Top story: Sweeping review after second trial collapses

Good morning – it’s Warren Murray and Martin Farrer bringing you today’s briefing.

Scores of sexual assault cases are being reviewed by the Metropolitan police after potential errors led to the collapse of a second rape case in a matter of days. An alleged child rapist, Isaac Itiary, was cleared at Inner London crown court on Tuesday with the prosecution offering no evidence.



The Guardian understands that material recovered from the phone of the complainant by police during their inquiries was only handed over to the defence lawyers in recent days. The prosecution and police have a duty to disclose such evidence, with one source saying the Met had been “a bit slow” in the Itiary case.

The same thing happened in the case of Liam Allan, 22, who was cleared of multiple rape charges at Croydon crown court last week after previously undisclosed text messages emerged. The Met has said that as a precaution, “every live case being investigated by the child abuse and sexual offences command” is being reviewed.

Trump tax cuts pass Senate: In breaking news, a short time ago the US Senate passed Donald Trump’s controversial tax cuts. The $1.5 trillion tax bill, the most drastic rewriting of the US tax code in 30 years, includes permanent tax breaks for corporations and temporary cuts for individuals. The bill was passed along party lines, with every Senate Republican present voting in favour and all Democrats voting against. Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, said Republicans would “rue the day” when they passed the bill, which he blasted as a “disgrace”. Democrats have sharply criticised Republicans over a bill that independent analysts have projected will disproportionately benefit the wealthy and corporations.

Safety brake ‘could have saved lives’ – The high-speed train derailment that killed three people and injured dozens near Seattle happened after the service made its disastrous maiden trip before safety systems were fully ready. The Amtrak train was going 80mph in a 30mph zone when it hurtled off the rails on the approach to a bridge, sending carriages plunging on to a highway below.

Play Video 0:43 Aerial footage shows aftermath of deadly Amtrak derailment near Seattle - video

A “positive train control” system that could have put the brakes on automatically had not yet been activated on the section where the accident happened. Federal investigators say they are looking into whether the engineer was distracted.

No ETA for Trump – If Britain and the US were friends on Facebook, they might be changing their relationship status from “special” to “complicated”. After Theresa May and Donald Trump exchanged rebukes about the president’s Islamophobic tweets, then differed over Jerusalem, they have shared a phone conversation that brought little in the way of public clarity to the state of bilateral relations. Trump has been invited to open the new US embassy in London next February, and officially the welcome mat is at the ready, but it seems clear that he would face large-scale demonstrations rather than the sort of stage-managed reception he enjoyed in Saudia Arabia, Israel and China. The best that can probably be said is that President Trump is as welcome to visit the UK as he always has been …

Scandal of the ‘hidden homeless’ – Homelessness in England is a national crisis and the government’s approach to tackling the problem has been an abject failure, MPs say in a damning report. More than 9,000 people are sleeping rough on the streets and more than 78,000 households, including 120,000 children, are living in temporary accommodation that is often substandard. The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) is “unacceptably complacent” about the situation, according to the public accounts committee. The MPs have called for a plan of action by mid-June 2018, saying funding should be better targeted to councils where housing shortages are most acute. In Nottingham, the charity Action Hunger has unveiled a vending machine for homeless people that dispenses water, fresh fruit, sandwiches, snacks, socks and personal hygiene essentials. People in need are given an access card for up to three items per day.

Brexit to hit leaver constituencies – Many areas of the UK that voted for Brexit will suffer the most from the economic consequences of leaving the EU. Researchers at the University of Birmingham studied regional variations in the share of labour income and GDP reliant on the EU, and found that areas in the Midlands and north of England, many of which voted for Brexit, had the greatest exposure to possible negative trade-related consequences. The study appears to contradict claims by the Leave campaign that London benefited the most from EU membership. Looking at Europe as a whole, the study found that an estimated 2.64% of EU GDP was at risk from Brexit trade-related consequences whereas 12% of UK GDP was at risk.

