Top story: Fears for families surviving on cheap credit

Hello, I’m Warren Murray, and in honour of Valentine’s Day please accept this freshly picked bunch of stories.

British households could face a 30% rise in debt repayments over the next five years as interest rates go up, the government has been told. The projection was revealed by an FOI request. It could be a jolt for many, as costs of mortgages and other borrowings fell over the previous five years due to historically low rates.

The Office for Budget Responsibility argues, though, that it will be a relatively modest increase as a percentage of disposable income, while the IFS thinktank says it will mostly affect richer homeowners with large mortgages. But the Resolution Foundation has warned rate rises could hit millions of low-income families currently surviving on cheap credit.

‘Scariest flight of my life’ – An airliner has made a miraculous landing in Hawaii after one of its engines started to come apart mid-flight. Passengers captured the drama in photos and videos as United Airlines flight 1175 from San Francisco managed to limp on to Honolulu airport for an emergency landing.

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The plane involved was a Boeing 777, one of the world’s largest twinjets. United said everyone on board disembarked safely and it was fully co-operating with an investigation by air safety authorities.

Quick catch-up – It’s the middle of the week, so here is a briefing-within-a-briefing on developments in some of the bigger stories.



> Boris Johnson is accused of hypocrisy as he warns that thwarting Brexit would be a “betrayal” of leave voters. The Labour peer Andrew Adonis said Johnson’s “lies” in the 2016 campaign meant “the feelings of betrayal are against him, Farage and Rees-Mogg”. Martin Kettle says Johnson’s vision of a “liberal” Brexit is a delusion.

> Julian Assange has lost his latest bid to have the arrest warrant against him dropped. Judge Emma Arbuthnot said Assange should leave the Ecuadorean embassy in London and “face the consequences” of skipping bail in 2012.

> A senior official embroiled in the Haiti Oxfam sex scandal was previously forced out of another aid group over sex parties with local women in Liberia. The Charity Commission is investigating Oxfam and Minnie Driver has quit as its ambassador.

Heat turned up on Netanyahu – Israeli police have recommended charging Benjamin Netanyahu with bribery. The prime minister is accused of taking lavish gifts from international billionaires in return for favours and seeking to collude with a publisher to damage a competitor newspaper. Netanyahu has called the claims “outlandish” and a plot to overthrow his government. A political rival, the former PM Ehud Barak, said Netanyahu should stand down immediately: “The depth of corruption is horrifying. This does not look like nothing. This looks like bribery.”

‘Devious paedophile’ convicted – A former football coach has been found guilty of 36 charges of sexual offences against boys from the youth systems of Manchester City and Crewe Alexandra between the late 1970s and early 1990s. The jury is still considering further charges against Barry Bennell, 64, who has been called a “child molester on an industrial scale”. Liverpool crown court heard he decked out his house with toys, games, pets and bunk beds, and held sleepovers where he molested multiple victims. He also targeted boys while working at a Butlin’s holiday camp. Six former players, now in their 40s and 50s, were in court and some shed tears as the verdicts were read out.

Trigger warning – An Amazon Echo owner has tried to have a TV advert banned after it triggered the device to order cat food. Industry watchdog the ASA ruled that the inconvenience wasn’t a breach of advertising rules. Amazon says it has started “marking” ads to stop Alexa responding to them. But it doesn’t work for everything: Cartman and friends yelling at their Echo and Google Home assistants on South Park, or incidental mentions of the devices on other TV shows, have been known to cause havoc for owners.

Winter Olympics

Shaun White has won his third men’s snowboard halfpipe gold medal in a thrilling contest. The 31-year-old American trailed Ayumu Hirano leading into his final run, but managed a near-flawless score of 97.75 to oust the Japanese from top spot on the podium.

White’s victory marked the USA’s 100th Winter Olympic medal in history, while the USA have won all four snowboarding gold medals awarded at the Pyeongchang Games so far. The women’s slalom event was rescheduled to Friday because of high winds and lack of visibility. Medal events to follow today include Nordic combined (normal hill 10km, cross-country), women’s 1000m speed skating and women’s 15km individual biathlon. Meanwhile, Pyeongchang’s Olympics have seen athletes more open and public about their sexuality than ever before, with Canada’s Eric Radford becoming the first out Olympian to claim gold at a Winter Games.

Remember to follow our live blog for the latest action – and keep up by subscribing to our special daily recap email during the Games.



Lunchtime read: The new politics of sex

“Welcome to dating in the post-Harvey Weinstein era,” writes Gaby Hinsliff, where “nights that might once have been grimly chalked up to experience, classed as bad dates or near misses, are being exhumed and re-evaluated.”

In a piece that offers both examination and advice, our columnist explains that the treatment millennials expect – and what all women are now demanding – when it comes to sexual consent has relaid the ground rules of dating.

Sport

Tottenham have one foot in the Champions League quarter-finals after Christian Eriksen’s 72nd-minute free-kick topped off a brave Spurs fight back in Turin, where manager Mauricio Pochettino was full of praise for his side. In Basel, Ilkay Gündogan struck twice in a comfortable 4-0 win that will surely see Manchester City coast into the last eight. Ben Stokes, the England cricketer, will be tried for affray at Bristol Crown Court following an incident outside a city centre nightclub last September. Trevor Bayliss has welcomed the player’s return but confirmed he is unlikely to play in England’s first ODI of the New Zealand series. And Eddie Jones has criticised World Rugby for publicly admitting the TMO, Glenn Newman, was wrong to disallow Gareth Anscombe’s try during England’s 12-6 victory over Wales.

Business

Asian shares have been mixed ahead of lunar new year holidays and the release of US inflation data. The Nikkei slipped 0.6% while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.3%, South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.8%, the Hang Seng added 0.7% and the Shanghai Composite lost 0.3%.

The pound is worth $1.390 and €1.123 at the moment.

The papers

“Oxfam: now the backlash” is the Daily Mail splash headline today as it says donors both corporate and individuals are axing donations. “Iraq racket costs you a packet”, says the Sun, claiming fake claims of abuse are being lodged against “our boys”. The Guardian splashes on the conviction of paedophile football coach Barry Bennell on dozens of charges involving boys he took under his wing. The Times, like us, reports on how a disgraced Oxfam official had to quit an earlier charity role for using prostitutes in a warzome.

The Telegraph has Boris Johnson on why continuing to follow EU laws would be “intolerable” after Brexit. The i says he is moving to “squash the Remain resurgence”. The Express trumpets the rising cost of houses as vindication for the Brexit vote – but the Metro takes the same slant as us, highlighting that first-time buys are at a 10-year high as “Generation Rent finally get a foot on the ladder”. The FT goes with the ANC trying to get rid of Jacob Zuma as South Africa’s president.

For more news: www.theguardian.com

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