Yahoo Finance Monday briefing: 'We cannot accept this' – Myanmar's bloody Sunday
Top story: ‘Risking our lives for the country’
Hello, welcome to the Guardian morning briefing with Warren Murray on Monday 1 March – the first day of spring, at least.
At least 18 people have been killed over the weekend in a crackdown by Myanmar’s junta-led security forces, according to UN estimates. Police reinforced by military troops launched their most violent campaign yet on Sunday in an attempt to quash protests against the regime, which refuses to accept results of elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party.
The violent scenes have played out across the country. In Dawei, Mandalay, Myeik, Bago and Pakokku, protesters were killed with live ammunition, according to the UN, which condemned the use of escalating force against peaceful protesters. Ye Swan Htet, a protester in Yangon, persuaded his cousin, Nyi Nyi Aung Htet Nain, to go with him. The latter ended up being shot and killed. “They shot us with live rounds. We cannot accept this,” said Ye Swan Htet. But the “finish line” is close, he added: “We are all risking our lives for the country, so that we can achieve true democracy.”
Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader, has appeared in court today by videolink and appeared in good health, her lawyer said. The regime tabled a new charge of publishing information that may “cause fear or alarm”. The next hearing is scheduled for 15 March. The revered pro-democracy leader has been held since the February military coup triggered by her party’s election victory.
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Britons, Boseman and Borat – The Crown stars Emma Corrin and Josh O’Connor were feted during the virtual, largely living room-based Golden Globes as British talent dominated ceremonies overnight. Corrin won best actress in a drama TV series prize for her turn as Diana, Princess of Wales, while O’Connor won best actor in the category for his portrayal of Prince Charles. The show was also named best drama series. Britain’s Daniel Kaluuya won best supporting actor in a drama, film, for playing Black Panther Fred Hampton in Judas And The Black Messiah.
John Boyega won best performance by an actor in a TV supporting role for Small Axe while Rosamund Pike won best actress in a comedy or musical, film, for I Care A Lot. The late Chadwick Boseman won best actor in a drama for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Viola Davis won best actress for the same film. Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm won best musical or comedy, and the actor/director won both best actor in that category and best supporting actor, film, for The Trial of the Chicago 7. The Chinese director Chloé Zhao became only the second woman to win best director – for Nomadland, which also picked up best drama, film. Here is the full list of winners.
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Trump returns to stage – Donald Trump has sought to assert his grip on the Republican party in his first post-presidency speech, delivered from a stage arranged in the shape of a Nazi rune. Trump made clear he intends to remain a political force by declaring: “I stand before you today to declare that the incredible journey we began together four years ago is far from over.”
He suggested he might run again and reprised familiar false claims about having won an election that he is proven to have lost. Supporters repeated assertions amounting to: Trump should have won because he was sometimes in front before all votes were counted. A golden calf-style idol in Trump’s image was paraded around the convention halls of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Orlando, Florida.
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Train tickets go up – Rail fares in England and Wales increase by 2.6% today, the first time the government has put up prices above RPI inflation since 2013. The government says the 1% rise over inflation comes after extraordinary public spending to prop up rail services during the pandemic when revenues fell away. The increase was delayed for two months by the Department for Transport, partly to give season ticket holders time to renew at a lower price, officials said. Fares within Scotland will rise by a maximum of 1.6%, in line with last July’s RPI figure, with some capped at 0.6%.
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Stub out around hospitals, schools – Wales has become the first of the UK nations to make it illegal to smoke on hospital and school grounds, as well as public playgrounds and other outdoor daycare and childminding settings. A £100 fine applies. The Labour-led government says its aims include reducing the chances of children taking up the habit by making it seem less normal. At the entrances of the Grange University hospital in Cwmbran and the Royal Gwent in Newport, if you see someone smoking you will be able to push a button to have a warning blared out at them.
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Electric cars truly greener – Fossil fuel cars waste hundreds of times more resources than battery electric cars, according to a study that adds to evidence the switch will bring large environmental benefits. After recycling, only about 30kg of raw material is lost over the life of a lithium ion battery, compared with 17,000 litres of oil used in a petrol or diesel vehicle, according to analysis by Transport & Environment (T&E). Its calculation shows petrol and diesel cars use at least 300 times more resources. T&E calculations suggest a battery electric car will use 58% less energy than a petrol car over its lifetime and emit 64% less carbon dioxide.
