USA

NEW YORK, Jan 20 (APP): The outgoing US President, Donald Trump, is considering the possibility of launching a new political party as his White House tenure draws to a close, according to a media report.

Trump discussed the possibility with associates in recent days, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing “people familiar with the matter.”

The party would be named the Patriot Party.

WASHINGTON, January 20./TASS/: Nominee for appointment to be Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that if confirmed, he would make it a high priority to review US force posture in the Black Sea and eastern Mediterranean regions.

WASHINGTON, Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The United States exempted aid groups, the United Nations, the Red Cross and the export of agricultural commodities, medicine, and medical devices from its designation of Yemen’s Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization.

The carve-outs are not enough to allay UN fears that Washington’s move would push Yemen into a large-scale famine. The United Nations describes Yemen as the world’s biggest humanitarian crisis, with 80 per cent of its people in need.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to be secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Tuesday that he will work to revitalize damaged American diplomacy and build a united front to counter the challenges posed by Russia, China and Iran.

At his confirmation hearing a day before Democrat Biden takes over from Republican Donald Trump, whose tenure was marked by unilateral action that often upset traditional U.S. friends, Blinken said he would work with allies and with humility.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 19 (Xinhua) -- UN humanitarian access to Ethiopia's conflict-stricken Tigray region still faces obstacles, said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) on Tuesday.

Although movements of humanitarian cargo inside Tigray are improving substantially, critical staff deployment and surge requests submitted to the federal government of Ethiopia have been pending clearance for several weeks, said OCHA.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Stop. Stabilize. Then move — but in a vastly different direction.

President-elect Joe Biden is pledging a new path for the nation after Donald Trump’s four years in office. That starts with confronting a pandemic that has killed 400,000 Americans and extends to sweeping plans on health care, education, immigration and more.

NEW YORK (AP) — A U.S. Army soldier was arrested Tuesday in Georgia on terrorism charges after he spoke online about plots to blow up New York City’s 9/11 Memorial and other landmarks and attack U.S. soldiers in the Middle East, authorities said.

Cole James Bridges of Stow, Ohio, was in custody on charges of attempted material support of a terrorist organization — the Islamic State group — and attempted murder of a military member, said Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for Manhattan federal prosecutors.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Twelve U.S. National Guard members have been removed from securing President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration after vetting by the FBI, including two who made extremist statements in posts or texts about the Wednesday event, Pentagon officials said. There were no specific threats to Biden.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA is considering a second firing of its moon rocket engines after a critical test came up short over the weekend, a move that could bump the first flight in the Artemis lunar-landing program into next year.

The space agency had aimed to launch its new Space Launch System, or SLS, rocket and an empty Orion capsule by the end of this year, with the capsule flying to the moon and back as a prelude to crew missions. But that date could be in jeopardy following Saturday’s aborted test.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sen. Richard Burr said Tuesday that the Justice Department has told him it will not prosecute him over stock sales made during the coronavirus pandemic, ending an insider trading investigation that led him to at least temporarily step aside from a powerful committee chairmanship last year.