The First: Austrian Chancellor Meets With Putin In Russia

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Austria’s Chancellor is set to meet Vladimir Putin on Monday, the Russian President’s first face-to-face meeting with an EU leader since the invasion of Ukraine was ordered, amid warnings of a new offensive and shelling in the east.

Karl Nehammer said the meeting would take place in Moscow and that Austria had a “clear position on the Russian war of aggression” and called for humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire and a full investigation into war crimes.

Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser in Washington, has warned that the appointment of a new general to command Russia’s military campaign is likely to usher in a new round of “crimes and brutality” against civilians. Alexandr Dvornikov, 60, rose to prominence at the head of Russian forces in Syria in 2015-16 when Aleppo saw particularly brutal bombing of rebel-held areas, including civilians.

What could Russia do next? The British Ministry of Defense warned on Monday morning that Russian forces in Mariupol could resort to the use of phosphorus weapons if fighting around the city intensified. It cited the earlier use of the ammunition by Russian soldiers in Donetsk.
what else happens Here’s what we know about day 47 of the invasion.

Liz Cheney disputes the Jan. 6 dispute report

Liz Cheney. Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP

A key Republican on the Jan. 6 House of Representatives committee disputed a report that said the panel was divided over whether to criminally charge Donald Trump for his attempt to overturn the 2020 election that led to the attack on the Capitol should be referred to the Ministry of Justice.

“There’s no real argument on the committee,” Wyoming Representative Liz Cheney told CNN’s State of the Union.

The New York Times said otherwise on Sunday in a report headlined: “January 6 panel has evidence of criminal referral from Trump but splits on broadcast.”

“The debate centers on whether a referral — a largely symbolic act — would backfire by politically spoiling the expanding Justice Department investigation into the Jan. 6 attack and what led up to it,” the newspaper said .

Citing “members and aides,” the Times said such sources were reluctant to support a referral because it would make it appear that Democrats had asked Attorney General Merrick Garland to investigate Trump.

what did cheney say “We have not made a decision on referrals to the committee… [but] It’s actually clear that what President Trump was dealing with, what a number of people were doing around him, they knew was terrible. That they did it anyway.”

After the election of Macron and Le Pen in the first round, France faces a bloody runoff

Projected results in the first part of the presidential race put Macron (pictured) at 27.6% and his far-right rival Le Pen at 23.4%. Photo: Alfonso Jimenez/Rex/Shutterstock

France faces a brutal two-week campaign over the country’s future in which centrist incumbent Emmanuel Macron faces far-right Marine Le Pen for the presidency, positioning himself as a pro-European “progressive” against what he calls her anti-Muslim, nationalist Program and “complacence” towards Putin.

Macron led the first round of the French presidential election on Sunday with 27.6% of the vote, ahead of Le Pen with 23.4%, according to initial forecast results by Ipsos for France Télévisions.

He scored better than his first-round result five years ago and surged in support in the final hours of the campaign after sharply warning voters to hold back the far right and protect France’s place on the international diplomatic stage during the war Ukraine. But Le Pen’s score was also higher than it was five years ago.

Why is Le Pen doing better this time? She had steadily gained support after campaigning hard against the cost-of-living crisis and inflation, which had become voters’ top concerns.
What did Macron say? He told reporters: “When the extreme right, in all its forms, represents so much in France, you can’t expect things to go well, so you have to go out there and convince people with a lot of humility and respect, in that first round were not on our side.”

In other news…

Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene and Donald Trump during a rally in Commerce, Georgia last month. Photo: Alyssa Pointer/Reuters

A federal judge has suggested it was an attempt to stop the far-right Republican Congressperson Marjorie Taylor Greene Re-elections are permitted. The challenge from a group of Georgia voters says Greene should be disqualified for supporting insurgents on Jan. 6, 2021.
After dozens of botched, obviously painful lethal injections in recent years, prisoners in at least 10 states have made a surreal argument: They’d prefer it the firing squad. Because more “technological” methods have proven cruel, some states are considering shooting prisoners instead.
Elon Musk has done an about-face by joining Twitter’s board of directors, despite becoming the social media company’s largest shareholder with a 9.2% stake. He was due to become a board member on Saturday, but Twitter boss Parag Agrawal said Monday morning Musk turned down the offer.
British Chancellor Rishi Sunak has written to the Prime Minister asking for an inquiry into his own affairs after days of criticizing his wife’s non-dom tax status. Sunak has also been criticized for his decision to keep a green card in the US, granting him permanent residency during his tenure as chancellor.

Don’t Miss This: What Happens When a Group of Fox News Viewers Watch CNN for a Month?

A study that paid viewers of right-wing cable channels to switch places sheds light on the media’s influence on people’s opinions. Photo: Nick Ansell/PA

In an unusual and labor-intensive project, two political scientists paid a group of regular Fox News viewers to watch CNN for a month instead. At the end of the period, the researchers found surprising results; Some of the Fox News observers had changed their minds on a number of important issues, including the US response to the coronavirus and Democrats’ stance on the police. The findings suggest that political perspectives can be changed – but also show the influence that partisan media has on viewers’ ideology, writes Adam Gabbatt.

…or this: Jack White on the White Stripes, bar fights and fame

Jack White … ‘Seven Nation Army could be the biggest multicultural hit of all time.’ Photo: Paige Sara

As one half of the White Stripes, the Detroit musician conquered the world. His charged garage rock duo was a global phenomenon, and he’s rarely paused since. He fronted the Raconteurs and played drums with The Dead Weather, worked with country singer Loretta Lynn, and was a producer and video maker, while his eclectic third-man operation spans everything from a record label and record stores to a publishing company. After a tough lockdown, he’s back with two new solo albums.

Climate check: Putin’s war shows that autocracies and fossil fuels go hand in hand. Here’s how to do both

“Autocrats are often the direct result of fossil fuels.” Composition: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

The world of money is at least as unbalanced and unfair as the world of political power – but in ways that might make it a little easier for climate advocates to move forward. Putin’s grotesque war may be where some of these threads converge. It sheds light on the way fossil fuels build autocracy and the power that control over scarce supplies bestows on autocrats. But we have years, not decades, to somehow get the climate crisis under control. We will never experience such moments again.

Last Thing: Connecticut mechanic finds millions worth of art in dumpster of abandoned barn

Francis Hines attends the opening of SLAG Gallery June 12, 2008 in New York City. Photo: Patrick McMullan/Getty Images

Paintings and other works of art found in an abandoned Connecticut barn were worth millions of dollars. Jared Whipple, a Waterbury mechanic, was notified by a contractor and retrieved the dirt-covered parts from a dumpster containing materials from a Watertown barn. Whipple later found the works were by Francis Hines, an abstract expressionist who died in 2016 at the age of 96 and had kept his work in the barn, the Hearst Connecticut Media Group reported.

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