USA

ALAMO, Texas (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday took no responsibility for his part in fomenting a violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week, despite his comments encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol and praise for them while they were still carrying out the assault.

“People thought that what I said was totally appropriate,” Trump said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — This time the fury enveloping the Capitol comes not from an insurgent mob but from within.

The anger on display is searing — Democrat against Republican; Republican against Republican; legislators of both parties against the catastrophic security failure that left top leaders of the government vulnerable to last week’s violence as well as to the coronavirus in their ranks.

The rage is being stoked even hotter by the passions aroused by Democrats’ fresh drive to impeach President Donald Trump.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. House rushed ahead Tuesday toward impeaching President Donald Trump for the deadly Capitol attack, taking time only to try to persuade his vice president to push him out first. Trump showed no remorse, blaming impeachment itself for the “tremendous anger” in America.

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 12 (APP): The United Nations has warned on that a U.S. move to designate Yemen’s Houthi movement as a foreign terrorist organization is “likely to have serious humanitarian and political repercussions.”

The decision over the designation was announced by US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who issued a statement on Sunday saying that his aim was to hold what he described as the “deadly militia group” accountable for attacks that have threatened civilians, infrastructure and shipping.

12 Jan 2021; MEMO: US President-elect Joe Biden on Monday tapped a former career diplomat in William Burns to lead the CIA as the Democrat raced to put a national security team in place days before his inauguration, reports Reuters.

Burns, who speaks Arabic and Russian, was ambassador to Moscow from 2005 to 2008 and led secret talks that paved the way to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal under former Democratic President Barack Obama.

Charleston (US), Jan 12 (AP-PTI) A second Republican lawmaker from West Virginia who marched to the US Capitol to support overturning Democrat Joe Biden's presidential win said in a radio interview Monday that he hopes President Donald Trump calls us back.

State Sen. Mike Azinger told the broadcast outlet that the crowds loyal to Trump were inspiring and patriotic."

I think the president laid out the point of the mission, he added, speaking to West Virginia Metro News.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday approved the emergency declaration for Washington, D.C., the nation's capital, through Jan. 24, covering the date of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20.

NEWARK, Del. (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden received his second dose of the coronavirus vaccine on Monday, three weeks after getting his first one with television cameras rolling in an attempt to reassure the American public that the inoculations are safe.

Biden took off his sport jacket and said, “Ready, set, go.” Chief Nurse Executive Ric Cumin administered the Pfizer vaccine at Christiana Hospital in Newark, Delaware, close to the president-elect’s home.

Scenes of the procedure aired on cable news moments after it occurred.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Monday re-designated Cuba as a “state sponsor of terrorism,” hitting the country with new sanctions that could hamstring President-elect Joe Biden’s promise to renew relations with the communist-governed island.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the step, citing in particular Cuba’s continued harboring of U.S. fugitives, its refusal to extradite a coterie of Colombian guerrilla commanders as well as its support for Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Wildfire smoke accounted for up to half of all health-damaging small particle air pollution in the western U.S. in recent years as warming temperatures fueled more destructive blazes, according to a study released Monday.

Even as pollution emissions declined from other sources including vehicle exhaust and power plants, the amount from fires increased sharply, said researchers at Stanford University and the University of California, San Diego.