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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Clea Skopeliti

First Thing: Russia strikes Kyiv during UN visit to Ukraine

Missile strikes in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv
Damaged buildings are seen after strikes on Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Good morning.

Russia hit Kyiv with cruise missile strikes hours after Joe Biden announced the US would double its military and economic aid to Ukraine.

The attacks took place while the UN secretary general was visiting the city, leading the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to call for a “strong response”, saying the strikes “say a lot about Russia’s true attitude to global institutions”.

At least 10 people were injured, Ukrainian state emergency officials said. Zelenskiy said the attacks on Kyiv and other cities “prove that we cannot let our guard down”.

Capitol attack panel to issue letters to key Republicans

Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader
Kevin McCarthy, the House minority leader. The scope and subjects of the letters are not yet finalized. Photograph: Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

The House select committee investigating the Capitol attack is expected to issue letters asking significant Republican figures, including the House minority leader, Kevin McCarthy, and about a dozen others, to appear before the panel voluntarily, sources close to the matter said.

The list has not yet been finalized, but two sources said that Scott Perry, Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mo Brooks, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, as well as some Republican senators, are being considered.

The panel is understood to be particularly interested in McCarthy after it emerged this week he had told the Republican leadership that days after the Capitol attack Donald Trump admitted at least partial responsibility to him.

  • When will the letters be sent? Either this week or next week, according to the sources. The list is expected to be authorized as soon as this week.

  • Have they been asked to testify before? It would be the second time McCarthy, Jordan and Perry are requested to appear.

  • What if the figures don’t cooperate? The panel will then consider ways to compel them to: subpoenas are no longer off the table.

British Virgin Islands premier arrested on cocaine charges in US sting operation

Andrew Fahie, the premier of the British Virgin Islands.
Andrew Fahie, the premier of the British Virgin Islands. Photograph: Ricki Richardson/Handout

The premier of the British Virgin Islands, Andrew Fahie, has been arrested in Miami on charges of conspiring to import cocaine into the US and money laundering during a sting operation.

The BVI governor, John Rankin, confirmed Fahie had been arrested on Thursday morning and called for calm. Fahie was involved in conspiracy to import at least 5kg of cocaine and money laundering from 16 October last year, court papers filed in Florida alleged.

  • Were others arrested? Oleanvine Maynard, the manager director of the BVI’s port authority, and her son Kadeem were also detained.

  • How were they caught? Fahie and Maynard were arrested at a Miami airport after being invited by undercover agents to see the $700,000 that BVI officials expected to receive.

In other news …

A meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower in August 2021.
A meteor streaks across the sky during the annual Perseid meteor shower in August 2021. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Stat of the day: Nearly 5bn medications are prescribed annually in the US

Two fishers are seen in the ocean as a bonefish swims across, Florida, US.
Two fishers are seen in the ocean as a bonefish swims across, Florida, US. Photograph: Jose Azel/Getty Images/Aurora Open

Almost 5bn medications are prescribed annually in the US, and Americans on average have about 12 prescriptions a year. This may be having an impact on marine populations: when Dr Jennifer Rehage, a fish ecologist and associate professor at Florida International University, set out to learn why bonefish numbers are dropping, her team found all 93 fish they sampled tested positive for at least one drug.

Don’t miss this: the Texan revolt against giant new highways

An overpass in Texas
Residents are voicing fury over highway expansions Photograph: Arturo Olmos/The Guardian

The seemingly endless expansion of highways in Texas has provoked anger from residents, who last week protested against plans for roads that will displace residents as well as as churches, schools and businesses. While highways are expanded, the state is obstructing local initiatives encouraging cycling and walking, and residents say public transport options are limited. Could the state’s “car-centric status quo” be beginning to shake?

Climate check: Climate crisis, not military tensions, is biggest threat to Pacific, say former leaders

Suega Apelu bathes a child in the lagoon on 28 November 2019 in Funafuti, Tuvalu
Pacific elders say the climate crisis is the primary threat to the region. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

Former leaders of Pacific nations have warned that the climate crisis – not rising military tensions – pose the biggest threat to their region. Pacific nations are often seen as acting as a bellwether for the climate emergency, which is already causing migration away from some island groups.

Last Thing: ‘I bake recipes I find on gravestones’

Rosie Grant at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington DC.
‘So far, the recipes have all been on women’s graves’: Rosie Grant at Rock Creek Cemetery in Washington DC. Photograph: TJ Kirkpatrick

During the strange early days of lockdown, many got into baking, along with other hobbies that fell by the wayside within months (if not weeks). Rosie Grant, who is studying to be an archivist, did too – but with something of a twist. She began baking recipes she found on gravestones, which has led her to research the lives of the women behind the recipes.

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