Trump has lost Twitter, his biggest political megaphone. Now what?

Trump’s banishment is likely to further enrage an already volatile president, but many hailed the move as a long overdue milestone

From his first executive tweet on the morning of inauguration day 2017 to his final tweet on Friday, announcing that he would not attend his successor’s inauguration, Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account has served as the president’s official platform.

For four years, the @realDonaldTrump Twitter feed was both public square and personal dialogue, a place where he made policy announcements and taunted political enemies; threatened military reprisal and boasted about his TV ratings. But it was also, perhaps most dangerously, a place where he sought to bend reality to his will, unleashing a combustible, near-daily stream of misinformation, lies and outrage to his more than 87 million followers.

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Kim Jong-un calls US ‘biggest enemy’ and says nuclear submarine plans ‘complete’

North Korea should ‘further advance nuclear technology’ and develop more flexible attack capability, leader tells party congress

North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has called the United States his nuclear-armed nation’s “biggest enemy” and revealed that plans for a nuclear-powered submarine are complete, state media said.

Kim’s declaration on Saturday also included a call to develop smaller, more adapatable nyuclear warheads, comes less than two weeks before the inauguration of Joe Biden as US president, and after a tumultuous relationship between Kim and the outgoing Donald Trump.

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Theft of two computers during Capitol attack raises information security concerns

Nancy Pelosi’s office confirms laptop was stolen when Trump supporters, incited by the president, invaded the building

At least two computers were stolen from the Capitol when a violent mob of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building on Wednesday – including one from the office of the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi – raising grave information security concerns.

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Biden agrees with Trump’s decision not to attend inauguration – video

Joe Biden said Donald Trump’s decision not to attend his inauguration was 'one of the few things he and I have ever agreed on' and that it would be a 'good thing'.

Biden, who is due to be inaugurated as president of the United States in just under two weeks, said impeachment would be a decision for Congress as he and Vice-president-elect Kamala Harris concentrated on Covid and the economy

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California struggles under a staggering 2.5m coronavirus cases

Hospitals are overwhelmed with 22,000 patients as officials warn hospitalizations could reach 30,000 by February

As the coronavirus in California rages out of control, staff in the state’s overwhelmed medical centers are warning they are increasingly struggling to keep up and may need to ration care as intensive care beds dwindle.

Only Arizona tops California in cases per resident and, with nearly 40 million residents, the huge coastal state is seeing staggering caseloads: more than 2.5m confirmed infections.

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Pelosi spoke to top military leader to ensure Trump can’t launch nuclear attack

House speaker called Gen Mark Milley, chairman of joint chiefs of staff, ‘to discuss available precautions’

Nancy Pelosi spoke to the head of the US military on Friday, seeking assurance that Donald Trump will not be able to launch a nuclear strike during his last days in office.

Related: Effort to impeach Trump again gathers pace after 'attempted coup' at Capitol

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Derrick Evans, lawmaker who filmed himself during US Capitol riot, faces charges – video

Derrick Evans, a newly-elected lawmaker in West Virginia house of delegates, filmed himself during the pro-Trump riot on the US Capitol on Wednesday that left five people dead.

On Friday, the justice department announced he had been charged with entering a restricted area. 

Evans, a Republican and Trump supporter, was seen on a Facebook Live video in which he was heard shouting "We're in! We're in baby!" while moving among a crowd of rioters as he walked through a doorway of the Capitol Rotunda. 

The video has since been deleted. John H Bryan, a civil rights lawyer who is representing Evans, said the delegate traveled to Washington DC to “engage in peaceful protest, activism and amateur journalism" and that he engaged in "no illegal behavior". In a statement released Thursday, Bryan added: "Given the sheer size of the group walking in, Mr Evans had no choice but to enter ...". The lawyer added that Evans has no plans to resign.

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Hyundai’s value surges by $9bn amid reports of Apple electric car deal

South Korean firm backtracks on statement confirming ‘early discussion’ with US company

Hyundai’s value surged by $9bn (£6.6bn) on Friday after reports that it could join with Apple in developing a driverless electric vehicle – despite confusion as it backtracked on a statement acknowledging “early discussion” with the iPhone manufacturer.

Investors sent the South Korean carmaker’s share price on the Seoul exchange up almost 20%, as local media reported a possible tie-up on electric cars and batteries with Apple, which has been developing its own vehicle technology.

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Iran bans importation of Covid vaccines from the US and UK

Despite virus spread, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei forbids what he calls ‘untrustworthy’ jabs

Vaccines produced by the US and UK will be banned from entering Iran, its supreme leader has said, even though his country has suffered the worst virus outbreak in the Middle East.

“Imports of US and British vaccines into the country are forbidden ... They’re completely untrustworthy,” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a live televised speech. “It’s not unlikely they would want to contaminate other nations.

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Twitter permanently suspends Trump’s account, citing risk of ‘further incitement of violence’ – live

McConnell says impeachment action unlikely until after Trump is out of office

Senator Mitch McConnnell said in a memo to fellow Senators on Friday that if impeachment articles against Trump are filed this week, the earliest the Senate will address them would be Jauary 19 - the day before Biden’s inauguration.

Congress members pen inquiry to FBI and DHS over how it handled online warnings of this week’s insurrection

Today 35 Congress members have signed a letter addressed to the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security requesting more information on how extremist threats leading up to Wednesday’s riot at the Capitol were handled.

