Friday’s top story: Watchdog says Trump violated laws as Senate trial opens. Plus, how Putin’s Kremlin cracked down on the blossoming Russian avant-garde

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

Government agency: Trump broke law by blocking Ukraine aid

As the Senate impeachment trial opened on Thursday, a watchdog in Donald Trump’s own administration released a finding that the president had broken the law by suspending congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine. The Government Accountability Office’s finding came as the supreme court chief justice, John Roberts, was sworn in to preside over the trial, and then swore in the 100 senators with a pledge of impartiality – a pledge that could prove difficult to uphold in a time of such deep partisan division.

Marie Yovanovitch. Ukraine has launched its own investigation into allegations that the former US ambassador to Kyiv was illegally surveilled at the behest of associates of Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s personal lawyer.

Lev Parnas. David Smith and Andrew Roth look at the life of the Soviet-born businessman and Giuliani associate who is now at the heart of the impeachment scandal.

US says 11 troops treated for concussion after Iran strike

Facebook Twitter Pinterest US soldiers clear rubble at the Ain al-Asad airbase in western Iraq after the Iranian missile strike. Photograph: Ayman Henna/AFP via Getty Images

After initially saying that no US service members were hurt in the Iranian missile strike on an airbase in western Iraq last week, the US military has now admitted 11 troops were in fact treated for concussion symptoms following the attack. The strike on the Ain al-Asad airbase, where some 1,500 American troops are stationed, was retaliation for the 3 January US drone strike in Baghdad, which killed the influential Iranian general Qassem Suleimani.

Misery and unrest. US sanctions, Suleimani’s death and the accidental shooting down of a Ukrainian airliner have Iranians bracing for months of hardship and unrest.

Friday prayers. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has led Friday prayers in Tehran for the first time since 2012, lashing out at the west and describing Trump as a “clown”.

Ayanna Pressley reveals bald look and alopecia diagnosis

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The freshman Democrat announced her diagnosis in a video for The Root, the African American-focused online magazine. Photograph: AP

Ayanna Pressley, one of the four progressive freshman congresswomen known as “The Squad”, has revealed in a video announcement that she suffers from alopecia, a condition that has left her completely bald, and which she has concealed for much of her first term in Congress. In the video, posted on The Root, the 45-year-old Massachusetts lawmaker described her hair journey, and recounted how her decision to wear Afrocentric styles had drawn messages of support from women and girls across the country.

Auto-immune disease. According to the National Alopecia Areata Foundation, the auto-immune condition, which causes hair loss on the scalp and face, affects as many as 6.8 million people in the US.

Evelyn Yang, wife of Andrew, claims assault by doctor

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Evelyn and Andrew Yang on the campaign trail in Iowa. Photograph: Gary He/EPA

Evelyn Yang, the wife of the entrepreneur and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, has said she was sexually assaulted by her obstetrician-gynecologist while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child in 2012. Yang and 31 other women are now suing the New York doctor Robert Hadden – whom Yang described as a “serial predator” – and the hospital system that they claim enabled his crimes. Hadden’s lawyer has denied Yang’s allegations in legal filings.

Campaign trail. Yang said she was inspired to speak out by the warm response the couple received when discussing their son’s autism on the campaign trail. “Seeing the difference that we’ve been making already has moved me to share my own story about it, about sexual assault,” she told CNN.

Cheat sheet

China’s birthrate last year fell to its lowest level in seven decades, suggesting government efforts to prevent a demographic crisis by encouraging families to have more babies have so far been unsuccessful.

A vast “hot blob” in the Pacific Ocean is estimated to have killed up to a million seabirds between the summer of 2015 and the spring of 2016, according to a study by the University of Washington.

The FBI has arrested three suspected members of a neo-Nazi group who hoped to start a US race war, days before a planned gun-rights rally at the Virginia state capitol in Richmond, where the governor, Ralph Northam, has declared a state of emergency banning firearms from the grounds.

The US ambassador to South Korea, the Japan-born Harry Harris, has been accused of insulting his hosts by growing a moustache that reminds many South Koreans of the Japanese colonial era, when all eight governors general sported similar facial hair.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Kathy Bates with director Clint Eastwood on the set of their new film, Richard Jewell. Photograph: PictureLux/The Hollywood Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

Kathy Bates: ‘After 50 years, I feel like I’ve hit the big time’

Kathy Bates just earned a fourth Oscar nomination, for her role in Clint Eastwood’s latest biopic, Richard Jewell. She’s been on screen since 1971 but, she tells John Patterson, “I remember telling [Ciint] on the set: ‘I’ve been in this business half a century but working with you, I feel like I’ve hit the big time!’”

In Putin’s Russia, how far can an artist go?

A decade ago, a new spirit of tolerance of the avant-garde blossomed in Russia. But when the country’s most celebrated theatre director staged a ballet at the Bolshoi based on the life of Rudolf Nureyev, he learned the costs of appearing to cross the Kremlin. Joshua Yaffa reports.

What 10 years of my Instagram data revealed

Under a new California privacy law, Kari Paul submitted a request to see how much information Instagram had on her. Poring over her own data gave her a wide-angle view of just how much her life has changed in the 10 years since her first post – and how much of her personal information the company shares with others.

How Bloomberg and Trump ended up as fierce rivals

Michael Bloomberg and Donald Trump, both New York billionaires, were once cordial, even friendly. But now they’re mortal enemies, writes Daniel Strauss. And a head-on presidential battle between the two would involve a huge amount of money – and “a huge amount of ego”.

Opinion

Trump’s strategy in the Iran crisis is similar to his approach to trade: aggressive, non-cooperative unilateralism. That can work, writes Mohamed El-Erian – but it is best used selectively and sparingly.

Just like his unilateral push to overhaul the North American Free Trade Agreement, he has shown a willingness to tolerate some damage at home in the hope that the damage inflicted on the other parties would be far greater and force them to make concessions.

Sport

It seems unlikely that one of the most underwhelming Manchester United sides in memory could end Liverpool’s unbeaten run at Anfield on Sunday. Then again, the club has a history of making apparently invincible sides look, well, “vincible” again. That’s one of 10 things to look out for in the Premier League this weekend.

Conor McGregor has had several brushes with the law since he last competed 15 months ago. Yet UFC seems happy to promote this flawed fighter in pursuit of profit. That is a risky strategy, writes Karim Zidan.

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