Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s headlines. If you’d like to receive this briefing by email, sign up here.
Top story: McGahn advised Trump not to pursue political foes
The former White House counsel Don McGahn talked Donald Trump out of trying to prosecute his 2016 election rival, Hillary Clinton, and the ex-FBI director James Comey, the New York Times has reported. Trump wanted to order the justice department to bring charges against Clinton and Comey, and discussed appointing a second special counsel to investigate them, the Times said. In a memo, McGahn warned the president that the consequences of pursuing his political enemies could include his impeachment.
But, her emails. Trump has defended his daughter Ivanka after the White House admitted she sent hundreds of emails to government officials from a personal account, a similar offence to the one for which he frequently castigated Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign. “They weren’t classified like Hillary Clinton … There was no server in the basement like Hillary Clinton had,” he said.
Mueller investigation: Trump lawyers submit written answers
After almost a year of negotiations over whether Trump would answer the special counsel Robert Mueller’s questions related to Russian election meddling, lawyers for the president have submitted his answers in writing. Last week Trump insisted he had written his own answers to the questions, which are reported to number “roughly two dozen”, focusing on five topics, all related to issues from before the 2016 election.
Joke-free. Trump has said he may attend the White House correspondents’ dinner next spring, for the first time in his presidency, after the organisers said the historian Ron Chernow would speak in place of the traditional routine by a comedian.
Trump backs ‘great ally’ Saudi Arabia over Khashoggi killing
Trump has offered his unswerving support to Saudi Arabia and its ruling family amid the continuing controversy over the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. In a statement released by the White House on Tuesday, the president insisted there was “nothing definitive” to link the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, to the crime, despite the reported conclusions of the CIA. Trump also repeated his disputed claim that the kingdom had agreed to “spend and invest” $450bn in the US.
G20 summit. Trump has said he will meet Prince Mohammed at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires later this month, should the Saudi crown prince attend as expected.
Activists tortured. Amnesty International has said women who campaigned for the right to drive in Saudi Arabia have been detained and tortured, even though the ban on female drivers was lifted in June.
South Korean elected as Interpol chief over controversial Russian
South Korea’s Kim Jong-yang has been elected as the next president of Interpol, after the US and several European nations lobbied against his Russian rival for the post, Alexander Prokopchuk. Critics of Prokopchuk feared the veteran of Russia’s security services might abuse his leadership of the international police body to go after political opponents of the Kremlin abroad.
Emergency election. Kim was elected by Interpol’s 94 member states after his predecessor, Meng Hongwei, went missing in his native China in September. Beijing later said Meng had resigned after being charged with corruption.
Crib sheet
A federal judge has declared unconstitutional a US law that bans female genital mutilation, thus removing the main charges against a doctor who performed the procedure on nine girls at a Detroit clinic.
Contrary to his election promise that he would take troops off the street, the party of the Mexican president-elect, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has proposed a new combined military and police force to “combat crime across Mexico”.
The US interior secretary, Ryan Zinke, who is facing several official investigations into his conduct, has blamed the California wildfires on “environmental radicals”, in an interview with Breitbart.
The Federal Agency of News, a Russian firm whose accountant was charged by US prosecutors with election meddling, has sued Facebook for blocking its account, claiming it is a legitimate news outlet.
Listen to Today in Focus: the plane crash that changed Poland
In 2010 a plane crash in Russia killed Poland’s president and plunged its then prime minister, Donald Tusk, into crisis. Agata Popęda and Daniel Boffey tell Anushka Asthana how the incident still haunts Tusk, who is now the president of the European council.
Must-reads
Amazon Anonymous: dispatches from the fulfillment center
In our new, fortnightly column, the Amazon Diaries, an anonymous Amazon “fulfilment associate” takes us behind the scenes of the world’s biggest internet retailer: “Management doesn’t regard us a crucial contributors to its success … They treat us like disposable parts.”
Why is modern leisure so competitive?
From ultramarathons to baking contests, we are filling our free time with competition, forever tracking, optimising and sharing the results of our leisure activities. Richard Godwin asks why hobbies became such hard work.
Netflix goes hunting for Oscars
Alfonso Cuarón’s acclaimed new film Roma is one of several recent Netflix productions to be granted a cinematic rollout. The streaming service has already gathered a vast audience, writes Mark Sweney – now it’s going after the awards.
India’s biggest urban redevelopment: too good to be true?
Mumbai’s bustling but dilapidated Bhendi Bazaar district is set to be transformed into a sleek new development of high-rise towers, glitzy shops and green public spaces, with 3,200 families rehoused for free. Marcello Rossi wonders: what’s the catch?
Opinion
Whatever happens with Brexit, writes Simon Jenkins, history shows the British have never turned their backs on Europe for long. The UK may leave the EU, but Britain can never leave the continent.
A more likely scenario has Europe itself changing and dividing, as its economic space has to adjust to the changing politics, economies and cultures of its nations.
Sport
A global survey of soccer fans has found that more than half have witnessed incidents of racist abuse at games. An average of 54% said they had seen such abuse. Supporters in Peru reported the highest incidence at 77%, and Dutch fans the lowest at 38%.
Tiger Woods has never been universally embraced by African Americans, writes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. But as the golfer enters his career twilight, he has the chance to be a role model for a different demographic: the ageing.
Sign up
The US morning briefing is delivered by email every weekday. If you are not already receiving it, make sure to subscribe.
Support the Guardian
We’d like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you.