From the North Pole to Middle Earth – Tolkien fans are in for a special treat next year when the Bodleian library in Oxford stages a major exhibition about the author’s life and career, including manuscripts, maps and letters.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tolkien’s first letter from Father Christmas in 1920. Photograph: The Tolkien Estate Ltd 1976

But there is particular seasonal interest in the immaculate illustrated letters he wrote to his children in the 1920s and 30s posing as Father Christmas, and which give a first glimpse of the goblins and cave-dwellers that feature in his classic works. Many recount the adventures of his friend and helper the Polar Bear. In one letter dated 1926 he accidentally switches on all the Northern Lights and in another from 1932 goblins try to steal stored presents. Catherine McIlwaine, Tolkien archivist at the Bodleian, said people would be “blown away” by the exhibition, which opens in June.



Lunchtime read: ‘I remembered Mum because I had to’



A mother and daughter have been reunited 40 years after Indonesia’s takeover of Timor-Leste tore them apart. Kauka, now 47, was abducted by an Indonesian soldier in 1978 at the age of eight and “adopted” into his family, where she was put to work as a household slave. Eventually she became stepmother to another man’s children. After Timor-Leste regained independence in 1999, the charity Asia Justice and Rights began tracking down stolen children like Kauka.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kauka, who was abducted as a child by an Indonesian soldier, meets her mother for the first time in 39 years in Timor-Leste. Photograph: Krithika Varagur/The Guardian

Last month Kauka journeyed back to her village, Berleo, on the island of Sulawesi. A woman wrapped in faded linen opened her door, they embraced dully, and sat down inside. Then Kauka took the older woman’s hand and found a scar that she remembered. “This is my mum,” she said. “This is my mum.” Amid tears, they embraced with force, surrounded by people who were suddenly Kauka’s family again. That night, similar reunions were held across the tiny country as 15 other stolen children came home. “You probably don’t remember anything about your mum from when you were a child,” said Kauka. “But I did. Because I had to.”

Sport

Pep Guardiola celebrated Manchester City’s penalty shootout victory over Leicester City to secure a place in the semi-finals of the Carabao Cup, but the Spaniard categorically ruled out any possibility that his squad could pull off an unprecedented quadruple. Meanwhile, Arsenal eased past West Ham 1-0 but Olivier Giroud suffered a hamstring injury and will miss the busy festive season.

Justin Gatlin has denied he is using banned drugs and plans to take legal action against a newspaper that claimed he was embroiled in a doping scandal. Ben Duckett has paid a heavy price for his off-field indiscretions in Australia by being left out of the England Lions squad that will tour the West Indies next year. The No7 seed Adrian Lewis, a former PDC world champion, was dumped out by the qualifier Kevin Münch in the latest first-round shock at this year’s tournament. And Australian rugby league player Jarryd Hayne has been accused of raping a woman during his time playing for the San Francisco 49ers, according to civil court documents filed in California.

Business

Asian shares have edged up slightly, shrugging off Wall Street’s losses as the long-awaited US tax reform bill continued to wind its way through Congress, while higher Treasury yields underpinned the dollar. MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan inched up 0.1% and Japan’s Nikkei stock index was slightly higher in afternoon trading.

The pound has been trading at $1.339 and $1.130 overnight.

The papers

The Guardian, the Daily Telegraph and the Times all lead on the collapse of a second rape trial in two weeks over the non-disclosure of evidence by police, while the Sun and the Mirror focus on officers foiling an alleged Christmas bomb plot. Many front pages also carry news of the sentencing of Arthur Collins for an acid attack on a London nightclub, with Metro splashing on the 20-year jail term.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Guardian front page, Wednesday 20 December 2017

The Scotsman carries a warning on persistent health inequalities, while the i has Jeremy Hunt admitting that the NHS faces big problems. Both the Daily Express and the Daily Mail plump for news that council tax bills are due to rise by £100, which the Mail doesn’t find very Christmassy. And the Financial Times leads on the good/bad (delete as appropriate) news that “banker bonus hopes” have been dashed, as EU caps would still exist post-Brexit.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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