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| Friday briefing: JFK files – the truth is out there | Friday briefing: JFK files – the truth is out there |
| (3 months later) | |
| Top story: Last major batch of assassination records released | Top story: Last major batch of assassination records released |
| Hello – it’s Warren Murray with today’s news in bite-sized but nonetheless satisfying chunks. | Hello – it’s Warren Murray with today’s news in bite-sized but nonetheless satisfying chunks. |
| The JFK files have been released overnight, almost in their entirety, and while you slept we have been in the process of digging through them for new details of CIA and FBI activities surrounding the 1963 assassination. No second shooter on the grassy knoll just yet … but some interesting details of what the FBI and CIA knew about Lee Harvey Oswald, including his contacts with the Soviet Union. According to J Edgar Hoover himself, the Russians thought Oswald was a “neurotic maniac”. And the Soviets worried that an “irresponsible” US general might launch a missile strike in the wake of the crisis. | The JFK files have been released overnight, almost in their entirety, and while you slept we have been in the process of digging through them for new details of CIA and FBI activities surrounding the 1963 assassination. No second shooter on the grassy knoll just yet … but some interesting details of what the FBI and CIA knew about Lee Harvey Oswald, including his contacts with the Soviet Union. According to J Edgar Hoover himself, the Russians thought Oswald was a “neurotic maniac”. And the Soviets worried that an “irresponsible” US general might launch a missile strike in the wake of the crisis. |
| Your must-read to start the morning is this roundup of what we have learned so far. A British connection is one of the interesting nuggets that has emerged. A reporter on the Cambridge Evening News told police he received a tip-off by phone about 25 minutes before the shooting. A CIA memo, quoting MI5, says an anonymous caller told the journalist to “call the American embassy in London for some big news”. | Your must-read to start the morning is this roundup of what we have learned so far. A British connection is one of the interesting nuggets that has emerged. A reporter on the Cambridge Evening News told police he received a tip-off by phone about 25 minutes before the shooting. A CIA memo, quoting MI5, says an anonymous caller told the journalist to “call the American embassy in London for some big news”. |
| We say “almost in their entirety” because Donald Trump made a late call to hold back what are thought to be several hundred files. “Executive departments and agencies have proposed to me that certain information should continue to be redacted because of national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs concerns,” said a memo from the president. Those agencies had been given 180 days to prove the documents should not be made public, he said. The deadline for the further release, if it comes, is 26 April 2018. | We say “almost in their entirety” because Donald Trump made a late call to hold back what are thought to be several hundred files. “Executive departments and agencies have proposed to me that certain information should continue to be redacted because of national security, law enforcement, and foreign affairs concerns,” said a memo from the president. Those agencies had been given 180 days to prove the documents should not be made public, he said. The deadline for the further release, if it comes, is 26 April 2018. |
| You can find more on the overnight developments here – and we have a form open where you can report any striking discoveries of your own. | You can find more on the overnight developments here – and we have a form open where you can report any striking discoveries of your own. |
| A new Gilded Age – The rich have gotten so much richer that even their bankers are worried. Billionaires increased their global wealth by almost a fifth last year to a record $6tn (£4.5tn) – more than twice the GDP of the UK. Global wealth disparity has now reached levels not seen since families like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts straddled huge fortunes in the early 20th century. “We’re at an inflection point,” said Josef Stadler, head banker for the ultra-rich at UBS. “At what point will society intervene and strike back?” As the IMF calls for additional taxes on the richest 1%, the obscenely wealthy have apparently started to notice the heat rising, and increased their contributions to philanthropic causes, the arts and sport. “You could say it is about ego and wanting to show off and sit in the front row,” he said. “But it is also about giving back.” Hmm … | A new Gilded Age – The rich have gotten so much richer that even their bankers are worried. Billionaires increased their global wealth by almost a fifth last year to a record $6tn (£4.5tn) – more than twice the GDP of the UK. Global wealth disparity has now reached levels not seen since families like the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts straddled huge fortunes in the early 20th century. “We’re at an inflection point,” said Josef Stadler, head banker for the ultra-rich at UBS. “At what point will society intervene and strike back?” As the IMF calls for additional taxes on the richest 1%, the obscenely wealthy have apparently started to notice the heat rising, and increased their contributions to philanthropic causes, the arts and sport. “You could say it is about ego and wanting to show off and sit in the front row,” he said. “But it is also about giving back.” Hmm … |
