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Good morning! It's Tuesday, October 31st. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, tracking growing antisemitism on American college campuses, the unusual lawsuits that are trying to get Trump thrown off the ballot, and for Halloween, the science behind why a good scare can be healthy.
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But first, the latest on the war, where Israeli forces are fighting inside tunnels under Gaza. And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is rejecting calls to stop fighting.
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Calls for a ceasefire are calls for Israel to surrender to Hamas, to surrender to terrorism, to surrender to barbarism. That will not happen.
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The growing civilian death toll, and severe shortages of food, water, and supplies have more countries and aid agencies calling for a pause in combat. Very few trucks with humanitarian aid have been able to reach the millions of people in Gaza.
In the U.S., there are growing tensions and a rise in harassment and hate crimes. The Biden administration is sending federal resources to college campuses, including cybersecurity experts to investigate antisemitic and anti-Muslim threats. The FBI is investigating a series of violent threats made against Jewish students at Cornell. Online messages encouraged violence and named the Center for Jewish Living on campus.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre says the administration is taking the threats seriously.
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To the students at Cornell and on campuses across the country, we're tracking these threats closely, we're thinking of you, and we're going to do everything we can, both at Cornell and across the country, to counter terrorism, anti-Semitism.
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Cornell is not unique. The Anti-Defamation League reports a nearly 400 percent increase in antisemitic assaults, harassment, and vandalism since Hamas attacked Israel. Columbia law student Eli Shmidman told "CBS" about how it feels to receive threats.
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We know now that there are students in our class that simply hate us because we're Jewish.
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"CBS" also spoke to Julia Jassey, CEO of Jewish on Campus, which monitors antisemitism at colleges.
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I think it's a really important time to understand that there's a difference between political discourse and the harassment, the attacks on Jewish students on campus.
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Students are saying they don't feel safe, seeing swastikas and Nazi slogans on dorm walls, and hearing slurs. And fears about antisemitism on American campuses are growing as incidents rise across the world. Most recently, there was the violent crowd that broke into a Russian airport, targeting a plane from Israel. The passengers weren't hurt, but images of the people storming the airport are a reminder that violence triggered by the war can happen far beyond Israel and Gaza.
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Now, let's take a look at some other stories in the news. An Illinois man charged with murder and hate crimes for killing a 6-year-old Muslim boy pleaded not guilty yesterday. The boy's mother was also wounded in the stabbing attack. Prosecutors say the suspect targeted the family because they were Muslim. He was kept in jail without bond.
In other legal news, today the Supreme Court will hear arguments on important cases involving speech and social media. Justices will consider the question of whether public officials can block people from following their social media accounts. Later on, the court will hear other cases involving social media platforms, taking on questions about content moderation policies, and the Biden administration's efforts to fight digital misinformation.
And striking actors meet with studios again today. The union says there has been progress, but the two sides are still divided over some key issues. There have been recent signs of hope for a deal, and some speculation that the strike could end as early as this week. The union's top negotiator says there's reason for optimism, but it's too soon to put a timeline on when the strike could end, and Hollywood can fully get back to work.
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This week, several courts around the country are looking at a very specific legal argument that'll affect the 2024 presidential election. Can former president Donald Trump be barred from running for office because he tried to overturn the election he lost?
Trump critics are relying on the 14th Amendment to make their case. Section 3 states that someone who participated in an insurrection against America can be disqualified from certain offices. The amendment, which was ratified in 1868, so after the Civil War, was intended to keep Confederate soldiers out of office. It's rarely come up since. But now there are legal actions in Colorado and Minnesota that could apply this law to Trump and bar him from appearing on the ballot in those states. Those cases are the furthest along, but there are similar lawsuits across the country.
Patrick Marley is covering the one in Colorado. He spoke to us from just outside the courtroom. Marley explained that the judge will have to determine if January 6th qualifies as an insurrection for the purposes of this case.
The testimony kicked off on day 1 with a police officer who was there on January 6th, who was crushed by the crowd, attacked multiple times, had someone try to gouge out his eye. So, pretty compelling testimony that he presented, whether it will persuade the judge that January 6th was an insurrection, we don't know. Trump supporters argue that he never engaged in an insurrection. And that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment doesn't apply here.
The cases will have to move quickly with the GOP primary well underway. The judge in the Denver case is expected to rule in a few weeks. And the constitutional question could go all the way to the highest court.
If any one state takes him off the ballot, the U.S. Supreme Court will probably step in and decide the matter, one way or the other. And once the U.S. Supreme Court weighs in, that will be the rule for every state. So the Supreme Court's ruling would determine whether he can be on a ballot in the state or not.
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It's Halloween and if you're like me, you might love the candy but hate all the scary stuff that comes with it. All the blood and gore and jump-scares, it's just never been my thing. Which is why a recent story from "Scientific American" stood out to me. The headline, "Why we need scary play."
The authors are psychologists who argue that recreational scary activities have a lot of benefits. One studied the effects of going through a haunted house. People made their way through 45 terrifying minutes of dark rooms, and zombies, and killer clowns. And afterwards, many of them told researchers they learned something, about the boundaries of what they could handle, and how to better manage their fear.
And it's not just people. Years ago, Charles Darwin saw this in monkeys. See monkeys are terrified of snakes. But Darwin observed how they would very consistently walk up to reptiles, scream, and run. Gazelles have also been seen doing something like this with cheetahs. It seems like the animals are purposely scaring themselves. This may help them learn about dangers, in order to know how to be safer in the future.
So, as you head into your Halloween, remember the research and consider pushing your boundaries. It could help you cope a little bit better with the scariest parts of day-to-day life.
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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, stick around. The full "Scientific American" story is coming up next as a Narrated Article. If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story. And I'll back with the news tomorrow.
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