In our series of letters from African journalists, Waihiga Mwaura looks at what the continent could expect from new US President Joe Biden. The red carpet was unrolled, the hall was packed, security was tight and Joe Biden took to the stage. This was Nairobi in 2010 and Kenyans had come to listen to the-then US vice-president.
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 U.S. has reaffirmed its support for Taiwan following China's dispatch of warplanes near the island in an apparent attempt to intimidate its democratic government and test the resolve of the new American presidential administration. The U.S. State Department on Saturday said it was concerned by China's "pattern of ongoing attempts to intimidate its neighbors, including Taiwan.โ โWe urge Beijing to cease its military, diplomatic, and economic pressure against Taiwan and instead engage in meaningful dialogue with Taiwan's democratically elected representatives," Ned Price, a spokesman for the department, said in the statement.
Senator Chris Coons has said that Donald Trump and โhis team caused more harm than expectedโ during the transition period after Joe Biden's transition team was not permitted access. The revelation came during an interview on MSNBC during which the Democratic senator was asked for his opinion on the flurry of executive actions passed by the president since Wednesday. Senator Coons, who holds Mr Biden's old seat and has known the president for 30 years, said the president had been thoroughly preparing since he won the election in November.
Scott Kevin Fairlamb, 43, of Stockholm, New Jersey, was arrested on five charges on January 22. Preston Fairlamb III led Michelle Obama's service detail while she was First Lady. The son of a police officer who punched a cop during the Capitol riots also has a brother in the Secret Service who Michelle Obama previously described as a "real friend," the Huffington Post found.
Over a thousand protesters gathered in Jerusalem on Saturday for weekly demonstrations demanding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu step down over corruption charges, as smaller protests were staged at intersections and bridges across the country. The protests have taken place each week since last summer, primarily at a Jerusalem square near Netanyahu's official residence, and continued despite lower turnout in the cold winter nights. In March, Israel will hold its fourth national election in less than two years, and Netanyahu is facing further challenges from defectors within his Likud party.
White House events have carefully calibrated themes. Washington is suffering whiplash โ or enjoying it, depending on whom you ask โ as President Biden takes over from former President Trump, a transition that stands as one of the starkest contrasts in U.S. political history. Before the election, Trump mocked his opponent as "Sleepy Joe."
Ongoing investigations have shown that more than one in five of the people currently charged for their involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has served in the military. NPR conducted an analysis of arrest records and compiled a list of people facing charges by either the federal government or the District of Columbia. Their review reveals that of more than 140 people charged, at least 27, or roughly 20 percent, have served or are currently serving in the U.S. military.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney tells 'The Story' both countries will be hurt by Biden action
Wielding a sword and wearing a turban in the colors of his regiment, Indian army Maj. Piyush Sharma thundered, "Troops, prepare to march." On his order, the camel-mounted regiment โ its mustachioed riders led by shiny brass bands with glimmering tubas โ swiftly moved down a boulevard in the Indian capital on Friday in a rehearsal for the annual Republic Day parade. Republic Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the country's constitution on Jan. 26, 1950.
Arizona Republicans voted Saturday to censure Cindy McCain and two prominent GOP members who have found themselves crosswise with former President Donald Trump. The censures of Sen. John McCain's widow, former Sen. Jeff Flake and Gov. Doug Ducey are merely symbolic. But they show the party's foot soldiers are focused on enforcing loyalty to Trump, even in the wake of an election that saw Arizona inch away from its staunchly Republican roots.
A man known as the "Q Shaman" who stormed the Capitol says he feels "duped" after Trump didn't pardon him. Jacob A. Chansley was arrested and charged earlier this month in connection with the Capitol riots. A far-right Arizona conspiracy theorist known as "QAnon Shaman," who stormed the Capitol in a fur headdress with horns, says he feels "duped" by Trump after the former president didn't pardon him, his lawyer has said.
