Top story: ‘Fight like hell’ was ‘just free speech’
Hello, Warren Murray with you … quite a big day ahead so let’s hop into it.
The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump will begin in the US Senate later today. The former president faces a charge of “incitement of insurrection” after his supporters stormed the US Capitol in January resulting in clashes that left five people dead. Trump’s lawyers claim his efforts to whip up a frenzy with false claims of election fraud were free speech, not incitement. Trump said and tweeted things like “Big protest in DC on January 6th. Be there, will be wild!”; “Election Rigged & Stolen”; “They’re not taking this White House. We’re going to fight like hell, I’ll tell you right now”; “You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong”; and “So let’s walk down Pennsylvania Avenue!”
Dozens of the nearly 140 people charged so far over the attack have argued they stormed the building because the president told them to. At Trump’s first trial in early 2020 prosecutors told a complicated story about his pressure campaign in Ukraine. This time, the alleged crime scene is the very Senate chamber where the trial will play out. Democrats are preparing to exhibit shocking footage of what happened, which Trump’s defence lawyers have tried to fend off by making the extraordinary claim that revisiting the events amounts to “glorifying violence”.
The defence team also argues the Senate does not have jurisdiction to try Trump because he has since left office – a point that will be debated at the start of the trial, which is expected to last at least through this week. Seventeen Republicans would need to join Democrats to convict him – a tally that appears all but unattainable.
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Flashbacks from intensive care – One in three Covid patients put on a ventilator experience extensive symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to research that adds to mounting evidence of the pandemic’s impact on mental health. The study of 13,049 patients by Imperial College London and the University of Southampton found one in five admitted to hospital but not put on a ventilator also had PTSD symptoms including flashbacks of their time in hospital and intensive care. Such instances were fewer among people who were treated or looked after themselves at home. The Royal College of Nursing has raised concerns that tens of thousands of nurses across the UK have not had their first coronavirus vaccine yet. And a cross-party group of MPs is warning of a spike in poverty not seen since the Thatcher era if ministers do not retain the £20 a week universal credit Covid top-up for at least another 12 months. Further coronavirus developments are rolling through our live blog.
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Papers protest at stifling of FoI – Editors of UK national newspapers including the Guardian, Telegraph and Mirror are calling on the government to protect the Freedom of Information Act after criticism that the public are being obstructed when trying to scrutinise the work of official organisations. The six editors’ open letter is coordinated by openDemocracy which in November accused ministers of using an “Orwellian unit” known as the “clearing house” to curb release of potentially embarrassing information – rejecting requests at the highest rate in the 20 years that FoI has existed. Katharine Viner, the Guardian editor, said: “At a time when journalistic freedom is under threat around the world, the government’s time-wasting over legitimate FoI requests is at odds with its global commitments to press freedom.”
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Vax enough nonsense – Facebook has banned misinformation about vaccines following years of harmful, unfounded anti-vaxxer claims that it previously allowed to proliferate. It will remove posts with false claims about all vaccines, whether in user-generated posts or paid advertisements. Instagram users will face the same restrictions. Groups on Facebook have been known to create echo chambers of misinformation and have fuelled the rise of anti-vaccine communities and rhetoric. Now, groups where users repeatedly share banned content will be shut down. In April 2020, Facebook began to add to posts about coronavirus a panel of facts from the CDC to combat misinformation. It often made misinformation about vaccines less visible but stopped short of removing it.
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Greener flying – British Airways says it will operate transatlantic flights partially powered by sustainable fuels as early as next year, as it invests in a US plant producing sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) based on ethanol made using agricultural and other waste. It is likely to only provide a tiny fraction of BA’s overall fuel needs at first. SAF can be used to substitute up to 50% of conventional jet fuel but so far demonstration flights have blended only about 5% of the greener fuel. Less promising news: state-owned fossil fuel companies are poised to invest about £1.4tn in the next decade in projects that would blow away the Paris climate goals, Fiona Harvey writes. “A lot of the oil industry wants one last party,” says David Manley from the Natural Resource Governance Institute thinktank. “We are worried about how long that party will continue.”
Today in Focus podcast: Navalny behind bars
The sentencing of opposition leader Alexei Navalny marks a dramatic turning point in Russian politics, says Andrew Roth.
Lunchtime read: Death by butt lift
The Brazilian butt lift is the fastest growing cosmetic surgery in the world, despite the mounting number of deaths resulting from the procedure. What is driving its astonishing rise?
Sport
Jack Leach, who took a pasting from Rishabh Pant in the first innings, has been given a vote of confidence from the England camp as he prepares for his key role on the final day of the first Test against India. Billy Vunipola has said he must shoulder his share of the blame as England examine their desperate start to the Six Nations, admitting honest discussions are needed if they are to stay in the hunt for the title. A goal in each half secured a 2-0 win for Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds against a Crystal Palace team who offered precious little in attack without Wilfried Zaha. The PFA has launched the Asian Inclusion Mentoring Scheme, giving youngsters in academies access to professional players. The referee Mike Dean is to step back from officiating duties after his family was threatened on their private social media accounts, becoming the latest victims in an ongoing tide of online abuse against prominent football figures. And Sir Alex Ferguson has led the tributes to Tony Collins, the first black manager in English league football, who has died aged 94.
Business
Asia-Pacific stocks have mostly been higher after Wall Street rose to a new record with the S&P 500 reaching 3,915.59. Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul have risen while Hong Kong has declined along with Sydney and New Zealand. The FTSE is trending towards opening flat to a few points down. The pound is worth $1.377 and €1.140 at time of writing.
The papers
“Johnson urged to tighten borders as variants threaten vaccine plan” – the lead story on our Guardian front page today, as anxiety swirls about the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine showing little effect against the South African variant, in a trial held there. Also on page one: how the Queen’s lawyers secretly vetted more than 1,000 pieces of legislation, as we continue to lift the lid on the “Queen’s consent” privilege; and Miriam Margolyes and Vanessa Redgrave spark off each other in the first of a series of conversations between theatre legends.
There’s a range of perspectives on the dreaded variant coronavirus. “Johnson puts faith in AstraZeneca jab after South Africa halts rollout,” says the FT. “SA variant ‘not likely to become dominant’,” the Telegraph assures us, paraphrasing Prof Jonathan Van-Tam, the deputy chief medical officer. The front page of the Times takes the same line though its main story is “Growing risk of attacks as world order crumbles” – a write-off from the paper’s interview with Ben Wallace, the defence secretary. The Express is angry on your behalf: “Disgrace!: no border virus checks” after “Thousands arriving from variant-hit South Africa” – there’s a new construction, variant-hit – “walk out airport unchecked”.
The Express front page also has Storm Darcy which is the Metro’s chosen lead: “Don’t dice with Darcy”. The Mail praises its readers as “A force for good” after raising £10m to put laptops into home learners’, umm, laps. “Call NHS if you still need a jab, over-70s told” – a good community messages from the i, also amplified by the Mirror: “Over-70s are told: time to call the shots”. The Sun blares out a “shock royal exclusive” saying the rugby great Mike Tindall is claiming furlough money. The royal angle comes from his being married to Zara nee Phillips.
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