--:-- Shamita Basu: Hey there, it's Shamita here. I've got a quick ask. We are working on an upcoming episode of In Conversation, and we've learned that when it comes to money management and couples, opposites really do attract. Spenders are more likely to end up with savers and vice versa. So we want to hear your Opposites Attract story about how having two different approaches to money issues has played out in your relationship. Use your iPhone's voice memo app to record yourself. Just tell us your name, where you're from, and your story. And please try to keep it to about a minute. You can send it to us at AppleNewsToday at Apple.com. Again, that's AppleNewsToday at Apple.com. And we might include your story on the show. Thanks.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Friday, February 3rd. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, why the Pentagon's sounding the alarm about a spy balloon from China over the U.S. Big changes could be coming to the Democratic primary. And how Iran's government is using technology against protesters. But first, whether you like it or not, you've probably benefited from the trafficking of stolen goods. Maybe you bought a cup of coffee from a cafe that uses stolen beans. If you shop online for clothes or accessories, the likelihood is even higher. Over the past few years, big stores and pharmacy chains have said shoplifting is on the rise. But a recent piece in New York Magazine re-examines that narrative and offers some nuanced perspectives on the people doing the shoplifting.
--:-- Reporter James Walsh: One of the things I was struck by when I was interviewing shoplifters and kind of learning more about this shoplifting industry, if you want to call it an industry, is how much of it was driven by drug addiction. You know, I spoke to a handful of boosters and I asked each one of them, do you know people who are doing it for any other reason than to feed a drug addiction? And they said no. They were all unhoused at various points. So I was really kind of shocked to see how close that relationship was between a housing crisis, a drug crisis, and this shoplifting, you know, quote unquote epidemic.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And while we, the shoppers, might walk into a pharmacy and feel annoyed that so many things are behind a plastic barrier these days, Walsh asks us to consider what it's like for the people who work there. Some shoplifters steal quietly, but some march in and take things openly. Occasionally that can, you know, lead to violence. I spoke with employees who had knives pulled on them. A lot of employees talk about the trauma of having to deal with shoplifting constantly.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This article challenges the lazy narratives that come up around shoplifting For all the panic some companies have stirred up around this the numbers from the National Retail Federation show the percentage of lost goods hasn't changed much in recent years. The CFO of Walgreens recently told investors, maybe we cried too much last year. This is an in-depth story with a lot of great details, including first-person stories of people who've gotten wrapped up in shoplifting rings. You can read it for yourself in the Apple News app.
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--:-- Shamita Basu: Let's take a moment to catch up on three big developing stories we're watching. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is postponing his much-anticipated trip to China, Bloomberg reports. This comes after the Defense Department spotted a massive spy balloon high above Montana. Officials believe it comes from China. Options to shoot it down were presented to President Biden, but he decided not to because of the risk to civilians on the ground. China's foreign ministry claims the balloon was doing climate research, and regrets that it entered U.S. airspace.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Today's jobs report came in much stronger than forecasters expected, with the U.S. economy showing a net gain of more than half a million new jobs last month. This comes a couple days after the Fed hiked interest rates again. The unexpectedly strong labor data now has traders betting that the Fed will keep raising rates, maybe even more aggressively. And House Republicans voted to remove Minnesota Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee. They said it was over comments she made about Israel. Many Democrats viewed it as payback for kicking some Republicans off committees when the House was under Democrats' control.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Omar said she'll keep doing her job. I am here to stay and I am here to be a voice against harms around the world and advocate for a better world. Omar was elected in 2018, along with Rashida Tlaib, becoming the first Muslim women to serve in Congress.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Moving on to some political news beyond Washington. This weekend, Iowa's coveted spot as the first in the nation caucus state to kick off the presidential race is being reconsidered. Democratic National Committee members will vote tomorrow on whether to change up the order of voting states. This is based on a proposal from President Biden.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Hey, Shamita. So Biden proposal would shuffle Iowa down the list and make South Carolina first So remind us why the order matters in general but also specifically for Biden
