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• President Trump makes his first State of the Union speech in a few hours (1 p.m. Sydney). Here’s our live briefing, where we’ll stream the address.
Melania Trump, who has kept a low profile since reports emerged of an affair between Mr. Trump and an adult film star, is expected to attend. Above, the Trumps with their son, Barron, on New Year’s Eve.
Ahead of the address, a U.S. business group warned that China would retaliate against U.S. industries if Mr. Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese exports, like solar panels.
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• Attacks in Kabul have killed more than 130 people over the last 10 days. Distraught and angry Afghans are asking why the government cannot protect its own heavily militarized capital.
On our podcast “The Daily,” our Kabul correspondent discusses the connection between the wave of violence and the U.S. government’s cutoff of security aid to Pakistan.
And a veteran journalist argues in an Op-Ed that U.S. military aims in Afghanistan are riddled with contradictions (and illusions) that Pakistan’s spy agency exploits.
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• Super blood blue moon rising.
Earth will cast its shadow today over a full moon, turning it red “like a giant rose in the predawn sky,” our science correspondent writes. It’s going to be super cool.
Viewers in Asia and Australia should (for the most part) have the best seats in the global house.
For further lunar background, see our handy moon guide.
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Business
• Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase shook the U.S. health insurance market, announcing a plan to form a tech-based, independent health care company to serve employees.
• India’s leading ride-hailing service, Ola, said that it would launch in Australia this year. The company said recently that it had raised $1.1 billion for expansion. Its investors include Tencent Holdings and SoftBank.
• Uber for pooches? The SoftBank Vision Fund, a nearly $100 billion pot managed by the Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, is investing $300 million in Wag, a start-up based in Los Angeles whose app lets users summon dogwalkers.
• U.S. stocks fell. Here’s a snapshot of global markets.
In the News
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• Prime Minister Teresa May of Britain is scheduled to arrive in China today, with trade high on her agenda for meetings in Wuhan, Beijing and Shanghai. [BBC]
• In India, the rape of an 8-month-old girl has sickened and transfixed a country grown distressingly accustomed to horrifying sex abuse cases. [The New York Times]
• A Russian fighter jet came within a scant five feet of a U.S. spy plane over the Black Sea, U.S. officials said. There were three similar encounters in 2016. [The New York Times]
• Hawaii’s false alert of an inbound ballistic missile was issued intentionally, after a state worker missed the announcement of a drill. [The New York Times]
• An Op-Ed writer takes issue with what she saw as the Grammy awards program’s “slut-shaming” of Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. [The New York Times]
• Dozens of medical experts called on Facebook to kill its new messaging app that targets children as young as 6. [The New York Times]
• Scott Morrison, Australia’s former immigration minister, supported an internal 2013 effort to prevent asylum seekers who arrived by boat from living permanently in the country. [ABC]
• Ferry McFerryface will be rechristened. Officials had initially said Sydney ferry’s name was the result of a public poll that cost taxpayers $100,000 Australian (about $81,000 U.S.). But a news report revealed that it was handpicked by a transport official. [9NEWS]
Smarter Living
Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life.
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• Yes, you can stream many of this year’s Oscar-nominated films, including “The Big Sick,” above. (And here’s what’s new on Netflix Australia for February.)
• Figuring out how to rebuild after infidelity often results in a stronger relationship.
• Order delivery and make an easy chocolate fudge for dessert.
Noteworthy
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• Our Frugal Traveler offers a guide to traveling in and around China: cheap phone service, useful apps and getting online.
• Serena Williams is returning to action as Roger Federer, the Australian Open champion, takes a break. Our sports columnist says that illustrates the symbiotic relationship between the men’s and women’s games — one of tennis’s core strengths.
• Andreas Gursky, a best-selling German photographer, captures scenes that never existed. We reviewed his new retrospective in London.
• New York commuters once looked down upon other mass-transit systems. Our new documentary explains why the city’s oft-delayed trains are now a global laughingstock.
Back Story
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“Milkshake duck” just missed a spot in the Oxford Dictionaries, but the phrase was honored this month by Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary, which declared it the word of the year for 2017.
Confused? “Even if you don’t know the word, you know the phenomenon,” the committee said in its announcement.
The phrase describes when a person’s 15 minutes of fame is followed by an abrupt fall from grace when distasteful past misdeeds are unearthed. In many ways, the committee said, that term captured the events of the past year.
The Australian cartoonist Ben Ward wrote an absurd tweet in 2016 about the phenomenon that raced across the internet last year.
“The whole internet loves Milkshake Duck, a lovely duck that drinks milkshakes! *5 seconds later* We regret to inform you the duck is racist”
The joke poked at the ridiculous ability of social media to accelerate the cycle of adulation and backlash, Mr. Ward told us last summer, when we analyzed the meme’s meteoric rise. “I didn’t mean it to mock anyone — I’m as susceptible to it as anyone else is,” Mr. Ward added.
Isabella Kwai contributed reporting.
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Your Morning Briefing is published weekday mornings and updated online. Browse past briefings here.
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