The world this weekPoliticsA winter storm that covered three-quarters of America’s Lower 48 with snow brought havoc to southern states.Millions of Texans were left without power, as were tens of thousands of people in other states.Many blamed antiquated energy grids for not being able to cope with the surge in demand for electricity.Donald Trump’s impeachment trial for “incitement of insurrection” ended quickly.Fully 57 senators, including seven Republicans, agreed that he had whipped up the mob that stormed Congress on January 6th.But the vote fell short of the two-thirds majority required in the Senate to convict the former president.Mario Draghi was sworn in as Italy’s prime minister, having secured the support of almost all of the country’s main political parties.The former head of the European Central Bank named a new cabinet in which many of the key positions are held by technocrats like himself.His task is to draw up a plan of reform that can unlock more than 200bn euro ($240bn) in EU COVID-recovery money.England dished out its first 10,000 pound ($13,900) fines to travellers who broke strict new quarantine rules after returning from a “red list” of 33 countries.