| Accidental Kiwi – There has been political turmoil in Australia overnight with the conservative government losing its deputy prime minister and, in the process, its parliamentary majority. The high court nullified the election of Barnaby Joyce and a number of other sitting politicians because they (mostly unwittingly) retained dual citizenship. MPs and senators are supposed to renounce any foreign nationality, but Joyce was found to be a hereditary New Zealander. He now has to fight a snap byelection – and while the Liberal-National government is not expected to fall in the meantime, the opposition Labor party will be doing its best to ensure uncomfortable times for the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. | Accidental Kiwi – There has been political turmoil in Australia overnight with the conservative government losing its deputy prime minister and, in the process, its parliamentary majority. The high court nullified the election of Barnaby Joyce and a number of other sitting politicians because they (mostly unwittingly) retained dual citizenship. MPs and senators are supposed to renounce any foreign nationality, but Joyce was found to be a hereditary New Zealander. He now has to fight a snap byelection – and while the Liberal-National government is not expected to fall in the meantime, the opposition Labor party will be doing its best to ensure uncomfortable times for the prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull. |
| ‘Too many luxury penthouses’ – The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, is to dramatically raise targets for affordable housing in the capital. Khan will call for construction of new homes to increase from 29,000 homes a year to 66,000, with up to 65% of these homes “affordable” rather than the current rate of 38%. Khan, who will launch the five-year London Plan next month, defines affordable as rented for no more than a third of average earnings or under shared ownership schemes. “The housing crisis is a major factor in the high cost of living in the capital, as well as putting home ownership out of the reach of many young Londoners … I cannot overestimate how terrible a situation we inherited.” The mayor is putting pressure on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to increase state subsidies for affordable housing in the capital from £500m to £2.7bn a year. | ‘Too many luxury penthouses’ – The London mayor, Sadiq Khan, is to dramatically raise targets for affordable housing in the capital. Khan will call for construction of new homes to increase from 29,000 homes a year to 66,000, with up to 65% of these homes “affordable” rather than the current rate of 38%. Khan, who will launch the five-year London Plan next month, defines affordable as rented for no more than a third of average earnings or under shared ownership schemes. “The housing crisis is a major factor in the high cost of living in the capital, as well as putting home ownership out of the reach of many young Londoners … I cannot overestimate how terrible a situation we inherited.” The mayor is putting pressure on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to increase state subsidies for affordable housing in the capital from £500m to £2.7bn a year. |
| NHS easy prey for hackers – Simple IT security could have prevented the WannaCry hack that crippled the NHS in May, a review has found. Warnings about updating their software were given to NHS trusts as early as 2014, and in early 2017 they were told to fix the exact bug in their Windows computers that allowed the ransomware to rapidly spread. Before the attack, about a third of trusts in England failed cybersecurity checks. When the hack hit, 19,500 medical appointments were cancelled, computers at 600 GP surgeries were locked and five hospitals had to divert ambulances elsewhere, says the National Audit office in its findings. Meg Hillier, the chairwoman of the public accounts committee, said: “The NHS and the Department [of Health] need to get serious about cybersecurity or the next incident could be far worse.” | NHS easy prey for hackers – Simple IT security could have prevented the WannaCry hack that crippled the NHS in May, a review has found. Warnings about updating their software were given to NHS trusts as early as 2014, and in early 2017 they were told to fix the exact bug in their Windows computers that allowed the ransomware to rapidly spread. Before the attack, about a third of trusts in England failed cybersecurity checks. When the hack hit, 19,500 medical appointments were cancelled, computers at 600 GP surgeries were locked and five hospitals had to divert ambulances elsewhere, says the National Audit office in its findings. Meg Hillier, the chairwoman of the public accounts committee, said: “The NHS and the Department [of Health] need to get serious about cybersecurity or the next incident could be far worse.” |
