FBI: Dangerous days ahead in DC, state capitals – National & International News – THU 14Jan2021

FBI: Dangerous days ahead in DC, state capitals. More Republicans turning on Trump ahead of Senate Trial. World’s oldest animal cave painting dated to 45,500 years old.

NATIONAL NEWS

More Republicans turning on Trump amid impeachment

Yesterday, ten GOP representatives broke ranks with their party to vote in favor of impeaching President Donald Trump. Interestingly, this was five more than voted with Democrats to call on Vice President Mike Pence to being the 25th Amendment proceedings.

Now that the House has voted to impeach Trump, the Senate will now have to decide Trump’s fate. It remains unclear when exactly the Senate trial will begin. Many lawmakers of both parties have signaled that they favor waiting until after President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, perhaps hoping that some of the political heat and high public feeling will have died down by then.

After yesterday’s impeachment vote, observers have moved on to speculating about the outcome of the Senate trial. Senate Republican aides have told the New York Times that as many as 20 Republican Senators are “open” to convicting Trump. If true, this is more than the 17 Republicans who would have to vote with all 50 Democrats to secure a conviction with a two-thirds majority. Significantly, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly said he himself may vote to convict Trump. McConnell’s office has not denied the reports. With Trump having fallen out of favor with Republican moderates, many of them are now more likely to follow McConnell’s lead.

FBI: Dangerous days ahead in DC, state capitals

Fearing additional violence in the days leading up to inauguration, downtown Washington DC has entered a general security lockdown. Police have sealed off large sections of the downtown area, and DC mayor Muriel Bowser says people found in the area may be stopped and questioned. Ahead of the inaugurations, many hotels in the area have been asked to voluntarily shutdown, and some have already done so.

These fears are not without merit. The FBI have arrested a New York member of the Proud Boys who they was plotting a second assault on the Capitol. The agency has also issued warnings about planned armed protests in all 50 state capitals, as well as DC, leading up to the inauguration. Incidentally, federal agencies are currently investigating the possibility of bringing sedition charges against some participants last Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol.

The National Guard will deploy around 20,000 troops to secure the DC area ahead of the inauguration.

Despite a request from a member of the House Armed Services Committee, Army chief Ryan McCarthy ruled out screening the entire force to be deployed to DC for extremist sympathies. However, McCarthy did agree to take “additional measures” and promised to work with the Secret Service to select certain National Guard members for additional screening.

The DC National Guard also said it would instruct troops to report anything questionable or inappropriate statements or behavior from comrades up the chain of command. Their statement said, “there is no place for extremism in the military” and that any reports would be thoroughly investigated. The Joint Chiefs expressed a similar sentiment in a pointed reminder to troops that Biden “will be inaugurated” and that “sedition and insurrection are illegal”.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World’s oldest animal cave painting found in Indonesia

Archaeologists have dated a painting of an pig in an Indonesian cave to approximately 45,500 years old. This makes this the oldest animal cave painting yet found in the world. The painting was found in the Leang Tedongnge cave on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi. The find broke the record of 44,000 years old, attributed to other paintings discovered last year on the same island.

The richly detailed and realistic depiction was executed with red ochre paint. Above the pig’s hind quarters are the outlines of two human handprints.

Archaeologist Maxime Aubert, one of the authors who described the find, says that, “The people who made it were fully modern. They were just like us; they had all of the capacity and the tools to do any painting that they liked”.

But, Aubert claims the painting could be even older than 45,500 years old. The painting was dated using uranium-series isotope dating to determine that age a calcite deposit on top of it. Since the calcite deposit could potentially formed long after the artist painted it, the paint itself could be far older still.

Click here for the full story and pictures of the painting and cave (opens in new tab).