NEW: We are demanding to know whether @FBI and @DHSgov considered online extremist threats credible leading up to this week's insurrection.

Law enforcement was woefully unprepared despite ample posts spread online—it can’t happen again. pic.twitter.com/ZQdcshshZY

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Coronavirus live news: WHO says poorer countries not getting vaccines; Denmark to restrict all travel

WHO urges rich countries to stop making bilateral deals with manufacturers; Denmark to restrict entry from all countries after today

The United States has set a new daily record for new coronavirus cases, with 290,000 cases reported in 24-hours, according to the Johns Hopkins global tally.

Some 3,676 people in the US died with the virus in the same period.

Mexico has reported 14,362 new confirmed cases of coronavirus and 1,038 deaths.

It is one of the highest daily case increases and brings the total number of cases in Mexico since the pandemic began to 1,507,931, with 132,069 deaths.

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Donald Trump recognises ‘new administration’ after US Capitol riot – video

Donald Trump acknowledges in a video released on Thursday night that a 'new administration' will be inaugurated on 20 January, one day after he repeated baseless claims at a Washington DC rally that the election had been stolen. The rally became a precursor for a violent attack on the US Capitol that appalled the nation. In his video, Trump went on to say the rioters 'do not represent our country' and that those who broke the law would pay.

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The baby-selling scheme: poor pregnant Marshall Islands women lured to the US

Dozens of women from the Pacific island victims of brazen trafficking ring that operated for years

Rolson Price still scans Facebook for her picture. He’s seen her occasionally, at the periphery of someone else’s photo, instantly recognisable.

But he’s never met her, and concedes he never will.

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Pelosi says House is prepared to impeach Trump again over ‘assault’ against America – video

The speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, called for Donald Trump's immediate removal from office via the 25th amendment, a day after a pro-Trump mob stormed the US Capitol.

Demands for Trump to be removed have come from across the political spectrum after the attack in Washington, as Congress formally certified Joe Biden's election victory despite objections from some Republican lawmakers

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US fines Boeing $2.5bn following fraud charges tied to 737 Max crashes

  • DoJ condemns ‘fraudulent and deceptive conduct’
  • Airliner grounded after crashes that killed hundreds

Boeing has been fined $2.5bn by the US justice department after being charged with fraud and conspiracy in connection with two fatal crashes of its 737 Max airliner.

Related: Biden condemns 'domestic terrorists' at Capitol as Pelosi calls for Trump's removal from office – live

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Biden condemns ‘domestic terrorists’ at Capitol as Pelosi calls for Trump’s removal from office – live

John Kelly, Donald Trump’s former chief of staff who previously served as the secretary of homeland security, said he would vote to remove the president from office if he were still in the cabinet.

“The cabinet should meet and have a discussion,” Kelly told CNN, “The one thing we have going for us here ... is it’s only 13 more days.”

Q: @jaketapper "If you were in the cabinet right now, would you vote to remove him from office?

A: Former Chief of Staff John Kelly: "I -- yes, I would." pic.twitter.com/GA2Pf23qAV

Michelle Obama has released a statement in response to yesterday’s violence at the Capitol, blaming the events on Donald Trump’s actions since the presidential election.

“The day was the fulfillment of the wishes of an infantile and unpatriotic president who can’t handle the truth of his own failures,” the former first lady said.

Like all of you, I’ve been feeling so many emotions since yesterday. I tried to put my thoughts down here: pic.twitter.com/9xzRvrpk7y

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‘Domestic terrorists’: Joe Biden condemns Capitol mob – video

Joe Biden condemned the 'unprecedented assault' on American democracy yesterday, as a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol saying it was perpetrated by 'domestic terrorists' who should not be called protesters.

Biden also argued the event was very predictable, given Donald Trump’s attacks on the hallmarks of democracy, and he and Kamala Harris highlighted the racist implications of the police reaction

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Elon Musk becomes world’s richest person

Tesla co-founder overtakes Amazon’s Jeff Bezos as car firm’s shares soar after ‘blue Senate’ victory

Elon Musk, the maverick boss of Tesla, has overtaken Amazon’s Jeff Bezos to become the world’s richest person, after shares in the electric car company he co-founded soared on hopes that a Democrat-controlled US Senate would usher in a new green agenda.

A 4.8% rise in Tesla’s share price was enough to push Musk into the top spot according to the Bloomberg billionaires index, which tracks the daily changes in the fortunes of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.

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Iraqi court issues arrest warrant for Trump over killing of paramilitary chief

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis died in drone strike ordered by US president

A Baghdad court has issued a warrant for the arrest of the US president, Donald Trump, as part of its investigation into the killing of a top Iraqi paramilitary commander.

Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy head of Iraq’s largely pro-Iran Hashed al-Shaabi paramilitary network, died in the same US drone strike that killed the storied Iranian general Qassem Suleimani at Baghdad airport on 3 January last year.

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Pro-Trump mob chases lone Black police officer up stairs in Capitol – video

A journalist captured the moment a lone Black police officer was confronted by pro-Trump supporters who had stormed into the US Capitol in what some lawmakers condemned as an attempted insurrection aimed at overturning the results of the presidential election.

A politics reporter at HuffPost, Igor Bobic, filmed the officer as he was chased up the stairs of the building by Trump loyalists who objected to the certification of Joe Biden as the next president, which was taking place in Congress during a joint session. Four people died during the violent occupation

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