State of the Union Address

Despite a bipartisan sheen, President Donald Trump's State of the Union address spoke to his base. Talk of bridging “old divisions” and pursuing bipartisan initiatives was accompanied by a stark warning to Democrats who have said they will push to hold his administration accountable: Back off, or I won’t work with you. He also showed no inclination he would stop demanding a barrier along the Mexican border — he in fact used a large portion of the speech to make his case, warning of an “onslaught” of migrants.

He didn’t count on the women in white. But Democratic women lawmakers from the House of Representatives, many of them dressed in white to celebrate 100 years of women having the right to vote, projected a picture of calm displeasure during Trump’s speech that made clear his version of unity was not one they could accept. But as he lauded the growing number of women finding jobs in the economy, the women lawmakers rose and cheered. It was a rare moment during the long speech, which otherwise drew mixed reactions from the audience.

In terms of U.S. foreign policy, Trump vowed to stop “endless wars,” with an eye on Afghanistan. He said his administration was holding constructive talks with a number of groups, including Taliban militants. When talking about Syria, he said U.S. troops had nearly defeated Islamic State militants and it was time to bring them home. Trump also announced he would hold his second meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam on Feb. 27-28, while giving himself credit for averting a major war on the Korean peninsula.

World

“I’ve been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit, without even a sketch of a plan how to carry it out safely,” said European Council President Donald Tusk on Wednesday. The United Kingdom is on course to leave the European Union on March 29 without a deal unless Prime Minister Theresa May can convince the bloc to reopen the divorce deal she agreed in November, but Tusk has also said that European Union will make no new offer.

Senior Iranian figures said on Wednesday that American troops should withdraw from Syria. “Whether they want to or not, the Americans must leave Syria,” Ali Akbar Velayati, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamene. There are fears in the West that Trump’s plan to extricate about 2,000 soldiers from Syria will cede influence to Tehran, which has backed President Bashar al-Assad in the nearly eight-year war, and also allow Islamic State militants to regroup.

A Russian court has found a Danish Jehovah’s Witnesses guilty of organizing the activities of a banned extremist organization. Dennis Christensen, a 46-year-old builder, was jailed six years in a case Western governments cast as a test of religious freedom.

The Australian dollar nosedived on Wednesday after its central bank opened the door to a possible rate cut. The U-turn pushed the Australian dollar 1.5 percent lower, putting it on track for its biggest daily drop in a year. Australian short-dated bond yields were set for their biggest one-day drop in more than two years, down 10 basis points on the day.

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3:27 PM - 4 Feb 2019