US briefing: Christchurch, Bolsonaro and Trump's human rights record

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

Massacre could lead to ban on semi-automatic weapons

New Zealand’s prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, says her cabinet has agreed “in principle” to new gun control legislation in the wake of the Christchurch terrorist attack, but has yet to announce concrete plans, such as a ban on semi-automatic rifles. The city of Christchurch returned to work following Friday’s attack at two mosques in which at least 50 people were killed. It has emerged that the shooting suspect was detained by two rural police officers who were in town for a training session on dealing with armed offenders.

• ‘John Howard moment.’ Previous attempts to reform New Zealand’s gun laws have foundered, explains Calla Wahlquist. Ardern faces a “John Howard moment”, and must act quickly, as the former Australian prime minister did following the killings of 35 people in Tasmania in 1996.

• Fraser Anning. The Indonesian foreign ministry has summoned Australia’s ambassador to make clear Jakarta’s condemnation of the Australian senator Fraser Anning’s rhetorical attacks on Muslims in the wake of the massacre.

ACLU: Trump administration ignoring human rights monitors

Migrant teenagers at the Tornillo detention camp in Texas, which was closed in January.Photograph: Andres Leighton/AP

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has delivered a scathing assessment of the Trump administration’s human rights record to the UN Human Rights Council (HRC), accusing the White House of refusing to engage with international monitors over potential human rights violations within the US, including police brutality and the abuse of migrant children. The US withdrew from the HRC in 2018 and has allegedly threatened the group’s officials with prosecution if they set foot on US soil.

• Migrant rights. According to the ACLU statement, the UN expert on migrant human rights has been refused permission repeatedly to visit the US-Mexican border.

• Women’s rights. The US has also been accused of trying to water down language during talks at the UN’s Commission on the Status of Women, refusing to reaffirm its commitment to a landmark 1990s agreement on women’s rights.

Brazil’s Bolsonaro to meet Trump in Washington

American and Brazilian activists protest at the White House against Bolsonaro’s visit.Photograph: Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images

The president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, has landed in Washington DC before a meeting with Donald Trump on Tuesday, which he hopes will demonstrate the shared values of the two rightwing, populist leaders. After emulating Trump throughout his election campaign last year, Bolsonaro pencilled in the US president for his first state visit after taking office in January.

• ‘Historic opportunity.’ Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, said the trip was a “historic opportunity” for partnership between the two biggest economies in the Americas.

• Spying scandal. This is the first state visit by a Brazilian president since Dilma Rousseff cancelled her 2013 trip after it was revealed the US National Security Agency had been spying on her.

Saudi crown prince misses high-profile meetings

Mohammed bin Salman may have been temporarily sidelined by his father, King Salman.Photograph: Cliff Owen/AP

The controversial crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, is alleged to have been stripped of some of his power by his father, King Salman, after months of criticism over issues including the killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. The prince has been absent from several high-profile ministerial and diplomatic meetings in recent weeks, while the king is said to have told senior cabinet officials that he has temporarily limited his heir’s financial and economic authority.

• Energy allies. Saudi Arabia and the US, the world’s two biggest oil producers, have reportedly joined forces to block new rules on geo-engineering at the UN environment assembly in Nairobi this week.

Crib sheet

• The British prime minister, Theresa May, is making one last desperate bid to win over Conservative MPs and the Northern Irish DUP in the hope of pushing her Brexit deal through parliament at the third attempt this week.

• Marine biologists in the Philippines say a dead whale that washed ashore this weekend died from “gastric shock” after ingesting 40kg of plastic bags, “including 16 rice sacks, four banana plantation-style bags and multiple shopping bags”.

• Three teenagers have been killed in a “crush” during a St Patrick’s Day party at a hotel in Cookstown, Northern Ireland.

• A team of scientists in Australia has successfully impregnated multiple merino ewes using the defrosted, 50-year-old semen of a long-dead ram known as Sir Freddie, making his the world’s oldest viable stored semen.

Must-reads

Mark Zuckerberg still hasn’t fulfilled his promises to reform Facebook after last year’s privacy scandal.Photograph: Alex Edelman/Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock

The Cambridge Analytica scandal, one year on

A year ago, it was revealed that Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to harvest users’ data for political ends, and the social network was plunged into the deepest crisis of its 14-year history: what Siva Vaidhyanathan calls the “Chernobyl of privacy”. But while the world has changed, writes Julia Carrie Wong, Facebook has not.

Jay Inslee is running to fight climate change

The Washington governor, Jay Inslee, is one of more than a dozen candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, but he’s the only one to put climate change at the heart of his campaign. Josh Wood hears his stump speech in Bedford, New Hampshire.

The incredible life of Molly Ivins

A documentary, Raise Hell, records the remarkable life of the liberal Texas columnist Molly Ivins, who warned of the GOP’s hard-right turn in the early 1990s. “I wanted specifically to show Molly’s amazing prescience,” its director, Janice Engel, tells Martin Pengelly.

Can you eat yourself happier?

Felice Jacka is the president of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry, a new field of research examining the connections between food and mood. She tells Amy Fleming that “what we stick in our mouths matters to our mental health”.

Opinion

Western societies have been radicalised against Muslims by the incendiary rhetoric of mainstream columnists and politicians who know perfectly well the damage it causes, says Nesrine Malik. Christchurch is the result.

Sport

Duke has been named the No 1 seed for the 2019 NCAA tournament, with its star Zion Williamson still set to be the top pick in the NBA draft. But while Williamson may be the most gifted player in college basketball, the most effective is arguably Tacko Fall, the 7ft 6in center for the University of Central Florida.

The new world No 4, Dominic Thiem, defeated Roger Federer in three sets to win the biggest title of his tennis career at Indian Wells this weekend. In the women’s final, wildcard Canadian teenager Bianca Andreescu outshone three-time grand-slam champion Angelique Kerber to claim victory, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

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