It's Monday morning, what do we know?
Rioters overrun the Brazilian capital and Biden visits the border
What do we know?
Who says America doesn’t export anything anymore? Just two days after the second anniversary of the January 6th Insurrection, Brazilians stormed their capital, fueled by former President Jair Bolsonaro’s Trumpian election lies. Bolsonaro, who spent New Year’s Eve in South Florida, replicated Trump’s Big Lie almost beat for beat with similar results. Protesters ransacked Brazil's Congress, presidential offices and Supreme Court in Bolsonaro’s name. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who took office on New Year’s Day, was not in the capital, Brasilia, at the time of the attack. Unlike the U.S., Brazilian politicians from across the spectrum condemned the violence
A 6-year-old boy shot his teacher Friday in a Newport News, Virginia elementary school following what officials have described as an altercation. Police have released few details about the teacher, the boy or the shooting but they have confirmed the incident was not accidental. It remains unclear where the boy came into possession of the weapon. The school, Richneck Elementary, announced it would remain closed on Monday and Tuesday
Two more young Iranians were executed over the weekend for their roles in the protests that have roiled the country since the morality police murdered 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in September. The two young men, Mohammad Mehdi Karami and Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini, were sentenced to death in connection with the death of a member of the Basij paramilitary militia, a collection of street thugs used by the Revolutionary Guard as enforcers
President Joe Biden visited the U.S.-Mexico border on Sunday in a carefully managed four hour trip. Biden toured the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez section of the Texas/Mexico border where border enforcement authorities demonstrated how they inspect vehicles for drugs and other contraband. Next, Biden walked along a dusty road flanked by an enormous steel fence separating El Paso from Ciudad Juarez. Finally, Biden visited the El Paso County Migrant Services Center. At none these stops did the president encounter migrants. Republicans have made the situation at the southern border one of their primary talking points since Biden’s inauguration but have rejected attempts by the administration to negotiate a desperately needed new policy
The “atmospheric river” that began delivering torrential rains and massive snow storms to Northern California and northern Nevada continues to plague the region. The National Weather Service used phrases like “relentless parade” and “barrage of atmospheric rivers” to describe the conditions expected to impact the area over the next couple of days. At least a dozen people have been killed in California as a result of the wicked weather
What do we know in Ukraine?
In a move that’s almost a little too on the nose, Russia manufactured a massive military victory that never happened. Moscow claimed over the weekend that it struck a pair of dormitories in the city of Kramatorsk in retaliation for Ukraine’s successful attack in Makiivka last week. Russian authorities claimed the missile attack killed 600 Ukrainian soldiers. The attack never happened. Reuters sent a reporter to Kramatorsk to investigate and found the dorm intact, empty and unlikely to have been housing anyone in the recent past. The announcement by Moscow of the faked attack was designed to satisfy domestic audiences that have grown impatient with Russian battlefield failures
The Biden administration announced on Friday a new $3.75 billion aid package for Ukraine. The package includes, for the first time, Bradley armored vehicles, as well as 500 anti-tank missiles. On the battlefield, as suspected, Russia’s Christmas cease-fire proved to be a ploy, just as Kyiv suspected. Fighting continued along the 700 mile front throughout the holiday weekend