“To those who carried out this attack as well as anyone who wishes America harm, know this: We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will hunt you down and make you pay,” Biden said.

In a solemn address from the White House, he praised the slain US servicemen as “heroes” and said the evacuation mission from Kabul will continue until the planned US withdrawal date of August 31.

“We will not be deterred by terrorists. We will not let them stop our mission. We will continue the evacuation,” Biden said.

He reaffirmed the August 31 deadline for all US troops to leave Afghanistan and said the US forces would fly out as many people as possible before that date.

There remains an “opportunity for the next several days, between now and the 31st, to be able to get them out,” he said.

“Knowing the threat, knowing that we may very well have another attack, the military has concluded that that’s what we should do. I think they are right.”

Biden also said he has seen no evidence that the Taliban colluded with Islamic State militants in carrying out the deadly attacks in Kabul.

“There is no evidence thus far that I’ve been given as a consequence by any of the commanders in the field that there has been collusion between the Taliban and ISIS in carrying out what happened today,” he said.

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The Senate will not hold a trial before January 20, when Democrat Joe Biden assumes the presidency, meaning the real estate tycoon will escape the risk of being forced to leave early. He will, however, depart in disgrace — and likely due to face a Senate trial later.

The only question in the House had been how many Republicans would join the Democratic majority.

In the end, 10 Republicans broke ranks, including the party’s number three in the House, Representative Liz Cheney.

Holed up in the White House, Trump had no immediate reaction but he earlier issued a brief statement insisting that he opposed violence among his supporters.

“In light of reports of more demonstrations, I urge that there must be no violence, no lawbreaking and no vandalism of any kind. That is not what I stand for,” he said.

“I call on all Americans to help ease tensions and calm tempers. Thank You.”

Reflecting the fear of upheaval, armed National Guards deployed across the capital and central streets were blocked to traffic.

In the Capitol building itself, guards in full camouflage and carrying assault rifles assembled, some of them grabbing naps early Wednesday under the ornate statues and historical paintings.

Trump survived the first impeachment almost exactly a year ago when the Republican-controlled Senate acquitted him of abusing his office to try and get dirt on Biden’s family before the election.

This time, his downfall was triggered by a speech he delivered to a crowd on the National Mall on January 6, telling them that Biden had stolen the presidential election and that they needed to march on Congress and show “strength.”

Amped up on weeks of election conspiracy theories pushed by Trump, the mob then stormed into the Capitol, fatally wounded one police officer, wrecked furniture and forced terrified lawmakers to hide, interrupting a ceremony to put the legal stamp on Biden’s victory.

One protester was shot dead, and three other people died of “medical emergencies,” bringing the toll to five.

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told the chamber that Trump “must go.”

“He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love,” she said.

And Democratic lawmaker Ilhan Omar branded Trump a “tyrant,” saying that “for us to able to survive as a functioning democracy there has to be accountability.”

But Nancy Mace, a newly-elected Republican congresswoman said that while lawmakers “need to hold the president accountable,” the speed of the impeachment “poses great questions about the constitutionality.”

The top Republican in the House, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, said that while Trump deserves censure, hurriedly impeaching will “further divide this nation.”

 McConnell open to impeachment 

Trump, who has been stripped of his social media megaphones by Twitter and Facebook, and finds himself increasingly ostracized in the business world, is struggling to impose his message — let alone any kind of resistance.

His refusal to accept any responsibility for the horrifying scenes on January 6 — including his insistence Tuesday that his speech was “totally appropriate” — has infuriated allies and opponents alike.

The main question now is to what extent former Republican allies in the Senate will turn on their party’s figurehead. Last year, they acquitted Trump overwhelmingly after the House impeached him for abuse of office.

Powerful Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has made clear there is no time before Trump’s January 20 exit to hold an impeachment trial, given that the Senate is in recess until January 19.

However, he said Wednesday that he was open to the possibility of voting to convict Trump in a trial, which could still be held after Biden takes over.

“I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,” McConnell said.

The New York Times reported Tuesday that McConnell is signaling privately that he believes Trump did commit impeachable offenses.

