Top story: ‘Noise and nagging carried away by the wind’
Hello, I’m Warren Murray delivering your first taste of the Friday news.
If Theresa May has kept quiet in China about human rights, she might have hoped Beijing would keep quiet about the fact she was doing so. Instead, state media there is throwing a perhaps unwelcome spotlight on the prime minister’s “sidestepping” of such troublesome issues.
In that metaphor-laden authoritarian prose for which we love them, the Global Times’ Chinese-language edition dismissed western media “mudslinging”: “Nothing can stop China-UK cooperation: noise and nagging will be carried away by the wind.” The Guardian got a special mention in the party-run paper for a column by Hong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong, who called for May to raise with Xi Jinping his treatment of the territory. “Certain democracy activists in Hong Kong also intervened,” said the GT. But May chose to put “pragmatic collaboration” first.
Back home, cross-party forces are gathering to fight against a hard Brexit under the leadership of Labour’s Chuka Umunna. Pro-European groups representing about 500,000 members have agreed to campaign together to ensure the public have a say on the final deal. Polls show a second referendum is an increasingly popular idea, though Umunna says there could be different mechanisms. “For some people it is ensuring their parliamentarian isn’t sidelined in this process … for other people they would want the people getting a final say through a general election. My own personal view is we should be open to the people having a final say on the deal.”
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Labour targets land hoarders – A Labour government would build more council housing by forcing speculators to sell land to the state at low prices that exclude the inflated “hope value” of planning permission. John Healey, the shadow housing secretary, says changes to the 1961 Land Compensation Act would cut the cost of building 100,000 council houses a year by almost £10bn to around £16bn. A similar policy has been advocated by some leading Conservatives, including the former planning minister Nick Boles, who said there would be a “mass opposition” from landowners, “but they are not a huge voting block”. Labour’s Healey said the additional value created by granting planning permission should flow to communities rather than just developers, landowners and agents. The housing minister, Sajid Javid, has expressed similar sentiments.
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Slender Man stabbing – A girl aged 15 has been sentenced to 40 years in a US psychiatric institution for her part in the frenzied multiple stabbing of one of her friends. Morgan Geyser was 12 when she and Anissa Weier led Payton (Bella) Leutner, also 12, into a forest in suburban Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in May 2014. There they attacked her in the belief they were appeasing a fictional horror character called Slender Man. Leutner survived her 19 stab wounds after crawling out of the woods to find help. “I just want to let Bella and her family know that I’m sorry,” said a tearful Geyser before her sentencing. “And I hope she’s doing well.” Geyser may seek conditional release before the 40 years are up. Both the assailants have been diagnosed as mentally ill – Weier last December was given 25 years in a mental health institution.
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Check below deck – Prostate cancer is now Britain’s third biggest cancer killer, claiming more lives than breast cancer. Lung cancer is the deadliest type, followed by colorectal cancer. Angela Culhane, chief executive of Prostate Cancer UK, explains: “We haven’t yet got the big game-changing advances that breast cancer has had … We need to bust that myth that it is just an old man’s disease that you don’t need to think is significant.” Breast cancer had received twice as much money for research, Culhane said, and this had a direct correlation to lower death rates. The figures are also a function of population growth and an ageing population: an increased number of people are dying from prostate cancer, but survival rates are improving due to greater awareness and better treatment.
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‘Person of interest’ – Los Angeles police say they intend to interview Robert Wagner, known for the TV series Hart to Hart, over the 1981 boating death of his then-wife Natalie Wood. Wood died during a yacht trip to Santa Catalina Island. Her death was originally put down as accidental drowning but the case was reopened in 2011 after Dennis Davern, the captain of the boat, stated he had initially lied to police and believed Wagner to be responsible. A TV special about the case, Death in Dark Water, is to be aired in the US. Wagner is now aged 87.
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Vassal there is to say – Today, a journey into the mind of Jacob Rees-Mogg (if you’re game) and what he might mean when he warns of post-Brexit Britain being left a “vassal state” to the EU.
Vassal originates from Latin, and in English it generally means anyone in a subordinate position of power to another. A “vassal state”, writes Steven Poole in his word of the week column, might be obliged to provide money or take up arms for its superior. “It remains to be seen whether Jean-Claude Juncker really intends to appropriate our aircraft carriers.”
Lunchtime read: The brave Brexit speech May needs to give
Fearful of widening divisions in her party, Theresa May has abandoned a major speech that would have outlined her intentions for the Brexit endgame. Today, Simon Jenkins offers his own text for the PM, setting out the stall of a Norway option, a customs union, and a united front with Labour.
Try to read it in May’s voice in your head – you might just start to believe it could come true: “It would be irresponsible of me to allow confusion to continue, simply because of internal disputes within my party … We should retain the existing tariff-free access. This is most simply achieved by being within the European Economic Area, the so-called Norway option.
“To the opposition I make a plea: taking this forward will be immeasurably easier with a united front.”
Sport
England have announced the squad for their one-day international series in New Zealand, with the familiar sight of Ben Stokes’s inclusion accompanied by the caveat of his impending court case.
A month before Rio 2016 a report found overwhelming evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia. So why, asks Martha Kelner, are we a week away from another Olympic Games, wondering yet again how many Russian athletes will be competing?
West Ham are facing a crisis after their head of player recruitment was suspended following allegations of racism and unlawful discrimination. Riyad Mahrez is not expected to play in Leicester’s match against Swansea on Saturday and could remain out of the picture for some time as the club try to deal with the damaging fallout from Manchester City’s failed attempt to sign the winger on transfer deadline day. And the opening round of the Super League season rarely gives anything definitive away about a side’s chances but for Leeds their win over Warrington was an encouraging start to life as reigning champions.
Business
Asian shares were mostly lower on Friday as investors evaluated the latest earnings reports while worries about rising US bond yields weighed on sentiment. China’s yuan strengthened to a fresh two and a half year high against the US dollar, ending January with a 3.5% gain against the greenback.
The pound has been trading at $1.425 and €1.140 overnight.
The papers
Several papers lead on the conviction of Darren Osborne for murder after he deliberately drove his van into worshippers leaving a mosque: Metro calls him “devious and hate-filled”, the i says he was “radicalised in just a few weeks”, while the Sun calls him a “twisted loser”.
The Guardian also carries that story on its front page, along with news that Labour is drafting a policy to compel landowners to sell to the state at knockdown prices to allow for an expansion of council housing. The Telegraph says negligence payouts are risking the NHS’s financial future, while a Mirror poll claims 73% of people would pay more to support the health service. A loophole in rules governing custom-made medicines resulted in the NHS paying £1,500 for a £2 moisturising cream, the Times has discovered.
The Mail notes that deaths from prostate cancer have now overtaken those from breast cancer, calling the funding disparity in research “bias against men”. Brussels is planning sanctions to prevent British firms undercutting EU rivals post-Brexit, according to the Financial Times. And the Express’s Friday health warning is a report that says snoring raises your dementia risk.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
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