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Trump to leave town early Wednesday before Biden inauguration
Washington (AFP) - By the time Joe Biden is sworn in as the 46th US president Wednesday, his scandal-tainted predecessor Donald Trump will already be far away, having helicoptered out of the White House a last time earlier that morning, an official said Friday. Trump will be the first president in a century and a half to snub the inauguration of his successor. An official who asked not to be identified said Trump would go to his Mar-a-Lago golf club in Florida, which is his legal residence and will become home after the White House. He is expected to be out of town well before Biden is sworn i...
AFP
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WhatsApp delays privacy policy update after user backlash
The Facebook-owned messaging application WhatsApp on Friday announced it would delay a planned privacy policy update after receiving negative feedback from users concerned about their private data. WhatsApp initially said users would have to agree to the new privacy policy by February or be locked out of their accounts. However, the firm said in a statement it had opted to delay the move after hearing "how much confusion there is around our recent update." "There's been a lot of misinformation causing concern and we want to help everyone understand our principles and the facts," the company sa...
DPA
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National Mall closed for Biden inauguration amid security fears
Washington (AFP) - The National Mall in downtown Washington will be closed because of security concerns until after Wednesday's inauguration of US President-elect Joe Biden, the National Park Service said Friday. The Mall, which is normally packed with people every four years for presidential inaugurations, is being declared off-limits at the request of the Secret Service, which ensures the security of the president, the Park Service said. The grassy expanse, where Martin Luther King Jr delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, will be closed from 11:00 am (1600 GMT) on Friday through at l...
AFP
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Biden recruits federal muscle for vaccine blitz
Wilmington (United States) (AFP) - US President-elect Joe Biden announced Friday he would surge federal resources into making "thousands" of vaccine sites, while also deploying mobile clinics and expanding the public health workforce to accelerate the rollout of Covid-19 shots. Biden has said he wants 100 million Americans to receive injections during his first 100 days in office, a drastic increase from the current pace. "This is going to be one of the most challenging operational efforts ever undertaken by our country," the 78-year-old Democrat said Friday from Wilmington, Delaware. "But you...
AFP
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US National Guard in high demand amid civil unrest, pandemic
Washington (AFP) - In civilian life they are plumbers, bankers, doctors or farmers. Now, thousands of US National Guard reservists are on the front lines of the capital, tasked with keeping the peace during President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration next week. While President Donald Trump's most fervent supporters still refuse to acknowledge his defeat in last November's election, more than 21,000 National Guard troops have begun pouring in from across the country to prevent a repeat of the deadly assault on the US Capitol last week. They "will conduct security, communications and logistical sup...
AFP
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Answers sought: was the US Capitol attack planned?
Washington (AFP) - Attackers in organized columns, a woman shouting instructions on a megaphone, and suspicious tours the day before: investigators are probing the possibility that the January 6 attack on the US Capitol was planned, with help from insiders. Disturbing videos, photos and online communications point to potential conspiracy. In one video, more than a dozen men wearing assault force-type garb push up the Capitol steps in a line, cutting through the dense crowd toward the building's doors. In another, a woman in a pink hat gives directions via megaphone to others inside the buildin...
AFP
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WhatsApp delays data sharing change after backlash
San Francisco (AFP) - WhatsApp on Friday postponed a data-sharing change as users concerned about privacy fled the Facebook-owned messaging service and flocked to rivals Telegram and Signal. The smartphone app, a huge hit across the world, canceled its February 8 deadline for accepting an update to its terms concerning sharing data with Facebook, saying it would use the pause to clear up misinformation around privacy and security. "We've heard from so many people how much confusion there is around our recent update," WhatsApp said in a blog post. "This update does not expand our ability to sha...
AFP
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Relaxing China tariffs would help US economy, report says
Washington (AFP) - Reducing tariffs on China by even a "moderate" amount would benefit the US economy, according to a study by a business council and an economics firm. The report released Thursday came as the United States awaits the inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday, who is expected to detail his trade policy the following day. Commercial ties between Washington and Beijing deteriorated under outgoing president Donald Trump, who launched a trade war against China that was partially resolved with an agreement struck early last year. With both his Democrats and the opposit...
AFP
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Pelosi tasks general with security review after US Capitol riot
Washington (AFP) - US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that retired general Russel Honore, who coordinated the Hurricane Katrina response, will oversee an immediate security review at the US Capitol following last week's deadly riot by a pro-Trump mob. She also said there was "strong interest" in Congress for a 9/11-style investigation of the unprecedented attack on the Capitol that has been described as an insurrection, and which led to the swift second impeachment Wednesday of President Donald Trump. "Justice is called for," she said. But Pelosi declined to reveal when she will send th...
AFP
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Mike Pence, Kamala Harris spoke by telephone Thursday: source
Washington (AFP) - US Vice President Mike Pence held a telephone conversation with his successor Kamala Harris on Thursday, a source confirmed to AFP Friday, as Donald Trump's deputy moves ahead with the presidential transition. No more verified details were immediately available about the call, which was confirmed five days before Harris and President-elect Joe Biden are sworn in to office. But The New York Times said Pence offered his congratulations and belated assistance to Harris, and described it as "gracious and pleasant." It was the first time the pair had spoken since they debated one...
AFP
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