Top story: Israel faces months of limbo with election too close to call
Good morning briefers. My name is Martin Farrer and it’s my pleasure to bring you the top stories this Wednesday.
Benjamin Netanyahu is fighting for his political life – and his freedom – after exit polls and early results in the wake of the Israeli election showed that the hardline prime minister’s decade-long grip on power could be weakening. Although Netanyahu and his rival Benny Gantz both vowed to lead the next government, early results in the country’s second election in five months showed neither would gather enough seats to secure a majority. With 35% of votes counted this morning, Netanyahu’s Likud party was forecast to take 28% while Gantz’s Blue and White party was set to register 26.6%. To form a coalition, both will need the support of smaller parties – critically that of Netanyahu’s ally-turned-opponent Avigdor Lieberman – and Israel now appears set for the possibility of weeks of political deal-making. Netanyahu, who is attempting to win a fifth term in office, looked sullen and sounded hoarse when he tried to rally his supporters in Tel Aviv last night. In contrast, Gantz beamed with confidence when he told activists that he hoped to form “a broad unity government”. The outcome could also have a bearing on Netanyahu’s personal liberty. He faces a trial on longstanding corruption charges in the coming weeks, but staying in power would leave him immune from prosecution. Look out for the final results as they come in later today on our live blog.
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Corbyn’s four pillars – Jeremy Corbyn is casting himself as a neutral referee who will carry out whatever the public decides at a second Brexit referendum as he seeks to reset the Labour party’s policy at next week’s annual conference in Brighton. Corbyn says he will go into an election offering to negotiate a Brexit deal involving a customs union, which he would then put to voters in a second poll. Writing in the Guardian, Corbyn says a “sensible deal” would be based on four pillars: a new customs union with the EU, a close single market relationship, and guarantees of workers’ rights and environmental protections”. The Labour party leadership hopes the strategy would avoid Corbyn having to cede to pressure from senior figures such as John McDonnell and Emily Thornberry to campaign for remain in an election.
Machinations continued ahead of conference last night when the founder of the Momentum movement, Jon Lansman, succeeded in abolishing the party’s centrist-leaning student wing, Labour Students. Opponents accused him of “literally student politicking”. Also in Brighton, McDonnell will throw his support behind a motion calling for the abolition of Eton College, the alma mater of two of the past three prime ministers. “Private schools don’t need to exist” in an equal society, he says.
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Foetal danger – Black carbon particles have been found on the foetus-facing side of placentas indicating that unborn babies are exposed to pollution spewed out by cars and coal-fired power stations. Researchers in Belgium found thousands of the tiny particles per cubic millimetre of tissue in every placenta analysed. It is the first study to show the placental barrier can be penetrated by particles breathed in by the mother and sheds light on the well-established link between exposure to dirty air and issues such as increased miscarriages, premature births and low birth weights.
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‘Serious and difficult’ – The supreme court hearing into Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament will resume today after the first day of argument was dominated by testy exchanges between the government’s lawyers and 11 justices hearing the “serious and difficult” constitutional case. The court, which heard legal precedent from 1610, the 1830s and 1948, was told that the prime minister promised to abide by the supreme court’s ruling if it went against him. But Lord Richard Keen, for the government, said he was not able to say that Johnson would not then apply to suspend parliament again. If you need to know more about the “justiciability of prorogation”, catch up with our analysis piece here. And in case you were starting to worry about a no-deal Brexit leading to a shortage of champagne and fine wine this Christmas, fear not, wholesalers are stockpiling in advance to make sure there’s enough to go around.
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Beijing blow – China’s hopes to expand its global news channel CGTN in the UK has been dealt a blow with the resignation of a former regulator who was hired to help the broadcaster deal with an Ofcom investigation into its decision to air the forced confessions of a British prisoner. Nick Pollard, a former Ofcom executive and Sky News boss, has quit over concerns about the channel’s objectivity on reporting unrest in Hong Kong. He had earlier defended Sky’s reporter, Alex Crawford, who was accused by a CGTN presenter of “losing her neutrality”.
