Top story: ‘Don’t rush ahead of evidence’

Hello – it’s Warren Murray book-ending the week in news.

Jeremy Corbyn has continued to caveat his support for Theresa May’s tough position on Russia’s involvement in the Salisbury poisoning. Writing in the Guardian, Corbyn argued that “rushing way ahead of the evidence being gathered by the police, in a fevered parliamentary atmosphere, serves neither justice nor our national security”. He also suggested Russian mafia might be to blame.

With Theresa May receiving staunch international backing, disquiet within Labour continues over Corbyn’s stance: 19 of the party’s MPs have signed a Commons motion giving their full backing to May and the measures she announced after Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia Skripal, were determined to have been poisoned by a Russian-made “novichok” nerve agent (though theories have circulated that it was made or obtained somewhere else). The Labour MP Anna Turley writes that Russia’s culpability is “beyond any reasonable doubt”. But Corbynites have leapt to their leader’s defence, while the Labour shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has challenged the government to crack down on money-laundering through Britain by wealthy Putin cronies.

US homeland security, meanwhile, has accused Russia of widespread cyber-attacks on the country’s energy, water and manufacturing infrastructure, while the US treasury has stepped up sanctions over election interference, with officials saying thousands of Russian-planted stories reached “millions of people online” during the 2016 presidential campaign. A short time ago, Russia’s deputy foreign minister reportedly announced reprisals including a “blacklist” of Americans and possible other measures.

The Russian presidential election will be held this Sunday and with no serious rival allowed to stand, Vladimir Putin is expected to secure a fourth term. Timothy Snyder examines how Putin maintains power by the “deliberate creation of political fiction” – while seeking to bring the democracies of America and Europe down to his level.

Gibraltar’s Brexit threat – The government of Gibraltar has warned it might rescind the right of Spanish and EU nationals to live and work there if Spain tries to exclude the Rock from any Brexit deal. Gibraltar’s deputy chief minister, Dr Joseph Garcia, said Gibraltar would challenge the legality of Spain’s effective veto, which is written into EU negotiating guidelines. Garcia said Spain risked jeopardising “citizens’ rights and workers’ rights and frontier workers and what have you”, as well as the pensions paid by Gibraltar to Spanish workers forced to leave during the Franco regime. “Spain cannot seriously put us in a position where we are forced to look into these areas, which are areas – I stress once again – where we don’t want to go,” Garcia said.

Bridge collapse – A pedestrian bridge has collapsed on to a road in Florida, crushing cars underneath, killing at least four people and injuring others. The bridge at Florida International University in the Miami area had just been built to connect the university with the city of Sweetwater. It was 53 metres long, weighed 950 tonnes, and was installed on Saturday in just six hours over the eight-lane highway, according to the university’s website.

Boyle, Danny Boyle – The director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire has revealed he is working on a James Bond script, in a strong hint that he will direct the film. Danny Boyle says he is preparing the screenplay with his regular collaborator John Hodge. It is expected to be Daniel Craig’s final outing as agent 007. “It’s a great idea, so hopefully it will work. I’d love to be able to tell you more … but I won’t,” said Boyle. He did say, though, that he is shooting a comedy first and then “Bond would be right at the end of the year”.

Bin getting it wrong – Soap dispenser pump-tops, dirty kitchen roll and wrapping paper are among things British households are incorrectly putting in the recycling, according to a poll. Other items that mess up the system include disposable coffee cups, greasy pizza boxes, coffee and plastic bags. The British Science Association (BSA) says 2,000 adult Britons were surveyed on the subject and none got full marks, with plastics a common area of confusion. The BSA’s Ivvet Modinou said: “Manufacturers of plastic products could provide clearer information on packaging and local councils should be actively working to improve guidance for local residents.”

Lunchtime read: Spare no taxpayers’ expense

Exorbitantly priced dining sets for the office. Routine travel on military jets, Instagrammed by a glamour-loving spouse. First-class flights, chartered planes … and furniture shopping with a security detail to do the carrying.

These are some of the indulgences undertaken by Donald Trump’s cabinet. Joanna Walters of Guardian US takes a look at Ben Carson, Steve Mnuchin, Scott Pruitt and other rich Trump appointees who can’t resist public money.

Sport

England head coach Eddie Jones has claimed he loves having a target on his back despite conceding that his side are in the midst of their most testing period since he took charge. Jack Wilshere weaved his magic and led by example to help keep the Arsène Wenger era alive at Arsenal in a Europa League game which produced a 3-1 win over Milan, but was not as simple as the scoreline suggested. Gareth Southgate has responded bullishly to questions about England’s safety at the World Cup in Russia by saying “you can live in fear or you can get on with things”.

Dan Evans, who is due to return to tennis from a drugs ban next month, will not get the same welcoming embrace the game extended to Maria Sharapova last summer and will have to prove himself to get any wild cards, according to the LTA. Nicky Henderson has already won the Champion Hurdle and Champion Chase and will bid for a historic Cheltenham Festival treble in the Gold Cup today. And Tiger Woods’s first-round performance at the Arnold Palmer Invitational has seen him installed by some bookmakers as favourite to win the Masters.

Business

Asian stocks had fallen amid reports of more chaos in the Trump administration and continuing concerns that US tariffs signal a wider protectionist agenda. Robert Mueller, the Trump-Russia investigator, has subpoenaed documents related to Trump’s businesses, while the Washington Post reported the president has decided to remove HR McMaster as his national security adviser. The news comes after the removal of Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and the departure of top economic adviser Gary Cohn.

Your pound is worth $1.393 and €1.131 right now.

The papers

It’s Vladimir Putin versus the west on the front pages today. The splash headlines in the Times and the i could be swapped word for word and still fit – “World unites to confront Russia over poisonings” says the former, “World unites to escalate hostility with Russia” the latter. The Guardian leads with Jeremy Corbyn’s warning to let the evidence do the talking rather than parliamentary rhetoric. The literalist FT, as ever, finds a way of saying it with more words and less punch: “Leading Nato powers join forces to accuse Russia of Skripal attack.”

The Mail has Corbyn and “his daftest hour” in a panel across the top but its lead story is the battle to save defence company GKN from being broken up by “asset-strippers” in a hostile takeover. “Rip World Cup out of Putin’s grasp” the Express angrily demands. The Telegraph says intelligence agencies think the novichok nerve toxin was somehow planted in Yulia Skripal’s luggage while she visited Moscow. The Star says Putin has threatened Britain: “I’ll turn off your gas.”

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