USA

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Joe Biden will not shy away from using President Donald Trump’s weapon of choice - sanctions - as he seeks to reshape America’s foreign policy, according to people familiar with his thinking.

But when Biden takes office on Jan. 20, he is expected to quickly begin recalibrating Trump’s blunt-force approach while taking time to deliberate before making any major changes with top sanctions targets like Iran and China, the sources said.

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: The UN Security Council on Tuesday approved a proposal by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint Bulgarian Nickolay Mladenov as the UN Libya special envoy and Norwegian Tor Wennesland as the UN Middle East envoy, diplomats said.

16 Dec 2020; MEMO: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has expressed his concern about the detention of US citizens and human rights activists in Saudi Arabia.

Pompeo said during a phone call with his Saudi counterpart, Faisal Bin Farhan, that he is "concerned over wrongful detention of US citizens and human rights activists in the Kingdom," calling for a fair and expeditious resolution of the cases.

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- Despite the Trump administration's tariffs on Chinese goods and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, U.S. imports from China are surging as the year 2020 draws to a close, The New York Times reported on Monday.

"The surge in imports is another byproduct of the coronavirus, with Americans channeling money they might have spent on vacations, movies and restaurant dining to household items like new lighting for home offices, workout equipment for basement gyms, and toys to keep their children entertained," the report said.

SAN FRANCISCO, DEC. 15 (Xinhua) -- Boeing announced on Tuesday that it worked with the U.S. University of Arizona to put an age-old technique, thermal disinfection, in the fight against COVID-19.

Researchers validated that applying heat to surfaces, especially on hard-to-clean flight deck equipment, effectively eliminates SARS-CoV-2, the announcement said.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris aim to take their oaths of office outside the U.S. Capitol building as inauguration planners seek to craft an event that captures the traditional grandeur of the historic ceremony while complying with COVID-19 protocols.

Biden’s team released some broad details for the Jan. 20 event on Tuesday. One big unknown: Will President Donald Trump participate?

ATLANTA (AP) — President-elect Joe Biden told Georgia voters on Tuesday they must deliver two Democratic Senate runoffs victories in January so his administration can forcefully confront the coronavirus pandemic and other national challenges.

HOUSTON (AP) — A former Houston police captain was charged with assault on Tuesday after running a man off the road and holding him at gunpoint in an effort to prove what authorities have called a bogus voter fraud scheme.

Mark Aguirre claimed that an air conditioner repairman was the mastermind of a giant voter fraud scheme. Aguirre said the man’s truck was filled with fraudulent ballots when he ran his SUV into it on Oct. 19, according to authorities.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Top Capitol Hill Republicans labored Tuesday to keep the price tag for a long-delayed COVID-19 aid package in check, seeking to prevail in a battle over help for state and local governments, while capping the cost of bonus jobless benefits and direct payments sought by Democrats.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Reed says he will always believe the 2020 election was stolen from President Donald Trump. The retired police officer-turned-construction worker believes fraud marred the vote, no matter how many courts rejected that claim. Still, a day after the Electoral College made Joe Biden’s win official, the ardent Trump supporter from the suburbs of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was ready to move on.

“I think it’s pretty much over,” Reed said of Trump’s ongoing quest to overturn the results of the election. ”I trust the Electoral College.”