Top story: White House visit linked to cooperation over Biden

Good morning briefers. I’m Martin Farrer and this is all the news that’s fit to take you into the weekend.

US diplomats told Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, that a prestigious White House visit to meet Donald Trump was dependent on him making a public statement vowing to investigate Hunter Biden’s company, according to documents released overnight. The texts, released by three congressional committees holding impeachment hearings, show that the diplomats made clear that any improvement in Kyiv’s relations with Washington would be dependent on Zelenskiy’s cooperation in discrediting Democratic rival Joe Biden. The new twist in the impeachment inquiry leaves no doubt that the US state department was deeply involved in the effort to use the office of the presidency to pressure a foreign government to investigate Trump’s political enemies. The documents also show that Ukraine was being enlisted to discredit the Mueller investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and they reveal that diplomats even drafted a statement for Zelenskiy to read out.

Earlier, Trump appeared to double down on his mounting impeachment woes by openly calling for China to investigate Joe Biden despite the growing Ukraine row. Speaking to reporters as he boarded his Marine One helicopter, the US president noted that the US was in trade talks with China and “if they don’t do what we want, we have tremendous, tremendous power”. You can watch a video of Trump’s comments here.

Juncker call – The European president, Jean-Claude Juncker, has called on the government to release its Brexit solution in full as hopes that Boris Johnson’s proposals would lead to a Brexit deal appeared to unravel. As the prime minister planned emergency talks with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Johnson’s chief negotiator was given a week to come up with solutions to the sticking points in the plan. The European Commission said Juncker and Irish leader Leo Varadkar wanted the UK to publish the whole legal text of its proposal, something the government has resisted. A senior EU diplomat said it was time to “stop playing hide and seek”. Johnson’s hopes of paving the way for a deal supported by the Commons receded when Jeremy Corbyn said no Labour MP could vote for the new proposals.

As the prospect of Brexit damages the economy and even threatens the ability of bands to tour Europe, the much-anticipated exodus of financial services firms from London has not yet materialised. Howard Davies, the director of the LSE, writes today that although some jobs have been lost, the advantages of doing business in London are outweighing the uncertainty of a post-Brexit world.

Met’s Midland mess – The Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, and the Labour deputy leader, Tom Watson, are expected to face calls to resign today when the force publishes three chapters of the inquiry into the disastrous Operation Midland police investigation into the bogus VIP paedophile ring. The report will reveal that Watson panicked police into interviewing the former home secretary Leon Brittan who, along with the former military chief Lord Bramall and former Conservative MP Harvey Proctor, was eventually declared innocent. The report will also show that the lawyer who led the independent inquiry into child sexual abuse warned detectives the star witness, Carl Beech, was a probable liar, but was ignored.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: Steve Bottom/The Wildlife Trusts

Wildlife decline – Populations of Britain’s most important wildlife have plunged by an average of 60% since 1970 as animals fight an increasingly losing battle against intensifying farming, urban sprawl and the climate crisis. The mammals most at risk are the Scottish wildcat and the once widespread black rat, but hedgehogs, rabbits and water voles are also falling in numbers. There are also fears for birds such as the willow tit and the turtle dove, and insects such as the high brown fritillary butterfly. A quarter of UK mammals and nearly half of the birds assessed are at risk of extinction, according to a report by a coalition of more than 70 wildlife organisations and government agencies. “As we lose nature, we lose a huge part of what makes us happy and healthy,” said Paul de Zylva of Friends of the Earth, blaming poor planning practices.

Putin’s helping hand – Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, says his defence experts are helping the Chinese to develop a defence system to warn of ballistic missile attacks. Days after Beijing unveiled state-of-the-art new missiles at its national day parade, Putin told a conference in Moscow that the defence shield would “radically enhance China’s defence capability”. Since the cold war, only Russia and the US have had such systems. The cooperation of Moscow and Beijing on the scheme is another sign of the two regimes’ increasingly close political and military ties.

Damages limitation – Ryanair has saved millions of pounds in compensation payouts after the airline pulled out of an industry arbitration body designed to settle a dispute with disgruntled passengers. The consumer group Which? says that Ryanair received 14,000 complaints and paid out £2.6m in compensation in the 11 months before it withdrew from Aviation ADR in November 2018. Since quitting the scheme, Ryanair has received only 553 complaints, Which? says. People with a grievance with the budget carrier now face an uphill battle to achieve redress, it says.

