Top story: Zelenskiy appeals to UN
Morning everyone. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories today.
Britain, the United States and the western allies are preparing to impose new sanctions on Moscow over civilian killings in Ukraine as the west makes a fresh attempt to cripple Vladimir Putin’s economy and war effort. In a powerful address to the United Nations last night, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy described the atrocities in his country as “war crimes” while the office of Ukraine’s top prosecutor said 4,400 incidents were being investigated. The carnage in Bucha and other towns around Kyiv has caused worldwide revulsion and new measures against Russian banks, officials and a ban on new investment will be unveiled today, coordinated between Washington, G7 economies and the European Union. Russia’s ambassador to the UN repeated the Kremlin’s claims that the violence was due to “the horrific provocation of Ukrainian forces”, but the attention in New York was on Zelenskiy and his “uncomfortable” message for the UN to provide more help.
Our correspondent Shaun Walker spent two days in one of the worst-hit towns, Trostianets, where he found “evidence of summary executions, torture and systematic looting”, adding that “it will a take a long time to catalogue all the crimes the Russians committed” in such places. Boris Johnson issued a video appealing to the Russian people to obtain the technology to bypass censorship and “look at what is being done in your name”. It came as Britain said it would work with the US and Australia in developing nuclear-capable hypersonic weapons after Russia used the deadly high-speed missiles in airstrikes last month during the war in Ukraine. Here’s what we know so far on day 42 of the conflict, and here is the blog with the latest developments.
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Two-child failure – The government’s attempts to tackle the so-called “benefit culture” by limiting welfare payments to the first two children born to the poorest households has failed, according to research. Since its introduction five years ago, the fertility rate for third and subsequent children born to poorer families has barely fallen. Instead, the main impact of the policy has been to become the biggest single driver of child poverty, said Prof Jonathan Portes, co-author of the study.
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C4 backlash – Boris Johnson will struggle to get his plans to privatise Channel 4 through parliament after a backlash from within his party. The plans to raise £1bn-plus by selling off the state-owned channel has sparked furious opposition from people such as Ruth Davidson, the former Scottish Tory leader, and former cabinet ministers Damian Green and Jeremy Hunt. Another opponent, father of the house Peter Bottomley, said it should rejected because it was “bad for the diversity of television, bad for viewers and bad for independent producers”. Sky, ITV, Discovery and Paramount are possible buyers if the plans went ahead.
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‘Come clean’ – Ministers are refusing to disclose any pictures taken by official No 10 photographers of illegal gatherings held inside Downing Street, prompting Labour to call on Boris Johnson to “come clean and release these photos”. The Cabinet Office refused to confirm or deny the existence of any photographs of events in the cabinet room, leaving parties, and a party in the prime minister’s Downing Street flat after official pictures of the gatherings were requested under freedom of information laws.
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Covid risk for over-55s – A rise in Covid infections in the over-55s could see an increased number of hospitalisations and deaths in the coming weeks, experts have warned. Imperial College London’s latest React-1 study found that while infections appeared to be slowing down or plateauing in most younger age groups in England, they were rising in over-55s, with no clear sign of when they will peak. The average prevalence of Covid-19 across England stood at 6.4% – by far the highest since the study began in May 2020.
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Pop hit – Manchester is to become home to the British Pop Archive, including treasures such as handwritten lyrics by Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis and memorabilia from the city’s rich music history. Its creators hope it will become the national collection for all aspects of postwar popular culture. Also part of the collection will be the archive of Granada TV, shining light on its dazzling roster of programmes including Coronation Street, World in Action and Prime Suspect.
Today in Focus podcast
From the cancellation of performances of Tchaikovsky to the exit of Ikea and McDonald’s from Moscow, there has been a rush to boycott all things Russian. But what impact do these official and unofficial economic protests have?
Lunchtime read: How Britain got spooked
Mysterious glowing orbs, unexplained chills, things that literally go bump in the night: signs of paranormal activity have reportedly surged during the pandemic and ghosts are fast becoming something of a national obsession. Emine Saner talks to specialist investigators, ghost hunt organisers and the man behind an Uncanny podcast.
Sport
Manchester City were not the smooth operators they so often are but a slender victory against Atlético may prove invaluable when the tie is decided in next week’s return at Wanda Metropolitano. Foden started on the bench but after little more than a minute on the pitch his dribble and pass led to Kevin De Bruyne’s goal. Jürgen Klopp’s public exercise in maintaining Liverpool’s focus held little consolation for Benfica, who went down 3-1 at home. Tiger Woods’s Masters comeback after the life-threatening car crash seemed fanciful but the former world No 1 has defied limits throughout his career. The chair of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Alex Wurz, has put F1 on notice that its drivers will no longer stay silent on issues such as boycotting the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Leah Williamson has described being named as England’s captain for the European Championship this summer as “the biggest honour in football” and something that will “never sink in”. And it comes as the curator of a new exhibition at London’s Design Museum called for the rich history of women’s football to be taken more seriously. Eleanor Watson, the curator of Football: Designing the Beautiful Game, called for “a concerted effort on all sides” to address the imbalance towards men in football history.
Business
The world economy may be on the brink of a new inflationary era where consumers will be faced with persistently higher prices and rising interest rates due to the retreat of globalisation, a leading central bank chief has said. Agustín Carstens, head of the Bank for International Settlements, said higher rates could be required for several years to combat inflation which is 6.2% in the UK. Asian markets followed the US downwards overnight but FTSE100 futures are pointing to a flat start in London. The pound is $1.307 and €1.199.
The papers
The Guardian’s main story is “Zelenskiy: Russian leaders must face war crimes trial” and the front also features Shaun Walker’s devastating dispatch from Trostianets. “Stop Putin or dissolve yourself, Zelenskiy tells UN” is the headline in the Telegraph, while the Times has “Britain wants hypersonic missiles to counter Russia” and the Mail goes with Johnson’s video message: “Don’t let Putin do this in your name”. The Mirror features the story of a mother in Ukraine who wrote her daughter’s details on the child’s back in case the family was split up by the Russians. “If I don’t make it … this is who you are”, the splash headline reads. The Sun claims that former Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is feeling the pinch because of sanctions: “Red Rom kicked in roubles”, it says.
The i picks up on the growing Tory rebellion over plans to privatise Channel 4 – “Tory rebellion brewing over Channel 4 privatisation” – which is also a big story in the Yorkshire Post because the station has a base in Leeds: “Alarm over plans to sell broadcaster”. The FT leads on market concern as “Fed to make ‘rapid’ cuts to balance sheet next month, says top official”, and the Express claims “2,921 council ‘fat cats’ paid more than £100k”.
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