Top story: ‘Sorry for making you live through this’
Hello, it’s Warren Murray with the headlines of the day.
The spectacular reappearance of journalist Arkady Babchenko after his “murder” in Ukraine has triggered relief but also censure and exasperation among colleagues and observers. Babchenko said Ukrainian security services staged his shooting as a sting to round up the conspirators in a Russian plot to assassinate him. He apologised to his wife, Olechka, for the “nightmare” but said there had been no alternative. “I’m sorry for making you live through this,” said the dissident reporter, who fled Russia after death threats. “I’ve buried my own friends and colleagues many times myself.”
But the case is a gift to the Kremlin, which has had the killing of a number of Russian dissenters traced back to its door, and oversees a well-oiled fake news operation that propagates conspiracy theories. The state-run Russia Today (RT) network has wasted no time in presenting it as evidence of widespread media manipulation in Nato countries and the west. “The next time a Kremlin critic is shot to death, or poisoned, or falls curiously from their balcony to die on the concrete below,” writes Guardian correspondent Shaun Walker, “the first question is always going to be: are they really dead?”
Sexism of the boardroom – The retrograde views of FTSE bosses about female company directors have been illustrated by a government report that found a dismissive attitude to the need to increase diversity. Senior executives’ excuses included that they “have one woman already on the board – it’s someone else’s turn”, that other directors “wouldn’t want to appoint a woman”, and that “the issues covered are extremely complex” and there are no women qualified enough. The business minister, Andrew Griffiths, described the comments as “pitiful and patronising”. Amanda Mackenzie, chief executive of the corporate social responsibility group Business in the Community, said: “As you read this list of excuses, you might think it’s 1918, not 2018 … Maybe those that give credence to these excuses are the ones that are not up to sitting on boards and should move over: we are in the 21st century after all.”
Greer: rape is lazy – Germaine Greer has called for rape penalties to be reduced, saying it should not be treated outright as a “spectacularly violent crime”. “Most rape is just lazy, just careless, insensitive,” Greer, who was raped at age 18, told a Hay festival audience. “Every time a man rolls over on his exhausted wife and insists on enjoying his conjugal rights he is raping her. It will never end up in a court of law.” In cases of obviously violent rape, she argued, the courts should concentrate on the violence, which should attract bigger sentences, rather than routinely conducting long trials that humiliate women. Greer is publishing her full argument on rape in a forthcoming book.
‘Do we have a future here?’ – A senior figure in Britain’s Jewish community says a Jeremy Corbyn prime ministership could drive Jews from the country. “[Corbyn] has views which are antisemitic, and he has problematic views,” said Jonathan Arkush, the outgoing president of the Jewish Board of Deputies. “He was a chairman of Stop the War, which is responsible for some of the worst anti-Israel discourse.” Corbyn’s spokesman said the comments were “personal attacks without any evidence to support them … Jonathan Arkush’s attempt to conflate strong criticism of Israeli state policies with antisemitism is wrong and undermines the fight both against antisemitism and for justice for the Palestinians.”
Trust trumps tactics – Donald Trump’s approach to negotiating with North Korea courts “disaster” if he does not respect the need to gradually build trust. That’s the view of the Japanese former diplomat Hitoshi Tanaka, who helped orchestrate the release of five abducted Japanese citizens in 2002. He outlined how it took many meetings in the course of a year, involving a host of officials and intermediaries, to build confidence and momentum. In contrast, Trump appeared to be “trying to do many things on his own” including his off-again, on-again approach. Our foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall writes this morning that Trump’s aim of a swift, headline-grabbing deal could be stymied by some uninvited guests at the planned Singapore summit: regional interests including China, Russia, Japan and South Korea all want a piece of the action.
‘Extraordinary cast of leaders’ – The Duchess of Sussex, the Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, the singer Dua Lipa and the Harry Potter novelist JK Rowling are among prominent inclusions in Vogue’s inaugural guide to Britain’s 25 most influential women. Also chosen are Katharine Viner, editor-in-chief of the Guardian, along with reporters Amelia Gentleman, who exposed the Windrush scandal, and Carole Cadwalladr, who broke the Cambridge Analytica/Facebook story. Our report includes the full list.
Lunchtime read: Recipes from scrap
“Faced with a fridge full of turning veg, the wreckage of a Sunday roast or pans of leftover rice, there is no such thing as too much inspiration.” Well put Tony Naylor, who has pulled together ideas from leading chefs like Jamie Oliver and Skye Gyngell to stop you throwing out so much perfectly good food.
Make your outer cabbage leaves into sauerkraut. Keep your stale bread for croutons. And as for vegetable skins: a puree, a salad and making vegetable salt are all ideas with a peel …
Sport
The 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams may have returned to Roland Garros in trademark unflappable fashion this week, but she has opened up about the challenging experiences of motherhood following the birth of her daughter, Alexis. Meanwhile the conversation around the playing surface in Paris continues after Rafael Nadal admitted the clay was “more slippery than usual”. And Novak Djokovic’s first two round performances mean that the injury-ravaged former world No 1 could be leading the pack in the hunt to steal the men’s crown from Spaniard Nadal, says Kevin Mitchell.
Danny Welbeck leads the England World Cup squad for international goals, and heading into Russia 2018 he details his lengthy struggles with injury as well as the reading material that’s motivated him to return. Finally the lawyer for Colin Kaepernick has claimed at least one NFL owner has testified under oath that he changed his mind about signing the former quarterback after President Trump called for players who kneel during the anthem to be fired.
Business
The US will announce that the EU is being excluded from exemptions from steel and aluminium tariffs, according to reports. It will add to growing tension in Asia about the Trump administration’s trade policy, which is under attack from China and Japan. Still with the US and the Federal Reserve is proposing to relax the limits on risky trading that Wall Street banks are allowed to carry out. If it happens, it will reverse a major reform of the post-financial crisis years. And talking of crises, the euro maintained its recovery after Italy’s president signalled the country’s two biggest parties would be given more time to form a new government rather than risk fresh elections.
The pound is buying $1.331 and €1.14. The FTSE is expected to rise by around 0.4% at the open.
The papers
“You only live twice”. The Sun and the Star have the same headline for the story of Arkady Babchenko’s reappearance, though the latter adds an exclamation mark. “Back from the dead” is how the i handles it. The Guardian explains in full: “I faked my own death to avoid Kremlin hitman, says journalist”.
Some of the others have front-page pictures of Babchenko but he is not their splash. “Stop this Brexit border madness”, rails the Express – it’s more of that Rees-Mogg fury as the Tory MP complains that the Ireland issue is spoiling his Brexit. Still in the Brexit vein: “Brexit deal on security is blocked by France” – the Times reports that Britain could lose access to a Europe-wide crime-fighting database. “Sexist FTSE chiefs claim women aren’t fit for boardrooms” says the Telegraph as it covers a government report criticising the diversity failings of big companies. Get ready for “£100 a month energy bills” – the Mail warns that “Big Six” suppliers have all put their prices up. The Mirror says it’s got “THE PROOF” that British pilots were deliberately exposed to radiation in cold war nuclear experiments. Finally the FT: “US snubs Brussels call for relief from steel and aluminium tariffs”, a story we’ve got covered here.
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