Trump’s protection lawyer confronted a divided Senate listening to
Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump’s decide for protection secretary, confronted hours of questioning yesterday throughout his Senate listening to. A vote on whether or not he’ll lead the Pentagon – a division with three million workers and an $849 billion funds – may happen as early as Monday. Read more.
Republicans largely defended Hegseth. Democrats questioned him about allegations of sexual misconduct – Hegseth was accused of rape in 2017 – and his ingesting habits. In addition they referred to as him unfit to steer the Pentagon and blasted Hegseth, a former Fox Information anchor, for his lengthy historical past of disparaging feedback about ladies within the navy.
A key Republican, Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa, a veteran and survivor of sexual assault, appeared happy together with his solutions to her questions concerning the position of girls within the navy and stopping sexual assault. Ernst, seen as vital of Hegseth’s probabilities of affirmation, spent a lot of his time specializing in their settlement that the Pentagon needs to be audited.
Quoted: Hegsett described himself as a modified man and a narrative of redemption and dismissed the allegations in opposition to him as a “smear marketing campaign”.
“Have you ever overcome private points or are you the goal of a smear marketing campaign?” requested Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, Democrat. “You possibly can’t be each.”
What’s subsequent: It was unclear whether or not Hegseth left the listening to with the votes to be confirmed. If all Democrats within the Senate oppose him, Hegseth must safe the assist of not less than 50 of the 53 Republicans within the chamber.
Associated: A report was launched yesterday detailing the particular counsel’s investigation into Trump’s try to overturn the 2020 election. Here are four takeaways.
Excessive winds threatened to unfold new fires in LA
Authorities urged Los Angeles County residents to organize for potential energy outages and be able to run, as anticipated gusts and dry vegetation may create circumstances for brand spanking new wildfires in Southern California. A minimum of 24 folks have been killed, about two dozen others are lacking, and hundreds have been displaced. Follow our live broadcast.
Firefighters had already battled and contained one other bushfire yesterday, however officers had been anxious it may break unfastened once more in windy circumstances. The biggest hearth, the Palisades Hearth, was not but contained. The Eton hearth, which killed many individuals, was additionally not contained. Track the fires here.
Cultural loss: The vary of valuables destroyed by the flames is simply starting to take form. One resident misplaced about 30 works by Andy Warhol – and dozens extra by different artists – when his home in Pacific Palisades was destroyed. “It is mud at this level,” he mentioned.
Searching for protected haven: Tens of hundreds of evacuees struggled to search out non permanent shelter, exacerbating housing shortages in one of America’s least affordable cities.
Israel and Hamas seem near a ceasefire settlement
Israel and Hamas are “on the verge” of agreeing cease fire in Gaza and for the discharge of the hostages held there, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken mentioned yesterday.
Neither Israeli nor Hamas officers have publicly confirmed their place on the proposal. On Monday, a Hamas official mentioned a deal was doable within the coming days so long as Israel didn’t change its positions, and an Israeli official mentioned yesterday that Israel was able to make the deal and was ready for Hamas. The mediators, who embrace Qatar, Egypt and the US, have warned that the talks may break down at any second, as they’ve many instances previously.
The price in Gaza: Deaths from bombs and different traumatic accidents within the first 9 months of the warfare might have been underestimated by greater than 40 p.c, in line with analysis published in The Lancet.
India’s Maha Kumbh Mela competition begins this week and is predicted to attract as much as 400 million Hindu pilgrims to the banks of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers in what can be the world’s largest human gathering. The ceremony, which takes place each 12 years and facilities on a sequence of sacred baths, has additionally change into an necessary political occasion.
That is the primary competition since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s occasion got here to energy. This can be a probability for him to promote his right-wing party.
Life Lived: Oliviero Toscani broke promoting boundaries together with his Benetton campaigns that delved into AIDS and activism for racial and sexual diversity. He died on the age of 82.
OPENING CONVERSATIONS
Mapping The Lord of the Rings
Karen Wynn Fonstad, a cartographer so deeply related to the world described in The Fellowship of the Ring that she referred to as the writer of J. R. R. Tolkien in 1977 to suggest a dream project. A lot to her shock, an editor agreed.
The outcome was The Atlas of Center-earth, a quantity of 172 maps that symbolize Tolkien’s world in astonishing element, together with the fundamental morphology of the Shire, the settlement patterns of Gondor, and the plate tectonics of Mordor. her work, you “you feel like you can get dirt under your fingernails exploring a place” mentioned one trendy cartographer.
