Top story: ‘China and Russia must take direct action’
Hello – it’s Warren Murray, beginning our round-up with North Korea raising tensions once again.
Kim Jong-un’s regime has directly defied toughened sanctions by firing an intermediate-range ballistic missile over northern Japan and into the sea. The suspected Hwasong-12 IRBM took off just before 11pm London time from Sunan, near Pyongyang, and passed over Cape Erimo on Japan’s Hokkaidō island before landing 2,200km further east in the Pacific Ocean. The inevitable condemnation from world leaders has rained down and experts are analysing what North Korea, or those aligned against it, might do next.
No direct response from Donald Trump just yet, but his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has called on China and Russia to act against Kim Jong-un. His regime only 12 days ago carried out its most powerful nuclear test yet, and on 29 August sent another missile over Japan – a US ally that Washington has vowed to defend.
“China supplies North Korea with most of its oil. Russia is the largest employer of North Korean forced labour,” said Tillerson. “China and Russia must indicate their intolerance for these reckless missile launches by taking direct actions of their own.” James Mattis, the US defence secretary, called it a “reckless act” but reserved comment on what America and its allies might do in response.
Japan’s prime minister made extensive comments, but this passage leapt out: “If North Korea continues to walk this road, there will be no bright future. We need to get North Korea to understand that.”
South Korea said it immediately carried out its own missile drill to put the North’s Sunan launch site within striking range. The South’s president, Moon Jae-in, convened an emergency council and told officials to prepare for biological and chemical weapons attacks from North Korea, as well as potential electromagnetic pulse attacks that disable electronic equipment.
The UN security council is to discuss the launch at an emergency session today. We will of course have more Guardian analysis and reaction as the day continues.
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Killed by crocodile – A British man is presumed dead after being dragged into the water by a crocodile in Sri Lanka. Paul McClean, a Financial Times journalist, had been having surfing lessons near a spot called Elephant Rock. He was attacked on the shore of a nearby lagoon, witnesses said. A colleague at the FT told the newspaper: “We’re all totally stunned. He was a great kid, an Everton fan, super bright. It’s an absolute tragedy.” McClean had worked for the newspaper for two years and covered the EU and Brexit. The Foreign Office said it was assisting his family.
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Are cats actually a liquid? How felines can adopt the shape of their container is the phenomenon explored by the winning paper in the Ig Nobel prize for obscure research. Marc-Antoine Fardin, of the Université Paris Diderot, was inspired to write On the Rheology of Cats after seeing … well … funny cat pictures on the internet. Rheology is the science of flows, and his study was published in the Rheology Bulletin (subscribe today!). Potential puns abound: “This research is bound to be poured over.” Or even “pawed over”. You can take it from there. Or not. Other finalists: how learning the didgeridoo reduces snoring, why old men’s ears get longer, and the part of the brain that makes people hate cheese.
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More pressure on May over pay – Unions have ramped up their campaign against the government’s public sector pay cap, calling for a 3.9% raise for a million NHS staff, plus £800 each to make up for lost earning power during austerity. “Their wages continue to fall behind inflation as food and fuel bills, housing and transport costs rise,” said Sarah Gorton from Unison. Midwives say the claim represents fair compensation for losing £6,000 in the value of their salaries since 2010. The NHS is short of 3,500 midwives and struggling to fill other vacancies, with pay restraint seen as a factor. NHS trusts say they need more money to boost pay and staff morale without cutting services. The government says it will discuss and agree 2018-19 pay remits as part of the budget process.
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Home sweet micro home – “Tiny but not cramped … very warm and, though the night was stormy, quiet. A good night’s sleep.” That is the verdict of our reporter Steven Morris after his stay in an iKozie: pod-style living quarters designed to help homeless people make the transition into permanent housing.
It has a small double bed and cupboards, shower room with toilet, “entertainment zone” with sofa and television, semi-circular table and kitchen with cooker, washing machine, fridge and work surface. A community of iKozies is being considered in Worcester, to house key workers and students, as well as homeless people.
Lunchtime read: From Russia with overwhelming force
“I recommend you to look in that direction,” says the Russian major general – then two cruise missiles streak aloft from submarines in the Mediterranean, bound for Isis targets in Syria.
Later, in war-torn Aleppo, children sing patriotic songs and teachers thank Russia for its aid. The local mufti denies Russian or Syrian bombing had anything to do with the devastation of the local neighbourhood, including his mosque – “it was all the terrorists”. On this carefully orchestrated official tour, designed to show that the Kremlin “is in control of both war and the peace in the country”, Shaun Walker, the Guardian’s Moscow correspondent, looks past the photo opportunities and scripted lines to describe the scale of an intervention that has made Russia a major power in the Middle East.
Sport
Arsène Wenger expects a Uefa inquiry into the chaotic scenes that forced a one-hour delay to Arsenal’s Europa League win over Cologne last night, when London got a taste of what it feels like to be caught on the hop by thousands of boisterous, tribal, boozed-up football fans in search of a space to call their own for the night. Everton, meanwhile, produced another hugely disappointing display as they were soundly beaten for the third successive game, this time Atalanta inflicting the damage.
In boxing, Nicola Adams, Great Britain’s two-times Olympic gold medallist, cannot stop smiling as she prepares to take on Alexandra Vlaik of Hungary on the Golovkin-Álvarez undercard this weekend. Billy Vunipola has defended his decision to withdraw from the summer’s British & Irish Lions tour because of a shoulder injury, saying that “otherwise I’d be letting people down”. Essex completed victory at Warwickshire and now await their title deeds from Somerset today, and the Fifa president, Gianni Infantino, and secretary general, Fatma Samoura, have been accused of “violating the norms and standards of good conduct” by a governance committee member who resigned.
Business
The pound briefly surged over $1.34 again overnight before slipping very slightly to $1.338. But there’s no doubt the Bank of England has lit a fire under sterling with comments from the governor Mark Carney hinting that the first rise in rates for 10 years is on the cards for November or December. On the continent the pound is buying €1.124.
Asian shares were a mixed bag despite North Korea’s latest missile test over Japan, while the FTSE100 is set to open very slightly down later this morning.
The papers
The Telegraph goes it alone today to proclaim that a weakened navy “can now barely protect the UK” due to spending cuts. Like the Sun it has a front-page picture of Paul McClean, the Financial Times journalist apparently killed by a crocodile in Sri Lanka. The FT itself splashes on signals from the Bank that it is poised to raise interest rates – the Scotsman picks that one up too.
The Guardian splash is the NHS unions’ “£3bn pay demand” – the Mirror marks the day as the start of the “3.9% pay war” though whether that phrasing will resonate through history is debatable. Overweight people will be sent to cooking and exercises classes, says the Times, under health guidance being rolled out to doctors from today. The Express has one of our beloved “latest study” stories – this one says losing weight cuts blood pressure more than giving up smoking. The Daily Mail is very worried that “well-off parts of the country are facing the construction of tens of thousands of new homes” as councils are ordered to increase housebuilding by 40% over the next decade.
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