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Good morning! It's Friday, February 23. I'm Mark Garrison, in for Shumita Basu. This is Apple News Today. Coming up, the war in Ukraine enters its third year, Haley takes on Trump in South Carolina's Republican primary, and how a college basketball team wrecked by injuries stayed alive by convincing classmates to suit up.
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But first, let's take a quick look at some other stories in the news. For the first time in more than half a century, a U.S. spacecraft is on the moon. And it's the first-ever private-sector moon landing. It was built by a Texas company called Intuitive Machines. Here's what the moment sounded like.
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What we can confirm, without a doubt, is our equipment is on the surface of the moon and we are transmitting. So, congratulations, IM team. We'll see how much more we can get from that.
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Odysseus, or Odie for short, will assess the environment at the south pole of the moon ahead of NASA's planned crew mission in 2026. This weekend, in Paris, Israel is expected to participate in more ceasefire and hostage release talks with the US, Qatar, and Egypt. Discussions earlier this month failed to stop the fighting. Diplomats are eager for a peace deal ahead of March 10, the beginning of Ramadan.
That's when Israel says it could launch a major ground assault in Rafah if the hostages aren't released. More than 1.5 million Palestinian civilians are sheltering there, having fled Israeli attacks elsewhere in Gaza. Today, the U.S. and allies are imposing hundreds of new sanctions against Russia. The moves come ahead of the two-year mark of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and as questions remain about the death of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny.
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President Biden met with Navalny's widow and daughter yesterday in California. As the war in Ukraine enters its third year, we want to look at where things stand. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians have been killed and wounded
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and millions of Ukrainians forced from their homes. The U.S. has sent more than $75 billion to Ukraine. It's by far the largest recipient today of American aid. Currently, a bill that would send billions more is held up by Republicans in the House. President Biden recently urged lawmakers to pass it.
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We can't walk away now. That's what Putin's betting on. He just flatly said that. Supporting this bill is standing up to Putin. Opposing it is playing into Putin's hands.
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I spoke with James Marson, the Ukraine bureau chief for "The Wall Street Journal." I started off by asking him about how critical U.S. aid is to Ukraine at this moment.
It's extraordinarily important, for two reasons. First of all, Ukraine is in dire need of more military equipment, in particular, ammunition. Russia in recent weeks has managed to advance in some places along the front line. They've managed to capture the eastern city of Avdiivka last weekend. And the Ukrainians say one reason the Russians have been able to do that is because the Ukrainians are lacking ammunition. So Ukraine needs it for the practical reason. It also needs it for morale.
I think the U.S. has been the most important backer of Ukraine since the beginning of the war. And it's a signal to Ukrainians of continued support from the most important ally. And it's also a signal for the Russians that Ukraine has support that will continue to sustain its war effort.
You mentioned the Russian takeover of Avdiivka. How important is that? And can you just give a little more context as to why some people are seeing that as one of the most significant Russian advances in a while?
The main significance of the Russians being able to take control of Avdiivka is that it shows that the tide of the war has turned. Ukraine was pursuing a counter offensive last year, where it was trying to take back territory that was occupied by the Russians. Now, the tide has turned, Russia is now on the offensive, not only in Avdiivka, but several other areas across the front. Ukraine is largely holding the line.
But this shows that Russia has the intention, has the capability, to try and push forward this year, not only in Avdiivka, but also elsewhere. On the other hand, the Russians haven't managed to break through Ukrainian lines in such a way that would suggest they can create what would be a catastrophic breakthrough for the Ukrainians and lead to a huge loss of territory for them.
I was speaking last week with the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, who was saying, "Yes, we acknowledge that we have problems, the lack of ammunition being one, but the Russians have problems too." They have poor quality of military personnel because most of their professional army was destroyed in the first year of the war. Most of the tanks which they're bringing onto the battlefield are old tanks, which have been refurbished, and these stocks are going to eventually run out.
So in the long run, if Ukraine gets the backing it needs from the West, from the U.S. in particular, the optimal scenario for Ukraine is holding firm this year, degrading Russian forces, and then they'll have the possibility in 2025 to try another counterattack.
As the war enters another year, what's most important to understand about the big picture, the state of things?
