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Good morning,
We start today with President Trump’s strategy in Iraq, the fallout from a racist photograph in Virginia, and another Super Bowl title for the Patriots.
President Trump outlines his foreign policy priorities
The president said in an interview broadcast on Sunday that he planned to maintain an American military presence in Iraq in order to monitor neighboring Iran, even as he moves to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan.
The U.S. has been negotiating with Iraq for weeks to allow perhaps hundreds of American troops in Syria to shift to bases in Iraq and strike the Islamic State from there. About 5,200 U.S. troops are currently in Iraq.
Another angle: In the same interview, on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Mr. Trump wouldn’t commit to making public the results of the special counsel’s investigation into Russian ties to his campaign. The law doesn’t require the Justice Department to release Robert Mueller’s report.
Perspective: The war in Afghanistan is the longest in modern American history. “The troops have fought bravely,” The Times’s Editorial Board writes. “It’s time to bring them home.”
Virginia Democrats fear for their agenda
The state’s Legislature is scheduled to meet today after Gov. Ralph Northam, a Democrat, resisted calls to resign over a racist photograph on his medical school yearbook page in 1984. Mr. Northam denied being one of the two men in the picture — one in blackface and the other in a Ku Klux Klan robe — after originally saying he was.
State lawmakers from both parties said on Sunday that Mr. Northam’s fragile hold on power risked jeopardizing Democrats’ policy ambitions for the fall, when control of both of Virginia’s legislative chambers will be up for grabs.
Local reaction: For many Virginians, grappling with the scandal is as complicated as the state’s tragic racial history.
News analysis: President Trump’s willingness to use race as a political weapon has pushed Democrats to confront misconduct in their ranks, one of our correspondents writes.
Go deeper: “To live in this country in this century, and still be talking about white men impersonating black people, is to suspect that it’s probably always 1884 somewhere,” our critic at large writes.
It was a slog of a Super Bowl
In a game only Patriots fans could love, New England beat the Los Angeles Rams, 13-3, on Sunday in the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever.
The Patriots, with six Super Bowl titles, are now tied with the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most. Here’s a look at the game’s lackluster statistics (not counting a record 65-yard punt).
The ads: Off the field, the action wasn’t much more exciting, as brands steered clear of controversy. (Bud Light did pick an unexpected fight with … corn syrup.)
The halftime show: Maroon 5, the quasi-soul, quasi-rock band, was the main attraction but turned in a performance that was “worthy of something much worse than derision: a shrug.” Read our music critic’s review.
Venezuelan insurgent rallies support
Juan Guaidó, the young lawmaker leading an effort to topple the country’s authoritarian government, visited ordinary Venezuelans and fielded phone calls from world leaders over the weekend as he tried to get government insiders to turn on President Nicolás Maduro.
Despite Mr. Guaidó’s growing support after declaring himself the country’s legitimate interim leader two weeks ago, Mr. Maduro still holds many of the levers of power. They include the state broadcaster, a compliant judiciary, military leaders and ruthless paramilitary forces.
What’s next: Shipments of humanitarian aid from Mr. Guaidó’s international allies are expected to begin arriving in Venezuela this week. The assistance could be pivotal to Mr. Guaidó’s movement, which has stirred hope for millions of Venezuelans.
If you have 18 minutes, this is worth it
Behind the Lion Air crash
Snapshot: Above, clowns attended an annual memorial service in London on Sunday for Joseph Grimaldi, a 19th-century English entertainer who popularized clowns’ makeup.
What we’re reading: This thread on Ava DuVernay’s Twitter account. “The filmmaker posted a two-minute video from 1967 of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he answered an interviewer’s question about how black Americans, of all the ethnic groups in the U.S., still suffered,” writes the briefings editor, Andrea Kannapell. “King’s answer is a master class, and the posts that follow add more detail to his points.”
Now, a break from the news
Cook: This comforting lentil soup couldn’t be easier.
Watch: A new month means new titles available on streaming services in the U.S. and Canada. For February, a bunch of great documentaries arrived on HBO, Amazon and Hulu.
Listen: Quiet, nightmarish and nursery-rhyme catchy, Billie Eilish’s new track “Bury a Friend” is matter-of-fact about mourning’s connection to death wishes, writes Jon Pareles.
See: Justin Peck’s latest choreography for New York City Ballet. “Principia” is “youthful, ardent, inventive, sincere,” Brian Seibert writes.
Smarter Living: If you’re trying to make your work space more ergonomic, having the right chair is crucial. Get an adjustable one if you can. The seat should be wide enough to give your hips a clear inch on either side, and shallow enough that the edge doesn’t hit you behind the knees when you sit back. And do sit back — it eases spinal compression.
We also have suggestions for wellness products to add to your “wedding day survival kit.”
And now for the Back Story on …
A special obituary project
February is Black History Month, and The Times has put together a special presentation of its Overlooked series, featuring 13 prominent black men and women whose deaths weren’t previously noted in our report.
The editor of the collection, Amisha Padnani, described what she discovered through the stories of figures like Scott Joplin, the ragtime master; Gladys Bentley, a gender-bending blues singer; and Major Taylor, the first black world champion in cycling.
“Many of them were a generation removed from slavery,” she wrote. “To carve a name for themselves, they sometimes had to make myth out of a painful history, misrepresenting their past to gain a better footing in their future.”
“They were ambitious and creative, becoming painters and composers, filmmakers and actors,” she added. “Others used their imaginations to invent and innovate. Often they felt an unspoken greater mission to break the constraints society placed on their race.”
The project was created in partnership with Past Tense, a new team at The Times that is delving into the paper’s archives to bring to life compelling stories from the past. Use this form to nominate a candidate for future Overlooked obituaries.
That’s it for this briefing.
Remember the Instagram egg? The subject of the site’s most-liked post featured in an ad last night to promote mental health services.
See you next time.
— Chris
Thank you
To Eleanor Stanford and James K. Williamson for the break from the news. You can reach the team at briefing@nytimes.com.
P.S.
• We’re listening to “The Daily.” Today’s episode is about the possible peace deal with the Taliban in Afghanistan.
• Here’s today’s mini crossword puzzle, and a clue: Breast, thigh or wing (5 letters). You can find all our puzzles here.
• In March, The Times released “Diversity 2017,” a report on its efforts to create a more diverse and inclusive work culture.
Source : Nytimes
