Good morning.
Vladimir Putin has announced a partial mobilisation in Russia in a significant escalation that places the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing.
The president also threatened nuclear retaliation, saying Russia had “lots of weapons” to reply to what he called western threats on its territory and added that he was not bluffing.
In a highly anticipated televised address, Putin said the “partial mobilisation” was a direct response to the dangers posed by the west that “wants to destroy our country” and claimed the west had tried to “turn Ukraine’s people into cannon fodder”.
“Military service will apply only to citizens who are currently in the reserve, especially those who have served in the armed forces, have certain military professions and relevant experience,” he said.
What has happened since? Shortly after Putin’s announcement, the country’s defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said 300,000 Russians would be called up as part of the mobilisation, which would apply to “those with previous military experience”.
What has sparked this? The Russian leader’s televised address to the country came a day after Russian-controlled regions in Ukraine announced plans to hold votes on becoming part of Russia. This could set the stage for Moscow to escalate the war after Ukrainian successes.
Writer E Jean Carroll to file new lawsuit after accusing Trump of rape
E Jean Carroll, the writer who accused Donald Trump of raping her more than two decades ago, plans to file a new lawsuit against the former US president.
In a letter made public on Tuesday, a lawyer for former Elle magazine columnist said she planned to sue Trump for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress under New York state’s Adult Survivors Act.
That law, recently signed by the governor, Kathy Hochul, gives adult accusers a one-year window to bring civil claims over alleged sexual misconduct regardless of how long ago it occurred.
Trump has denied raping Carroll and accused her of concocting the claim to sell her book.
Carroll’s lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said her client planned to sue Trump on 24 November, when the state law would take effect, and that the claims and Carroll’s existing defamation case against Trump could be tried together in February 2023.
What does Carroll say happened? Carroll has accused Trump of raping her in the dressing room of the Manhattan department store Bergdorf Goodman in the 1990s. She sued him in 2019 while he was serving his presidency, saying he slandered her by denying the allegation.
What has Trump said about it? The former president said she was “totally lying” and was “not my type”, among other remarks.
Revealed: the ‘shocking’ levels of toxic lead in Chicago tap water
One in 20 tap water tests performed for thousands of Chicago residents found lead, a neurotoxin, at or above US government limits, according to a Guardian analysis of City of Chicago data. One-third had more lead than is permitted in bottled water.
This means that of the 24,000 tests, approximately 1,000 homes had lead exceeding federal standards. Experts and locals say these results raise broader concerns because there are an estimated 400,000 lead pipes supplying water to homes in the city, and the vast majority were not tested as part of the program.
Moreover, they say the city is not moving fast enough to eliminate the potential danger.
The Guardian worked with the water engineer Elin Betanzo – who helped uncover the Flint water crisis that resulted in many, mostly Black residents being poisoned by lead in the Michigan city – to review the results of water tests conducted for Chicago residents between 2016 and 2021. Chicago authorities have not released an analysis of the results.
What impact can lead have on people’s health? Once in the blood, lead can cross the blood-brain barrier and affect the nervous system. It has been linked to lower IQ levels, behavioral disorders and worsening performance in reading and math. In adults, low levels of lead are associated with kidney problems and increasing blood pressure, which can contribute to a host of cardiac effects.
Minnesota schemers allegedly swindle $250m in largest pandemic fraud
Forty-seven people have been charged in what US authorities say is the largest case yet of “pandemic fraud”, accusing the defendants of a “brazen” scheme to swindle millions from a program intended for low-income children and using it to “enrich themselves”.
Those charged are accused of creating companies that claimed to providing food to tens of thousands of children across Minnesota, then sought reimbursement for those meals through the US Department of Agriculture’s food nutrition programs.
Prosecutors say few meals were served, and the defendants used the money to buy luxury cars, property and jewelry. Authorities say a total of $250m was stolen from the federal program.
