Top story: Kim sends senior official to Washington
Hello, it’s Warren Murray making sure you are fully informed this morning.
One of Kim Jong-un’s chief lieutenants has been sent to Washington as the North Korean leader’s summit with Donald Trump looks like it could go ahead after all. Kim Yong-chol, due to arrive in New York today, has served three generations of the Kim dynasty, having risen from border guard in the demilitarised zone (DMZ) to vice-chair of the ruling party and head of intelligence. He has emerged as the third most powerful figure in the regime behind Kim Jong-un and sister Kim Yo-jong.
Kim Yong-chol will hold talks with Mike Pompeo, the US secretary of state, as officials from both side continue preparations on the assumption that, barring further tantrums on either side, the Singapore summit on 12 June will be held. The Trump administration has reportedly delayed sanctions on North Korea that had been due to take effect on Tuesday, in a bid to improve the conditions for a summit.
A mixture of North Korean, South Korean and US officials have met in Singapore, and at the DMZ, in recent days. “Since the President’s 24 May letter to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, the North Koreans have been engaging,” said the White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders. “The United States continues to actively prepare for President Trump’s expected summit with leader Kim in Singapore.” Trump tweeted: “Solid response to my letter, thank you!”
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Soros backs second vote – A campaign to bring about a second EU referendum is being launched with the backing of financier and philanthropist George Soros. Best for Britain has already helped convince Theresa May to give parliament a meaningful vote on Brexit, says Soros. Amid a deepening political crisis in Italy, Soros said the EU had lost its way but had the perfect opportunity to avert Brexit by “transforming itself into an association that countries like Britain would want to join”. Separately, a defunct Eurosceptic group that was dominated by Nigel Farage’s Ukip has been told to repay €1.1m of allegedly misspent funds to the European parliament.
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Quick catch-up – Here is the latest on some of the week’s developing stories.
> We have dug up another £3.5bn of Oxbridge’s extraordinary wealth. Their colleges’ property holdings encompass 42,000 hectares – more than the Church of England. They include a Scottish castle, the O2 arena and … a betting shop in Brent.
> The collapse of Italy’s government-in-waiting continues to send shockwaves through world financial markets. There are fears populist parties could win a bigger parliamentary majority in an expected election, endangering the stability of the eurozone.
> Women from Northern Ireland should be allowed to have abortions in the Republic, says Leo Varadkar. The Irish taoiseach will legalise abortion after last week’s referendum but Theresa May says there are no such plans for the north.
> The “Spider-Man” of Paris has joined the fire brigade after receiving fast-tracked residency status. Praise has been unanimous for Mamoudou Gassama who scaled a multistorey building to save a child hanging from a balcony.
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Putin critic murdered – A dissident Russian journalist has been shot and killed in Kiev, Ukraine, where he was living in exile after death threats in his home country. Arkady Babchenko served as a soldier in both wars in Chechnya and later became an author and war correspondent. He criticised Vladimir Putin for annexing Crimea and supporting separatists in Ukraine. A number of other critics of Russia have been killed in Kiev in recent years including the Chechen fighter Amina Okuyeva and renegade Russian lawmaker Denis Voronenkov. Pavel Sheremet, a journalist and critic of leaders in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, died in a Kiev car bombing in 2016.
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Pretty low Barr – The US network ABC has axed Roseanne after the show’s eponymous star likened a former Obama adviser to an ape. The sitcom’s revival after 20 years was a hit for the network but Roseanne Barr’s open bigotry off screen proved toxic. Bob Iger, the chief executive of Disney, which owns ABC, supported the decision: “There was only one thing to do here, and that was the right thing.” Conservatives swung straight into the mental gymnastics to try and excuse Barr’s offensive tweets – though at least one prominent rightwinger called it out: “Come on. Wrong is wrong,” said Fox commentator Tomi Lahren.
Lunchtime read: How one drinking binge can cost your life
The costs of binge drinking are explained today by the drinkers themselves: people left with severe and even terminal pancreatitis from heavy alcohol consumption. Chronic pancreatitis – an inflammation of a vital digestive organ – has no cure, and often progresses to cancer. Despite surgeries and an array of painkilling and alleviating drugs, it kills one in five sufferers within five years of their diagnosis.
It can come on after just one heavy session of drinking, says Dr Sarah Jarvis of Drinkaware. And it hurst: “The pain is incredible,” says Rebecca Charles, 23, who woke up with pancreatitis after a night where she downed 35 units of alcohol. At age 34, Lee Peters has a terminal prognosis, and says that if his example prompts just one person to reconsider their drinking “it would be enough for me … my life’s work complete”.
Sport
Bernard Hinault has launched a stinging attack on Chris Froome, claiming the Team Sky rider should never have been on the Giro d’Italia start line owing to his anti-doping battle. Ben Te’o has been ruled out of England’s tour of South Africa next month to leave Eddie Jones with a considerable midfield headache for the three-Test series against the Springboks.
Jordan Pickford has confirmed England are preparing for the possibility of facing penalties in Russia, even practising the nerve-jangling walk from the halfway line that has been the undoing of many players. One of England’s upcoming opponents, Panama, were held to a goalless draw by Northern Ireland, while a makeshift and inexperienced Scotland side were beaten but not disgraced in a 2-0 loss to World Cup-bound Peru. And Serena Williams thinks the black bodysuit she wore during her opening victory at the French Open is much more than a fashion statement. “It feels like this suit represents all the women that have been through a lot mentally, physically, with their body to come back and have confidence and to believe in themselves,” she said.
Business
The political turmoil in Italy has taken its toll on the single currency overnight as the unit dropped to its lowest point for 10 months against the US dollar. Asian stock markets also saw big selloffs as investors fretted that fresh elections in Italy would become a referendum on the country’s future in the currency bloc.
The FTSE100 dropped 1.5% yesterday and is set to open down around 0.2%. The pound is, not surprisingly, up again against the euro at €1.148 and has been buying $1.325 overnight.
The papers
“Crunch time for cartoons on cereal boxes” – I’m going to give the i that one, partly because it opens the way for me to write that a crunch of a different kind preoccupies the financial papers. “Italy crisis spreads,” says the FT, “as central bank chief warns investor trust is fading”. The FT’s commitment to sprawling headlines continues to impress; “Italian crisis rattles Europe” is CityAM’s tabloid-friendly take. The Guardian leads with George Soros funding the Best for Britain campaign, which is pushing for a second EU referendum.
“Police to treat gangs like terror suspects”, says the Times, reporting on the “legal crackdown on videos that incite violence”. “Taxman ignores four million phone calls” is the Telegraph splash – the self-employed in particular are having trouble getting through to HMRC. Today’s Express hails “End of cold-call menace” as telephone canvassing bosses face £500,000 fines. The Mail does that one a bit better: “End of the cold-calling sharks”.
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