Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Top story: China blasts ‘unfair and immoral’ US charges against Huawei
A hoped-for trade detente between the world’s two largest economies has been set back after US authorities charged the Chinese telecommunications firm Huawei with a string of criminal offences, which the China’s foreign ministry condemned as being politically motivated, “unfair and immoral”. The US justice department has accused Huawei of conspiring to violate sanctions on Iran by conducting business with Tehran through a subsidiary. It also accused Huawei of stealing technology from the telecoms firm T-Mobile US.
Trade talks. Chinese officials are due in Washington for trade talks later this week, with Donald Trump threatening to raise the tariff on thousands of Chinese products to 25%.
White House strong-arms Maduro with oil sanctions
The Trump administration has announced sanctions against Venezuela’s state-owned oil company, PDVSA, as part of its efforts to help push out the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, who is facing the most serious challenge yet to his troubled six-year presidency. The US treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said on Monday that sanctions would punish “those responsible for Venezuela’s tragic decline” and assist Juan Guaidó, the opposition leader recognised by the US as the country’s interim president.
Strategic threats. The White House national security adviser, John Bolton, said $7bn (£5.3bn) of PDVSA assets would be blocked by the sanctions, which, he added, would counter strategic threats from Cuba and Iran, both allies of Maduro’s regime.
New Zealand. Unlike most of the US’s allies, New Zealand has declined to back Guaidó, with its foreign minister saying Venezuela must “decide its future through free and fair elections”.
Is Oleg Deripaska the missing link in the Trump-Russia investigation?
A recent disclosure that Trump’s campaign chairman and a key Russian business associate discussed a Ukraine peace plan in mid-2016 could signal more scrutiny of Oleg Deripaska, a powerful Russian oligarch, by special counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election, former prosecutors and intelligence officials told the Guardian.
Talks. The talks between Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, a veteran political consultant, and Konstantin Kilimnik, his longtime aide who allegedly had ties to Russian intelligence in 2016, occurred in New York on 2 August . The meeting came just days after Kilimnik met Deripaska, a close ally of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, in Moscow. Neither Kilimnik nor Deripaska responded to emails seeking comment.
Nearing the end. The acting US attorney general, Matthew Whitaker, said on Monday that Mueller’s investigation was “close to being completed”.
Brazil easing environmental rules despite mining disaster
The new Brazilian government says it will continue dismantling the country’s environmental licensing regulations, despite dire warnings from campaigners after the deadliest mining disaster in decades. At least 60 people have been found dead and hundreds are still missing after a dam collapse at a mining facility in Minas Gerais state last week, which deluged the community of Brumadinho with mud and iron ore.
Same company. Last week’s dam collapse was the second such disaster in less than four years at a facility run by the Brazilian mining multinational Vale.
Dam safety. Less than one in five of Brazil’s 24,092 dams come under the supervision of a 2010 dam safety law, according to Brazilian media, and just 3% inspected in 2017.
Crib sheet
Almost 1,000 hotel workers at the Sheraton Park and Hilton hotels in Anaheim, California, are preparing to strike over low pay and reduced health coverage, continuing a wave of industrial action by hospitality unions across the US.
Donald Trump has accepted the house speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to deliver the State of the Union address on Tuesday 5 February, a week later than originally planned, after it was delayed because of the partial government shutdown.
Apple is scrambling to fix a bug in its FaceTime video-calling app, which allows users to listen in on whomever they are calling, even if that person does not pick up the call.
The former superintendent of Joshua Tree national park has said it could take “300 years” for the park to recover from damage inflicted by vandals and other inconsiderate visitors during the 35-day government shutdown.
Must-reads
The unstoppable rise of alternative milks
Ten years ago, the only widely available milk alternative was soya. Today, the plant-based milk business is worth $16bn, and half of all US shoppers buy plant milk. Is it just clever marketing, or a more conscious approach to consumption, asks Oliver Franklin-Wallis.
Chris Christie’s score-settling memoir, reviewed
The former New Jersey governor expected to be a big part of the Trump administration until Jared Kushner forced him out. Or so Christie writes in his new memoir, Let Me Finish. It’s a self-serving, fascinating and informative read, says reviewer Lloyd Green.
How the far right set its sights on women
From Marine Le Pen to Alice Weidel, a new generation of women are at the forefront of Europe’s far-right politics. The Guardian’s correspondents in Paris, Berlin and Rome ask what motivates angry, white women to support parties that traditionally oppose feminism.
Inside the world’s biggest film city
Not Hollywood, not Atlanta, not even Mumbai … the home of the world’s biggest film studio is, in fact, Hyderabad, aka “Tollywood”: the heart of India’s Telugu-language film industry. Tash Reith-Banks reports from the subcontinent’s next megacity.
Opinion
The gilets jaunes (yellow vests) inspired anti-government protests across France and beyond. But now, writes Pauline Bock, the movement is splintering, with some members choosing to seek office and others still committed to grassroots resistance.
As the various factions contend, the danger is that the organised chaos of the early protests becomes just, well, chaos.
Sport
As his team prepares to face Tom Brady and the New England Patriots at Sunday’s Super Bowl, LA Rams cornerback Nickell Robey-Coleman says they “don’t fear beating the giant”. But as Oliver Connolly writes, the Patriots coach Bill Belichick has consistently triumphed over two decades in a league designed for parity.
The US soccer international Megan Rapinoe made waves when she took a knee during the national anthem before a 2016 game, in solidarity with former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick. “I personally thought it was a very patriotic thing that Colin started,” she tells Suzanne Wrack.
Sign up
The US morning briefing is delivered to thousands of inboxes every weekday. If you’re not already signed up, subscribe now.
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.
