Law enforcement officers cleared supporters of US President Donald Trump from Capitol Hill hours after they stormed the building on Wednesday, forcing a lockdown as Congress debated certifying the presidential election results.
The rioters vandalised the building, climbing the complex and entering through broken windows.
The chaos ended in an armed stand-off between law enforcement and the pro-Trump demonstrators in the House chamber, where several US politicians had taken cover.
One woman died after she was shot during the violence.
The riots forced Congress to cancel its joint session as members debated the formal certification of the election results that would formalise president-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
Capitol Hill police moved Vice President Mike Pence, who was presiding over the debate, and other US Congress members to an undisclosed secure location as rioters vandalised the Capitol.
Susan Wild, a Democratic legislator, likened the area where House members were sheltering to a super-spreader event.
Ms Wild said large numbers of her Republican colleagues, particularly new members, refused to wear surgical masks to protect others against Covid-19, despite the close confines.
Although the rioters initially outnumbered the Capitol Hill police force, the National Guard and FBI agents arrived to help remove the protesters hours later, paving the way for Congress to resume certifying Mr Biden's victory.
Before the siege, Mr Trump held a rally with thousands of supporters, urging Mr Pence and Congress to overturn the election results, which the vice president does not have the power to do.
Mr Trump once again tweeted that his deputy should block the certification even as his supporters laid siege to the Capitol.
After hours of chaos, he posted a video on Twitter telling his supporters to go home.
But he spent most of the video repeating unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.
Mr Trump posted the video after Mr Biden delivered a speech calling on the president to tell his supporters to leave Capitol Hill.
Twitter, Facebook and YouTube and have since removed Mr Trump’s video. Twitter also locked Mr Trump’s account for 12 hours and warned that it may permanently suspend the president from the platform if he continued to violate its policies.”
The congressional certification process is typically a banal, ceremonial process.
But House Republican leaders and at least 10 Republican senators have tried to launch a doomed bid to block the certification, echoing Mr Trump’s unsubstantiated claims.
In response to the riots, the Mayor of Washington Muriel Bowser, ordered a curfew in the city from 6pm on Wednesday to 6am on Thursday.
Far-right extremist groups such as the Proud Boys have joined the throngs of pro-Trump protesters demanding that Congress overturn the election results based on debunked claims of voter fraud.
Protesters on Capitol Hill steps waved American flags, Confederate flags, Trump flags and the yellow Gadsden flag, which bears a coiled snake with the phrase, “Don’t tread on me.”
The Gadsden flag was designed as an anti-British symbol during the American Revolution and became popular in South Carolina in the lead-up to the Civil War.
In the modern US, it has become popular among conservatives and libertarians who associate it with gun rights and opposition to government restrictions.
Elaine Luria, a Democratic representative, tweeted that she had to abandon her office over reports of a pipe bomb.
Lexus LX700h specs
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
The specs: 2017 Maserati Quattroporte
Price, base / as tested Dh389,000 / Dh559,000
Engine 3.0L twin-turbo V8
Transmission Eight-speed automatic
Power 530hp @ 6,800rpm
Torque 650Nm @ 2,000 rpm
Fuel economy, combined 10.7L / 100km
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
Based: Dubai
Sector: Online grocery delivery
Staff: 200
Funding: Undisclosed, but investors include the Jabbar Internet Group and Venture Friends
The biog
Favourite films: Casablanca and Lawrence of Arabia
Favourite books: Start with Why by Simon Sinek and Good to be Great by Jim Collins
Favourite dish: Grilled fish
Inspiration: Sheikh Zayed's visionary leadership taught me to embrace new challenges.
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
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Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
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What went into the film
25 visual effects (VFX) studios
2,150 VFX shots in a film with 2,500 shots
1,000 VFX artists
3,000 technicians
10 Concept artists, 25 3D designers
New sound technology, named 4D SRL
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
