Top story: ‘You don’t make this in your kitchen’
Hello, it’s Warren Murray with the pocket edition of the day’s news.
The exiled Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by deliberate “exposure to a nerve agent”, say counter-terror police, who are treating the case as attempted murder. The Salisbury police officer first to the scene of their collapse has also fallen seriously ill, it has been revealed.
The poison used has been identified, according to police, who declined to name it. The best known nerve agents are VX and sarin, both of which are difficult and dangerous to produce outside a well-equipped laboratory – raising suspicions of an assassination attempt involving the Russian state. “This needs expertise and a special place to make it or you will kill yourself,” said one expert.
An unidentified man and a woman were captured on CCTV strolling in the alleyway close to the bench where Skripal was poisoned. The woman had blond hair and was holding a large scarlet bag. A little over a year ago, VX was used in Kuala Lumpur airport to murder Kim Jong-nam, the younger brother of North Korea’s dictator, Kim Jong-un.
Women on the march – It’s international women’s day and we are covering protests, celebrations and other events live.
Women in Spain are staging a nationwide “feminist strike” seeking an end to sexual discrimination, domestic violence and the wage gap; while the Global Women’s Strike campaign is marking its success in mobilising several movements. The prime minister, Theresa May, has announced a consultation on new measures to combat domestic abuse including tagging suspects, banning them from alcohol and drugs, and outlawing emotional and economic abuse. The TUC says women are still working 67 days a year for free because of the pay gap. Zoe Williams argues the only way to fix the Conservative party’s feminist failings would be to “attach a scrappy, energetic woman who listened to reason to every blowhard man who didn’t”. Rebecca Solnit writes how #MeToo and #TimesUp have seized a moment that took decades to bring about. And here’s why you don’t have to be a Hollywood star to bring others along on the path to equality. Finally, we have set things up so you can tell us how are marking the day – we will publish a selection of the material submitted.
Fatal car crash – In news that broke overnight, two boys believed to be 17 were killed and two children were among the injured after a horror crash near Thirsk, East Yorkshire. Police said a black Ford Focus, a black Vauxhall Corsa and a green Volkswagen Bora were involved in the collision on the A61 between Busby Stoop and Carlton Minniott. Police have appealed for witnesses or anyone with dashcam footage to come forward.
Mysteries of Jupiter revealed – The Juno spacecraft orbiting Earth’s largest sibling has revealed how the storms and swirls on its surface spiral 3,000km down through an increasingly dense atmosphere where hydrogen becomes a metallic gas and helium turns to rain. Spectacular images of the phenomenal turbulence on Jupiter’s exterior have been returned by the probe.
“The normal concept of gas, liquid and solid don’t really hold at these pressures,” says Yohai Kaspi, one of the scientists involved in publishing the findings. At its core, Jupiter probably has an extremely dense soup of gases, speckled with metallic elements, researchers think. Pressures are about 10 million times higher than at the Earth’s surface.
A few gifts too far? – The Westminster council deputy leader Robert Davis has stepped aside after he was revealed to have accepted hospitality or gifts 893 times over six years, frequently from property developers. Davis, who remains a councillor, argues the dinners, hotel stays, theatre tickets and trips abroad were all part of his job as planning committee chairman, and he had always rigorously declared them. Investigations by the council and an independent QC are under way.
Submarine case comes to court – The murder trial begins today of Peter Madsen, the Danish inventor accused of torturing and killing Swedish journalist Kim Wall during a trip on his homemade submarine. Madsen was once a celebrity for seeking to build a rocket and launch himself into suborbital space. Now he is accused by prosecutors of an “unusual and extremely brutal” murder in which he allegedly tied up, beat and stabbed her, sawed up her body, then sank the submarine to try to cover his tracks. Madsen’s trial is expected to run for 12 days.
Lunchtime reading: Crimes of the police informer
Gary Haggarty committed five murders, attempted another five, and engaged in 23 conspiracies to murder. As a UVF militiaman in Northern Ireland he also undertook arson attacks, beatings, hijackings and possessed small arsenals of firearms and explosives. The list of charges either admitted or “taken into consideration” goes on and on.
“He got away with his crimes for so long because he was, in addition to these things, a servant of the British state,” writes Ian Cobain. “He was a police informer.” In return for his cooperation, Haggarty’s effective sentence was whittled down to a few years’ jail. Cobain examines whether the information gleaned by the security forces from Haggarty and other “touts” on both the loyalist and republican sides was worth the terrible cost of their largely unpunished crimes.
Sport
Giorgio Chiellini, who defended for his life at Wembley, watched Juventus destroy Tottenham Hotspur’s Champions League dream with a devastating one‑two punch and said the London club lacked the mental toughness to win matches at this most rarefied level. In Manchester, Gabriel Jesus was on target as a lacklustre Manchester City moved into the quarter-finals despite defeat on the night to Basel. England women’s hopes of lifting the SheBelieves Cup in Orlando were dashed by Karen Bardsley’s second-half own goal in a 1-0 defeat to the USA.
Pressure was building on Sir Dave Brailsford to resign from his position as head of Team Sky following the news that they face another major anti-doping investigation. Australian vice-captain David Warner has given a frank insight into his angry rant directed at South African wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock on the fourth day of the first Test in Durban. And Serena Williams, who survived a pulmonary embolism giving birth last year, has said her return to the Tour on International Women’s Day after an absence of more than a year “could not have come on a better day”.
Business
The prospect of a trade war between the world’s two biggest economies increased after China’s foreign minister warned of a “necessary response” should Donald Trump introduce tariffs on steel and aluminium imports. The comments by Wang Yi showed that China will not take the tariffs lying down although stock markets calmed overnight on suggestions the US may offer exemptions on the tariffs to Canada and Mexico.
The FTSE100 looks like opening up slightly this morning, while the pound is buying $1.39 and €1.12.
The papers
The main story in town (unless you are the Express) is the Russian spy and the nerve agent attack in Salisbury that has also left a policeman seriously ill. The Mirror splashes with “Cop poisoned by nerve gas assassins”, calling it a “Russian spy outrage”. The Sun goes with “Nerve agent horror” while the Mail has the headline “Russia ‘could cripple UK’” and says the country’s cybersecurity chief has warned the Kremlin could shut down power supplies and hijack air traffic control.
The Telegraph has the lead “Policeman poisoned by Russian spy nerve agent” and quotes Boris Johnson promising a “robust” response if a foreign power is found to be responsible. The Guardian says the suspicion in Downing Street will be that the Kremlin has carried out another brazen attack on British soil. The Times says one line of inquiry is that the Russian spy’s daughter may recently and unwittingly have brought a “present” for him from Moscow. And the i says the policeman is in a coma after coming into contact with a rare nerve agent that was used for the first time in the UK.
Lastly the FT has a bit about the Russia spy drama but leads on Brussels rebuffing Theresa May’s latest plan and warning of the “inevitable friction” over Brexit. Sorry, really lastly, the Express leads with “Corrie star Bill: my heartbreak”.
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