This presents a potentially fatal shift in the ground under Trump’s feet, because it could lead other Republican senators to join in convicting Trump with the goal of turning the page in the turbulent relationship between the party and former reality TV host and real estate magnate.

Meanwhile, the increasingly toothless Trump’s social media woes deepened late Tuesday when video-sharing giant YouTube said it was suspending his official account for at least a week, out of concern his videos could incite violence.

He is also being cut out by the business world, threatening his financial future once he leaves the White House.

The latest blow to the Trump empire was when the mayor of his native New York City, Bill de Blasio, announced Wednesday a termination of contracts to run a golf course, two ice-skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park.

“New York City doesn’t do business with insurrectionists,” de Blasio, a Democrat, tweeted.

Source: AFP

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Facebook on Thursday, according to AFP report, said its decision was due to President Trump’s efforts to incite the violence in the US capital this week.

Zuckerberg said the 24-hour ban announced Wednesday was extended because of Trump’s “use of our platform to incite violent insurrection against a democratically elected government.”

The announcement came the day after the outgoing US leader was locked out of all major social media platforms due to his false claims about the legitimacy his loss to President-elect Joe Biden, and for inciting the angry mob that stormed the US Capitol.

His favorite megaphone, Twitter, blocked him for 12 hours, but it was unclear Thursday if the ban had been lifted.

Snapchat confirmed Thursday that it locked Trump out of the photo sharing platform amid concerns over his dangerous rhetoric.

“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Zuckerberg wrote  on his Facebook page.

“Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

The crackdown came after Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on Wednesday in an unprecedented attack that led to one woman being shot and killed by police, interrupting the normally ceremonial procedure to certify Biden’s election victory.

Trump, who had addressed the mob and urged them to march on the Capitol, later released a video on social media in which he repeated the false claim of election fraud — even telling the mob “I love you.”

YouTube removed the video in line with its policy barring claims challenging election results.

Twitter said Trump’s messages were violations of the platform’s rules on civic integrity and that any future violations “will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

The messaging platform said Trump’s account would be locked for 12 hours and that if the offending tweets were not removed, “the account will remain locked.”

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The package “providing coronavirus emergency response and relief” is part of a larger spending bill that, with Trump’s signature, will avoid a government shutdown on Tuesday.

“I am signing this bill to restore unemployment benefits, stop evictions, provide rental assistance, add money for PPP (Paycheck Protection Programs), return our airline workers back to work, add substantially more money for vaccine distribution, and much more,” the president said in a statement from his Christmas vacation at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

The turnaround came after a day marked by calls from all sides of the political spectrum for action to avert an economic and social disaster, especially for America’s vulnerable populations.

Two federal unemployment benefit programs approved in March as part of an initial Covid-19 relief plan expired at midnight on Saturday, cutting off an estimated 12 million Americans, according to The Century Foundation think tank.

The relief package, which was first passed by Congress on December 21, extends those benefits as well as others set to expire in the days ahead.

But for days, Trump had refused to put his signature on it, calling the bill a “disgrace” and catching both Democrats and Republicans off guard with his complaints, which came after months of negotiations.

Influential Republican senator Mitt Romney said he was “relieved” at the signing. “Help is now on the way to workers, families, and small businesses across the country who are desperately in need,” he tweeted.

Earlier Sunday, he had urged Trump to “immediately sign or veto the COVID-19 relief package so Congress can act before it’s too late.”

Crucial aid

In his statement Sunday, the president continued to push for the $600 direct payments to US taxpayers spelled out in the bill to be more than tripled, and argued the legislation included too much excess spending on unrelated programs.

He has not said why he waited until the bill was already approved to make his views known.

The new stimulus package extends federal aid to the unemployed until mid-March, and provides guaranteed loans and billions of dollars in aid to small businesses, restaurants, hotels, airlines and other companies.

It extends the moratorium on evictions of people unable to pay their rent, suspends foreclosures and provides funds for the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

The aid is essential to the world’s largest economy, hit hard by restrictions put in place to halt the spread of Covid-19.

