Impeachment, Coronavirus, Spring Training: Your Tuesday Evening Briefing

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/26/briefing/impeachment-coronavirus-spring-training.html

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Good evening. Here’s the latest.

1. The Capitol Police knew of a “strong potential for violence” ahead of the Jan. 6 mob attack but failed to take adequate steps to prevent the riot, the department’s acting police chief said.

In a closed-door briefing with lawmakers, Yogananda Pittman, who was not the acting chief at the time of the siege, apologized for the security failures, including a delay in approving pleas for National Guard assistance. She described the riot as a “terrorist attack.”

The admission came the same day that senators were sworn in for former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, with proceedings set to begin on Feb. 9. But conviction is looking unlikely. Republican senators voted against holding an impeachment trial, strongly suggesting Mr. Trump is likely to be acquitted. Here’s where each one stands on conviction.

The F.B.I. is increasingly looking at the leadership of the Proud Boys, the far-right nationalist group, to determine to what extent they may have planned the assault in advance.

We also listened in as a group of Trump supporters and QAnon believers swapped audio messages in a public online forum for the past three weeks. This is what we heard.

2. President Biden is plowing ahead with his agenda.

Mr. Biden announced new actions targeting racial inequality and police violence against Black people. Among the executive actions are steps to address prison reform, discriminatory housing policies and police reform.

On military reform, Lloyd Austin, the new secretary of defense, is open to considering an overhaul to the way the military handles sexual assault cases — by taking them outside the military chain of command.

In foreign affairs, Mr. Biden called President Vladimir Putin of Russia to address a long list of grievances.

And back home, Mr. Biden faces his first legal challenge: A federal judge in Texas temporarily blocked a 100-day pause on deportations.

3. Open schools. Close indoor dining, bars and poorly ventilated gyms.

That’s the view of federal health officials who urged a return to classroom instruction as soon as possible, citing evidence showing it is safe with the right health protocols. Writing in a medical journal, the officials said school administrators must limit risky activities such as indoor sports.

Separately, the Biden administration is nearing a deal with Pfizer and Moderna to secure an additional 200 million doses of coronavirus vaccine by the end of summer — a time frame that Mr. Biden’s predecessor had also envisioned, and one that may not accelerate the current pace of vaccination.

The federal government’s weekly allocation of coronavirus vaccines is set to increase by about 1.5 million doses next week.

4. The world surpassed 100 million known coronavirus cases, a staggering milestone for a crisis entering a phase of both hope and deep concern.

Around the world, borders are being tightened amid the threat of more contagious virus variants. As of today, the U.S. will require a negative virus test from all arriving international air travelers. France and Britain are considering stricter measures, and New Zealand said borders would remain closed until the population was vaccinated.

We also took a closer look at Hong Kong, above, where the pandemic has brought the city’s huge inequalities into the open. After an outbreak in the neighborhood of Jordan, officials locked down 10,000 residents over the weekend, most of whom live in tenement apartments, where spaces are so tiny and restrictive that they are called cages or coffins.

5. Thousands of farmers poured into New Delhi to protest new farming laws, using their tractors to pull barricades apart and prompting police to use tear gas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was overseeing a lavish parade and saluting military officers as chaos broke out in several parts of the capital just a few miles away. At least one person died, and our reporters in the area saw wounded people being carried away after a tractor tipped over.

Farmers say they will not stop their efforts until the repeal of laws that they say will strip away their protections in hopes of drawing investment.

6. Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte of Italy resigned, triggering the collapse of the government as the country faces a still serious coronavirus outbreak and halting vaccine rollout.

President Sergio Mattarella was holding talks with parliamentary leaders to determine whether Mr. Conte, above, or someone else could garner enough support to govern, or if a limited technocratic government was a better option. If not, early elections might be necessary.

Last week, Matteo Renzi, a wily former prime minister and critic of Mr. Conte, unexpectedly pulled his small center-left party out of the government in protest of Mr. Conte’s handling of the pandemic, depriving him of majority support in the Senate.

7. Firefighters are battling an unseen hazard: Their gear could be toxic.

In a first, firefighters are demanding independent testing for cancer-linked chemicals known as PFAS in their gear, and for their union to drop sponsorships from chemical and equipment makers.

Over the past three decades, cancer has emerged as the leading cause of death for firefighters across the county, making up 75 percent of active-duty firefighter deaths in 2019.

“It’s a new kind of line-of-duty death,” one firefighter said. “It’s still the job that kills us. It’s just we die with our boots off.”

8. There are no tourists or selfie sticks in the Louvre, but the halls are abuzz: The world’s most-visited museum is getting a makeover.

During the museum’s longest closure since World War II, hundreds of experts are working on renovations. Some of the work is relatively simple, like dusting the frames of nearly 4,500 paintings. Some is herculean, like makeovers in the Egyptian antiquities hall and the Sully Wing.

“Despite Covid, we continue to work as always,” one curator said. “We must be ready to welcome back the public.”

A few arrondissements over, the Pompidou Center, the striking, inside-out museum and cultural center, will close for renovations from late 2023 until 2027, France’s culture minister said.

9. Pitchers and catchers are scheduled to report for spring training in three weeks — even though one state does not want them quite yet.

The mayors or city managers of the eight Arizona spring training communities wrote to the M.L.B., asking for a delay to the start of spring training until the Covid-19 situation improved.

The players are eager to hold a regular 162-game schedule, after earning only 37 percent of their 2020 salaries in a 60-game season. Any delay could potentially threaten a schedule that is on track to begin April 1.

In other baseball news, no one will enter the Hall of Fame this year. Voters rejected 25 finalists, including Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and Curt Schilling.

10. And finally, boldly going where no lexicographer has gone before.

“Warp speed” may be a term of the moment thanks to the coronavirus vaccine program, but it actually dates back further than “Star Trek,” to a forgotten 1952 science fiction story in a pulp magazine. The term is one of more than 400 words whose origins are cataloged in the Historical Dictionary of Science Fiction, a free online resource released today.

The origins of “transporter,” “moon base” and “deep space” similarly go back further. Created by a former editor at large at the Oxford English Dictionary, the dictionary includes some 1,800 separate entries, from “actifan” and “aerocar” to “zero-gravity” and “zine.” The dictionary also features a new typeface — Sagittarius.

Have an out-of-this-world evening.

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