Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
Iowa caucus shambles blamed on smartphone app
The first real contest of the 2020 presidential race was mired in uncertainty on Tuesday morning, with the results of the closely watched Iowa caucuses still unclear due to “inconsistencies”. The problems were blamed on a smartphone app, supposedly designed to make the state’s complex voting process easier to untangle. Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg and Elizabeth Warren all made what sounded like victory speeches, but keep an eye on the Guardian’s liveblog for the actual results, which are expected later in the day.
Winners and losers. Our panel says the big loser in Iowa was the Democratic party’s claims to competence, while the only winner was Donald Trump. The supposed frontrunner Joe Biden flopped, says Nathan Robinson – but, as Art Cullen points out, his rivals all seemed pleased with the outcome.
Trump campaign. Trump’s supporters were naturally overjoyed at the Iowa fiasco, while several prominent Democrats also took to Twitter to lament the caucus chaos.
Schiff warns ‘Trump will cheat again’ in closing argument
As Democrats in Iowa tried to choose a champion to take on Trump in November, back in Washington the effort to see him removed before then was entering its final act. The impeachment trial approached its conclusion on Tuesday with both sides making their closing arguments. Congressman Adam Schiff, the lead Democratic prosecutor, warned Republicans: “History will not be kind to Donald Trump,” and if they vote to acquit him, “your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel for all of history”.
Joe Manchin. Trump already has enough votes from Republican senators to assure his acquittal, but at least one Democrat also remains undecided on whether to vote to convict the president: West Virginia’s Joe Manchin.
Hong Kong reports first coronavirus death as toll tops 400
Hong Kong has reported its first death from the coronavirus: a 39-year-old man who reportedly had an underlying health condition and had recently travelled to Wuhan, the city at the centre of the outbreak, where a hastily-built 1,000-bed hospital admitted its first patients on Tuesday. At least 426 have died from the virus, while in China, the total number of infections has jumped to 20,000. Beijing has admitted “shortcomings” in its handling of the crisis, but its state media has tried to strike a lighter tone amid the gloom.
Market predictions. The Guardian’s financial editor Nils Pratley says the stock market might have bounced back from the Sars epidemic in 2002, but China’s economy is very different today.
Quarantined footballers. As they prepare for their first Olympic qualifier against Australia on Friday, China’s women’s soccer team remains in quarantine at a Brisbane hotel, where they have been forced to train in the corridors.
Sea level rise accelerating along US coastline, scientists warn
Almost every measurement station along the US coastline recorded an acceleration in the pace of sea level rise last year, leading scientists to warn that some of the bleakest predictions for future flooding are increasingly likely. Meanwhile, a study has found that the world’s so-called “climate refuges” – havens of biodiversity, where species have been safe from shifting climates for millions of years – are under threat from human-driven global heating.
Fireflies loss. Experts have warned that certain species of firefly are at risk of extinction due to habitat loss, pesticide spraying and light pollution.
Bushfire death. Since Ron Selth was killed in a bushfire in Australia in December, his children have become committed campaigners for action on the climate emergency. They spoke to Calla Wahlquist.
Cheat sheet
The influential conservative “shock jock” Rush Limbaugh has announced on air that he has been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer.
The judge in the Harvey Weinstein trial suspended proceedings on Monday when a key witness suffered a panic attack in court, after she had been subjected to more than four hours of questioning by Weinstein’s defence lawyer.
Macmillan, the publisher behind the new novel American Dirt, has committed to substantially increase Latinx representation among its authors and staff, after meeting a campaign group formed amid the controversy around the book’s release.
The Athens government has begun paying out bonuses to new parents under a programme designed to increase the country’s birth rate, in response to projections that Greece’s population could shrink by a third in the next three decades.
Must-reads
Are female directors finally levelling the playing field?
Many of the most notable titles at last month’s Sundance film festival were directed by women – as are several of this year’s splashiest blockbusters, including the live-action Mulan remake and Marvel’s next franchise-starter. Benjamin Lee asks whether 2020 could be a turning point for the film industry.
How Amazon tracked my reading habits
After Kari Paul requested her personal information from Amazon under a new California privacy law, she found spreadsheets detailing her entire Kindle reading history for the past two years: not just the books she had read, but the passages in those books that she liked the most.
The man who stole $24m from McDonald’s monopoly game
HBO’s new six-part docuseries McMillions tells the story of an FBI investigation into an unlikely but wildly successful scam: to steal millions from McDonald’s, by fixing the fast-food chain’s nationwide Monopoly game. Adrian Horton talks to the film-makers.
How to fall back in love with your partner
People in long-term relationships often report that they still love their partners, but are no longer “in love”. Emine Saner asks therapists and relationship experts how best to put the spark back into a smouldering partnership.
Opinion
Absent any actual results, all of the top Democratic presidential hopefuls took to the stage in Iowa on Monday night to declare a kind of victory. The botched caucuses were an unfortunate, if appropriate, metaphor for the political moment, says Richard Wolffe.
It may be true that every Democrat is running to cleanse the stain of Donald Trump. But it’s also true that ignoring the facts to declare victory is the most Trumpian move of them all.
Sport
Gritty, the beloved, orange-haired mascot for Philadelphia’s NHL team, the Flyers, has been cleared of allegations that he physically assaulted a 13-year-old boy, police said on Monday.
The Australian Open may have been good for its new champion Sofia Kenin. But what with the bushfires, its treatment of Martina Navratilova and John McEnroe, and Novak Djokovic’s meltdown during the men’s final, the tournament was terrible for tennis’s reputation, writes Kevin Mitchell.
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