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A pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol. As Congress met yesterday to debate Electoral College votes, hundreds of Trump supporters, urged on by the sitting president, fought police and broke into the building, forcing everyone inside to be evacuated. Police shot and killed a woman who was part of the mob, and made 52 arrests.
Law enforcement tactics were questionable. Last year, Black Lives Matter protesters in DC—and even wheelchair users a few years ago—met far greater resistance from police.
Big business turned against Trump. We’re not used to seeing emotional statements from them, but last night’s events inspired some CEOs to speak up swiftly.
Trump’s days on mainstream social media could be numbered. Twitter threatened to ban him outright, while Facebook blocked him for 24 hours. But there are other places he can go.
Can Mike Pence take over? It’s possible, but wouldn’t be easy. The 25th amendment provides a protocol for how the vice president can assume power in case the president is in some way incapacitated.
The rest of the world is just as amazed as you are. Leaders and officials expressed shock and disappointment, and called for a peaceful transfer of power. The US usually does this to them.
Meanwhile, Congress certified Biden’s victory in the early hours of this morning.“They tried to disrupt our democracy,” said Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell. “They failed.”
Democrats also took the US Senate. In normal times, the victories of Democrats Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in the state’s senatorial runoffs would have been the biggest news of the day.
What to watch for
On the other side of the world, 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 tomorrow. If the two sides can’t agree on a path forward, farmers’ union leaders say a tractor rally and nationwide protests will start on Jan. 26, when the country celebrates Republic Day.
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 even 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, its internet brand, 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 are a boon for cops.
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 Hasit Shah, Tripti Lahiri, Mary Hui, Susan Howson, Jordan LeBeau, and Liz Webber.