On today’s show: The ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas appears to be moving forward. Reuters has the details. President Biden is leaving office the same way he entered, by signing a flurry of executive orders. The Washington Post reports the moves could be hard for Trump to undo. Leslie Kaufman, a climate reporter with Bloomberg News, explains how wildfires upended California’s insurance market. Alexa Philippou of ESPN tells us why 2025 will be a big year for women’s professional basketball. Plus, Rudy Giuliani reached a settlement with two women he defamed, how visionary director David Lynch is being remembered and we go behind the scenes of ‘Severance’ season 2, out today, with director Ben Stiller and star Adam Scott in this week’s episode of Apple News In Conversation. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Chapter 1: What are the latest updates on the Gaza ceasefire agreement?
But first, a quick check-in on the state of the Gaza ceasefire agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says a deal has been struck to return hostages held in Gaza and move forward with a negotiated ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. The deal was on shaky ground as of yesterday when Israel claimed Hamas had reneged on details of the ceasefire.
Hamas leadership disputed that and said they were still committed to it. Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday projected confidence that the agreement will go into effect starting as planned on Sunday.
Chapter 2: How is President Biden making his final moves in office?
Look, it's not exactly surprising that in a process, in a negotiation that has been this challenging and this fraught, you may get a loose end.
Both sides have so far agreed to an initial six-week ceasefire, with later phases of the deal not yet fleshed out. This story is sure to keep moving quickly today and through the weekend. You can find the latest in the Apple News app. President Biden is leaving the Oval Office the same way he entered, in a blaze of executive actions.
The outgoing president is putting his pen to a whole slate of orders, from clemency to conservation to canceling student loans. The Washington Post reports that even as many White House staffers are packing up their offices and getting ready to leave, many are still working on last-minute executive actions. Officials say this will likely continue up until the final hours of his presidency.
This morning, Biden announced he was commuting the sentences of almost 2,500 people convicted of nonviolent offenses, setting the presidential record for most individual pardons and commutations issued. Some of his other last actions as president include blocking oil drilling in more than 625 million acres of U.S.
ocean, designating new national monuments in California, removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, and just last night signing a new order on cybersecurity. Ann Newberg, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, told NPR about the purpose of that order.
The goal is to make it costlier and harder for China, Russia, Iran and ransomware criminals to hack and to also signal that America means business when it comes to protecting our businesses and our citizens.
A few more items in the flurry of headlines you might have missed in recent weeks. The Biden administration is proposing a dramatic reduction in nicotine levels in cigarettes. The FDA will now require labels on the front of food and drink packages. And another 150,000 student loan borrowers had their debt canceled. The Post points out another story that might have gone under the radar.
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Chapter 3: What challenges does California face with home insurance?
The incoming Trump administration will find on Tuesday a new rule goes into effect, giving a 12 percent pay raise to about 14,000 blue collar employees at Army depots and Veterans Affairs facilities. It's not uncommon for presidents to leave office with a flurry of action like this.
But the Post describes Biden's actions as, quote, unusually wide ranging and a sign that Biden sees the man who both preceded him and will succeed him, Donald Trump, as a unique threat to the Biden legacy. There is a certain advantage that an outgoing president has in moments like this, according to Andrew Rudalevich, a professor of government who studies the power of the presidency.
He described it this way to The Post. Biden can take this last opportunity to set the status quo with all these orders. And in Washington, the status quo often wins. Trump, meanwhile, has already vowed to overturn what he can. In regards to Biden's offshore drilling order, Trump said he will reverse it immediately, adding, quote, drill, baby, drill.
Now to Los Angeles, where it's been more than a week since devastating wildfires forced as many as 200,000 Angelenos to evacuate. Experts say the fires could be one of the most expensive disasters in U.S. history, with possibly more than $250 billion in damages and economic loss.
Chapter 4: How are wildfires affecting California's insurance market?
And Leslie Kaufman, who covers climate for Bloomberg, told us the fires will likely accelerate California's insurance crisis.
Yes. Even before the recent fires, insurance in California, home insurance in California, was very messy.
To understand how we got here, Kaufman says, you have to look at a state law passed in 1988, which put limits on how much insurance companies could raise premiums for property coverage. That move, combined with the growing threat of climate change, has made offering policies in California less attractive to private insurers over the years.
So many left, like State Farm, one of the biggest providers, which decided in March of last year to stop renewing policies and stop offering new ones. California just instituted a moratorium on insurance providers canceling policies for one year as a result of these fires.
But other big names had already stopped offering new policies in the state, which means many homeowners are stuck with difficult choices. Some had to forego new insurance because they couldn't afford it. Others opted into California's Fair Plan, which provides less extensive coverage and generally costs more than private insurance. It's exploded in size as insurance companies left the state.
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Chapter 5: What is the Fair Plan and how does it impact homeowners?
Chapter 6: What are the implications of Biden's executive actions?
The goal is to make it costlier and harder for China, Russia, Iran and ransomware criminals to hack and to also signal that America means business when it comes to protecting our businesses and our citizens.
A few more items in the flurry of headlines you might have missed in recent weeks. The Biden administration is proposing a dramatic reduction in nicotine levels in cigarettes. The FDA will now require labels on the front of food and drink packages. And another 150,000 student loan borrowers had their debt canceled. The Post points out another story that might have gone under the radar.
The incoming Trump administration will find on Tuesday a new rule goes into effect, giving a 12 percent pay raise to about 14,000 blue collar employees at Army depots and Veterans Affairs facilities. It's not uncommon for presidents to leave office with a flurry of action like this.
But the Post describes Biden's actions as, quote, unusually wide ranging and a sign that Biden sees the man who both preceded him and will succeed him, Donald Trump, as a unique threat to the Biden legacy. There is a certain advantage that an outgoing president has in moments like this, according to Andrew Rudalevich, a professor of government who studies the power of the presidency.
He described it this way to The Post. Biden can take this last opportunity to set the status quo with all these orders. And in Washington, the status quo often wins. Trump, meanwhile, has already vowed to overturn what he can. In regards to Biden's offshore drilling order, Trump said he will reverse it immediately, adding, quote, drill, baby, drill.
Now to Los Angeles, where it's been more than a week since devastating wildfires forced as many as 200,000 Angelenos to evacuate. Experts say the fires could be one of the most expensive disasters in U.S. history, with possibly more than $250 billion in damages and economic loss.
And Leslie Kaufman, who covers climate for Bloomberg, told us the fires will likely accelerate California's insurance crisis.
Yes. Even before the recent fires, insurance in California, home insurance in California, was very messy.
To understand how we got here, Kaufman says, you have to look at a state law passed in 1988, which put limits on how much insurance companies could raise premiums for property coverage. That move, combined with the growing threat of climate change, has made offering policies in California less attractive to private insurers over the years.
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