Trump fires acting attorney-general, Deutsche Bank settles and charting refugees 

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Donald Trump fired the acting US attorney-general Sally Yates on Monday night for defying his controversial travel ban, even as he faced growing protests against the restrictions from business leaders, demonstrators and even Barack Obama. The move transforms the confirmation of Mr Trump’s attorney-general nominee, Jeff Sessions, into a referendum on the immigration order. 

Mr Trump’s executive order has sparked criticism from across the world and there is concern that it violates the Geneva Convention. In Britain, prime minister Theresa May was forced to defend her decision to invite Mr Trump on a state visit as thousands of protesters took to the streets and more than 1.5m people signed a petition to try and stop the trip. The FT’s Janan Ganesh writes that “Mrs May’s tongue-tiedness of recent days is an extreme version of compromises to come elsewhere”. FT, Independent, NYT, Guardian, Politico)

In the news

Trump trade to Trump fade European markets are unsettled after US stocks suffered their heaviest sell-off since before the presidential election on Monday. It was the biggest reversal yet of the so-called Trump trade that brought the stock market to record highs after Donald Trump’s election. The shaky day for US markets also hit Asian trading on Tuesday. (FT)

Deutsche Bank settles The German lender has agreed to pay $425m to settle a US investigation into alleged mirror trades used to launder $10bn out of Russia, in a move that would reduce one of the biggest remaining legal uncertainties hanging over the bank. (FT)

France’s socialists in crisis At least two socialist party MPs announced they were deserting their party after it chose radical Benoît Hamon as candidate for the presidential election. A number of party members have refused to back the nominee and are instead offering support to independent candidate Emmanuel Macron. (Politico.eu, FT)

Quebec mosque suspect charged Alexandre Bissonnette, a 27-year-old student, has been charged with six counts of murder and five of attempted murder with a restricted weapon in the shooting at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada, which the prime minister, Justin Trudeau, described as a terrorist attack. (Reuters)

PacMan’s father passes Masaya Nakamura, known as the father of Pac Man, has died at the age of 91. With a character based on partially eaten pizza that gobbled obstacles rather than fighting, he aimed to attract women and children in an era when games were predominantly played “by adult men with a cigarette in their mouths”. (NAR) 

It’s a big day for

Brexit British MPs will begin a two-day debate over the government’s parliamentary bill to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon treaty and get the formal process of Brexit under way. (BBC)

Corporate earnings More than 100 of America’s biggest companies report quarterly results this week. Apple, ExxonMobil, Pfizer, UPS and Eli Lilly, among others, will release earnings today.

US Supreme Court President Donald Trump will announce his nominee to the court. Four federal appeals court judges are reported to be the leading contenders for the nomination: Judge Neil Gorsuch of Denver, Judge William Pryor of Atlanta, Judge Thomas Hardiman of Pittsburgh and Judge Diane Sykes of Milwaukee. (FT) 

Food for thought

US-Mexico trade The US-Mexico trade relationship is worth $1m a minute. The damage to Mexico that President Trump could cause by killing Nafta would be vast, but Mexico also has a few cards to play in any talks. For one, more than 5m US jobs depend on commerce with Mexico. (FT)

Charting refugees The FT has put together four charts looking at the US refugee programme that Donald Trump plans to temporarily halt for security reasons. However, since the US refugee programme began in 1975, more than 3.2m refugees have entered the US and only three have carried out a deadly terrorist attack. They were Cubans. At the same time, the FT’s Alan Smith cautions that charts can mislead. (FT)

Do online petitions work? More than a million people in the UK have signed a petition calling for a state visit by Donald Trump to be cancelled. The government has rejected the request. Do online petitions ever work? Or are they just “slacktivism”. The answers: rarely, and that depends. (New Statesman)

Why Trump is a disaster for Brexit Donald Trump’s election has transformed Brexit from a risky decision to a disaster, writes the FT’s Gideon Rachman. “The Emperor Nero has now taken power in Washington — and the British are having to smile and clap as he sets fires and reaches for his fiddle.” (FT)

The neurological benefits of profanity Swear words help us bear pain, forestall violence and foster relationships. Though research has not done much for profanity, the opposite is not true. (NYRoB)

Video of the day

Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown After a weekend of chaos that saw some US permanent residents and refugees from some Muslim nations detained at US airports, Donald Trump defended his order to clamp down on people entering the US from seven predominantly Muslim countries. (FT)