Good morning.
The US has moved to drastically step up its support for Ukraine, with House lawmakers passing a $13bn aid bill as Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned a Russian attack on a children’s hospital as proof that a “genocide” is being carried out.
President Zelenskiy shared footage of a destroyed hospital in the besieged city of Mariupol, saying on Telegram: “The aerial bombing of a children’s hospital is the ultimate evidence that genocide of Ukrainians is happening.” The White House condemned the attack as “barbaric”.
The US House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, indicated the $13.6bn US aid package was likely to be just the first part of raft of aid measures to be provided to Ukraine, saying that “all of us will have to do more” to help the country. Meanwhile, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, has warned that Russia may be preparing to use chemical or biological weapons.
Fighting stopped a humanitarian convoy from from reaching Mariupol, along one of seven corridors to besieged cities set up by Ukraine. Russian troops are reported to have seized parts of Mariupol.
How will the $13.6bn be spent? It will be split between military and humanitarian aid: $6.5bn to send troops and weapons to eastern Europe; $6.8bn for refugees and economic aid for allies.
When will the bill pass? Senate approval is expected within days.
Trump lawyer knew delaying Biden certification was unlawful
At least one of Donald Trump’s lawyers knew that interrupting the certification of Joe Biden’s election win as part of a plot to return the former president to office would be unlawful, an email exchange has shown.
John Eastman, Trump’s former lawyer who helped organise the scheme from the “war room” at the Willard hotel in Washington, admitted in an email to Greg Jacob, counsel for the then vice-president, Mike Pence, that it would be a violation of the Electoral Count Act.
However, Eastman encouraged Pence to go ahead with it anyway, saying it was only a “minor violation” of the statute that governed the certification procedure.
Who else knew? The email exchange raises the prospect that others in the Willard, including Trump’s former attorney Rudy Giuliani and former strategist Steve Bannon, were also aware of the scheme’s unlawfulness.
How significant are the emails? The exchange weakens arguments by Eastman and the rest of the team that they believed there was no wrongdoing in Pence delaying the certification beyond 6 January.
Canadian pipeline groups invest in ‘Indigenous-washing’
Fossil fuel companies are investing in campaigns to appear as defenders of Indigenous interests amid protests against a controversial gas pipeline on First Nation land, an investigation by Eco-Bot.Net and the Guardian has revealed.
Ads conveying Indigenous support for the Coastal GasLink pipeline appeared on the Facebook and Instagram feeds of people in British Columbia as Wet’suwet’en Nation members were being evicted from their territory near the pipeline. The ads spiked last November during land defense protests.
The investigation found that the fossil fuel groups spent some C$122,000 (US$95,249) on more than 400 targeted Facebook and Instagram ads over the past two years relating to projects around the country. The overwhelming majority were linked to the Coastal GasLink pipeline, a 670km pipeline through unceded Wet’suwet’en territory that has faced opposition from some Indigenous and environmental groups.
What is “Indigenous-washing”? The term is used to refer to high-polluting companies misleading the public about their relationship to Indigenous peoples and their land.
Did the ads just target British Columbia? Initially, before moving to parts of the country with strong solidarity protests, such as Ontario.
In other news …
Guatemala has increased punishment for abortions, with women who terminate pregnancies facing up to 10 years in prison, up from three. It also explicitly banned same-sex marriage, though it was already in effect illegal.
Thousands of demonstrators have gathered in Brazil’s capital to protest against the “ecocide” being waged under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. The protest in Brasília was held in opposition to five environment-related bills being considered by Brazil’s congress.
A critically endangered species of bat not seen in 40 years has been found in Rwanda. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) listed the Hill’s horseshoe bat as critically endangered in 2021.
Stat of the day: Russia has detained 13,789 anti-war protesters since 24 February
Russia has detained 13,789 protesters opposing the country’s invasion of Ukraine since 24 February. While this number may seem large, it should not be read as an indication of vast anti-war movement, as the detention rate is “likely much higher than in normal conditions”, writes Sasha de Vogel. Although many are against the war, some are “barely aware of it” due to draconian media censorship which has made it a crime to use the terms war, attack or invasion.
Don’t miss this: The terrified Ukrainian surrogates – and the parents waiting for their children
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there has been a flurry of international coverage focusing on foreign couples using paid Ukrainian surrogate mothers. The articles often make little reference to the surrogates’ wellbeing, and sometimes the couples appear “indifferent to the plight of the women left behind”, writes Sirin Kale in this exploration of the treatment of Ukrainian surrogates during the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe.
Last Thing: The dogsitting boom as workers return to the office
As UK office workers peel themselves away from their home-working setups and restart their commutes, one business has been booming: dogsitting. One site offering local dog home-boarding services, has seen enquiries soar by 482.75% compared with pre-pandemic demand in 2019.
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