Top story: ‘Heartbroken’ co-founder Bill Gates leads tributes
Hello there – Warren Murray with what’s big and breaking in Tuesday’s news.
Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft, has died of lymphatic cancer aged 65. Allen and Bill Gates founded Microsoft in 1975 and became billionaires after IBM asked them in 1980 to provide the operating system for its first PCs.
Both later dedicated themselves to philanthropy. Allen gave more than $2bn to causes including ocean health, homelessness and science. In March this year, an Allen-funded expedition discovered the remains of the USS Juneau off the coast of the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific.
In the sporting sphere, Allen owned the Portland Trail Blazers and Seattle Seahawks. The latter were facing relocation when Allen stepped in to save them and they went on to reach three Super Bowls, winning their only NFL championship in 2013. Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said the world is “a better place” for Allen’s “passion, commitment, and selflessness”. Gates said: “I am heartbroken by the passing of one of my oldest and dearest friends.” Allen was previously treated for non-Hodgkin lymphoma in 2009 and recently announced it had come back.
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Top female CEO on way out – Sacha Romanovitch, the first UK female chief executive of a major City accountancy firm, will step down from Grant Thornton by the end of this year. Romanovitch capped her own salary at 20 times the firm’s average pay and brought in profit sharing for all staff rather than just partners. In September someone claiming to have the backing of directors and partners leaked the contents of her annual performance review and accused her of pursuing a “socialist agenda” that left the firm “out of control” with no focus on profit.
Romanovitch responded: “A small cadre of partners will find it hard we are making decisions that will depress profits in the short term but will help profits in the long term.” Grant Thornton handles the accounts of Patisserie Holdings, owner of Patisserie Valerie, which has been rocked by an accounting scandal and skirted collapse. In August, Grant Thornton was fined £4m after four senior staffers admitted misconduct in audits of Nichols Plc and the University of Salford.
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Khashoggi: ‘who knows?’ – Donald Trump has speculated that “rogue killers” may have been responsible for the presumed death of Jamal Khashoggi. Thirteen days after the Washington Post columnist was last seen, Turkish investigators have finally gained access to the Saudi consulate in Ankara – but not before a team of cleaners equipped with mops, buckets and disinfectant went over it. Crown Prince Salman of Saudi Arabia “denies any knowledge of whatever may have happened”, Trump said. “It sounded to me like maybe these could have been rogue killers. Who knows?” Turkish investigators believe Khashoggi was interrogated in the consul general’s office on the building’s second floor, dragged into a second room by a team of assassins, murdered and dismembered in a third room.
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Gang of quattro formaggi – Tempering Theresa May’s version of Brexit appears to have become a salami-slicing exercise after Brexiter ministers met on Monday night at a meeting dubbed the “pizza summit” to discuss the PM’s strategy before this morning’s cabinet meeting. Huddled over the pizza boxes were the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, the leader of the house, Andrea Leadsom, as well as Jeremy Hunt, Michael Gove, Penny Mordaunt, Chris Grayling, Geoffrey Cox and Liz Truss. May is embarking on a frantic 48 hours to save her strategy after admitting talks have ground to a halt because of the EU’s insistence upon a Northern Ireland-only backstop. The PM is expected to plead with EU leaders to drop the demand at a summit dinner on Wednesday night after seeking the support of members of her cabinet on Tuesday morning.
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Briton on spy charges – The British PhD student Matthew Hedges has been formally charged with spying in the United Arab Emirates. The 31-year-old was arrested there five months ago. Britain’s Foreign Office has said it is providing support. His wife, Daniela Tejada, said she had been informed he would go to trial on 24 October.
“Matt was in the UAE to carry out academic research for his PhD,” she said. “Since he was detained on 5 May 2018, he has only ever been granted two consular visits which is in direct violation of his rights.” According to a profile on the Durham University website, Hedges’ research includes Middle Eastern politics, the changing nature of war, civil-military relations and tribalism.
