When President Biden and first lady Dr. Jill Biden arrived at the White House on Wednesday afternoon, there was no chief usher to greet them. Former first lady Melania Trump had hired the chief usher, Timothy Harleth, from the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., in 2017, after the previous chief usher, Angella Reid, was dismissed a few months into Donald Trump's term.
Russian police detained Yulia Navalnaya, the wife of jailed Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, at a protest in Moscow on Saturday as demonstrations in support of the opposition leader swept across Russia. Authorities detained at least 1,600 people at unauthorised rallies in Moscow and dozens of cities across the country, with some reports of violent clashes between protesters and riot police. At least 10,000 people joined protests in Moscow, according to estimates, in a test to Vladimir Putin.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday that Pfizer had reassured him it would meet Canada's vaccine order in full by end-March as, with a second COVID wave spreading across the country, he hinted at a clampdown on citizens leaving home. Pfizer, which is retooling a European manufacturing plant, told Canada on Tuesday it would receive no vaccine next week, promising more pain for provinces already complaining about a shortage of supplies. Pfizer also said it would cut supplies to the European Union.
Biden reportedly wasn't greeted by White House staff on Inauguration Day because Trump sent them home. Trump reportedly sent the butlers home so "there would be no-one to help the Bidens when they arrived." Chief usher Timothy Harleth left his role before the Bidens arrived at the White House.
The words of Donald Trump supporters who are accused of participating in the deadly U.S. Capitol riot may end up being used against him in his Senate impeachment trial as he faces the charge of inciting a violent insurrection. At least five supporters facing federal charges have suggested they were taking orders from the then-president when they marched on Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 to challenge the certification of Joe Biden's election win. Jacob Chansley, the Arizona man photographed on the dais in the Senate who was shirtless and wore face paint and a furry hat with horns, has similarly pointed a finger at Trump.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton has filed a lawsuit against Department of Homeland Security in an attempt to halt the Biden administration's โunlawfulโ freeze on deportations. In a complaint filed with US District Court, Mr Paxton is seeking a restraining order against the new president's executive order rolling back immigration policies of the Trump administration. The suit alleges the directive from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) violates the Administrative Procedure Act, which requires that the department seek input from Texas.
Thousands of Hong Kong residents were locked down in their homes Saturday in an unprecedented move to contain a worsening coronavirus outbreak in the city. Authorities said in a statement that an area comprising 16 buildings in the city's Yau Tsim Mong district would be locked down until all residents were tested. The restrictions, which were announced at 4 a.m. in Hong Kong, were expected to end within 48 hours, the government said.
New first lady Jill Biden took an unannounced detour to the U.S. Capitol on Friday to deliver baskets of chocolate chip cookies to National Guard members, thanking them โfor keeping me and my family safeโ during President Joe Biden's inauguration. โI just want to say thank you from President Biden and the whole, the entire Biden family,โ she told a group of Guard members at the Capitol. โThe White House baked you some chocolate chip cookies," she said, before joking that she couldn't say she had baked them herself.
Eight Chinese bomber planes and four fighter jets entered the southwestern corner of Taiwan's air defence identification zone on Saturday, and Taiwan's air force deployed missiles to "monitor" the incursion, the island's Defence Ministry said. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, has conducted almost daily flights over the waters between the southern part of Taiwan and the Taiwan-controlled Pratas Islands in the South China Sea in recent months. However they have generally consisted of just one or two reconnaissance aircraft.
Then Trump spent two months trafficking in unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud, feuded with party officials in battleground states, unsuccessfully campaigned for two Republican incumbent senators in Georgia's run-off elections and instigated a crowd of supporters that would turn into a mob that attacked the US Capitol. He's been impeached (again) by a bipartisan vote in the House of Representatives and could, if convicted in the Senate, be permanently banned from running for public office. Over his five-year career in politics, Trump has wriggled free from political predicaments that would sink most others.
The materials and colors took center stage,โ said David Lucas when it came to the design of the home. Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
Reaction from former House Speaker and Fox News contributor Newt Gingrich on 'Hannity'
The death toll from the coronavirus in Germany has passed 50,000, a number that has risen swiftly over recent weeks even as infection figures are finally declining. The country's disease control center, the Robert Koch Institute, said Friday that another 859 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, taking the total so far to 50,642. Germany had a comparatively small number of deaths in the pandemic's first phase and was able to lift many restrictions quickly.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough ripped into Republican lawmakers who have been stopped from entering the chamber of the House of Representatives carrying firearms just two weeks after the violent storming of the US Capitol led to five deaths. The former Republican congressman was incredulous in a segment of Friday's edition of Morning Joe, exclaiming: โReally, the stupidity is just extraordinary.โ Mr Scarborough was reacting to a report that Republican lawmaker Andy Harris of Maryland was stopped by Capitol Police with a gun on his hip as he was entering the House to cast a vote.
US President Joe Biden has apologised after some members of the National Guard stationed at the Capitol were pictured sleeping in a car park. Mr Biden called the chief of the National Guard Bureau on Friday to apologise and ask what could be done, according to US media reports. First Lady Jill Biden also visited some of the troops to thank them personally, bringing biscuits from the White House as a gift.
