House Republicans preparing broad inquiry into FBI and security agencies
Newly empowered House Republicans are preparing a wide-ranging investigation into law enforcement and national security agencies, raising the prospect of politically charged fights with the Biden administration over access to sensitive information such as highly classified intelligence and the details of continuing criminal inquiries by the Justice Department. The House plans to vote this week on a resolution to create a special Judiciary subcommittee on what it calls the “weaponization of the federal government,” a topic that Republicans have signaled could include reviewing investigations into former President Donald Trump. The panel would be overseen by Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, who is poised to become the Judiciary Committee’s chair.
Extreme winds knock out power as California faces another onslaught of storms
Heavy winds pummeled the Sacramento, California, region late Saturday, toppling trees and knocking out power for more than 300,000 customers, as the state braced for another series of storms this week that could bring additional flooding, more outages and tree damage, as well as dangerous mudslides and mountain snow. Wind speeds topped out at nearly 70 mph Saturday night and early Sunday in the area. At least one person was killed. By Sunday evening, about 62,000 customers remained without power. A Sacramento Municipal Utility District spokesperson said dozens of crews were on the ground working but extensive damage meant some customers would be without power through the night.
Conservatives take aim at tenure for university professors
In several red states around the country, conservative officials say it’s time to reconsider tenure for university professors. The indefinite academic appointments have faced review from lawmakers or state oversight boards in at least half a dozen states, often presented as bids to rein in academics with liberal views. The trend is a reflection of how conservative scrutiny of instruction related to race, gender and sexuality has extended from K-12 schools to higher education. But budget considerations also play a role. Tenured faculty numbers have been declining even in more liberal states as universities hire more adjunct instructors amid declines in public funding.
Boebert’s backers urge her to ‘tone down the nasty rhetoric’
Voters who support Lauren Boebert are hoping the firebrand Republican congresswoman from Colorado tones down her brash style. Their concerns come after the far-right politician’s pitch seemed to find less appeal in her reelection race last November. Boebert won a second term by 546 votes out of more than 300,000 cast in Colorado’s 3rd Congressional District. With Republicans now controlling the House, Boebert has said she wants to bring down the temperature. But she was a leading voice among a group of lawmakers who refused to support Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s bid to become House speaker. And in in her relatively short time in Washington, she’s built a national profile with a combative style.
Russia claims deadly attack, but Kyiv denies anyone killed
The Russian military claims to have carried out deadly missile strikes on Ukrainian troops, but Ukrainian officials deny there were any casualties. The Russian Defense Ministry says its missiles hit two temporary bases in the eastern city of Kramatorsk, with hundreds killed. A spokesperson for Ukraine’s forces in the east told The Associated Press there were Russian strikes on the city but that they damaged only civilian infrastructure and “the armed forces of Ukraine weren’t affected.” A week ago, Ukrainian forces struck a facility in Makiivka, also in the east, killing dozens of Russian forces in one of the deadliest attacks since the war began in February.
China lifts pandemic border controls
On Sunday, China fully opened its borders for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began, welcoming visitors without strict quarantine requirements and allowing its citizens to go overseas once again just as the travel period for Lunar New Year begins. In Hong Kong’s airport, hundreds of people waited to check in for flights to cities in the south like Xiamen and Chongqing and in the north like Beijing and Tianjin, but the arrivals hall was more quiet. Many of the city’s border checkpoints were reopened; empty transportation halls filled up with groups of people, and shuttered storefronts were open once again.
German poice detain Iranian on suspicion of planning chemical attack
Saturday night, police in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany, entered an apartment in an effort to stop a planned poison attack that, according to news media reports, had been flagged by the intelligence service of an allied country. “We had a serious tip that led the police to intervene,” Herbert Reul, North Rhine-Westphalia’s interior minister in charge of state security, told DPA, the German wire service, on Sunday. Police arrested a 32-year-old Iranian citizen whom authorities believe was preparing the attack, and whom police said was suspected of having procured cyanide and ricin in an effort “to commit an Islamist-motivated attack.”
Bus crash in Senegal kills at least 40
At least 40 people were killed and about 80 were injured Sunday when two buses collided in Senegal, according to officials. The crash, in the country’s central Kaffrine region, happened about 3:30 a.m., said Cheikh Dieng, the country’s public prosecutor. He said initial evidence in the investigation suggested that a tire on one of the buses had burst, causing it to collide with the other. Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, announced on Twitter a national mourning period of three days. He also said that a council involving several ministries would look into road safety as well as the safety of public transportation.
By wire sources
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