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Russian forces launch a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine. Plus: the climate research publisher consulting for fossil fuel firms

Younger Russians condemn all violence against Ukraine. But protest is impossible: we feel like hostages in our own countryThis morning everything has changed. Here in Russia, over images of tanks rolling into Ukraine, broadcasters tell us that our actions are a response to Ukrainian military aggression.I spoke to my father recently about the conflict in Ukraine. Any situation that involves aggression, injustice or war worries me. My father, though, was angry and sharp. He believed everything the authorities were doing was right. According to him, Ukraine was built with Soviet money, and it belongs to Russia. If it is occupied, the Ukrainian people are simply being saved from their government. And Russia’s borders will be more secure.Join a panel of journalists, hosted by Michael Safi, for a livestreamed event on the Russia-Ukraine crisis. On Thursday 3 March, 8pm GMT | 9pm CET | 12pm PST | 3pm EST. Book tickets here Continue reading...

Facebook is struggling to retain users, fending off regulation, trying to pivot to VR, and paying a massive wage premium to attract the workers it needs to make any of this happen. The company is on the ropesI’ve been praying for Facebook’s collapse ever since it attained liftoff. In a 2007 article, I predicted that “your creepy ex-co-workers will kill Facebook” by demanding to know why you won’t “friend” them, prompting an exodus to the next platform. That was the social network cycle back then: a new network opens, and you and the people you genuinely like enjoy a rollicking group chat until all the people you have to pretend to like show up.That’s the double-edged sword of products that rely on “network effects” – the economists’ term for a product that gets better when more people use it. Sure, you might join Facebook because your friends are all there (and more people might sign up because you’re there), but that also means that every time your friends leave Facebook, it’s a reason for you to leave, too.Cory Doctorow is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, including the forthcoming book Chokepoint Capitalism, with Rebecca Giblin, about monopoly and fairness in the creative arts labor market. In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame Continue reading...

The Russian leader listens to China’s Xi Jinping and a circle of rich cronies. Only they may be able to prevent huge bloodshedAll Europe must have awoken this morning and heard the news with horror. Sometimes history refuses to die. The fate of 44 million Ukrainians at the mercy of Russia and its vast army is appalling to contemplate. Indeed, so wild and mendacious are the utterances of Vladimir Putin in the past 24 hours that they suggest a dictator deranged and out of control. It is precisely the danger that was forecast by strategic theorists at the dawn of the nuclear age.As of this morning, Putin’s declared intention is to “demilitarise” Ukraine and assert Russia’s de facto sovereignty over the Donbas east of the country. The latter is chiefly an exaggeration of what Russia has done covertly since 2014. The former is hard to see other than as formal conquest. This is no longer some border dispute or separatist uprising, but the concerted assault of a great power on a substantial neighbour.Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

Energy-efficient passive design is catching on in New York and other cities as climate concerns riseThe first night Stephanie Silva spent at her new Brooklyn apartment was uncommonly quiet. So was the following morning and the next day. The 32-year-old native New Yorker had forgotten the last time she was able to mute the city of 8.2 million.“It’s like a sanctuary,” Silva says, but as soon as she opens the street-facing windows, the bustling outside noise fills her living room. Once she closed the windows again, the difference was instantly noticeable. “Since moving here my anxiety went out the window,” Silva says, referring to the 10-floor affordable apartment in Ocean Hill, part of the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. But what sets this 67-unit building apart from the rest of the housing in the city is its “passive” element. Continue reading...

The league’s newest team are aiming high as they approach their first season. But there have been growing pains along the wayA pleasant North Carolina day in December 2019 began with Commissioner Don Garber appearing in Charlotte to officially award the city an MLS franchise. Also at the event was David Tepper, the billionaire owner of the newly minted Charlotte FC and the NFL’s Carolina Panthers. The day ended with Tepper surrounded by crazed Charlotte FC fans – literally day one fans – at a brewery where it wasn’t easy to identify who among the crowd was the man cutting the $325m expansion fee check.Charlotte FC were little more than a theoretical concept on that day. Eight months ago, the team had no coach. Three months ago, they had only a handful of players. Five weeks ago, the coaching staff and players met together for the first time. Continue reading...

Unlike their male counterparts, female players are rarely protected by headgear. Now many within the sports are pressing for a change in the rulesBecca Losch wore goggles and a mouthguard. She did exercises to strengthen her knee ligaments. Yet the prospect of a head injury barely crossed her mind.In 2012, while a student at a New Jersey high school, she was hit in the back of the head by a lacrosse ball during a warm-up drill before a game. She does not remember falling to the ground, being helped up by teammates and carrying on. Continue reading...