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‘Sensible’ move to Jerusalem – Australia may follow Donald Trump’s lead and move its embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. Scott Morrison, who recently took over Australia’s prime ministership, said: “We’re committed to a two-state solution, but frankly, it hasn’t been going that well … you don’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.” But it looks more like an election stunt than anything else – Morrison’s government is facing a byelection this coming weekend to retain his predecessor’s vacant seat, which has a large Jewish community. In June when the US announced it would move its embassy to Jerusalem there were protests in Gaza in which 58 Palestinians were killed. Broad international consensus has been that the holy city’s status should be settled in a peace deal.
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Stormy case founders – A defamation lawsuit filed by Stormy Daniels against Donald Trump has been thrown out by a federal court. The porn actor whose real name is Stephanie Clifford says a man threatened her in a parking lot after she alleged a sexual affair with Trump. Trump on Twitter called it a “total con job” about a “nonexistent man”. Clifford claimed Trump had made her out to be a liar, but the judge ruled: “Mr Trump’s statement constituted ‘rhetorical hyperbole’ that is protected by the first amendment.” Clifford’s lawyer said she would appeal.
Lunchtime read: True crime – this season’s line-up
We can’t get enough of cold-case shows such as Serial, especially when they lead to retrials. But while the genre has gone from lurid gore to upmarket investigations, an exploitative undertow remains.
“I’ve had 4,000 death threats since Making a Murderer first aired,” says Ken Kratz, the prosecutor who helped jail Steven Avery, whose conviction was questioned in the first series of that show. “I’ve had packages explode in my office. I’ve had my car shot at … I suspect all that craziness is going to be unleashed again.” As Making a Murderer returns, Arwa Mahdawi asks: is the obsession with true crime turning nasty?
Sport
Gareth Southgate praised his young side’s bravery and urged them to use their startling 3-2 victory against Spain as a reference point for future progress as England kept alive their hopes of claiming their Nations League group. Ryan Giggs, the Wales manager, has challenged his team to prove their strength in depth by winning tonight in the Republic of Ireland without Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey. Britain’s most decorated Winter Olympian Lizzy Yarnold, who captured the hearts of the nation by winning consecutive skeleton gold medals in Sochi and Pyeongchang, has announced her retirement.
Qualified praise and some strongly worded criticism were offered to racing’s ruling body as members of the House of Commons debated a call for the creation of an equine welfare regulator. And Joe Denly has been asked to fly out to Sri Lanka early after a side strain ruled out Liam Dawson from England’s remaining one-day games and left the Hampshire left-armer’s World Cup hopes in the balance.
Business
Asian stock markets pointed the way ahead for the rest of the world overnight as they put the traumas of the past week behind them to move into positive territory. The major bourses were all up with only concerns about the fallout from the Khashoggi affair limiting gains, analysts said. The FTSE 100 is due to open flat this morning while the pound is similarly becalmed at $1.314 and €1.135.
The papers
The Guardian’s lead story today is “May lobbies EU leaders in race to rescue Brexit summit deal” and is one of the only papers not to feature news of Meghan Markle’s pregnancy on its front page, instead opting for a large picture of anti-fracking protesters. Several papers lead with news of the royal pregnancy. “Oh, baby!” says the Mail which reports other royals were told the news at Princess Eugenie’s wedding on the weekend but sworn to secrecy: “Mum’s the word”. The Mirror has news that Markle would still be going to Fiji, despite warnings about the zika virus: “Mum-to-be Meghan on zika alert”.
News of the findings of an inquiry into intimidation and harassment in parliament leads the i: “MPs groped, abused and bullied women at Westminster” and the Times: “Bercow told to quit over report into sex pest MPs”. The Express reports that attacks on the elderly could soon be treated as hate crimes, under the headline “Victory”, as it counts the move as a win for its “Respect for the Elderly crusade”. The Telegraph also splashes with the story: “Ageism could be classed as hate crime”. And the FT’s headline is: “Trump open to Saudi denials as isolation grows over Khashoggi”.
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