Top story: ‘American bastards would be not very happy’
Good morning, it’s Warren Murray with your first dose of the news today.
South Korea and the US have fired a barrage of missiles off the Korean peninsula in reply to Kim Jong-un’s “brazen” test of a rocket that might be able to carry a nuclear warhead. The US “will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea”, said secretary of state Rex Tillerson, who warned anyone supporting Pyongyang economically or militarily was “aiding and abetting a dangerous regime”. South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, said through a spokesman that the provocation had demanded “more than just a statement and that we need to clearly show our missile defence readiness to North Korea”.
Kim, the North Korean dictator, taunted that “American bastards would be not very happy with this gift sent on the July 4 anniversary”. South Korea and the US conducted a massive ballistic missile exercise early on Wednesday in what officials in Seoul said was a warning to Pyongyang. The UN security council is expected to meet today to discuss the situation, and it is sure to figure in discussions as world leaders including Donald Trump and China’s Xi Jinping convene for the G20 summit in Hamburg.
Whether it was an intermediate range missile or a full-blown ICBM, our editorial argues that the test marks an escalation of the threat posed by North Korea – and sitting down for a burger with Kim Jong-un as Trump once suggested might be the only way to reduce the growing danger.
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Austerity: Cam’s gift to you – David Cameron has demanded a little respect for the austerity programme he initiated, saying its critics want to mortgage the next generation’s future. “Giving up on sound finances isn’t being generous, it’s being selfish: spending money today that you may need tomorrow,” the former PM said in Seoul. The irony of Cameron making the remarks in a no doubt handsomely paid speech while British nurses are turning to food banks – and the poorest students face graduating from university with a £57,000 debt – was not lost on opposition parties. Theresa May’s government is facing pressure from inside and out to start rolling back austerity by lifting the public sector pay cap.
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Blair and Iraq: back to court – An attempt will be made today to revive a private prosecution of Tony Blair over the 2003 invasion. Blair was ruled immune by a Westminster magistrates’ court in 2016. That decision is to be reviewed by the lord chief justice. An exiled former Iraqi army general is trying to have Blair, Jack Straw and Lord Goldsmith prosecuted for “aggression” in the wake of the heavily critical Chilcot report. The government is opposing the prosecution.
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Hard sell – Five years after London’s Shard tower opened to great fanfare, not a single one of its 10 exclusive apartments has been sold. The sky-high residences – including a penthouse at 735ft – were expected to be snapped up at prices between £30m and £50m.
But the promise of views to the sea and Ascot has not been enough to persuade the super-rich to open their wallets, despite the developer originally boasting it would take little more than “20 phone calls” to shift the lofty abodes. Luxury property agent Henry Pryor says the Shard owners’ reluctance to “crystallise” a low price by selling in a depressed market is one big factor. The other: too far south of Hyde Park for rich people and the wrong side of the Thames: “No one knows anyone who lives south of the river.”
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Here come the sexbots – The ethics of having sex with robots are discussed in a paper out today. Authors from the Foundation for Responsible Robotics say the machines are becoming more refined and might eventually promise a “revolution” for people who would otherwise be deprived of a sex life. But there are dangers, such as the sexual objectification of women, and the potential for rape and child abuse fantasies to be indulged and magnified. The robot ethicists are urging caution but think the industry should be allowed to develop: “You have to find the way to balance so you really can harness the good.”
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New Zealand’s possum war – A country’s ecology may be at stake but drowning baby marsupials at a school fair is going too far, according to animal welfare campaigners. Joey possums were dispatched in a bucket after their mothers were shot during a school possum hunt on the North Island. The case throws light on the scale of New Zealand’s problem with pest species. Two million of the Australian brushtail possums, introduced in the 1830s, are hunted and killed each year but they still proliferate. The skins are traded and the meat sold for pet (and sometimes human) consumption.
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Cheaper ticket to ride – Seven rail companies have agreed to start selling advance tickets on the day of departure, promising savings for passengers. The cheaper fares have generally only been available until midnight on the day before travel. Rail authorities have announced Grand Central, Greater Anglia, Northern, TransPennine Express, Virgin Trains East Coast, Virgin Trains West Coast and Caledonian Sleeper franchises will now sell the tickets up to 10 minutes before departure (assuming any are left). It stems from an action plan set up last year to simplify Britain’s rail fare system.
Lunchtime read: New wave physics
For some years, scientists have been trying to find a way to tie together the big theories explaining the nature of the universe into a neat bundle. Fittingly, the most promising avenue is string theory, but there need to be six extra dimensions hidden out there somewhere for it to work. So how to prove these dimensions exist?
Physicists from the Ligo project think they have come up with a way. After detecting gravitational waves for the first time in 2015, they plan to investigate whether those waves show signs of being affected by their travel through extra dimensions. It won’t be a “smoking gun” but would represent a big step.
Sport
Mark Cavendish is out of the Tour de France after suffering a fractured shoulder blade when he was elbowed off his bike by Peter Sagan in a horrendous crash 200 metres from stage four’s finish line. Sagan, the world champion, has been disqualified.
Andy Murray says he is willing to play through the pain barrier in his bid to retain his Wimbledon title. The Scot will be joined in the second round by Kyle Edmund, who beat Alex Ward in a rare all-British encounter in SW19. Meanwhile the women’s world No1, Angelique Kerber, also progressed but failed to convince in her 6-4, 6-4 win over Irina Falconi.
Alexandre Lacazette is close to finalising his €60m (£52.7m) move to Arsenal from Lyon, having completed his medical at the north London club’s training ground on Tuesday. And a string of doping and corruption scandals has left one third of British people with even less confidence in sport than they had a year ago, according to a survey.
Business
Qatar’s economic outlet has been downgraded by Moody’s ahead of a crunch meeting between Gulf neighbours that have slapped it with an embargo over claims of support for terrorism. That fed into lower oil prices overnight, as did the tensions on the Korean peninsula over the North’s missile test. Asian share markets were subdued as the Korean situation supported safe-harbours including the yen, bonds and gold. The 4 July holiday in the US and a dearth of major data kept activity muted, though minutes of the Federal Reserve’s last meeting are due later in the day.
The pound has been buying US$1.29 and €1.14.
The papers
The Mirror has a crack at David Cameron over his comments about keeping the 1% pay cap for public sector workers. The headline reads, “It’s selfish to give our heroes pay rises – says the millionaire ex-premier who rakes in £120,000 for speeches”.
Under the words “World reaches out to Charlie” the Daily Mail says the Pope’s hospital has offered to treat young Charlie Gard whose parents have lost a legal battle to take their critically ill son to the US for experimental treatment. The Sun also leads with the story under the headline “Charlie’s angels”.
The Guardian splashes with the news that the poorest students’ debt will reach £57,000 on leaving university. The Times leads with “£1bn roads revolution launched” and says the government will announce the building of a number of bypasses to ease congestion in towns.
The Telegraph’s main story is that wealthy areas of the UK are being told they must accept having more homes built to combat the housing crisis. The FT splashes with news of the takeover bid for British financial payments company Worldpay – a bid helped by a weak pound post-Brexit.
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