memeorandum: A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job. (Vimal Patel/New York Times)

3:20 PM ET, January 8, 2023

Top Items:

Live Updates: Brazil Election Protesters Storm Government Offices — Two months after Bolsonaro's loss, his supporters are staging a major protest. — Supporters of Brazil's former president, Jair Bolsonaro, stormed Brazil's Congress and presidential offices on Sunday to protest what they falsely believe was a stolen election.

Washington Post:

Bolsonaro backers storm congress, court, presidential office in Brazil's capital — BRASILIA — Thousands of radical backers of Brazil's far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro breached and vandalized the presidential office building, congress and the Supreme Court on Sunday …

George Wright / BBC:

Bolsonaro supporters storm Brazilian Congress — Supporters of Brazilian far-right ex-President Jair Bolsonaro have stormed Congress in the capital. — The dramatic scenes came a week after left-wing veteran Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's inauguration.

Discussion: CNN and Joining the Dots

Peter Millard / Bloomberg:

Pro-Bolsonaro Rioters Breach Into Congress, Presidential Palace — Thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro broke through security barriers in the capital of Brasilia and invaded Congress, the supreme court and the presidential palace. — President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva isn't in the palace.

Discussion: Associated Press, CBS News, Metro.co.uk, Al Jazeera, Washington Post and Just The News

Rachael Bade / Politico:

POLITICO Playbook: The clock starts ticking on McCarthy's speakership — Presented by With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — KEVIN McCARTHY finally got the gavel — but in the process, he gave away the House. — The concessions the California Republican awarded …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »

New York Times:

House Republicans Preparing Broad Inquiry Into F.B.I. and Security Agencies — Republicans plan to create a special subcommittee, led by a Trump ally, with a mandate to scrutinize open criminal investigations and classified intelligence. — WASHINGTON — Newly empowered House Republicans …

Discussion: CNN, Mother Jones, Fox News and Politico

Natalie Andrews / Wall Street Journal:

What's in Kevin McCarthy's Deal With Conservatives — House speaker made pledges on what bills he would bring to the floor and agreed to make it easier to oust him — WASHINGTON—Kevin McCarthy's election early Saturday morning to be House speaker came only after 14 unsuccessful ballots …

Discussion: Talking Points Memo

Robert Draper / New York Times:
For GOP, Speaker Debacle Has Roots in Newt Gingrich's Revolt

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and No More Mister Nice Blog

Julia Ainsley / NBC News:
Video shows border agents, police arresting migrants sleeping outside church shelter in El Paso ahead of Biden's visit

Discussion: Fox News, USA Today, Breitbart, El Paso Matters, The Gateway Pundit, New York Post, The Texas Tribune, The Guardian, CNN, The Daily Caller, NewsNation and Bloomberg

CNN:
How McCarthy survived the House chaos to win the speaker's gavel

Paul Kane / Washington Post:
Closest of friends, Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan split over Kevin McCarthy

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Raw Story

Jim Tankersley / New York Times:
Speaker Drama Raises New Fears on Debt Limit

Discussion: Heartland Signal and Washington Post

Vimal Patel / New York Times:

A Lecturer Showed a Painting of the Prophet Muhammad. She Lost Her Job. — After an outcry over the art history class by Muslim students, Hamline University officials said the incident was Islamophobic. But many scholars say the work is a masterpiece. — Erika López Prater …

Discussion: Lawyers, Guns & Money and WOID

Céline Gounder / New York Times:

Grant Wahl's Death Isn't a Tool for Covid Vaccine Disinformation Spreaders — Dr. Gounder is an infectious disease physician and epidemiologist. She is the widow of the sports journalist Grant Wahl. — It was the end of the workday on Friday, Dec. 9, 2022.

Fairfax County Times:

Area principals admit to withholding National Merit Awards from students — While Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid claims the principal at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology withheld National Merit awards from students in a “one-time human error …

Jesse Bedayn / Associated Press:

Boebert's backers urge her to ‘tone down the nasty rhetoric’ — Debbie Hartman voted for Lauren Boebert for Congress in 2020 and again in 2022, delighted by Boebert's unequivocal defense of cultural issues that animate the Republican Party's far right flank.

Discussion: Insider

Frank Jordans / Associated Press:

Germany: Iranian held in suspected poison plot after US tip — A 32-year-old Iranian man has been detained in Germany following a tip from U.S. security officials that he could be planning an attack with deadly chemicals, officials said Sunday. Police and prosecutors said the man …

Discussion: Agence France-Presse, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, UPI, Metro.co.uk, The Guardian, Frontpage Mag, The Times of Israel, Politico and New York Post

Joseph Choi / The Hill:

What we know about the XBB.1.5 COVID variant sweeping the Northeast — The XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant is raising concerns of a potential surge in COVID-19 cases as it sweeps across the Northeast. — Officials have warned in recent weeks that the strain is highly transmissible …

Discussion: Instapundit and Newsday

Carlotta Gall / New York Times:

Now Fighting for Ukraine: Volunteers Seeking Revenge Against Russia — Chechens, Crimean Tatars and people from the former Soviet republics, all with deep historical grievances against Moscow, are eagerly taking up arms for Kyiv. — KYIV REGION, Ukraine — The sharp crack of sniper fire rang out across the snowbound valley.

Discussion: New York Post and Foreign Policy