Top story: Explosive verdict on kidnapping of princesses
Hello, I’m Warren Murray, telling you for the last time (this week, at least) that this is the news you could do with reading.
Authorities are under pressure to bring to justice the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, after a UK judge found that he orchestrated the abduction of two of his daughters, including one from the streets of Cambridge. The Guardian can reveal the ruling after months of legal action, laying open a family saga spanning 20 years during which the sheikh, 70, organised international kidnappings, imprisoned both Princess Shamsa and another daughter, Princess Latifa, and “deprived [them] of their liberty”.
The sheikh’s actions emerged after his sixth and youngest wife, Princess Haya, 45, fled to London in April 2019 with their two young children. His attempt to return the children to Dubai triggered a legal action in the family courts. The court judgment naming the sheikh, who is a friend of the Queen and one of the UK’s most important horse-racing figures, risks destabilising diplomatic relations with the United Arab Emirates, a close Gulf ally. The sheikh has denied all allegations against him.
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Coronavirus latest – After the UK recorded its first death from coronavirus, in the US Donald Trump has admitted there “might” be an impact on the economy but said it would pass. The Dow Jones sank 3.6% on Thursday and Mike Pence admitted the country does not have enough testing kits. A diplomatic row has erupted after Japan said it would quarantine all passengers arriving from South Korea – measures that Seoul branded “unreasonable, excessive and extremely regrettable”. China announced 143 new cases on Friday and 30 new deaths, while Italy’s death toll has risen to 148 with 3,858 infections. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said an epidemic is “inevitable” in France – there are 423 infections and seven people have died. The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, declared a 30-day state of emergency after coronavirus cases were reported in Bethlehem. All the developments throughout the day at our live blog.
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Catch this – Sorry … Our Science Weekly team have launched their first in a special series, Science Weekly Extra, exploring some burning questions with experts on the frontline of the fight against coronavirus. In the first, entitled Covid-19: where in the body does it infect us?, Ian Sample investigates how the virus takes hold and what difference this makes to disease severity and transmissibility.
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Shaky ceasefire in Syria – The presidents of Russia and Turkey have declared a ceasefire, which came into force overnight. Escalating fighting in north-western Syria had threatened to put forces from the two countries into direct conflict. At the same time the Turkish military has said it killed 21 Syrian troops after two Turkish soldiers were killed in Idlib earlier. Turkey and Russia are on rival sides. Russia is fighting for the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad, while Turkey backs anti-government fighters that Russia and Syria have called “terrorists”. Caught in the middle are Syrians who have taken refuge in Turkey.
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Warren bows out – Elizabeth Warren has quit the race for the Democratic presidential nomination but, so far, declined to endorse either Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden, who are now effectively running in a two-horse race. Biden called Warren “the fiercest of fighters for middle-class families” whose work made “a real difference in people’s lives”. Sanders praised his Senate colleague for running an “extraordinary campaign of ideas” and said the progressive movement “would not be nearly as strong as it is today” without her leadership.
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Not space lettuce again! Astronauts on extended missions to the moon and beyond can expect to have greater variety in their diets, with Nasa researchers and the crew of the international space station developing ways to grow food up there. They have already cultivated lettuce, which was found to be as safe, nutritious and palatable as the Earth-grown variety. The menu is now set to be expanded to pak choi, dragoon lettuce, wasabi mustard and red Russian kale, as well as tomatoes and peppers. One hopes they won’t have to resort to the raw materials used by Matt Damon in The Martian …
Today in Focus podcast: A runway failure
The appeal court has declared the proposed Heathrow expansion plans illegal and in breach of the UK’s climate change commitments under the Paris agreement. Is this the end of the third runway? And: how our quest for a good night’s sleep is leading to a landfill crisis.
Lunchtime read: Expect the worst
Threats to humanity, and how we address them, define our time. Why are we still so complacent about facing up to existential risk? “In science fiction, we sometimes encounter the idea of a pandemic so severe that it could cause the end of civilisation, or even of humanity itself,” writes Toby Ord.
“Such a risk to humanity’s entire future is known as an existential risk. We can say with certainty that the novel coronavirus, named Covid-19, does not pose such a risk. But might the next pandemic?”
Sport
The decision to postpone England’s Six Nations trip to Italy could end up costing the Rugby Football Union a £5m jackpot, with the tournament organisers on Thursday scrambling to save the championship. Wayne Rooney’s Manchester United reunion was ruined by Odion Ighalo, who scored twice in a 3-0 FA Cup win over Derby, although the former United player still served up flashes of his glorious past. Any ambition Phil Neville’s Lionesses had of asserting their claim to be the biggest rivals to four-time world champions the US took a heavy bruising as they slumped to a 2-0 defeat in their SheBelieves Cup opener.
The FA has opened an investigation and contacted Eric Dier for his observations after the Tottenham player went into the stands and confronted a supporter. Rory McIlroy shot a 66, with his caddy calling a bunker shot his “best of the season”, and finished the first day of the Arnold Palmer Invitational one behind America’s Matt Every. England captain Heather Knight has called for the rules to be changed after England’s Twenty20 World Cup campaign ended without a ball being bowled. Andy Murray remains hopeful of making his comeback at the Miami Open later this month. The FIA has said it could not conclusively prove Ferrari’s engine had been operating outside the rules in 2019. And Hend Zaza, an 11-year-old Syrian table tennis player, is set to become the youngest athlete at this year’s Olympics.
Business
The Bank of England has drawn up a plan to tackle the coronavirus amid a warning from Goldman Sachs that it could tip Britain into recession. Another rough day is expected on the stock markets after heavy losses on Thursday were followed up with more of the same in Asia overnight. The Nikkei in Tokyo has fallen 3% to a six-month low and the FTSE100 is seen losing 2% at the opening bell. The pound is buying $1.295 and €1.152.
The papers
Few of the papers depart from the first UK death of a coronavirus patient as their lead story, and splash headlines are constructed accordingly, including on our own front page. The Times, Express, Metro, Sun, Mirror and the i follow suit.
There is a great deal of commonality, too, in the use of pictures of the Sussexes resurfacing at the Endeavour Fund Awards in London. The Times calls it a “last lap” in their royal duties, the Express manages “Meghan an entrance”, the Metro has “I only have eyes for blue”, picking up on the colour of the Duchess’s dress, and the Sun calls it “Markle sparkle”.
Mileage is made too from our hard-won right to report on the court ruling concerning Dubai’s ruler: “Calls for sheikh to face justice over family abduction” is the Guardian’s front-page picture story. The Mail has the headline “Scandal of princess abducted from UK” which is confusingly positioned next to a picture of Meghan Markle. The Telegraph adds to the Queen’s woes this year with a picture of her next to Sheikh Mohammed of Dubai – its splash though is “Patients told to stay home if they get ‘mild’ virus”. The FT has “US hits out over export barriers to coronavirus medical supplies” as countries including Germany, Turkey and Russia move to “hoard” stocks for themselves.
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