A multiagency investigation recently found 33 missing children in Southern California, including eight who had been sexually exploited, the FBI said in a news release Friday. Operation "Lost Angels" began Jan. 11ย amid Human Trafficking Awareness Month and involved more than two dozen agencies in an effort to identify and find missing children, the FBI said. Officials said two of the children were found multiple times at known locations for commercial sex trafficking and explained endangered children oftenย return to such situations for various reasons as a part of a "harmful cycle" of abuse.
The U.S. Census Bureau is suspending efforts to create neighborhood-level statistics on the citizenship and age of residents, using 2020 census data, in the latest rollback of Trump administration census-related initiatives that critics feared would be used to favor Republicans and whites during the drawing of state and local districts. As part of an order President Joe Biden signed Wednesday on the 2020 census, the Census Bureau said Friday that it would discontinue efforts to create citizenship tabulations at the city-block level using 2020 census data combined with administrative records.
The Justice Department's top leaders listened in stunned silence this month: One of their peers, they were told, had devised a plan with President Donald Trump to oust Jeffrey Rosen as acting attorney general and wield the department's power to force Georgia state lawmakers to overturn its presidential election results. The unassuming lawyer who worked on the plan, Jeffrey Clark, had been devising ways to cast doubt on the election results and to bolster Trump's continuing legal battles and the pressure on Georgia politicians. Because Rosen had refused the president's entreaties to carry out those plans, Trump was about to decide whether to fire Rosen and replace him with Clark.
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
The terms of Kyle Rittenhouse's bond were modified after he was seen at a bar with his mother and members of the far-right Proud Boys, according to FOX 6. Kenosha County prosecutors previously requested to adjust his bond conditions after being spotted using white power associated hand symbols and drinking beers following his release. Rittenhouse,18, is the gunman associated with the deaths of two people and injuring another during a Jacob Blake protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer.
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.
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.
American Magic's race boat Patriot might have been battered and broken when it capsized at speed during the America's Cup challenger series in Auckland, but skipper Terry Hutchinson says its proud heart is still beating. The United States team remains in a race against time to repair Patriot, to make it fighting fit in time to face Italy's Luna Rossa in the semifinal of the Prada Cup series beginning Friday. Hutchinson is fully confident Patriot will be at the start line and as good as new after tireless efforts from American Magic's shore team and help from America's Cup defender Team New Zealand.
Elon Musk, who recently relocated to Texas, now reportedly has plans to to drill for natural gas there, too. SpaceX, Musk's space company, is looking to drill wells close to the company's Boca Chica, Texas, launchpad, according to Bloomberg. The site in Boca Chica previously hosted prototype launches for the company.
Democrats are facing new objections from Republicans over the Biden administration's COVID-19 relief package, a maddening reality that has set off alarm bells among progressives who fear hard-fought issues could be left on the chopping block. While President Joe Biden has long touted a working ability to inspire bipartisanship, some on the party's left wing are already warning against spending too much time trying to negotiate with the GOP, citing double control in the House and Senate and playing up the importance of providing fast monetary relief to Americans during the pandemic. โDemocrats need to just plow ahead,โ said Larry Cohen, chairman of Our Revolution, a grassroots network that supported Sen. Bernie Sanders' (I-VT) presidential bids.
After months of denial, Giuliani admitted his associate requested a daily $20,000 fee to help Trump. Giuliani said he represented Trump out of a sense of commitment and didn't expect to be paid. After months of denials, former President Donald Trump's personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, conceded that one of his associates asked campaign officials for aย $20,000 daily fee to help Trump after his election loss, according to a New York Times report.
Norwegian Cruise Line and its Regent Seven Seas Cruises brand will be asking all of its crew members to receive the COVID-19 vaccine prior to boarding, the cruise companies' spokespeople told Insider in an email statement. It's just the latest sign that cruise sailings won't be departing any time soon. Cruise ships first gained their reputation of being coronavirus hotspots in February 2020 after Princess Cruises' Diamond Princess left thousands of passengers stuck and hundreds infected with the virus.
President Joe Biden called the National Guard's chief on Friday to issue an apology. National Guard members were forced to vacate the Capitol on Thursday, according to Politico. President Joe Biden has called the chief of the National Guard Bureau to apologize after images circulated online of troops sleeping in a parking garage.
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