Top story: Singapore sequel planned, says White House
Good morning. It’s Warren Murray with the pick of the big and breaking news.
Donald Trump wants to hold another summit with Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader. The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, said Trump had received a “very warm, very positive” letter from Kim and that the administration was “already in the process of coordinating” the summit.
Talks between the US and North Korea have stalled since the leaders shook hands in Singapore in June. Last month Trump told his secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to delay a planned trip to North Korea due to lack of progress on denuclearisation. But Trump praised Kim on the weekend after the country made changes to its military parade: “There is nothing like good dialogue from two people that like each other!”
Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, has said Kim told South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, that the North could denuclearise “in one year … [But] they’re the ones that have to take the steps to denuclearise, and that’s what we’re waiting for.”
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Britain’s life expectancy gap – Women in the UK have shorter lives than many others in Europe, Public Health England has found. Spanish women live longest on average at 86.3 years, while the average for the UK is 83 – which is 17th out of 28 EU nations. Britain’s men are in 10th place with above-average life expectancy of 79.4 years, while men in Italy top the list at 81 years. There are big social and economic disparities across Britain: “People in wealthier parts of the country enjoy 19 more years of good health than in poorer parts of the country,” said Professor John Newton from PHE. “They live nine years longer – for men – and seven years longer for women. These are unacceptable variations.” Many of the causes of chronic diseases that shorten lives in the UK are preventable, such as obesity and alcohol. On the latter, PHE has come in for criticism over the alcohol industry’s involvement in the drink-free days campaign.
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Hurricane emergency – More than a million people have been ordered to evacuate their homes along the coast of South Carolina and Virginia ahead of the expected arrival of Hurricane Florence. The category 4 storm – the second most powerful under US classification – could make landfall on Thursday. Off the coast of North Carolina, large sea swells and dangerous rip currents have already been apparent and ferries that service the state’s coast have been cancelled. The Carolinas, Virginia and Maryland have declared a state of emergency.
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Sanders: find the mole – The White House press secretary, Sarah Sanders, says the US Department of Justice should “look into” who wrote the op-ed in the New York Times, accusing the anonymous White House official of “attempting to undermine the executive branch”. She ruled out people taking lie detector tests as the vice-president, Mike Pence, has offered.
In polling, Donald Trump’s approval rating has dropped below the 40% mark – too low to get him re-elected. On the bright side for the president, 70% of voters told the respected Quinnipiac poll that they think the nation’s economy is “excellent” or “good”. But only 32% said they thought Trump was honest.
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Labour goes with the grain – Jeremy Corbyn has transformed the party of casseroles and bingo to one of quinoa and student protests, according to swing voters in marginal constituencies. In focus groups in Crewe and Thurrock, people repeatedly mentioned quinoa when asked what food best represented the Labour party of 2018. The Conservatives were seen overwhelmingly by the focus group participants as the party of “high earners” and “traditional conservative voters”. National polling suggested a firmer policy either way on Brexit might alienate Labour voters. A net balance of 2% said they would be less likely to vote for Labour if it backed a final referendum, while 10% would fall away if the party backed a “hard Brexit”, and 13% if it backed a “soft Brexit”.
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Breakfast video outrages Saudis – Authorities in Saudi Arabia have arrested an Egyptian hotel worker who appeared in what officials called an “offensive” video eating breakfast and joking with a female co-worker.
A liberalisation drive is under way in Saudi Arabia but the arrest suggests limits to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts. The footage sparked outrage on social media in the ultra-conservative kingdom, and the hotel owner was summoned for failing to follow government rules on gender segregation in the workplace.
Lunchtime read: My week of eating only beef
“Jordan Peterson insists his fad diet helps you lose weight and feel better. I tried it for a week, and let me tell you: it was truly, punishingly awful.”
If you are not prepared to contemplate Adam Gabbatt’s “movements”, or lack thereof, read no further. But if you can stomach it, it is worth finding out just what a beef-only diet does to the body.
Sport
On an emotional fourth day at the Kia Oval one of England’s greatest cricketers, Alastair Cook, signed off from his record-breaking international career with a 33rd Test century that proved to him dreams can come true. Expanding the Rugby World Cup from 20 to 24 teams is being given serious consideration by the game’s governing body. One of Britain’s leading sports communications executives, Mike Lee OBE, has died aged 61 after suffering a heart attack.
Harry Kane will be left out of England’s friendly against Switzerland because Gareth Southgate fears the World Cup Golden Boot winner is in danger of suffering burnout. Many fine things happened at the 50th US Open and the sport overall is in rude health on court, writes Kevin Mitchell, even if some of the people who run it would struggle to get a start organising lifeboats on the Titanic. And Tony Finau has been selected for the American Ryder Cup team as Jim Furyk’s final captain’s pick.
Business
The yen has slipped on news that Japanese chipmaker Renesas is buying US peer IDT for $6.7bn. China’s yuan has extended losses against the US dollar amid fears of an escalation in the China-US trade dispute.
Sterling has held on to gains after the EU negotiator Michel Barnier raised hopes a Brexit deal can be struck in the coming weeks. It is trading at $1.303 and €1.123.
The papers
The Guardian’s top story today is “Women in UK dying earlier than in most EU countries” and the front also features a picture of Alastair Cook.
Several newspapers lead with Michel Barnier’s comments that a Brexit deal could be reached in less than two months. The i says: “Operation Save Theresa: EU leaders rally round PM”, the Express’s headline is “Brexit deal in just six weeks” and the Times has “Brexit deal possible in two months, says Barnier”. Business news leads the Mirror: “Debenhams in battle for survival”, and, unsurprisingly, the FT: “Blackstone leads £1.5bn swoop for portfolio of railway arches”. The Telegraph’s splash is: “Policing in crisis as staffing cuts bite”. The Mail leads with: “Soup and shake diet on the NHS to reverse diabetes”.
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