Top story: Ten out of 25 candidates take to stage
Hello, Warren Murray here, and I’ve been keeping an eye on things for you.
Ten of the Democrats running for their party’s 2020 presidential nomination have faced off in Miami in the first of two primetime TV debates. With the election still more than 16 months away, the debate offered a first glimpse of the candidates hoping to go up against Donald Trump.
Elizabeth Warren took centre stage – the only top-tier candidate to appear in the first debate. “I think of it this way. Who is this economy really working for? It’s doing great for a thinner and thinner slice at the top,” Warren declared shortly before calling for the abolition of private health insurance in favour of a government-run plan. The former Obama administration housing chief Julian Castro tackled immigration and the photo of a father and daughter lying drowned in the Rio Grande: “Watching that image of Oscar and his daughter Valeria was heartbreaking. It should also piss us all off.”
Trump, watching the debate aboard Air Force One on his way to attend the G20 summit in Japan, tweeted simply: “BORING”. The second debate tonight will involve the two leading contenders: the former vice-president Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders. The field of 25 is the largest and most diverse in presidential history, with Biden consistently the favourite in polls. Richard Wolffe’s take on this first debate: Elizabeth Warren towered over her opponents on the big questions of economy and healthcare.
Issue won’t go Huawei – Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt will be challenged on the hustings today to say whether Chinese company Huawei should be banned from supplying 5G network technology. A final decision on Huawei is due to be made under the next prime minister. Johnson is now saying that the chances of a no-deal Brexit are a “million-to-one against” – hot on the heels of promising to leave on 31 October whether or not he has managed to strike a new agreement with the European Union. Johnson has said that as prime minister he would pursue a “points-based” eligibility system for migration (Britain actually already has one). Hunt has promised to reduce corporation tax to the lowest rates in the advanced world, a step that the Institute for Fiscal Studies says would cost £13bn a year and risk the continuation of austerity. Gina Miller, who led the fight for a parliamentary vote on triggering article 50, writes this morning that Johnson’s brushing aside of myriad fraught details when contemplating a no-deal Brexit doesn’t wash – and “though the prime minister will change, the arithmetic in parliament won’t. And there will be just 20 sitting days to the end of October to resolve the hornets’ nest of issues.”
‘Black hole’ – A £200m outdoor adventure park in Wales launched with the support of Bear Grylls is being fronted by a financier who has raised millions from investors and whose businesses have a multimillion-pound “black hole”, an undercover Guardian/ITV News investigation shows. Northern Powerhouse Developments (NPD), developer of the Afan Valley Adventure Resort, is owned and run by Gavin Woodhouse who previously attracted private investment to build care homes and acquire a hotel portfolio. Despite raising about £16m in five years ago to build four new care homes, none are operational and three have not been built.
A retired NHS surgeon, Vijay Devadoss, who put £450,000 into one of the care home schemes in 2015, said he was yet to receive a return and was “devastated” to have made the investment. Woodhouse, 41, has a country home in the Yorkshire countryside where the driveway features a string of luxury cars. He has been listed as a director 137 times with Companies House.
Parkinson’s may start in stomach – Parkinson’s disease may be caused by a faulty protein produced in the gut that travels to the brain via a major nerve, researchers say. “Misfolded” clumps of alpha-synuclein are linked to damage to nerve cells, deterioration of the dopamine system and the problems with movement and speech that are hallmarks of Parkinson’s. The findings from Johns Hopkins University come after another group of researchers revealed that people whose appendix was removed early in life had a reduced risk of later developing Parkinson’s disease – a finding experts said also supports the idea the disease may begin in the gut. Separately, the success of HPV vaccination means developed countries may be rid of cervical cancer within decades, say experts.
Imagine the omelette – Giant half-tonne flightless birds that could step over an ostrich roamed Europe when archaic humans arrived from Africa, scientists say. A fossilised thigh bone found in a Crimean cave is the first time such a massive bird has been found in the northern hemisphere.
It probably belonged to an ancient species called Pachystruthio dmanisensis, a stocky bit of mega-poultry that stood about 3.5 metres tall. “We don’t know when it became extinct exactly, but most likely it did not survive later than 1.2m years ago,” said Nikita Zelenkov, a palaeontologist at the Russian Academy of Sciences. “They would have been seen by various Homo erectus people.”
Today in Focus podcast: Why Hong Kong isn’t backing down
This month has seen Hong Kong rocked by its biggest political crisis in decades. Guardian correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison discusses covering the protests and what might happen next. Plus: Angie Zelter on why she doesn’t regret being arrested at an Extinction Rebellion protest.
Lunchtime read: Happiness is a warped wok
Your Briefing writer is with Tom Kitchin on this one: the microplane grater (you’ll never mince garlic again!). From rice hacks to a 100-year-old rolling pin, cooks and food writers reveal the gizmos they could never do without.
Sport
An amalgam of illness, injury and a “killer” heatwave is disrupting England’s preparations for the World Cup quarter-final against Norway tonight but, outwardly at least, Phil Neville remains an oasis of calm. Meanwhile, Fifa has formally opened disciplinary proceedings against Cameroon over their players’ behaviour in Sunday’s defeat to England. Joe Root has warned England must take the emotion out of their blockbuster World Cup meeting with India on Sunday. Captain Eoin Morgan faces the ultimate test ahead of the game at Edgbaston, especially after the pressure on the hosts was ramped up by Pakistan’s six-wicket victory against New Zealand.
Internazionale are preparing their first bid for Romelu Lukaku as they attempt to sign the forward from Manchester United this summer. And Wayne Rooney has continued to add to his highlight reel in Major League Soccer with a spectacular goal from beyond the halfway line in DC United’s win over Orlando City.
Business
Donald Trump’s claim that China’s economy is “going down the tubes” seems certain to up the ante ahead of his meeting with Xi Jinping this weekend. But is he right? We’ve kicked the tyres on his assertions here. Markets continue to be jittery ahead of the G20 but edged higher in Asian trade on hopes of a deal. The FTSE100 is looking at a flat opening today, in common with sterling which is at $1.268 and €1.117.
The papers
The issue of TV licences resurfaces in the Mirror today: “TV licence revolt” and the Express: “Hunt: I’ll protect free TV licences”. The Telegraph continues to run positive stories about its columnist: “Boris vows to restore faith in UK borders”, though the i carries worse news for the Tory frontrunner: “Johnson blow as 20 MPs line up to block his no-deal Brexit”.
The Mail has a story about the Conservative Drug Policy Reform Group: “Tory-run group takes cash from cannabis firms”, and the Guardian has: “Care chiefs warn funding crisis is putting ‘tens of thousands at risk’”.
The Times reports: “Scientists predict end of cervical cancer fight”, the FT says: “FCA pressed Woodford to retain compliance group it is now probing”, and the Sun has a truly odd story about a woman taken to court for asking her husband to do the vacuuming: “Chore nicked”.
Sign up
The Guardian Morning Briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, you can sign up here.
For more news: www.theguardian.com