| ‘No future for Assad’ – Bashar al-Assad’s military was behind the 4 April sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhun town that killed more than 87 people, UN investigators have said. The US responded to international outrage at the Syrian atrocity by bombarding a regime airbase with cruise missiles. UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria are due to resume next month. Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has called openly for regime change, in a hardening of the US administration’s stance. “The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end, and the only issue is how should that be brought about,” said Tillerson. Russia, which is fighting on Assad’s side, is running a parallel peace process via talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana. Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Tillerson’s comments were pre-emptive. | ‘No future for Assad’ – Bashar al-Assad’s military was behind the 4 April sarin gas attack on Khan Sheikhun town that killed more than 87 people, UN investigators have said. The US responded to international outrage at the Syrian atrocity by bombarding a regime airbase with cruise missiles. UN-sponsored peace talks on Syria are due to resume next month. Donald Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has called openly for regime change, in a hardening of the US administration’s stance. “The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end, and the only issue is how should that be brought about,” said Tillerson. Russia, which is fighting on Assad’s side, is running a parallel peace process via talks in the Kazakh capital, Astana. Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said Tillerson’s comments were pre-emptive. |
| Best time for heart surgery – Heart surgery carries a lower risk of complications if performed in the afternoon, a study has found. Medical researchers think the body’s “circadian” clock is responsible for the phenomenon of heart tissue recovering better from the oxygen-depriving effects of surgery in the latter part of the day. But could it also come down to surgeons not being at their best in the morning (like you and I were thinking)? Professor Bryan Williams, chair of medicine at University College London, says the research is fascinating and elegant, but not sufficient to warrant rescheduling heart surgeries to the afternoon – “the logistical implications of doing so would be huge”. | Best time for heart surgery – Heart surgery carries a lower risk of complications if performed in the afternoon, a study has found. Medical researchers think the body’s “circadian” clock is responsible for the phenomenon of heart tissue recovering better from the oxygen-depriving effects of surgery in the latter part of the day. But could it also come down to surgeons not being at their best in the morning (like you and I were thinking)? Professor Bryan Williams, chair of medicine at University College London, says the research is fascinating and elegant, but not sufficient to warrant rescheduling heart surgeries to the afternoon – “the logistical implications of doing so would be huge”. |
| Make rocket go now! – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has stepped up the rivalry with Elon Musk and SpaceX by test-firing the world’s most powerful methane-burning rocket engine. Rockets such as the BE-4 will be essential for the first crewed missions to Mars – methane is more dense, so fuel tanks can be lighter, and the gas can potentially be manufactured on the red planet for the return journey. SpaceX is developing a methane-burning rocket engine called Raptor with support from the US air force. | Make rocket go now! – Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has stepped up the rivalry with Elon Musk and SpaceX by test-firing the world’s most powerful methane-burning rocket engine. Rockets such as the BE-4 will be essential for the first crewed missions to Mars – methane is more dense, so fuel tanks can be lighter, and the gas can potentially be manufactured on the red planet for the return journey. SpaceX is developing a methane-burning rocket engine called Raptor with support from the US air force. |
| Lunchtime read: War on Pope Francis | Lunchtime read: War on Pope Francis |
| “We can’t wait for him to die. It’s unprintable what we say in private. Whenever two priests meet, they talk about how awful Bergoglio is.” | “We can’t wait for him to die. It’s unprintable what we say in private. Whenever two priests meet, they talk about how awful Bergoglio is.” |
| These are the words of a Catholic priest in England, one of the many inside the church who fume at the liberalism of Pope Francis. He has scandalised reactionaries and conservatives – perhaps most controversially by supporting communion for divorced and remarried couples, and backing gay people, making him beloved far beyond the Catholic faith itself. Andrew Brown examines how an “introverted” church hierarchy has reacted with deep circumspection and even accusations of heresy against this most decidedly “extroverted” Pope. | These are the words of a Catholic priest in England, one of the many inside the church who fume at the liberalism of Pope Francis. He has scandalised reactionaries and conservatives – perhaps most controversially by supporting communion for divorced and remarried couples, and backing gay people, making him beloved far beyond the Catholic faith itself. Andrew Brown examines how an “introverted” church hierarchy has reacted with deep circumspection and even accusations of heresy against this most decidedly “extroverted” Pope. |
| Sport | Sport |
| Gordon Taylor is considering taking legal action against Greg Clarke in a fresh blow for the Football Association chairman, who admitted the organisation had “lost the trust” of the public. Meanwhile the FA has paid Eni Aluko the £40,000 it was withholding after a dispute over a tweet she sent in August about ex-England women’s team manager Mark Sampson. Lewis Hamilton has said he intends to try to seal his fourth Formula One world championship with victory at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend. And a 16-year-old Massachusetts teenager who finished first in a regional tournament this week was denied the trophy and an opportunity to play at the state high school golf championships because she is female. | Gordon Taylor is considering taking legal action against Greg Clarke in a fresh blow for the Football Association chairman, who admitted the organisation had “lost the trust” of the public. Meanwhile the FA has paid Eni Aluko the £40,000 it was withholding after a dispute over a tweet she sent in August about ex-England women’s team manager Mark Sampson. Lewis Hamilton has said he intends to try to seal his fourth Formula One world championship with victory at the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend. And a 16-year-old Massachusetts teenager who finished first in a regional tournament this week was denied the trophy and an opportunity to play at the state high school golf championships because she is female. |
| Business | Business |
| Shares in Asia have posted strong gains, tracking the upbeat session overnight on Wall Street. Investors are watching for GDP data out of the US. The pound has been trading at $1.313 and €1.128 overnight. | Shares in Asia have posted strong gains, tracking the upbeat session overnight on Wall Street. Investors are watching for GDP data out of the US. The pound has been trading at $1.313 and €1.128 overnight. |
| The papers | The papers |
| The alleged neo-Nazi plot to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper runs on a number of front pages – the headlines of the Times, Metro and the online Independent are all quite similar. “Arrests fall by half despite rise in crime,” says the Telegraph, which reports on latest Home Office figures. The Mail’s headline is a shorter version of same. The Guardian splashes on a sharp fall in retail sales. | The alleged neo-Nazi plot to murder Labour MP Rosie Cooper runs on a number of front pages – the headlines of the Times, Metro and the online Independent are all quite similar. “Arrests fall by half despite rise in crime,” says the Telegraph, which reports on latest Home Office figures. The Mail’s headline is a shorter version of same. The Guardian splashes on a sharp fall in retail sales. |
| The Sun warns “sex-pest MPs” to “be afraid, be very afraid” as they are monitored and outed by the women of Westminster using a secret WhatsApp group. The Daily Star has a headline that could be mistaken for an exercise in word association: “EastEnders shock knife attack clown scenes”. And the FT has its customary burst of boldface City jargon: “Draghi defies hawks by choosing cautious exit over firm end to QE”. That’ll get the paper leaping off the news stands. | The Sun warns “sex-pest MPs” to “be afraid, be very afraid” as they are monitored and outed by the women of Westminster using a secret WhatsApp group. The Daily Star has a headline that could be mistaken for an exercise in word association: “EastEnders shock knife attack clown scenes”. And the FT has its customary burst of boldface City jargon: “Draghi defies hawks by choosing cautious exit over firm end to QE”. That’ll get the paper leaping off the news stands. |
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