Top story: ‘Act of terror’ highlights hateful air of US politics
Hello, it’s Warren Murray taking the latest happenings and making of them something new.
Pipe bombs have been sent to critics of Donald Trump, sparking a terror alert less than two weeks before the US midterm elections and throwing a spotlight on the level of vitriol that has accompanied his presidency.
Suspicious packages were either sent or addressed to a group including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, two Democratic congresswomen, Obama’s former attorney general Eric Holder, New York’s governor, the ex-CIA chief John Brennan, and to CNN in New York. All were detected before causing harm. A hunt was under way for the sender, while authorities warned more devices may be discovered. On Monday a bomb was delivered to the New York home of George Soros, the billionaire liberal donor.
Recipients may have been selected because of their opposition to Trump, said James O’Neill, the New York police commissioner. Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York City, said politicians must stop encouraging attacks on the media: “And that has to start at the top.” The president condemned the mail bombing campaign and last night called for all sides of politics to come together in “peace and harmony” – but at the same time went to considerable lengths to blame the media.
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Khashoggi: Salman speaks – Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has broken his silence over the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. At the “Davos in the Desert” conference in Riyadh, he described the murder as a “heinous crime that cannot be justified”. Four of the alleged killers were members of Bin Salman’s security detail, and the remainder came from the Saudi security establishment. Some delegates at the conference were disdainful. “These idiots have taken us back to the Stone Age,” said one. “How do I defend this country to anyone any more? The stupidity here is unparalleled.” Another predicted that attempts to shield Bin Salman from culpability would backfire. “His [Salman’s] friends outside cannot be expected to look away like us,” said a Saudi businessman. The editor of the Independent, Christian Broughton, is being criticised for travelling to Saudi Arabia as part of a deal with SRMG – a publisher seen as something of a propaganda unit for the Saudi state – which is is going to use the Independent brand to promote its stories across the Middle East. No 10 says Theresa May has called the prince’s father, King Salman, and told him: “The current explanation lacks credibility … all individuals bearing responsibility for the killing must be properly held to account.”
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May survives 1922 – “I think a lot of people have realised that slagging off your own side does not work. You step towards the edge of the cliff, consider the alternative, and you think, ‘Perhaps not.’” Today’s offering in our occasional series of pithy political quotes encapsulating the status of Brexit and Theresa May’s leadership. The PM has emerged unscathed from a packed meeting of her backbenchers as drama swirls about backstops and transition periods. A sickening anonymous warning given at the weekend that May should “bring her own noose” to the meeting came to nothing, with little sign afterwards of a leadership challenge being more likely. May has told Whitehall that if there are no breakthroughs, preparations for a no-deal Brexit should be triggered in the second week of November. Civil servants have accelerated plans to lay down new laws and secondary legislation so UK businesses and both British and EU citizens can prepare for a crash out.
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God not above criticism – Ireland continues to steadily roll back generations of official religious conservatism, this time with a referendum to decriminalise blasphemy. The vote will be held on Friday alongside the presidential election in which the incumbent, Michael D Higgins, is expected to win a second term. Earlier this month the Irish Catholic church said the blasphemy provision in the 1937 constitution was “largely obsolete” while joining the Anglican-aligned Church of Ireland to call for the practise of faith to be respected. The last prosecution for blasphemy in Ireland was in 1855 but three years ago Irish police investigated comments made by TV comedian Stephen Fry calling God “capricious”, “mean-minded” and an “utter maniac”. The investigation was dropped after Gardaí determined that too few people were bothered.
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Bad Wireless reception – The boisterous Wireless festival has been granted permission to return to Finsbury Park in north London – but only on condition that performers do not swear. New rules ask that those taking the stage “do not sing or play any vulgar, obscene or banned songs or carry out indecent acts or make any vulgar gestures, actions or remarks”. Someone like Croydon-born Stormzy would have to censor his breakthrough track Shut Up, which contains five swear words. Other conditions including tougher noise limits have been imposed by the council after a residents’ group made complaints. Largely featuring music of black origin such as grime, hiphop and rap, the festival attracts almost 50,000 people each day.
Lunchtime read: Tommy Robinson and the far-right playbook
“The Tommy Robinson myth runs something like this: he is an ordinary man who has been trying to alert people to the dangers of Islamic fundamentalism, the true extent of which is denied by the liberal establishment. For this, he has been persecuted by the state, which keeps trying to imprison him in order to stop him speaking out.
“This is the image that Stephen Yaxley-Lennon [Robinson’s real name] and his supporters propagate. But, in fact, he is a seasoned far-right activist with political ideas that are more than a simple angry reaction to terrorism or fundamentalism. And he has been given ample space to express them in public life.” Daniel Trilling, editor of New Humanist, dissects how the far right itself has transformed in recent years, taking advantage of wider political failures to shift mainstream debate disturbingly in its favour, and rally a morass of the aggrieved behind the likes of Yaxley-Lennon.
Sport
Mauricio Pochettino said Tottenham do not deserve to qualify for the Champions League knockout rounds after they failed to translate a dominant performance at PSV into victory. There were no such problems for Liverpool in a 4-0 thrashing of Red Star Belgrade, after which Jürgen Klopp said Mohamed Salah had silenced debate over his form by reaching the 50-goal mark for Liverpool faster than any player in the club’s history. Barcelona came through their first test without the injured Lionel Messi, earning a convincing 2-0 win at home against Internazionale to take control of Group B in the Champions League.
Ben Stokes has been warned that his all-action approach to training may backfire come the Test series in Sri Lanka after the all-rounder ended the victorious one-day leg of the tour badly afflicted by cramp from the sweltering heat and humidity. And Nevada fight regulators have extended the suspensions of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor, after their meeting at UFC 229 earlier this month was marred by brawls inside and outside the octagon.
Business
Stocks have plunged across Asia-Pacific markets with billions wiped off the value of companies as one analyst warned the latest bout of selling could degenerate into a wholesale capitulation. After the prospect of a weakening global economy and rising borrowing costs prompted continued heavy losses on Wall Street, markets were a sea of red from Sydney to Shanghai. The FTSE 100 is set to lose 0.65% at the open. The pound has slumped to $1.289 and €1.129.
The papers
The Guardian’s front page continues our investigation into housing conditions, with reports on a Liverpool tower block that had more housing prosecutions in 2017 than any other building: “Freezing UK tower block was cash cow for foreign owners”.
The Telegraph has a follow-up to its MeToo story with a woman making a fresh revelation against the unnamed businessman she believes is at the centre of the paper’s investigation: “He loved that I was scared”. The Sun and the i have also picked up the Telegraph’s investigation, centring their stories around anger among MPs that the man was able to get a gag order to protect his identity. The Sun says: “Gags to riches”, the i’s headline is: “#MeToo: time running out for exec who’s trying to silence his staff (and the media)”. Elsewhere there are reports of crises of various kinds. The Mail says “Our police can’t cope, warn MPs”, the Times reports “May picks civil service chief amid Brexit crisis”, the Mirror’s headline is “Shocking surge in hospital superbug cases” and the Express says “Statins raise risk of diabetes”. The FT’s lead story is “Patisserie Valerie admits further undeclared share bonus awards”. The Star’s front page features a still from a parody video posted by Friends actor David Schwimmer, after Blackpool police released CCTV footage showing a man who looks strikingly like Schwimmer allegedly stealing a crate of beer. “I’ll beer there for you,” is their excellent headline.
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