The VICE UK Morning News Bulletin

(Top image: The James Webb Space Telescope mirror. Photo: NASA/MSFC/David Higginbotham/Emmett Given, via)

Peer Pressure
The government will seek to overturn the defeat inflicted on its Brexit bill by the House of Lords, sources say. Peers defied ministers by voting 358 to 256 to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in the UK after Brexit. – BBC

No Police State
Policing in England and Wales is in a "potentially perilous state" as government cuts lead to investigations being shelved, vulnerable victims being let down and thousands of dangerous suspects remaining at large, a watchdog has warned. – Guardian

Compulsory Knowledge
Sex education will be made compulsory in all schools in England, following months of campaigning from MPs and charity groups. From a young age, children will be taught age-appropriate lessons about safe and healthy relationships. – Independent

Belfast Turnaround
Voters in Northern Ireland will today head to the polls for the second time in ten months. The 2017 Assembly Election was called after the resignation of former Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness, and will see the assembly members number go from 108 to 90. – BBC

The Moscow Sessions
US Attorney General Jeff Sessions met twice last year with the same Russian diplomat whose interaction with former Trump national security advisor Michael Flynn led to Flynn's firing, according to the Justice Department. Sessions did not mention the meetings during his confirmation hearings. – CNN

Maybe Some Traffic Cones Would Work Instead
Donald Trump's plan to build a wall between the USA and Mexico has itself hit a wall, as the White House only has $20 million available to use on the multi-billion dollar project. – Reuters

Russian Hacks on Tour
Russian officials have pushed back against allegations that hackers are interfering with European elections to help install Moscow-friendly candidates. French presidential frontrunner Emmanuel Macron said his campaign has been targeted. – ABC

Afghan Attacks
Two bombings in Kabul have killed at least 16 people and injured dozens more. Responsibility for the coordinated attacks has been claimed by the Taliban, thought to be retaliation for the death of senior commander Mullah Salem. – Los Angeles Times

NASA Throwing Expensive Machines Into Space
For years, the Hubble Telescope has redefined how we saw the universe. Next year, NASA will launch the James Webb Space Telescope, described as "Hubble on steroids". It's a telescope so huge it can't fit inside a rocket, and had better not break down: once it's positioned a million miles away, repairs to the machine will be impossible. – Motherboard

Philosophy of the Terrible
It's hard to overstate the awfulness of the Shaggs' 1969 album Philosophy of the World, and yet one woman managed to fall in love with the musicians behind it, considered by many to be worst band of all time. – Noisey

When the Drugs Began to Take Hold
An artist has created a real-life sculpture of the twisted, terrifying head of Raoul Duke, Hunter S Thompson's alter-ego from the seminal Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The image, which should by all rights not exist in our tangible world, is frighteningly identical to the warped image of Duke as portrayed by Johnny Depp in Terry Gilliam's 1998 film adaptation. – Creators Project

And You Get a Cabinet Position!
In the post-Donald Trump world, there is no presidential candidate too absurd to be plausible. To that end, consider the possibility of President Oprah Winfrey. Having once ruled out ever running, the popular talk show host has now said it might be worth thinking about in the wake of Trump, which is as close to confirmation as we're likely to get three-and-a-half years out from the next election. – AV Club