Friday briefing: Trump fears 'major, major conflict' with Kim
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Version 0 of 1. Top story: Tension rises over North Korea Good morning. This is Martin Farrer with the news roundup you need today. The tension continues to rise around the question of North Korea after Donald Trump warned of the possibility of a “major, major conflict” with Kim Jong-un’s regime. But the good news is that the US president has told Reuters in an interview that he would prefer to solve the problem of the standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programme through diplomacy. This was emphasised by his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, who said Washington would be prepared to enter talks with Kim on condition that he would be ready to negotiate about disarming. Revealing another aspect of the White House strategy, Trump also said China’s president Xi Jinping was “trying very hard” to persuade North Korea to halt its weapons programme. The interview is worth a read - particularly as he admits he thought being president would be “easier”. Here are the highlights though. It’s getting serious for one village in South Korea, where the US has deployed its hi-tech Thaad missile defence system on what used to be a golf course. Our correspondent Justin McCurry has been to Seongju where the mayor, Lee Seok-joo, told him: “We are worried we are a target.” Power in a union – Brexit could have many unintended consequences, none more so perhaps than enabling a united Ireland. EU leaders meeting at a summit this weekend in Brussels are preparing to discuss a clause that would recognise any future reunification and allow the north to automatically rejoin the EU. There is, of course, now no majority in the north for reunification. But the EU move is set to provoke an angry reaction from Westminster, where members of the Conservative and Unionist party will not want to preside over the dismantling of the union. If you haven’t subscribed already, don’t forget we’ve got more election news in the Snap. Read to the bottom for details. Terror tensions – Police have foiled a suspected terrorist attack in Westminster thanks to what the Guardian understands was a tipoff from a member of the Muslim community. Armed officers arrested a man on Thursday who is alleged to have been carrying knives near the Houses of Parliament. The suspect was arrested metres from where Khalid Masood killed five people in March. In an unconnected raid on Thursday night, a woman was shot and four people arrested by counter-terrorism police at an address in Willesden, north London. ‘Marine A’ freed – Alexander Blackman, the Royal Marine jailed for shooting dead an injured Taliban fighter in Afghanistan, has been released from prison overnight. After a tabloid-backed campaign to have his sentence quashed, Blackman left Erlestoke prison in Wiltshire just before 12.20am on Friday in the back of an unmarked police car. He was known as “Marine A” in the original trial in which he was found guilty of murder for the 2011 incident. Sinking feeling – Ever thought about not contributing to a collection for a colleague? Staff at Tate Modern are on the same page after notices went up asking all workers – many of whom aren’t paid the London living wage – to contribute towards a sailing boat as a leaving present for the outgoing director, Nicholas Serota. One employee said the requests had been greeted with “a mixture of shock and laughter”. ‘Aliens are out there’ – Has Ridley Scott, the man who gave us the Alien film series, been spending too much time at work? As the director prepares for the release of the sixth instalment, Alien: Covenant, he has revealed that he believes there is intelligent life in the universe and that, one day, they’ll be coming for us earthlings. “I believe in superior beings,” he said. Lunchtime read: Hipsters, heritage and Handel You might already be suffering election fatigue, but Simon Jenkins has an interesting take on the mayoral contests taking place next week in Manchester and Birmingham. With the former having made a brash bid for the tag of “England’s second city”, there’s a lot at stake in the Midlands powerhouse where Labour’s Siôn Simon and the Tory candidate, former John Lewis boss Andy Street, are vying to continue the city’s regeneration. Can these elections usher in a new era when our cities “can find a new political potency to rival not each other but London”. Sport City displayed their superiority in the second half of the Manchester derby but the only real incident in the scoreless draw was the sending off of Marouane Fellaini. Not surprisingly, José Mourinho reckons Sergio Agüero might have exaggerated just a tad in his role. Barney Ronay says City harked back to the Pellegrini era, with the old guard coming to the fore. Experts are warning that the UK must face up to the scale of its gambling problem, with Britons losing £12.6bn through gambling last year, almost £300 a person. Meanwhile, David Conn reports that French prosecutors have opened an investigation into potential corruption relating to Fifa’s vote for Russia and Qatar to host respectively the 2018 and 2022 World Cups. The heavyweight tussle for trash-talking continues between Wladimir Klitschko and Anthony Joshua, with the latter claiming “it could be the end” for his Ukranian opponent. Lewis Hamilton says he’s been inspired by Serena Williams’s response to Ilie Nastase’s racist abuse, while India might not even take their bat and ball to the Champions Trophy after the ICC resolved to wind back their portion of cricket’s financial riches. Business Shares in Asia were mostly down as traders fretted about a possible US government shutdown, despite hopes that last-minute talks would avert a crisis. Either way it didn’t affect the party mood on Wall Street, where soaring tech stocks sent the Nasdaq to record highs. A 3.9% rise in Amazon shares added $3bn to the personal fortune of founder Jeff Bezos. The FTSE 100 is set to open flat, while the pound gained slightly to sit at $1.291 and buys €1.187. The papers Many of the front pages are taken over with the events near Westminster yesterday. The Sun decides to use a pun – “Knife one lads” – praising the police for seizing the suspect and a number of weapons. The Mail uses the picture of the suspect and says he was “smirking”. It also features the case of Marine A, who has been let out of prison. The Telegraph’s headline is “Downing Street Terror Plot” and says a man was arrested “300 yards” from the gates of the prime minister’s residence. The Mirror also features the suspect on its front but leads on the story that 500 headteachers have written to Theresa May warning that the education system will collapse without proper funding. The FT splashes with the story that the EU is preparing to recognise the possibility of a united Ireland and that the North would be immediately allowed back into the EU if it joined with the south. The Times leads with the head of the children’s charity NSPCC saying that social media companies such as Twitter and Facebook would be fined if they fail to protect kids online. For more news: www.theguardian.com Sign up If you would like to receive the Guardian Morning Briefing by email every weekday at 7am, sign up here. Get the Snap For the fullest possible picture on the general election, make sure you are subscribed to the Snap. |