Top story: PM on notice ahead of ‘war cabinet’ talks
Hello, I’m Warren Murray and here’s your news on toast.
It is shaping up to be a rocky couple of days after the prime minister was handed a letter from more than 60 backbench Conservative MPs containing a list of hard Brexit demands ahead of a crunch meeting on Thursday. The letter from the so-called European Research Group has enraged other Tory MPs including Nicky Morgan, an advocate for a soft Brexit who chairs the Treasury select committee. She called it a “ransom note”.
May and her Brexit “war cabinet” will meet tomorrow to hammer out what Britain will seek in talks with the European commission. She knows she cannot ignore the “hard” group – its 62 signatories are enough to force a leadership contest.
Meanwhile, May’s government could be on the brink of a deal to end months of deadlock with the Scottish and Welsh governments over an alleged “power grab” following Brexit. Ministers will offer to drop plans for Whitehall to take control over as many as 111 EU powers that Scottish and Welsh lawmakers want handed over to them.
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Binge drinking fuels Alzheimer’s - We all know that heavy drinking is not good for your health, but now there is proof that people who drink to excess are putting themselves in line for dementia. The largest study of its kind, published in Lancet Public Health, provides powerful evidence that people who drink enough to end up in hospital are putting themselves at serious risk of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. The results will also raise questions for moderate drinkers about the possible long-term consequences of their alcohol intake. The study looked at more than a million people diagnosed with dementia between 2008 and 2013.
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‘I almost died’ - Serena Williams has written about her health complications after the birth of first child Alexis Olympia. The former world No1 told CNN that the birth went well but then she became very unwell. “First my C-section wound popped open due to the intense coughing I endured as a result of the embolism. I returned to surgery, where the doctors found a large haematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, in my abdomen. And then I returned to the operating room for a procedure that prevents clots from traveling to my lungs.” Williams has urged people to donate to charities that help mothers and newborns.
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Quick catch-up – We did it last Wednesday and no one said they hated it, so let’s have another mid-week sit rep on developing stories.
> University lecturers are due to go on strike from today in opposition to pension changes that would leave them £10,000 a year worse off in retirement. Students want compensation from the universities for the teaching hours they’ll miss out on.
> The Westminster council leader who was entertained more than 500 times in five years by property developers and influential figures has referred himself to the authority’s monitoring officer. Robert Davis insists he has done nothing wrong.
> After the Florida school shooting, Donald Trump has ordered a ban on “bump stocks” that turn semi-automatic weapons into machine guns – but that’s all. Students protesting for gun control are being attacked in US rightwing media.
> Syria’s war has turned the Damascus suburb of eastern Ghouta into a hell on Earth, with almost 200 civilians killed in two days of airstrikes and shelling by Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Amnesty says it amounts to “flagrant war crimes” on an “epic scale”
> Jeremy Corbyn has blasted claims he was Czech spy during the cold war. The idea has been discredited by the Czechs’ intelligence archives and dismissed by experts. Corbyn attacked the Sun, Mail and others for running “increasingly wild and entirely false” allegations.
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Nice queen meets ice queen - The Guardian’s republican stance aside, we love this picture of Queen Elizabeth and famed fashion editor Anna Wintour having a good old chat as they sit in the front row of Richard Quinn’s runway show at London fashion week. Fancy a guest-edit of Vogue, your majesty?
Winter Olympics
The action continues on day 12 of the Games in Pyeongchang. Already today, Great Britain’s women’s curling team have beaten Canada 6-5 in their crunch round-robin match, meaning they avoid the playoffs and go through to the semis. Shockingly, Canada find themselves out of the medal round for the first time ever.
Lindsey Vonn, one of the greatest downhill skiers of all time, was unable to repeat her 2010 Olympic victory. The American finished third behind Norway’s Ragnhild Mowinckel and gold medal winner Sofia Goggia of Italy. And still to come in our live coverage: Britain’s two-woman bobsleigh team remains an outside shot for a medal.
Lunchtime read: ‘A state of vital exhaustion’
“It’s a drip, drip, drip … a mission-creep of sorts, where you find yourself working a bit later, taking calls on weekends, being less inclined to play with your children or feeling more isolated and irritable.” That’s one psychologist’s definition of the road to “burnout” – or, put more clinically, chronic work-related stress.
More than half a million people in the UK have symptoms of burnout – among them anxiety, depression and feelings of detachment from everyday life. Sara Cox had it so badly she ground her teeth until they cracked. After counselling and a 10-month break from work she got back on an even keel. Moya Sarner meets the experts treating this epidemic of our times and, through personal stories, explains how to tell if you might be headed for the rocks.
Sport
Lionel Messi broke his shackles and a non-existent hoodoo against Chelsea to hand the initiative to Barcelona after Willian had given the home side the lead in a 1-1 Champions League round of 16 first-leg draw. Bayern Munich look assured of a quarter-final spot for a seventh straight season after thrashing 10-man Besiktas 5-0 while the returning Paul Pogba is primed and ready for Manchester United’s test against Sevilla tonight.
The message coming out of the England camp in the buildup to one of the most hotly anticipated Calcutta Cup matches in recent memory is clear: Scotland hold no fear for the defending champions. And Jim Furyk has backed Tiger Woods to bring “fire” to this year’s Ryder Cup after the 14-times major winner’s guaranteed involvement in the event was confirmed.
Business
Shares have been higher in Asia after positive manufacturing data and job creation figures from Japan. The gains came despite losses on Wall Street where a six-day winning streak was snapped by a plunge in Walmart stock and losses in other sectors.
The pound traded at $1.397 and €1.134 overnight.
The papers
The continued fallout from the Oxfam scandal dominates the papers again today. The Times splashes with the headline: “Charities in crisis over sex claims” as a result of fresh claims about Oxfam and Save the Children. Oxfam “possibly deliberately” misled everyone over the scale and nature of sexual exploitation in Haiti, says Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary.
The Telegraph leads on the claims against Save the Children and its former chief chief executive admitting that he sent inappropriate messages to three young female members of staff. Justin Forsyth, now deputy executive director at Unicef, “apologised unreservedly”. The Guardian splashes on the catastrophe in Syria’s eastern Ghouta, where hundreds of people have been killed in two days of violence.
The Mail is preoccupied with the bank account of Charles Randell, the man appointed to lead the government’s Financial Conduct Authority. The Mail claims Randell had been made to pay back £114,000 to the tax office. It is one of those rare days when the Mail and the Financial Times splash on the same person – the FT also takes aim at Randell with the headline: “New FCA chair under fire over investment in film tax scheme.” Over at the red tops, the Mirror has a story about the father of toddler Alfie Evans demanding he be kept alive despite a court ruling saying he must be allowed to die. The Sun claims Brendan Cole was dumped from Strictly Come Dancing because he breached protocol by waltzing with Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall.
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