“I applaud the President’s decision to get billions of dollars of crucial COVID-19 relief out the door and into the hands of American families,” tweeted Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi called the bill “a down payment on what is needed to crush the virus, put money in Americans’ pockets & honor our heroes.”

“We must quickly take further action,” she added in a tweet.

‘Chaos and misery’

Romney was not the only politician to have urged the president to change course Sunday.

“I understand he wants to be remembered for advocating for big checks, but the danger is he’ll be remembered for chaos and misery and erratic behavior if he allows this to expire,” Republican Senator Pat Toomey told Fox News on Sunday.

Senator Bernie Sanders said that “what the president is doing right now is unbelievably cruel.”

“Many millions of people are losing their extended unemployment benefits,” he said on ABC.

“They’re going to be evicted from their apartments because the eviction moratorium is ending.”

Sanders said increased direct payments could be approved in the coming days.

Democrats in Congress sought Thursday to approve a measure to increase the direct payments in line with what Trump wants, but Republicans blocked it.

It was seen largely as a theatrical move with little hope of passage designed to expose the rift between Republicans and the outgoing president.

AFP

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The NCDC in a tweet  diisclosed this, just as it warned Nigerians against self-medicating with the drug.

The tweet reads, “Please remember that the use of chloroquine and its derivatives for the management of coronavirus disease has NOT been validated and approved. Self-medication can cause harm and lead to death. Do not misuse drugs”.

It would be recallled that there has been controversy over whether or not Chloroquine, an anti-malarial drug can cure the coronavirus disease especially after US President Donald Trump declared  on March 19 that it had been approved to treat the new virus.

Meanwhiile, Trump’s announcement followed encouraging research into chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine both in France and China, however many in the wider scientific community cautioned that more work is needed to prove they really work for COVID-19.

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According to President Trump, “His body was mutilated by the blast. The tunnel had caved in on it in addition. But test results gave certain immediate and totally positive identification. It was him.

“The thug who tried so hard to intimidate others spent his last moments in utter fear, in total panic and dread, terrified of the American forces bearing down on him,” Trump said at the White House.

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The post Trump Confirms ISIS Leader, Baghdadi Died After Exploding Suicide ‘Vest’ appeared first on MegaIcon Magazine.

“I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air,” Trump tweeted.

Trump, also stressed that cryptocurrency, whose electronic nature makes it nearly untraceable, could facilitate illegal activity.

Cryptocurrency has flourished since Bitcoin launched in 2009. But when Facebook unveiled plans last month for its own virtual currency, Libra, the announcement rattled financial regulators the world over.

With more than two billion Facebook users, the social media giant’s cryptocurrency — which is slated for a 2020 launch and already has multiple partners — could completely disrupt the financial world.

However, Trump said that Libra has “little standing or dependability.”

He also warned Facebook and other companies that, should they launch their own cryptocurrency, they would have to abide by both American and international banking regulations.

“We only have one real currency in the USA, and it is stronger than ever,” he tweeted.

“It is called the United States Dollar!”

A high-level G7 working group is expected to produce a preliminary report on asset-backed cryptocurrencies next week when the group’s finance ministers meet in France.

“The more we, the international regulators, investigate this project, the more we have serious questions and potentially reservations,” said Francois Villeroy de Galhaut, head of the French central bank.

His American counterpart at the Federal Reserve also broached the topic Wednesday and Thursday when testifying before Congress.

“I think we need to do a very careful, patient, thorough assessment of what the risks really are,” Jerome Powell said Thursday, adding that the size of Facebook’s social media network points to Libra’s “systemic importance.”

Some American politicians have called for a total freeze on Facebook’s Libra project.

Facebook has pledged to deliver a stable virtual currency that lives on smartphones and could bring over a billion “unbanked” people — adults without bank accounts or those who use services outside the banking system such as payday loans to make ends meet — into the financial system.

The ubiquity of smartphones means digital wallets for Libra could expand the use of banking, credit card services and e-commerce in developing nations.

AFP

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