Top story: ‘I was present but don’t think I was involved’
Hello on a Tuesday morning. It’s Warren Murray guiding you through the headlines.
The Conservative party this morning continues to grapple with the burqa row surrounding Boris Johnson – while the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, faces further claims of antisemitism.
Pictures from 2014 published by the Daily Mail show Corbyn holding a wreath at an event in Tunisia, which he said was to pay his respects to the victims of a 1985 Israeli airstrike on Palestinian Liberation Organisation offices in Tunis. Corbyn said a wreath was also laid for PLO figures assassinated by suspected Israeli agents outside a Paris hotel in 1992, in revenge for the 1972 Munich Olympic attack. Of the latter wreath-laying, he said: “I was present at that wreath-laying, I don’t think I was actually involved in it,” In an extraordinary intervention, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, condemned Corbyn on Twitter over his attendance. Corbyn responded by attacking the Israeli prime minister for presiding over the deaths of scores of people in Gaza.
Meanwhile, the Muslim Council of Britain has urged Theresa May to launch an independent inquiry into Islamophobia in the Conservative party, saying the level of political support for Boris Johnson’s newspaper column insulting women who wear the burqa has “highlighted the underbelly of Islamophobia” in the party. “Rather than see the bigotry for what it is, we are shocked that a large number of Conservative MPs would seek to back Mr Johnson for his dehumanising comments,” said the letter, signed by the MCB’s secretary general, Harun Khan. The group praised May for showing support for Muslims after the Finsbury Park terror attack on worshippers: “We are writing to you to continue the leadership you have previously shown.”
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Housing shake-up – Social housing residents will be able to take on landlords and buy as little as 1% of their property each year under shared ownership. Under the government’s new strategy, the regulator of social housing will get increased powers to intervene to ensure the quality of social homes – moves inspired by the Grenfell Tower fire. However, Shelter’s Polly Neate said the green paper “doesn’t commit a single extra penny towards building the social homes needed by the 1.2 million people on the waiting list.” The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) called for reforms to increase the supply of social housing, while the Local Government Association called for the government to scrap the housing borrowing cap and let councils borrow to build once more. The green paper is due to be launched today by the communities secretary, James Brokenshire.
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‘Wacky Omarosa’ – Donald Trump has hit back at his former aide, Omarosa Manigault Newman, as “wacky” after she released tapes of secretly recorded White House conversations. In one, the president expresses surprise that she was fired from his administration.
The former Apprentice star, mostly known simply as Omarosa, had become the most prominent African American in the Trump White House. She released an apparent recording of an interaction with Trump in 2017 after she was dismissed from the White House. “Omarosa what’s going on? I just saw on the news that you’re thinking about leaving? What happened?” Trump says on the tape. She has also claimed Trump is on tape using the N-word – though many have questioned claims that she makes in her memoir Unhinged, which recounts her White House experience.
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Blitz on pension scams – An advertising campaign called ScamSmart is being launched to warn the public as figures show victims of pension fraud are losing an average of £91,000 each. The scams typically begin with an unsolicited phone call or email, and involve people being persuaded to transfer their pensions into often exotic-sounding investments. They have surged since April 2015 when the government gave over-55s more freedom with their retirement cash. Regulators say tactics include offering of a “free pension review” or pressuring victims by sending a courier round with paperwork to sign. Individuals are being told to check the FCA register or call its contact centre on 0800 111 6768 to make sure they are dealing with a genuine, authorised provider.
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Upheaval at Scottish papers – The Glasgow Herald newspaper is merging its editorial teams with its sister paper the Sunday Herald. Staff at the pro-independence Sunday edition have been told they will now be expected to also work for the weekday title. The Sunday tabloid was the only Scottish newspaper to back independence during the 2014 referendum. That brought a spike in circulation but readership has since ebbed, leading owner Newsquest to assess its future. Scotland’s traditional newspapers are also coming under pressure from the growing success of the the Times’ Scottish edition, which has been hiring staff from other outlets and now outsells the Edinburgh-based Scotsman.
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Nowhere safe from Google – Many Google services on Androids and iPhones are still storing your location data even if you have opted out, it has been revealed. Storing your minute-by-minute travels carries privacy risks so Google lets you “pause” a setting called “location history” and states: “The places you go are no longer stored.” But some apps, like Google Maps, still store a snapshot of where you are when you open it, while searches such as “chocolate chip cookies” or “kids science kits” can result in your location being pinpointed and saved. Google says that to stop that, users need to turn off “web and app activity” as well. Jonathan Mayer, a Princeton computer scientist, says: “If you’re going to allow users to turn off something called ‘location history’, then all the places where you maintain location history should be turned off.”
Lunchtime read: The problem with BDS
Israel sees the international boycott campaign as an existential threat to the Jewish state. Palestinians regard it as their last resort.
Since its founding 13 year sago, writes Nathan Thrall, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel campaign – known as BDS – has “acquired nearly as many enemies as the Israelis and Palestinians combined” with its hardline stance against cooperation with Israeli organisations and institutions, from government to business, arts, academia and culture.
Sport
It is a further nod towards the progress of Tiger Woods since injury that it would now be a shock if he does not play at September’s Ryder Cup. Questions have been raised over the safety of Tottenham’s new stadium after the club announced it is to delay the opening of the £850m venue. Manchester United are confident that David de Gea will sign a new deal, with the goalkeeper expected to receive a marked increase on his current salary of around £180,000 a week.
Dina Asher-Smith’s “out of this world” treble at the European Championships was the best display by a British track competitor in a generation, according to the UK Athletics performance director, Neil Black. And Andy Murray’s tennis comeback has hit another bump with a first-round defeat to Lucas Pouille in Cincinnati.
Business
Asian markets have fought to regain their footing after the tremors caused by the collapse of the Turkish lira. Sentiment took a fresh knock, though, after Chinese economic indicators all grew by less than forecast in July.
The pound has been trading around $1.276 and €1.119 overnight.
The papers
The main story on the front page of the Guardian today is “Fear of global crisis as Turkey battles to halt sliding currency”. The FT splash is “Musk justifies ‘take private’ tweet as legal pressure rises” and the i has on its front page the same story the Guardian splashed on yesterday: “Rail fares rising twice as fast as wages”.
The Telegraph leads with “Corbyn’s extraordinary row with Israeli PM over terrorist tribute” and the Mail covers the same story as its lead, under the headline “Condemned”. The Mirror has the story about cold-call scams – “The £46 million great pension robbery” while the Express leads with “Patients given 30 minutes to quit care home”. The Times has “Genes put millions at triple risk of heart attack” and the Sun has “You stole my heart … and £13k from Tesco” about a lotto winner marrying someone who had been jailed for stealing from the supermarket chain.
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