Diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine have increased, with Ukrainian and Russian negotiators to resume talks after Russia attacked a base near the Polish border and fighting raged across Ukraine.
A barrage of Russian missiles hit Yavoriv International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, a base just 15 miles (25km) from the Polish border that previously hosted Nato military instructors, killing 35 people and wounding 134, a Ukrainian official said yesterday.
The violence continued this morning, with shelling of a residential building in the capital killing two.
But hopes of diplomatic progress were raised after Russia and Ukraine gave positive assessments after weekend negotiations.
What’s happening in the villages Russia has taken over? Witnesses have said Russian soldiers are shooting randomly at buildings, throwing grenades down roads and going from house to house confiscating phones and laptops. People have also been shot dead in the street.
Why is Tucker Carlson in the news today? According to a report on Sunday, earlier this month the Putin regime in Moscow sent out an instruction to friendly media outlets: use more clips of Carlson.
What else is happening? Here’s everything we know on day 19 of the Russian invasion.
The US marks two years of Covid – is it prepared for the next pandemic?
It has been more than two years since Donald Trump declared a national emergency owing to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic.
Now, even though the threat from Covid remains, US public health officials and researchers are looking to the next potential pandemic – whether it’s influenza, another coronavirus, antimicrobial resistance, or a different health threat entirely – as they hope to build on the progress and avoid the pitfalls of the past two years, writes Melody Schreiber.
Scientists, several of whom have advised Joe Biden, have released a 136-page roadmap for moving from the Covid crisis to what they describe as the “next normal”.
These investments include supporting health workers and strengthening health systems, as well as supporting survivors with long-term symptoms.
Has Obama tested positive for Covid? Yes. “I just tested positive for Covid,” the former president, 60, tweeted yesterday, adding that other than a scratchy throat, he felt fine. “Michelle and I are grateful to be vaccinated and boosted, and she has tested negative,” he said.
Here are eight charts that capture the past two years. These graphics show the costs and cautious hopes for the future.
Australia and the Netherlands launch legal action against Russia over MH17 disaster
Australia and the Netherlands have launched legal proceedings against Russia through the International Civil Aviation Organization for the downing of the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.
The legal action could compel Russia to take part in stalled negotiations with the two countries, and could also result in it being penalized by the UN-linked organisation that is responsible for the administration of international aviation law.
Australia and the Netherlands want compensation and an apology from the Russian Federation for the MH17 disaster. Two hundred and ninety-eight people, including 38 Australians, were killed when the aircraft was shot down over Ukraine in 2014.
Russia, which has denied involvement despite the findings of an international investigation, unilaterally withdrew from negotiations with the two countries in October 2020.
On what grounds are the countries taking the legal action? The joint action is under article 84 of the convention on international civil aviation, and will allege that Russia is in breach of the Chicago convention that underpins aviation law.
Was Russia responsible for the disaster? Australia and the Netherlands say there is the “overwhelming evidence” that the flight was shot down by a Russian Buk-Telar surface-to-air missile system, which was transported from Russia to an agricultural field in the east of Ukraine on the morning of 17 July 2014.
In other news:
The director Jane Campion has called the actor Sam Elliott “a little bit sexist” and “a bitch”, for criticising The Power of the Dog, her Oscar- and Bafta-nominated western, for its driving theme of repressed homosexual desire and for being filmed in New Zealand.
Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, who is meeting China’s top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, in Rome today, has warned that Beijing will “absolutely” face consequences if it helps Moscow evade sanctions over the invasion of Ukraine.
William Barr has doubled down on his vow to vote for Donald Trump if he is the Republican nominee in 2024, despite writing in his new book that Trump is dangerously unsuited for the job. He said: “Elections are binary choice, and unfortunately sometimes it’s choosing the lesser of two evils.”
Biden’s hardline stance on Russia has won him widespread plaudits, but with the most serious oil shock in decades now a reality, the president’s attempt to cushion the blowback continues to meet resistance from the two allies he needs most.
Don’t miss this: Why are so many people going ‘goblin mode’?
At some point in the stretch of days between the start of the pandemic’s third year and the feared launch of world war three, a new phrase entered the zeitgeist, a mysterious harbinger of an age to come: people were going “goblin mode”. The term embraces the comforts of depravity: spending the day in bed watching 90 Day Fiancé on mute while scrolling endlessly through social media, pouring the end of a bag of chips in your mouth, writes Kari Paul.
Climate check: Sun sets on Mexico’s paradise beaches as climate crisis hits home
Rises in sea levels driven by the climate crisis could reach 40cm (15in) by 2050, says Ruth Cerezo-Mota, an oceanographer at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), with four to 20 metres of beach on the Quintana Roo’s coastline lost. “This would mean chaos”, says Christian Appendini, a coastal engineer at UNAM. “All the beaches in front of urban developments would probably disappear unless drastic nature-based beach restoration measures are taken.”
Last Thing: The man behind the wheels-doors Twitter post that ‘exploded’ online
The New Zealander who unwittingly sparked an agonising global debate over whether there are more doors or wheels in the world has come to his own conclusion – “I’m firmly team wheels”. Auckland man Ryan Nixon, 37, decided to create a poll for his fewer than 1,500 Twitter followers. “My mates and I are having the STUPIDEST debate … And I am here for it,” he wrote. “Do you think there are more doors or wheels in the world?” By Sunday, the poll had exploded.
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