Top story: Trump talks tough on Idlib chemical attack

Hello, it’s Warren Murray with the news you need this morning.

Bashar al-Assad’s apparent use of chemical weapons to kill more than 70 people in Idlib crossed “many, many lines” according to Donald Trump. But what will the US president do about it? That, it seems, is where the line becomes blurred.

Having underlined his all-options-on-the-table rhetoric (which he has also directed at North Korea just now), Trump faces the condundrum of how to deliver, write Julian Borger and Spencer Ackerman. A military intervention would mean going directly up against Vladimir Putin, who is fighting on the side of Assad, and probably killing Russians. But failing to act would look weak.

Today, Trump also begins hosting Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. One option that won’t be on the table is golf. The Chinese president doesn’t play the game, and Communist party leaders have at various times denounced and even banned it. Trump wants to talk about reducing the US trade deficit with China, bringing back jobs and getting Xi to help with North Korea. Our experts’ take: given Trump backtracked over Taiwan, and has directed complaints but no concrete action at Beijing so far, it’s Xi who goes into this encounter holding all the cards.

Term-time holiday ruling – The supreme court is to hand down its ruling today on the contentious issue of whether parents can legally take their children out of school during term. Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, is to pledge that Labour will charge VAT on private school fees to fund school meals for all primary school children.

Payback time – A law forcing larger companies to reveal their gender pay gap comes into force today. Firms with more than 250 employees will have to publish their first figures before April next year, including breakdowns of men and women in different pay bands, and women’s bonuses compared with men’s. The government argues that eliminating the gap could add £150bn to national productivity as firms with greater gender diversity tend to have better financial results.

China comes to Oxford – Peking University, where Mao Zedong was once a librarian, has bought Foxcombe Hall in Oxfordshire and will open a branch of its HSBC Business school with views of the “city of dreaming spires”.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peking University is to open an Oxford campus at Foxcombe Hall. Photograph: Peking University HSBC Business School​

The university makes no secret of its ties with the Communist party, which it says helped seal the £8.8m deal to buy the former home of the eighth earl of Berkeley. President Xi Jinping has cracked down on freedom of expression and declared China’s universities should make it their mission to indoctrinate students with the party line. At Foxcombe Hall you will be able to learn about “professional knowledge of China’s economy, financial market and corporate management”. Presumably in a framework approved by Big Daddy Xi …

Tinned spaghetti pizza – The New Zealand prime minister might not be asked to cook for the family again any time soon. Bill English reprised what is evidently a classic South Island dish for his brood and posted the results on Facebook.

But his creation – topped off with pineapple chunks – has polarised the nation, with some accusing the PM of culinary vandalism and creating a canned social media opportunity to divert attention from his government’s troubles. Our New Zealand correspondent Eleanor Ainge Roy recruited a local pizza joint to make her one. The verdict: it tastes “good – like a toasted cheese sandwich”. So go eat a toasted cheese sandwich then and spare us this grossness!

Moths having a ball – Our history is literally being eaten away as voracious moths tuck into precious curtains, carpets, costumes and tapestries hundreds of years old. The pale-backed clothes moth, Monopis sp., is the main culprit, and English Heritage is asking people to collect free traps from its properties, put them out at home and then report back after a few months to help gauge the scale of their spread. Meanwhile if your own knitwear comes under direct attack, “if it’s a beloved jumper, stick it in the freezer. If not, chuck it.”

Lunchtime read: Angela Merkel brought to book

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Two new books focus on the opening of Germany’s border to migrants by Angela Merkel. Photograph: Markus Schreiber/AP

The German chancellor’s decision in 2015 to open the borders to thousands of migrants has become a page-turner, with a newly released non-fiction thriller sitting on top of the bestseller lists and another, a fictional take, due to come out tomorrow. As Angela Merkel gears up for a re-election bid, Germans are hungry to understand what was going on, in her head and behind the scenes of government, when she announced the hugely consequential move that autumn, writes Philip Oltermann.

Sport

Chelsea’s grip on the Premier League title strengthened after a brace from Eden Hazard saw off Manchester City at Stamford Bridge, but Tottenham’s hopes are still alive after a dramatic late win over relegation-threatened Swansea. Arsène Wenger’s cause, meanwhile, was given a shot in the arm as Mesut Özil sparked Arsenal’s 3-0 win over West Ham.

With the Masters about to get under way, the participation of favourite Dustin Johnson has been thrown into jeopardy after a “serious fall” down stairs left the world No1 with a back injury.

In other news, Wladimir Klitschko has praised Anthony Joshua’s strength but queried his boxing ability, and Saracens performance director Phil Morrow has been recruited by Warren Gatland for the British and Irish Lions tour to New Zealand this summer.

Business

Donald Trump’s first meeting with Xi Jinping is weighing on the markets with investors nervous about a possible US-China trade war if things go badly in Florida.

Stocks in Japan slipped to their lowest since early December while Australian shares lost 0.6%. The FTSE100 is set to fall nearly 1% when it opens later this morning.



The pound is flat at $1.25 and if you’re Europe-bound it’s buying €1.17.



The papers

Most of the tabloids are leading again on the troubles of singer Mel B and her marriage. The Sun, Mirror and Star all give the story splash headlines and pictures.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Front page of the Guardian 6 April 2017.

The Times meanwhile says the government is being told to think again about increases in probate fees – some could rise from £155 to as much as £20,000 for larger estates in the event of death. The Lord Chancellor has been advised it could be seen as a tax, which would need the approval of parliament.

The Telegraph takes up most of its front page with Syria saying: “Trump squares up to Assad over attack”. It has a secondary news report about a father who watched his twins choke to death during the poison gas attack.



The Mail decides that foreign aid is the story of the day: “Now it soars by £1.2 billion” the headline reads. The story says an EU reassessment of the increased size of Britain’s economy has seen the amount of foreign aid increase. That is because the UK government promises to send 0.7% of national income abroad.

The FT’s headline reads: “May envisages free movement past 2019 as Brexit stance softens”. It says the prime minister has accepted the possibility of an extension of the free movement of people from Europe.

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