#1: Jan 6 Hearings:
Tuesday’s live public session of the House Committee to Investigate the January 6 US Capitol Attack focused on the pressure former President Donald Trump and his team put on state officials to overturn the results of the 2020 election in his favor. Live emotional and often shocking testimony was given by Republicans from Arizona and Georgia who described Trump’s plan and efforts to change their state’s slate of Electoral College electors given to Vice President Michael Pence to count at the Joint Session of Congress on Jan 6. Testimony was also given by election workers who were harassed and threatened due to the “big lie” that Trump and his team pushed about fraud in the 2020 election. Specific claims of fraud were debunked and strategies and actors in the scheme to prevent the certification of Joe Biden were revealed.
#2: Bill Cosby:
A civil trial jury in California determined that 84-year-old comedian and actor Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1975 at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. The jury awarded Judy Huth, now 64, $500,000 in damages. Many women have accused Cosby of sexual abuse over the years. He was convicted in another case in 2018, but that case was overturned after he had served three years in prison and was set free.
#3: Senate gun bill:
In the most significant legislation on gun control in decades, the Senate voted 64-to-34 on a bipartisan, compromise bill that will address background checks and “red flag” laws. Millions of dollars could be given to the states for mental health services and school safety. This is just the first step and the bill still has to be passed in the Senate and in the House of Representatives. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act was a compromise between Republicans and Democrats, who have been unable to move any legislation through Congress despite pressure from the public to do something about gun violence in the US.
#4: Nicotine:
The Food and Drug Administration wants to require tobacco companies to reduce the nicotine in cigarettes, in the hope of reducing addiction to smoking and saving lives. A statement on a government website, reginfo.gov, announced setting the plan in motion in 2023. The FDA has to present the plan for public comments as a first step. Full implementation, if carried out, could take years. The tobacco companies, who benefit from an estimated $80 billion market, are expected to fight any applications of the plan in court. According to the CDC, about 1,300 people die each day of smoking-related causes.
#5: Earthquake in Afghanistan:
A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck a mountainous, rural area of eastern Afghanistan near the Pakistani border Wednesday, killing at least 1,000 and injuring at least 1,500 more people. It was the deadliest quake in the country since 2002. Rescue workers flew to the area by helicopter, but many fear that getting help to the area will be difficult because several international aid agencies left Afghanistan after the Taliban took over the country. A spokesperson for the government appealed for aid and help on Twitter.
