Americans who just left Gaza describe a region in crisis

Good morning! It's Thursday, November 9th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show: A tentative deal to end the actors' strike and put Hollywood back to work, artificial intelligence is fueling a wave of fake nude images, and the backstory of why China is pulling pandas from U.S. zoos.

But first, there are fierce street battles raging in Gaza City today, as Israeli troops and tanks advance, and Hamas fighters use their network of tunnels to evade and ambush the larger force. For the civilians caught in the middle of this war, it's hard to get a clear picture of their suffering. There are few journalists on the ground. And cuts to power and communication make it difficult for Palestinians to speak to the outside world.

There were 35,000 internally displaced people living alongside us. There were children with just massive burns down their faces, down their necks, all over their limbs. And because the hospitals are so overwhelmed, they are being discharged immediately after. And they're being discharged to these camps with no access to running water. There's 50,000 people at that camp now and four toilets. They're given two hours of water every 12 hours, and…

There's four toilets for 50,000 people?

Yes. Um, and that's where we were living, too. And they have these fresh, open burns and wounds and partial amputations that are just walking around these conditions. And parents are bringing their children to us, going, "Please, can you help? Please, can you help?" And we've no supplies.

Her colleagues were forced to relocate multiple times for safety. And she says, the Palestinian doctors and nurses on her team are the reason they survived using their connections to get food, water, and other supplies. When she learned that she could leave Gaza, the Palestinian staffers told her they were determined to stay.

The only answer I got was, "This is our community. This is our family. These are our friends. If they're going to kill us, we're going to die saving as many people as we can." And I said, if I can ever have an ounce of the heart that you have, I will… I will die a happy person.

Callahan says, every morning, she messages them to check if they're still alive. American Qassem Ali told "NPR" he was reluctant to leave at first. He grew up in Gaza, his family is there, and he's worked there as a journalist for years.

I have been covering all the wars in Gaza, but this is different. This is not just a war. This is more than a war.

He was visiting his mother when the war started. As the violence escalated, Ali started to worry he would never get the chance to see his 13-year-old daughter in Canada again. So, he left. But his mother, and other relatives, stayed behind.

They refuse to leave. They decide, if we're going to die, let's die in our house. Of course, this is why I'm not happy leaving, because I'm worried about my mother.

Ali says he's gone back and forth to Gaza many times in his life, but this time he feels like he left part of himself behind. The American nurse, Callahan, said something similar when asked whether she would go back to help if she could.

In a heartbeat. In an absolute heartbeat. Uh, my heart is in Gaza. It will stay in Gaza. The Palestinian people that I worked with, both our national staff in the office as well as my staff at Indonesia Hospital, were some of the most incredible people I've ever met in my life.

Now, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news.

The U.S. has launched new airstrikes in Syria; the second time in recent weeks. Officials say this attack hit a weapon storage facility used by Iranian forces and affiliates. Militants backed by Iran have recently launched dozens of attacks on U.S. and coalition troops in Iraq and Syria. The Pentagon says if attacks on American troops in the region don't stop, it'll take further action.

Let’s focus on how to save as many babies as we can and support as many moms as we can. And stop the judgement. We don't need to divide America over this issue anymore.

In Hollywood, there's a tentative deal that could end the actors' strike and get TV and movie productions back on track. The union wanted studios to provide better pay and benefits, and protections around the use of artificial intelligence. SAG-AFTRA's chief negotiator said the proposed agreement is not perfect, that neither side got everything they wanted, but the union did get everything it needed. Members next have to vote to ratify the deal, which union leaders expect to go through.

"Fast Car" was a massive hit, earning Chapman a fistful of Grammys. More recently, country star Luke Combs heard the haunting guitar, and searing lyrics about escaping poverty and thought it could also be a perfect country song.

The cover was a hit too. Suddenly, Chapman was the first Black woman ever to top the country charts. Some criticized Combs, a white singer, for appropriating her music. But Chapman, who rarely speaks in the press, said she was happy that Combs had success, and appreciated that it helped new fans find her song. She wasn't at the ceremony last night, but the presenter read a statement from Chapman saying she was honored to be recognized again, all these decades later.

Common Al tools make it easy to create fake images. Some can make very convincing fake pornographic images. "The Wall Street Journal" reports on an incident involving students at a high school in New Jersey. Girls there learned that their faces were used to make it appear that they were in graphic photos, fake nude images. "The Journal"'s Family & Tech columnist Julie Jargon spoke to parents who said the ordeal has humiliated their daughters.

Parents who found out about this then were very upset and continued to be concerned about the repercussions that might have for the girls. You know, whether these photos will surface in the future and create problems for them when they apply for college or apply for jobs.

The school would not confirm to "The Journal" how many students were involved and if it took disciplinary action, citing student confidentiality. In a local Facebook group, some parents called for harsh punishment for whoever made the fake photos. Some said that they should be forgiven. Multiple parents filed police reports and the incident is under investigation. Jargon says more and more teachers, parents, and police are going to have to deal with this technology.

It's easier than ever to find AI programs that will allow people to doctor images. It's become very widespread, very cheap and accessible. So, it's creating a whole other level of concern for, for parents, for kids involved, for law enforcement officials to try to figure out, you know, the laws on… on this kind of thing.

Laws against explicit images of children could apply in this situation. A similar case involving fake pornographic images led to a six-month sentence earlier this year for a man who made images using real people's faces. For the students in Jersey, the incident is having a chilling effect on what they do online.

It kind of showed how little control people have over their own photos that they post and how they can be used. So, some girls, according to this one teenager, said that they deleted their social media accounts.

And finally, that panda story that we promised. Yesterday three giant pandas left the National Zoo in D.C. and flew back to China. This marks the end, for now, of half a century of "panda diplomacy" in the nation's capital, going back to Nixon's historic visit to China.

We have made known that we want to continue to have pandas here in the future, that's not a secret. But we have not begun any official conversations about what that agreement would look like, what it would be.

The D.C. Zoo is even moving ahead on plans to renovate the panda habitat, just in case China decides it's willing to revisit the panda contracts again.

You can find all these stories, and more, in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a Narrated Article coming up next, following the animals-in-captivity theme. "Vox" looks at the damage done to orcas when humans take them out of the wild and stick them in theme parks, and the studies that fueled calls to set these animals free. If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story.