Top story: Trump brags of ‘great American comeback’
Hello, pleased to greet you this Wednesday morning. I’m Warren Murray presenting the right stories at the right time.
Nancy Pelosi, the US House speaker, has dramatically torn up her copy of Donald Trump’s speech after the president delivered his State of the Union address to a joint sitting of Congress. Earlier, as Trump came up to the podium, Pelosi had offered him a handshake that the president failed to accept.
An emboldened Trump bragged in his address about the “great American comeback” and an economy with unemployment at 3.5% – the lowest in more than 50 years. Democrats begged to differ, with Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib among those staging a walkout of the House chamber during the speech. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among other Democrats who declined altogether to attend. Fred Guttenberg, the father of a girl who was killed in the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, was escorted out of the House chamber after he voiced protest to Trump’s pledge to protect about gun rights. Trump used the occasion to award the controversial rightwing radio host Rush Limbaugh with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, asking Melania Trump to bestow it while Democrats in the chamber said “No!”.
After being criticised by the White House for tearing up the speech, Pelosi offered a great American comeback of her own – quipping that it had been the “courteous thing to do considering the alternative”. The Senate will hold its final vote on the two articles of impeachment against Trump this afternoon US time. Trump is virtually guaranteed to be acquitted by the Republican-controlled chamber.
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Midweek catch-up
> Latest figures show 490 people have died in mainland China from coronavirus with 24,292 confirmed cases there. All British nationals have been advised to leave China if they can. Ten people on a cruise ship being held off Yokohama have tested positive, according to Japan, with others showing symptoms – hundreds more of the 3,700 passengers and crew on the Diamond Princess were being tested.
> A survey of local authorities has revealed 97% will put council tax up again in April to cope with a growing financial crisis. The same proportion will raise charges for services from parking to social care. One in 10 said they were in danger of being unable to meet their legal obligation to deliver statutory services.
> Twitter is to add warning labels to, or remove, “deepfakes” – doctored photos, audio clips and videos that are designed to mislead, like the notorious slow-motion footage of a speech by Nancy Pelosi. Those deemed harmful will be removed, it says.
> Big UK firms have been accused of dragging their feet on diversity targets. Only 53 FTSE 100 firms have at least one director from an ethnic minority, a small increase from the 49 that met the target in 2017 when it was first assessed.
> A police bodyguard has been suspended, Scotland Yard has said, amid reports David Cameron’s passport and a loaded gun were found in the toilets of a British Airways flight from New York to Heathrow. An investigation was under way, the Met said.
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Lie in the sky – Ryanair has been accused of greenwashing over a now-banned advert claiming it has the lowest carbon emissions of Europe’s major airlines. In fact, in 2019 it was named as one of Europe’s top 10 carbon emitters. The ads claim that Ryanair has the “lowest carbon emissions of any major airline” based on CO2 emissions per passenger per kilometre flown. But it used figures dating back to 2011, which the ad watchdog said was “of little value as substantiation for a comparison made in 2019”.
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Overdose lifesaver – A pilot scheme in the north-east of England is to bring to the streets a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of an overdose. Under the pilot, a team of people with lived experience of drug issues teach opioid users how to administer the medication naloxone, which reverses the effects of overdose and costs £18 per kit. But the drug and alcohol charity Addaction says drug-related deaths will not fall from record levels unless the government invests in treatment services. The most recent official figures show that 4,359 deaths from drug poisoning were recorded in England and Wales in 2018, the highest number since records began in 1993, with around two-thirds attributed to misuse.
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Jackass in a suit – The call of the jackass penguin, which sounds like a donkey in distress, shares traits of human languages, scientists have found. More frequently used sounds within its call tend to be shorter, while the longer the call, the shorter the sounds within it. It is the first time this pattern has been shown outside primates. Prof Stuart Semple of the University of Roehampton said the new study adds weight to the idea that animals tend to convey information in the most efficient way. Such an approach is known as “compression” and is also seen in systems such as morse code where the most commonly used letters have the simplest and shortest sounds – either a dot or a dash.
Today in Focus podcast: Varadkar on the ropes?
Leo Varadkar rose to the top of Irish politics without winning an election as leader of Fine Gael. Now he faces voters at a time when many appear to be in the mood for change. Rory Carroll joins the taoiseach on the campaign trail and looks at what the election means for Ireland. Plus: Gaby Hinsliff on the war between Downing Street and the political journalists who cover it.
Lunchtime read: Ending a pregnancy because of no paid leave
“Despite my job at a prestigious college and my husband’s job at a grocery store, neither of us would get paid parental leave. So we made a difficult choice …” Charlotte XC Sullivan tells her story of a bitter decision as part of the Guardian US series Feminist Economics. “The realisation that motherhood, in America, is not really a right but a privilege triggered a tectonic shift in my perspective that I am still struggling to understand.”
Sport
Barcelona have been plunged into crisis after the captain Lionel Messi publicly called out the sporting director Eric Abidal, challenging him to name names and accusing him of tarnishing the players’ reputation. An own goal from Shrewsbury’s Ro-Shaun Williams gave Liverpool’s youngsters a 1-0 win at Anfield that sent them through to the fifth round of the FA Cup. Newcastle were 2-0 up against Oxford but were pegged back to 2-2 in the 90th minute before their French winger Allan Saint-Maximin made it 3-2 to set up a tie at West Brom, while Wayne Rooney faces a fifth-round reunion with Manchester United after Derby overcame Northampton 4-2.
Eddie Jones has again stirred the Six Nations pre‑match broth by calling Scotland a “niggly” team who “goad” opponents into losing their cool. Wales are pondering their midfield options ahead of Saturday’s game against a confident Ireland, with Nick Tompkins a contender to start and Owen Watkin available again after injury. Israel Folau has admitted he is grateful for the opportunity to resurrect his career with Catalans Dragons as Super League clubs prepare for an explosive discussion on Wednesday regarding his controversial return to rugby league. Quinton de Kock scored a century and Temba Bavuma 98 as South Africa eased to a seven-wicket victory over England in the first ODI. The Premier League will resist moves to ban clubs from having their shirts sponsored by betting companies as part of the government’s promised review of gambling legislation. And Margaret Court says it is “very sad” the way Tennis Australia has treated her, claiming the peak body has discriminated against her because of her views on same-sex marriage.
Business
United Airlines and American Airlines have suspended all flights in and out of Hong Kong as businesses continue to be impacted by the spread of coronavirus. Hyundai, the carmaker, suspended production in its factories in South Korea because it is running out of parts it receives from China. On Asian markets, stocks rose for a second day in a row helped by a healthy rise on Wall Street where Tesla shares soared 40% on predictions the company could soon be worth $1.3tn. The FTSE100 is poised for a 0.4% drop this morning. The pound is on $1.302 and €1.179.
The papers
The Express is in a state of “Outrage over free TV licence betrayal” as pensioners are offered an instalment scheme instead of a freebie. The i reports that “Licence fee dodgers will be let off” – the government is launching a consultation on decriminalisation. The Guardian splashes with “Get out as you can – the warning to 30,000 Britons still in China”.
The Mirror and the Metro both cover the trial of Hashem Abidi, the accused co-conspirator of the Manchester Arena bomber. The Mail and the Sun have that story of high-altitude haplessness: David Cameron’s police bodyguard who “left gun in jet loo”.
The Times leads with “Surgeon’s 11,000 patients face checks”, about Ian Paterson whose patients became his victims when he subjected more than 1,000 of them to unnecessary and damaging breast operations. The FT reports “Top US Softbank fund executive to quit” after a series of setbacks at the technology conglomerate.
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