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How the U.S. military isn’t ready for Russia and China · Apple News Today

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  Shumita Basu, Narrating: Good morning! It's Wednesday, March 15th. I'm Shumita Basu. This is "Apple News Today." On today's show, explaining the wave of legislation targeting transgender rights, Cyclone Freddy's path of destruction, and the tiny gadget elite basketball teams are using to get an edge.
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  But first, a dangerous new encounter between American and Russian aircraft is raising tensions, with diplomats scrambling to prevent it from escalating. The Pentagon says a Russian fighter jet hit an American spy drone yesterday, forcing it into the Black Sea. The U.S. says the drone was flying in international airspace when two fighters approached and harassed it. It calls what the Russian pilots did "unsafe and unprofessional." Moscow disputes the Pentagon's account. It denies hitting the drone, and it says the drone flew over an area of Crimea that Russia claims as its territory.
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  The incident is a reminder of new challenges that the U.S. military faces as powerful countries like Russia and China bulk up their militaries. "The Wall Street Journal" has a special series looking at how the Pentagon is working to be ready for potential future battles with great powers. There are many signs that it has a lot of work to do. The "Journal" reports on a classified wargame that the Pentagon ran in 2018. It simulated a Chinese attack to take control of the South China Sea.
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  Michael Gordon: The U.S. lost hands down.
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  Michael Gordon is "The Wall Street Journal's" national security correspondent and author of several books about the U.S. military.
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  Gordon: The Chinese were able to destroy the air bases and the naval bases where our submarines are based and where they resupply. And they succeeded rather handily. And the message was the U.S. needed to reinvent the way it went to war.
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  This and other simulations were wake-up calls. During the Cold War, the U.S. military was ready to fight and win a large-scale war against the Soviet Union. In 1991, it won a quick victory to end Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. It had history's most advanced weapons and best-trained troops. But after 9/11, the focus shifted. Long, expensive wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drained resources that could've gone to creating the next generation of military hardware. And recruitment and morale suffered. With so much attention on the Middle East, Gordon says rising Chinese military power didn't seem as urgent.
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  Gordon: There was a view within the George W. Bush administration and the Obama administration that China was not necessarily an adversary. That they could be integrated in the world economy, that we would get them into the World Trade Organization, that they could become a partner. Yes, they'd be a competitor, but not an enemy. And that really went by the wayside after Xi Jinping took up power in 2013.
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  China has gotten more and more aggressive in its rhetoric on Taiwan. The CIA says President Xi has a deadline for its military: readiness to invade Taiwan by 2027. The island could never defend itself against China without U.S. forces.
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  America spends more on defense than China and Russia combined. But there are concerns that those countries have made major advances in new kinds of weapons. That includes hypersonic missiles, which fly much faster than the speed of sound and can be difficult to defend against. Russia has used some of these in Ukraine.
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  America may have only lost a drone in the confrontation with Russia this week, but as the Pentagon's simulations show, U.S. forces will need to rethink their approach to weaponry and position themselves as too-strong-to-beat to avoid a conflict of great powers.
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  There are more than 300 bills being considered in state houses across the country this year that target the rights of transgender people. According to the Human Rights Campaign, we're seeing the highest-ever number of bills targeting trans rights in a single year to date.
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  "Grid" takes a deeper, state-by-state look. Forty states have introduced anti-trans legislation in 2023. Most of the bills have to do with healthcare, schools and sports. Some bills attack gender non-conformity more broadly, like bans on drag shows in public places. Tennessee became the first state to pass this kind of ban earlier this month.
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  So far this year, Tennessee, Utah, South Dakota and Mississippi banned gender-affirming healthcare for minors. That's in spite of warnings from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which cites studies that show gender-affirming care can reduce mental health issues for transgender kids.
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  In some states, multiple bills restricting transgender rights are under consideration. There are 46 in Texas, 39 in Missouri. Of course, bills are just bills, not all of them will pass, but Republican lawmakers in deep-red districts are hammering the issue. Critics tell "Grid" that even the discussion of anti-trans legislation can cause anti-trans sentiment to spike.
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  At least 200 people are dead in Malawi, Madagascar and Mozambique from Cyclone Freddy. This storm has been relentless, striking southern Africa multiple times. And it's broken records as the longest lasting named tropical system ever. Scientists measure storms like this using what's called "accumulated cyclone energy." And Freddy packed about the same amount of energy as an entire hurricane season in the Atlantic. "BBC" correspondent Shingai Nyoka is covering the humanitarian crisis.
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  Shingai Nyoka: Rescue workers are overwhelmed. And the World Food Program, for example, says that 11,000 people have been displaced and they will need emergency assistance in terms of shelter and in terms of food.
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  Mudslides have washed away homes, and the powerful winds and rain led to significant power outages. Most of the deaths were in Malawi. Rescue workers are looking for survivors. There are fears that the death toll could rise much higher in the days ahead.
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  The storm first formed in the Indian Ocean weeks ago, pushing to Africa and making landfall three times in multiple countries. Cyclones that track across the entire Indian Ocean like this are very rare. The last one to do so was nearly a quarter century ago.
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  The worst of the storm may be past, but people on the ground are still in danger, with homes destroyed and infrastructure wrecked. Doctors worry about waterborne diseases, especially in Malawi, which had already seen its deadliest ever cholera outbreak earlier this year.
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  March Madness is underway this week, and teams are always looking for an edge. "Bloomberg" looks at new technology that some coaches are experimenting with: tiny wearable sensors pinned to players' jerseys. The idea is to track fatigue. Coaches say it's helping them make critical decisions, like knowing when to rotate a tired player out.
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  The sensor is made by Catapult Sports. It's smaller than a stick of a gum, and it delivers real-time data on how much energy players use. It can track things like heart rate, steps, how high players jump. Basketball teams at Duke and Ohio State have experimented with it. A staffer at Duke tells "Bloomberg" they're seeing fewer injuries. And coaches say they're able to really geek out on all the sports science and come up with super-tailored plans for each player.
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  This tool doesn't come cheap, though. Annual subscriptions can cost as much as $100,000.
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  You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, don't go anywhere. We picked out a narrated article from the archives that might go nicely if you're excited for the new season of "Ted Lasso," which is out now. "Variety" profiled Hannah Waddingham and Juno Temple, and how they've managed to make their friendship shine on- and off-screen in an otherwise male-dominated cast.
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  So sit back, enjoy listening to that, and I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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