Biden administration, Republicans are not going to be happy.
--:-- Annie Lowry: Loury points to some recent research on gas prices to help understand this phenomenon.
--:-- Annie Lowry: Those prices used to be a good measure of the public feelings about the performance of the White House.
--:-- Annie Lowry: But as partisanship has grown and financial well-being has improved, that correlation has started to disappear in recent years.
--:-- Annie Lowry: People's partisan feelings may ultimately overpower their economic ones.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: For Lowry, an election where a strong economy doesn't help the incumbent would not be a new thing.
--:-- Annie Lowry: In a way, it would be like the 2020 race. The economy was pretty good then, and Donald Trump still lost.
--:-- Annie Lowry: Economy's pretty good right now. It's not getting much better, but it is a really good economy.
--:-- Annie Lowry: And I don't think at all that that's going to guarantee Biden a win.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Mexico's election is on Sunday. And it's coming at a very dangerous time for the country.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: There's a wave of political violence and also attacks on ordinary citizens.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Polling shows that security is a top concern for voters.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: On the ground reporting from the Washington Post helps explain why anyone from a political candidate to a small tortilla vendor feels like they're living under threat.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: I think most people know drug cartels from kind of Netflix movies, Pablo Escobar or El Chapo Guzman, these giant organizations with these very charismatic guys who have big weapons and dominate big chunks of the country.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: But she says these larger groups have splintered, forming rival mini cartels with a grip on local communities across Mexico.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: These mini cartels have penetrated towns, working to install their preferred local politicians and extort businesses.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: There's so many small cartels now that they can't all engage in like big time cocaine smuggling to the United States.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: So what they're really doing is trying to get this revenue stream from ordinary Mexicans.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: And it's a massive problem across the country.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: These cartels shake down everyone from restaurant owners to manicurists to taxi drivers. Even the powerful Catholic Church gets extorted.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: Those who speak out or refuse to pay face consequences. Their homes and businesses get burned down. They could even be killed.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: I mean, this is not on the periphery anymore.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: So if you look at Mexico, you see things like 70% of the lumber in Mexico is now in the hands of crime groups.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: One in five cigarettes. 30% of the gas and diesel that's sold in Mexico is either stolen or contraband.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: There's a climate of fear across the country and it's having an impact at the U border as well.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: Detentions of Mexicans there have tripled since 2019 and a migrant services organization research last year found that almost 90% of Mexican migrants cited violence as their reason for leaving home.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And those who do try to stay and fight often find themselves alone.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: Sheridan told us about a tortilla shop owner who tried to rally locals after criminals shot up his business and wounded his teenage son.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: So he was calling out to the public, Join me in this. Let's demonstrate. Let's stand up to these people.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: And nobody came.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Sheridan explains that the level of criminality is hard to deal with because it's become so entrenched.
--:-- Mary Beth Sheridan: It's not just a few bad apples, she says. It's a structural problem playing a powerful role in the economy.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: With Memorial Day weekend behind us, we are now in the heat of the summer travel season.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You may be counting down the days to that big trip that you have planned.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So to get you ready, CNN has some new reporting on travel trends to help you know what to expect this summer.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: First of all, if you're flying, get ready for a crowd.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: U.S. airlines expect to carry 271 million passengers from June through August, a record.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: One analyst says airlines seem to be ready, with new planes and additional flights planned.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: As for airports, that's another story.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Security and terminals are often going to be very crowded.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Travel pros recommend signing up for TSA PreCheck and FastTrack, which could help speed you along through those security lines.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Also this summer, extreme weather could mess with your plans.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Forecasters expect a very active hurricane season, and extreme heat could force airlines to change their schedules.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Climate change overall is helping make turbulence worse, so you could be in for a bumpier ride than usual.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Recent high-profile incidents of turbulence, including on that Singapore Airlines flight, have served as a reminder of the importance of seatbelts.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: There is one bit of good news. Prices are looking reasonable.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Kayak predicts domestic fare should be down 13% from last year on average.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: You can get more travel tips in the full story on the Apple News app.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And if you're already listening to the News app right now, we have a Narrated article coming up next, which sticks with the summer travel theme.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: The Atlantic looks at the booming business of airport lounges.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: It's a high stakes competition to draw in big money travelers eager to escape those crowded terminals and slurp down a few free drinks.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: If you're listening in the podcast app, you can follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
