Top story: I’m with Kavanaugh all the way, says Trump

Good morning. I’m Martin Farrer and these are the top stories to start your day.

Donald Trump’s attempt to cement a conservative hold on the US supreme court has run into fresh difficulty after a third woman came forward and is expected to accuse the president’s nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, of sexual misconduct. The woman’s lawyer, Michael Avenatti, said she wanted to testify against Kavanaugh at Senate confirmation hearings scheduled for Thursday. “She reached out to me. We vetted her claim and she satisfactorily passed that vetting,” Avenatti said. The new allegations relate to Kavanaugh’s school days at in Maryland, where California professor Christine Blasey Ford has already accused him of a violent sexual attack at a party when he was 17 and she was 15. Another accuser, Deborah Ramirez, came forward on Sunday to say that Kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a party when he was a freshman at Yale. Trump and Kavanaugh both dismissed the allegations, with the president saying he was with the judge “all the way” and calling him a fine man with an unblemished record.

As Trump tried to defuse the Kavanaugh crisis, another conflagration was threatening to engulf the White House after reports claimed that the deputy attorney general, Rod Rosenstein, had resigned. Rosenstein, who oversees the investigation into Russian meddling in the US election, had reportedly quit after stories emerged that he discussed with colleagues secretly recording Trump or having him removed from office. The White House issued a statement on Monday saying Trump and Rosenstein would meet for talks on Thursday when the president returns from the UN general assembly in New York.

Fortress Britain? – A post-Brexit system of immigration based on skills and wealth has been agreed by the cabinet as Theresa May hopes to boost her leadership at next week’s Conservative party conference in the wake of the disastrous Salzburg summit. Ministers yesterday signed off on the plan under which there will be no preferential access to the UK labour market for EU citizens. But countries which signed a free trade deal with the UK in future would get enhanced access. Ministers were also briefed on the latest divorce talks while Tory rightwingers outside cabinet stepped up their campaign to persuade May to abandon her Chequers plan for Brexit and push for a Canada-style trade agreement with the EU. It comes as the government warned that a no-deal Brexit could mean flights to Europe are seriously disrupted.

Labour eyes second chance – Theresa May is not the only party leader with Brexit troubles. The issue is also casting a shadow over Jeremy Corbyn at Labour’s conference in Liverpool this week as his shadow cabinet members Keir Starmer and John McDonnell spar over the chances of a second referendum. Starmer says that a motion will be debated by conference today calling for a second vote if the party cannot force a general election. But that may not resolve the policy problem, writes Rafael Behr, because the uncomfortable truth is that the pro-Brexit left has more in common with the alt-right on such matters than they might like to admit. Another columnist, Paul Mason, says he now favours a second referendum.

Screen break – The co-founders of Instagram, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, have resigned as chief executive officer and chief technical officer of the social network. The pair, who teamed up in 2010 to create the photo-sharing app, which now has one billion users, did not specify a reason for their departure. Systrom said in a blog post that they would now explore their “curiosity and creativity again”. However, Bloomberg reported that the men were leaving because of growing tensions about the direction of the business with Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder whose company bought Instagram six years ago.

Rape case warning – Some rape victims could be denied access to justice, campaigners have warned, after it emerged that prosecutors in England and Wales have been urged to be more cautious in the cases they take on. The advice to remove “weak cases” was given to prosecutors at training seminars, the Guardian has learned, leading to concerns that cases involving younger victims, students, or those with mental health issues could be less likely to result in a charge. One prosecutor attending the course said they were told that removing 350 weak cases would see the overall conviction rate rise.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jacinda Ardern, Neve and Clarke Gayford at the UN in New York. Photograph: Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images

UN debut – Jacinda Ardern has become the first world leader to take their baby into the United Nations general assembly. The New Zealand prime minister gave her daughter, Neve, an early introduction to the international family by playing with her shortly before giving a speech to the Nelson Mandela peace summit on Monday. Ardern, accompanied by her partner and Neve-carer-in-chief, Clarke Gayford, vowed to “change the way we think about these things”.

Lunchtime read: the yogi of YouTube

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Adriene Mishler photographed at Yoga on the Lane in east London. Photograph: Alastair Levy/The Guardian

If you find it improbable that a yoga teacher can fill huge venues in a tour of Europe, then you probably haven’t heard of Adriene Mishler. She has four million subscribers to her YouTube channel and attracted 2,400 people from all over the country paying £40 a head to a recent event at Alexandra Palace in north London. “You just want to be her friend” and “She changed my life” are comments typical of the devotees who flocked to the mass class to enjoy the American’s perky personality. Mishler’s mantra is “find what feels good” but her decision to call her videos “yoga for weight loss” turned out “disgustingly well”, as she says, and have helped her tap into the benefits of an industry worth billions of dollars.

Sport

Luka Modric and Brazilian legend Marta have been named Fifa men’s and women’s footballer of the year. The Croatian and Real Madrid star ended Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi’s 11-year stranglehold on the men’s award on a night of glamour, while five-time women’s winner Marta turned back to clock, with her last award coming in 2010. Meanwhile, a former double Ballon d’Or winner, Kevin Keegan, has said he would not want a compliment from Newcastle United’s unpopular owner, Mike Ashley.

Thomas Bjørn, Europe’s Ryder Cup captain, says his side will not fear a resurgent Tiger Woods after the American’s first championship in more than five years. And the Rugby Football Union has released England’s new playing kit, hoping that the new design informed by the “white noise” of fans’ passion will fire Eddie Jones’ team.

Business

The Trump administration is holding a “knife to China’s neck” in talks over trade tariffs, according to outspoken comments by China’s vice-commerce minister. Wang Shouwen also said the resumption of stalled talks between the two countries depended on the will of the US. Shares in Asia are broadly down amid ongoing concern about the nascent trade war while the FTSE100 is expected to open down slightly. The pound is buying $1.31 and €1.116.

The papers

The Guardian’s splash follows on from our exclusive yesterday about the low conviction rate for young men accused of rape, with “Alarm as rape prosecutors are urged to abandon ‘weaker’ cases”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guardian front page, Tuesday 25 September 2018. Photograph: The Guardian

Elsewhere, there is quite a bit of coverage of Labour party conference. The Express says: “Bills to soar £2000 a year under Labour”, the Mirror leads on pledges to nationalise the water industry: “War on the water rats”, and the Telegraph says “Corbyn’s UK would face economic ‘deep freeze’”.

The Sun reports on claims that a Sikh man who made headlines for participating in Trooping the Colour wearing a turban has failed a drug test: “First Sikh guardsman ‘was on marching powder’”. The FT says “Buoyant American groups drive $50bn global dealmaking spree” and the Mail has a story about “£1million-a-day bank scammers preying on you”. The i reports on: “Alzheimer’s breakthrough” and the Times has: “Hold your nerve on Brexit, May tells cabinet”.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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