Good morning.
Russia faced western sanctions and bitter condemnation at the UN after Vladimir Putin ordered troops over the Ukrainian border into Moscow-controlled territories in the east of the country, which he had recognised hours earlier.
With reports of Russian armoured columns advancing into Donetsk and Luhansk under the guise of “peacekeepers” in the Russian-backed enclaves, the US imposed some limited sanctions and warned more would come today.
The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, has dismissed Vladimir’s Putin’s assertion that the troops heading into the Russian-controlled territories of Ukraine would take on a “peacekeeping” role. At a fiery emergency meeting of the security council in New York she said: “He calls them peacekeepers. This is nonsense. We know what they really are.”
A spokesperson for the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said he “considers the decision of the Russian Federation to be a violation of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and inconsistent with the principles of the Charter of the United Nations”.
Is this the start of something bigger? The UK minister Sajid Javid said this morning it was clear an invasion had already begun. The US and UK believe that the Russian entry into the eastern tip of Ukraine is a precursor for a more sweeping invasion.
What does Russian recognition of breakaway Ukraine territories mean? It could pave the way for Moscow to send military forces into the separatist areas openly, using the argument that it is intervening as an ally to protect them against Ukraine.
Switzerland at risk of EU blacklist after Credit Suisse leak
The fallout from a huge leak of Credit Suisse banking data threatened to damage Switzerland’s entire financial sector yesterday after the European parliament’s main political grouping raised the prospect of adding the country to a money-laundering blacklist.
The European People’s party (EPP), the largest political grouping of the European parliament, called for the EU to review its relationship with Switzerland and consider whether it should be added to its list of countries associated with a high risk of financial crime.
Experts said that such a move would be a disaster for Switzerland’s financial sector, which would face the kind of enhanced due diligence applied to transactions linked to rogue nations including Iran, Myanmar, Syria and North Korea.
The investigation, called Suisse secrets, identified clients of the Swiss bank who had been involved in torture, drug trafficking, money laundering, corruption and other serious crimes.
Credit Suisse leak unmasks criminals, fraudsters and corrupt politicians
What is the Suisse secrets leak and why are we publishing it?
Indigenous nations sue North Dakota over ‘sickening’ gerrymandering
The leaders of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and Spirit Lake Nation have sued North Dakota, alleging that a new legislative map for the state, which was meant to account for population changes identified in the 2020 census, doesn’t comply with section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.
The lawsuit, filed earlier this month, claims the map packs some Indigenous voters into one house subdistrict, while putting other “nearby Native American voters into two other districts dominated by white voters who bloc vote against Native Americans’ preferred candidates”. It adds that complying with the Voting Rights Act would mean placing the two nations in a single district, where they would “comprise an effective, geographically compact majority”.
“Our voice is going to be muffled once again,” the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa chairman, Jamie Azure, told the Guardian. “It’s getting a little sickening, tell you the truth.”
Indigenous people in the US have faced generations of voting restrictions. Although Indigenous people were granted citizenship in 1924, it took more than three decades before they were considered eligible to vote in every state.
In other news …
Britney Spears has landed a “record-breaking” publishing deal for a tell-all memoir about her rise to fame, her relationship with her family and her experience living under a conservatorship for more than a decade. Simon & Schuster secured the deal for as much as US$15m (£11m, A$20.8m).
A huge Moai statue, one of the iconic stone monuments from Easter Island, began its journey back home on Monday, after being removed and taken to Santiago, where it has been housed since 1870. The return of the statue comes after a years-long campaign to have it returned to Rapa Nui.
Three white men who chased and killed Ahmaud Arbery on a residential street acted out of “pent-up racial anger” and should be convicted of hate crimes, a federal prosecutor told a jury on Monday. Travis McMichael “was just looking for a reason” to hurt a Black person when he saw the 25-year-old on his street, the prosecutor said.
Colombia has decriminalised abortion during the first 24 weeks of pregnancy, adding to a recent string of legal victories for reproductive rights in Latin America. The South American country’s constitutional court ruled five against four to decriminalise the procedure on Monday evening.
Don’t miss this: ‘After 35 years of teaching, I became Magic Frank – and I’ve never been happier’
When Frank Farrell’s retirement day came in 2018 – after 35 years of teaching – everyone thought he “would be straight down the pub to celebrate”. Instead, he stayed sober and prepared his materials: the next day he began his new career as a magician. He was 60, and he didn’t yet feel like a magician, but that weekend Mr Farrell the English teacher gave way to Magic Frank. Under this stage name, he performed 10 shows at a Harry Potter convention in Manchester, UK.
Climate check: Five ways AI is saving wildlife – from counting chimps to locating whales
There’s a strand of thinking, from sci-fi films to Stephen Hawking, that suggests artificial intelligence (AI) could spell doom for humans. But conservationists are increasingly turning to AI as an innovative tech solution to tackle the biodiversity crisis and mitigate climate change. In fact, artificial intelligence has been identified as one of the top three emerging technologies in conservation, helping protect species around the world.
Last Thing: Final piece of 17th-century tapestry stolen 42 years ago found by Spanish police
Spanish police have recovered the final piece of a 17th-century tapestry that was stolen 42 years ago by a notorious art thief. The tapestry, known as La apoteosis de las artes (The Apotheosis of the Arts), was one of six Flemish tapestries taken from a church in northern Spain on 7 November 1980. The thief, René Alphonse van den Berghe – better known as Erik the Belgian – remained unrepentant until his death. Speaking to El País 10 years ago, he said: “I’m no small-time crook. I’m a high-class thief. I have stolen for the love of art and I have stolen luxury items. Money has no luxury value.”
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