Good morning.
Worse atrocities than those discovered in Bucha are likely to be uncovered in other areas seized from Russian invaders, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned, ahead of his appearance at the UN security council today.
As he built support for an open investigation into the killings in Bucha, the Ukrainian president said: “And this is only one town. One of many Ukrainian communities which the Russian forces managed to capture. Now, there is information that in Borodyanka and some other liberated Ukrainian towns, the number of casualties of the occupiers may be even much higher.” The town of Borodyanka lies 25km (16 miles) west of Bucha.
The president accused Russia of trying to “distort the facts” about the alleged atrocities and claimed it was “already launching a false campaign to conceal their guilt in the mass killings of civilians in Mariupol”.
“They will do dozens of stage interviews, re-edited recordings, and will kill people specifically to make it look like they were killed by someone else,” he said.
Is Zelenskiy going to meet Vladimir Putin? Zelenskiy spoke on Ukrainian TV in an address to the people. He cast doubt on whether there would be a meeting between him and the Russian president.
How could Putin be prosecuted for war crimes? Biden has called for the Russian leader to face trial, but the process would be difficult and could play out in several ways.
What else is happening? Here’s what we know on day 41 of the Russian invasion.
IPCC report: ‘now or never’ if world is to stave off climate disaster
The world can still hope to stave off the worst ravages of climate breakdown but only through a “now or never” dash to a low-carbon economy and society, scientists have said in what is in effect a final warning for governments on the climate.
Greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025, and can be nearly halved this decade, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to give the world a chance of limiting future heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.
The final cost of doing so will be minimal, amounting to just a few percent of global GDP by mid-century, though it will require a massive effort by governments, businesses and individuals.
But the chances were narrow and the world was failing to make the changes needed, the body of the world’s leading climate scientists warned. Temperatures will soar to more than 3C, with catastrophic consequences, unless policies and actions are urgently strengthened.
What did Jim Skea, a professor at Imperial College London and co-chair of the working group behind the report, say? “It’s now or never, if we want to limit global warming to 1.5C. Without immediate and deep emissions reductions across all sectors, it will be impossible.”
Suspect arrested in Sacramento shooting that left six dead
Police in the California state capital have made an arrest in connection with Sunday’s mass shooting that left six people dead and at least a dozen others injured. In the hours after the bloodshed, police say they have received more than 100 videos or photos from the scene and executed search warrants on three homes.
They identified a 26-year-old man as one of the individuals arrested in connection to the shooting, in a press release. He has been charged with assault and illegal firearm possession offenses.
Yesterday, authorities identified the six people killed in the shooting, after at least two shooters opened fire in a crowd as bar patrons filled the streets at closing time on the outskirts of the city’s entertainment district.
The sound of rapid-fire gunshots at about 2am sent people running in terror. Twelve people were wounded in the neighborhood anchored by the Golden One Arena, which hosts concerts and the Sacramento Kings.
Who were the victims? The Sacramento county coroner identified the six people who were killed as Johntaya Alexander, 21; Melinda Davis, 57; and Yamile Martinez-Andrade, 21, Sergio Harris, 38; Joshua Hoye-Lucchesi, 32; and DeVazia Turner, 29.
In other news …
Lisa Murkowski and Mitt Romney on Monday brought to three the number of Republican senators to say they would vote in favor of supporting Ketanji Brown Jackson as Joe Biden’s nominee to the US supreme court. Romney, the Utah senator, praised Jackson as a well-qualified jurist and “a person of honor”.
The mayor of New York City, Eric Adams, has launched a digital campaign designed to persuade members of Florida’s LGBTQ+ community to move to the Big Apple, after their state passed a so-called “don’t say gay” law. Adams, a Democrat said: “Come to a city where you can say and be whoever you want.”
Scientists have observed an enormous planet about nine times the mass of Jupiter at a remarkably early stage of formation – describing it as still in the womb – in a discovery that challenges the current understanding of planetary formation.
Vladimir Putin has congratulated Hungary’s strongman leader, Viktor Orbán, on his decisive election victory, amid signs that European Union authorities will launch a sanctions process against Budapest that is intended to safeguard EU funds at risk from democratic-backsliding member states.
Stat of the day: Secret Service renting mansion for over $30,000 to protect Hunter Biden
The US Secret Service is paying more than $30,000 a month to rent a Malibu mansion in order to protect Hunter Biden. To house agents protecting Joe Biden’s son, the agency has rented a Spanish-style estate that according to a property listing boasts “resort-style living at its finest”. The mansion is close to Hunter Biden’s own rented mansion, for which he is reportedly paying about $20,000 a month. The Secret Service chose its property so it could be as close as possible to Biden, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to ABC News.
Don’t miss this: How Gap lost its way
Gap’s clothes defined an era. When it first hit the scene in the late 60s, Gap was speaking to a generation of young people. Today, the brand faces the challenge of clarifying a message that has grown blurry and the business has been steadily declining for years. Can a collaboration with Kanye West revive its fortunes – or is it just another sign of a brand flailing around for an identity?
… or this: American summer camps are rethinking their use of Indigenous names and rituals
Every year, millions of kids are dropped off by their parents in the woods for weeks at a time, at institutions that have appropriated Indigenous names – or their made-up equivalents – and co-opted “native” practices into camp culture, such as powwows, totem poles, war paint, certain camp songs and “tribes”. Across the continent, the camping community is at last grappling with Native American cultural appropriation. Many camps have begun the long work of reparations, starting – though not ending – with renaming, writes Elena Sheppard.
Climate check: It’s over for fossil fuels
Thirty months: that is the very short time the world now has for global greenhouse gas emissions to finally start to fall. If not, we will miss the chance to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis, writes Damian Carrington in his analysis of the IPCC report. The conclusion of the world’s scientists, collated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and approved by all the world’s governments, says this reversal requires “immediate and deep” cuts in emissions everywhere.
Last Thing: The mystery of Darwin’s stolen journals returned in a pink gift bag
Two Charles Darwin manuscripts that were reported as stolen from Cambridge University library have been anonymously returned in a pink gift bag, with a typed note on an envelope wishing a happy Easter to the librarian. The precious items were found to be missing in 2001, but were not reported stolen until October 2020 after extensive searches. Dr Jessica Gardner, the director of library services, described her joy at their return as “immense”. As to who took them and who brought them back, she said: “It really is a mystery. We don’t know how and we don’t know who.”
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
