U.N. court declines to order cease-fire in Israel-Hamas war

Good morning. It's Friday, January 26. I'm Gideon Resnick, in for Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today. On today's show, what to know about the wave of media layoffs, how Trump could tank a bipartisan border deal, and the four teams vying for spots in this year's Super Bowl.

But first, the United Nations' top court ruled that Israel must take action to prevent acts of genocide. But they stopped short of ordering the country to suspend its military operations in the Gaza Strip. The ruling from the International Court of Justice in The Hague was highly anticipated. It came after South Africa brought charges of genocide against Israel last month.

By 16 votes to 1, the state of Israel shall take immediate and effective measures to ensure the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Health officials in Gaza say more than 25,000 people have been killed, a majority of them women and children. According to the World Health Organization, 93% of Palestinians in Gaza face, quote, "crisis levels of hunger." The court called the current situation in Gaza, quote, "catastrophic" and warned that without immediate humanitarian aid, it is at "risk of deteriorating further." It also ruled that Israel must take effective measures to avoid the destruction of any evidence of genocide.

But the Court deems it necessary to emphasize that all parties to the conflict in the Gaza Strip are bound by international humanitarian law. It is gravely concerned about the fate of the hostages abducted during the attack in Israel on 7 October 2023, and held since then by Hamas and other armed groups, and calls for their immediate and unconditional release.

The ICJ said Israel must submit a report within a month demonstrating it is complying with its orders. While the Court's rulings are binding, it has no means of enforcement. That would be left up to the international community. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry said they welcomed today's ruling from the ICJ. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the ruling, calling the accusation of genocide "not only false," but "outrageous."

Earlier this month, he said nothing would stop the country's war against Hamas, including The Hague. Now let's turn to some other major stories that are in the news. In Russia, a court in Moscow extended the detention of "Wall Street Journal" reporter Evan Gershkovich for an additional two months.

This means Gershkovich will now spend at least one year behind bars. He was arrested in March of 2023, and the U.S. says that he has been wrongly detained. In the United States, Alabama carried out the first execution in the nation to use nitrogen gas. It's an untested method that UN human rights experts have strongly criticized. Convicted murderer Kenneth Smith was pronounced dead Thursday night after the Supreme Court denied an appeal from Smith's attorneys to halt the execution.

I think the border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and congresspeople that he doesn't want us to solve the border problem because he wants to blame Biden for it is really appalling.

"CNN" reports that this is the second time in six years that Trump has either successfully killed or tried to kill

a bipartisan immigration deal. It's a brutal time for the journalism industry, with publishers large and small laying off employees.

In the past year alone, there have been layoffs at "The Washington Post," "Sports Illustrated," "Vox Media," "NPR," "ABC," "NBC," "National Geographic," "Time," and many more. This week, employees at "Condé Nast" and "Forbes" staged walkouts to protest cuts. "Business Insider" announced layoffs for 8% of its staff, and the "Los Angeles Times" cut their newsroom by more than 20%. The problem is particularly acute when it comes to local news.

This is just hugely problematic for communities, for democracy. If you don't have the reporters at the "L.A. Times" and at other local publications covering school board meetings and covering zoning board meetings and telling you what's happening in local communities, there's no way for people to go to the polls and vote responsibly. Local news publications like the "L.A. Times" are fundamental to holding governments accountable.

"NPR" media reporter David Folkenflik says it's hard to point to one reason for this wave of layoffs. With a few rare exceptions, newspapers have struggled to get readers to pay for subscriptions. And despite a healthy economy, advertising dollars are down.

Advertising gets cut in a time of anxiety. And so a lot of corporations up and down have withheld their advertising dollars as they feared an economy which, by and large, hasn't arrived. We've had terrific, you know, quarter-after-quarter ratings. And so that means there's been not an actual recession, but what I am calling now kind of a media recession.

Media commentator Margaret Sullivan told "CNN" about the damage she worries all of this will have on our society. "Democracy," she said, "needs an informed electorate in order to function,

and that is tragically dwindling." This weekend is the NFL Conference Championship Games. The Baltimore Ravens play the Kansas City Chiefs, and the San Francisco 49ers face off against the Detroit Lions.

The winners of these games will go on to play in the Super Bowl. So here to talk through the matchups, what we can expect, and more, is Apple News Sports Editor Shaker Samman. Hey, Shaker.

Hey, what's going on, man? Thanks for having me.

Okay, so let's start with the Chiefs-Ravens game. What are some of the things we should be watching for on the field? Not talking about cuts to Jason Kelce shirtless in the crowd or whatever else.

Yeah. You know, this is basically the matchup that in the AFC we've kind of been hoping for all season. You have the defending champions, the Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, right? This team that has, as long as we can remember, had this dominant, imposing offense that actually this year kind of took a step back and is more of a defensive team.

Yeah, they seem like the scariest team of the bunch if you are thinking about playing them. Let's talk about the NFC. San Francisco 49ers are playing the Detroit Lions. Obviously, a lot of excitement, I think, between you and I and many other people about the Lions specifically. But what should we watch for here?

I think this game comes down to two things. Number one, the health of Debo Samuel, the 49ers superstar, do-it-all kind of wide receiver running back combo player who is effectively a game-breaker because there's no real way to scheme for him without leaving something else open. And also, whether or not the Detroit defense can step up. But this Lions team has kind of been the story of the NFL season, right?

They're one of four teams to have never made it to the Super Bowl. They only have one NFC Championship appearance, and it was in 1992. I'm sure people in Detroit don't need to be reminded of all this. So just to take a step back here from the actual games, what does this mean for this team and this city and its fan base that's sort of been waiting for an opportunity like this?

Yeah, I mean, to put it into context, I'm from the Detroit area. As long as I can remember, the Lions have been miserable. In 2008, they lost every single game. And the kind of like legacy of this team has been losing or almost winning and then breaking your heart. And for the first time in a lot of Lions fans' lives, myself included, they're good. They are 120 minutes of football away from being Super Bowl champions, potentially.

Yeah, it feels like it's been, like, a mass delusion for people to have to convince themselves of what is actually reality week by week with this, which has been fun to see, that it is actually happening. So on that note, 120 minutes away, give me your brain's pick for the Super Bowl and the winner there and your heart's pick.

So we'll start with the AFC. I think the Ravens are going to knock off the Chiefs. I think we're going to have a new champion this year. The Baltimore Ravens are just too good. As for the NFC, my brain's pick is still the 49ers. My heart pick says the Lions win that game, but I can't let myself be caught in that emotionally compromised scenario. So, Super Bowl, 49ers versus Ravens. And just like we saw on the regular season, I think the Ravens beat the 49ers by just an upsetting margin.

Shakar Samman, Apple News Sports Editor. Thank you so much for joining us. And go Lions. I think we should say. Go Lions.

Thanks for having me, and absolutely, go Lions.

You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app, and check out our weekend interview show, Apple News in Conversation. This week, you're going to hear the last interview Shumita recorded before her maternity leave. She talks to New Yorker cartoonist Roz Chast about what it takes to create the iconic drawings we love so much.

I didn't want to learn how to be a New Yorker cartoonist. I wanted to learn how to be me. You know, the only thing I really could do was draw how I drew and think like I thought, and pay attention to what I thought was funny, not try to figure out what somebody else thought was funny.

And if you're listening in the Apple News app right now, that episode is queued up to play for you next. Enjoy the weekend, and we'll be back with the news on Monday.