Good morning.
The former FBI director James Comey, one of Donald Trump’s most frequent targets, was indicted yesterday on one count of making a false statement to Congress and one count of obstruction of a congressional proceeding, the latest move in the president’s retribution campaign against his political adversaries.
The indictment, filed in the federal district court in Alexandria, Virginia, shows Comey’s charges centered on whether he lied and misled lawmakers during testimony in September 2020 about the Russia investigation.
While the precise details were not clear in the sparse, two-page indictment, it appeared to reference Comey’s testimony that he had never authorized someone at the FBI to leak to the news media about the Trump or Hillary Clinton investigations – a claim prosecutors alleged was false.
What did the US attorney general say? “No one is above the law. Today’s indictment reflects this Department of Justice’s commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people,” Pam Bondi said in a statement.
What else is happening? Donald Trump issued a presidential memorandum yesterday aimed at reining in what he has called a radical leftwing domestic “terror network” but which seemed likely to meet fierce legal pushback from critics depicting it as a licence for a broad crackdown on his political opponents.
Trump says he ‘will not allow’ Israel to annex West Bank after lobbying from allies
Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the occupied West Bank, rejecting calls from some far-right politicians in Israel who want to extend sovereignty over the area and in doing so make impossible the establishment of a Palestinian state.
“I will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank. Nope, I will not allow it. It’s not going to happen,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office, adding: “There’s been enough. It’s time to stop now.”
Trump made the comments as Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving in New York to deliver an address to the UN on Friday.
Why is there speculation that Israel plans to annex the West Bank? There has been widespread speculation in Israel and elsewhere over how Netanyahu intends to retaliate for the recognition of Palestine as a state earlier this week by the UK, Australia, France, Canada and Portugal. Options include full annexation of the West Bank, or of smaller portions such as a strip of territory along the border with Jordan or shuttering British, French and other consulates in East Jerusalem, analysts said.
Abu Dhabi royal family to take stake in TikTok US under Trump deal
The Abu Dhabi royal family is to take a stake in TikTok’s US business after Donald Trump signed an executive order brokering a deal valuing the social media company at $14bn (£10.5bn).
MGX, a fund chaired by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, will take a 15% stake and gain a board seat when TikTok US is spun out.
The US president signed an executive order on Thursday night approving the deal and providing a 120-day window to finalise the details.
What did Trump say? “[TikTok US] will be majority-owned and controlled by United States persons and will no longer be controlled by any foreign adversary,” Trump said. “We have American investors taking it over, running it [who are] highly sophisticated, including Larry Ellison. Great investors, the biggest. They don’t get bigger. This is going to be American-operated all the way.”
In other news …
Donald Trump yesterday announced a new round of punishing tariffs, saying the US will impose a 100% tariff on imported branded drugs, 25% tariff on imports of all heavy-duty trucks and 50% tariffs on kitchen cabinets.
Forensic tests confirmed that human remains found on a remote mountain in Washington state this month were those of a former soldier wanted over the deaths of his three young daughters last spring, officials confirmed on Thursday.
A drone was downed and detonated about 800 metres (875 yards) from the perimeter of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant, the UN atomic watchdog said on Thursday, with its head warning that “once again drones are flying far too close to nuclear power plants, putting nuclear safety at risk”.
Stat of the day: Study of 1m-year-old skull points to earlier origins of modern humans
A million-year-old skull suggests the origins of modern humans may reach back far deeper in time than previously thought and raises the possibility that Homo sapiens first emerged outside of Africa. Leading scientists reached this conclusion after reanalysis of a skull known as Yunxian 2 discovered in China and previously classified as belonging to a member of the primitive human species Homo erectus.
Don’t miss this: Don’t look up – how Trump’s deregulation drive could obscure the stars and threaten our access to space
An executive order signed last month to streamline rocket launches has been celebrated by officials in the commercial space sector, who see it as integral to securing the US’s primacy as the world leader in space exploration.
But it’s also causing a wave of alarm – from scientists, environmental activists and astronomers, who say a growing network of satellite constellations are crowding the skies, obscuring the stars and threatening our access to Earth’s orbit.
… Or this: Is Trump’s new Palestine plan a breakthrough or diplomatic mirage?
“Better truth than illusions,” the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, warned yesterday – urging skepticism over Donald Trump’s motives in claiming that Ukraine could recapture all its lost territories, writes Patrick Wintour. The same might be said about the US president’s new approach to Palestine, but suddenly the optimists are back, with a two-state solution emerging from the rubble of two years of war in Gaza.
Climate check: US is violating human rights laws by backing fossil fuels, say young activists in new petition
By continuing to fund and support a fossil fuel-based energy system, the US is violating international law, a group of young people have argued to an international human rights body. The petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), filed late on Tuesday and shared exclusively with the Guardian, says the government’s actions have violated the petitioners’ human rights.
Last Thing: Daylight savings haters rejoice – scientists confirm it’s bad for health
Daylight savings time is not just a hassle – it can also be bad for your health. The twice-yearly “spring forward, fall back” routine rattles our bodies’ daily cycles, known as circadian rhythms, with potentially harmful consequences. And a new study supports what many sleep experts have long argued: the solution is getting rid of daylight savings for good.
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