Start your week smart: Presidential race, Gaza, Air base attack, War in Ukraine, Moon lander

By CNN Newsource

Published January 21, 2024 6:55 AM

By Andrew Torgan, CNN

(CNN) — Some people collect stamps or coins, while others seek out vintage cars or antique furniture. But if you are looking for a truly unique conversation piece, you’re in luck: a set of Winston Churchill’s wartime false teeth are going on the auction block next month.

Here’s what else you need to know to Start Your Week Smart.

The weekend that was

• Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley on Saturday questioned Donald Trump’s mental fitness after he appeared to confuse her with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi when talking about the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. “Last night, Trump is at a rally and he’s going on and on mentioning me several times as to why I didn’t take security during the Capitol riots. Why I didn’t handle January 6 better. I wasn’t even in DC on January 6. I wasn’t in office then,” Haley said.

• Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for Palestinian sovereignty, saying on Saturday that Israel must retain security control over “all the territory west of Jordan — and this is contrary to a Palestinian state.” His comments come after talks with President Joe Biden on post-war Gaza. Biden said that he believed Netanyahu could ultimately be convinced of a two-state solution. The two remain at odds over what Gaza will look like after the conflict.

• US personnel were injured in a ballistic missile attack on Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq on Saturday, two US officials said. The attack resulted in minor injuries, the officials said, though it was not immediately clear how many personnel had been injured.

• The frontlines of Russia’s war in Ukraine have become infested with rats and mice, reportedly spreading disease that causes soldiers to vomit and bleed from their eyes, crippling combat capability and recreating the gruesome conditions that plagued troops in the trench warfare of World War I. The infestations are due partly to the change in seasons and mice’s mating cycle but are also a measure of how the war has become static after Ukraine’s counteroffensive was largely rebuffed by heavily fortified Russian defenses.

• Japan’s “Moon Sniper” robotic explorer successfully landed on the lunar surface Friday but almost immediately encountered a critical issue. After executing a precise landing, the uncrewed Smart Lander for Investigating Moon — or SLIM — mission was forced to rely on limited battery power because its solar cell wasn’t generating electricity. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency team said it believes the solar power issue is the result of the spacecraft facing the wrong direction.

The week ahead

Monday
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi will preside over the installation of a Lord Ram statue at a controversial new Hindu temple that will open on disputed land. Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP has campaigned for decades to construct a temple at the site in the holy city of Ayodhya, which is widely believed by devotees to be where Lord Ram, one of the most revered deities in Hinduism, was born. The site of the temple, previously claimed by both Hindus and Muslims, has long been the center of controversy.

Tuesday
New Hampshire holds its first-in-the-nation presidential primary, and former President Donald Trump is looking to ride a wave of momentum following his big win in Iowa. Trump hopes a victory in New Hampshire will quickly end the GOP nominating race, but he’s facing a serious challenge in the Granite State from Nikki Haley — who has her best chance there to win an early contest against her former boss and prolong the race. How President Joe Biden will fare in the state’s Democratic primary remains to be seen, as his name does not appear on the ballot.

Confused about the primary process? We’ve got your back. Here’s everything you need to know.

Wednesday
On this day 40 years ago, Apple (then Apple Computer) began selling its first Macintosh. It featured an 8 MHz processor and 128k of RAM in a beige all-in-one case with a 9-inch monochrome display — all for around $2,500. Apple put the world on notice of the Mac’s arrival with its now iconic “1984” commercial that aired during a break in the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.

Thursday
Alabama is scheduled to carry out the nation’s first execution by nitrogen hypoxia, an alternative to lethal injection. Kenneth Eugene Smith’s execution by lethal injection was abruptly canceled in November after the state couldn’t properly set the IV line before the warrant for execution expired. He asked the state to be put to death by nitrogen gas rather than lethal injection after what he called a botched execution. Death by nitrogen hypoxia deprives the brain and body of oxygen, so the inmate would die by suffocation, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a non-profit that monitors, analyzes and disseminates information about capital punishment. Smith was convicted for the 1988 murder, with an accomplice, of Elizabeth Dorlene Sennett in a murder-for-hire plot.

Former Donald Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro faces sentencing following his conviction last year on two counts of contempt of Congress for not complying with a 2022 subpoena issued by the now-disbanded House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Each count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one month in prison, but prosecutors said in a filing to the judge overseeing the case that Navarro’s conduct justifies a harsher sentence and are asking for a sentence of six months for each count and a $100,000 fine.

Saturday
President Biden heads to South Carolina, the state that catapulted him to the top of the Democratic primary field in 2020, for the second time this month. Biden is hoping that South Carolina, and its Black voters, can help recharge his reelection bid. This latest visit comes a week before the Palmetto State’s primary on February 3.

One Thing: New Hampshire primary preview
In this week’s “One Thing” podcast, CNN’s Kasie Hunt explains how independent New Hampshire voters could change the dynamic of the Republican race. Listen here.

Photos of the week

Check out more images from the week that was, curated by CNN Photos.

What’s happening in entertainment

TV and streaming
The miniseries “Masters of the Air” follows the 100th Bomb Group in World War II, known as “The Bloody 110th” for its disproportionately high rate of crewmen killed or captured and aircraft shot down. “Masters of the Air” is from producers Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, who brought us “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” It premieres Friday on Apple TV+ and stars Austin Butler, Callum Turner, Anthony Boyle and Barry Keoghan, among many others.

On the big screen
The nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday, and “Oppenheimer” and “Barbie” are likely to rake in more than a few nods — with “Oppenheimer” still riding high after winning best motion picture drama, best director (Christopher Nolan) and best drama actor (Cillian Murphy) at the Golden Globes.

Another movie set during the dawn of the atomic age stomps its way back into theaters on Friday for a limited run with a novel twist. “Godzilla Minus One,” which arrived in theaters in December, is set in post-World War II Japan. And in a tribute to 1954’s original “Godzilla,” as well as the era in which it takes place, the producers are releasing this black-and-white version titled “Godzilla Minus One/Minus Color.”

“Miller’s Girl” trods a well-worn path that finds a beautiful and talented young student (Jenna Ortega) infatuated with an older teacher (Martin Freeman) and vice versa, only to have the plot shift from “Lolita” to “Fatal Attraction.” Cue “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” by The Police …

Speaking of well-worn paths, “American Star” features Ian McShane as a hitman sent to an island paradise to kill an unknown target scheduled to arrive in a few days. While there he meets a woman — and you can guess the rest.

What’s happening in sports

At a glance …
It’s a big weekend in the NFL playoffs as the eight remaining teams battle toward conference championships. On Saturday, the Baltimore Ravens advanced to the AFC Championship game following a 34-10 victory over the Houston Texans. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the Green Bay Packers 24-21 to head to the NFC Championship game. Later today, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will face the Detroit Lions — who won their first playoff game in 32 years last week — and the Kansas City Chiefs play the Buffalo Bills.

If tennis is more your speed, the quarterfinals of the Australian Open — the first grand slam event of the year — get underway on Monday.

For more of your favorite sports, head on over to CNN Sports as well as Bleacher Report, which — like CNN — is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

Quiz time!

Looking for a challenge to start your week? Take CNN’s news quiz to see how much you remember from the week that was! So far, 54% of fellow quiz fans have gotten eight or more questions right. How will you fare?

Play me off …

‘What Was I Made For?’
One song expected to land an Oscar nomination on Tuesday is this haunting tune from Billie Eilish that was featured in “Barbie.” (Click here to view)

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