The Arizona Democrat supports a filibuster that could kill legislation to counter assaults on voting rightsIndigenous leaders who mobilized Arizona voters to help elect Senator Kyrsten Sinema say the centrist Democratic lawmaker can no longer count on their support, as communities feel betrayed.Sinema was elected in 2018, halfway through Trump’s term, amid growing alarm at the rollback of voting rights and environmental protectionsthat disproportionately impact tribal communities. She entered the senate after six years in congress, having beaten her Republican opponent with 50% of the vote, thanks in part to the large turnout among Indigenous Americans in Arizona. Continue reading...

I could not accept the idea of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but here I am as the airstrikes begin and Russia invades usA famous Russian independent journalist called me for a quote after Russia launched airstrikes all over Ukraine. We have never met but she started begging for forgiveness for what her country is doing and may do to mine. Both of us are experienced reporters and used to covering hard stories, conflicts. We talked, and we cried.So it begins. 5am. Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odessa, and all along the 2,000km-long Russian-Ukrainian border.Nataliya Gumenyuk is a Ukrainian journalist specialising in foreign affairs and conflict reporting and author of Lost Island: Tales from the Occupied Crimea Continue reading...

Gun safety advocates condemn proposal introduced in state legislature as ‘blatant attempt to legalize armed vigilantism’Gun safety advocates have condemned Tennessee legislation which would designate some gun owners as police, allowing civilians to carry firearms in locations usually reserved for law enforcement.The proposed law, introduced in the Tennessee house and senate this month, “expands the definition of ‘law enforcement officer’” to include civilians who hold an enhanced handgun-carry permit – earned by taking an eight-hour handgun safety course and paying a $100 fee. Continue reading...

It’s time for the US and its allies to show their steel in the face of Putin’s aggression. We have learned that nothing else will workThe Syria crisis continues unnoticed. It holds key lessons for the west about Putin yet it has gone virtually unnoticed by the rest of the world. War crimes and crimes against humanity continue in the Russian-sponsored dictatorship, even as some misguided leaders want to usher Bashar al-Assad, the architect of these crimes, back into acceptable society.We can rest assured that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, unlike Assad, is not welcoming Putin with open arms. But in responding to the Ukraine emergency, there are lessons the west can and should learn from the situation in Syria.Hamish de Bretton-Gordon is a chemical weapons expert, fellow of Magdalene College, Cambridge and an adviser to the Union of Syrian Medical Charities Continue reading...

Surveys by the Public Religion Research Institute reveal QAnon believers increased to 17% in September from 14% in MarchThe QAnon conspiracy myth movement continues to thrive in the US and has even strengthened more than a year after Donald Trump left the White House, according to the largest ever study of its followers.Some 22% of Americans believe that a “storm” is coming, 18% think violence might be necessary to save the country and 16% hold that the government, media and financial worlds are controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles, according to four surveys carried out last year by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) think tank. Continue reading...

Justice department said it would drop ‘China Initiative’ label, in part out of recognition of threats from other countriesThe US justice department is scrapping the name of a Trump-era initiative that was intended to crack down on economic espionage by China but has been criticised as unfairly targeting Chinese professors at American colleges because of their ethnicity.The decision to abandon the “China Initiative” and to impose a higher bar for prosecution of professors was announced on Wednesday by the department’s top national security official. Continue reading...

The crime lab stopped the practice after the district attorney’s office complained against the ‘deeply disturbing’ practiceThe San Francisco police department is no longer using DNA from sexual assault survivors and other victims to investigate unrelated crimes, officials said Wednesday.The department’s crime lab stopped the practice shortly after receiving a complaint from the district attorney’s office and formally changed its operating procedure Friday, Matt Dorsey, spokesman for San Francisco police chief Bill Scott, said Wednesday. Continue reading...

A video of a local television reporter in Ohio being surprised at work by his mother has gone viral. The ABC 6 reporter Myles Harris was about to record a news report when he noticed his mother driving past. 'Hold on,' he told the cameraman. His mother pulled up with a 'hi baby'. An exasperated Harris told her 'I’m trying to work right now!' before he and the cameraman bursted into laughter

The move marks the fourth time in the last decade that farmers in California didn’t receive water from the Central Valley ProjectOfficials are preparing for yet another critical water year in California as the state – along with most of the American west – remains mired in drought.The federal government said Wednesday that it won’t deliver water to farmers in California’s agricultural belt, which produces roughly a quarter of the nation’s food, due to the extreme water shortages that are expected to deepen if the direly dry conditions continue through March. Continue reading...

