First Thing: January 6 hearing to focus on Trump’s pressuring of justice officials
Good morning.
Donald Trump pushed senior justice department officials to aggressively investigate false claims of election fraud in order to return him to office, the House select committee will say on Thursday.
The panel is expected to cover how Trump threatened to fire top justice officials when they refused to investigate the debunked fraud claims more extensively, according to two sources close to the inquiry. His efforts resulted in a meeting on 3 January 2021 where he was told he would face mass resignations as he tried to appoint a loyalist as acting attorney general.
The hearing is also expected to reveal how the Republican congressman Scott Perry sought a pardon for his involvement – one of multiple House Republicans to have done so.
How many more hearings will there be? There will be at least two more next month.
Federal prosecutors have sought a delay in proceedings in the conspiracy case against the far-right Proud Boys group as it collided with the House panel’s hearings.
Prosecutors urge 30-year minimum prison sentence for Ghislaine Maxwell
Prosecutors have called for Ghislaine Maxwell to be handed a minimum of 30 years imprisonment for sex trafficking when she is sentenced next week for facilitating Jeffrey Epstein in his abuse of teenage girls.
“Ghislaine Maxwell sexually exploited young girls for years. It is difficult to overstate the magnitude of her crimes and the harm she caused. Her crimes demand justice,” New York federal prosecutors said.
The filing comes after Maxwell’s lawyers argued she should be given “well below” the 20 years recommended by sentencing officials. Maxwell, who will be sentenced on 28 June, maintains her innocence.
What have Maxwell’s lawyers argued? In a plea for leniency, they said an emotionally abusive childhood set her up for Epstein’s influence. They also alleged her life was under threat in prison.
How did prosecutors’ respond? Maxwell’s upbringing did not support a lesser sentence, they said: she enjoyed “a remarkable life of privilege”.
Russian forces close in on last pocket of resistance in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region
Russian forces are closing in on gaining control of the remaining pocket of resistance in Ukraine’s eastern Luhansk region.
Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on Wednesday that the Russian army was moving towards the city of Lysychansk. The neighboring city of Sievierodonetsk also continues to be shelled “every day”. The next days would be decisive in Russia’s efforts to take Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian officials said.
British intelligence forecasts that Russia will lose momentum in the next few months. Boris Johnson said UK intelligence predicts Russia is likely to “exhaust its resources” soon.
Leaders at the upcoming G7 summit will unveil new measures aimed at pressuring Russia, a senior US official has said, as well as moves to bolster European security.
In other news …
The police chief for the Uvalde school district where a shooter killed 19 children and two teachers has been placed on administrative leave amid anger that officers did not act faster to stop the gunman. Police waited for about an hour and 15 minutes outside the classrooms where the shooter had opened fire, according to Texas state police.
Police rescued a kidnapped woman in New York on Sunday after she sent a note asking for help through the food service app Grubhub. The 24-year-old woman had written the plea for help in the “additional information” section of the order.
Twenty Maasai pastoralists from northern Tanzania have been charged with murdering a police officer during protests over government plans to force them off their ancestral land. Their lawyers say it is a government attempt at intimidation.
A Louisiana nursing home owner who sent more than 800 elderly residents to endure Hurricane Ida in a leaking warehouse without sanitation has been charged with neglect and other crimes. Bob Dean, 68, was jailed on eight counts of cruelty, five counts of healthcare fraud and two counts of obstruction of justice.
Stat of the day: nine in 10 Europeans in the UK say Brexit changed their view of the country
Nine in 10 (89%) Europeans living in the UK say Brexit impacted their opinion of the country, a study showing how the referendum remains “an open wound” has found. A total of 68.6% said their view had changed “a great deal” or “a lot” since the 2016 referendum, though 72% still felt some emotional attachment to the UK.
Don’t miss this: the story of Terrence Higgins, the UK’s first named person to die of Aids-related illness
Thanks to the Terrence Higgins Trust, Britain’s leading HIV charity, Higgins’s name is known throughout the UK today. But much less is known about the man himself. Rupert Whitaker, one of the charity’s two founders, opens up to the Guardian about his partner, and how he kept his name alive through campaigning on the virus he died with. “He taught me that there was love and affection and safety and great sex and fun – that it all existed,” he says.
Climate check: risk of significant Mediterranean tsunami within 30 years is nearly 100%
Coastal Mediterranean communities must prepare for tsunamis, with an almost a 100% chance of a wave reaching more than a metre high in the next 30 years, according to Unesco. Tsunamis just 1.5-2 metres high can lift cars off the ground, with the risk soaring as sea levels rise.
Last Thing: the female orgasm: lots of throbbing and quivering – but no moaning
Moaning is a fail-safe way to tell if a woman has orgasmed – according to cliche-ridden on-screen depictions of female pleasure, anyway. But is there any truth to it? A study has found that the list of variables includes throbbing, flushing, quivering, pulsating, goosebumps and sweating – with moaning one of the least reported signs.
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