Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s headlines. If you’d like to receive this briefing by email, sign up here.
Top story: Multi-billionaire philanthropists facing litigation
Members of the Sackler family of multi-billionaire philanthropists are facing litigation and likely criminal investigation over their alleged role in the opioids crisis. Some of the Sacklers own Purdue Pharma, the firm behind the controversial prescription painkiller, OxyContin. Long Island’s Suffolk County has sued several family members personally over overdose deaths and addiction, while prosecutors in Connecticut and New York are understood to be considering criminal charges over the way the drug has allegedly been overprescribed and deceptively marketed.
Record deaths. A record 72,000 people died from drug overdoses in the US last year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, almost 49,000 of them killed by opioids.
Good works? The Sackler family has made major donations to leading US universities including Columbia, Cornell, Tufts and Yale, and to arts institutions and museums including the V&A in London, the Met in New York and the Smithsonian in DC.
Democrats run the table in Richard Nixon’s Orange County
The Democrat Gil Cisneros declared victory in California’s 39th district on Sunday, capping an extraordinary midterm success for southern California Democrats, who have now claimed four House seats from Republicans in the former GOP stronghold of Orange County, turning the birthplace of Richard Nixon blue. A Democrat also picked up the last Republican-held seat in neighbouring Los Angeles County.
Florida blues. Democrats were not so fortunate in Florida. After a recount, the US senator Bill Nelson conceded his seat to the state’s outgoing Republican governor, Rick Scott, on Sunday.
Migrant caravan comes up against growing protests in Tijuana
Tensions are growing in Tijuana, Mexico, where a caravan of up to 3,000 Central American migrants has congregated in hopes of crossing the border to a new life in the US. Hundreds of local residents staged a protest against the migrants on Sunday, echoing Donald Trump’s description of the caravan as an “invasion”. US border inspectors are processing only about 100 asylum claims per day at Tijuana’s main crossing to San Diego.
Tent city. Texans have expressed outrage at the prospect of Fort Bliss, a military base near El Paso, being turned into a “tent city” to detain migrants crossing the border from Mexico.
Border Wars. The war reporter Bryan Mealer spent weeks crisscrossing the border in the Rio Grande Valley, where he found familiar signs of trauma in one of the world’s most militarised corners.
Trump still considering White House staff shake-up
Donald Trump has said he is thinking about changing “three or four or five positions” in his White House team, amid continuing speculation that his chief of staff, John Kelly, and the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, are for the chop. Speaking to Fox News on Sunday, the president said there were “certain things that I don’t like that [Kelly] does”.
Mueller investigation. The Republican senator Lindsey Graham has joined Democrats in warning the acting attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, not to meddle with the Mueller investigation.
Crib sheet
The death toll from the California wildfires rose to 79 on Sunday, with almost 1,300 people still unaccounted for.
A senior Houthi official has called on fellow rebels to stop firing rockets and using attack drones in the conflict in Yemen, ahead of planned peace talks with the Saudi-backed government.
The 30th annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) summit has ended without a joint communique from leaders for the first time, amid growing tensions between the US and China.
Health officials in Qatar are braced for controversy after unveiling 14 large-scale bronze sculptures by Damien Hirst at a hospital in Doha; the sculptures depict the stages of pregnancy from conception to birth.
Must-reads
Can Amara Enyia become Chicago’s first black female mayor?
The 35-year-old Nigerian-American policy analyst Amara Enyia was a longshot candidate to replace the Chicago mayor, Rahm Emanuel. But with the backing of Chance the Rapper and Kanye West, she is now attracting supporters who are new to politics. Kari Lydersen reports.
Willem Dafoe: ‘Just a dopey kid that loved being in plays’
Willem Dafoe is returning to cinemas as Vincent van Gogh in an Oscar-tipped biopic. It’s important for actors to be flexible, he tells Amy Nicholson: “To some people, I’m Willem Dafoe of Spider-Man movies. For other people, I’m Willem Dafoe of Lars von Trier.”
How to survive an edible marijuana overdose
Cannabis-linked visits to the emergency room are becoming increasingly common, and edibles are a major culprit. Alex Halperin explains how to avoid ingesting too much marijuana, and why the best medicine might just be a Will Ferrell movie.
Hockney’s record-breaker: what great art looks like
David Hockney’s painting Portrait of an Artist sold for $90.3m last week, a new auction record for a living artist. Jonathan Jones says the 1972 work, which was inspired by a devastating breakup, offers “an insight into what makes a great work of art”.
Opinion
Carys Afoko co-founded a feminist group dedicated to ending sexism. But after the men in her life helped to see her through a tough 2017, this year she’s celebrating International Men’s Day.
I want to live in a country where a man like my brother is celebrated for the right things. Like how smart and funny he is, and how caring and protective he can be. As much fun as it can be to bitch about men, I’m not going to be part of a culture that vilifies them any more.
Sport
The former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was reportedly considered for the role of head coach at the Cleveland Browns. The rumours only show how little serious thought NFL bosses have given to hiring female coaches, writes Anya Alvarez.
Joey Logano sped past three former champions in the Nascar season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway on Sunday, claiming his first Cup championship after a stunning postseason surge.
Sign up
The US morning briefing is delivered by email every weekday. If you are not already receiving it, make sure to subscribe.
Support the Guardian
We’d like to acknowledge our generous supporters who enable us to keep reporting on the critical stories. If you value what we do and would like to help, please make a contribution or become a supporter today. Thank you.
