Thursday’s top story: Trump pressed Ukraine president to investigate Biden as ‘a favor’. Plus, has James Franco just made the worst film of the year?

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Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

Impeachment poses dangers to Trump and Democrats

In an apparent attempt to have the first word in a looming impeachment inquiry, the White House released a memo on Wednesday detailing Donald Trump’s phone call in July with Volodymyr Zelenskiy, in which he pressed the Ukrainian president to investigate his Democratic presidential rival Joe Biden, and appeared to tie the request to US aid for Ukraine. Trump also attacked the anonymous intelligence official responsible for bringing the conversation to light, a move intended to dissuade future whistleblowers.

Risky business. Trump’s aura of invincibility at last appears to have been dented, writes Tom McCarthy. But, as Lauren Gambino reports, the impeachment process also carries risks for the Democrats.

Unintended comedy. Trump came face to face with a seemingly bewildered Zelenskiy at the UN general assembly in New York, where the two former TV stars met on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the White House mistakenly emailed its talking points on the scandal to Democratic leaders.

Fired EPA scientists to reconvene in snub to Trump

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The 20 air pollution researchers will assemble next month, a year from the day on which they were fired. Photograph: Alamy

An advisory panel of 20 air pollution scientists dismissed from the Environmental Protection Agency by the Trump administration intends to reconvene and continue its work outside government, assembling at a Washington DC hotel a year to the day since its official disbandment. The Guardian has learned Trump’s pick to lead the Fish and Wildlife Service, Aurelia Skipwith, has ties to agricultural groups opposed to protections for endangered species.

Indigenous representative. An indigenous representative has addressed the UN climate summit in a formal capacity for the first time. Tuntiak Katan of the Ecuadorian Shuar people told the event indigenous peoples “protect 80% of the world’s biodiversity”.

Climate deniers. A group of Australian mining engineers and business figures has signed up to a declaration claiming “there is no climate emergency” and insisting “CO 2 is plant food”.

LA police enabled Ed Buck by ‘ignoring gay black men’

Facebook Twitter Pinterest LaTisha Nixon, the mother of Gemmel Moore, one of Ed Buck’s alleged victims. Photograph: Sam Levin/The Guardian

Ed Buck, a prominent Los Angeles political activist who stands accused of forcibly injecting black gay men with fatal doses of methamphetamine, got away with his crimes because the police ignored evidence and the testimony of the black gay men who spoke up, the mother of one of his victims has claimed. LaTisha Nixon’s 26-year-old son, Gemmel Moore, died from an overdose at Buck’s West Hollywood apartment in July 2017. “I’m a grieving mother, but [law enforcement treated us like criminals,” she said.

‘Violent predator’. Buck, 65, was arrested last week. Prosecutors called him a “violent sexual predator” who had at least 11 victims, two of whom died, including Timothy Dean, who had a fatal overdose at Buck’s home in January.

Boris Johnson urged to calm ‘inferno of rhetoric’

Play Video 2:43 Outrage as Boris Johnson dismisses dangers of inflammatory language as 'humbug' - video

British MPs on the left and right have urged the prime minister, Boris Johnson, to temper his rhetoric over Brexit after an acrimonious return to the House of Commons on Wednesday. Following the UK supreme court’s ruling that the prime minister’s advice to the Queen to suspend parliament was unlawful, an unrepentant Johnson dismissed the suggestion his use of inflammatory language such as “surrender” and “betrayal” was dangerous as “humbug”.

Jo Cox. Johnson drew gasps of shock in the Commons when he referred to the Labour MP Jo Cox, an ardent remainer murdered in the run-up to the Brexit vote in 2016. Johnson claimed the best way to honour Cox’s memory was to “get Brexit done”.

Cheat sheet

Pakistan’s prime minister, Imran Khan, has said he is trying to draw international attention to the danger of war breaking out between his country and India, which both have nuclear weapons, over the disputed territory of Kashmir .

Israel ’s president, Reuven Rivlin, has asked Benjamin Netanyahu to try to form a coalition government, in an effort to break the deadlock between the incumbent prime minister and opposition leader Benny Gantz, after the country’s inconclusive election.

Elizabeth Warren has topped a national poll of Democratic presidential candidates for the first time, in a Quinnipiac survey that puts the Massachusetts senator on 27% to Biden’s 25%, with Bernie Sanders trailing on 16%.

Samuel L Jackson has signed up to be the first celebrity voice of Alexa, Amazon’s virtual personal assistant, allowing users to interact with an AI version of the Pulp Fiction star, developed using the company’s neural text-to-speech technology.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘A work of rarefied and powerful badness’: Seth Rogen and James Franco in Zeroville. Photograph: myCinema

Zero stars for Zeroville, the worst film of 2019

James Franco had directed several little-seen literary adaptations, including two based onbooks by William Faulkner, before tackling the dense Hollywood novel Zeroville in 2014. Finally released on three US screens this month, his film version is “a work of rarefied and powerful badness,” says Charles Bramesco.

Life as a cancer patient

When Anne Boyer was diagnosed with highly aggressive breast cancer, she was offered a cure so poisonous that, if she survived, she could lose her eyesight, speech and memory. “My body feels like it is dying as a side-effect of what is promised to keep it alive,” she writes.

Buttigieg faces new criticism from South Bend’s black leaders

The South Bend mayor, Pete Buttigieg, was the rising star of the Democratic presidential primary, until his progress was hindered by the fallout from a police shooting in his city in March. Now, he is again being criticised by some of the city’s black leaders over policing-related controversies, as Tom Perkins reports.

Trudeau’s poor constituents ‘pushed out’ by development

As if Justin Trudeau were not facing enough controversy on the national stage, trouble is brewing in his Montreal constituency, too. Parc-Extension is one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Canada. Now, writes Flavie Halais, some fear a new C$348m ($263m) university campus will gentrify the district beyond recognition.

Opinion

Women still earn less than men, but the work environment is changing slowly for the better, says Gene Marks. And nothing sends that message more clearly than a survey that found 42% of US businesses are owned by women.

In what could be a response to lower pay at their place of employment, more women than ever – particularly women of color – are also starting up side businesses.

Sport

England’s plan for their Rugby World Cup tie against the USA in Japan on Thursday is to get the job done as simply and effectively as possible. But the Eagles, featuring several seasoned pros such as Joe Taufete’e, will not necessarily make it easy for them, says Robert Kitson.

The former New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski recently claimed to have ameliorated his CTE – a result of the 20 concussions he received while playing – using CBD products. But he was dangerously wrong to suggest the condition is “fixable”, says Ian McMahan.

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