Good morning.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has accused Russia of planning to hold a sham independence referendum in the partly occupied southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
The Ukrainian president told residents there to avoid handing over personal information, including giving passport data or by answering questionnaires, to occupying forces.
Zelenskiy’s warning came after Mariupol’s mayor, Vadym Boichenko, accused Moscow of concealing evidence of its “barbaric” war crimes in a new mass grave of up to 9,000 civilians killed by shelling. The allegations were supported by satellite images from the US company Maxar.
How many Mariupol residents have been killed? Boichenko estimated the death toll has passed 20,000.
A Russian military official has been quoted saying that Moscow intends to control all of southern Ukraine, according to the Interfax news agency.
The US has dismissed Russian claims that it had seized full control of Mariupol as “disinformation”.
Donald Trump Jr to appear before House Capitol attack panel – report
Donald Trump Jr has agreed to meet the House select committee investigating the 6 January attack on the US Capitol, according to the New York Times.
The former president Donald Trump’s eldest son will meet the committee of his own free will and without the threat of a subpoena, the newspaper reported, citing a source familiar with the matter. It did not say when the testimony was scheduled.
The development follows the testimony of other Trump family members. Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump, who was one of his senior White House advisers, testified for eight hours earlier this month, days after Jared Kushner, her husband and former White House adviser, appeared before the committee.
Was Ivanka Trump subpoenaed? No – she attended voluntarily.
How many witnesses have been interviewed? More than 800.
Florida Republicans pass congressional map severely limiting Black voter power
Republicans in Florida have moved to seriously undermine Black voting power with one of the most aggressively gerrymandered maps passed in recent months.
In protest at the map’s approval, drawn by Governor Ron DeSantis, Black lawmakers staged a sit-in on the floor of the legislature. It boosts Republican chances in the state, while scrapping two of four districts where Black voters have been able to elect the candidate of their choice.
The plan breaks up the fifth congressional district, which runs from Jacksonville to Tallahassee and is 46% Black and represented by a Black Democrat, Al Lawson. The map divides the district into four pieces, all in which Republicans would be favoured to win. Voting rights experts have said the plan flouts laws designed to protect the interests of minority voters.
How much would it boost the GOP? Republicans would be expected to win 20 of the state’s 28 congressional districts, up from the 16 they hold.
How can it be challenged? Lawsuits challenging the maps are expected imminently.
In other news …
Thousands of Maasai people in northern Tanzania have appealed to the UK, the US and the EU for help to halt plans to evict them from their ancestral land. More than 150,000 Maasai people face eviction by the Tanzanian government because of plans by Unesco and a safari company to use the land for conservation and commercial hunting.
Democracy will “wither” unless tech firms are reined in, the former president Barack Obama has warned in a keynote speech about the threat of online disinformation. Speaking at Stanford University, Obama made his most forceful remarks yet on the perils of the technology landscape.
The French army has claimed to have filmed Russian mercenaries burying bodies in northern Mali in order to falsely accuse France’s departing forces of leaving behind mass graves. The French general staff warned of information warfare as its troops withdrew from the base after almost a decade.
Stat of the day: 350,000 fewer American kindergarteners were vaccinated against common diseases in past year
Vaccine coverage among American kindergarteners fell from 95% to below 94% in the past year – meaning 350,000 fewer children were vaccinated against common diseases. The fall in coverage is yet another hidden cost of the pandemic. The data, from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, showed that a further 400,000 children were absent from kindergarten during 2020-2021.
Don’t miss this: ‘I just got an email from myself, a decade ago’
On the morning of his 31st birthday, Wilfred Chan received an unusual email. First of all, it was from himself; second, it had taken a decade to arrive. Using an email service called FutureMe, Chan had written the message at 21, laying out his hopes for the future (“You better be a baller by this time,” he jokes). But his younger self offer up words of wisdom too: “I just hope you’re … not losing your sense of wonder about the world.” A heartwarming Friday read!
Climate check: Our food systems are not ready for the climate crisis
Our modern food systems are built on a narrow genetic base, making them particularly vulnerable to changes brought by the climate emergency. Here are five charts explaining how richer genetic diversity of foods would make our crops able to withstand rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns.
Last Thing: you be the judge on this family soap opera
While Claire loves watching tension-filled TV dramas in the evenings, her partner Drew can’t handle on-screen conflict: he’s been known to walk out halfway through some of Succession’s best scenes. Should he compromise or is it time for Claire to adapt the couple’s viewing schedule? You be the judge.
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