Guardian Weekly 25 March 2022

If nothing else, Vladimir Putin’s packed stadium rally in Moscow last week revealed there is no shortage of Russian people who believe the Kremlin’s grotesquely doctored version of the “special operation” in Ukraine. But it’s not just a matter of state propaganda in Russia: a wider battle for informational truth is under way, exemplified last week by a deepfake video in which Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy purportedly called on his own soldiers to surrender. That the video was rapidly debunked by Ukraine highlighted what appears to be its success in combating Russia’s disinformation weaponry. But, as Dan Milmo and Pjotr Sauer find, the matter of who is winning the infowars is not particularly clear. In our special report, Jon Ungoed-Thomas looks at the Russian disinformation outlets under sanction by the west,…

1 UNITED STATES Jackson’s supreme court confirmation hearings open Ketanji Brown Jackson promised to defend the US constitution and what she called the “grand experiment of American democracy” in her opening remarks to the Senate confirmation hearings that could see her become the first Black woman to sit on the US supreme court in its 233 years of existence. Jackson, 51, addressed the Senate judiciary committee on Monday at the start of four days of potentially bruising partisan wrangling over her nomination. “I have been a judge for nearly a decade and I take my responsibility to be independent very seriously,” she told the 22 senators in front of her. “I decide cases from a neutral posture.” She also encouraged the committee to see her nomination in its history-making context. She noted that her…

Peter Bowles Actor best known for playing Richard DeVere in BBC series To the Manor Born and hugely admired by Harold Pinter for his stage work. He died on 17 March, aged 85. Sumaya Sadurni Photojournalist whose work featured in the Guardian and New York Times. She died while on an assignment for the Guardian on 7 March, aged 32. Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein Leader of the Iraqi Constitutional Monarchy political party, who claimed to be the legitimate heir to the late King Faisal II. He died on 14 March, aged 65. Eugene Parker Physicist who proposed the existence of solar wind. Nasa named its Parker Solar Probe in his honour, the first time it had named a spacecraft after a living person. He died on 15 March, aged 94.…

GLOBAL HEATING Concern over heatwaves at both Earth’s poles Startling heatwaves at both of Earth’s poles are causing alarm among climate scientists, who have warned the “unprecedented” events could signal faster and abrupt climate breakdown. Temperatures in Antarctica reached record levels last weekend, an astonishing 40C above normal in places. At the same time, weather stations near the north pole also showed signs of melting, with some temperatures 30C above normal, hitting levels normally seen far later in the year. At this time of year, the Antarctic should be rapidly cooling, and the Arctic only slowly emerging from its winter. ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE Long naps could be early warning of cognitive decline Taking long naps could be a precursor of Alzheimer’s disease, according to a study that tracked elderly people’s daytime sleeping habits. The findings could…

Ministers accused of failing to protect sacked ferry staff Ministers have serious questions to answer on the growing scandal at P&O Ferries and must make it a catalyst to improve workers’ rights, the Trades Union Congress said. The TUC accused the government of failing to protect workers after P&O sacked 800 staff last Thursday with a plan to replace them with cheaper agency workers. It has emerged that ministers were informed of the plan in advance The TUC’s general secretary, Frances O’Grady, demanded the government “urgently bring forward an employment bill to stop workers from being treated like disposable labour – and make sure what happened at P&O never happens again”. She called on the company to immediately reinstate all sacked staff, without any loss of pay. The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, criticised…

BORIS JOHNSON Civil servants ‘lied over PM’s orders for animal airlift’ A second whistleblower said it was “widespread knowledge” in government that Boris Johnson ordered the prioritisation of an evacuation of an animal charity based in Afghanistan during the Taliban takeover last summer. Josie Stewart, who worked in the Foreign Office for seven years, including a stint in the Kabul embassy, suggested senior civil servants in the department had lied to cover up the embarrassing episode. She told parliament’s foreign affairs select affairs committee that the direction from the prime minister was evidenced in multiple messages on Teams, emails and in conversations around the crisis centre, which was set up to help Afghans trying to flee. Johnson has denied that he had anything to do with the decision for the animal charity, Nowzad,…