Rights groups argue the attorney general’s opinions, which have no legal bearing, will spread fear and misinformationTrans rights groups have expressed outrage and fear after the Texas state attorney general Ken Paxton called gender-affirming surgeries and medical care “child abuse” and state governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas department of family and protective services (DFPS) to conduct an investigation into such practices.Abbott said: “There is no doubt that these procedures are ‘abuse’ under Texas law, and thus must be halted. [DFPS] has a responsibility to act accordingly. I’ll do everything I can to protect against those who take advantage of and harm young Texans.” Continue reading...

Ex-president’s daughter may voluntarily appear for an interview, according to congressional committeeIvanka Trump is in talks with the January 6 House select committee about potentially cooperating with the panel, according to multiple US media reports.“Ivanka Trump is in discussions with the Committee to voluntarily appear for an interview,” a spokesperson for the daughter of former President Donald Trump said in a statement on Wednesday, CNN reported. Continue reading...

Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz of the Manhattan district attorney’s office quit amid signs that the move on Trump is stallingOne of the most aggressive criminal investigations against Donald Trump appears to be running into the sand after the two leading prosecutors in the Manhattan district attorney’s office investigating the former president’s finances resigned.The inquiry by Manhattan prosecutors into the operations of Trump and the Trump Organization has been among the most dangerous of the many legal perils facing him. The investigation, which began in August 2018 under the former district attorney Cyrus Vance and continued under incumbent Alvin Bragg, has dug ever deeper into alleged discrepancies in the value of the family’s assets in an effort to show a pattern of fraudulent behavior. Continue reading...

Authorities imprisoned Bethany K Farber for 13 days before realizing they had the wrong suspect wanted for crimes in TexasA California woman is suing the Los Angeles police department after she was imprisoned for nearly two weeks before officers determined they had the wrong suspect. Authorities reportedly mistook Bethany K Farber for a woman with the same name who was wanted in Texas.Farber said she was traveling to Mexico in April 2021 when Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents at Los Angeles international airport detained her, eventually informing her that there was a warrant out for her arrest in Texas. The aesthetician was arrested and booked into jail, where she was held for 13 days without bail. Continue reading...

Report shows rate of maternal deaths among Black people is almost triple the figure for white peoplePregnancy-related deaths among US mothers climbed higher in the pandemic’s first year, continuing a decades-long trend that disproportionately affects Black people, according to a government report released on Wednesday.Overall in 2020, there were almost 24 deaths per 100,000 births, or 861 deaths total, numbers that reflect mothers dying during pregnancy, childbirth or the year after. The rate was 20 per 100,000 in 2019. Continue reading...

With the spotlight on Ukraine, the heat is temporarily off for The Suspect, who could even flirt with some fresh fibs at PMQsBoris Johnson is in his happy place. The Russian invasion of Ukraine couldn’t have come at a better time. At a stroke, people have stopped asking him awkward questions about the cost of living and the price of fuel. Better still, both Labour and – more importantly – Tory MPs have also suspended hostilities on Partygate. At a time of imminent war in eastern Europe, a united front must be maintained at home. Just in case Vladimir Putin happens to be watching and starts taking our threats seriously. Not that there’s much sign of that so far. But we can live in hope.So, for The Suspect, the heat is off temporarily. He can swan around doing his Churchill tribute act – “We shall fight them on the tennis courts. We shall fight them in the Tory party fundraising auctions. We shall never give up” – safe in the knowledge that right now it’s hard for him to screw things up too badly. No one is coming after him and there is no vote of no confidence imminent. Because however many lies he happens to tell, they are nothing to those being told by Vladimir Putin. And his corruption is amateur hour when compared with the delusional venality of the Russian president. Though it’s obviously something to which he can aspire. Continue reading...

Lawsuit alleges recklessness and negligent infliction of emotional distress after DNA test revealed mixup made nearly 60 years agoTwo women are suing an Oklahoma hospital after a DNA test revealed that they were switched at birth nearly 60 years ago.Tinna Ennis and Jill Lopez have filed a lawsuit against the Duncan Regional hospital after an apparent mixup resulted in the women – then babies – being unknowingly taken home by each other’s parents in 1964. Continue reading...

