Top story: ‘Look forward to a secretive relationship with you’
Hello everyone, Graham Russell here with Tuesday’s news today.
“It sounds a dreadful thing to say, but these are things that don’t necessarily need to be true as long as they’re believed.” These are the words of Alexander Nix, the chief executive of a company accused of using the data of millions of Facebook users to influence voters and sway national elections.
Other executives from Cambridge Analytica joined him in speaking to undercover reporters from Channel 4 News about the dark arts used to help clients, including fake bribery stings and hiring prostitutes to seduce rivals. “Send some girls around to the candidate’s house, we have lots of history of things,” Nix said. “We could bring some Ukrainians in on holiday with us, you know what I’m saying.”
Cambridge Analytica used a shifting network of names and front groups to remain secret, Nix said. “We’re used to operating through different vehicles, in the shadows, and I look forward to building a very long-term and secretive relationship with you,” Nix said in an initial phone call.
Theresa May’s spokesman said she backed an investigation by the information commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, who told Channel 4 News she had issued a demand for access to Cambridge Analytica and would be applying to the courts on Tuesday for a warrant. More than 48 hours since the Observer revealed the harvesting of 50 million users’ personal data, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has remained silent. The company’s value shrank by $36bn on Monday, and it faces multiple investigations and a #DeleteFacebook social media campaign.
Need a quick catch-up as we enter day three? Here’s a brief video explainer.
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Lost in transition – Well, the good news is that plenty of the Brexit transition uncertainty is over. The bad news is that Theresa May has given up a fistful of her demands in order to get it. The FTSE suffered but the pound reacted well to the news, which included a timeline for single market and customs union membership, but the political backlash duly followed. The potentially most painful climbdown was agreeing to the “back stop” plan of keeping Northern Ireland under EU law to avoid a hard border. The UK also rolled over on the treatment of EU citizens during the transition and the renegotiation of fishing quotas. Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was “hard to see what points the government has won” and plans to lead a protest of Brexit-supporting MPs on Wednesday, who will throw fish out of a boat as they pass by parliament.
Dan Roberts and Alan Travis write that David Davis can claim a partial, if pyrrhic, victory but there are five problems with it.
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Closing scene – The Weinstein Company, battered by the sexual abuse scandal of former chairman Harvey Weinstein, says it has filed for bankruptcy and will now release its staff from non-disclosure agreements. The step had long been sought by the New York attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, who filed a lawsuit against the company last month on behalf of its employees. Schneiderman called the move “a watershed moment”.
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Self-driving fatality – A woman has died after being hit by a self-driving Uber car in the first such recorded case in the US. Elaine Herzberg was pushing her bike along a road when the Volvo SUV travelling at about 40mph hit her without slowing down. The incident happened in Arizona, whose governor, Doug Ducey, is a strong supporter of the technology being tested in his state, criticising other governments for “over regulation”.
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Cure in sight – The most common cause of blindness could be treated within years after a stem cell therapy worked successfully on two patients. Both had advanced wet age-related macular degeneration, which destroys the central vision, but were able to read a book after a “patch” of stem cells was placed over damage at the back of the eye. The hope is that an off-the-shelf treatment will be available for NHS surgeons within five years.
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Sex and her city? – The stage is set for an actor best known for her role in Sex and the City to run for governor of New York. Cynthia Nixon, aka Miranda Hobbes, posted a campaign video that focused on inequality and the need for education reform. Nixon will face a tough battle against Andrew Cuomo, who is running for his third term but if she’s successful she would become both the city’s first female and first openly gay governor.
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Lunchtime read: Does testosterone really make you mean?
It is often wheeled out as an excuse for patriarchal society: women, with their lower testosterone levels, have evolved to nurture and multitask in the domestic sphere, while men are hardwired to take risks, compete and furnish as many women as possible with sperm, thus ensuring the future of the species. But does this trashing of testosterone stand up to lived experience? A good person to ask is Charles Ryan, who runs a San Francisco clinic and regularly relieves men of their testosterone as part of a treatment for prostate cancer.
Sport
Vince Hilaire speaks to Dominic Fifield about his autobiography in which he describes the primitive environment he had to contend with while playing for Crystal Palace and Portsmouth in the 70s and 80s. “I remember running out at Palace and that first song they sung about me: ‘We’ve got a brown boy on the wing, tra-la-la, la-la’ to the Boney M tune,” he says, taking it as a compliment at the time. Barney Ronay has admitted he was wrong on Mohamed Salah, with Liverpool’s £35m forward one of the best buys in years after his false start at Chelsea.
The halo could be the most effective method yet devised to reduce F1’s appeal, argues Richard Williams, warning against changes that alter the point of the sport. While Ireland captured international attention for completing the grand slam at Six Nations, other events showed that all is not well within the game of rugby union. Finally, Stuart Broad believes his England Test career is set for another trademark surge of wickets after a back-to-basics spell of self-tuition.
Business
Asian shares sank following an overnight decline on Wall Street after Facebook reported its worst loss in four years. Investors are awaiting the first Federal Reserve meeting under the new chairman, Jerome Powell, and anticipating the first rate increase of the year.
The pound is buying $1.402 and €1.136.
The papers
It is a day of Cambridge Analytica, Brexit, cures and car crashes.
The Guardian splashes on fresh revelations about the data firm, with news its executives have been “caught boasting of dirty tricks to swing elections”.
The Times also leads on the burgeoning scandal, its front page headline reads “British firm sends ‘girls’ to entrap politicians.” It also carries the Uber self-driving car fatality.
The FT nudges aside Facebook’s woes and Brexit to make way for the self-driving Uber that killed a pedestrian in Arizona.
The Daily Telegraph leads on the fishing quota row sparked by Theresa May’s Brexit transition deal, while also making space for the Uber crash. The i and Metro also lead on the big day for Brexit.
The Sun and Mirror cover day two of Ant McPartlin’s car crash.
The Daily Mail and Daily Express meanwhile lead on the potential discovery of a cure for the most common cause of blindness.
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