Your Wednesday Briefing

View in [Browser]( | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. [The New York Times]( [The New York Times]( Wednesday, January 31, 2018 [NYTimes.com »]( Europe Edition [Your Wednesday Briefing]( By PATRICK BOEHLER Good morning. The State of the Union address in Washington, Cape Town’s water crisis and an Olympic workout. Here’s the news: Doug Mills/The New York Times • “This is our new American moment.” That was President Trump in his first State of the Union speech. He [challenged Democrats to join him]( in overhauling immigration and rebuilding infrastructure. He praised tax cuts and economic growth. But his year in office has not changed the [dismal views that a sizable majority of Americans]( hold of him. Here’s a [video]( and an annotated [transcript](. We [fact checked Mr. Trump’s statements]( and the Democrats’ rebuttal. _____ Sergei Karpukhin/Reuters • Critics called the Russian-sponsored peace conference on Syria a piece of theater that [did not even pretend to foster discussion](. Most Syrian rebel groups refused to go to the resort town of Sochi, where the meeting was held. Those that did refused to leave the airport. Meanwhile, airstrikes by the Syrian government and Russia continued. _____ Sergei Chirikov/European Pressphoto Agency • The Trump administration managed the unusual feat of [outraging both Russia’s leaders in Moscow and Russia’s biggest critics](. First, it angered members of Congress by declining [to impose new sanctions]( called for in a law reluctantly signed by President Trump. Then it angered Moscow with a name-and-shame list of the Russian elite. In Russia, some joked that it took the U.S. government months to copy a Forbes ranking. (There were some notable omissions, [our reporter points out]( _____ Joao Silva/The New York Times • “Day Zero” is coming to Cape Town, South Africa. On that day, possibly as early as April, the water supply [will run dry in the drought-stricken city of four million](. For now, the city, one of Africa’s richest, is hoping for rain and bracing for the impact, in a frightening illustration of the risks of climate change. _____ Aubrey Gemignani/NASA • Early this morning, the moon slides behind Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse, turning it red “like a giant rose in the predawn sky,” [our science correspondent writes](. Many in Europe and Africa [won’t get to see]( the phenomenon, but you’re in luck if you’re reading this in Russia, the Middle East or the U.S. (Perhaps the best view would be on the moon, where you would see Earth’s shadow consume your surroundings. For more background, [see our moon guide]( _____ • Here’s a question: Has a fake account impersonated you on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram? Did you file a complaint? Did it get taken down? We’d [like to hear from you](. Business Pascal Rossignol/Reuters • Three corporate giants — Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase — [are forming a company]( that could disrupt U.S. health care. Details were scarce, so we asked some [experts to attempt to imagine the project’s impact](. • Volkswagen [suspended its chief lobbyist]( amid a growing furor over experiments on monkeys that were meant to promote the virtues of diesel-powered vehicles. • Facebook [banned ads for Bitcoin]( and other cryptocurrencies. • In an Op-Ed, a scientist argues that [we shouldn’t fear artificial intelligence]( “We actually understand this technology better than we understand human decision-making.” • Here’s a snapshot of [global markets](. In the News Pau Barrena/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images • The Catalan Parliament postponed a vote to re-elect Carles Puigdemont, the leader of the movement to break away from Spain, as president of the region. The standoff could force new elections. [[The New York Times]( • Two decades after war in Kosovo, peace remains built on the separation of Serbs and Albanians, our regional bureau chief writes in a dispatch from Mitrovica. [[The New York Times]( • Bosnia’s war crimes court charged the Bosnian Serb wartime police chief over his role in the massacre of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in 1995. [[Balkan Insight]( • The Kenyan government moved to criminalize a political opposition group as supporters of the opposition leader Raila Odinga rallied in Nairobi, the capital. [[The New York Times]( • Saudi Arabia’s government said that it had collected more than $100 billion from prominent citizens detained in what it called a crackdown on corruption. [[The New York Times]( • Pope Francis sent the Vatican’s leading sex-crimes investigator to Chile. [[The New York Times]( • On our news podcast, our Kabul correspondent discusses the connection between the recent wave of violence there and the U.S. government’s cutoff of security aid to Pakistan. [[The New York Times]( • There’s a controversy in Norway over its Alpine ski team uniforms. Team sweaters bear a rune that neo-Nazis have tried to co-opt. [[The New York Times]( • A trailer for the new movie “Beirut,” starring Jon Hamm, has been the subject of scathing criticism. Detractors say it stereotypes Arabs. [[The New York Times]( • A Hawaii state employee who sent a false missile alert that set off panic thought the threat was real, officials said, and has been fired. [[The New York Times]( Smarter Living Tips, both new and old, for a more fulfilling life. Heidi Younger • A reader asked what to do when her in-laws are suffocatingly nice. [Setting boundaries is key](. • Figuring out how to rebuild after infidelity often results in a [stronger relationship.]( • Order delivery and make an [easy chocolate fudge]( for dessert. Noteworthy Tom Jamieson for The New York Times • Andreas Gursky, the German photographer, has turned to capturing scenes that never existed. We [reviewed his new retrospective in London](. • A new production of Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” directed by Ivo van Hove, who has led fierce Broadway stagings, will be a highlight of the [Paris Opera’s ambitious next season](. • Ahead of the Winter Olympics, we tagged along on a workout with [Lindsey Vonn, the most decorated World Cup ski racer]( in U.S. history. • Our team behind “The Daily” podcast reflects on the pleasures and surprises of its first year — [and what’s to come](. • Our fashion editors compiled tips and tricks, inspired by the men’s shows, of [new ways to wear things](. Back Story Erica Yoon/Roanoke Times, via Associated Press “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 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. _____ This briefing was prepared for the European morning and is updated online. [Browse past briefings here](. You can get the briefing delivered to your inbox Monday through Friday. We have four global editions, timed for [the Americas]( [Europe]( [Asia]( and [Australia]( and [an Evening Briefing]( on U.S. weeknights. Check out our full range of free newsletters [here](. 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