Mr Trump stands accused of inciting an insurrection on January 6th when his supporters attacked and ransacked the US Capitol building, leaving at least five people dead. Mr Trump, who is not present at the trial, is being prosecuted by lawmakers from the rival Democratic Party, who accuse him of stirring up violence ahead to the riot.
Prosecutors yesterday revealed graphic new videos of the attack showing just how close the rioting supporters of Mr Trump were able to get to lawmakers inside the halls of congress. One video revealed the mob had come within metres of the then-Vice President Mike Pence, whom some of the rioters called a „traitor”, others chanted „hang Mike Pence”.

Delegate Stacey Plaskett, who presented the evidence, argued that Mr Trump had „put a target on the backs” of lawmakers and the Vice President.

Mr Trump’s legal team is set to present the case for his defence later this week.

In another development, Reuters reported this morning that some in Mr Trump’s Republican party may be in talks to break away and form a new third party unhappy with the many Republicans’ acceptance of Trump.

Private media outlets across Poland yesterday joined a mass media strike, ceasing broadcasts and halting publications for 24 hours.

Popular TV networks including TVN and Polsat joined print media including Gazeta Wyborcza and online news sites like Onet and Wirtualna Polska in showing a black and white message saying „this is where our content should be”.

The strike is a response to a proposed new law which would require media outlets to pay tax on advertising revenue – dubbed the „ad tax”. The tax, which has been proposed but is yet to come into force, would take between 2% and 15% of ad revenue depending on the size of the company.

In an open letter explaining the strike, 43 media outlets and publishers said the new tax would lead to the „weakening or even liquidation” of independent media outlets. They claim that the law unfairly favours state-owned media as well as international media giants which, they claim, would pay less than Polish service providers.

The government says the tax is a necessary boost help the country recover from the pandemic and emphasise that funds raised from the tax would be directed to healthcare, culture & heritage, and preservation of monuments.

The media companies have now resumed service as normal. The „ad tax” bill is still in the consultation phase but is expected to come into force later this year if adopted.

A film by acclaimed Polish director Agnieszka Holland has been shortlisted for an Academy Award.

’Charlatan’ is a biopic about Czech herbalist and healer Jan Mikolášek who seemingly healed hundreds in mid-century Czechoslovakia using plant-based remedies. Mikolášek would eventually cross paths with Nazi German and later communist authorities.

The film was selected by the Czech Republic as its nomination for the Best International Feature Film award at this year’s Academy Awards, the Oscars. Now selected as one of fifteen shortlisted entries, Charlatan is now set to go up against the likes of Thomas Vinterberg’s 'Another Round’ – entered by Denmark – or Kaouther Ben Hania’s Tunisian entry 'The Man Who Sold His Skin’.

The Presidents of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland were in Pomerania yesterday for a meeting of the Visegrad Group.

The four leaders met at the Polish presidential residence near the town of Jurata on the Hel peninsula.

The Visegrad Group, or V4 as it is sometimes known, brings together four rapidly growing Central European countries. Speaking at the summit, President Andrzej Duda credited the group as a role model for other Central and Eastern European nations, adding that the V4 is the main catalyst of cooperation in Central Europe.

President Duda also made time to stop by in the coastal town of Puck, where he laid a wreath at a monument commemorating Poland’s ’ Marriage to the Sea’. The Marriage to the Sea, which occurred exactly 101 years ago yesterday, ceremonially marked the nation’s restored access to the Baltic sea, which had been lost for over a century following the Partitions of Poland in 1793.

Bitterly cold today with highs of -5C on the thermometer, that’s 23F, feeling much colder, however, thanks to a gusty easterly wind.

Snow expected overnight with tomorrow remaining cold, though perhaps with some sunny spells and lighter winds.

RGEN/TAH