Good morning.
The flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet has been severely damaged, Moscow has said, following an explosion that Ukraine claimed was due to a missile strike. The entire crew was evacuated.
“As a result of a fire, ammunition detonated on the Moskva missile cruiser. The ship was seriously damaged,” the Russian defence ministry said, adding that the cause of the fire was being determined. A Ukrainian official said it was hit by two anti-ship missiles but did not provide evidence.
The setback for Moscow comes as its offensive in Ukraine’s south and east intensifies, with Russia claiming its forces have taken full control of the besieged city of Mariupol. This has not been independently confirmed.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, called for an oil embargo on Wednesday, demanding EU states “stop sponsoring Russia’s military machine”.
The US president, Joe Biden, announced a further $800m in military assistance to Ukraine as the country prepares for Russia to ramp up its efforts in the country’s eastern regions.
Police officer kneeled on Black man before fatally shooting him, according to video
A Michigan police officer fatally shot a Black man in the back of the head while he was face-down on the ground, following a traffic stop, chase and struggle over a Taser gun, according to videos released by police.
Patrick Lyoya, 26, was killed outside a house in Grand Rapids on 4 April. The city’s new police chief, Eric Winstrom, released four videos on Wednesday, including footage recorded by a passenger in Lyoya’s car.
The footage shows Lyoya running from the white officer after being stopped over his vehicle’s license plate. They struggled in front of several homes, with a fight over the Taser lasting about 90 seconds, according to Winstrom. The officer repeatedly ordered Lyoya to “let go” of his Taser. In the final moments, the officer was on top of Lyoya, kneeling on his back at times.
What will happen to the officer? He is on paid leave during the investigation.
Where did the footage come from? Lyoya’s passenger, the officer’s body-worn camera, the patrol car and a doorbell camera.
Mark Meadows removed from North Carolina voter roll amid fraud inquiry
Donald Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows has been removed from North Carolina’s voter roll amid an inquiry into whether he committed voter fraud by registering at a residence he never owned or lived in.
The New Yorker, which reported the story last month, said Meadows, a former North Carolina congressman, had registered at a rented mobile home in Scaly Mountain, which he reportedly had never visited. Meadows, who has claimed voter fraud played a role in Trump’s election defeat, then voted from there as an absentee in the 2020 presidential election.
Why was he removed? Meadows reportedly voted in Virginia, where he owns a property, in 2021, triggering his removal from North Carolina’s rolls.
The North Carolina state bureau of investigation is continuing its inquiry into possible voter fraud, according to the Citizen, and would not say if Meadows’ removal from the roll would affect its investigation.
In other news …
The UK will send people seeking asylum 4,500 miles away to Rwanda for processing as part of an immigration crackdown. Migrants will reportedly have their asylum claims processed in Rwanda and be encouraged to settle there.
A man has been charged with a federal terrorism offence over the gun attack on a New York subway train. Frank R James, 62, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon on Manhattan’s Lower East Side without incident and is being held by police.
Cuba Gooding Jr has pleaded guilty to forcibly touching a woman at a New York nightclub in 2018. Accused of violating three different women in 2018 and 2019, Gooding has pleaded guilty to one of the allegations.
Stat of the day: 6,000 tonnes of trash piled up in Gibraltar after Brexit
Six thousand tonnes of trash piled up on Gibraltar as the territory dealt with post-Brexit paperwork – an unexpected consequence of the UK’s exit from the EU. After the transition period ended, so did the territory’s waste disposal arrangement: it had previously sent its trash to a facility in the Spanish province of Cádiz. The last of the refuse was cleared just before Gibraltar was hit by a storm this month.
Don’t miss this: ‘I dream of bees’ – one man’s lifetime devotion after being mesmerised by a swarm
When five-year-old Carlo Amodeo first saw a swarm of black bees in 1960s Sicily, he dreamt about them every night for a week. Now 62, Amodeo has been a beekeeper for more than 40 years and has been key to the recovery of the Sicilian black bee after it approached extinction in the 1970s. “I dream of seeing bees flying around without the risk of being poisoned. This would give back a bit of what they give to us and a better life for future generations.”
Climate check: our food system isn’t ready for the climate crisis
Consider the humble banana. The fruit symbolizes the threat posed by the world’s food diversity crisis: hundreds of different varieties have been cultivated over thousands of years. But we now eat just one variety, which is being threatened by a fungus, aided by conditions exacerbated by the climate crisis. More than the banana is at stake, though, as this interactive feature explains: “We’ve literally eaten ourselves into a tight genetic corner.” Unless diversity is embraced in food production, the climate emergency will trigger devastating crop losses.
Last Thing: composers savage Netflix’s ‘skip intro’
It’s a topic of contention for the composers of some of TV’s most beloved theme tunes. Murray Gold, who scored hits including It’s a Sin, “doesn’t let his wife use it”. It is, of course, Netflix’s “skip intro” button, which is now pressed 136m times a day – much to the chagrin of the musicians who argue the opening credits are a “show’s DNA identifier”.
Sign up
First Thing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
Get in touch
If you have any questions or comments about any of our newsletters please email newsletters@theguardian.com
