This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Good morning, I’m Tim Walker with today’s essential stories.

Border deal reached in attempt to avoid shutdown

Democratic and Republican negotiators in Washington have struck a deal on border security that they hope will avert another government shutdown. The tentative agreement, which allocates almost $1.4bn to fund the construction of 55 miles of fencing along the US-Mexico border, must now pass through Congress on its way to Donald Trump’s desk. It remains unclear whether the president will sign it, given his original demand was for $5.7bn to build a 215-mile concrete wall.

Immigrant cap. The agreement also reportedly includes a Democrat-demanded cap on the number of undocumented immigrants who can be held in US detention centres.

Trump and Beto O’Rourke hold competing border rallies

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Beto O’Rourke speaks at a counter-protest during Trump’s visit to El Paso. Photograph: Paul Ratje/AFP/Getty Images

Trump descended on El Paso, Texas, for a rally on Monday, just moments after the shutdown deal was announced by negotiators in Washington. The president appeared oblivious to the agreement, assuring the crowd: “We’re going to build the wall anyways.” At a nearby protest rally, the potential Democratic presidential candidate Beto O’Rourke told another crowd of thousands that El Paso was one of the safest cities in the US, “not because of walls but in spite of walls”.

‘Political theatre.’ California’s governor Gavin Newsom has said he will withdraw national guard troops from the border, calling the border crisis “manufactured” and adding: “We are not interested in participating in this political theatre.”

‘Inexplicable cruelty.’ Eight immigrant families who were split up under the Trump administration’s family separation policy are suing the US government for $6m each in damages, for “inexplicable cruelty”.

North and South Korea to launch joint Olympic bid

Facebook Twitter Pinterest North Korea’s Kim Jong-un with the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, during their historic summit last year. Photograph: UPI/Barcroft Images

The two Koreas intend to submit a bid to co-host the 2032 Olympic Games, an event officials in Seoul say would “change the fate of the Korean peninsula”. Representatives from both countries are expected to present the plans at a meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland on Friday. Sports diplomacy has become a useful indicator of warming relations between North and South. Pyongyang sent a team to the Winter Olympics in South Korea last year, months before a historic summit between Kim Jong-un and the South Korean president, Moon Jae-in.

Moon shot. The two countries intend to send a combined team to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, while Moon has also suggested they bid to co-host the 2030 World Cup.

Experts demand Facebook curb anti-vaccination groups

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anti-vaccination activists in Washington state protest against a proposed bill to remove parents’ ability to opt out of the MMR vaccine. Photograph: Ted S Warren/AP

Facebook is facing calls from health experts to tackle influential anti-vaccination groups on the site, where false information about the supposed dangers of life-saving vaccines often goes unchallenged. At least one such closed Facebook group has more than 150,000 members, who must be pre-approved, allowing administrators to exclude dissenting voices. A state of emergency was declared in Washington state last month, after 48 people contracted the measles, most of them under 10 and unvaccinated.

Philippines outbreak. At least 70 people in the Philippines, most of them children, have died in the last month as the result of a measles outbreak that has been blamed on vaccine fear-mongering.

Crib sheet

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest ‘If you don’t have enough nurses to take care of the patients, it puts the patients at risk.’ Illustration: Andrea Mongia/Andrea Mongia for Guardian US

America’s nurses suffering a work ‘hangover’

Nurses and nursing advocates say dangerously low staffing levels have become the norm in the US healthcare system, with nurses facing burnout, high turnover and the fear of patient safety errors, as Michael Sainato reports.

Has Starbucks prepared Howard Schultz to be president?

The billionaire former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz faced attacks from Republicans and Democrats after suggesting he may run for president in 2020. Melanie Sevcenko asks whether his coffee business background makes him a good fit for the Oval Office.

How the rest of Europe views Brexit

The UK’s decision to leave the EU has baffled and bemused the rest of Europe, destroying its reputation for pragmatism and discipline. Guardian correspondents in seven countries ask how Brexit has changed the continent’s opinion of Britain.

Is Heineken really helping in Africa?

Heineken is proud of the economic and social benefits it brings to the continent where it brews much of its beer. But like many western companies, writes Olivier van Beemen, the Dutch drinks giant’s record in Africa is not entirely positive.

Opinion

Despite the revelation that their Democratic governor, Ralph Northam, wore blackface in college, most black Virginians don’t want him to resign. That’s because a Republican alternative would be so much worse, says Theodore R Johnson.

Compared to the sort of racially discriminatory laws and executive actions that could lie ahead, black Virginians would much prefer a Democratic governor who wore blackface decades ago and expresses contrition today.

Sport

The world tennis No 1, Naomi Osaka, has parted ways with her coach, Sascha Bajin, just two weeks after winning the Australian Open and becoming the first Asian player ever to reach the top of the women’s or men’s rankings.

The Westminster Kennel Club dog show is the oldest continuously held sporting event in the US after the Kentucky Derby, and this week more than 600 dogs descended on New York’s Hotel Pennsylvania, across the street from the competition venue, Madison Square Garden. Bryan Armen Graham meets the hotel’s dedicated doggy concierge, Jerry Grymek.

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