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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Assange charges are an assault on press freedom, experts warn
Julian Assange has been charged by the US with conspiring to hack into a Pentagon computer network to obtain classified documents, following his arrest in London on Thursday. The WikiLeaks founder is accused of working with Chelsea Manning to steal state secrets in 2010. But experts say some of the charges against Assange represent a direct attack on the fundamental, first amendment rights of journalists. And, in the UK, opposition politicians have urged the government to resist calls for his extradition.
Trump turns. On the campaign trail in 2016, Donald Trump professed to “love WikiLeaks”. But by this week, with Assange under arrest, the president pleaded ignorance, saying WikiLeaks was “not my thing”.
Ecuador arrest. Assange spent seven years at the Ecuadorian embassy in London before his expulsion. Now Ecuador has arrested a Swedish software developer with alleged links to WikiLeaks in Quito.
‘Walking conflict of interest’ confirmed as interior secretary
The US Senate has voted to confirm David Bernhardt – a former lobbyist for the oil, gas and mining industries – as the new secretary of Trump’s troubled interior department. Described by one environmentalist as “a walking conflict of interest”, Bernhardt has been the acting secretary since his scandal-plagued predecessor Ryan Zinke stepped down in December. He now formally takes charge of more than 500 million acres of public lands and other resources.
Retaliation plan. White House officials tried to persuade immigration officials to release migrants detained at the Mexican border into so-called sanctuary cities such as San Francisco as retaliation against the president’s political enemies, the Washington Post has reported.
Saudi prince urged to ditch aide linked to Khashoggi murder
Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, has privately urged Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to sever links to a close former aide believed to have overseen the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul last year. Saud al-Qahtani has been sanctioned by the US for his role in the murder and was removed from his role at the royal court in Riyadh by King Salman. But he is reported to have remained in close contact with the crown prince, and to have taken part in his crackdown on dissidents.
Third summit? Trump has floated the idea of another nuclear summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, despite the collapse of their recent talks in Hanoi, saying he “enjoys” Kim’s company.
Disney takes on Netflix with new streaming service
Disney has announced plans to launch a new streaming service, Disney Plus, featuring three new Marvel TV series, a Star Wars series and The Simpsons. The long-anticipated rival to Netflix and Amazon Prime is set to debut in the US on 12 November, at a cost of $6.99 a month to users. All of the company’s new theatrical releases will appear on the platform, to be joined by its existing catalogue once current deals with other streamers expire.
Marvel stars. The Marvel shows will focus on the characters Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany).
Rogue Two? Star Wars spinoff The Mandalorian is said to be a spy series featuring Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) from the film Rogue One, and a new character played by Pedro Pascal.
Crib sheet
Gregory Craig, an Obama-era White House counsel, has been charged with lying to US authorities over his work with Paul Manafort in Ukraine, in the first instance of a prominent Democrat facing prosecution as a result of the Mueller inquiry.
Street vendors in New York are calling on the city to pass a bill that would raise the number of vending permits by around 4,000 over a decade, removing a cap that has existed since the 1980s and forced many to secure permits on the black market.
A language professor in Hawaii has named the first black hole ever pictured by scientists “Powehi”, meaning “the adorned fathomless dark creation,” after two Hawaii telescopes were used to capture the historic image earlier this week.
Doctors in Papua New Guinea have warned of a nationwide rise in men injecting substances such as coconut oil into their penises in hopes of enlarging them. One hospital in the capital, Port Moresby, has seen at least 500 such cases in two years.
Must-reads
How we built Black Lives Matter
Since the beginnings of what became Black Lives Matter in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, the activist DeRay Mckesson has felt his own life threatened more than once. He explains how the growing movement helped him overcome his fears to find faith and hope.
Young Republicans face up to climate change
Donald Trump may deny climate change in the most preposterous terms, but many millennial Republicans take a different view. Oliver Milman meets some of the young people trying to haul their party towards scientific reality.
Is this the death of sex in cinema?
The number of films given adult ratings for sexual content has plummeted. Catherine Shoard explores how studio pressure, #MeToo nerves and the proliferation of porn created a new puritanism, while Peter Bradshaw picks his top five sex scenes.
Shades of Black: dark-skinned women in entertainment
In the last of a week-long series on colorism, Dream McClinton talks to six dark-skinned black women about the issues they’ve encountered in the entertainment business – as actors, singers and beauty bloggers – and how they moved past them.
Opinion
More than 21,000 people attended Nipsey Hussle’s memorial service in Los Angeles on Thursday. His death exposes a truth about gun violence, say Davetta Jackson-Young and Skipp Townsend: that it disproportionately afflicts families of colour.a
Those of us who have been active in the fight to curb gun violence in communities of color know that solutions exist – they have just been ignored.
Sport
Americans Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau lead the field after day one of The Masters, with the pre-tournament favourite, Rory McIlroy, hitting his worst opening round at Augusta National since 2010.
Manchester City need to do better against Crystal Palace on Sunday than they did in December, when Roy Hodgson’s side beat them 3-2 at the Etihad. Title rivals Liverpool also need a strong showing against Chelsea at Anfield, where Jordan Henderson will be tasked with dulling the talents of Eden Hazard. Those are two of 10 things to look out for amid the weekend’s Premier League action.
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