Today in Focus podcast: Jia Tolentino on the age of self-delusion

Jia Tolentino, described as one of the world’s greatest young essayists, discusses how the age of the internet has fundamentally changed who we are. Plus: Lisa O’Carroll on the problem of the Irish border and Brexit.

Today in Focus Reality TV, social media and living your life online with Jia Tolentino Sorry your browser does not support audio - but you can download here and listen https://audio.guim.co.uk/2019/10/03-65257-20191004_TIF_JIA.mp3 00:00:00 00:25:15

Lunchtime read: Yemen’s ‘Manhattan of the desert’ at risk

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The ancient walled city of Shibam in Yemen. Photograph: Konstantin Kalishko/Alamy Stock Photo

Yemen’s five-year civil war has taken a huge human toll but is also threatening the future of the country’s rich cultural heritage. This includes Shibam, where ancient skyscrapers rise from the landscape like a set from Game of Thrones, and which the British explorer Freya Stark nicknamed “Manhattan of the desert”. The walled city once relied on tourism to pay for its complex upkeep but that income has dried up amid the conflict and many young people have left, writes our Middle East correspondent Bethan McKernan. She also explores the dilapidated ruin reputed to be the location of the Queen of Sheba’s throne, and the capital Sana’a, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world where ancient relics are at risk from the war.

Sport

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Katarina Johnson-Thompson in action. Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters

Katarina Johnson-Thompson admitted that the twin joys of beating Jessica Ennis-Hill’s British record and winning her first world championship heptathlon gold was “like a dream”. Dina Asher-Smith, meanwhile, has set her sights on becoming one of the greatest athletes of all time after her stunning 200m gold in Doha. Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s search for a first away win as permanent Manchester United manager continues after his side drew 0-0 against AZ Alkmaar in the Europa League, while two early goals from Gabriel Martinelli set Arsenal on their way to a 4-0 win over Standard Liège and Willy Boly’s injury-time goal gave Wolves a dramatic 1-0 win over Besiktas. Ahead of Saturday’s game against Argentina, Eddie Jones is eager for his England team to stick to their plan and arrive at the knockout stages of the Rugby World Cup with gathering momentum. Thomas Bach, the IOC president, says he has contacted the World Anti-Doping Agency asking it to investigate all athletes who trained with the banned coach Alberto Salazar. And Enable remains odds-on at 4-5 for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday after being drawn in stall nine for Europe’s showpiece event.

Business

The US, UK and Australian governments have signed an open letter to Facebook urging the company to leave a backdoor to its encryption system in order to enable investigations related to terrorism, child abuse and exploitation, and other serious crimes. But the Facebook chief, Mark Zuckerberg, speaking at the company’s weekly internal Q&A session, resisted the calls and pledged steps to minimise harm. Asian stock markets recovered a bit overnight helped by a dose of “bad news is good news” action on Wall Street, where shares rose because investors expect the worsening US economy to seal another rate cut this month. The FTSE100 is expected to see some respite after a torrid week with a 0.66% jump at the open. The pound is buying $1.123 and €1.124.

The papers

News of the Brexit negotiations features on most front pages. The i leads with: “Call me Mr Compromise: PM ready to make new concessions”, the FT reports: “EU doubts mount over Johnson’s blueprint for Irish border” and the Express has: “Anger as Irish PM says: Britain wants to stay in the EU”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Photograph: The Guardian

The Guardian has the Brexit story on the front but leads with: “Revealed: the shocking decline of UK wildlife. The Times (“Watson told to quit over bogus sex abuse claims”) and the Telegraph (“Yard told ‘Nick’ was bogus in 2015”) go with the upcoming report into the Met’s handling of the VIP sex ring claims.

The Mirror leads with comments from Jennifer Arcuri, the friend of Boris Johnson, who insists she did not receive preferential treatment and that she never slept with the prime minister, but that: “Men fall over themselves to sleep with me.” The Mail reports on the pension age ruling: “4m women and the retirement age betrayal” and the Sun carries news of a lawsuit from one of Robert De Niro’s former aides: “Raging bully”.

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