Monday’s top story: House committee chairman says Mueller has evidence of Trump’s ‘high crimes and misdemeanours’. Plus, Why leftist groups are taking up arms

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

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

Former special counsel to testify twice on Wednesday

Robert Mueller is preparing to visit Capitol Hill on Wednesday to testify before two House committees about his report on Russian election interference and the Trump campaign’s links to Moscow. The chairman of the house judiciary committee, Jerrold Nadler, said on Sunday he believed the 448-page report contained “substantial evidence that the president is guilty of high crimes and misdemeanours”, sufficient to warrant Trump’s impeachment.

White supremacy. Trump renewed his racist attacks on the progressive lawmakers known as “the Squad” on Sunday, while the Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg suggested white supremacy “could be the lurking issue that ends this country.”

Imran Khan. The president is due to meet the prime minister of Pakistan for the first time on Monday, with Khan hoping to mend relations between the two countries after Trump claimed Pakistan had not done enough to fight extremism.

Distracted Britain facing oil tanker standoff with Iran

Play Video 2:00 Iran troops rappel on to seized British-flagged oil tanker – video

The UK is under increasing pressure to join the US in planning a maritime protection force in the Gulf, after Iran seized a British oil tanker, the Stena Impero, as retaliation for the seizure of one of its own vessels by British forces near Gibraltar earlier this month. Responsibility for managing the crisis falls to Britain’s foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, yet he is busy fighting a leadership contest against Boris Johnson, which Hunt is likely to lose this week – putting his position as foreign secretary in jeopardy.

Radio exchange. A recording has emerged of Iranian coastguards telling a British naval frigate they want to inspect the captured ship for security reasons, contrary to Tehran’s previous claim that the oil tanker had collided with a fishing vessel.

Brexit complications. Boris Johnson’s plan for a no-deal Brexit is under threat after two top government ministers resigned ahead of Johnson’s likely ascension to the leadership, saying they could not countenance such an outcome.

Rosselló clings on as Puerto Rico governor

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Puerto Rican music stars Residente and Ricky Martin lead a rally against Ricardo Rosselló. Photograph: Angel Valentin/The Guardian

Puerto Rico’s embattled governor, Ricardo Rosselló, has announced he will resign as president of the island’s ruling New Progressive party amid the furore over leaked text messages in which Rosselló and his inner circle made misogynistic comments and joked about those who died during Hurricane Maria. Yet he has steadfastly refused to quit as governor, despite 10 days of mass protests against his scandal-plagued administration.

Loud voices. The protests have been led in part by some of Puerto Rico’s most famous musicians, including Ricky Martin, Residente and Bad Bunny.

US criticism. Top US politicians have also joined the calls for Rosselló to resign, from the progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the conservative Florida senator Rick Scott.

Hong Kong police absent as armed gang attacks protesters

Play Video 1:31 Chaos as armed men attack pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong – video

Hong Kong police have been accused of standing by as a group of armed men dressed in white attacked protesters, including women and children, on their way home from a pro-democracy march. The suspected triads, most wearing masks, stormed a subway station in the city’s Yuen Long district armed with rods and other weapons, leaving 45 people hospitalised, including one in critical condition.

Anti-government protests. The attack followed violent clashes between protesters and police at an anti-government march. Police fired teargas and rubber bullets at demonstrators, who had targeted China’s liaison office in the city.

Crib sheet

The Chinese government has published a paper claiming “hostile forces in and outside China” are trying to “split” the country by suggesting that members of the persecuted Uighur Muslim community are descended from Turks.

A 44-year-old rock singer is set to form a coalition government with Ukraine ’s sitcom-star president, after exit polls showed him leading the newly created Golos (Voice) party to 6% of the vote in the country’s parliamentary election.

A row has broken out between scientific factions over the excavation of Pompeii , which archaeologists say promises remarkable discoveries about Roman life, but vulcanologists claim could destroy crucial information about the eruption that destroyed the city in AD79.

Natalie Portman has confirmed her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the forthcoming sequel Thor: Love and Thunder, in which she will reprise the role of Dr Jane Foster from the 2011 original – but this time with superhero powers.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A John Brown Gun Club member wears a patch featuring the Trans Pride flag and an AR-15 at Trans Pride in Seattle last month. Photograph: Grant Hindsley/The Guardian

Armed antifascists: ‘If others have rifles, we’ll have rifles’

In response to the rising threat of the far right, leftist organisations have created their own self-defence groups. And in some cases, they have turned to firearms for protection. Kim Kelly travels to a Trans Pride march with the Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club.

Aural sex: the erotic sex-positive podcast

Dipsea is a podcast app that releases three erotic, sex-positive audio stories per week, filling a gap in the listening market comparable to the $1bn-a-year romance novel industry. Its founders “prefer to focus on the ways in which characters connect beyond physical attraction”, they tell Vivian Ho.

What’s the best Disney remake so far?

With the new remake of The Lion King roaring into cinemas, following the recent live-action versions of Dumbo and Aladdin, Charles Bramesco assesses and ranks the Disney studio’s new, CGI-laden takes on its library of animated classics.

When men have ‘sympathy pregnancies’

A study has found that more than half of American fathers experience some symptoms of Couvade syndrome, otherwise known as a “sympathy pregnancy”, including abdominal pain, lethargy, mood swings and even morning sickness. Dominique Sisley reports.

Opinion

For anyone familiar with the psychiatric era of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the very idea of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is barbaric. But the psychiatrist Mariam Alexander says if she developed severe depression today, it’s the treatment she would choose.

I have seen many people in a catatonic state respond really well to ECT. Sometimes, in just a couple of treatments, they go from being speechless and immobile to talking and walking – it’s amazing to witness.

Sport

The 32-year-old Irishman Shane Lowry has said he felt like he was having an “out‑of‑body experience” as he approached the 18th hole at Portrush on Sunday, on the way to the 2019 Open title – his first major championship win.

The toughest opponent in the MLB this weekend was the climate, as fans and players struggled in a brutal heatwave across large parts of the US, from Yankee Stadium to Wrigley Field.

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