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Pro-Trump rioters stormed the US Capitol. As Congress met to certify the results of the presidential election, outgoing president Donald Trump told his supporters to “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue” to help Republicans “take back our country.” They then breached Capitol police and broke into the building, halting the proceedings, and prompting an evacuation. Here are photos from the scene as well as eyewitness accounts from legislators.
Trump belatedly urged peace, but stopped there. In a tweet, the president told his supporters to “remain peaceful” about two hours after the insurrection began, and then released a video in which he called the election “stolen” but told supporters “we love you” but to “go home.”
Multiple people have been injured. Tear gas has been deployed, at least one person has been shot, and multiple Capitol police officers are injured, according to Reuters. The district was put under a 6pm curfew. Police treatment of the rioters has been significantly less aggressive than the treatment of Black Lives Matter protesters last year.
Meanwhile, Georgia’s elections were called. Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff have won the state’s senatorial runoffs—the former will become Georgia’s first Black senator. With these victories, US Democrats will hold a majority in the Senate.
US president elect Joe Biden tapped Merrick Garland for attorney general. The appointment of the judge, who was blocked from a seat on the Supreme Court during the Barack Obama administration, is seen as an effort to divorce the Justice Department from politics.
What to watch for
On the opposite side of the world from Washington, a protest of a different kind is taking place in Delhi, as farmers who oppose India’s newly passed agricultural laws plan to march into the city with 2,500 tractor trolleys today. It’s the latest action in nearly two months of demonstrations that have grabbed headlines globally for their scale, but also for their inventiveness—some of the tractors have previously doubled as screens for movie viewing as protesters dug in for the long haul.
The latest round of talks between the government and farmers is scheduled for Friday. If the two sides can’t agree on a path forward, farmers’ union leaders say a tractor rally and nationwide protests will start Jan. 26.
Charting Reliance’s pivot to tech
The year 2020 was an astonishingly good one for India’s richest billionaire. Mukesh Ambani, chairman of the country’s most valuable publicly listed company, Reliance Industries, became richer during the pandemic. And his oil-to-telecom conglomerate became debt-free thanks to more than $20 billion in investment from global tech platforms backing his vision for the 50-year-old company’s future.
The pivot in Reliance’s focus from its longtime oil, gas, and petrochemicals business to tech couldn’t have been clearer than at its annual meeting in July, where mentions of Jio dominated the tycoon’s two-hour long speech.
Global warming is changing city temperatures
Urban areas are home to more than half the global population, but global-scale climate models tend to focus on much broader regional projections. As Tim McDonnell explains, a new paper helps demonstrate the disproportionate impact on cities.
It projects urban areas will be 4.4°C (7.9°F) warmer on average by 2100 assuming a high volume of greenhouse gas emissions, and 1.9°C (3.4°F) warmer with mid-level emissions. Those numbers are a bit lower than the global average projections because urban areas are starting from a warmer baseline—but they still end up warmer overall.
While the projections may not be granular enough to be practically useful to urban planners, any climate model that gets scientists closer to understanding urban warming trends is a step in the right direction—especially since neighboring cities will need to work together on solutions.
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Surprising discoveries
Run, you tiny horses! A pair of dwarf giraffes with a condition known as skeletal dysplasia are half the size of giraffes of average height.
French wine thieves threw stolen wine at police. They used what they had at their disposal.
Your car’s data can be used by law enforcement. Looser standards surrounding the privacy of vehicle data have provided a boon for police.
We’ll soon get the truth that’s been out there. An obscure law in the recent stimulus bill has put the government on the clock to disclose what it knows about UFOs.
The NHL is selling the naming rights to four divisions. The corporate sponsorship will help replace lost ticket revenue.
Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, UFO sightings, and legally purchased wine to hi@qz.com. Get the most out of Quartz by downloading our iOS app and becoming a member. Today’s Daily Brief was brought to you by Niharika Sharma, Tim McDonnell, Susan Howson, Jordan LeBeau, and Liz Webber.