--:-- Shamita Basu: The order of primaries is pretty important and kind of historically has made and broke some candidates over the years. States that go first get a lot of attention from these candidates. They'll visit many times. They'll crisscross those states. They'll pour a lot of money into them. You know, if you go to church in Des Moines, you might have a story about seeing Barack Obama a number of times.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: And Iowa kind of counts itself as a place where often somewhat previously unknown political figures can turn themselves into contenders. Obama is one of those examples. And even before that, you know, Jimmy Carter is another.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yeah, it absolutely is. But, you know, outsiders kind of view it in a somewhat different light, right? First and foremost, it is a caucus. It's not a primary. That means that it's time intensive. For years, also, people have said that Iowa is this interesting and good democratic process, but also that it's not really representative of the rest of the country.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: Also, I think worth saying here, you know, Biden performed poorly in Iowa, but did well enough in South Carolina that it revived his presidential campaign. So he has asked DNC leaders, as you said, to allow South Carolina to vote first as a way to bring more voters of color into the process earlier.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And keep in mind, this would be a pretty big shift. You know, Iowa has gone first since 1972. New Hampshire has been the first primary since even before then. So I guess we may be preparing ourselves to say goodbye to the butter cow and to pictures of presidential candidates eating things on sticks at the caucus. And that's a shame.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: But explain this for me. Can a president just decide to do this, like shift the order because it's better for them? I mean, who else needs to be on board with this and who can potentially stop this from going forward?
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yeah, I mean, the DNC needs to get on board. But Biden, of course, can suggest it. And I think the combination of him asking this and that these conversations about changing the order had been happening before the proposal means it will probably happen. You know, there are a lot of people specifically like Southern DNC members who like the change. We've heard the most vocal criticism from Democrats in places like New Hampshire. And then, you know, outside of the DNC, this is going to need buy in from state level Republicans in places like New Hampshire and Georgia as well.
--:-- Gideon Resnick: So even though the DNC is expected to vote in favor of this proposal, it doesn't mean it's actually going to happen. Yeah, this weekend's vote is definitely not the end of the story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Gideon Resnick, thank you so much. Yeah, of course. Thank you.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Despite what Iran's government wants people to think, protests against the regime are still happening around the country. And there's growing concern that the government is using facial recognition tools to identify protesters, particularly women who are violating dress codes by taking off their hijabs. A story from Wired looks into this. Demonstrations began in September, after Masa Amini died in police custody under highly suspicious circumstances. She was accused of violating the hijab law.
--:-- Kari Johnson: What we know is that a national identity database was created in 2015, and this includes face scans. The push to use face recognition in traffic cameras in a pilot project in Tehran was known beforehand as well. But the extent to which this technology is being used is not yet clear. An Oxford researcher who studies freedom of expression in Iran told Johnson the country's digital surveillance program has been growing for years. She's heard from Iranian women who say they've been surprised to get citations in the mail for hijab law violations. It's possible that surveillance technology might have spotted them.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Digital human rights groups like Freedom House monitor 70 different countries around the world, including Iran. And one of their researchers was telling me that, to their knowledge, this is one of the first instances of a government using face recognition to impose dress law on women based on religious belief. The deck is already stacked against Iranians demonstrating for human rights. Around 20,000 people have been arrested and hundreds of protesters reportedly killed.
--:-- Kari Johnson: The Freedom House researcher also told Johnson, facial recognition technology has become desirable. for authoritarian regimes around the world. And Iran is a place where they have both the technical capacity and governmental will to use it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're listening in the app right now, stick around to hear our interview show In Conversation. This week, I talked to investigative reporter Scott Haim from The Washington Post about the deadly fentanyl crisis. Hayam explains the government failures that got us here. They're starting to do things. Things are starting to happen. But, you know, here we are in 2023. You know, we're, you know, six or seven years behind the ball.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That conversation is queued up to play next in the Apple News app. So check that out. Have a good weekend. And I'll be back with the news on Monday.
