Trump calls for unity in State of Union
US president Donald Trump made an appeal for political unity in his State of the Union address on Tuesday. “We can break decades of political stalemate,” he told Congress. The president called on Republicans and Democrats to unite “for a great rebuilding of America’s crumbling infrastructure,” Reuters reports. Trump even received a standing ovation from Democratic females in the chamber when he noted there were more women in the workforce and in Congress than ever before. But he also criticised what he called “ridiculous partisan investigations”. And he reiterated his pledge to build a wall on the country’s southern border, saying that that working class Americans pay the price for illegal immigration. In a rolling report, The Guardian has excerpts of the address and of the Democratic response from Stacey Adams. It also says that Trump spoke for 83 minutes, not quite breaking the record 89 minutes by Bill Clinton in 2000. The BBC has a good summary of the speech and CNBC has the full text of the address.
North Korea summit set for end February
Donald Trump used his State of the Union speech to announce he would me meeting North Korea’s Kim Jong-un for a second time on February 27 and 28 in Vietnam. He also claimed that if he had not been elected president the United States “would right now, in my opinion, be in a major war with North Korea with potentially millions of people killed.” The Guardian and CNBC have more details.
May pledges to keep Irish border seamless
British prime minister Theresa May has said that whatever deal is finally approved for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the future relationship will include “arrangements in place to ensure that we deliver no hard border” with Ireland. The Guardian reports on a speech in Belfast in which May said that while looking for alternative arrangements to the backstop agreement that she signed off on with Brussels, she would not do anything to put at risk the current seamless border. But The Irish Times says May’s speech contained “glaring contradictions” and that she “continues to pander to the DUP rather than the concerns of the 56 per cent of people in the North who voted to remain in the EU.”
China slams report on WTO compliance
Reuters reports that China’s commerce ministry has said a report by the U.S. Trade Representative’s office on its WTO compliance lacks legal and factual basis. The ministry reiterated its commitment to multilateral trading and claims the report was based on U.S. domestic law rather than WTO agreements.
Disney posts positive
Entertainment giant Disney has posted higher than expected earnings per share and revenue for the first quarter on the back of media networks sales and theme parks business growth, CNBC reports. CEO Bob Iger also said that Disney’s ESPN+ sports streaming service has doubled its subscribers to 2 million, and he announced a new Disney+ streaming service of movies and original content for later this year.
Runner kills mountain lion
A runner who survived an attack by a mountain lion in a park in Colorado says he suffocated the animal while defending himself. The BBC cites park officials saying the runner “did everything he could to save his life.” The Guardian says 16 people have been injured and 3 killed by mountain lions in Colorado since 1990.
Neeson red carpet cancelled, but Barnes supports actor
A red carpet event for Liam Neeson’s new film “Cold Pursuit” has been cancelled following the backlash over an interview in which the actor admitted that decades ago he had sought out revenge after a friend had been raped by a man who was black. The Guardian reports more. But in the Newcastle Chronicle, former footballer John Barnes says Neeson deserves a medal for now saying that is “ashamed and horrified by the way he felt.”
Today’s breakfast briefing was written by Duncan Roberts