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Shield bug causes stink – Scientists have confirmed that a pest with an unpleasant almond-like odour* has reached the UK. The brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) probably came in on packaging crates. Of south-east Asian origin, it looks similar to native shield bugs but is considered a pest because it leaves unappetising brown marks on fruit and vegetables. If it gets into vineyards its smell can contaminate wine.
The bug was discovered in 2020 in the gardens of the Natural History Museum and then at a house in Surrey. Max Barclay, entomologist at the museum, said eradication would not be possible. “We have larger shield bugs in the UK but none of our native species are agricultural pests of any significance at all,” said Barclay. “But this goes for a wide range of fruit and vegetables so people are quite concerned about it.”
* Finally – independent evidence for this writer’s contention that Bakewell tart tastes of stink bug.
Today in Focus podcast: Tycoon who went overboard
In 1991, Robert Maxwell died in circumstances that have yet to be fully explained. Thirty years on, his legacy is still being felt, says the author John Preston.
Lunchtime read: ‘Union unit’ can’t hold it together
Boris Johnson’s four-person union unit, dedicated to averting Scottish independence, had become used to operating quietly behind the scenes. That is until what one MP termed a “Whitehall psychodrama” exploded and propelled the team into the headlines. Two of its leaders have departed in a matter of weeks, raising awkward questions about how well equipped the Tories really are to stop a separatist surge from Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP at the Holyrood elections in May.
Sport
The England prop Ellis Genge has said he has received death threats after a video emerged online of him not clapping Wales into the tunnel after their Six Nations victory over Eddie Jones’s side on Saturday. The BBC and the Rugby Football Union have strongly condemned the online abuse suffered by the reporter Sonja McLaughlan following her pitchside interviews after Wales’s Six Nations victory over England on Saturday. Ole Gunnar Solskjær accused rival managers of looking to influence referees against Manchester United after his side were controversially denied a penalty during their goalless draw with Chelsea. Second-half goals from Curtis Jones and a Kean Bryan own goal ensured Liverpool posted a comfortable 2-0 win over the bottom side Sheffield United, while Arsenal had a penalty overturned but won 3-1 at third-placed Leicester and Gareth Bale scored twice as Tottenham roared back to form to beat Burnley 4-0.
Gordon Elliott, the trainer of dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll, has confirmed that an image circulating widely on social media, which shows the trainer sitting on a dead horse on his gallops, is genuine. Glenn Roeder, who managed West Ham United between 2001 and 2003, has died at the age of 65 following a lengthy illness. And Tiger Woods said he felt touched by a number of tributes paid to him by a host of the world’s best golfers on Sunday, after he was badly injured in a car crash earlier this week.
Business
Asia-Pacific markets have risen on hopes for President Joe Biden’s stimulus package and bargain-hunting after selloffs last week. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 surged 2.2% in morning trading, Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 jumped 1.5%, the Hang Seng advanced 0.9% while Shanghai rose 0.6%. South Korean markets were closed for a national holiday. In Japan the au Jibun manufacturing survey showed an expansion in February for the first time since April 2019. At time of writing the FTSE is trending towards opening about 1% higher while sterling is worth $1.397 and €1.156.
The papers
The Guardian leads with “Alarm over border delays as new Brazil strain hits UK”. The government is facing urgent calls for tougher border measures as UK officials search for one of six people infected with the B1128 variant. Also – Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure from Tory “red wall” MPs to cut taxes for thousands of retailers in Wednesday’s budget.
The i has “Mutant Brazil strain in UK: race to stop infection” while the Telegraph headlines that one as “Hunt for UK patient with Brazil mutation”. The FT does wonderfully with the vaccination synonyms: “EU leaders talk up AstraZeneca jab in effort to spur inoculations”. The Metro does that up as “Use it … or lose it” as “80% of EU’s 6.1m AstraZeneca jabs are still sitting unused in stockpiles”. The nations involved are being told that if it continues they should give them to poorer countries.
Budget coverage in the Mirror – “Save lost generation” is the plea from Gordon Brown, and in the Express – “Rishi: I’ll keep spending to get Britain moving”. Both features among titles bidding farewell to the late Corrie actor Johnny Briggs. The Mail is out on its own with “Justice in retreat” saying its investigation reveals “more than half of Britain’s police stations have closed in the last 10 years”. “People smugglers will be jailed for life, says Patel” – that’s the Times, but why go there when you can read it here?
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