Friday, 12 February 2021

Friday Briefing: Trump's defense to make the case for his acquittal

Today's top stories

Trump's defense team takes the stage, a big bump for Bumble, and did they really move Stonehenge?

Donald Trump’s defense lawyers will make their case today as the Senate races toward a final vote in his impeachment trial as soon as Saturday.

Trump’s team argues that his rhetoric on the day of the deadly Capitol riot was protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech and that prosecutors have not directly connected the actions of the rioters to Trump.

Five alleged members of the far-right Proud Boys group have been charged with criminal conspiracy in the Capitol attack.

Federal prosecutors have also outlined details of a suspected plot by the anti-government Oath Keepers group to stage a “quick reaction force” ready to fight if ordered to do so by Trump.

After our exclusive report yesterday that dozens of former Republican officials are in talks to form an anti-Trump third party, we take a deeper look at the hurdles they face.

David Schoen and Bruce Castor, lawyers for Donald Trump, walk in the Senate Reception Room of the U.S. Capitol, February 11, 2021.

WORLD

Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori announces his resignation, February 12, 2021

Tokyo 2020 Olympics chief Yoshiro Mori has resigned and apologized again for sexist remarks that sparked a global outcry. Mori has gone from being a political asset to a liability in just a week.

Supporters of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi clashed with police as hundreds of thousands joined nationwide pro-democracy demonstrations in defiance of the junta. Setting aside their divisions, Myanmar's ethnic groups have united against the coup.

China's New Year gala show has sparked a new racism controversy with a blackface performance. The four-hour show typically draws hundreds of millions of viewers.

Archaeologists believe they have discovered the origins of the Stonehenge prehistoric monument after they uncovered the remains of an ancient stone circle in Wales that may have been dismantled and rebuilt hundreds of years later in England.

Business

Shares of Bumble soared more than 76% in their stock market debut, fetching a $14 billion valuation for the operator of the dating app where women make the first move.

We take a look at how Google’s threatened shutdown of its search engine in Australia would ripple across industries, saddling partners like Apple with a sudden revenue gap and retailers with a supply of potentially useless gadgets.

Walt Disney swung to a surprise quarterly profit, as 'The Mandalorian' and 'Soul' lifted its fast-growing streaming business, outweighing pandemic worries about its hobbled theme park operations.

And as the Reddit rally in cannabis stocks is stubbed out, we explain why Gang Weed is not the next GameStop.

Video

The Black woman shaking up France's champagne club

Dancing without arms - Ballerina inspires Brazil