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Assault on US Capitol deepens Republican divide

As he sheltered in place in his office, Mike Gallagher, a 36-year-old Republican congressman from Wisconsin, fumed at members of his own party who were disputing Joe Biden’s win in the US presidential election. Staring into his computer screen, he blamed them for fanning the anger that caused Wednesday afternoon’s

The nightmarish end to Donald Trump’s presidency

Ninety minutes before rioters stormed Capitol Hill, US president Donald Trump addressed many of the same people using unequivocally inciteful language. “You’ll never take back our country with weakness,” Mr Trump said. “You have to show strength.” His personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, also called on the crowd to conduct “trial

Congress rejects first Republican objection to Biden victory

Two of the most prominent Republicans in Washington defied Donald Trump’s last-gasp effort to nullify Joe Biden’s victory, with the party’s leader in the Senate warning that “democracy would enter a death spiral” if Congress overturned the result. Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate majority leader, said the presidential election was “not

Angry mobs of Trump supporters interrupt transfer of power

US lawmakers were forced to suspend the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory and leave parts of the Capitol in Washington after Trump supporters pushed past police and stormed the building on Wednesday. The Capitol was put on lockdown after protesters — some carrying pro-Trump paraphernalia as well as flags of

Shares in China’s biggest chipmaker drop on reports co-CEO has quit

Shares in China’s biggest chipmaker fell sharply after it said it was “verifying” reports that its co-chief executive had abruptly quit, in what would be the latest blow to the company following US sanctions. Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation’s stock fell as much as 9.8 per cent in Shanghai on Wednesday after

Asia plays the long game on Covid vaccine rollout

Asia has led the world in controlling the spread of Covid-19, but that very success has set the region behind the US and Europe in the race to vaccinate against the disease. In countries with limited coronavirus outbreaks, regulators have been happy to let westerners act as guinea pigs for hastily

China’s power is rising in an unstable world

The scourge of the coronavirus has exposed glaring weaknesses in capitalism and democracy all over the world. With wages for some stagnating and a growing digital divide, divisions in societies, and the gap between the haves and have-nots, have never been starker. While western countries flounder in the face of the pandemic

Congressional leaders inch closer to US stimulus breakthrough

US congressional leaders said they were closer to a compromise on economic relief legislation on Tuesday after several hours of intense negotiations as both parties faced pressure to prop up the country’s recovery. The talks that began in the late afternoon could prove pivotal for the fate of more fiscal

Push for homegrown imams stalls in Europe

At the top of a small building in Osnabrück, with only a tiny plaque denoting its name, sits Germany’s first school for imams. The Islamkolleg, in north-west Germany, is the cautious fruit of a decade’s efforts by Muslim scholars, including academic director Bülent Ucar, who have struggled to convince both