U.S. and world news for July 21

Jan. 6 hearing tonight: The House Jan. 6 committee holds a televised hearing in prime time tonight beginning at 8 p.m. eastern time that is expected to present a complete timeline of the attack on the Capitol. Evidence is expected to be presented detailing precisely what Donald Trump did and did not do as the Capitol was being overrun, the mob was threatening to kill Vice President Pence and the final steps in certifying the results of the 2020 election for a peaceful transfer of power had been disrupted.

Prosecution in Bannon trial rests: Government prosecutors have rested their case in the trial of former Trump advisor Steve Bannon on contempt of Congress charges. The prosecutors presented only two witnesses and took the position that the case is very straightforward ”“ that Bannon chose to defy a subpoena requiring him to testify before Congress, was defiant in public and the facts of the case demonstrate his guilt.

Giuliani ordered to testify: Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani has been ordered by a federal judge to appear before a Georgia grand jury on Aug. 9 to answer questions about pressure he and Donald Trump exerted on Georgia officials to try to get them to change the results of the 2020 election. Because Giuliani is not a resident of Georgia, the order for Giuliani to appear had to come from a judge in his home state of New York.

Russia plans to annex Ukrainian land: Russia says it intends to make territory it has captured in Ukraine part of Russia and intends to capture even more Ukrainian land. Russia warns that once it annexes the land and changes the border, any attack on the former Ukrainian territory or use of weapons supplied to Ukraine by foreign countries to shoot into the territory would amount to waging war on Russia.

Tesla reports $2.3B Q2 profit: Tesla has reported second quarter 2022 revenues of $16.9 billion and a profit of $2.3 billion. The profit was down from the $3.3 billion reported during the first quarter of this year. In the second quarter of last year, Tesla”™s profit was $1.1 billion. Tesla said it has sold 75% of its Bitcoin investment during the second quarter. Last year, Tesla invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin.

Home sales down, median price up: The National Association of Realtors reports that sales of existing homes in the U.S. declined in June for the fifth straight month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.12 million units. Sales were down 5.4% from the level in May and 14.2% from June 2021. The median sale price climbed 13.4% from one year ago to $416,000, a new record high. At the end of June, there were 1.26 million homes on the market or the equivalent of a three-month supply.

Photo: Outtacontext / Flickr Creative Commons