Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Top story: President cancels House speaker’s visit to troops
Donald Trump has stepped up his personal feud with the Democratic House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, by denying her the use of a military aircraft to visit US troops in Afghanistan. On Wednesday, Pelosi suggested that the president postpone his annual State of the Union address to Congress over concerns that the agencies responsible for security at the event were overstretched during the partial government shutdown. On Thursday, Trump responded by postponing Pelosi’s foreign trip and suggesting she “fly commercial” instead.
PR stunt. In his letter to Pelosi, Trump wrote that, due to the shutdown, “postponing this public relations event is totally appropriate”. He added: “It would be better if you were in Washington negotiating with me.”
‘Utterly irresponsible.’ The Democratic House intelligence chief, Adam Schiff, criticised Trump for publicising Pelosi’s travel plan, which would not normally be made public.
How two years of Trump have changed key US policies
With Trump marking two years in office this weekend, Guardian reporters take an in-depth look at how his administration has changed US policy in five key areas: the economy, criminal justice, the environment, immigration and foreign policy, which, writes Julian Borger, has been defined by its “confusion – not only in the frequent gaps between the paths taken by the president and his own administration, but also in the morass of contradictions and U-turns in his own impulses”.
Little things. While Trump’s climate change denial and EPA corruption allegations make headlines, it is “the more mundane unspooling of arcane regulations” that is likely to do deeper, long-term damage to the environment, writes Oliver Milman.
North Korean envoy to meet Pompeo in Washington
North Korea’s lead nuclear negotiator arrived in Washington DC on Thursday, where he is due to meet the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, in the hope of paving the way for a second summit between Trump and Kim Jong-un. Kim Yong-chol may also meet the president at the White House on Friday, as the administration renews its efforts to persuade North Korea to denuclearise.
Missile strategy. The visit comes a day after Trump unveiled plans for a new US missile defence strategy aimed at deterring attacks by “rogue states” including North Korea.
Democrat takes charge of Flint water crisis investigation
The new Democratic attorney general of Michigan, Dana Nessel, this month took over the investigation into the Flint water crisis, creating hope among activists that victims will be properly compensated and the officials involved face tougher punishment, reports Tom Perkins from Detroit. Critics say that under Republican leadership, the investigation let its targets off lightly, despite 15 state and city officials facing criminal charges or being prosecuted over the decisions that led to an environmental health catastrophe.
‘Show trials’. During her 2018 campaign, Nessel described the prosecutions over the Flint crisis as “politically charged show trials” staged by her predecessor, Republican Bill Schuette, who ran for governor and lost to the Democrat, Gretchen Whitmer.
Crib sheet
The Sri Lankan president has praised his Philippines counterpart Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs as “an example to the world”. On a visit to the Philippines this week, Maithripala Sirisena said he intended to emulate Duterte’s ruthless strategy.
Authorities in Tokyo are investigating whether a graffiti picture of a rat in the city centre is a genuine Banksy. Meanwhile, a Banksy work found on the side of a garage in Port Talbot, Wales, has just been sold for a six-figure sum.
Israel has accused the Malaysian prime minister, Mahathir Mohamad, of “rabid antisemitism” after he denied visas to Israeli athletes due to compete in a Paralympics qualifying event, to demonstrate his country’s solidarity with Palestine.
The Queen’s 97-year-old husband, Prince Phillip, has escaped unscathed from a car accident on the Sandringham estate. Both he and the driver of the other car involved were breathalysed at the scene and found not to have been drinking, police said.
Listen to Today in Focus: Can a Democrat beat Trump?
On today’s podcast, host Anushka Asthana and political reporter Sabrina Siddiqui study the growing Democratic presidential field for 2020 and ask which, if any, of the candidates have the right qualities to unseat Trump.
Must-reads
Adam McKay and Adam Curtis on Dick Cheney
Adam McKay, the director of the award-winning Dick Cheney biopic, Vice, sat down with Adam Curtis, the British journalist and filmmaker, to discuss their shared interest in the rightwing power grab that Cheney masterminded during his decades in Washington.
Has euthanasia gone too far?
Since the Netherlands legalised euthanasia in 2002, countries around the world – along with several US states – have made it easier to choose the time and manner of one’s death. But Dutch doctors are starting to wonder where to set the limits of a practice that has become so normalised, as Christopher de Bellaigue reports.
Frank Sinatra’s granddaughter does it her way
Frank Sinatra’s granddaughter, AJ Lambert, is the only one of Old Blue Eyes’ descendants to sing his songs. “When I hear things he sings,” she tells Michael Hann ahead her debut LP’s release, “I hear them as a fan, but also as a human being I knew.”
And the Oscar for best wife goes to …
Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney and Claire Foy as Janet Armstrong will probably vie for the best supporting actress gong at this year’s Oscars. They join a long and problematic tradition of great actresses playing the stoic, supportive wife to an important man, writes Guy Lodge.
Opinion
With several female candidates already vying for the party’s 2020 presidential nomination, the Democrats are once again being described as “the party of women”. Jessa Crispin says that, as 2016 proved, appeals to an entire gender are cheap and not always effective.
There are those in politics and in the media who have not learned from the Hillary Clinton presidential campaign. In Clinton’s and her feminist friends’ appeals to women, they overlooked just how many women’s lives had been damaged by Clinton’s policies.
Sport
The four best teams in the NFL play each other on Sunday. Hunter Felt breaks down their chances of securing a spot at Super Bowl LIII, and predicts a Saints-Chiefs showdown in Atlanta.
From raw eggs to raw moose liver, boxing fans are accustomed to fighters’ outlandish diets. But Bryant Jennings, the Philadelphia heavyweight who faces Colombian Óscar Rivas on Friday night, has the most unlikely boxer’s diet of all: he’s a strict vegan.
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