Good morning briefers. I’m Martin Farrer and it’s my pleasure to bring you the top stories from The Guardian this Thursday.
Boris Johnson faces an uphill battle to convince the EU that his proposals for an alternative to the Irish border backstop will be enough to enable Britain to leave the bloc with a deal on 31 October. Although Brussels wants to avoid trashing Johnson’s plans in public, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, privately gave a scathing analysis of the proposal the PM set out at Tory party conference yesterday, describing it as a trap. Johnson spoke to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker yesterday as well as the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, who warned that the legal texts tabled “do not fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop”. The PM will update the cabinet on his discussions when it meets today but the muted EU reaction will be a blow to Johnson after his rousing speech in which he pledged to take Britain out at the end of the month with or without a deal. There was some cautious support from MPs for his plan but if the plan is rejected by the EU, the government appears set for another clash with Parliament after the Benn Act outlawed a no-deal Brexit last month.
Our columnists are unimpressed. Martin Kettle calls Johnson’s speech “cowardly” while Marina Hyde writes that the Tories “left no fantasy untouched”. George Monbiot advances a broader argument that politicians such as Johnson are using the language of violence to dominate the discourse, while poet laureate Simon Armitage argues that our leaders’ words are “shallow and threadbare”.
Whiskey scotched – The Trump administration has imposed 25% tariffs on scotch whiskey and hundreds of other European agricultural products as well as 10% on aircraft in a significant widening of its trade dispute with the EU. The tariffs could come into effect as early as 18 October and are worth a total of $7.5bn. The list of goods also includes British knitwear, French cheese and wine, Spanish olives and industrial products such as microwaves and camera parts. The US move, which followed a WTO ruling that the EU had given aerospace company Airbus unfair subsidies, spooked investors in Asia where shares fell sharply, compounding losses in the US and Europe yesterday.
Trump tantrum – The battle over the impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump has intensified after Democratic party lawmakers warned the president “we’re not fooling around” and accused him of trying to intimidate witnesses. Elijah Cummings, the chair of the House oversight committee, said it would subpoena the White House to release key documents on the administration’s contacts with Ukraine by Friday. Trump, who live-tweeted a Democratic media conference, called the inquiry “BULLSHIT” and later repeated the claim that House intelligence chairman Adam Schiff should be investigated for treason. He also found time to have a furious row with a Reuters reporter at a White House media conference, replying to a question with an aggressive: “Are you talking to me?”. Our Washington correspondent, David Smith, sums up the day by saying Trump had a “full-blown impeachment tantrum”.
Gold star – British sport has a new female superstar after Dina Asher-Smith became the first woman from these shores to win a world sprint title when she took gold in the 200m at the World Athletics Championships in Doha. The University of London history graduate powered home well clear of her rivals in 21.88 seconds and now targets another gold in the 4x100m at the weekend. She will then focus on next year’s Olympics in Tokyo and promises there is “more to come”. She faces competition as the standout British athlete, however, as Katarina Johnson-Thompson goes into the final day of the heptathlon in the gold medal position.
Arcuri denials – Jennifer Arcuri, the American tech entrepreneur at the center of a political row over her friendship with Boris Johnson, has broken her silence to deny allegations that the PM helped her receive business grants and a visa. The businesswoman, who lives in Los Angeles, was quoted in an article by the Daily Mail saying she was the victim of an “orchestrated attack” by the media. “All the allegations are false,” she said, telling the paper that grants of £126,000 of public money she received for her firm, Innotech, had been awarded appropriately.
Healing hug – A prosecutor in Dallas has described an “amazing act of healing” after the brother of Botham Jean, a black man shot dead in his own home, forgave and hugged his killer, a white former policewoman. “I love you just like anyone else,” Brandt Jean told Amber Guyger in the courtroom after she was sentenced to 10 years for the killing. “I’m not going to say I hope you rot and die just like my brother did, but I personally want the best for you.” He then embraced her before the judge walked over to Guyger, opened a Bible to John 3:16 and said: “This is where you start.” Then they also hugged. You can watch the video here.
Source - theguardian
