Donald Trump appeared today in front of an appeals court panel in Washington to argue that he is immune from prosecution on charges of plotting to overturn the 2020 election because they arose from actions he took as president. The three judges on the panel seemed unconvinced, suggesting that they are unlikely to rule in the former president’s favor.
“All three judges who heard Trump’s appeal seemed pretty skeptical,” my colleague, Alan Feuer, told me.
The panel appeared particularly wary when Trump’s lawyer said during the hearing that a president could assassinate a political rival and still be shielded from prosecution unless the Senate first convicted him at an impeachment proceeding. However, the judges looked torn at times about how broadly they might rule; one suggested that a decision to deny immunity could result in a flood of partisan prosecutions of former presidents.
The appeals court is expected to make its ruling fairly quickly. Regardless of the decision, the issue of immunity is likely to reach the Supreme Court, where the justices will determine not only whether the case goes to trial, but when. Trump has been trying to push the trial back until after the 2024 election, when a victory could lead to charges being dropped.
Go deeper: We put together a timeline of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Extreme weather is wreaking havoc
A series of powerful storms is causing disruptions across nearly the entire country.
In the South, at least 10 tornadoes have been reported, and severe thunderstorms have downed power lines and damaged trees. On the East Coast, many states are experiencing heavy rain, while blizzard conditions in the Midwest have shut down campaigning in Iowa. In the Pacific Northwest, some areas are under a blizzard warning and could receive up to four feet of snow.
Track the extreme weather in your area.
Elections and disinformation are colliding more than ever
Roughly half of the global population is expected to cast a vote in one of 83 different major elections across the world this year, making it perhaps the largest collective exercise in democracy in memory. At the same time, false narratives and conspiracy theories have evolved into an increasingly global menace.
Autocratic countries, led by Russia and China, have seized on the currents of political discontentment to push narratives undermining democratic governance and leadership, often by sponsoring disinformation campaigns. If those efforts succeed, the elections could accelerate the recent rise in authoritarian-minded leaders.
The warmest year on record
Last year was Earth’s warmest by far since scientists started keeping reliable records a century and a half ago. Some scientists believe it was among the warmest in 100,000 years.
Between the forces of climate change and the El Niño weather pattern, this year could be even hotter.
More top news
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Courts: A defendant in the Georgia election interference case is arguing that the district attorney overseeing it and a special prosecutor should be disqualified because they engaged in a “clandestine” relationship.
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Boeing: Efforts to get the company’s 737 Max 9 cleared to fly again were delayed after the F.A.A. said instructions the company had sent to airlines to inspect the planes were insufficient.
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International: Ecuador descended into chaos as a powerful gang leader disappeared from jail, uprisings broke out in several prisons and masked men took television anchors hostage.
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Israel: Secretary of State Antony Blinken tried to persuade Israel to exercise more restraint in Gaza by floating the prospect of normalized relations with Saudi Arabia.
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France: President Emmanuel Macron named Gabriel Attal, 34, as his new prime minister. He is the country’s youngest and first openly gay prime minister.
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Health: Singulair, an asthma drug, is still used by millions of people in the U.S., even after thousands of patients have described harm from the drug.
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Politics: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has been hospitalized for the past week because of complications after prostate cancer surgery, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center said.
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New York: The city has begun to evict dozens of migrant families who have reached the 60-day limit on stays in the homeless shelter system.
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Space: NASA said the first American mission to send astronauts close to the moon in more than 50 years, will not take place late this year, as had been scheduled.
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Media: The top editor of The Los Angeles Times, Kevin Merida, said he was stepping down.
52 places to go in 2024
Every year, our Travel desk puts together a list of awe-inspiring destinations. This year’s list features an elephant sanctuary in Kenya, the home of lesser-known artistic masterpieces in Tuscany and a pristine slice of wilderness in Minnesota.
Our travel editor, Amy Virshup, said that one of the interesting things about this year’s list is that the No. 1 place is not a place at all, but an event: the total solar eclipse that will be seen across North America on April 8.
Check out all 52 places and get inspired.
Exploring psychedelics through deep breathing
Over the last decade or so, psychedelics have moved from the underground to mainstream medicine. But with so much of the field still illegal, some health care professionals have turned to breathwork as a risk-free way to explore the therapeutic potential and pitfalls of altered states of consciousness.
For some participants, a few hours of intense and rhythmic deep breaths — known as holotropic breathwork — can induce something close to a psychedelic trip.
January might be the best month
It gets dark early, the weather is dreary and sometimes it can feel like there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do. But for fans of January, those are features not flaws.
The month also has a distinctive calm and a lack of social commitments, a relief for some after an overbooked end of the year. In an ode to the month, my colleague Steven Kurutz argues that once you see why January is the best month, you may never want it to end.
Have a relaxing evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
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