Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s headlines. If you’d like to receive this briefing by email, sign up here.
Top story: Trump campaign chairman faces a decade in prison
Paul Manafort, the former chair of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, lied repeatedly to investigators in Robert Mueller’s Russia inquiry, despite having reached a plea agreement to cooperate in exchange for a reduced prison sentence, Mueller has said. The alleged lies breached that deal and constitute new crimes, Mueller said, meaning Manafort could face more than 10 years behind bars. Manafort denies the new allegations.
Stone links. Jerome Corsi, a prominent rightwing conspiracy theorist and close ally of the Trump adviser Roger Stone, claimed on Monday that he had rejected a plea deal offered to him by the Mueller investigation, which is said to be approaching its endgame.
Trump condemns climate report, Brexit deal, General Motors
Trump spent Monday training his anger on several targets, including his administration’s latest climate report, Theresa May’s Brexit deal, and General Motors’ (GM) decision to cut 14,700 jobs in North America. The president told reporters he did not believe the National Climate Assessment’s prediction that the US economy would suffer from continued global warming. He also said the Brexit deal approved by the EU “sounds like a great deal for the EU” and said the UK “may not be able to trade” with the US under its terms. The British prime minister’s spokesman said Trump was wrong.
Job losses. GM has announced plans to halt production at five North American facilities, including two in Ohio and Michigan. Trump, who won over voters in those states with promises to save their jobs, said he was unhappy with the carmaker’s decision.
Mississippi senate race turns into debate on ‘old south’ racism
The US Senate runoff in Mississippi on Tuesday between the Republican incumbent, Cindy Hyde-Smith, and her Democratic challenger, Mike Espy, who is African American, has devolved into a debate over racism in the state long perceived as the country’s most racist, as Jamiles Larty reports from Biloxi. Hyde-Smith is thought to have harmed her chances in recent weeks, beginning with her remark that, were she invited to a “public hanging” by a constituent, she would “be on the front row”.
Signs of hate. On Monday, nooses and signs bearing hate messages were found on the grounds of the state capitol in Jackson.
Trump tactics. Trump stumped for Hyde-Smith in Mississippi on Monday, returning to his familiar attacks on migrants and describing Democrats as “the party of caravans and crime”.
Putin ‘seriously concerned’ by martial law in Ukraine
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has expressed “serious concern” over Ukraine’s decision to put its armed forces on alert and impose martial law, amid simmering tensions between the two countries. In a phone conversation with the German leader, Angela Merkel, Putin called on Berlin to “influence the Ukrainian authorities to dissuade them from further reckless acts”, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Naval clash. The Ukrainian parliament’s decision to implement martial law came after Russia fired on and seized three Ukrainian vessels in the Kerch strait, reportedly injuring six Ukrainian crew members.
Crib sheet
Six people, including at least five members of the same family, have been found murdered at a farmhouse in Japan, close to Takachiho valley, a popular tourist destination.
Nasa scientists are celebrating the success of their Mars Insight probe, which has touched down on the red planet’s equator after a seven-month, 300m-mile journey from Earth.
Fox News is launching a subscription streaming service, Fox Nation, on Tuesday, featuring exclusive online content from such luminaries as Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and Snoop Dogg’s former bodyguard Tyrus.
The tribal rights group Survival International has urged Indian authorities to end efforts to recover the body of a US missionary killed by tribespeople on the remote North Sentinel Island, citing fears of further bloodshed.
Listen to Today in Focus: the medical implants scandal
Laura, a mother of five, recounts how a contraceptive implant left her needing the use of a wheelchair. As the Guardian’s science correspondent Hannah Devlin reports, Laura is one of tens of thousands of people suffering the effects of faulty medical implants.
Must-reads
Why Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is an Oscar front-runner
The Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón’s autobiographical masterpiece, Roma, seems poised to make two kinds of history at once, by becoming both the first Spanish-language film and the first Netflix-produced film nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Guy Lodge dissects a great work.
How the murders of two elderly Jewish women shook France
Two killings in Paris, one year apart, have cast light on festering antisemitism and fuelled the long-running national debate about race and religion. James McAuley reports from the frontline of France’s culture wars.
The town incinerated by California’s deadliest blaze
Film-makers Erin Brethauer and Tim Hussin report from the ruins of Paradise, California: a “slice of heaven” wiped out by the Camp fire, the deadliest blaze in state history, which has left at least 85 people dead and thousands more struggling to come to terms with the loss.
Nick Cave is showing us a gentler way to use the internet
The Australian songwriter Nick Cave recently invited “questions or comments, observations or inspirations” from his fans, and then started answering them personally. Russell Cunningham says this one-to-one correspondence between an artist and his disciples reflects the original ideals of the internet’s creator, Tim Berners-Lee.
Opinion
When Uber and Airbnb were young startups, they seemed part of a welcome global shift towards informal economic activity. But since then, says Evgeny Morozov, the ‘sharing economy’ has been seized by big money.
It was an appealing vision, rooted in the countercultural rebellion against authority, hierarchy and expertise. That vision, however, lacked one thing: backing from political parties or social movements.
Sports
Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana played to a 12th straight draw in their world chess championship clash in London on Monday, leaving them headed to a tiebreak on Wednesday. It’s the first title match in the competition’s 132-year history not to have produced a single decisive result over 12 games.
How did Gritty – the googly-eyed, giant, orange, hockey-playing monster mascot for the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers – become a symbol of the far-left? Colin Horgan investigates.
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