Myles Harris was preparing to shoot a story when he turns to look at traffic and recognizes approaching car: ‘That’s my Mom, hold on’A video of a local television reporter in Ohio being surprised at work by his mother has gone viral, striking a chord with parents and their children alike.ABC 6 reporter Myles Harris was preparing to shoot a story with his back to a road when he turned to look at traffic and appeared to recognize an approaching vehicle. Continue reading...

The White House is urging liberal groups to support nominees against critics’ attacks, CNN reportsJoe Biden has interviewed at least three potential supreme court nominees and is expected to reveal his decision by the end of this month, according to multiple sources close to the president.Ketanji Brown Jackson, Leondra Kruger and J. Michelle Childs – all Black women – were among the contenders who spoke with the president, those familiar with the matter told CNN and the Washington Post. Continue reading...

Victim’s identity and country of origin has not been released yet but he was likely an undocumented migrant, authorities sayA man crossing the US-Mexico border into Arizona was fatally shot by a federal border patrol agent over the weekend at about 10pm on Saturday night in a town just north of Douglas.An autopsy conducted by the Pima county medical examiner’s office confirmed the cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds. The victim’s identity and country of origin has not been released yet, but he was likely an undocumented migrant, according to local authorities. Continue reading...

Former president says Russian leader made ‘very savvy’ decision to recognise two territories of eastern Ukraine as independent

Army less well equipped than Russia’s but can call upon half a million war veterans. Plus, wildfires could increase by a third• Don’t already get First Thing in your inbox? Sign up hereGood morning.If Russian forces try to take new territory in Ukraine, they will face an army that is far smaller and less well equipped than their own but hardened by eight years of fighting, writes Emma Graham-Harrison in Kyiv.Is Russia invading Ukraine and what will happen next? Putin has sent soldiers on a “peacekeeping mission” but is likely to threaten Ukraine with a broader war. Here is an explainer on what could happen next.Is all hope for a diplomatic solution lost? Not necessarily. Putin said this morning: “Our country is always open for direct and honest dialogue, for the search for diplomatic solutions to the most complex problems.” However, he added Russia’s interests were “non-negotiable”.What is Biden doing to stop the crisis? The president has threatened tougher steps for further provocation, but some believe he is holding back in order to preserve the potency of sanctions as a deterrent.It remains to be seen if any of the US convoys would seek to actively shut down Washington’s streets, the way their Canadian counterparts did in Ottawa. Some convoy organisers have spoken of plans to briefly roll through the city, then focus on shutting down the Beltway, which encircles the capital. Continue reading...

Trump and his supporters are using the language of authoritarians when they denounce cases against him as ‘illegitimate’Last week, Judge Arthur F Engoron of the supreme court of the state of New York ruled that former president Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr, and his daughter Ivanka Trump must produce documents and testify under oath in a civil investigation into their valuations of their business assets, complying with a subpoena New York attorney general Letitia James issued for their testimony in December.The Trumps can invoke their rights under the fifth amendment to the constitution not to incriminate themselves. This is what Eric Trump did more than 500 times in October 2020, when he testified before members of the attorney general’s office. In a civil trial, however, invoking the fifth can be interpreted negatively.Heather Cox Richardson is an American historian and professor of history at Boston College. She is the author of Letters from an American, a daily newsletter about American politics and history Continue reading...

Letter from Democratic lawmakers to homeland security chief condemns corporate-run system as punitive and ineffectiveUS lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to reduce the number of immigrants enrolled in a controversial surveillance program and rethink the US government’s exclusive contract with the private company managing the program.In a letter to the head of the Department of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, the group of Democratic lawmakers demands urgent changes to the intensive supervision appearance program (Isap), an effort introduced in 2004 as a “humane alternative” to immigration detention. Continue reading...

The Pennsylvania-based candy brand has hired union-busting consultants as workers fight for better pay and conditionsAround 1,300 workers at a Hershey’s candy manufacturing plant in Stuarts Draft, Virginia, are voting on whether to unionize, in a move organizers say is led by older workers seeking to ensure good benefits for newer employees.The ballots for the mail-in election to join the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers’ International Union will be sent to workers on 24 February, with results to be counted on 24 March. Continue reading...

Bank also increases staff bonus pool by 17% to £1.3bn and reports pre-tax of £8.4bnBarclays has frozen £22m worth of bonuses for its former chief executive Jes Staley until there are further developments in a regulatory investigation into his links to Jeffrey Epstein.The news came as the bank increased the bonus pool for its existing staff by more than 17% to £1.3bn, after a surge in annual profits linked to the release of cash originally put aside to cushion the blow of the Covid crisis. Including deferred bonuses, the total bonus pot grew 23% to £1.9bn. Continue reading...

