Wednesday’s top story: MPs agree Brexit backstop plan but EU refuses to renegotiate. Plus, the woman jailed for child abuse she did not commit

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.

Top story: May goes back to Brussels with Brexit backstop demands

With fewer than 60 days remaining before Britain is due to exit the EU, Theresa May, has been given two weeks to agree with Brussels an alternative to the Irish backstop, or yet again face the prospect of leaving without a deal. The prime minister persuaded MPs to support her plan to renegotiate the backstop in a Commons vote on Tuesday, yet EU leaders immediately poured cold water on her prospects.

Withdrawal agreement. Donald Tusk, the European council president, insisted the existing withdrawal agreement was “not open for renegotiation”.

No deal. The pound fell sharply after MPs voted on Tuesday, with the markets interpreting the result as increasing the chances of a no-deal Brexit on 29 March.

Venezuela’s supreme court freezes Guaidó’s bank accounts

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The court imposed a travel ban on the opposition leader, who has declared himself Venezuela’s interim president. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Venezuela’s supreme court has imposed a travel ban on opposition figurehead Juan Guaidó, who recently sparked a leadership crisis by declaring himself the country’s interim president and calling on the embattled Nicolás Maduro to step down. The court also froze Guaidó’s bank accounts, while Venezuela’s attorney general ordered an investigation into the 35-year-old national assembly leader, accusing him of involvement in “serious crimes that threaten the constitutional order”.

Likely outcomes. With the world taking sides as its deep economic woes precipitate a leadership crisis, Venezuela stands at a crossroads. Joe Parkin Daniels lays out four possible paths for the country’s future.

Huawei executive in court as US-China trade talks loom

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Huawei chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, heads to court in Vancouver. Photograph: Darryl Dyck/AP

With the spectre of criminal charges against Huawei already hanging over this week’s US-China trade talks, the Chinese firm’s chief financial officer has appeared in court in Vancouver, where she was arrested by Canadian authorities in December. Meng Wanzhou faces possible extradition to the US, where she has been charged with bank and wire fraud to violate American sanctions against Iran, as part of several indictments against Huawei, which also include allegations of stealing trade secrets.

‘Unreasonable suppression’. Chinese officials are due in Washington on Wednesday for two days of trade talks, after Beijing accused the US of “unreasonable suppression” of Chinese companies over the Huawei indictments.

Shutdown could spark brain-drain to private sector

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The car park at Nasa’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, sat empty during the partial government shutdown. Photograph: David Goldman/AP

The longest US government shutdown in history may be over but its consequences could be long-lasting and far-reaching. Among those potential consequences, say experts, is a brain drain of skilled professionals from jobs with a federal government that can’t be relied upon to function properly, to more highly paid positions in the private sector.

Low morale. Research by the Partnership for Public Service has found federal employee morale declining under the Trump administration and lagging behind the private sector.

Crib sheet

Listen to Today in Focus: can Maduro carry on in Venezuela?

Venezuela’s opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, has positioned himself at the forefront of mass protests against the president, Nicolás Maduro. But Maduro still commands the support of the military and key international allies. Virginia López reports on the crisis from Caracas.

Must-reads

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Should a single mother face imprisonment for an incident that happens when her children are in someone else’s care? Illustration: Beya Rebaï/The Guardian

The mother jailed for child abuse she didn’t commit

Tressie Shaffer was jailed last year for permitting child abuse, over an injury to her young daughter that occurred while she was out at work. In Oklahoma, working mothers who leave their children in the care of others are being incarcerated more often than the perpetrators in child abuse cases, as Aaron Morrison reports.

Why was the best show on Netflix cancelled?

Tina Fey’s network news satire, Great News, was one of the best series on Netflix, says Stuart Heritage – and it included one of the all-time great sitcom performances. Why was it cancelled after just 23 episodes?

The widening agricultural skills gap

Rural high school graduates are less likely to go to college than their urban peers. Yet rural higher education institutions are failing to teach them the agricultural skills they need to join their regions’ traditional industries. Matt Krupnick travels to Fayetteville, Tennessee, to find out why.

Why Britain can’t get enough cocaine

The British take more cocaine than almost anyone in Europe. The drug has become cheaper, more plentiful and – thanks, ironically, to tougher anti-drug laws – better quality. But its increasing popularity has also brought greater misery, as Sirin Kale discovers.

Opinion

Since 2017, Facebook has been using artificial intelligence to identify users who might be at high risk for suicide. The program may be well-intentioned, but a social network should not be moonlighting as a healthcare provider, says Mason Marks.

Unlike healthcare providers, which are heavily regulated, Facebook’s program operates in a legal grey area with almost no oversight.

Sport

Sunday’s Super Bowl will still be the most-watched sports event of the year, but high school football participation is falling, writes Patrick Hruby. Are parents’ fears of brain trauma to blame?

Manchester City’s coach, Pep Guardiola, has admitted his team will “have to win a lot of games now” to overtake Liverpool at the top of the Premier League, after an unexpected 2-1 defeat at Newcastle on Tuesday.

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