Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.
President plans to tout border security in postponed speech
Donald Trump will mark the halfway point of his presidential term with an optimistic State of the Union address on Tuesday, touting the country’s economic strength and border security and suggesting to a hostile, partisan Congress that “we can bridge old divisions, heal old wounds, build new coalitions, forge new solutions”. The speech, delayed from 29 January due to the government shutdown, marks a distinct shift from the tone of Trump’s inauguration address in 2017, when Republicans controlled both houses of Congress and he railed against what he called “American carnage”.
Inaugural committee. Federal prosecutors in New York have ordered the organisers of Trump’s 2017 inauguration to hand over documents as part of a reported investigation into whether they received illegal donations from foreigners hoping to influence US policy.
Former oil lobbyist to lead US interior department
Trump has said he will nominate David Bernhardt, a former oil and gas lobbyist, to be the new US secretary of the interior. Bernhardt has been the department’s acting secretary since Ryan Zinke stepped down at the end of last year following a string of scandals and alleged corruption. He is expected to continue Zinke’s drive to allow oil and gas drilling and mining on or near public land, to the dismay of environmental groups.
World Bank. Trump reportedly plans to nominate the Treasury official David Malpass to lead the World Bank. Malpass is notably sceptical of the global financial institution and its lending to developing countries.
UN: North Korea protecting nuclear weapons from US strikes
North Korea is taking steps to secure its nuclear program by dispersing its component parts to a variety of sites, including civilian airports, according to a confidential UN report. The report, by sanctions monitors, identified a “consistent trend” by which the Kim regime was splitting up its missile “assembly, storage and testing locations” to guard against the threat of “decapitation strikes” by the US, despite Trump’s claim that “tremendous progress” has been made towards denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula.
Nuclear diplomacy. Trump is expected to meet the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, for a second summit on denuclearisation at the end of this month.
Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes sues anti-hate watchdog
Gavin McInnes, the founder of Proud Boys, has filed a federal lawsuit against the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for designating his organisation a “hate group”. McInnes, also the co-founder of Vice Media, quit the Proud Boys last year after several members were prosecuted over a brawl in New York City and it was revealed the FBI had categorised it as “an extremist group with ties to white nationalism”. But his complaint alleges the SPLC “targeted [McInnes] for personal and professional destruction”.
Denied entry. McInnes filed the lawsuit in Alabama, where the anti-hate watchdog is based, after he lost a broadcasting gig and was denied a visa to enter Australia.
Crib sheet
Police in Paris have detained a woman as part of an arson investigation, following a fire at a building in the French capital’s 16th district on Monday night, in which at least 10 people died and 30 more were injured.
The actor Liam Neeson has admitted in an interview that he once spent a week walking the streets with a cosh, hoping to be accosted by a black man so he could “kill him” in retaliation for the rape of a close friend by a black person.
In the run-up to next month’s national elections in Thailand, at least 10 men and five women have changed their names to those of former prime ministers, in the hope of being more memorable to voters.
Taro Aso, the gaffe-prone deputy prime minister of Japan, has retracted comments in which he appeared to place the blame for the country’s falling population on women for not “giving birth to children”.
Listen to Today in Focus: Underestimating climate change
In today’s podcast, David Wallace-Wells, the author of a new book, The Uninhabitable Earth, explains why he believes the effects of climate change are going to be far worse than we realise.
Must-reads
Tall, skinny and super-rich: New York’s new skyline
The extreme concentration of wealth in a city with apparently finite floorspace has led to a new generation of skyscrapers for the ultra-rich. These super-tall, pencil-thin towers are taking over Manhattan’s skyline, writes Oliver Wainwright.
Why a Parkland father called out Louis CK
Manuel Oliver lost his son and “best friend” Joaquin in last year’s shooting at Parkland high school in Florida. When he heard the comedian Louis CK had made insensitive jokes about the victims, he responded with a “stand-up” set of his own, he tells Richard Luscombe.
The tattoo shop that offers KKK members a fresh start
Sickside Tattoo Studio in Horn Lake, Mississippi, is one of several tattoo shops across the south-east that offers former white supremacists a chance to display their reformed character by erasing their old, hateful body art for free. Deborah Bloom reports.
James Blake: black America’s favourite British producer
The British producer and songwriter James Blake has been praised, sampled and recruited as a producer by the likes of Beyoncé, Drake and Kanye West. His new solo album, Assume Form, finds him in his most upbeat mood to date, says Al Horner.
Opinion
Venezuela has sunk ever deeper into crisis under Nicolás Maduro, writes his former chief of staff, Temir Porras Ponceleon. But the president still has millions of supporters, and international support for his opponent Juan Guaidó risks a bloody civil war.
Unless the international community is willing to risk a needless war on the American continent, it must urgently create conditions for a national dialogue aimed at reaching a political agreement.
Sport
Liverpool must improve if the club hopes to complete its quest for a first Premier League title this season, their coach, Jürgen Klopp, admitted after his team’s 1-1 draw at West Ham on Monday.
Sunday’s Super Bowl drew the event’s lowest overnight TV ratings in a decade, due in no small part to a boycott of the broadcast by New Orleans fans, who felt the Saints were robbed of their rightful place at the game.
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