With all electoral college votes counted, the US Congress has certified Joe Biden's win in the election. Biden and Kamala Harris will take over as president and vice-president on 20 January. The confirmation of the vote was delayed when pro-Trump rioters stormed the Capitol building in the afternoon of 6 January
Senators from both sides of US politics have condemned the violence unleashed on the Capitol building on Wednesday. The vice-president, Mike Pence, described it as 'a dark day in the history of the United States Capitol'. The Democratic Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, labelled the Trump supporters as 'goons', 'thugs' and 'domestic terrorists', while Republican Mitt Romney labelled the events 'an insurrection, incited by the president of the United States'
After a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, there are calls for the president to be relieved of office by impeachment or using the 25th amendment. But how would it work?
The storming of the US Capitol by supporters of Donald Trump on Wednesday has prompted calls by some lawmakers to remove him from office before Joe Biden is sworn in on 20 January.
The chaotic scenes unfolded after Trump – who has been condemned for inciting violence by spreading falsehoods about the election and refusing to admit defeat – addressed thousands of protesters in Washington, using his speech to repeat lies that the election was stolen from him.
Continue reading...Pro-Donald Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building in Washington DC on Wednesday, breaking into the debating chambers and clashing with armed police. Four people died during the unrest, three from medical emergencies and one woman was shot dead in circumstances that are unclear. The siege came on the day the electoral college votes confirming Joe Biden's victory were to be affirmed by members of the House and Senate. The chaos erupted after Trump addressed thousands of protesters near the White House, repeating false claims the election had been stolen.
While the electoral vote certification continues on the senate floor, there appears to be a number of resignations happening at the White House in the wake of the Capitol riot:
One source also said Chris Liddell, the deputy chief of staff, will resign tomorrow. 2/2
The White House social secretary Rickie Niceta has submitted her resignation tonight in reaction to today's protest, a source with direct knowledge tells @ABC
Per multiple sources familiar, NatSec Adviser @robertcobrien and DepNatSec Adviser Matthew Pottinger are considering resigning after today’s events and Trump’s actions. O’Brien still mulling, Pottinger more sure.
As with all things, it’s possible they stay in the admin. 1/2
.@WhiteHouse Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Matthews resigns from the Trump Administration in response to today’s events. I have always known her to be a good person who has the best interests of the nation at heart. pic.twitter.com/4ZMfmM2Zl3
Former president Barack Obama has issued a statement on today’s events, calling the storming of the Capitol “a moment of great dishonor and shame for the nation”.
Read his full remarks below:
Here’s my statement on today’s violence at the Capitol. pic.twitter.com/jLCKo2D1Ya
Continue reading...More than 17% of Israelis have had first shot; 26,391 new infections in Germany; Reuters says Europe has now had more than 25m cases
Brazil has hit another dire milestone in its struggle with coronavirus as its death toll rose above 200,000 with the epidemic again worsening.
On Thursday afternoon a coalition of news groups that tracks the number of deaths said Brazil’s death toll had risen to 200,011.
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President-elect Joe Biden denounces the violence at the Capitol, after a mob of Trump supporters storm the building. 'This is not dissent, it's disorder, it's chaos, it borders on sedition, and it must end now,' Biden said. He then called on outgoing US president Trump to publicly 'demand an end to this siege'
The president spent 2020 enabling and encouraging mass displays of armed protest on the streets of American cities
The storming of the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob on Wednesday was the culmination of a year of white nationalist and anti-democratic violence that steadily intensified and featured the direct incitement of the US president.
Continue reading...Some members of the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Captiol in Washington were filmed wandering around the Senate floor after evacuation. People, who were asked to wear gas masks, were also evacuated from the House of Representatives after guards secured the area
Continue reading...Victory unseats Republican David Perdue, who held the seat for the past six years, and follows fellow Democrat Raphael Warnock’s win
The Georgia Democrat Jon Ossoff has won his Senate runoff election, giving Democrats control of the Senate for the opening of Joe Biden’s presidency.
Continue reading...A mob of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol after mass demonstrations in the nation’s capital. They breached security, took over the rotunda and House chamber, and disrupted the vote certification for Joe Biden
Continue reading...The president reiterated baseless claims of widespread electoral fraud during a rally hours before a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol walls during protests
Continue reading...Hundreds of the president’s supporters stormed the Capitol in the most dramatic challenge to US democracy since the civil war
The US Capitol, the seat of American democracy, has been stormed by a pro-Donald Trump mob, egged on by the president in a desperate and violent effort to overturn the results of the election.
Continue reading...Protesters swarmed the Capitol on Wednesday, putting it on lockdown, as Mike Pence rebuffed Donald Trump's demand to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden and the Senate's Republican leader denounced a bid in Congress to undo the election outcome.
Trump supporters overturned barriers and clashed with police on the US Capitol grounds and streamed inside the building. The demonstrations flared as lawmakers met inside to formally certify Biden's victory over Trump in November's election. Law enforcement authorities struggled to maintain order.
Biden won the election by 306-232 in the electoral college and by more than 7m ballots in the national popular vote, but Trump continues to falsely claim there was widespread fraud and that he was the victor
Continue reading...State on the brink of delivering the Democrats control of Senate is in a cultural, demographic and political transition
The Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta has witnessed tides of history ebb and flow during its 134 years. Martin Luther King Jr, the civil rights leader, often preached here. Now its pastor, Raphael Warnock, has added a new chapter by becoming the first African American senator from Georgia.
The storied church was firmly closed as votes were tallied on Tuesday night and its doors were plastered with coronavirus warnings, but there was a palpable surge outside as expectation turned to elation.
Continue reading...Projected election victories will give Biden a majority in the Senate and were built on a revamped strategy and organisational effort
The US state of Georgia on Wednesday afternoon looked set to present an early inauguration gift to Joe Biden, giving him a decent shot at breaking Washington gridlock and enacting his agenda.
Continue reading...The rantings of a president unable to accept defeat have gained traction, and are embraced by a majority Republican voters as fact
Americans’ confidence in their democracy has been eroded for years by a system that has, at various junctures, delivered victory to Republican presidents who lost the popular vote, permitted industrial-scale gerrymandering of electoral maps, and is built around a Congress rigged in favour of conservative states.
Related: Trump supporters storm Capitol as McConnell warns of democracy 'death spiral' – live
Continue reading...The Democratic candidate has given a speech thanking the people of Georgia for electing him to the US Senate before the final tally is formally announced.
In his speech, Jon Ossoff asked the country to unite to beat the coronavirus pandemic and said he would fight both for people who voted for him and those who did not in the second of two runoff elections in Georgia
Continue reading...The project has counted 2,921 healthcare worker deaths, with the majority of people who died under the age of 60
As of 6 January, Lost on the frontline has counted 3,132 healthcare worker deaths. The pandemic is not over, and this project is therefore a work in progress, with new names added weekly.
Continue reading...As a procedural certification has become a coup attempt, Trump and his allies have done lasting harm
Democracy in the US teeters on the edge of a figurative sword. On Wednesday, the US Congress will convene to formally receive the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Unfortunately, Donald Trump and his allies have converted a legal formality into a blatant coup attempt.
The ex-reality television host is like none who have come before him. Presidents Hoover, Carter and Bush Sr all suffered rejection at the ballot box after just one term. However painful, they accepted the electorate’s verdict. In the end, personal pride took a backseat to the orderly transition of power. The nation had spoken.
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