--:-- Shamita Basu: Hey there, it's Shamita. Before we get to the news, we want to hear from you for an upcoming episode of our weekly interview show, In Conversation. We're going to be talking about couples therapy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So, if you've ever been to a couples therapist, or even just solo therapy, what's something you learned that's made you think differently about relationships? We want to hear about it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just use your iPhone's voice memo app to record yourself. Tell us your name, where you're from, and a relationship lesson you learned from therapy. And please try to keep it to about a minute.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can send it to us at AppleNewsToday at Apple.com. And we might include your story on the show. Thanks.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Monday, April 24th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, why we're hearing so much about Ukraine launching a major new offensive. The surprising science of gray hair and a soccer victory in Wales for Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and a whole town.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But first, let's take a look at some big stories developing over the weekend.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Supreme Court is preserving access to the widely used abortion pill Mifepristone.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There was a lot of concern last week that the court might allow a lower court ruling to stand that placed major restrictions on the drug.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But justices decided to give the Biden administration what it wanted for now, keeping access steady until a federal appeals court hears the case next month.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The fighting in Sudan is getting more intense and more deadly.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Hundreds of people have died, largely civilians caught in the crossfire between rival generals fighting for control.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yesterday, the U.S. sent in special forces to pull diplomats out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: CNN Pentagon correspondent Oren Lieberman reported on the operation.
--:-- Oren Lieberman: Three Chinook helicopters took off from Djibouti, some 750 or 800 miles away from Khartoum, flew into the country, landed, secured the embassy, and then brought out all of the embassy staff and their family members, a group of just under 100 people.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Other governments have also evacuated their citizens.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But millions of people who live there don't have helicopters on the way to fly them out.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And there's growing concern for their safety as the violence spreads.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally, a longtime retail brand is shutting down.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Bed Bath & Beyond is bankrupt.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The company says it will sell off existing merchandise and go out of business.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It was the place where many Americans went to furnish their homes, their apartments, their dorm rooms.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But it struggled to keep up with online retail.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Bed Bath & Beyond was known for stuffing mailboxes with those 20% off coupons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you, like my mom, have a drawer full of them somewhere, take this as a warning.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They must be used by the end of the day, Tuesday.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The company expects all stores to be closed for good by the end of June.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We've been hearing a lot more about an expected Ukrainian counterattack.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are signs that Ukraine could be close to launching the long-discussed spring offensive to take back land from Russia.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are three reasons why the offensive could happen soon.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Weather, weapons, and fresh troops.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The weather factor can be summed up in just one word. Mud.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The soggy ground has made it difficult for Ukraine to effectively move tanks, troop carriers, and artillery.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But with the muddy season ending, the ground will soon be passable.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now onto weapons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: While the battlefield was literally stuck, Ukraine has been receiving more vehicles and ammunition from Western allies.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And more are on the way.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Last week, the U.S. announced an additional $325 million in aid to Ukraine.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That includes rockets, missiles, artillery ammunition, and anti-tank weapons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: At a recent meeting of allies in Germany, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin talked about the importance of Western support for Kyiv.
--:-- Lloyd Austin: Countries from around the world have condemned Russia's atrocities and aggression and stood up for an open world of rules and rights.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And ladies and gentlemen, more than a year later, Ukraine is still standing strong and our support has not wavered.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And finally there fresh troops.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Western allies have been training them in the tactics they need to be able to take on entrenched Russian forces.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Waves of Ukrainian fighters have gone through special training in the UK, Poland, and Germany.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now that they're arriving back in Ukraine, there's growing expectation that the country is preparing its next big attack.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Wall Street Journal looks at Russia's efforts to weaken Ukraine's air defenses ahead of the offensive.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It recently launched a barrage of drones into the country.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Most of them were shot down, but that uses up ammo, and there are concerns that Ukraine is running low.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It has managed a strong enough defense that Russian bombers and helicopters haven't flown far past the front lines in nearly a year.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But Ukraine will have to keep its air defense strong.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Any major progress it hopes to make on the ground will require it to keep control of the sky.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There are so many reasons people like to give to explain why our hair turns gray.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There's stress, kids, marriage.
--:-- Shamita Basu: These are usually said with a wink.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But a recent study has pinpointed the scientific reasoning behind graying hair, and it could unlock new solutions to prevent it.
--:-- Shamita Basu: NPR explains the study.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It says the root of the issue is a particular kind of stem cell, melanocytes.
--:-- Shamita Basu: These are pigment-producing cells, the same things that make melanin, which is what gives color to your eyes and skin.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, when it comes to hair, these melanocytes hang around in hair follicles where they get a signal that tells them when to release pigment, and that's where your regular hair color comes from.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But what these scientists noticed is, over time, these stem cells get stuck in one place in the hair follicle, which stops the pigmentation signal.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's what causes your hair to turn gray.
--:-- Shamita Basu: So in effect, you're not actually seeing your existing hair turn gray.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You're seeing new hairs sprout that lack your hair's color.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Dermatologist Dr. Jenna Lester explained it this way on NPR.
--:-- Dr. Jenna Lester: If you have a brown hair or blondish hair on your head, tomorrow it's not going to be gray.
--:-- Dr. Jenna Lester: It's the new hair that's coming in that will either have pigment or not have pigment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, this is where the research could take us next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Scientists could potentially move the stem cells to their proper spot and prevent graying.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And this is not just about vanity.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Researchers told NPR these findings could lead to better understanding about how stem cells work in the body and what happens when they malfunction.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And that could help us advance our research into what it takes to cure cancer.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Finally, an incredible sports comeback story for a team and a whole community.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It involves an obscure soccer team in Wrexham, Wales.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Both the team and the town fell on hard times about a decade ago.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The team nearly went bankrupt.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They could barely pay their players.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They were so bad that they were playing in a soccer league most people have never even heard of.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Several rungs down from the English Premier League, where teams like Arsenal and Manchester City play.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And recently, the story took an unexpected twist.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney bought the team.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And they told the story of trying to rebuild it in the documentary series Welcome to Wrexham.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This weekend, that story had a huge moment.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The team scored an important win that means it'll be promoted back into a higher soccer league.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Here's what it sounded like in the stands.
--:-- [Video clip of Paul Rudd]
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now, this is not the end of the Wrexham story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: This promotion to the next league is a big deal, but the team's celebrity owners have said they are aiming much, much higher.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They want to take the team three leagues higher, all the way to the English Premier League.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if Wrexham manages that, it would be a true Hollywood ending.
--:-- Shamita Basu: ESPN has the backstory of the Welsh team and the town going back well before the Hollywood duo showed up.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can read it in the Apple News app.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And if you're already listening in the news app right now, stick around.
--:-- Shamita Basu: We've got a narrated article coming up from Popular Science.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It has the kind of headline that really stays with you, the pure power of poop.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It's about how scientists are trying to recycle human waste into fertilizer.
--:-- Shamita Basu: That's queued up to play for you next, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
