Apple News Today

One year into her history-making role, Vice President Kamala Harris reacts to recent controversies and looks ahead to 2022, in an extensive interview with the San Francisco Chronicle. Vox looks at the good and bad news about the Omicron coronavirus variant so far. Pandemic student-debt relief is set to end in a few weeks. Business Insider reports on how some Democrats say the Biden administration should do more to help. It also speaks to a woman with $163,000 in student debt who says she feels “betrayed” by the president. The Washington Post has the story of the woman who traded a bobby pin up to a house in 28 steps — and documented the process on TikTok.

A tornado destroyed a Kentucky nursing home. USA Today has the story of how all its residents survived. Bloomberg looks at the major risks to the economy over the next year. Many people named Alexa say Amazon’s voice assistant with the same name is changing the way people interact with them for the worse. Some are fighting back. The Washington Post talks to dozens of real-life Alexas. Steph Curry broke the NBA’s 3-point record. Along the way, he has transformed how basketball is played. ESPN reports on the history-making moment.

Slate columnist Fred Kaplan, a longtime observer of military spending, asks whether anyone actually looked at the $778 billion U.S. defense budget before passing it. The January 6 panel recommended holding Trump’s former chief of staff in contempt, on a day of big revelations about the Capitol attack. CNBC has the key details. California plans to use a measure modeled on Texas’s controversial anti-abortion law to try to get guns off the streets. Vox explains. When it comes to gift giving, is it really the thought that counts? Not quite, psychologists tell the Washington Post. In the Players’ Tribune, WNBA star A’ja Wilson shares a powerful message for young Black women.

Scientists are examining the role climate change may have played in the twisters that killed dozens of people in recent days. PBS NewsHour looks at what’s known and what’s not yet clear. Many parents of school shooters ignore glaring warning signs. The Washington Post has the story of one grandmother who didn’t. NASA is sending its new telescope to a very special parking spot a million miles away. The Atlantic explains why. A guy threw half a billion dollars in bitcoin in the garbage. The New Yorker speaks to him about his unusual quest to get it back.

For the New Yorker, journalist Ian Urbina traveled to Libya to report on an EU-funded shadow immigration system that holds migrants in brutal detention centers. While reporting this story, Urbina was kidnapped, beaten, and detained himself. Now safely back home, he spoke with Apple News Today host Shumita Basu about how this shadow system works and the horrific conditions inside the detention centers.

The Wall Street Journal reports on how the Starbucks union vote is about much more than Starbucks. BBC News is covering a deadly truck crash in Mexico that killed dozens of migrants from Central America trying to get into the U.S. Bloomberg explains how President Biden’s massive spending bill would increase the credits available to electric-car buyers. And the Washington Post looks at how Black and Hispanic communities worry they’re being left behind in the shift to electric vehicles because many of their neighborhoods have few charging stations. Vice has the story of how New Zealand’s government is planning to ban the sale of cigarettes to all future generations.

There’s a lot of money in Biden’s spending plan targeted at the affordable-housing crisis. Vox looks at why it may not do much about skyrocketing real-estate prices. The Senate and White House are backing arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Critics say this could worsen the deadly conflict in Yemen. Reuters has the story. Dozens of previously unrecognized U.S. soldiers will receive Purple Hearts after being injured in an attack in Iraq nearly two years ago. A CBS News investigation helped them finally get their awards. Cybercriminals can ramp up activity during the busy holiday season. The Wall Street Journal explains how to avoid the latest scams online.

The case of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes may turn on her testimony. The Wall Street Journal looks at the moments that might sway jurors. Forbes explores how Biden’s massive spending plan would change tax policy. Chalkbeat reports on how the enhanced child tax credit has done a lot for families, but says Congress may not keep it. The recent Michigan killings are reigniting a debate over school safety. The Intercept has the story. Ballet companies are reinventing The Nutcracker. CBS New York reports on how Brooklyn Ballet is adding in new dance styles. And BBC covers how the Scottish Ballet is making subtle changes in a bid to erase old stereotypes.

The Build Back Better bill touches many areas. Yahoo News explains how it would change the American immigration system. In a crucial week for President Biden’s foreign policy, CNN looks at why the stakes are high for his call with Putin today. And Time explains why he decided on a diplomatic boycott of China's Winter Olympics. A doctor shortage has made abortion services difficult to access for many people in the U.S., clinics say. The Washington Post has the story of one physician who commutes 800 miles to provide them. Is your cat a psychopath? Probably, researchers say. Vice has the story.

The Washington Post looks at how the roughly $2 trillion spending bill Congress is debating would overhaul U.S. health care. A jail term is the latest twist in the complicated story of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner who was later ousted as leader of Myanmar. BBC News reports. The pandemic turned Americans into super savers. The Wall Street Journal explains what to consider if you’ve got extra cash saved up. The world’s first living robots can now reproduce, in a way unlike any known animal or plant. Don’t be afraid, scientists tell CNN.