Top story: Russia ‘unpardonably threatened’

Graham Russell here, hoping you’re all having a good morning. Here’s a rundown of today’s news.

Donald Trump has indicated a decision is imminent on a US response to Saturday’s chemical attack in Syria, as Russia warned that any military reprisal could have “grave repercussions”. During angry exchanges at the UN security council last night, Vassily Nebenzia, Russia’s UN ambassador, said “Russia is being unpardonably threatened” and claimed Russian investigators had found no evidence of a chemical attack in Douma that killed more than 40 people and affected hundreds.

US counterpart Nikki Haley in turn criticised Moscow for its unstinting backing of Bashar al-Assad and said the Russian regime’s hands were “covered in the blood of Syrian children”. Hours earlier, Trump said his administration would make “some major decisions” on the issue. He told a cabinet meeting: “This is about humanity … and it can’t be allowed to happen.” It will be the first major test of Trump’s new national security adviser, John Bolton, who returns after a decade in the political wilderness. One of a handful of hawks who led the Bush administration’s charge into Afghanistan and Iraq, Bolton is expected to echo Trump’s instincts when it comes to military force.

During her visit to Denmark, Theresa May condemned the “barbaric” targeting of innocent civilians, including children, and said Assad and his Russian backers must be held to account if found responsible for the incident.

Hillary Clinton speaks – The former US secretary of state has warned that the hand of history will be “heavy and unforgiving” if the Brexit deal is allowed to undermine peace in Northern Ireland. Writing in the Guardian on the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, she said: “Reinstating the border would be an enormous setback, returning to the ‘bad old days’ when communities would once again be set apart.” She adds: “These are difficult times for Northern Ireland, and for our world. As the Brexit debate wages on, I continue to believe in the value of the European Union, and of a Europe that is whole, free and at peace.” Bill Clinton, speaking in Dublin on Monday evening, said the architects of the Good Friday agreement had created “a fine piece of work” from which others in ethnic wars could learn.

Facebook fakery – A Black Lives Matter Facebook page that has almost 700,000 followers has been exposed as a fake, run by a white Australian union official. The page – which has double the number of followers as the official BLM page – might have taken more than $100,000 in donations, CNN reported. It’s the kind of news Mark Zuckerberg might have expected, a day before he is due to tell US Congress that his social media giant is a “positive force in the world”. The founder is facing huge criticism for Facebook’s lax approach to its users’ data in the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal and he is expected to admit he has made “a big mistake”. In New Zealand, Facebook said a quiz downloaded by just 10 people meant more than 60,000 users could have had their data mined. PS feel free to tell us how the data breach has affected you.

Trump decries ‘witch hunt’ – Donald Trump has declared an FBI raid on the offices of his longtime personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, “an attack on our country”. “It’s a disgraceful situation, it’s a total witch hunt, I’ve been saying it for a long time,” Trump said after the raid, which Cohen’s lawyer said stemmed from a referral by the special counsel, Robert Mueller. Documents seized included some reportedly relating to a $130,000 payment Cohen has admitted making to adult film actor Stormy Daniels.

Much Apu, cry Simpsons creators – The owner of a fictional Kwik-E-Mart has found himself at the centre of a debate about racial stereotyping after a screen career spanning nearly 30 years. The row was sparked by the latest episode of The Simpsons, in which viewers who considered Apu Nahasapeemapetilon “politically incorrect” were urged to avoid having a cow. The attempt was panned as “completely toothless” and “a callous and resentful shrug”, and some pointed out the irony of Lisa, one of the show’s more progressive characters, being chosen to deal with the issue.



Taking a shot – Waitrose aims to remove all disposable coffee cups from its shops this year, a move it says could save 52m of the items from landfill. The changes mean myWaitrose members will not be able to claim their free hot drink in the chain’s 180 in-store cafes but can access other discounts. Environmental charity Hubbub praised it as a “bold move” by a major retailer.

Lunchtime read: Glossies so white

The magazine market has spent decades thoroughly ignoring the 14% of the population of England and Wales who are BAME, writes Afua Hirsch, after a Guardian data analysis of last year’s covers revealed an overwhelmingly old-empire approach. Of 214 covers published by the 19 bestselling glossies in 2017, only 20 featured a person of colour. For the five children’s publications considered (in addition to the 19 other monthly magazines), 95% of the cover models were white.

During Alexandra Shulman’s 25 years at the helm of British Vogue, only two black women were given solo covers. She once said, “it’s unlikely there will be a huge rise in the number of leading black models”. It first black editor, Edward Enninful, has brought huge change but one obvious indicator of the historic failure of the biggest glossy titles to cater for black and Asian women has been the mushrooming of magazines aimed directly at them.

Sport

Jürgen Klopp believes Liverpool must be prepared to weather “a thunderstorm” from Manchester City as they bid to reach the Champions League semi-finals for the first time since 2008 tonight. Nevertheless, Liverpool are in the box seat at the Etihad, with only seven teams in 126 having overturned a 3-0 deficit. Yorkshire have bemoaned “an impossible situation” and demanded the introduction of a cut-off point for Indian Premier League deals after losing David Willey to the tournament just days before the start of the county season.

American tennis player Madison Brengle has filed a lawsuit against the WTA and the ITF seeking damages stemming from their “abusive administration of the anti-doping program” regarding injuries she claims were caused by needle injections from drug tests. And magistrates in the northern French town of Cambrai are to open a formal inquiry into the death of young Belgian cyclist Michael Goolaerts, who died on Sunday night after suffering a heart attack during the Paris-Roubaix race.

Business

Xi Jinping, the Chinese president, has warned against “arrogant” attitudes in international relations but then appeared to dial back the rhetoric on trade issues by saying he would cut import tariffs and strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights. The tone helped Asian shares rise overnight and also teed up the FTSE100 for a healthy bounce this morning.

The pound is buying $1.413 and €1.147.

The papers

Fallout from the chemical attack on Douma in Syria dominates the front pages again today.

The Guardian leads with the US president’s warning to Assad: “‘Heinous’ Syria attack could spark US military response, warns Trump.” The Telegraph carries a piece written by Lord Hague, with the headline “Act now to stop chemical warfare”. The Times takes a more local approach with “May under pressure to join strikes on Assad”, while the FT sees it through the prism of market activity: “Russian stocks battered by new US sanctions and Syria conflict.”

Away from the Syrian attack, the Mail claims a campaign victory in the war on prostate cancer, the Express goes with workplace discrimination suffered by people with diabetes and the Sun splashes on death threats made to an elderly man who killed a burglar. And the Mirror has a story about Premier League stars being chased for a £250m tax bill.

And a special award of some kind must go to the Telegraph, which found space on its front page to tell how the Queen had trouble hearing David Attenborough during a chat at Buckingham Palace due to planes passing overhead.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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