Understanding the history of Gaza and who controls it

Good morning! It's Wednesday, October 11th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is “Apple News Today.” On today's show… New charges for New York congressman George Santos… How prison labor is used to train AI… And the new sports on track to appear in the 2028 Olympics in LA.

But first, the death toll is steadily rising as more Israeli airstrikes hit Gaza, and new details emerge about the impact of Hamas's attack on Israel. In Gaza, Palestinian officials say, more than 1000 people are dead. In Israel, officials there say at least 1,200 people have been killed. Its military also says it killed at least a thousand Hamas fighters inside Israel.

There's no justification for terrorism. There's no excuse. Hamas does not stand for the Palestinian people's right to dignity and self-determination. Its stated purpose is the annihilation of the state of Israel and the murder of Jewish people. They use Palestinian civilians as human shields. Hamas offers nothing but terror and bloodshed with no regard to who pays the price.

We're now several days into what might be a long conflict. So, it's a good moment to be reminded of some of the history driving the fighting. We're not gonna do it one show, or with one article, but one place to start is this “NBC” explainer on Gaza. What it is, and who controls it.

Gaza's unemployment rate is now among the highest in the world. Around 95% of the population does not have access to clean water, electricity is limited, food is often scarce, and the UN estimates that 80% of the population must rely on international aid to survive.

The UN estimates that around 200,000 people in Gaza have fled their homes since this week's Israeli attacks. That's about 10% of the total population. But it's hard to see where they might go to find safety. They're in a small place, boxed in by powerful forces, and under the weight of a violent history.

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

In Mexico's Puerto Vallarta, workers are cleaning up heavy damage from Hurricane Lidia. It made landfall as a category four storm overnight, mowing down trees and buildings, and causing dangerous flooding. Here in the States, Republicans meet behind closed doors today to decide on their choice for House Speaker. Congressmen Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise are running for the role. But it's not clear which one of them can win over a divided GOP.

prison labor.

An AI company in Finland has a program where incarcerated people are hired to interact with AI models. Supporters of the program say it gives them a work option that's not manual labor, one that might prepare them for a job in tech when they get out. Now Finland is known for its high wages so, for the company, Metroc, turning to people in prisons means they get cheaper labor. People in the Finnish prison system are paid the equivalent of under $2 an hour for this work.

She uses her prison nickname, which is Marmalade, and she sits down and for three hours she answers questions about, in this case, real estate.

Metroc uses the human answers to improve its AI tools. It's not especially interesting work for the people training the system.

It's quite dull and it's quite technical, which is one of the reasons that this company needed native Finnish speakers because this is kind of legal jargon, construction jargon that would be difficult for someone else or especially like Finnish translation apps to understand.

Marmalade told Meaker, it's boring, but the pay is better than nothing. But there are concerns about AI companies turning to prisoners for this kind of work. A researcher at Human Rights Watch told Meaker… having incarcerated people do clickwork could set a dangerous precedent, where AI companies employ people who have few other options to do grueling work.

What's to stop prisoners being used to do kind of much more controversial types of data labor. For example, teaching AI the difference between normal writing and writing that's describing violence or sexual violence, which is something that companies that create chatbots need to do so they can know what to block and what not to block.

Flag football, cricket, lacrosse, squash, baseball, and softball. These are the sports that Los Angeles Olympic organizers want to add to the 2028 Summer Games. Next week, we'll find out if the International Olympic Committee gives the thumbs up, and it's looking likely.

whether the sports will bring in new audiences, how easy it is to stage them, gender equity, and how popular they are around the world. Take flag football, for example. Football is huge in America, but far less popular around the world. Tackle football, with all the pads and equipment and injury risk, would be a hard sell. But flag football is seen as a more accessible way to get football fans in the U.S. more excited about the Olympics.

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. We've got a narrated article coming up next from “The New Yorker.” It examines the complicated history of a county fair in Mississippi that began in the late 1800s, where entire families camp out in cabins every year. The state's politics and racial past play a big role. If you're listening in the Podcasts app, follow Apple News+ Narrated to find that story.