[MUSIC FADES IN]
Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Monday, March 6th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, how a major new agreement could transform the high seas, why this could be Formula 1 racing's most American season yet, and how a trip to Walmart led to a surprising scientific discovery.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
But first, a look at the key battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut. Thousands of civilians have fled. Russian forces have heavily bombed the city and sent waves of attackers. Former British military intelligence officer Philip Ingram talked to "Sky News" about the battlefield.
[START SKY NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Philip Ingram: This is standard Russian tactics of destroy the place with artillery and then flood it with unprotected infantry to try and get forward. Ukrainians are responding with their artillery, their armor and elsewhere. And that's why so many Russians are getting killed.
[END SKY NEWS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
"The Wall Street Journal" looks at who those unprotected Russian infantry are and explains what the fight for Bakhmut tells us about where the war may be going.
The attackers are from the Wagner Group, a mercenary force with old ties to Putin. We've talked about them before on the show. Many are former Russian prisoners, given temporary freedom if they agree to help fight Putin's war. The deal that they make is a stark one. For those who survive, amnesty after six months of fighting. For those who disobey, execution.
The "Journal" spoke to a Ukrainian soldier as he surveyed the scene just northwest of Bakhmut using a drone. The camera showed trenches full of Russian corpses. He could see three men trying to get closer. They had no body armor on. They were quickly killed.
One captured Wagner fighter said he got little training beyond one skill: how to crawl forward. The limited training and lack of equipment is a sign that these men aren't expected to live long. But that seems to be part of Russia's strategy: a willingness to send prisoners on effectively suicide missions, in an attempt to grind down Ukrainian forces. The "Journal" describes it as a disregard for losses that is shocking for modern warfare.
The concern in Bakhmut is that Russian forces are on the verge of capturing the city. And if Ukraine loses too many troops and resources defending that ground, that could make it harder to launch a counteroffensive. Right now, the ground is soft and muddy. But in the spring, the ground will harden and make it possible to advance faster. Some strategists say that Ukraine should pull out of Bakhmut and gather its forces to prepare for a spring offensive. If that happens, it would be Ukraine's first significant retreat since last summer.
One commander tells the "Journal" that it's like fighting a "zombie war." He says, "A Wagner fighter doesn't have an option to pull back. Their only chance of survival is to keep moving ahead."
[GENTLE MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
A new deal on protecting ocean life in international waters is being hailed as a landmark agreement. Talks on this stalled for years, but over the weekend, diplomats agreed on language at the United Nations' headquarters. U.N. Biodiversity Conference President Rena Lee announced the agreement after marathon negotiations.
[START REUTERS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Rena Lee: The ship has reached the shore.
[AUDIENCE CHEERING]
[END REUTERS ARCHIVAL CLIP]
The treaty will protect the "high seas," which refers to the waters beyond national boundaries, typically 200 nautical miles from shore. That accounts for about two-thirds of the Earth's ocean surface. But barely one percent of these areas are environmentally protected. So, without an agreement in place, it's always been a bit of a free-for-all.
Threats to wildlife in international waters have grown over the years. Increased global trade means more giant ships pass through the waters, potentially hitting whales and other creatures. And there's more investment into deep-sea mining, which creates new dangers as more industrial companies prepare to dig into the seafloor.
It'll probably take another few years for U.N. member states to formally adopt the treaty. But if they do, this deal will allow them to start establishing marine protection areas in international waters. That's a first, and environmental activists say it could have real impact on preserving biodiversity.
[UPBEAT MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
The first race of the Formula 1 season happened this weekend, in Bahrain.
[START FORMULA 1 ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Announcer: And Formula 1 in 2023 is go! Pole… [FADES OUT]
[END FORMULA 1 ARCHIVAL CLIP]
Formula 1 is big around the world, but U.S. motor-sports fans have long preferred Indy or NASCAR racing. "The Athletic" looks at reasons why this year might be a breakthrough year for F1 in America. There's an American driver, Logan Sargeant, who's a rising star. There will be three races held in the U.S., for the first time in decades. Plus, the Netflix series "Drive to Survive" is being credited with getting new fans into Formula 1.
Defending champion Max Verstappen, who drives for the Red Bull team, won the Bahrain Grand Prix yesterday. It wasn't a small win either. He crossed the finish line a whopping 12 seconds ahead of anyone else, which might as well be an eternity in this sport. Red Bull is the team to beat, but "Apple News" sport editor Shaker Samman says a big question of the season is whether they'll hold onto that dominance.
Shaker Samman: It's one thing to start the season fast, it's another to stay fast. There's a real chance that we have four teams and as many as seven drivers with a legitimate chance of winning races, competing for podiums and in the right circumstances, winning a championship.
And of course, in racing, a driver is only as good as their car. Crews are constantly making adjustments, looking for an edge.
Samman: The development war in Formula 1 is unlike anything else in any other sport. You know, in basketball, a player can improve their jump shooting over the year, but it's not like from one weekend to the other, they can go from a really mediocre player to an all-star. You can't flip the switch like that. Whereas in Formula 1, if a team brings an upgrade package in a couple races, they could gain half a second a lap.
Formula 1's next big race is in Saudi Arabia. The first event in the U.S. is the Miami Grand Prix in May.
[LIVELY MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
Finally, a story of how a routine shopping trip to an Arkansas Walmart led to an exciting scientific discovery, one that traces all the way back to the Jurassic era.
Back in 2012, a guy was going to pick up some milk. And just before he walks into Walmart, he sees this big, winged insect on the side of the building. It just so happens that this guy is an entomologist; he studies bugs. So, of course, he grabs the bug, he holds it with his fingers while doing his shopping. And after he gets home, the milk goes in the fridge and the bug gets mounted to a board. And as he says, he basically forgot about it for years.
He's now the head of the Insect Identification Lab at Penn State. And recently, he was looking at this bug with some of his students, and he realized he'd identified it all wrong. It was a giant lacewing, a rare insect that was once common in the eastern part of North America. But it mysteriously disappeared. This is apparently the first one found in the area in more than half a century. This scientist, who is still picking up weird bugs wherever he finds them, of course, says it's a reminder that even in run-of-the-mill situations, there are so many discoveries waiting to be made.
[MUSIC FADES IN]
You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening to us in the News app right now, don't go anywhere.
We've got a narrated article coming up next from "TIME" magazine about healthcare in the U.S. It looks at how patients are so fed up with long waits for appointments and paperwork that they're skipping out on care, and how that could make things even worse.
That's cued up to play next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]