Good morning.
The Austrian chancellor is scheduled to meet with Vladimir Putin on Monday, the Russian president’s first meeting with an EU leader since the order to invade Ukraine, amid warnings of a new offensive and shelling in the east.
Karl Nechamer said the meeting would take place in Moscow and that Austria had a “clear position on Russia’s aggression war”, calling for humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire and a full investigation into war crimes.
Jake Sullivan, a national security adviser in Washington, warned that the appointment of a new general to command Russia’s military campaign is likely to lead to a new round of “crime and brutality” against civilians. Alexander Dvornikov, 60, became known as the head of Russian forces in Syria in 2015-16, when there were particularly brutal bombings of rebel-held areas, including civilians, in Aleppo.
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What can Russia do next? The UK Ministry of Defense warned on Monday morning that Russian forces could resort to the use of phosphate weapons in Mariupol as fighting for the city intensifies. It cites previous use of ammunition by Russian soldiers in Donetsk.
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What else is going on? Here is what we know on the 47th day of the invasion.
Liz Cheney’s dispute reports on January 6 on splitting commission on Trump’s crime
Liz Cheney. Photo: J Scott Applewhite / AP
A key Republican in the House of Representatives committee on January 6th challenged a report saying the committee was divided over whether to refer Donald Trump to the Justice Department for criminal charges over his attempt to cancel the 2020 election, which led to until the attack on the Capitol.
“There is really no dispute in the committee,” Wyoming spokeswoman Liz Cheney told CNN.
The New York Times said otherwise on Sunday in a report entitled: “The January 6 kit has evidence of a criminal referral to Trump, but is divided over the transfer.”
“The debate focuses on whether the referral – largely a symbolic act – would have the opposite effect by politically tarnishing the Justice Ministry’s expanding investigation into the January 6 attack and what led to it,” the paper said.
Citing “members and aides”, the Times said such sources were reluctant to support the referral because it would give the impression that Democrats had asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump.
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What did Cheney say? “We have not decided to refer to the commission … [but] in fact, it is clear that what President Trump was doing, what a number of people around him were doing, they knew was awful. That they did it after all. “
France faces runoff after Macron and Le Pen vote first
The projected results in the first part of the presidential race put Macron (pictured) with 27.6%, and his far-right rival Le Pen – with 23.4%. Photo: Alfonso Jimenez / Rex / Shutterstock
France faces a brutal two-week campaign for the country’s future as incumbent centrist Emmanuel Macron confronts far-right Marine Le Pen for the presidency, positioning himself as pro-European “progressive” against what he calls an anti-Muslim, nationalist program and “Complacency” about Putin.
Macron led the first round of Sunday’s presidential election in France with 27.6% of the vote, ahead of 23.4% of Le Pen, according to Ipsos’ initial forecast for France Télévisions.
He scored higher in the first round five years ago and apparently won support in the final hours of the campaign after his stern warnings to voters to keep the far right and defend France’s place on the international diplomatic stage during the war in Ukraine . But Le Pen’s score was also higher than five years ago.
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Why is Le Pen doing better this time? She has been steadily gaining support after an intensified campaign for the cost of living crisis and inflation, which have become a major concern for voters.
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What did Macron say? He told reporters: “When the far right in all its forms represents so much in France, you can’t think things are going well, so you have to go out and convince people with a lot of humility and respect. who were not on our side in this first round. “
In other news…
Representatives Marjorie Taylor Green and Donald Trump during a rally in Commerce, Georgia, last month. Photo: Alice Potter / Reuters
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A federal judge has said an attempt will be made to stop far-right Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Green from running for re-election. The Georgia Voter Challenge says Green should be disqualified for supporting the January 6, 2021, insurgency.
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After dozens of failed, apparently painful lethal injections in recent years, prisoners in at least 10 states are making a surreal argument: they would prefer the squad to be shot. Because more “technological” methods have proved appalling, some states are considering shooting prisoners instead.
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Elon Musk made a U-turn by joining the Twitter board, although he became the largest shareholder in the social media company with a 9.2% stake. He was due to join the board on Saturday, but Twitter CEO Parag Agraval said Monday morning that Musk had turned down the offer.
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British Chancellor Rishi Sunak has written to the Prime Minister asking him to investigate his own cases after days of criticism of his wife’s non-state tax status. Sunak has also been criticized for his decision to keep a green card in the United States, which gives him months of permanent residence while he is chancellor.
Don’t miss this: What happens when a group of Fox News viewers watch CNN for a month?
A study that paid viewers of the right cable network to switch shed light on the influence of the media on people’s views. Photo: Nick Ansel / PA
In an unusual and time-consuming project, two political scientists paid a group of regular Fox News viewers to watch CNN for a month. At the end of the period, researchers found surprising results; some Fox News observers changed their minds on a number of key issues, including the US response to the coronavirus and the Democrats’ attitude toward the police. The findings suggest that political perspectives may change, but also reveal the influence of guerrilla media on the ideology of viewers, writes Adam Gabat.
… Or this: Jack White on white stripes, bar fights and fame
Jack White… “Army of the Seven Nations May Be the Greatest Multicultural Hit of All Time.” Photo: Paige Sarah
Like half of the White Stripes, the Detroit musician conquered the world. His loaded garage rock duo was a worldwide phenomenon and he has hardly stopped since. He was in front of Raconteurs and played drums in Dead Weather, worked with country singer Loretta Lynn and was a producer and director of videos, while his eclectic operation Third Man includes everything from a record company and record stores to a publishing house. After a busy block, he returned with two new solo albums.
Climate test: Putin’s war shows that autocracies and fossil fuels go hand in hand. Here’s how to deal with both
“Autocrats are often a direct result of fossil fuels.” Composite: Rita Liu / Guardian / Getty Images
The world of money is at least as unbalanced and unjust as the world of political power – but in ways that can make it a little easier for climate advocates to make progress. Putin’s grotesque war may be the place where some of these trends converge. He emphasizes the ways in which fossil fuels build autocracy and the power that controlling scarce supplies gives autocrats. But we have years, not decades, to bring the climate crisis under some control. We will not have more such moments.
One last thing: A Connecticut mechanic finds art worth millions in a dumpster in an abandoned barn
Francis Hines attended the opening of the SLAG Gallery on June 12, 2008 in New York. Photo: Patrick McMullan / Getty Images
Paintings and other works of art found in an abandoned barn in Connecticut turned out to be worth millions of dollars. Informed by a contractor, Jared Whipple, a Waterbury mechanic, pulled out the dirt-covered pieces of a garbage can that contained materials from the Watertown barn. Whipple later learned that the works were by Francis Hines, an abstract expressionist who died in 2016 at the age of 96 and kept his work in the barn, Hearst Connecticut Media Group reported.
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