Conservatives see Dana White’s UFC as an ideal market to engage with a valuable demographic: young menLast week, Republican senator Ted Cruz posted a photo of himself alongside UFC legend Chuck Liddell. The photo, which showed the two men posing with raised fists, was the latest example of a politician using an athlete’s star power, in this case to pander to a younger demographic. It also underscored the American right’s ongoing love affair with the UFC.Over the past few years, UFC has become synonymous with rightwing politics due to its well-documented relationship with former president Donald Trump. As previously reported by the Guardian, the organization effectively became the sports arm of the Maga regime and was an ideal platform for Trump to espouse his political agenda. Continue reading...

Tuesday’s landmark deal was a positive end to a long fight for the World Cup champions. But there are still wrangles aheadA mere 2,155 days after the US women’s soccer team filed a complaint with the USA’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and 1,082 days since the team filed a lawsuit against US Soccer, the team and the federation announced a settlement on Tuesday.Unusually for legal action, the terms of the settlement were immediately made public: $24m, with $2m of that money earmarked for “USWNT players in their post-career goals and charitable efforts related to women’s and girls’ soccer.” Continue reading...

Many high-risk people feel they must now shut themselves away again – only with none of the support available in 2020

The first time I kissed a woman in public, a stranger tried to hit me. But gen Zers are enjoying the hard-won freedom to be themselves – and it’s beautifulOK, spill: who has been adding gay pills to the water supply? Someone must have been, because the number of LGBTQ-identifying adults in the US has jumped dramatically. According to a recent Gallup poll, the numbers have gone from 3.5% in 2012 to 7.1% in 2021. Gen Z, defined by Gallup as people born between 1997 and 2003, is leading the charge: 20.8% of them identified as LGBTQ+ in 2021, up from 10.5% in 2017.People take things very seriously these days, so I should probably state for the record that I am obviously joking about the whole gay pills in the water thing. As a card-carrying member of the International Society for the Advancement of Homosexual Lifestyles (ISAHL), I can assure you that the Gay Agenda explicitly prohibits the use of bioweapons. No, we focus solely on mind control techniques. A little bit of brainwashing, subliminal messaging during the ad breaks, that sort of thing.Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The helicopter, being flown during a training operation, crashed early Tuesday near the Pacific missile range facility in KauaiFour people have died in the crash of a contractor’s helicopter on the Hawaii island of Kauai, the US navy said on Tuesday.The Pacific missile range facility said the aircraft crashed on the north side of the installation shortly after 10am. There were no survivors. The names of those killed were not yet available, it said. Continue reading...

US protest to follow Canadian truckers’ demonstration against pandemic restrictionsThe Pentagon is expected to approve the deployment of 700 to 800 unarmed national guard troops to the nation’s capital, a US official said on Tuesday, in the face of trucker convoys that are planning protests against pandemic restrictions beginning next week.The District of Columbia government and the US Capitol police are requesting the national guard assistance. The troops would be used largely to help control traffic and are expected to come from the district’s national guard and three states, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss aid not yet formally approved. Continue reading...

The president has threatened tougher steps for further provocation, preserving the potency of sanctions as a deterrent

Joe Biden has announced new sanctions in retaliation for Russia recognizing two self-proclaimed republics, Donetsk and Luhansk, and sending troops there, adding to western efforts to stop what they fear is the beginning of a full-scale invasion. The measures target Russian banks and sovereign debt, among other steps. 'We have no intention of fighting Russia,' Biden said. 'We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States, together with our allies, will defend every inch of Nato territory and abide by the commitments we made to NATO'

A task force will prioritize a list of replacement names and present them to the federal Board on Geographic Names later this yearUS officials have come up with a list of potential replacement names for hundreds of geographic sites in three dozen states that currently include an offensive word, kicking off a public comment period that will run through late April.US Interior secretary Deb Haaland in November formally declared the term “squaw” derogatory and initiated a process to remove the word from use by the federal government and to replace other existing derogatory place names. Continue reading...

House panel investigating the attack is already combing through Trump White House documents related to the insurrectionThe supreme court has formally rejected Donald Trump’s request to block the House select committee investigating the Capitol attack from accessing White House records related to the events of 6 January 2021.The court announced on Tuesday in its latest list of orders that it would not take up Trump’s appeal to a lower-court ruling allowing the select committee access to the documents. Continue reading...