MEPs vote in favour of von der Leyen
Former German defence minister Ursula von der Leyen won 383 votes, 9 more than she needed, in the European Parliament on Tuesday evening to confirm that she will be the next president of the European Commission. Politico has a breakdown of the day and the votes. The BBC has video of her acceptance speech. Euronews reports on the mixed reactions to her appointment--and The Guardian has video of her being booed by Brexit Party MEPs when she spoke of her openness to an extension of the UK’s membership of the EU earlier in the day. Later on Twitter Nigel Farage said the result gave her “power but no legitimacy”. He was quickly reminded that her 52.3% of the vote was greater than the 51.9% who voted to leave the EU in the Brexit referendum. The New York Times reminds its readers that von der Leyen is the first woman to hold the EC president job. The Guardian has an interesting profile of the EC president-elect.
House condemns president over racist tweets
Reuters reports that the US House of Representatives voted on Tuesday to condemn Donald Trump for “racist comments” the president made against four Democratic congresswomen on Sunday. The resolution was approved on a mostly partisan-line vote of 240 to 187, says The Guardian. Trump was defended by Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, CNN reports. White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway got into an argument with a reporter when she asked “what’s your ethnicity?”, according to Vox. But earlier in the day her husband, lawyer George T. Conway III, called Trump a “racist president” in an op-ed for the Washington Post, which probably made for an interesting dinner conversation in the Conway household on Tuesday evening.
De Rugy resigns over lifestyle reports
French Environment Minister François de Rugy has resigned over claims by investigative website Mediapart that and his wife had been “living like royals on public funds” while he was parliament speaker, The Guardian reports. De Rugy says the attacks were tantamount to a “media lynching”, according to France 24.
Trump to investigate Google-China infiltration accusations
Donald Trump has said his administration will take a look to “see if there’s any truth” to accusations made by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel that Google may be infiltrated by Chinese intelligence agents, Reuters reports. The US president called Thiel a “great and brilliant guy who knows this subject better than anyone!”
Maltese journalist suspects charged
Three men have been formally charged over the October 2017 murder of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, The Guardian reports. Her anti-corruption investigations linked several Maltese politicians to the Panama Papers. Prosecutors now have up to 20 months to set a trial date, says The Times Of Malta.
Asia stocks fall amid uncertainty
Remarks by Donald Trump that there was still a long way to go before Washington and Beijing agree on trade sent stocks in Asia on a downward trend in early trading on Wednesday, CNBC reports.
Johnny Clegg mourned
South African musician and anti-Apartheid activist Johnny Clegg, known as the "white Zulu", has died at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer, the BBC reports. The South African Independent Online has a nice tribute.
That’s a bit steep
Residents of Harlech in Gwynedd, Wales, are celebrating their entry in the Guinness World Records for having the steepest street in the world, the BBC reports. Part of Ffordd Pen Llech has been officially registered at a challenging 37.45% gradient, beating previous holder Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, which measures just 35%.
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts