USA

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday explicitly blamed President Donald Trump for the deadly riot at the Capitol, saying the mob was “fed lies” and the president and others “provoked” those intent on overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s election.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden will take place in a Washington on edge, after the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol unleashed a wave of fear and unmatched security concerns. And law enforcement officials are contending not only with the potential for outside threats but also with rising concerns about an insider attack by troops with a duty to protect him.

There have been no specific threats made against Biden.

(AP) --- As President Donald Trump entered the final year of his term last January, the U.S. recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Not to worry, Trump insisted, his administration had the virus “totally under control.”

Now, in his final hours in office, after a year of presidential denials of reality and responsibility, the pandemic’s U.S. death toll has eclipsed 400,000. And the loss of lives is accelerating.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump will walk out of the White House and board Marine One for the last time as president Wednesday morning, leaving behind a legacy of chaos and tumult and a nation bitterly divided.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump pardoned former chief strategist Steve Bannon as part of a flurry of clemency action in the final hours of his White House term that benefited more than 140 people, including rap performers, ex-members of Congress and other allies of him and his family.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Joe Biden swears the oath of office at noon Wednesday to become the 46th president of the United States, taking the helm of a deeply divided nation and inheriting a confluence of crises arguably greater than any faced by his predecessors.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19 (NNN-WAFA) – UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, yesterday expressed his deep concern, over Israel’s decision to advance plans for some 800 settlement units, most of which are located deep inside the occupied West Bank.

Guterres reiterated that Israel’s establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territory, occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, said Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric.

NEW YORK, Jan 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Representatives of fuel suppliers to Venezuela, importers of Venezuelan oil and advocacy groups said this month they plan to press the incoming administration of US President-elect Joe Biden to reverse a ban on crude-for-diesel swaps.

That has prompted concerns about the humanitarian impact of a possible deficit of diesel, widely used in Venezuelan public transportation, agriculture, and as fuel for generators used as a backstop for frequent blackouts. Farmers are already warning that shortages are impeding sugar harvesting and rice planting.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday signed an executive order directing U.S agencies to assess any security risks from Chinese-made drones in American government fleets and to prioritize removing them.

Trump directed all U.S. agencies to outline the security risks posed to the existing government drone fleet from drones built by Chinese companies or by other countries deemed foreign adversaries, including Russia, Iran and North Korea.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Joe Biden plans to quickly extend travel restrictions barring travel by most people who have recently been in much of Europe and Brazil soon after President Donald Trump lifted those requirements effective Jan. 26, a spokeswoman for Biden said.

Trump signed an order Monday lifting the restrictions he imposed early last year in response to the pandemic - a decision first reported Monday by Reuters - after winning support from coronavirus task force members and public health officials.