Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Top story: Russia and other allies stand by Maduro
The US, Canada, the EU and several South American powers have backed Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, after he declared himself the country’s interim president in a bid to oust Nicolás Maduro, amid days of political unrest in which 14 people have died. Maduro is being supported by allies including Russia, Turkey and Bolivia.
Entrenched power. Donald Trump warned that “all options are on the table” if Maduro responded to his opponents’ challenge with force but it remained unclear whether or how Maduro can be decisively unseated.
Bolivar’s legacy. Guaidó declared himself president while holding a copy of Venezuela’s constitution bearing a portrait of Simón Bolívar, a 19th century revolutionary. Bolívar was a national hero whose mantle was also claimed by Maduro’s mentor, Hugo Chávez.
Trump backs down on State of the Union address
Trump has said he will wait until the partial government shutdown is resolved to deliver his annual State of the Union address, after the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, vowed to block him from making the speech in the House chamber on 29 January as originally planned. Following speculation he might spite her by delivering the address from elsewhere, the president announced on Twitter that “no venue … can compete with the history, tradition and importance” of the chamber and he looked forward to giving a “great” speech “in the near future”.
Air safety. Union leaders representing air traffic controllers and other aviation workers issued an urgent joint statement on Wednesday, warning the shutdown posed a heightened risk to the safety and security of air travel in the US.
Top adviser describes ‘war’ inside the FDA over opioids
The chair of the Food and Drug Administration’s opioid advisory committee has said there is a “war” within the agency over its approach to the opioids crisis. Dr Raeford Brown told the Guardian the FDA had put the interests of big pharma ahead of public health by continuing to approve high-strength painkillers while failing “to learn the lessons” of a prescription drug epidemic, which has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. “For every day … the FDA don’t do the right thing, people drop dead on the streets,” he said.
‘Terrible drug’. Brown singled out the “terrible drug”, Dsuvia, which was recently approved by the FDA despite being up to 10 times as potent as Fentanyl.
Court to rule on Amanda Knox’s last outstanding conviction
The European court of human rights is set to decide on Thursday whether Amanda’s Knox’s final remaining conviction for malicious accusation should be overturned. Knox, now 31, spent almost four years in an Italian prison after being convicted of the 2007 murder of her British housemate, Meredith Kercher, in Perugia, before she and her Italian former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were acquitted on appeal in 2011.
‘Malicious accusation’. The American was convicted for suggesting another person should be a suspect in the murder. She is appealing on the grounds that Italian police assaulted her, denied her an interpreter and subjected her to psychological pressure while under arrest.
Crib sheet
North Korean state media has reported Kim Jong-un’s “great satisfaction” at receiving a letter from Trump ahead of a second summit between the two leaders, slated for February.
The hedge fund founder Ken Griffin is the proud new owner of America’s most expensive home after forking out roughly $238m for a 24,000-sq-ft penthouse on New York’s Billionaire’s Row, more than double the previous record.
At least five people were killed in a shooting at a bank in Sebring, Florida, on Wednesday. The 21-year-old suspect, named as Zephen Xaver, surrendered to police.
Microsoft’s Bing search engine has been blocked by Chinese authorities, having previously been the only major foreign search engine accessible behind China’s so-called Great Firewall.
Must-reads
The hunt for the perfect flu vaccine
Vaccines have successfully seen off smallpox, rabies and polio, and all but defeated other diseases such as measles. So why does a reliable, consistent flu vaccination continue to elude modern medicine? Jeremy Brown reports.
Victims of conspiracy theories speak out
Marcel Fontaine was wrongly identified as the Parkland shooter. James Alefantis was falsely accused of running a paedophile ring from his pizza restaurant. Ed Pilkington spoke to them and others about how they survived being swept up in conspiracy theories.
The Gillette founder’s utopian dream
In 1894, just as he was perfecting his design for a disposable razor, King Camp Gillette came up with another futuristic idea: replace all north American cities with a single vast metropolis built above, and powered by, Niagara Falls. Alexandra Heal examines his proposal.
Has your local bus been resurrected in Guatemala?
Many of Guatemala City’s buses began life on US streets, writes Martha Pskowski, part of a worldwide pattern of old vehicles being “dumped” on developing countries despite their emissions inefficiencies – with potentially serious environmental consequences.
Opinion
Trump has spent his life surrounding himself with young, compliant women, writes Jill Filipovic. That’s why he’s so destabilised by the competence and experience of Nancy Pelosi.
The women of Trumpworld have a single role, and that is to say “yes”. Trump has long bought and paid for that acquiescence. Now, Pelosi is telling him no, and she has real power and can’t be ignored, replaced, or waved away.
Sport
The US Open champion, Naomi Osaka, will face Petra Kvitova in the Australian Open final, after beating Kvitova’s fellow Czech Karolina Plíšková in three sets.
Real Madrid and Barcelona have both overtaken Manchester United at the top of Deloitte’s annual ranking of the world’s highest-earning football clubs. The 20 top-earning clubs generated a record $9.7bn in combined revenue in 2017-18, up 6% on the previous year.
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