Top story: Monster and Red Bull face ban on sales to children
Good morning – it’s Warren Murray here to help you take it all in.
The sale to children of high-caffeine, high-sugar drinks such as Red Bull and Monster Energy will be banned in England. They have been linked to a string of health problems for children including head and stomach aches, hyperactivity, sleep problems and obesity.
Often the drinks are higher in sugar, and cheaper, than other soft drinks. Two-thirds of children aged 10 to 17 and a quarter of six to nine-year-olds consume them, the government says. Teachers, doctors, MPs and Jamie Oliver support a ban. A consultation is being launched today with the government to decide whether purchasing restrictions will apply up to the age of 16 or 18. Let us know what you think of the idea. Meanwhile, in South Korea the government has just banned coffee from schools, blaming it for an epidemic of ill health in the country’s highly competitive education system.
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Accused Salmond quits SNP – The former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has resigned from the SNP as he sues the government in Holyrood over its handling of sexual misconduct allegations. Salmond said he wanted to avoid the damage that would be done to the party if it had to suspend him. But it will also be seen as a tactical move to win greater sympathy from SNP activists as Salmond seeks to crowdfund his legal costs.
His successor, Nicola Sturgeon, said the case was distressing for herself and the party but “the hard fact remains that two complaints were received by the Scottish government that could not be ignored or swept under the carpet”.
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Lawrence hacker jailed – A hacker who put Jennifer Lawrence’s and other celebrities’ private nude photos on the internet has been given eight months’ jail. George Garofano, 26, was one of four charged over illegal hacking of the Apple iCloud accounts of American stars and average internet users. “He engaged in this conduct 240 times over the course of 18 months,” said prosecutors. “Not only did Mr Garofano keep for himself the photographs he stole – he disseminated them to other individuals. He may have also sold them to others to earn ‘extra income’.” The three other hackers have already been sentenced, to terms between nine months and 18 months in prison.
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Move over, Musk – Sir James Dyson, the billionaire inventor and Brexit backer, has unveiled expansion plans to accommodate more than 2,000 workers at his Wiltshire facility as he presses on with plans to go up against Tesla in the electric car market by 2021. Whether the car will be made in Britain remains undecided: Dyson designs and develops products in the UK but makes them in cheaper places like Singapore. The inventor remains insistent that Brexit will boost British industry. But UK automotive manufacturers report they made 11% fewer cars last month compared with a year earlier. Their trade body, the SMMT, is today calling for “political and economic clarity at home, and the continuation of beneficial trading arrangements with the EU and other key markets”.
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Trump Googles himself, gets Obama – The US president is becoming increasingly shrill about Google search results, after getting the idea into his head that they are biased against him. He might complain about unsympathetic algorithms, but at least he hasn’t stepped out on the road in front of one – Andrew Smith examines the sometimes deadly consequences of unpredictable code, in a world where computer programs are trusted to run everything from self-drive cars to the financial markets and, potentially, weapons of war.
Lunchtime read: Upfront and Swank
Hillary Swank has been off the screen. She has been caring for her father after he had a lung transplant in 2014. And getting married. And learning to tap-dance.
The double Oscar-winner talks about returning to acting with a miniseries and two movies, her love of “people who persevere”, the legacy of her role in Boys Don’t Cry, and why she grew up feeling like an outsider.
Sport
Andy Murray went down in flames on the third and hottest day of the US Open, losing against Fernando Verdasco for only the second time in 15 matches. Defending women’s champion Sloane Stephens was made to sweat by Anhelina Kalinina but there were no such problems for Serena Williams, who beat Carolina Witthoeft at a canter in the evening session. Meanwhile, tournament organisers have apologised after the French player Alizé Cornet was penalised for briefly removing her shirt on court.
Ashley Young will be an absentee today when Gareth Southgate names his first England squad since the run to the World Cup semi-finals, with the manager considering a recall for Luke Shaw. England have been dealt a significant blow just over a year before the Rugby World Cup with another key member of Eddie Jones’s staff, head of sports science Dean Benton, set to leave. And one of Belgium’s top football TV presenters, Stephane Pauwels, has been charged with armed robbery during a raid in an affluent Brussels satellite town.
Business
Despite optimism around the thawing of trade arrangements in North America, Asian investors remain nervous about the prospects for economic relations between the US and China, with shares in the region dropping overnight. One exception was Australia where the bourse in Sydney was boosted by a £8.4bn merger between Vodafone’s local business and TPG that will create a third power in the increasingly cut-throat market.
The pound continued it rise overnight after it jumped 1% on Wednesday. It stands at $1.303 and €1.113 at time of writing.
The papers
The upcoming ban on selling energy drinks to children and Alex Salmond’s departure from the Scottish National party dominates today’s front pages. The Guardian carries the energy drinks story but gives top spot to an exclusive about how bed shortages mean young people with serious mental health problems are being sent up to 285 miles away for care. Salmond’s resignation made the later edition.
The Telegraph focuses on the energy drinks regulation, reports that Gove is losing the “scallop wars” and is one of several papers to carry the Duke and Duchess of Sussex attending the musical Hamilton as their main picture story. The Mail follows suit minus the scallops. The Times says May has a Brexit ally in Macron and squeezes Salmond’s late-night resignation across the top. The Express reports that Michel Barnier has climbed down to offer the UK a special Brexit deal, and the Mirror celebrates the energy drinks ban as the culmination of its “Can It” campaign. The Independent has an exclusive report on the exodus of prison officers, while the i gives its front to Salmond’s departure. The Sun splashes on the death of Leah Cambridge during cosmetic surgery in Turkey.
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