I think the most important thing to understand about the big picture here is that the point of the war, from both sides, hasn't really changed since February 2022. So, you have Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants to take over all of Ukraine. He wants to control that country. He has displayed no intention that he wants to stop the war or that he's indeed changed those goals. And on the other hand, you have Ukraine, who can see that this invasion is an existential threat to the country.
In occupied territories, the Russians have murdered Ukrainians who want to be independent, who want control over their own country. So there is absolute clarity on the Ukrainian side what the Russians are trying to achieve, and so that's why the Ukrainians have no choice but to fight, even if the U.S. support doesn't come through.
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A lot to watch as we enter the next year. James Marson with "The Wall Street Journal." Thanks very much.
My pleasure.
The South Carolina Republican primary is tomorrow. And current polling shows former President Trump with a commanding lead.
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Roughly twice as many voters say they'll choose him over Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina. The stakes are high for her. This is Haley's home state. She told "NPR" even if she loses in South Carolina, she has no plans to drop out of the race.
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The furthest we've thought is we're certainly are going to go past South Carolina, go into Michigan, and go into Super Tuesday states. We haven't sat down and actually thought about what comes after that. But our goal was, look, after Super Tuesday, between South Carolina and Super Tuesday, another 20 states have voted, and that's more of the representation we want, is to let people's voices be heard.
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Super Tuesday is March 5. More than a dozen states will vote. So it's likely Haley's last chance to pick up enough delegates to pose a real challenge to Trump. Despite trailing him in the polls and early losses, Haley is still raking in campaign donations. So she's got money to keep going after Trump. She told "NPR" he's dangerous for the country.
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It's not normal to go and criticize members of the military. It's not normal to spend 50 million dollars of campaign contributions on your own personal court cases. It's not normal to side with a thug like Putin over the allies that stood with us at 9/11. And there's so much chaos, we need to bring a sense of normalcy, and we need to bring some sanity back. And that's what many Americans want. And that's what I'm trying to give them.
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Trump's campaign is hoping that beating Haley on her home turf would finish her run for good. At a Fox News town hall, Trump focused on how embarrassing it would be for her to get beaten in South Carolina.
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She's not working. She's here. She's down by 30-35 points. And everybody knows her. You're not supposed to lose your home state. Shouldn't happen anyway. And she's losing it big.
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"CBS News" polling from South Carolina shows how strong Trump's hold is on many Republican voters. People in Haley's home state say they approve of her time as governor there. But ultimately, the vast majority say it doesn't matter that she's from their state. Most still firmly want Trump to be president again.
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We'll end on a story about how a college coach's worst nightmare turned into a dream opportunity for some unlikely players.
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Earlier this year, the women's basketball team at Texas Christian University went from undefeated to unable to play. Several stars got hurt. Things got so bad so quickly that at one point, TCU only had six available players left. The team had to forfeit several games. They just didn't have enough people. With its back against the wall, the school put out a call for help to the student body. It held open tryouts in the middle of the season.
Anyone on campus with high-school basketball experience could come out. Coach Mark Campbell told the public broadcaster "KERA" the students played hard for spots on their school's team.
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They were diving on the floor. They were just beet red. They were competing. It was really refreshing to see the joy and passion for the opportunity they were trying to earn. It was like "American Idol."
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At the end of that, they had four new players on the roster. One came over from the volleyball team. For the most part, these were women who thought their basketball careers ended in high school, like Mekhayia Moore, who also spoke with "KERA."
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I was like, "This is probably never going to happen again." The least I can do is get, like, a little taste of college basketball and especially at the D1 level, which has been really amazing so far.
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She and the others got to go beyond high-school ball. And TCU's team got enough players to keep competing. Together, they've managed a winning record and are next in action tomorrow.
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This week's episode of Apple News In Conversation is about women's basketball at the pro level. Guest host David Greene is filling in for Shumita while she's on maternity leave, and he speaks with WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes about just how far women's basketball has come since the league was created nearly 30 years ago, and what players say still needs to happen.
Just because we're grateful and we're happy that we're in this space and we have this opportunity, it doesn't mean that we don't deserve more. And we also know that we're willing to work for more. And that's from every single player that is currently playing, every player that has played, and every player that will play.
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 I'll be back with the news on Monday.
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