The warmest decade on record, Bezos gets pushback in India, seizing Epstein's assets
THE BIG STORY
Trump's Senate impeachment trial can now begin The House voted to send two articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate, setting up the president's trial.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had delayed sending over the articles after the House voted to impeach Trump in December. She said Democrats needed to ensure that the trial would be fair after Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would be coordinating his strategy with the White House.
Pelosi also named seven House managers, who will serve as the team prosecuting Trump. Their job will be to make the case that Trump should be removed from office. Here's everything you need to know about the managers.
The managers physically walked the articles from the House to the Senate Wednesday evening, because politics is also theater. Today, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will swear senators in as jurors.
The trial is expected to begin in earnest next Tuesday.
Pelosi and The Trial Managers, a hot new ska band. Jim Watson / Getty Images Impeachment Today
The trial is afoot. As impeachment moves into a higher gear, we discuss what happens next, and the people in charge of defending the president. Listen and subscribe. STAYING ON TOP OF THIS The last decade was the hottest on record
There are some records that maybe we'd be better off not setting. Here's another: The past five years were collectively the warmest since record-keeping began about 140 years ago. 2019's temperatures were second only to 2016, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
A Stanford professor told us, "We are experiencing the impacts of global warming unfolding literally in real time."
As of time of publication, there is no evidence that these startling facts will impact the behaviors of people in positions of adequate power to do something about this.
SNAPSHOTS The ACLU and others are suing to block the US from sending asylum-seekers to Guatemala. The groups say the "safe third country" agreements with Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras would put US-bound asylum-seekers in ill-equipped countries plagued by violence.
The Iranian man who obtained a video of two missiles striking the Ukrainian plane has gone into hiding. The two-minute-long video, verified by BuzzFeed News, provides the most complete visual account yet of the downing of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 on Jan. 8. The man's friend told us he fears being arrested by authorities, and has gone into hiding.
The Virgin Islands wants to seize Jeffrey Epstein's millions after he allegedly abused underage girls on his private island. In a new suit filed against Epstein's estate, the Virgin Islands government is seeking two islands owned by Epstein, as well as millions in other assets. It may disperse the assets to victims.
A Michigan lawmaker told a young reporter that "a group of boys could have fun" with her. So she wrote about it. Allison Donahue, a reporter for the Michigan Advance, said at first she was too stunned, angry, and embarrassed to say anything back to state Sen. Peter Lucido, a Republican who may run for governor in 2022. Donahue walked away at first, but the 22-year-old then thought of her younger self.
Caroline Calloway is releasing a book called Scammer. Calloway said on Instagram that the book will be available in the spring, but she chose the preorder date because it marks one year since she "went viral as a scam." She says the book won't be sold in stores.
KEEP IT, BEZOS Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos went to India to invest a billion dollars. Traditional retailers shouted at him to go back home.
In a packed auditorium in New Delhi, Bezos made a surprise announcement: he declared that Amazon would invest $1 billion over the next five years to bring more than 10 million small and medium Indian businesses online, and help them sell their products around the world.
Amazon's aggressive expansion in India has helped kickstart an e-commerce boom in a country where hundreds of millions of people have rapidly come online through cheap smartphones and data plans in the last few years.
This expansion has come with significant pushback: it has angered millions of small brick-and-mortar businesses, who say that Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart, which dominate online shopping in the country, are affecting their livelihoods by using their deep pockets to heavily discount products and undercut traditional retailers.
 FRIENDS WITH ROYALTY Beyoncé sent Reese Witherspoon a huge orange box filled with clothes after they became friends at the Golden Globes
This beautiful friendship started when the two sat next to each other at the Golden Globes recently, with Reese leaning over to Beyoncé and Jay Z to ask for a glass of their champagne.
After they became BFFs, the power couple sent Reese a huge case of champagne a couple of days later.
Then yesterday, Reese posted a video on Instagram of her receiving a massive box, all filled with Ivy Park clothes, the clothing line Bey owns. In related news, I am also available to be best friends with the Carters. So if you know them, pass it on. Give yourself credit for the moments of quiet courage no one sees, Elamin BuzzFeed, Inc.
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