Top story: ‘Russia is responsible for this attack’

Hello – it’s Warren Murray with the news early doors.

Russia has been condemned at the UN security council for the Salisbury nerve agent attack, with allies lining up to back Britain’s assessment that Moscow bears responsibility. Nikki Haley, Washington’s ambassador to the United Nations, said the US stood in “absolute solidarity with Great Britain”.

Play Video 1:35

Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, has come under attack within Labour for refusing to join the prime minister in pointing the finger squarely at the Kremlin (here’s how John Crace saw it). Theresa May has announced the expulsion of 23 diplomats deemed to be undeclared spies; cancelled a visit by Russia’s foreign minister; and confirmed no dignitaries or royals will go to the World Cup this summer. Britain’s military is to set up a £48m chemical weapons defence centre. But analysts say the prime minister’s modest response will not deter Vladimir Putin.

Play Video 1:27

Nikki Haley, striking a contrast to her strangely equivocal president, told the UN security council: “The United States believes that Russia is responsible for the attack on two people in the United Kingdom using a military-grade nerve agent … The credibility of this council will not survive if we fail to hold Russia accountable.” The French ambassador, François Delattre, offered “the full support and complete solidarity of France for the UK”. Russia’s envoy, Vissaly Nebenzia, attempted a conspiracy-theory laced rebuttal, suggesting Britain might have brewed the nerve agent itself and staged the attack to disrupt the World Cup.

Nato has demanded Russia come clean about its novichok programme after what constitutes the first attack with a nerve agent on Nato territory since it was set up after the second world war. The chemical weapons expert Hamish de Bretton-Gordon said novichok agents were only ever produced at one site: Shikhany, a military research establishment in central Russia. He dismissed the idea the Salisbury poison could have come from another former Soviet state: “They have no more anywhere else.”

Infant deaths on rise – More babies are dying within a year of being born in a “disturbing reversal” of decades of NHS success in reducing infant mortality. Smoking among mothers, maternal obesity, poverty and a shortage of midwives are being cited as contributing factors. Health professionals, charities and midwives have voiced serious concern at the trend in England and Wales, where there were 2.7 neonatal deaths for every 1,000 births in 2016, up from 2.6 in 2015. The figures have emerged as a new report warns Britain has the fourth highest infant mortality among 15 OECD countries.

‘Gambling wreaks havoc on lives’ – British schools have trialled lessons about the risks of gambling in an initiative that has cross-party political support. Simone Vibert, a social policy researcher at the Demos thinktank, said: “Given that young people are routinely taught about the risks of drugs, alcohol and underage sex, the fact that so few are taught about gambling is an anomaly.” A series of four lessons was given to 650 students aged 11 to 15. Of those, 41% said they had gambled in the past year by cash betting, playing fruit machines or cards. Demos is urging the government to include the lessons in the school curriculum.

Local angle – Dab, hake, herring and mackerel should be Britons’ fish supper of choice in order to support sustainable UK fishing and see us through Brexit, according to the Marine Conservation Society. It is suggesting a “post-Brexit” UK top 10 including species of fish that are not household names. The organisation says now could be the time to consider new options – like North Sea or west Scottish magrim, and Devon brown crab – rather than the familiar cod, haddock, salmon, prawns and tuna. They like their herring raw in Rotterdam where, because of Brexit, Unilever is to set up its headquarters instead of London (your segue game is not strong – Ed).

Tax scheme firm’s demise – Mossack Fonseca is to close its doors after being battered by revelations in the Panama Papers about its role in global tax evasion. Leaked files from the law firm were the basis of an investigation carried out by the Guardian and a media coalition in early 2016. Last month, Panamanian prosecutors raided its offices over a bribery investigation linked to the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht. Before its demise, Mossack Fonseca was the fourth-biggest firm helping the global super-rich hide their wealth offshore – much of it in British tax havens.

How to milk a platypus – Scientists have found an unlikely weapon in the war on superbugs: the milk of Australia’s strangest animal. The platypus – one of only two types of egg-laying mammals, known as monotremes – does not suckle its young. Instead, females express their milk on to their bellies. Researchers think this is why the milk contains an antibacterial protein that other mammals must have lost when they developed teats – a sterile delivery system. “Platypus are such weird animals that it would make sense for them to have weird biochemistry,” said Janet Newman, a scientist at Australia’s national CSIRO laboratory. It may prove useful in the global scramble to replace antibiotics that are losing their effectiveness against infections.



Lunchtime read: The mother who locked up the internet

Belinda Parmar was an evangelist of the digital revolution – now, she keeps her family’s devices locked up in a safe. “Technology takes parents out of control. I can’t compete with an amazing monster, that level of dopamine,” she says of the grip it gained on her son.

Adults can set an extremely poor example, says Richard Graham, a child and adolescent psychiatrist. “They’ll say: I need my phone for work, for my alarm. Unfortunately, with adolescents, anything like that smacks of hypocrisy and is incredibly damaging.” Parmar, the onetime “Ladygeek” of the blogosphere, reflects that struggle. “I love technology, but my own behaviour has changed because I’m more self-aware,” she says. The American Academy of Paediatrics has come up with a “family media plan” to foster “digital resilience” – learning to use today’s technologies in a measured way. They are, after all, unavoidable. “We’re psychologically cyborgs now, whether we like it or not,” says Graham.

Sport

Eddie Jones and the Rugby Football Union have both issued apologies after video footage emerged of the England head coach referring to “the scummy Irish” and Wales as a “little shit place” during a speech last year. Antonio Conte praised Lionel Messi as the kind of talent who emerges only once every half-century, after the Barcelona forward registered his 100th Champions League goal en route to eliminating Chelsea from the competition. Bayern Munich joined Barca in the hat for Friday’s quarter-final draw after beating Besiktas in Istanbul to complete an 8-1 aggregate victory over the Turkish side. Southampton have confirmed Mark Hughes as Mauricio Pellegrino’s successor, and Arsène Wenger will be out to woo unhappy Arsenal fans when his side play Milan in the Europa League at the Emirates tonight. And at the Cheltenham Festival, it will not improve Ruby Walsh’s mood if the horses he was booked to ride contrive to win both feature events on the third day, but Un De Sceaux has an obvious chance in the Ryanair and he may be followed a little later by Bacardys in the Stayers’ Hurdle.

Business

She was once dubbed “the new Steve Jobs”. But Elizabeth Holmes is in disgrace today after she and her Silicon Valley company Theranos were charged with deceiving investors to the tune of $700m by claiming it had developed a revolutionary blood testing system.

Asian shares have been pretty flat overnight as concerns about a trade war eased. The FTSE100 is on track to dip very slightly at 8am. The pound is up to $1.398 and €1.129.

The papers

The front pages are almost all in unison by having a lead story on the spy poisoning and a picture story of Stephen Hawking. The Telegraph headline says “We must bolster our defences”, referring to a call from defence secretary Gavin Williamson, while the Times says “France defies May over Russia”.

The Guardian devotes the top half of its front page to a picture of Hawking and underneath has the lead story “Russia threatens retaliation as May expels 23 diplomats”. The FT and the Mirror have a similar line.

After that, it diverges a bit with the Mail’s front page blaring “Corbyn, the Kremlin stooge” for what the paper says is the Labour leader’s appeasement of Vladimir Putin. The Sun agrees on the angle but its headline is “Putin’s puppet”. Its front also manages to pair the death of Hawking with that of Bullseye host Jim Bowen: “Supernova, smashing, great!”

For more news: www.theguardian.com

Sign up

The Guardian morning briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes bright and early every weekday. If you are not already receiving it by email, make sure to subscribe.