“This $250m is the floor,” Andrew Luger, the US attorney for Minnesota, said at a news conference.
How did they carry out the fraud? Luger said the government was billed for more than 125m fake meals, with some defendants making up names for children by using an online random name generator. Many of the companies that claimed to be serving food were sponsored by a non-profit called Feeding Our Future, which submitted the companies’ claims for reimbursement.
In other news …
Attorneys representing the Venezuelan migrants and refugees allegedly duped into flying to the wealthy island of Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts have filed a class-action civil rights lawsuit against the Florida governor and other state officials. The suit alleges they were “used as political pawns”.
Homes owned by Russian oligarchs acquired with “dirty money” in the richest parts of London could be seized and turned into affordable housing under plans to crack down on oligarchs using Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair “to rinse their money”.
A man has set himself alight near the Japanese prime minister’s office, apparently in protest against next week’s state funeral for the country’s former prime minister, Shinzo Abe. The man, who has not been named, sustained burns over his entire body at the incident in Tokyo.
Space Force, the sixth and newest branch of the US military, aired its official song on Tuesday amid a less than stellar critical response. Space Force was created in 2019 at the behest of the Trump White House. As one website dedicated to covering the US armed forces put it: “It’s not a banger.”
Stat of the day: Researchers estimate there are 2.5m ants for every human on the planet
The world’s human population is forecast to surpass 8 billion in the coming months. Compared with ants, that is a mediocre milestone. Researchers have made the most thorough assessment to date of the global population of ants and the estimated total is a mind-blowing 20 quadrillion of them, or approximately 2.5 million for every human. It should come as little surprise considering how ubiquitous these busy and social insects are, and the fact they have thrived since the age of dinosaurs, with the oldest-known ant fossil dating back about 100m years to the Cretaceous period.
Don’t miss this: the true crime podcasts that changed their subjects’ lives
On Monday, a Baltimore judge vacated the conviction of Adnan Syed, who spent 23 years behind bars for a crime he claims he did not commit. Eight years ago, the journalist Sarah Koenig made Syed the focus of her This American Life spinoff podcast Serial, in the process making Syed an unlikely celebrity and catapulting the world into what would be known as the “golden age of podcasting”. Serial was the first podcast to go mega-viral, reaching 1m downloads per episode just four weeks after its release. Here is a look at what Serial has wrought – the good, the bad, the shamelessly sensationalist – in the years since.
… or this: California’s historic Little Arabia finally recognized
Last month, after more than 20 years of community advocacy, the Anaheim city council formally designated a section of the city as Little Arabia, making it the first officially recognized Arab American enclave in the US. A sign marking Little Arabia will be put up on Interstate 5, and the city council has plans to commission an in-depth study of the neighborhood. But for many residents and businessowners, the designation means something deeper. “With the designation, you feel like you’re part of America, your community is represented,” said Nizar Milbes, a community activist.
Climate check: UN chief calls for windfall tax on fossil fuel companies
Countries should impose windfall taxes on fossil fuel companies and divert the money to vulnerable nations suffering worsening losses from the climate crisis, the UN secretary general has urged. António Guterres said “polluters must pay” for the escalating damage caused by heatwaves, floods and other climate impacts, adding that it was “high time to put fossil fuel producers, investors and enablers on notice”. Guterres’s appeal came in his most urgent, and bleakest, speech to date on the state of the planet. “Our world is in big trouble,” he said.
Last Thing: Hollywood sign to get a makeover as 100th birthday approaches
In preparation for its 100th birthday next year, the Hollywood sign is getting a makeover. The giant letters on the hill are being cleaned and repainted, a process estimated to take eight weeks. Freshening up the 45ft-tall letters will require about 250 gallons of paints and primer – nicknamed a Hollywood “facelift” – and anyone who wants to watch the paint dry can follow along on the sign’s 24/7 webcam. The last time the letters were repainted was a decade ago, in time for its 90th birthday.
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