Good morning.
Chilling new video footage of the Capitol attack was brought to light on Wednesday, as the Democrats presented their case of impeachment against Donald Trump over his role in the violence. The videos revealed for the first time how close many lawmakers came to meeting the mob, and showed them scrambling to evacuate. As chants rang out to “hang” Mike Pence and makeshift gallows were erected outside, rioters came within 100ft of the room the then vice-president and his family were sheltering inside before being evacuated.
The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, was also targeted, and her staff could hear the mob calling out to find her as they barricaded themselves in a room. You can watch five of the key videos shown at the trial on Wednesday here, including the rescue of Mitt Romney by the Capitol police officer Eugene Goodman.
Constructing a timeline of events, House impeachment managers attempted to show how the then president was “singularly responsible” for the siege, which left several dead, the building smashed and looted, and senators evacuated or cowering. They also argue that Trump violated his presidential oath of office by not acting to stop the violence.
In his attempts to cultivate attention online, Trump left a trail of evidence about his role in the Capitol attack. His speeches, tweets and phone calls were played repeatedly during the prosecution’s arguments, making him “the star witness in his own prosecution”. Meanwhile, Joe Biden has kept quiet on the impeachment trial, with the White House press secretary saying “he will not spend too much time watching the proceedings” and instead focus on the coronavirus relief plan.
Georgia prosecutors are investigating Trump’s attempts to overturn the election, according to a letter. The Fulton county district attorney asked government officials to preserve documents including those surrounding a phone call from Trump to Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, pressuring him to “find” more votes.
Trump’s Twitter ban is permanent, even if he runs for office again, a senior executive confirmed on Wednesday. “The way our policies work, when you’re removed from the platform, you’re removed from the platform,” the chief financial officer, Ned Segal, said.
The US could have avoided 40% of Covid deaths, a panel has found
Four out of every 10 deaths from coronavirus in the US could have been avoided, a Lancet commission found, as it investigated Trump’s health policy record. The commission said Trump had “brought misfortune to the USA and the planet” during his four years in office, but also blamed poor public health infrastructure for the loss of life. To determine how many deaths from Covid the US could have averted, the commission weighted the average death rate of the other G7 countries – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the UK – and compared it with that of the US.
Double masking can improve protection from coronavirus by 90%, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found. When close-fitted surgical masks were worn underneath cloth masks, study participants were significantly less exposed to coronavirus, though the study did not address men with beards or children.
Instagram has removed the prominent anti-vaxxer Robert F Kennedy Jr after he repeatedly shared misinformation about coronavirus and vaccine safety. Kennedy Jr is chair of Children’s Health Defense, a group that baselessly seeks to link chronic childhood conditions to a number of factors including vaccinations.
Biden speaks to Xi about Taiwan, Hong Kong and Xinjiang
President Biden raised China’s human rights abuses and attempts at expansion during his first phone call with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, since taking office. Biden raised the issue of Taiwan, which is attempting to resist “unification” efforts, as well as the crackdown in Hong Kong and human rights violations in Xinjiang, according to the White House. While Xi defended his policies, he told Biden a confrontation would be “a disaster” and called for the two sides to ensure they avoided misjudgments, according to state media.
Biden also approved an executive order for new sanctions against the leaders of the military coup in Myanmar. The move came as the army detained another key aide to the elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested during the 1 February coup. In protests in the country over the coup, activists are urging citizens to boycott work.
The only Iranian presidential candidate accused Biden of continuing Trump’s policies overseas, and warned that Tehran was preparing retaliation to force the US to change its approach.
The Israeli prime minister is yet to receive a call from Biden and he is not happy about it. The head of the World Likud, the global arm of Benjamin Netanyahu’s party, issued a pointed statement on Twitter, listing all the countries Biden has called and providing the PM’s number.
In other news …
The fight over Britney Spears’s conservatorship is back in court today, just days after a documentary prompted further outrage about the terms she has been living under for years. Lawyers for the pop star filed for her father Jamie Spears to be removed as a conservator, which gives him control of her estate, career and other aspects of her personal life, including medical treatment.
Bruce Springsteen is facing a drunk-driving charge, leading Jeep to pause a commercial campaign with him after the ad was premiered during Sunday’s Super Bowl. Springsteen was arrested on 14 November in New Jersey.
Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler magazine, has died aged 78. Flynt was known for pushing the limits of free speech and was involved in a number of stunts and court cases. He suffered from a range of health problems since an 1978 assassination attempt that left him paraplegic.
Stat of the day: 42,000 people were rejected under Trump’s Muslim ban
It’s been four years since Trump introduced a travel ban on citizens from more than a dozen mostly Muslim majority countries, which lasted until Biden scrapped it as one of his first acts in office. Despite denying an estimated 42,000 people visas, national security experts say the policy did not make the US safer. Many of those rejected are now preparing to apply for visas again, to visit loved ones or study, with the hope that Biden’s election marked a new dawn.
Don’t miss this: America’s dirty secret
In Centreville, a majority-Black town in Illinois, residents have been dealing with repeated flooding and sewage overflow for decades. With soggy toilet paper and human waste littering the ground, children don’t play outside and many locals refuse to drink from the taps. Catharine Smith meets locals fighting for better sanitation in one of the poorest towns in the US.
Last Thing: when pigs … use computer joysticks
Pigs can be trained to use computer joysticks, researchers have found, with four animals learning to move a cursor on a screen to earn a treat. Pigs have already been trained to solve puzzles and follow commands such as “sit”, but the study reveals more about the capabilities of the creatures. However, the study was suspended after 12 weeks for two of the pigs, because they grew too large to stand long enough to complete the sessions.
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