The Putsch: Details are emerging about an elaborate right wing plot in Germany to overthrow the government, execute the chancellor, and install a prince descended from German nobility as the new head of state.

  It sounded like Germany in the 1930s, but it was yesterday. 

  Cops and Special Forces soldiers throughout the country yesterday raided 150 homes and arrested at least 25 suspected conspirators. They include an active duty soldier, a former special forces officer, a police officer, and at least two army reservists.

  At the center was Prince Heinrich XIII of Reuss, a descendant of a 700-year-old family that once ruled in Thuringia.  

  This is not the first time extremists have been caught planning for what’s known by the German right wing as “Day X,” the day the democratic government is toppled. German authorities say the group plotting the coup was influenced by the QAnon conspiracy and a right-wing German conspiracy group called the Reichsbürger, which claims that Germany after World War II is not a sovereign country but a corporation set up by the victorious Allies.

  The plot called for storming the capitol, arresting lawmakers, and appointing a former far-right member of Parliament to carry out  a national purge. 

  To disrupt normal operations, they intended to sabotage the electricity network and use satellite phones for communication.

  The NY Times reports that among the items recovered was a list of 18 names of people to be possibly deported or executed, including Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “This represents an escalation,” Stephan Kramer, head of domestic intelligence of the state of Thuringia told The NY Times. “In their plan to overthrow the government, they were willing to accept deaths.”

The Peruvian Plot: There seems to be a “coup” virus going around. Peruvian President Pedro Castillo was impeached and arrested yesterday after he announced plans to dissolve Congress, install an emergency government, and write a new constitution. Peru’s Ombudsman described it as an “attempted coup d’état.” The armed forces refused to cooperate with the plan.

  Dina Boluarte, the vice president, became Peru’s first female president, 

and Peru’s sixth president in under five years. 

  She was sworn in after 101 members in the 130-person legislative body voted to impeach and remove Castillo.

Recriminations: Republican leaders are wringing their hands over Herschel Walker’s loss in the runoff for Senate from Georgia. Raphael Warnock was ahead by just one percent when the race was called, but now it’s just shy of three percent.

  Republicans are pointing the finger of blame at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Senator Rick Scott of Florida, who is chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, at Walker himself for hiding his seedy personal history, and of course, at Donald Trump.

  In the midst of all this, Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who aims to be a power in the next congressional session, blamed Walker and the bosses for not calling on her enough. She said, “They thought, you know, we’re going to keep Marjorie Taylor Greene away from Herschel Walker and we don’t need her voice at his campaign rallies and events where we’re campaigning all over the state, I think is really a major mistake and an insult to me and insult to people who support me and Republicans all over Georgia.”

The War Room: Russian President Vladimir Putin in a televised address to the nation warned that his war on Ukraine could become protracted and “might be a long process,” a backhanded admission that it’s not going well for Russia.

  In the face of circulating fears and rumors, he said there is no need to draft more recruits. “In these conditions, the talk about some additional mobilization efforts makes no sense,” Putin said. “There is no need for this for the state and for the Defense Ministry.” 

China Syndrome: After citizens rioted last month, the Chinese government has eased some of its severe “zero covid” policy that has interrupted commerce and everyday life.

  Beijing lifted many of the draconian rules requiring mass testing, lockdowns, mandatory hospitalization, and mass quarantines. No longer, for instance, do you have to show a negative Covid test to be able to ride the subway.

  It appears to be a face-saving move by the government and an effort to stem growing unrest under the Covid restrictions. It’s also an economic decision because the Covid rules and lockdowns put a drag on the economy.

  China never reached “zero Covid” and the decision to free the population is also a decision to free the virus to spread.

The Obit Page: Jule Campbell, the editorial mind behind the Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit edition, introducing cheesecake to the doctor’s waiting room, has died at age 96. The issue was created to boost circulation during the slow sports news month of January.

The Spin Rack: People hired by Donald Trump after a federal judge ordered him to dig deeper for documents in his possession found at least two with classified markings inside a sealed box at a federally run storage site in West Palm Beach, Florida. — Police responded to the home of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz Tuesday night for the report of a 14-year-old girl with self-inflicted wounds on her arms. “This is a family matter and thankfully their daughter is okay,” Cruz’s representatives said in a statement. — Sunny Balwani, the former business and romantic partner of Elizabeth Holmes was sentenced yesterday to nearly 13 years in prison in the Theranos medical technology fraud. Balwani got pretty much the same stiff sentence as the now married and pregnant Holmes. —The NY Yankees and slugger Aaron Judge are reported to have reached a nine-year, $360 million deal. Judge hit 62 home runs this year, breaking Roger Maris’ record of 61 in 1961. — The average price of gasoline is slightly lower than it was a year ago.

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