WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Hybrid warfare, pensioners in poverty, and the French plan to make playtime more fair

 
today's international story

Russian hybrid warfare fears rise

What happened
The US has said it is "incredibly" concerned that Russia may ratchet up its campaign of hybrid warfare against the West following Ukraine's first use of US-made long-range missiles deep inside Russian territory yesterday.

Who said what
"Generally we are incredibly concerned about hybrid warfare conducted by Russia both in Europe and around the world," said US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller, but he asserted that Russia would be "held accountable" for any such actions.

Possible hybrid attacks could "span a wide menu of options", said The Guardian, including more sabotage and assassinations in Europe or increasing arms supply to US adversaries in the Middle East and Indo-Pacific.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine now approaching the three-year mark, Moscow's campaign of hybrid hostilities "appears to be escalating", said the Atlantic Council think tank.

Despite a Russian politician warning yesterday that the US is risking World War Three by approving the use of its long-range weapons, there is a "growing realisation in the Kremlin that the West is not falling for its nuclear threats", said The Washington Post. Consequently, Vladimir Putin is now "searching for new ways to enforce his red lines".

What next?
In a speech marking 1,000 days since Putin launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Europe to "push Russia harder". Addressing members of the European Parliament yesterday morning, the Ukrainian president warned that Putin "(would) not stop on his own" and urged that Russia be pushed towards a "just peace".

 
 
today's politics story

Winter fuel cut to put 50,000 into poverty next year

What happened
An additional 50,000 people will be living in relative poverty due to the cut to the winter fuel allowance, the government's own estimates have revealed.

There are currently 1.9 million pensioners – about 15% – living in relative poverty, according to official estimates. New government modelling published yesterday suggests there will be about 50,000 more people in relative poverty next year, and a further 50,000 by the end of the decade.

Who said what
The analysis was published in a letter from Work and Pensions Secretary Liz Kendall "just as temperatures plunged and parts of the UK experienced their first snowfall of the year", said The Guardian.

What next?
Keir Starmer, speaking to reporters at the G20 in Rio, claimed the tax rises and spending cuts in the Budget had allowed Labour to raise the state pension by about £470 and that "pensioners will be better off because we've stabilised the economy".

The cut to the winter fuel allowance remains unpopular with Labour MPs and supporters. In September party members voted for a motion calling on ministers to reverse it.

 
 
Today's education story

Schools track kids with GPS to make 'playtime more fair'

What happened
Schoolchildren at six Strasbourg schools will be tracked with GPS devices during break times to show whether boys dominate the playground at the expense of girls.

About 125 child volunteers will wear vests fitted with trackers at a cost of several hundred thousand euros – which some critics have decried as a waste of taxpayer money, said The Times.

Who said what
Christelle Wieder, who is in charge of gender equality at Strasbourg council, said older boys played football in the middle of the playground while girls and smaller boys were not invited to join in.

"The consequence is to marginalise girls and certain boys," said the council in a statement.

Eugénie Bastié, a right-wing commentator on the radio station Europe 1, said there was "something totalitarian" about the study.

What next?
The council is redesigning playgrounds by removing the hard surfaces where children play football and replacing them with "calm zones, active zones and exploration zones".

 
 

It's not all bad

For the first time in 40 years a rare breed of snails is reproducing in the wild again in French Polynesia, marking a major milestone in global conservation efforts. The tiny molluscs called partula tohiveana, which were previously classified as extinct in the wild, have been reintroduced to Moorea Island by expert teams, including one from the London Zoo. The successful breeding paves the way for them to be downgraded to "critically endangered" and offers a model for helping other endangered island species.

 
 
under the radar

Last hope for justice for UK's nuclear test veterans

British veterans are urging Keir Starmer to meet them as part of their long-standing quest for recognition and compensation for harm they believe was caused by the UK's nuclear testing programme.

About 22,000 British personnel are thought to have been present at nuclear bomb tests between 1952 and 1991. Forty-five hydrogen and atom bombs were dropped and hundreds of radioactive experiments were carried out in Australia and the South Pacific.

Now this "dwindling band of men", many of whom are elderly, hope the prime minister will "make good on what they believe was a pledge made by the Labour party", said the BBC.

The extensive testing programme "successfully made Britain the world's third nuclear power", said The Daily Telegraph. But veterans allege they and their families were left "blighted by rare medical problems, genetic mutations, aggressive cancers and high rates of miscarriage and death for their children".

In 2019 Labour, then led by Jeremy Corbyn, pledged £50,000 for each surviving British nuclear test veteran. In 2021 Starmer also met veterans when he was leader of the opposition, but "made no promises – and the 2019 offer was not in the 2024 manifesto", said the BBC.

Campaigners are hopeful that the proposed "Hillsborough law", which would require public officials to fully disclose information in cases of alleged cover-ups, could finally bring clarity and accountability on nuclear testing and its effects on veterans.

"Keir Starmer, meet us," said John Morris, 86, who was on Christmas Island in 1956 as an 18-year-old, speaking to the BBC. "All I want is to meet him and get a pathway forward. They have let me down for 70 years."

 
 
on this day

20 November 1820

An American whaling ship was sunk by an 80-tonne sperm whale, an event that inspired Herman Melville's novel "Moby-Dick". The fate of Europe's last commercial whaler currently hangs in the balance after conservation groups urged Iceland not to renew Hvalur's licence before the country's election at the end of the month. Polls show a majority of Icelanders support a ban on the practice.

 
 
Today's newspapers

"Putin clears way for nuclear strike" says the Daily Mail. The Times says he's raised the "nuclear stakes". The headlines come after the Russian president lowered the threshold for a nuclear strike on the West. It's "farmageddon" says Metro after thousands of farmers protested in central London. The Daily Express features criticism of Labour's "cruel" measures on farmers. Meanwhile, The i Paper leads on the government's decision to axe winter fuel payments some pensioners, which could push 100,000 retirees into relative poverty.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

An unusual holiday roost

A new hotel in the Philippines built in the likeness of a rooster has earned the Guinness World Record for "largest building in the shape of a chicken". The 114-foot Campuestohan Highland Resort is the brainchild of owner Ricardo Ta, who said he wanted to create something with a "wow factor" that paid homage to the local agricultural sector. Rooms in the rooster cost about $100 a night, but be warned – there are no windows in the hotel in order to "maintain the rooster's aesthetic integrity".

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Tess Foley-Cox, Sorcha Bradley, and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Mikhail Klimentyev / Pool / AFP / Getty Images; Pancake Pictures / Getty Images; Dan Kenyon / Getty Images.