Democrats plan to move quickly on one of the first bills of the new Congress, citing the need for federal election standards and other reforms to shore up the foundations of American democracy after a tumultuous post-election period and deadly riot at the Capitol. States have long had disparate and contradictory rules for running elections. But the 2020 election, which featured pandemic-related changes to ease voting and then a flood of lawsuits by former President Donald Trump and his allies, underscored the differences from state to state: Mail-in ballots due on Election Day or just postmarked by then?
Sen. Bernie Sanders is feeling the Bern โ and the love โ after a photo of him sitting alone in his face mask, winter coat and patchwork mittens at Wednesday's presidential inauguration went viral. On Thursday's episode of "Late Night With Seth Meyers," Sanders said he was amused by the now-ubiquitous image, which has Twitter hailing the Vermont senator for his commitment to social distancing and utilitarian fashion choices. Sanders couldn't help but laugh when Meyers produced one of his favorite takes on the meme, placing Inauguration Bernie on a couch with the women of "Sex and the City," and asked if Sanders had been tracking his social media fame.
Saudi Arabia said Saturday it intercepted an apparent missile or drone attack over its capital, Riyadh, amid the kingdom's yearslong war against neighboring Yemen's Houthi rebels. Saudi state TV quoted authorities in the kingdom acknowledging the interception. Yahia Sarei, a military spokesman for the Houthis, said in a brief statement that the rebels had not carried out attacks on Saudi Arabia in the past 24 hours.
Dr Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is opening up about his experiences as a scientist under the Donald Trump administration, calling the president's pressure campaigns "chilling." Dr Fauci appeared on MSNBC's 'The Rachel Maddow Show' and recalled scientists working with the White House who felt they could not tell the truth because Mr Trump and his officials wanted to project an image of the pandemic that suggested everything was under control and improving. โI didn't want to be at odds with the president because I have a lot of respect for the office of the presidency, but there was conflict at different levels with different people and different organizations and a lot of pressure being put on to do things that just are not compatible with the science,โ Dr Fauci said.
Vice-President Kamala Harris attends a televised ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial on Jan. 20; Dr. Jill Biden during the Inauguration Day ceremony on Jan. 20 Credit - Joshua RobertsโPool/Getty Images; Oliver ContrerasโSipa The politically savvy understand that fashion tells a story, and at the 2021 Presidential Inauguration on Wednesday, the wardrobe choices of Vice President Kamala Harris and First Lady Jill Biden reinforced the values and hope of the new Administration. Their clothing confirmed a return to the time-honored tradition of supporting American designers and reflected an understanding that what they wear holds meaning.
China has authorized its coast guard to fire on foreign vessels and destroy structures on features it claims, potentially raising the possibility of clashes with regional maritime rivals. The Coast Guard Law passed on Friday empowers the force to โtake all necessary measures, including the use of weapons, when national sovereignty, sovereign rights, and jurisdiction are being illegally infringed upon by foreign organizations or individuals at sea.โ The law also authorizes the coast guard to demolish other countries' structures built on reefs and islands claimed by China and to seize or order foreign vessels illegally entering China's territorial waters to leave.
Three people in hotel quarantine associated with the Australian Open tennis tournament have tested positive for the highly transmissible coronavirus variant linked to the United Kingdom, officials said on Saturday. "Three quarantine residents associated with the Australian Open who tested positive for coronavirus have been found to have the UK variant of the virus," COVID-19 Quarantine Victoria said in a statement. Victoria, Australia's second most-populous state, recorded its 17th day without any new local infections on Saturday as officials focus on keeping the community separated from staff and players here for the Grand Slam tournament.
On Tuesday, McConnell blamed Trump for inciting the mob that violently stormed the US Capitol. Republicans who did not admit Biden's win, and let those lies spread unchecked, are complicit. On his last day as Senate majority leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell explicitly blamed President Donald Trump for inciting the mob that violently stormed the US Capitol building on January 6.
An Ohio man is charged with stealing a coat rackย during the US Capitol riots andย another wasย found withย marijuana and anย open bottle of bourbon, according to court records. Dustin Byron Thompson and Robert Anthony Lyonย were sitting on the sidewalk on a street near the U.S. Capitol grounds hours after the Jan. 6 rioting when they were approached by two Capitol Police special agents. Thompson, 36, of Columbus' University District,ย was wearing a Trump 2020 winter hat and a bulletproof vest, and Lyon, 27, whom records indicateย has resided in Columbus and Reynoldsburg, had a Trump 2020 flag.
Hogan Gidley, Trump's former deputy press aide, called the Capitol siege a "black eye" on his legacy. Five people died when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6. Trump has since been impeached on charges of "inciting an insurrection," his second impeachment.
โBy encouraging this act of terror on our capital, Trumpโs legacy is destroyed.โ
โBoth backers and critics of Trump agreed that he remade the federal judiciary โ a change that will impact America for decades.โ
โHe was largely responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Americans who did not need to die.โ
โI do know what the future should hold for this country. That is to say, a policy of Trumpism without Trump.โ
โIt will be decades before the consequences of his tenure are fully known.โ