Top story: ‘Be powerful on background checks’

Hello, I’m Warren Murray – let me lay it out for you.

Donald Trump has stunned Republicans and his supporters in the National Rifle Association by endorsing universal background checks and other gun control measures. In an extraordinary televised White House meeting, the president rebuked congressional Republicans for being “afraid” and “petrified” of the NRA as he offered support to revive a plan that failed to pass the Senate after the Sandy Hook elementary school massacre of 2012.

“You have to be very, very powerful on background checks,” Trump told the gathering, endorsing a measure supported by 84% of Americans. “People want to see something happen.” Trump also repeated his promise to ban “bump stocks” and talked about age restrictions. It sounds promising but given the president’s erratic nature Republicans appear unsure how to proceed: “Everybody’s trying to absorb what we just heard,” said John Cornyn, a gun control advocate in the party. As to whether Trump would stick to his views, one Democrat, Dick Durbin, said: “I wouldn’t bet the farm on it.” There are other hopeful signs on gun control though, with Walmart and Dick’s Sporting Goods announcing they will no longer sell firearms or ammunition to under-21s. Dick’s, a major retailer, said it would also join Walmart in taking assault rifles off its shelves.

Elsewhere in the White House, the president’s communications director, Hope Hicks, has resigned one day after giving congressional testimony that she sometimes told “white lies” to appease Trump. Hicks denied having lied about substantive matters pertaining to Russia.

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Border skirmishes – Lots of wailing and teeth-gnashing in the government today after the EU effectively rejected Theresa May’s demand to leave the customs union and common market while magically keeping the Irish border open. Brussels insists Northern Ireland will have to stay in the EU customs union if the British government continues to fail to produce an alternative plan. But May has told the Commons that “no UK prime minister could ever agree” to that. Meanwhile, it was revealed that May has been forced into a major concession allowing EU citizens who arrive during the post-Brexit transition period to stay permanently – which will deepen Tory divisions.

May at least managed to split sides in a benign way when she told some jokes last night about being the Maybot, working with David “Mad Max” Davis and calling another snap election.

The first snows of spring – It’s the start of spring and don’t be deceived by the continuing snowy weather (more on which here) because the trend of the season’s blooms and wildlife arriving earlier and earlier is continuing, according to the Woodland Trust. But the National Trust disagrees, saying this spring isn’t as early as the one in 2016 (seriously, who to Trust on this?). If you, like many others, have been calling the current state of affairs “Snowmageddon”, Steven Poole looks at how “-mageddon” has been hived off from the Bible’s “Armageddon” and tagged on to a host of comparatively mild inconveniences. Significantly in this case though, both Armageddon and Snowmageddon involve a Beast. End times?

Cosmic dawn – “Didn’t I read how astronomers had already detected this?” you ask. But no! The signals just picked up from the earliest stars in the universe are indeed the first of their kind. It is being dubbed the “cosmic dawn” – about 180m years after the Big Bang – when enough hydrogen had clumped together for the first stars to ignite. They were massive, blue and didn’t last long, but they kicked off hydrogen reactions that have left a fingerprint in the background radiation of today’s universe. The discovery might help scientists prove the existence of dark matter (no, you didn’t already read about them figuring that one out either).

And finally – Keith Richards has apologised to Mick Jagger after telling the Wall Street Journal Magazine that his bandmate was a “randy old bastard” who should get “the snip”, ie a vasectomy. In fairness they should probably have cut that bit.

Lunchtime read: Dying for a bit of bacon

Too late if you’ve already eaten it – bacon really does cause cancer, writes Bee Wilson. The conclusion is backed up by years of research and warnings about the nitrate and nitrite chemicals used in processed meats. So why is it still sold everywhere? Why are we still eating it?

The “bacon scare” blew up in 1975 in America, Wilson explains, but the meat industry argued that these chemicals are to bacon “as yeast is to bread”, that they protect against botulism poisoning, and bacon simply could not exist without them. Food safety authorities backed off. Today, bacon is even defended as a health food by some advocates of the paleo diet – yet, writes Wilson, “the epidemiological data, based on surveys of what people eat, is now devastatingly clear that diets high in ‘processed meats’ lead to a higher incidence of cancer … The technology now exists to make the pink meats we love in a less damaging form, which raises the question of why the old kind is still so freely sold.”

Sport

England’s head coach, Eddie Jones, says he no longer feels safe using British public transport after being verbally and physically abused on a train following his side’s Calcutta Cup defeat on Saturday.

Andy Murray is so pleased with his quickening recovery from recent hip surgery that he hopes to return to the practice court ahead of schedule, within a month. One of Chris Froome’s most likely defences against a possible anti-doping charge does not appear to be supported by UK Anti-Doping data released via a freedom of information request. Jason Kenny, Jack Carlin and Ryan Owens won silver for Great Britain in the men’s team sprint at the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in Apeldoorn.

Tottenham romped home in the second half of their FA Cup last-16 replay against Rochdale with a cocky display on a carpet of snow to set up a quarter-final at Swansea after the first half at Wembley had belonged to VAR. And Formula One lost a day of testing in Barcelona because of the cold weather that has engulfed Europe.

Business

Asian shares have mostly been lower, though the Shanghai Composite made a slight gain. The region’s indices tracked losses on Wall Street where the Fed chairman’s speech hinting at quicker interest rate rises is still reverberating.

If you’re looking for a change, sterling is buying $1.375 or €1.127 at the moment.

The papers

It’s the first day of spring (apparently) yet it’s snowing on the front pages. The i goes with “Whiteout Britain” while the the Guardian has a snowy picture with the headline “The beast bites” – we splash on Brexit, however, with calls for Theresa May to reveal her Irish border plan. The Times also leads on Brexit, saying that David Davis is warning Britain would not pay its EU divorce bill unless Europe reverses its stance on Northern Ireland staying in the customs union. The Telegraph is upset, saying Remainers are trying to stop Brexit with a “proxy war”.

The Mail manages to combine weather and other news with a picture of Max Mosley in a snowstorm and a story saying police are examining whether he committed perjury over his knowledge of a racist election pamphlet. The Sun uses a similar picture and has a similar story on its front but with a headline that manages to combine CS Lewis and a sex orgy. The FT joins the winter theme but is talking about a different kind of freeze: one on the high street as chain stores Maplin and Toys R Us close down. The paper says it has been a brutal winter for the economy. Unusually, the Mirror follows the FT: “Heartbreak on the High Street” is its lead, but it also has a picture of snow chaos and the title “Ice Age Britain”.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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• This article was amended on 1 March 2018 because an earlier version misnamed John Cornyn as Joe.

