Top story: An election inside an election
Good morning, I’m Warren Murray – let’s get you started.
As the Briefing goes out, votes are still being tallied in the local and mayoral elections – held, in unprecedented fashion, in the middle of a general election campaign. At last count: big gains for the Conservatives, losses all round for Labour, the Lib Dems and Ukip. We have been liveblogging through the night and you can track the latest results here.
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Prince Philip retires – “I’m sorry to hear you’re standing down.” “Well I can’t stand up much longer!” With typical wit (and staying on the right side of political correctness on this occasion) the Duke of Edinburgh made some of his last remarks while on official duty.
After the palace and the government confirmed that the self-described “world’s most experienced plaque unveiler” will be drawing aside the miniature curtains no more, here are some of his most famous comments, from crassly funny to mortifying. The Guardian’s verdict: the institution is anachronistic, the man not always diplomatic, but undeniably Prince Philip has done the country a duty.
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Snap unhappy – A professional photographer has been held temporarily under anti-terror powers after taking pictures of the not particularly arresting Hove town hall. Eddie Mitchell, who works for the BBC and others, declined to tell a passing civilian staff member of Sussex police what he was doing, and things escalated from there. The police cited section 43 of the Terrorism Act, which allows stop and search of anyone “reasonably suspected to be a terrorist”, and it might seem a stretch in this case. Mitchell says it amounts to an abuse of power – he respects the police “wholeheartedly” but “taking pictures in a public place [is] not a crime”.
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‘We’re not babies’ – Donald Trump has received a hostile welcome as he returned to New York. The president and Australia’s PM, Malcolm Turnbull, met on board the USS Intrepid floating museum and of course that “worst call ever” about refugees came up. Malcolm Turnbull agreed with the US president that it was all “fake news” (words, of course, that Trump and his supporters have drained of all meaning). The Potus was buoyant after the House of Representatives passed a bill to repeal and replace Obamacare. It still has to go through the Senate and is likely to emerge from there with amendments that could again divide the Republicans. The Democrats’ Nancy Pelosi warned them: wait till your constituents realise you took away their healthcare. “You will glow in the dark on this one,” she stormed.
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Uber’s dark side – The ride-sharing service is now under criminal investigation because of its clandestine “Greyball” tool, used to detect whether a customer might actually be law enforcement trying to catch the company and its drivers operating illegally. Greyball mined credit card details to see if the owner belonged to a police credit union, checked their social media profiles, and undertook other intrusions to evade the law. The US justice department is investigating – Uber has been subpoenaed in California to provide details of how Greyball worked.
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Bloody well right – Swearing during that big lift, push, lunge, ride, jump or run really might help you get the job done, according to psychologists. They tested some participants with a cycle challenge, and others with a grip test, discovering they could crank out 24 watts more power on the bike and grab with 2.1kg more force while repeating an expletive of their choice. There wasn’t any need to shout – just a steady tone was enough to boost performance – and inoffensive words like “wooden” or “brown” didn’t work (good to know in case you’ve been bursting out with those during tug-o-war contests).
Lunchtime read: What does it mean to be German?
What is Leitkultur? According to Germany’s interior minister, it might include a willingness to shake hands, an appreciation of the country’s great writers and composers, and a grasp of the highs and lows of its history.
Thomas de Maizière, one of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, has reignited a debate around fostering a dominant culture in Germany, arguing it is essential for social cohesion. But critics say the idea is just a “catalogue of behavioural guidelines”, meant to appease the far right and tell the country’s four million Muslims how to fit in, writes Kate Connolly.
Sport
Manchester United’s all-or-bust bet on Europa League success gaining backdoor entry to the Champions League is still in good shape following a semi-final first leg win at Celta Vigo. A Marcus Rashford free kick was the game’s decisive moment. The first big cycling race of the European season starts today when riders get under way in Sardinia in the 100th Giro d’Italia. William Fotheringham reckons that the Colombian climber, Nairo Quintana, is favourite.
Staying In Italy, excitement and controversy is mounting in equal measure ahead of the Nike-sponsored bid by three runners to see if they can run a sub-two hour marathon round Monza’s F1 track on Saturday. Good luck to Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge, half-marathon world-record holder Zersenay Tadese and Boston marathon winner Lelisa Desisa.
Business
The big story in the markets overnight was the continued fall in the price of oil. Brent crude has slumped to $48.38 a barrel – its lowest for five months – thanks to a worldwide glut caused by booming US output, Opec’s unwillingness to reduce supply any further, and weakening global demand.
The pound was at US$1.291 overnight while the expectation that Emmanuel Macron will be the next French president helped the single currency and pushed sterling down to €1.176.
The papers
One big story on the front of all the papers this morning: Prince Philip retiring from public life at the age of 95. The competition for eyeballs is fierce – pages and pages of tributes, pictures, commentary and cartoons.
The Mail’s headline is “The nation salutes you, sir” and it dedicates 15 pages of coverage in addition to a “glorious” 12-page picture pull-out. The Mirror’s Philip headline is “Standing down? I can barely stand up these days”. The paper actually splashes on a possible £1m legal bill for the BBC if it loses a court case against Sir Cliff Richard.
The Sun goes with “He’s had his Phil” and says the “Grand Old Duke” has racked up 22,191 solo engagements over the years.
The Times says “Duke retires rather than grow frail in public”. Its main story is the French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron suing Marine Le Pen over false claims he had hidden offshore accounts. The Telegraph has “Service with a smile” and adds: “Humble as always, man who became grandfather of the nation”.
Even the FT has a picture of the prince on its front. Its splash though is the slide in oil prices and doubts over the sustainability of a recovery in the market.
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