5 things to know for January 13: Covid, Capital riot, Russia, Prince Andrew, Djokovic

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he would not cooperate with a request from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot. The California Republican was asked to voluntarily provide information to the committee, including details about former President Trump’s state of mind during the deadly insurgency and the weeks that followed. McCarthy declined, accusing the committee “of not conducting a legitimate investigation,” citing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s rejection of some of her choices to sit on the panel. Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice chair, hasn’t ruled out the possibility of subpoenaing McCarthy to get the information she wants, suggesting McCarthy’s challenge is an attempt to “cover up” what’s happening. happened that day.

A new round of diplomatic talks between the United States, NATO allies and Russia ended with little progress yesterday as Russia withdrew from pledging to defuse its troop presence along the Ukrainian border. In statements following the talks, Russian officials suggested that Moscow might resort to military action if political efforts failed. The warning came a day after the Russian military conducted live-fire drills along the border. The United States has finalized sanctions options in the event Russia invades Ukraine, senior administration officials said yesterday. A third round of talks with Russia is taking place today in Vienna.

Prince Andrew is facing the possibility of a very public trial in New York after losing his bid to have Virginia Giuffre’s sexual assault case against him dismissed. Guiffre alleges she was trafficked by disgraced convicted sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein and forced to perform sex acts with the British king – Queen Elizabeth II’s third child . Prince Andrew denies the allegations. Giuffre seeks an undisclosed amount in damages to be determined at trial. Prince Andrew has until July 14 to potentially answer questions about the case under oath.

Tennis star Novak Djokovic is waiting to see if Australia’s immigration minister will revoke his reinstated visa ahead of next week’s Australian Open. The No.1 seed in the men’s singles tournament was caught up in controversy earlier this week when the Australian government revoked his visa and detained him because they claimed he had no exemption valid to the country’s strict vaccination requirement despite testing positive for the virus in December. A judge has ordered Djokovic’s visa reinstated, but recent days have revealed inconsistencies in his documentation and whereabouts in the days after he tested positive. For example, Djokovic apparently attended public events while testing positive and admitted he didn’t immediately self-isolate. The whole saga has been a public relations challenge for Australia, whose leaders have remained firm on the need to stick to the rules as parts of the country see record numbers of Covid-19 cases.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards, recognizing the best television and film performances of the year, announced their nominees yesterday. Discover surprises and snubs.

Is Aquaman looking for other fish in the sea?

Miss Dracula… I mean Megan Fox… claims they “drank each other’s blood” to seal the union.

It’s the Leaning Tower of California! The cost of stabilizing the sinking building is estimated at $100 million.

I agree, Your Royal Highness. A therapeutic painting session is quite refreshing.

Ronnie Spector, the lead singer of 1960s pop group The Ronettes and the powerful central voice of hits like “Be My Baby” and “Baby I love You”, has died aged 78. Spector was battling cancer. Her family said they would be remembered for “the sparkle in his eyes, his brave attitude, his sense of humor and the smile on his face”.

That’s the number of unprocessed tax returns the Internal Revenue Service left behind from the “toughest year” taxpayers have ever had. The backlog has been compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and the agency’s longstanding underfunding, forcing the IRS to head into the already overdue new filing season. The Treasury Department is already warning that taxpayers could experience processing delays in filing their returns this year.

— a line of a lawsuit filed by gunsmith “Rust” Hannah Gutierrez Reed, which accused the film’s supplier of selling its dummy ammunition mixed with live ammunition before the deadly shoot that claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchens last October. PDQ Arm and Prop, LLC did not respond to a request for comment.

Watch these wild dogs accept a robot pup into their pack. Enjoy your new family, robot-puppy! (Click here to view)