Yahoo News US briefing: Giuliani under pressure, Ilhan Omar, and India shootings
Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Impeachment report details Parnas role in Ukraine scandal
A lawyer for Lev Parnas, a Ukrainian-born associate of Rudy Giuliani, is in talks to strike a plea deal with federal prosecutors after being indicted for making illegal campaign donations. As outlined in the 300-page impeachment report by House intelligence committee Democrats, Parnas and his business associate Igor Fruman were deeply involved in Giuliani’s hunt for dirt on Joe Biden in Ukraine, and the plea deal would likely increase Giuliani’s legal jeopardy.
Nancy Pelosi. On Thursday, in an announcement that began with lofty references to the founding fathers, the House Speaker directed the judiciary committee to draw up formal articles of impeachment against Donald Trump.
Muslim congresswomen targeted in far-right Facebook plot
A Guardian investigation has uncovered a plot by a mysterious Israeli-based group, which has harnessed 21 of Facebook’s most popular far-right pages to influence politics on four continents and profit from the resulting Islamophobia. The campaign – whose targets included the progressive Muslim US congresswomen Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib – pushes more than 1,000 fake news posts per week to more than 1 million followers. The group then uses the traffic to increase its revenue from digital advertising.
Spreading misinformation. When the Guardian notified Facebook of its investigation, the company removed several several pages and accounts – not because they were spreading misinformation, but because the content “appeared to be financially motivated”.
Indian police shoot dead men accused of rape and murder
Four men accused of the gang rape and murder of a young vet in the Indian city of Hyderabad have been shot dead by police, who said the suspects tried to escape while taking part in a reconstruction of the crime. There had been calls from the public and some politicians for the men – high-profile hate figures across India – to be lynched. And the circumstances of their deaths have raised suspicions they were victims of extrajudicial killings by police – a not-uncommon occurrence.
Brutal crime. The accused men had allegedly deflated their 27-year-old victim’s scooter tyres at an isolated roadside, before dragging her into bushes, raping and killing her, and then setting her body alight in an underpass.
Sydney choked by smog as NSW fires blaze out of control
The premier of New South Wales has said the Australian state’s entire coastline is now ablaze, as five bushfires raging north of Sydney joined to become a single vast conflagration on Friday, threatening lives and property and blanketing the city in thick smog. That fire, covering about 335,000 hectares (827,000 acres), is one of more than 100 burning across NSW, more than half of which are out of control, with further hot, dry conditions forecast in coming days.
Bushfire deaths. Six people have died and more than 680 homes have been lost to bushfires in NSW already this fire season. The number of patients with respiratory problems attending Sydney hospital emergency departments has risen by 25%.
Cheat sheet
Joe Biden was drawn into a spat with a voter at a campaign event in Iowa on Thursday, calling the man a “damn liar”, after he accused Biden of having “sent” his son Hunter to Ukraine to work with the energy company Burisma.
Three national guard soldiers were killed after their Black Hawk helicopter crashed south of St Cloud in central Minnesota on Thursday.
Uber’s first annual safety report has revealed more than 3,000 claims of sexual assault during rideshares in 2018, including 229 rapes. The numbers include attacks on both riders and drivers, while in some cases, the assaults occurred between riders.
A protest song about rape culture, written by a Chilean feminist theatre group and entitled Un Violador en Tu Camino (“A Rapist in Your Path”), has gone viral, with performances in multiple countries, becoming a global anti-rape anthem.
Must-reads
PodShare: like Uber, but for youth hostels
For $60 a day, the temporary residents of PodShare in LA and San Francisco get a bed in a 50 sq ft (4.6 sq metre) pod, with a Netflix-ready TV and access to communal work, kitchen and bathroom spaces. Shawna Kenney meets the grownups who call these glorified dorms home.
Wisconsin shootings raise concerns about school guards
There were two non-fatal shootings a day apart this week at schools in Wisconsin. In both cases, the shots were fired not by students, but by the armed guards employed to protect them. The incidents have opened a fresh debate about how to combat gun violence in schools.
The Afghan families torn apart by drone strikes
Afghanistan has been targeted by more than 4,000 drone strikes this year. As part of the Guardian’s series on drone proliferation, the photojournalist Stefanie Glinski visited Achin district to document some of the communities that have been devastated by their impact.
What it’s like to be a great-great-great-grandmother
Vera Sommerfeld was 21 when she had her first child – not unusual for a Canadian woman in the 1940s. But now, at 99, she is that rare thing: the oldest of six surviving generations of women. “I’ve always put my longevity down to my daily rum and soda,” she says.
Opinion
In the past couple of weeks alone, two GOP congressional candidates have called for Ilhan Omar’s execution. The Minnesota congresswoman already faces real and relentless threats, says Moustafa Bayoumi. Are Republicans trying to get her killed?
When they look at Ilhan Omar, Republicans seem to see someone so unlike them that the most she represents is a cynical opportunity. Here’s a politician who is a progressive, black, refugee, hijab-wearing Muslim woman. Who better to focus all their venom on?
Sport
The Arsenal interim manager Freddie Ljungberg’s frank half-time team talk could not prevent his troubled side going 2-1 down to Brighton at home on Thursday. Everton have lost their fourth coach in as many seasons after sacking Marco Silva; caretaker manager Duncan Ferguson faces his first test against Chelsea on Saturday. That’s one of 10 things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend.
If a climber as accomplished as Brad Gobright can fall to his death as a result of a simple untied knot, it’s hard not to conclude that such tragic climbing accidents are all but unavoidable. In truth, writes Patrick Redford, death is the emotional counterweight that makes the sport’s most important achievements stand out.
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