Today we'll be discussing some of the biggest stories, including Wales's basic income pilot and a tragedy in Texas, as well as discussing the plans for Scottish independence, but first, Russia's attack on a Ukrainian shopping center.

In one of the most shocking attacks of the war, Russia struck a shopping mall in Kremenchuk, Poltava. According to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, the mall itself had between 200 and 1,000 people in it at the time of the strike. Ukrainian emergency services have confirmed that there are now 18 deaths and a further 21 people missing. The g7 has condemned the abominable attack while reiterating their unwavering support for Ukraine. A UN spokesperson was more specific, saying "it's deplorable to say the least that any sort of civilian infrastructure, which includes obviously shopping malls and civilians, should never be targeted". Russia has actually denied that it was responsible for the fire in the shopping mall, instead claiming that it was caused by the detonation of stored ammunition for western weapons. No evidence was offered to back this up.

At least 46 people have been found dead in the back of an abandoned truck in San Antonio, Texas, in a suspected human smuggling incident. 16 people, including twelve adults and four children, were found alive and taken to hospital suffering from heat exhaustion. The San Antonio fire chief said that they had found no water in the trailer and no visible working air conditioning unit. San Antonio has had temperatures surpassing 37 degrees Celsius this month. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, a republican, tweeted "These deaths are on Biden, blaming the deaths on the president's quote open border policies." Abbot's democratic challenger, Beto O'Rourke, said "urgent action is needed to expand avenues of legal migration in order to dismantle human smuggling rings".

On Monday, it was announced that Sri Lanka was running dangerously low on petrol and diesel. Reuters has additionally claimed that the country is down to its last 15,000 tons of petrol and diesel. This is to be used for essential services only, which means the country will slowly grind to a halt with many people unable to use public transport etc. This comes on the back of huge economic problems in the country, with Sri Lanka currently in the midst of the worst economic crisis since it gained independence from Britain in 1948. In an attempt to ease the fuel crisis, the government is aiming to purchase cheap fuel from Qatar and Russia. It's unclear whether they'll be able to do this. Even aside from fuel, the wider economic crisis has caused four out of five people in Sri Lanka to start skipping meals, according to the UN.

On Monday, the Russian hacking group kill net took responsibility for a series of intense cyberattacks against Lithuania. Lithuania's national cyber security center first made public last week when they announced they were recording a substantial increase in distributed denial of service or DDoS attacks. The attacks have hit public authorities as well as the transport and financial sectors. A spokesperson for Kilnette told Reuters on Monday that the attack will continue until Lithuania lifts the blockade, a reference to Lithuania's move to ban the transit of goods sanctioned by the EU through its territory to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. According to the vice minister of national defense, the attack is ongoing, but has had limited success so far. The group has threatened to deploy ransomware.

The Welsh government has announced its basic income pilot scheme will begin this week on Friday the 1st of July. The pilot scheme will see more than 500 people leaving the care system offered 1,600 pounds per month before tax for 2 years as they transition to adult life. Welles's labor government said the 20 million pound pilot scheme, which will last for three years, will provide independence and security to people who have faced immense challenges during their childhood. The Welsh minister for social justice said "we will examine whether basic income is an efficient way to support society's most vulnerable and not only benefit the individual but wider society too." The Welsh conservatives criticized the pilot scheme, saying it could well create more problems than it solves.