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‘It clean snapped in half’ – A hiker has spoken about how he crawled for two days to find help after he fell down a waterfall in Australia, breaking his leg and wrist. Neil Parker, 54, managed to fashion a splint for his leg with his walking poles and took painkillers from his first aid kit after the accident in bushland west of Brisbane in Queensland. “My left foot just below my ankle clean snapped in half,” he said, adding that “I had to carry my leg … and legs are very heavy when they’re not connected to anything”.
Today in Focus podcast: Revoke and remain – inside the Lib Dem conference
With a new leader in Jo Swinson and the defection of six MPs to the party, the Liberal Democrats are hoping for a resurgence on the back of anti-Brexit sentiment. Rachel Humphreys reports from party conference. Plus Vince Beiser on the black market in sand.
Lunchtime read: Here’s the weather … it’s getting warmer, folks
With climate change deniers in the White House, it is interesting that America’s television weathercasters are helping to shift public opinion on the crisis. A decade ago, fewer than a quarter of the influential presenters believed warming was caused by human activity. But now the figure is 80%, according to academic research, and we’ve spoken to some of those on the frontline. Elisa Raffa, of KOLR10/KOZL in Trump-voting Springfield, Missouri, uses local examples such as the danger to ranchers of black vultures moving into the state because of warmer temperatures to illustrate the point. She says: “This is what I signed up for,” she said. “This is a science issue. It’s my duty to communicate this to the public. If I don’t, who is going to?”
Sport
Jürgen Klopp claimed Liverpool were undone by a dive and that video assistant referees remain at the mercy of human error after their Champions League defence started with defeat to a Napoli side that had clearly done their homework. Frank Lampard admitted that his young Chelsea side were given a harsh lesson after opening their Champions League campaign with a 1-0 defeat against Valencia. Wales’s World Cup campaign has been thrown into disarray after their assistant coach, Rob Howley, was sent home from the tournament in Japan for suspected betting infringements. England’s attack coach, Scott Wisemantel, has said there is “no reason” England and other tier-one nations couldn’t tour the Pacific Islands. And the All Blacks say they’re happy to cover up their tattoos while at spas in Japan. Shane Lowry, who is playing in Europe this week for the first time since his win at the Open, has said only a Masters green jacket could come close to his triumph at Portrush. Neglect of player welfare is something that needs to be addressed, writes Suzanne Wrack, with basics such as medical care and insurance being left behind in women’s football.
Business
Asian stocks were largely flat again as investors awaited the outcome of the US Federal Reserve’s monthly policy meeting later today. It is expected to cut borrowing costs by 0.25% and comes as the leading German economist, Hans-Werner Sinn, argues that the European Central Bank’s decision to cut rates and restart quantitative easing last week is tantamount to deliberate devaluation and a direct challenge to Donald Trump. The FTSE100 is on course to open down a tad, while the pound is at $1.248 and €1.128.
The papers
The Times leads with the supreme court hearings under the headline “Judges warned to stay neutral”, while the i says “PM abused his power to ‘silence’ MPs, court told”. The Guardian has a picture of anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller arriving at the court, but leads with “Corbyn: I’ll stay neutral and let people decide on Brexit”. The Telegraph also features Miller but is still interested in the way the Luxembourg PM humiliated Boris Johnson and leads with “Brexit stunt shows why UK wants out, US says”. The FT has a good story about comments by the founder of Microsoft: “Gates says fossil fuel divestment campaigners wasting their time”.
The Mail looks beyond Brexit to splash with “Diabetes epidemic hits the under-40s”, and the Express matches that with: “Diabetes: the forecast to shock Britain”. The Mirror says “Prostate cancer cured in one week” and the Sun puns on a story about who it says is Britain’s kindest plumber “From flusher with love”.
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